My dog needs a job~ Seeing success!

[tortoise]

Here - I won't try to push you into purist free shaping, lol. Here's a common "cheater" way to get started.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQzXdAA3vk8&playnext=1&list=PLC41CCD008C71C1E3

This video goes beyond FINDING the bed, but to lying on it. For a foundation exercise, you DON'T want the dog lying down.

It does have an EXCELLENT explanation to adding the cue, and adding duration and then distance.

 

[Dace]

Thank you, I will check it out.

I did watch one video that trained to sit... Since he sort of knows that but is completely not trained on it, we gave that a try. I said SIT as he started to lower his butt I clicked then treated him. After some success there we again tried the PLACE but it was hit and miss, unless I am standing right in front of the pad he just lays down in N effort to try to please me.

I will watch this video as soon as I have a minute!

 

[big brown horse]

The Wellness that we feed isn't Core, but it does say 95% turkey and "grain free" on the side. We are very picky about grain in our dog's food--we lost our original St Bernard young to bone cancer. I blame the food we were feeding her...IAMS. (The other 5% in our Wellness is sweet potatoes etc.)

We did raw for quite a while, life just sorta got in the way though.


Tortoise I would love to see you work with your dogs!!!

 

[Dace]

Ok Tort....I watched that video as well as a few of her others. I decided to focus on SIT and DOWN. He is pretty consistent with the SIT and getting better with the DOWN.

I think once he understands the clicker better we can easily transition to PLACE. I just think I confused him on that one because I was confused!

my 8 yr old is dying to get her hands on the clicker :/ so far I have convinced her that being the *treater* is better than being the *clicker* . And the dog is having fun with all the extra treats ( gotta be careful there!) and attention.

Thanks for the great new hobby

Oh boy now the 8 yr old is REALLY gonna obsess over dog training shows! My poor Hubby!

 

[big brown horse]

Tortoise, Dace what kind of treats are we supposed to use?

 

[tortoise]

Tortoise, Dace what kind of treats are we supposed to use?

Anything your dog is excessively crazy excited for.


Dace - sit is really easy to clicker train.

#1 Put dog on leash.
#2 Step on leash.
#3 Pretend to ignore your dog
#4 Your dog will get crazy and sit
#5 Click
#6 Treat
#7 Repeat

This one is really fun to watch the dogs go from clueless to spontaneously sitting and loving it.

 

[Dace]

Tortoise, Dace what kind of treats are we supposed to use?

From what I have learned in the videos, exactly what tort said.....start with a new behavior with a high value treat...we used a combo of cheese bits (1/2 the size of an eraser) and some wellness brand grain free jerky type treats that I cut into small bits.( remember my dog is small) Then as the new behavior is being reviewed step down the value level of treat to be a bit less, maybe a cooked veg like carrot or something your dogs likes ( for me weight on him is an issue so I have to be careful) bits of kibble, hard boiled egg....eventually to just positive attention not treats. Does that make sense?
Big stakes when you want her to learn something new, lower the stakes as the dog more and more reliably performs the task.

Tort,that is a funny one! Teddy seems to have mastered SIT in the living room, outside the back door you would think he had never heard the word. I would have been perplexed if the lady on the video had not explained that just because a dog can do it one way or place that they will get it in another setting!

We tried to teach him to release on OK by jumping up and saying OK in a high happy voice....he just sat there looking at us like we were idiots....so we tossed his treat so he had to get up to get it.
I think I will just work on the STAY and release together.

He keeps looking at me like what now? Everyone I go into the pantry (where he sees me get some of the treats) he gets all excited. I am glad he is having fun!

How long does it take to wrap up a behavior? Like SIT, he sort of knew it but did not consistently perform it....he has done really well at it now for three 3 minute sessions. Now today I will work on reviewing it for affection and work on something else with treats.....but I guess I have to first take him around the house and outside with treats to actually master SIT, huh?

I know I need to stick to one unnamed behavior at a time but I should still review what has already been worked on and named right?

 

[Dace]

He is getting it!

After a rough start with PLACE I let it go and worked on SIT and DOWN. He was doing pretty well and after many mini sessions he has gotten pretty reliable with SIT and working on DOWN. We are no longer treating with food on SIT, just giving a quick rub down and an enthusiastic 'good boy'....still treating on DOWN.

I decided to try PLACE again and he got it! After only about 5 treats he began to reliably get on his pad when I said PLACE! So after several successful tried I stopped, while he was still excited, put the rest of the treats aside to come back to in an hour or so.

Thanks Tort, we are making great success and having a lot of fun!

 

[Dace]

He is doing better with PLACE. the trouble seems to be when the pad is behind him....ho does not want to turn away from me to walk back to find his spot.

We keep practicing it several times a day. It is funny because he will ofer SIT then DOWN clearly knowing I want something, then he paces arounds and SITS again.....I calmly repeat PLACE and eventually he gets it.

Any suggestions or do I just need to keep reinforcing that PLACE means you gotta find it? When he struggles for too long, I move myself to be a bit closer to the pad so that he can find success. Also this is not with the pad in another room! Just behind him, even within sight off to the side, he does not want to step away from me to go to it.

It is great to watch him try to sort out my request

 

[AL]

Great work!
Rio went through that phase (sometimes still does ) of going through his whole file of tricks and commands to try to figure out what I am asking. cracks me up and I love to see his mind working.