Mischief Monday

I've been around Blogville enough to know that Mondays are for mischief.

So I'm going to be mischievous and share an Instagram post from last week.

Today Ava's mum (@an_atelier_for_ava) left me some instructions. I didn't know what would happen when I followed them but I had a hunch I ought to get it on video. It was the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. 😍 Well done Ava's humans! #shedeadedme #cavalierkingcharlesspaniel #9monthsold #petsittinglife

A video posted by Melon (@melondious) on Sep 22, 2016 at 2:22am PDT

Training Video: In Which Ava Shows What A Good Girl She Is

Hi guys. Been trying to find the balance between keeping busy living life and updating so I can share the story with you all. I'm also experimenting with cutting down computer time through Daniel Sieberg's The Digital Diet, so don't panic if I'm not around for a bit.

But onto what you came to hear about -- dogs!

I feel like I haven't talked enough about training lately, even though I love, love, love to train. So here's a video of me and Ava working on her place command.

I am trying to use "bed" (pointing to bed) to mean 'go to to your bed' + "settle" to mean lie on it and stay there comfortably. I've found she can learn chains of events (like walk to door, sit and wait for release) so I hope it will become routine to settle on it when asked to 'go to bed'.

You'll notice there's a pink blanket on Ava's bed. That's her blankie, which I take to the café with us and I encourage her to stay on it. Eventually I want the command to generalise to anywhere I bring her and put the blanket down. It'll take a while to go from this quiet environment to busy cafés, but she's a quick learner!

If a Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words...

... I come bearing a video to remedy my recent absence!

Penne was only with me for a week, but you all know training is my favourite part of working with dogs. "Sit" is the only command she knew, so while she and I sheltered in the house from the sweltering temperature outside, I tried to teach her "Down". Not being very experienced with luring, I must have done something wrong because she kept raising her paws... so I went with it and it turned into this!

And yes, I am very pleased. It's turned out to be a real crowd-pleaser -- I showed it off to her family's kids when they returned, and now they are teaching her new tricks! That, to me, is the biggest success of all.

Gatsby's Stay Continued: In Which We Are Told Of The Training That Happened

How do I cope with the desolate reality of not having a dog of my own?

Why, I borrow other people's dogs, of course!

There have been other dogs I appropriated as my own, but my biggest adventure was, of course, The Great Gatsby Project.

While she stayed with me, I walked the adorable 8kg doggie diva almost every day, and:

• She really grew in confidence. Initially she shied away from people and dogs approaching on walks (her scared ears, pulling me off the path), so when anyone approached I walked her off  the path and we waited until they had passed. Soon she no longer showed signs of fear when people approached. She happily led me past people once or twice without any issues, but I plan to keep stopping by the side of the road and waiting for a while yet, as she’s still bothered by larger groups of people, some dogs, etc.

• We visited the dog park probably every second walk. We didn't go in, but just spent some time outside the fence. If she led us too close and panicked, we retreated to a 'safe' distance. The aim was to work up to going in.

• I took her to the shops and she stayed by me while I ate a meal at an outdoor cafe, twice. Whenever strangers wanted to pat her I gave them high-value treats to give Gatsby to remind her that strangers can be a good thing. Gatsby was very, very good at the shops! 

With a canine companion, you never have to eat alone

• Our family all learnt to use the "Off!" command, and while she never gave up pawing at us, I think it lessened when she realised I was never, ever going to give her my dinner. She still whined when I left the room or when she was left alone for too long, but I tried to wait for a pause or a sit/down before I re-entered the room.

• I taught her "shake" (shake paws), which is pretty darn cute!

 
Needless to say, I enjoyed all of this, because I had a companion in my fluffy friend, because every bit of progress was thrilling, and because it was fun!

Book Review: The Power of Positive Dog Training

Funny how life works, isn't it? I was on my way to Gatsby's for my next training session, wondering what I was going to work on. I was starting to feel a tiny bit lost and wished the books I'd ordered online would arrive sooner. I missed the train, and, sighing, ducked into the library to wait until the next one. It was there I found Pat Miller's The Power of Positive Dog Training, and as it turned out, this book was much more relevant and informative to me than the three more specific ones, and well worth the lost training time that day.

Turns out I read the 1st edition

What I like about The Power of Positive Dog Training is that Miller explains the thinking behind the two most fundamental things about clicker training: why train with positive methods, and the role of the clicker.

