Rusty...

Well, I have to say we are a little out of practice! Soda has only been worked in our house since the move. It is waaaay tooooo hot for him outside here (over 100F pretty much every day). I think I had come to take for granted Soda's generalization of his obedience skills. In reality, he was constantly worked in different places in Virginia - from our home, nana's house, work, obedience class, off to the side at agility class, the pet stores, etc. When I went to work him at our new agility facility's little obedience building, my dog was gone! He was distracted and stressed. Stress is rather unusual to see in Soda. This certainly brought to my attention just how badly we had been slacking off. Unfortunately, there are not many places in town we can do to practice indoors in the air conditioning. Once it cools off, we have TONS of outdoor options. We went to the biggest pet store in town today to do some basic practice. We worked on heeling with lots of feedback. We did some recalls. We practiced his signals.
Good signals at home are relatively new for Soda. He has only recently learned them. Needless to say, it didn't surprise me that this exercise fell apart in a new place. It was important to note Soda's body language. He was not sure. He offered numerous fast tail wags (which equated to "I'm trying, did I get it Mom?"). His body tended to be curled up instead of straight (for example, if he did a down, he was curved on himself instead of a straight sphynx figure). I responded to Soda's body language by helping him. I stood close to him and gave him a few verbals along with his signals. When he succeeded I gave instant verbal feedback to bridge me giving him a foot treat.
Most importantly, Soda continued to try during our session. He worked hard and responded to my feedback.
This is what is commonly called bounce back. It means when the dog fails, they come right back to try again. They do not shut down (melt, stop working, exhibit signs of stress). The fact that Soda can work through this process is huge in and of itself. There are a few games that can help encourage bounce back.
1. It's Yer Choice! The game of impulse control. (check it out on youtube)
2. Hot and Cold. Basically a clicker or verbal marker and a NRM to help the dog figure out what to do in a game.