I, being a bit fickle, got bored with my training recently. The protocol is excellent for Maxwell, but it's not exactly exciting. Yay, my dog can lie down quietly for 20 seconds! Party time! Wooo! Ahem...
So I've challenged myself to a few new tricks. The first one is for both dogs, and is more of a timing problem than anything. My goal is to be able to stick out my tongue, and have that cue the dogs to lick their noses. The problem is capturing their natural licks quickly and consistently. Plus, I don't think either one has a clue what's making the click happen. Their nose licks are not conscious behaviors, so they may not even be aware that that's what preceded each click. Sadie seems to lick after each bit of kibble, so I can get a pretty constant stream of feedback to her. Maxwell does it much less, and then frantically offers behaviors in the hopes of doing the right one. When none work, he throws himself into a down. But that's only a few minutes of work, so we'll see if either dog picks it up!
I'm also teaching Maxwell to fetch a bath towel. I've started by backchaining it, using the same methods as the tug training. Hold edge of towel and ask him to TAKE IT. Then ask but wait for a light tug as well. We're up to me tossing the towel about 5 feet away, and asking him to GET THE TOWEL. He'll run over, mouth it a bit to get a decent grip, pick up whichever part he grabbed, and take a step or two towards me. That gets heavily rewarded. The cute part is that I can see he wants to actually bring it to me, but gets frustrated when he steps on the trailing end and stops himself. Poor guy, I did catch myself raising the criteria too fast, trying to get the towel all the way to hand. He got so discouraged that I had to click a mere bite to get the behavior chain started again. Learning moment for the trainer! I can't wait until he figures out how to walk without stepping on it. It'll be a great trick when I go swimming at the lake!
I'd like Maxwell to start learning the names of things. It would be awesome to teach him to TAKE, GET, or FIND various objects around the apartment. How great would it be to say FIND YOUR BALL, and have him start hunting for his favorite tennis ball? Or say GET YOUR LEASH and have him bring it to me? I wonder if Sadie would allow herself to be brought over by him pulling on her traffic tab...
A thought for vacation training: teach Sadie to fetch the line on a kayak, thereby bringing a "loose" boat back to shore. That'll take some work, but vacation means lots of free time!
Last thought - Mrs. Trainer lent me Really Reliable Recall tonight. I cannot wait to watch it! Definitely a must-do for the crazy energy dog.
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