I have always trained positive since day 1 of my short and recent experience with dog training, because this seems to be the dominant theory right now (as opposed to the dominance theory - ha ha), at least from what I'm exposed to. I guess it seemed to fit in line with my moral views, but to be honest I hadn't thought very hard about it, I just started with what I'm told is effective, and hadn't come across any issues so far. But Miller gives the most reasonable explanation for why train positive that I've heard so far: both positive and aversive training work, but positive training is lower risk and builds a stronger and happier relationship with your dog.

I think the line that has stuck with me the most from this book is

The difference is that an occasional poorly-timed or too-generous treat does no harm, whereas a single poorly-timed or overly strong correction can do serious, even permanent damage to the relationship between you and your dog. p12, Chapter 2: Train With Your Brain, Not Pain

The other thing this book explains really well is the role of the clicker. Not just that it works, or when to use it, but how and why it works. I would like to share the explanation given, because I know many of you train with the clicker, and know how to use it -- but do you know exactly why you use it? If you are recommending its use to others, can you articulate what exactly it adds compared to training with rewards but without the clicker?
I couldn't -- until I read Miller's explanation:

Let's pretend we are dolphin trainers and that we want to train our dolphin to jump out of the water on cue. We can wait by the side of the pool until he jumps on his own accord, then quickly call him over to the side of the pool and feed him a fish. But wait -- he now thinks he got the fish for swimming over to the side of the pool! How do we tell him the fish is his reward for the jump? We could try tossing the fish to him in midair, but that wouldn't be a very accurate or precise way to communicate, especially if our aim isn't very good! p46, Chapter 6: A New Leash on Life

She goes on to explain that we condition the dolphin to a reward marker by feeding a fish every time we blow a whistle, and then blow the whistle at the moment the dolphin does what you are asking for.

The reward marker ... allows you to communicate instantly and clearly with your dog when he does something right. p46, Chapter 6: A New Leash on Life

I personally think that you can train positively and effectively without the clicker (or equivalent marker), but using it is very helpful. Firstly to help communicate the exact behaviour you are reinforcing, as Miller explains, but even more, because it gives the trainer confidence. Learning to use it properly gave me confidence. Both dogs I clicker trained went from hearing and ignoring what was just another sound in the environment to giving me their full attention when I click it. Having the dog respond to it, so intensely, so instantly, reminds me that I can get my canine friend's attention, that I can make changes with a visible and obvious impact. The response to the clicker proves this, so having it in my hand gives me the confidence to keep going, even when I can't imagine how things could change.

I was able to take this photo because I clicker-trained Katie the boisterous Lab to Sit-Stay

(I also find using the clicker keeps me focused. I pay attention to exactly what behaviours my dog is offering/beginning to offer and when, and stay clear on the order of the process -- behaviour-marker-reward. (Not using food as a bribe!))

Has anyone here used the clicker with other animals or even human beings? (I've heard the clicker has been used with good effect in individuals with autism.) I'd love to hear your experience!

Now that I've finished reading it, I have passed this book on to K. Something I genuinely enjoy is having a project, doing thorough research, and finding an appropriate way to achieve it. People don't always share my enthusiasm for implementing my recommended solutions. (Really, Melon? By 'read' all of this, you mean 'skim over', right?) Luckily, K says she is actually looking forward to reading this book, and that it will even give her mind a break from her busy work schedule. I just hope it will provide her with some of the understanding it gave me about what we are doing.

The serendipity of finding this book, which so far has resonated with me more than any other dog training book, serves as a reminder to keep my chin up -- that helpful or interesting things can be found at the most unlikely of times.

Training Day 5: In Which All Is Quiet, If Somewhat Confusing, on the Home Front

It was raining outside again. While I didn't mind that Gatsby resembled a swamp monster when she emerged from mud puddles, I figured it was probably easier not to mind if you didn't live within smelling distance, and so refrained from taking her to the park, despite how fulfilling it had been last time.

Ah, well. I was sure there'd be some human-canine bonding activity we could do in the house. K had gone out to an appointment, so I settled down to do some work in the study.

I couldn't concentrate, though, because there was some rattling and howling going on just across the hallway.

Well, then. Training Day 5: House Manners.

