Foundations Week 2
Name Game - Respond to Name
The darkness and angle make it a little difficult to see exactly what the trainers are clicking here. The trainers are also learning that working with a black dog with dark eyes adds some special challenges for the them as it can be hard to catch when the dog flicks her eyes to them. Even so, there are many wonderful things to notice in this video. First, this is the same dog they were worried about getting out of her pen last week. Now they are inside with the dog offering to lay at their feet. Everyone's confidence has grown immensely in a short time! Second, do you hear how the trainers sometimes say things after the click like 'Excellent!'? While we try to minimize additional verbal noise during training, sometimes it's just too exciting for the trainer when they see the dog getting the lesson.
Nose Targeting - Nose Touch to Target
We like to use the open hand with fingers together as the first targeting exercise. This is one of the easiest targets to use when starting the targeting behavior. It also has many, many uses down the road for training in obedience, showmanship, agility, and tricks. We will use targeting the dog nose to the hand often as we progress.
In this video the trainer is teaching the both the owner and dog. She is talking for the owner and for the purpose of the video. Every comment she makes verbally is one more thing she didn't have to find a way to edit into the video. She is very honest about when she is late with the click or misses the behavior entirely.
We humans communicate a lot with words. As she talks to give information to the owner, she rather naturally slips into talking at the dog. The talking doesn't give the dog any useful information and could actually confuse the dog. It is hard to talk to people at the same time as you train your dog. It will help you train at home to go to a room without other people. On the flip side, parents, it will help if you do not talk to your child while they are actively training. Wait until they take a quick break to offer your input.
In this video the trainer is teaching the both the owner and dog. She is talking for the owner and for the purpose of the video. Every comment she makes verbally is one more thing she didn't have to find a way to edit into the video. She is very honest about when she is late with the click or misses the behavior entirely.
We humans communicate a lot with words. As she talks to give information to the owner, she rather naturally slips into talking at the dog. The talking doesn't give the dog any useful information and could actually confuse the dog. It is hard to talk to people at the same time as you train your dog. It will help you train at home to go to a room without other people. On the flip side, parents, it will help if you do not talk to your child while they are actively training. Wait until they take a quick break to offer your input.