Attitude matters most - look at what your dog does good
Focussing only on the negative is toxic for you both
Treat your dog like they’re going to be a grand champion!
3 things to look for in choosing obedience dogs
desire to be close to a person
food drive
play drive
(need to motivate all 3 on occaisons)
can have an obedience dog with only two or one from the list, will just be slower going
Accept what your dog is
work with what you’ve got
can still improve and push by inches to improve dog
there will be things your dog enjoys, find it (obedience, rallyo, agiliy, tracking, noseworks, lure, barn hunt, disc, dock, mushing, weightpull)
there will be things your dog is not good at/doesn’t enjoy, accept this
No/minimal food drive?
feed meals from hand and build value
work for their food
kongs/wobblers can help build this food drive
No/minimal play drive?
only leave a couple of chew toys laying about
high value chews/tugs only with you
PLAY WITH YOUR DOG
To click or not to click and how to click
consistent and precise + dopamine release
CLICK ALWAYS EQUALS A REWARD - charge your clicker
clickers are good for teaching new things, refining precision, freeshaping
clickers are not so good for daily tasks - can decharge your clicker
benefits of 3rd party clicker/spotters
like a clicker - “no” markers i.e. try again
Ways to use a clicker
click and stay in position, trainer goes over to reward
click is also a release marker
click, release to break out of behaviour and reward - makes for more powerful motivation
e.g. dog is in distance position, click, dog holds position but is now amped up, say release, the release is a pressure reward as well, give dog reward
Benefits of free shaping
teach dog to be proactive and confident
teach dog to think creatively and offer more behaviours
teach dog to problem solve rather than always telling dog what to do
Engagement
encourage the dog to push you - but don’t create too much push
have a “start” and “end” cue for working to counteract pushing
this can be a special collar or some phrases
don’t force yourself on the dog for engagement - the more you force yourself on the dog, the less engaged they will get
How to charge a working collar
like charging a clicker - put collar on, give a bunch of treats/play, take collar off
after week of this, put special collar on and dont give treats/play, wait for dog to look up at you - THEN treats/play
collar to have different texture/feel than other collars? ask trainer
can also use phrases instead of special collar e.g. “play” to start and “done” to end.
When rewarding a dog (notes not so thorough here, as Thyme started freaking out)
have silence when asking for a command, explode with happy and enthusiasm on release
make sure you have movement with food, don’t be boring and static!
teach dog skill of actually following food - USE BOTH HANDS
teach engagement with food or toy - when luring with a toy, show toy first
start up nice and slow and build enthusiasm for following treats in hand
great aid for happy passionate flashy heeling
Engagement session with 10week old GSD puppy (police dog lines, niece to trainer’s dog, training to be hearing dog)
get dog active with the toy
use power of chase
let dog have easy wins to build confidence - let them think they are the strongest dog in the world!
want dog to bring toy to you - want dog to push you
switch toys to encourage dog returning with toy
quit when dog brings toy back to you - use your finish cue
BE FAIR TO THE DOG - when dog outs the toy, reward with a treat or another toy
when dog is letting go - wait till dog releases by choice, do NOT fight for the toy
Pressure - ne-po-po
Negative (pressure) - positive (release from pressure) - positive (reward)
(This is totally how BAT 2.0 works, only the pressure is the trigger!)
Pressure should always be GENTLE - a simple touch
when teaching pressure, pair with a lure
stay nice and calm - you do not want to correct the dog, you are teaching that pressure can be a cue like verbal and physical signs
slim slip leads are good for pressure learning, more exact
teaching pressure can help make movement flashier with minimal movement from trainer
I’m intrigued by this as I’ve seen similar from horse training from a particularly interesting video by what I understand is a thoughtful horse trainer who uses the smallest pressure movements to teach horse pressure and release
Research: more into how this can translate into LLW
Flip heel pressure
(see diagram in notebook)
dog must already know flip heel
pull leash gently across your body as you give verbal command
release pressure as dog sits in final position
do this even if dog is distracted - keep the pressure slightly on until the position is done, but do not re-cue verbally
Focus steps
mark and reward for looking in eyes not outward hands holding treats
hold hand up high when heeling with reward
focus from between commany - head way up
hold hand to side of dogs head with treats while heeling
hand to side without rewards
spins from heel to straighten a forging/crabbing dog - this is the working slot we did
don’t reward out front or from right hand
don’t reward too fast or dog will forget they’re heeling and forge forward
lure into a spin
don’t lure outwards - lure sidewards and reward dog like they’re a champion
(see diagram in notebook)
teaching backwards
use both hands
tuck under the dogs chin - but not too low so the dog doesn’t drop
use the pressure of your body by tilting forward ever s slightly to encourage steps back
(see diagram in notebook)
Heeling summary
do one step at a time, focus on the individual parts
use inbetween legs to work on focus, straightening and pivoting
encourage following food
eye contact
reward dog to follow your foot
Indirect rewards - not many notes here, Thyme had another panic
can be treats or toy
a third person helps
but can have toy laying about
Refining position changes
(I can see this particular method being very helpful for grooming
Puppy push ups using luring and GENTLE pressure
SIT - STAND - DROP - SIT
use your hand with treat to lure, but as luring, gently touch (GENTLY, the slightest feather of a touch, teaching a new cue)
touch bottom - sit
touch tummy - stand
touch shoulders - drop
usually use a box or table to help dog stay straight
this is similar to the slip lead early - GENTLE PRESSURE not correcting!
the pressure/touch comes off when fully in position - this is similar to ecollar training in regards to timing and pressure release
Pressure - MUST BE GENTLE AND SUBTLE
you want the dog to respond to feather light touches, to tune into you
Walking backwards to improve heeling
helps improve a dog’s focus, especially for position changes
heel backwards - the human position changes but the dog position does not (on your right instead of left but you are still on THEIR right shoulder)
put dog into position and keep moving backwards
only release dog when dog is focus on you
this encourages the dog to maintain focus so they can get the reward
use a physical indicator of release instead of verbal to encourage focus further
Research: When to help vs when not to help your dog
Pros and cons of your puppy’s fear period starting in a workshop
Pro: Surrounded by 8 professional dog trainers, 3 behaviourists, 5 trainer trainees and other assorted dog people, got fear-period-related-specific-guidance
Cons: Only worked him once, kept getting distracted from listening to trainers by putting their suggestions to manage him through his fear
He was particularly bad at the start where he was shaking incredibly hard and kept trying to run away. But by the middle he was mostly settled if overly-vigilant so we got to work him once
don’t coddle overly, keep yourself calm and casual
don’t let him retreat/run away - but dont force him closer either
wait for him to think it through and move forwards - give reward for calming and/or approaching
e.g standing far behind me, comes to my side and settles down = antler
they reckon he has it pretty bad and just be calm and help him through it