I sat down cross-legged on the other side of the gate, and clicked and treated Gatsby when she finally quietened down and stopped rattling the gate. She bounced up again, rattled the gate, and since there was no response, put four back on the floor. Click. 

Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat.

Soon I was rewarding her for Downs through the gate.

After a while I always wonder if she's getting it or not. Is she back-chaining already (purposely jumping up and back down to 'earn' a treat)? Does she have any idea I'm telling her something at all? I have no idea, so I take a break.

I go in and out for a bit, having lunch, returning to the desk, but later, working in the study with K's brother, I see Gatsby lying quietly by the gate. Not in a Down, just lounging there quietly. Looks good to me.

Does she usually stay there quietly? I asked K's brother.
He replied that she did, but when K got home later and joined us in the study she commented on Gatsby's calm behaviour.

She never just hangs out there quietly, K said.
Really? Your brother said she did.
Well, never when I'm in here, anyway, she clarified.
 
It sure is hard to make sense of humans too, sometimes.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll have a lot more to report when I can work with her consistently on her 'holiday' -- which is coming up sooner I'd expected!

Training Day 3: In Which Melon Learns a Lesson and Makes A Discovery

Training Day 3 involved one lesson and one discovery.

K wanted to practice the back and forth recalls outdoors, and I wholeheartedly agreed because somehow, I had a suspicion that last time Gatsby was more bored out behind her house than anything else. I guess usually that doesn't mean introduce more distractions but try more interesting training games, but it's hard to teach more advanced things when the dog doesn't know the basics, y'know?

Anyway, that's my long-winded way of saying we went for a walk in the nearby park...

 

... which is where I learnt my lesson of the day: the value of life rewards. To get to the off-leash area, we walked through another grassy section. Gatsby knows the park and when we reached the gate to the other area, Gatsby was rearing to go in.

I held onto her leash and told her to sit. She wouldn't, too excited to go in. I waited and asked her a couple more times, and she sat. This is where I messed up - I clicked and rewarded her with a treat. I can't remember if she took it or not - maybe not - but she jumped right back up and I let her go in.

I realised almost straight away what had happened: she had no interest in what I was asking her because she couldn't understand why the human would want to do that weird sit-treat exercise at such a time when there were better things to do! Asking her to sit before going through the gate was right, but the reward for sitting and waiting should have been to go through the gate to playtimes and freedom.

I'd read about life rewards but never really understood how the dog would make the connection between their good behaviour and 'being allowed to' do something, since we can't explain it to them in words (unlike 'you do the dishes, young man, and then you can play on the Playstation'). I thought a treat was a more instantaneous reward. But this was an example where it makes sense to me, so now I'll pay more attention to when I can use life rewards more - particularly because Gatsby isn't particularly food-motivated.

We practised recalls on an empty sports oval, which went pretty well. We let her muck around and play and once in a while one of us would call her to us. This seemed to get around her idea of 'that game where I run back and forth from K to Melon and they alternately give me treats'. Gosh, it takes so much thinking to outsmart a dog, doesn't it?

By the time the second or third group of folks and their dogs had passed us, K and I started to wonder where they were going. We decided to head in that direction...

... and discovered - a fenced dog park! Yayy! It's fairly new so possibly not many people visit it, so in all this time, K hadn't known it was there. Now you know where we'll explore next!

Training Day 2: In Which What Goes Up Always Comes Down

Did you bring the clicker? Did you bring the clicker? K asked as I arrived for our second day of training.
Yes, I brought the clicker. She hadn't let me leave it with her last time because while I had explained the theory behind it and how it is used, everyone in her family were prone to fiddling and she knew anyone who walked past the table (including herself, apparently) would start clicking it indescriminately.
I took it home.

Fortunately, Gatsby was still aware of what the clicker meant...

With that, I took her out back again. Since she responded to the clicker, I was hoping to teach her to respond to her name - to look at me when she heard it. This was actually surprisingly difficult. I've noticed K loves to chant her name in a cutesy voice while she plays with her 'Gechhbi, Gechhbi', so I wondered if she was desensitised to her name. I tried adding 'hey!' as a 'look at me', but with no avail. I just sounded silly saying 'hey!' in an excited voice over and over. 

Hmm. Maybe forget that step and go straight to my first goal: recall. Maybe once she knows good things come from me she'll pay more attention to me. 

