Category: Advanced Stuff ¤
  Author: Shirley Chong ¤
   Title: More on the Use of a Laser Pointer ¤
   
   Carmel Rickard (who ALWAYS uses her last name <beam>) asked how I 
transition the laser dot from shining on the floor to shining at the 
dog's eye-height.
   I've done this in various ways. The first way I did it was the 
"big jump" method. I made a mark on the wall with green marker that 
almost matches my walls (shhhhhh, don't tell my mom), then took a 
cotton ball, rubbed it over a hot dog and then rubbed the scent on 
the mark on the wall. I set Chamois and I up very close to the wall, 
too close for her to look at the floor easily. I lit up the mark on 
the wall and stared at it intently. She looked at my face for a few 
seconds then looked at the wall to see what on earth I was staring at 
(<giggle> GOTCHA!). Then her nose caught the whiff of hot dog and she 
licked the wall-->click<! A lick is a touch in my book! 
   Then we set up a tiny bit further from the wall. And then a tiny 
bit further than that, etc, until we were about six feet away (that 
was all the further we could get away--I didn't pick my wall very 
wisely).
   Then we started out on a different wall, same procedure. And then 
a different wall, same procedure. After three or four new places, I 
started setting up about four or five feet away.
   Now, with Bidge, I did it a bit differently. I lit up the 
carpeting close to the wall, sent him. Then I lit up the edge of the 
woodwork where it touches the floor. Then I lit up a place that was a 
tiny bit higher than that. We sort of inched our way up the wall.
   Another way to do it (I haven't done it but I know it would work) 
would be to use a target (I use fuzzy toys) that is set on 
progressively higher surfaces. I would have other targets laying 
around at various heights as well. I have these neato fake sheepskin 
Fuzzbies that work great as targets (for dogs that aren't absolutely 
crazed about fuzzy toys), so I can have a variety of very similar 
targets. The Fuzzbies could even be taped onto a wall or baby gate or 
even tacked into place. Fading the target with a Fuzzbie is easy--go 
to the fabric or craft store and get pompons! The store near me has 
big ones, medium, little, and itsy-bitsy in various colours!  They 
are all cotton, so if my dog took it in mind to eat one (a not 
totally unlikely possibility) it would most likely do no harm (no 
guarantees in this world, though--best to teach the dog to touch with 
the nose vs retrieve).

M. Shirley Chong
The Well Mannered Dog
Iowa City Iowa
tzjd72a@prodigy.com or eithne@avalon.net