Making progress with clicker training! :)

Between wrapping the clicker in a dish cloth and using some roast chicken as bait, Tasha is getting over her fear of the click! Today I sat down with her with the chicken pieces nearby. I just casually sat there, not staring at her as I didn't want to stress her, but watching out of the corner of my eye. Everytime she happened to glance over at me, I'd click and give her a treat. After about 5 times of this, she started to obviously look at me more quickly, and when I clicked her ears went up in anticipation of the reward, so I think we finally have her going!

Tommy was doing great with 'look at me and not the treat no matter where I hold it,' so today I tried something new, but still simple. I had him touch a pencil with his nose. At first, he reached out to take the pencil in his mouth, but I would just click as soon as his nose touched it before he got his mouth around it. After about 3-4 times, he got it! He very quickly began touching the pencil with his nose, without trying to take it in his mouth. He was so excited. I keep the sessions short, and after we were done and I praised him and played with him a bit, I came back to do some more work. He paced a bit and kept looking at me like "can't we do more of that?" hehe. But everything I have read says it's best to keep the sessions short, to keep holding their interest. So best to stop while they are still interested rather than wait till they lose interest because that will weaken the session.

Anyway, just thought I'd blather about it here. :D

Yay, for Tasha and Tommy! Great job. I'm glad they are doing so well.

I have to admit I haven't been working much with Katie lately. I need to get my clicker out and start working with her some more. I swear sometimes I think I have the most stubborn dog! Everything is at her own pace and in her own good time and it just frustrates me! We are still working on the command "Come". OMG...I don't think this one will ever happen...lol. She did fine in obedience class but at home in her own backyard when I open the door and holler "Katie, Come". She either just lays there looking at me or pokes her head around the garage and peeks at me like....Huh?...or she just slowly pokes along taking her good ol time. When she comes quickly I reward her and give her a treat and lots of good girls and hugs. When she does her pokey routine I use the phrase "Too Bad" and close the door. She knows that this means she doesn't get a treat so she comes barreling up through the yard to come in. Like I said though...Too Bad! It all seems to be a game to her though....lol...I really do think she is smarter than me..lol. Well, I'm rambling again....

Robin :)

The book I'm reading right now, Click for Joy, emphasizes a lot that you need to work on lessons gradually in several different areas. The author says, basically, that if your dog learns how to roll over in the living room, he may connect the behavior with that place only. She suggests on each behavior that you are really working for, to 'start from scratch' training it in many different areas until in the dog's mind it is very generalized.

The other problem she talks about is when training, whatever your dog finds the most rewarding at that moment, that's what he will go for. So sometimes suddenly chasing a squirrel is more rewarding to him than the treat you are holding. She talks about different ways to handle situations like this too.

I think it has been a very eye-opening book for me and a whole new look into the way dogs think and react. I'm just hoping I can get my husband to read it when I'm done. He can be stubborn about things like that, figuring he already knows what's best in handling the dogs. :rolleyes: I'm gradually working the ideas into his head though, like pointing out little things about their behavior and how it is reinforced to them, and how this or that thing Tommy has just started doing is a result of the new training style.

The most frustrating part is too often, when the dogs do something 'wrong' he thinks they are being deliberately defiant, and that's just not the case. I try to explain it to him, and he thinks I'm just making excuses for their 'bad' behavior. Like if he tells Tommy to go lay down while he's trying to cook dinner in the kitchen, and Tommy wanders right back in the kitchen underfoot sniffing for crumbs, he thinks Tommy is deliberately disobeying. I'm trying to explain though, that to Tommy, it is more rewarding to him to sniff for crumbs than to go lay down. Using positive reinforcement, going to lay down needs to be made into the more rewarding thing to do. Sure he can be scolded and get results, but the other way he becomes happier and willing to comply, and much less likely to be "defiant."