This didn't go so well either. K came out and found me struggling, and as I pointed out Gatsby didn't seem so keen on the ham bits this time either, we crushed up some lamb... something or other. I forget what they are exactly, but they come in big dry crunchy pieces in a package from Petbarn. That got her interest for a bit longer, although they can be hard to break into small enough pieces.

K and I called her back and forth across the very small area, treating her when she came to us. She did start coming to us fairly reliably, but - 

Do you think she's just playing us for treats? I asked K. Running back and forth? 

Probably, K replied.

I stopped calling. Sure enough, she'd look over after taking K's treat, knowing it was the other person's turn to treat. Hmm.

I'll play with her, K said, grabbing a rope toy. K was worried Gatsby would get too worked up with the toy (she's possessive), which is why K doesn't usually use toys to play with her, but I thought it was a good opportunity to test the recall. Nope, she wouldn't come to me when the toy was involved.

Well, I had somewhere to be after that so I couldn't stick around any longer, but wanting to end on a good note I opened the door, went inside and called Gatsby in after me. No matter what I did, no matter how excited I sounded or how many treats I waved, Gatsby wouldn't come in.

I looked at K.

We only call her in when we're finished outside, she said.

Oh man.

Feeling discouraged, I shut the door, leaving Gatsby in the yard, and asked K to drive me to the station. As I was gathering my things Gatsby started pawing at the closed door and K automatically opened it for her.

Do you realise what you just did?

K looked at me... oh, right! Whoops. I honestly didn't realise, it's habit now.

Sigh.

I was frustrated at myself for not being sterner with my friend, because at the beginning of a session I'm always pumped and sure we'll make progress, and then at the end when I'm exhausted I'm frustrated at her for not being more disciplined and frustrated at myself for not being more assertive and clearer with my message. Fortunately I did my best to voice my opinions to K before I got out of the car, and I think she is, slowly, realising and taking it on board. I made a mental note to send her a clear email before I saw her again, and reminded myself to be thankful that she was getting involved - when she sat down on the stoop to join in with recalls it was a clear sign she knew we were in this together, she wasn't leaving me out the back to work with her dog. Not every day will be a success, I know. But we'll rest up and be at it again the next day.

The Great Gatsby Project: Training Day 1

I woke up on the morning of Training Day 1 without a clue what I was going to do, or how we were going to start. I considered putting it off until I'd done a bit more reading. But no, I wasn't going to set us back on the first day, not to mention Gatsby needed to get used to me being around as much as possible.

Luckily, taking public transport gives me plenty of time to prepare. Clicker in my bag - check. Messaged K and discovered that she didn't have any high-value treats, just "the current treats we usually give her". Stopped by the supermarket and picked up a package of ham bits. Now we're talking! Ready for lesson one: charge the clicker.

My friend and I took a little time off first, so I used the opportunity over coffee and cake to voice something that had been on my mind. I told K that I would love to take her dog, I thought it would be really rewarding for all of us, but I had two conditions:

1. That I would do my best to work with Gatsby, and prepare both of us for her stay at my place. But she is a handful, so it will be difficult, so I reserve the right at any time up until she comes to say no, if I don't think it's going to work. This is the most important condition.
2. That K does her best not to undo anything I'm working on. I understand that she can't work on everything at once - and if she could she'd have done it already - but she can't do things that directly go against what I'm teaching the dog (consistency is everything, imo). 

Luckily for me, K agreed with the former - in fact, she had been operating on the assumption that that was the case. There was no way I was expected to take her dog if I wasn't comfortable with it. With that cleared up, I only had one more thing to ask: how on earth am I going to get Gatsby's attention? I had briefly tried charging the clicker at my house, but Gatsby, as usual, only had eyes and nose for K. Then, we realised - some dogs are distracted by sights, sounds or smells. We were working at her house because Gatsby was most comfortable there. So in a place she's comfortable with, we have to remove the ultimate distraction for Gatsby - K herself. So since I'm the one working with her dog for an hour, why doesn't she go to the gym? And I think that suggestion resolved my second condition - Gatsby's human was willing to do what she could to help with The GG Project, including offer suggestions or make herself scarce. So with that cleared up, we were ready to roll!

I took Gatsby to the paved area behind the house, pulling the blinds down over the glass door so she couldn't see back into the house.

Precisely what I didn't want

Because K's house is rather open-plan I felt I had less control over the space and distractions inside the house compared to the smaller, fenced paved area out the back. It also meant that with us outside, K was free to leave out the front door without her shadow noticing. (I'll be honest, I'm still amazed this worked!)

I spent some time walking around, clicking the clicker and offering her ham bits. It was very different from the last dog I trained - a Lab, who once she knew I had treats would have done anything to get to my hand or pocket. Gatsby was surprisingly casual about it - she would eat the offered bacon but wasn't glued to my side, wandering around in her own little world, but accepting the treats when I offered them to her when she paid any attention to me.
 

After about 10-15 minutes, I went inside for 10 minutes, then returned and repeated the exercise. This time, somehow, the family cat made it outside as well, and stayed nearby once he knew we had ham. Oh! Now I happen to know this cat loves ham, so I had to give him a piece too. Unfortunately, Gatsby eats quicker than the cat does, and was reaching for every piece the cat got too. Uh-oh, not what I intended. Suddenly, I spotted the cat's empty bowl and dropped a few pieces of ham in. About to place it on the floor, I realised the flaw in that plan, and placed it up onto the desk. Kitty jumped after it onto the desk, and Gatsby turned back to me - perfect. I felt so proud of myself - I had discovered management, vital for a pet owner, as well as how nice it was to have a short dog.

I wasn't sure if Gatsby was noting the clicker, and then remembered something I'd read, that the treat had to be after the click, not during, to ensure the dog knows the click predicts the treat. So then I made sure there was a definite pause between clicking and treating. (It had gotten too easy to do both at once, as long-time readers will be glad to hear after my first experience involving a clicker, a Lab, ham bits and much clumsiness.)

By the time the hour (including breaks) was up, it was starting to get dark, so I was happy to retreat inside again. Putting the clicker and treats on the table, I pulled out my computer to do some work as I waited for K to return. After a while I noticed that even though I was ignoring her, Gatsby was waiting by my side quietly, either sitting or lying down. Wow! I ignored her so she would completely lose focus on me, and she retreated to the couch, but lay there calmly until she heard K's car pull into the driveway. She jumped up and headed for the door. Why not? I thought, and clicked.

Gatsby immediately turned around and headed to me at the desk. Wow! Treats for sure.
I honestly hadn't known at that point if the clicker was 'charged', but that certainly provided the answer.

Well?! How did she do?? K asked me as she came in, Gatsby leaping around her heels.
I smiled. You'll see, I said. Just ignore her.
We ignored her and chatted for a bit, long enough that Gatsby lay on her back on the floor, in her own world.
K noticed the clicker on the table and picked it up. What happens if I click it? she asked.
Yeah, go ahead, I said, hiding a grin.
What will happen?

Just do it! 

Click.

Gatsby, on the floor, pretty much jumped to attention. She knew what the sound meant.
K was delighted to offer her a treat. So you can learn things, K said, rubbing her fur. And here I'd practically given up, she said, but she was smiling.

I was very pleased too. It's time to admit that if this first day hadn't gone well at all, I think I might have been very discouraged and thought about giving up. I've been more daunted by this task than I'll let on - and than K knows, I think - so I think I'm filled with one part happiness but two parts relief. The success of Day 1 - goal achieved: clicker charged - has been a real encouragement, so the project must go on!

MAA: A Better Day

Thanks to everybody who left me comments both informative and supportive over the past week or so. My biggest struggles are with Anxiety at the moment – every week or two I complicate things in my life and they become so big in my head that I can’t deal with them and then hide away from the world for a few days. That’s when my parents take over care of Cocoa until I emerge vowing to be consistent and do all the things regularly needing to be done for the pets… until the next time anxiety kicks in. But I’m working on it (meds, therapy).
That also explains why I can be slow in replying to your comments – mostly I do receive them on time but it can be a few days before I’m ready to reply them. It doesn’t mean I don’t read and appreciate each and every comment you leave me!

So, onto this girl:

 

Yes that is a Sit. It is rarely seen and never for longer than a second, but I can make it happen

I was happy with my progress with Katie today. Last week I had, in a very vulnerable mood, gone over just to play with Katie in her yard, because the weather didn’t look promising and I wasn’t really up to a walk. But she was so excited at the prospect of a walk that I gave in, thinking I’d just take her down the street and back. It never happened because I didn’t have the patience to wrestle with her long enough to get her harness on!