Great job, Tasha!
I need to work on "look at me" with Gigi, as she obviously likes to look at the treat than me. :rolleyes:
As for come, I am lucky that this is one area that Gigi is good at. I usually use a very happy voice when I ask her to come and she will run to me. :) I also try to use regular voice for that command just to make sure she understands what that word mean.
I love CT, hope we will all succeed in training our beloved pups. :D :) :D :)

Good job T&T!!!:D It's great to hear that Tasha's making such progress! Patience, patience, patience as they say, and you've got that Jessica in abundance!:) That book sounds like a good one! I'll have to see if I can find it. Luckily for me, when Star was a puppy, before "clicking" was the rage, I had great success in teaching her "look at me." It's so awesome when I say that when we're out doing some obedience work and she freezes and just locks onto my eyes:) You've had me laughing a few times today, Jessica!:D

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I'm just hoping I can get my husband to read it when I'm done. He can be stubborn about things like that, figuring he already knows what's best in handling the dogs.

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ROFLOL! What do you expect from a man who denies needing a cloth to stop the bleeding from a deep, incised wound then proceeds to bleed all over the floor, the car and the ER...and faint dead away! Nah, I don't need any help! lol! Both as wife to a very stubborn man, and a nurse who has seen EVERY imaginable response from patient and family to a medical crisis, I got the picture!:D Next time he scolds Tasha for being stubborn and deliebertly defiant, well.....;) Father knows best I guess!:rolleyes:

Jenfer, have you tried holding the treat in the palm of your hand then pointing at your eye with your index finger, while saying "Look at me!!!!" (Happy, happy voice!:D) It worked wonders with Star.

Robi...you mean you DIDN'T KNOW that they're smarter than us???;)
Seriously, you need to use a REALLY yummy treat for the ultimate request....errr, command! And I'm sure you're already using a very happy, happy, excited voice when you call. I was taught to only use the command once, maaaaaaaaybe, twice. But after that, no treat! No sashaying over at her leisure! lol! You might try working with her from only several feet away. Have her sit and take a few steps back. Have her stay and then give the command to "come!" Gradually increase the distance away from her. You might also try using a long lead, or a couple of leads/a rope tied together and hold it loosely, almost laying on the ground. When you give the command, give it a slight tug. I'm sure you know this already:) Like you say, they're just smarter than us!:)

Heheh you make a good point about his stubbornness there Sandra. :D. On this though I'm going to keep pushing. I just do a nudge here, a nudge there.. I will leave the book sitting on top of his books downstairs that he looks at, and refer to it off and on. For him, the harder someone pushes the more he digs his heels in, so you have to make it his idea. LOL

Oh, I know what you mean, Jessica!:D Let them think it's THEIR idea;) Silly men!

:D Yay Tasha!!!

Jasper will be starting clicker training in March, I've never even thought about him being scared of the click! He might be, hes afraid of alot lol even when I throw his scooby doo face cloth up in the air, he ducks down! And boxers are suposed to be fearless :p

Congratulations on your clicker training! Yesterday was mine and Chris's first class at Petsmart. Finn goes in next Thursday. But, he is doing really well with the clicker. I took him into Petsmart to buy leashes, a harness, and a treat bag, along with a couple of toys. :) He was showing off for everyone, and, being so charming! I asked everyone to put their hands on him and pet him. He even met a two-year-old girl. And, he played with a six year old boy. I am trying to socialize him as much as I possibly can. But, I asked him to sit in front of a few people, and, he did it with no problem. :) No one could believe it, cuz he's only nine weeks old. But, they learn so young! He is just getting so good at it. Anyway, I love the clicker. :)

Awww Finn, you little Charmer!:D I'll bet you had all ladies and doggie girls drooling!:) What a fun day of shopping!:D You're going to do great in class, Finn!

We actually didn't meet any dogs today. There were two others in the store that I saw. One was too far away for me to just walk up to them and ask to socialize my dog. ;) The other dog was not friendly. But, he did get lots of love. One couple, they were older (sixties, maybe?), held him and asked for puppy breath kisses from him for about five minutes. THey were cute with him. :) He ate it up! We picked a red harness and leash for him, too. I got a four foot leash, and, a six foot one. The six foot one has one of those extra hand loops near the dog for extra control. Not that I really need that right now, but, you never know! I also got him a bigger kong than what he has, and, they recommend freezing his food in there. I may give that a shot. Instead of just dumping it in his bowl. I'll have to take him outside to eat it or something, though, I think it'd be messy inside on the carpet! :)