But today was miles better, for me and for her. The funny thing that happened at the beginning was her putting on my messenger bag in her attempt to get the treats out of it. It was definitely photo-worthy, but sadly my camera was inside said bag at the time so I couldn’t get a photo!

I’m feeling more confident about walking her and training her because today I discovered that she is more responsive than I thought. She looks at me when she hears her name, which I discovered as I chatter to her while I walk (although her hooman tells me she responds only selectively), and I haven’t had any issue telling getting her on and off the road and stopping when I need to. I bought a real clicker today so I’ll keep it on hand, but at the moment I think I ought to just work on getting accustomed to her for a bit, since the clicker stuff is new to me too.

I’m trying to pay attention to the words I use and keep them consistent – come for getting her to go in a direction, up and down for getting on and off the kerb (there aren’t always footpaths so I switch her between the road and people’s front yards as appropriate). It’s not easy though, for example usually I say hup but I’ve also heard myself saying come on, up and off the road, Katie!

It’s fine to keep reinforcing these commands (the simple ones, consistently) when she does things even before using the clicker right? Because I still need to walk her even before I begin training with the clicker.

Thanks again, all!
Melon

MMA: Our First Walk

05/08/2013

So my friend A has just moved interstate for college with her dog Katie staying behind at the family home. In six months the family may be reunited again in a house in the new location. In the meantime, the family are feeding her and so on, of course, but they don’t have the time to walk her. So I’m doing it.

Yup, that’s right, me, Melon. (There was a suggestion originally for me to consider ‘fostering’ her for those six months at my house to save me the trip over to my friend’s house to walk her, and boy would I love to, but we decided against it because we don’t know what her prey drive would be like with Mister Cocoa.)
You may have heard of Katie as my demonstration animal when I learnt How To Bathe A Large Dog. She’s a 10 year old Labrador.

So how was my first walk yesterday? Well. I arrived at my friend’s place and Katie was so excited, jumping around and running in circles, that I didn’t think I’d ever get the harness on. I had been warned of this, but as I struggled I really thought for a moment I would have to turn right around and go back home again! Luckily, I managed it. In fact, I ended up so focused on trying to get the harness on the right way that I only belatedly realised that she had calmed down.

The other thing you need to know is that I had discovered, on a trial walk when my friend was still in town, that Katie hasn’t really been trained to follow commands. She’s asked to wait for her dinner and before leaving the gate, and she does the former well but not so much the latter. But my point is, she won’t do even a basic Sit. Now, I’m not so comfortable walking a dog that I can’t control with at least a Sit, Wait and Come.

Which is why I came to my first walk armed with a clicker I’d downloaded onto my phone and an oh-so-attractive bright orange bumbag full of bacon bits. First lesson would be simply to charge the clicker: click, treat, click, treat until she associates the sound with the reward. Sounds simple, right? WRONG. At a random place on the street I'd stop, get out my phone, press the clicker on the screen, then I'd fumble around for the bacon bits, dropping some in the process which Katie could happily lick up, and then in using both hands to try and pull out the bag of bits to get to them I'd accidentally press the clicker again... I think you get the picture! I did get Katie's attention with treats, but I doubt she even noticed the clicking noise. She even sat once or twice, all by herself, when she realised I had treats, but instead of rewarding that like I should have, I thought, wait! We're not up to that yet! I'm supposed to be charging the clicker! And proceed to initiate another click-treat-failure. Oops. And after the whole walk and a bagful of bacon bits I know for a fact that charging the clicker didn't work because after we got home I clicked it and she paid exactly zero attention to me.

So why am I bothering with the training? Well, I basically just want a way to communicate to her, when we’re out walking, when she’s doing something I like as opposed to when she’s doing something I don’t like. I think I need that to be comfortable with her on the street, knowing she’ll get off the road when I tell her to, knowing I can get her attention when there’s another dog around, and so on. I’m starting to realise, however, that she probably has 10 years of ignoring commands ingrained in her. Is there another way I can achieve this peace of mind, or should I keep trying with the clicker (in a quiet place this time)?
 
Thoughts and advice, as always, much appreciated.
Melon