The 300 peck method was original developed to teach pigeons in a laboratory to peck a target 300 times before receiving a reward. It's an easy training method that gradually increases criteria one step (peck) at a time.
In this demonstration I am applying the technique to loose lead walking. The method lends itself to those with mobility issues and for anyone who wants to slow their dogs down on walks.
For example - say you've recently injured your ankle and have to walk at half the speed you normally do. Your dog is going to get frustrated and pull because they are not in the habit of walking at your new, slower pace.
This will solve that issue.
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Did you know that dogs and humans think in different ways? 🤔
When it comes to our furry friends, dogs think in pictures, while we humans think in words. While we use language to communicate and process information, dogs rely heavily on their powerful visual memory and associative thinking.
Imagine when we say "ball" to a dog, they don't visualise the letters forming the word. Instead, they create an image of a ball in their minds. It's like they're watching a movie of the things they experience.
This ability is why dogs respond so well to visual cues and body language. They quickly associate certain images with specific actions or outcomes. That's why a simple hand gesture can make them sit or fetch without needing any spoken commands.
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For Dogs Who Play Keep Away When You Try and Put the Lead On
If your dog likes to play "keep away" when you try and put the lead on when out for walks, this tip will make all the difference.
We often accidentally create problems without realising and this is a common example.
When we take our dogs out, we often let them off lead at the start of the walk and only put them back on the lead at the end of the walk. This often creates conflict in the form of we want to go home, but our dog(s) want to keep having fun and the act of putting the lead on predicts going home/fun ending.
All we need to do is shift the balance from lead going on = fun ends to lead going on = treats and going right back to fun.
If we do this nine times out of ten on every walk, our dog(s) realise that 90% of the time, the lead means good things instead of bad things.
Give it a go and let me know how you get on.
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I created a brief video to illustrate the contrasting perspectives on social connection between humans and dogs. While it might appear that dogs are lost in their own world during walks, they are actually still emotionally connected to us, even when they seem distant or distracted.
In our human world, we typically expect our friends to physically be by our side, whereas in the world of dogs, they can feel just as close to us even when they are physically far away.
Appreciating the differences between species is an essential aspect to understanding our dogs better and aligning our expectations with what comes naturally to our dogs.
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With the weather restricting walks I thought I'd post some boredom buster ideas this week.
I saw a super cute video of "trick Spaniel" blowing bubbles in a bowl of water which got me thinking about how I would train this cute trick.
This is what I came up with. The goal is to click and treat for exhaling under water. The glass bowl helps to be able to see when the bubbles appear so you can click accurately. Ted didn't quite get there, choosing to drink the water instead of exhaling, so this was a fail for me. 🙈😂🙈
Have fun with it, video it and post your progress.
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One of Ted's quirks is that he likes to sing along to certain things. Today it was the Countdown clock. 😂💕😂
What quirky things does your dog do ?
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With the current heat wave in full swing, cooling mats are a brilliant way for our dogs to self regulate their temperature. However, some dogs struggle or flat-out refuse to use them.
This video demonstrates a force-free approach to encourage any dog to choose to use the cooling mat on their own.
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Excessive marking on walks (whilst not being an issue) can be somewhat irritating when you are having to stop every five meters when you just want to get where you are going.
Ted's marking is becoming more and more habitual which will only get worse unless I address it.
My goal is not to stop the sniffing behaviour (because sniffing is enriching, natural and calming) but to stop the marking which often follows (which is what holds up the walk).
One of the things about force free styles of training is that you have to get creative and think around the problem; what can I reinforce in order to get what I want ?
In this case I am rewarding the sniffing in order to interrupt the pattern of: sniff>turn>pee on the spot (marking).
With practice, I create a new pattern of: sniff>get reward>move on.
As we get better at this, the pattern should morph into: sniff>move on>get reward. Eventually Ted should just grab sniffs as we pass them without stopping.
We end up with the best compromise between Ted's need to sniff and my need to get somewhere. Ted gets plenty of off lead time to sniff as much as he likes.
I left the mistakes/fails in the video to show that in the early stages we are only looking for progress, not perfection and mistakes/failures are a normal part of the learning process.
If you watch until the end, there's a little "bonus" in it where I show you "paws up" which is how I get all those cute pictures of Ted (with his front paws on things) in my regular posts.
Hopefully this is useful for anyone struggling with excessive marking on walks.
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Walking at a distance behind other on lead, calm dogs is a fantastic way for reactive dogs to experience other dogs from a safe distance.
If we could "see" the way our dogs do, we would "see" a plume of scent trailing behind the dog we're following. By being in that plume of scent, our reactive dog can safely gather information about the dog we're following without the stress of an actual greeting.
Watch your dog and see if you can spot them "air scenting" (your dog starts sniffing the air). This is a good sign you're dog is on the right track.
Try not to upset anyone by being too "stalkerish"...😂
The best thing to do if people give you funny looks is to complement their dog, thank them and walk away.
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Somehow managed to miss this one. This was supposed to be the follow up to the boring walks video, so here it is.
Step two is the actual recall after throwing the treat away from you.
Have fun with it and let me know how you get on.
A quick body language example of Ted showing fear of walking on a walkway that has gaps he can see through. I'm using treats to encourage bravery and made sure not to push too much and quit while we were ahead.
It's vital we acknowledge our dog's emotions and play a supportive role with lots of encouragement when addressing the problem whilst always giving choice.
My goal is to reward bravery without overwhelming. Ted always has the option to quit if the struggle is too much to overcome. We can always try again another time.
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As promised, this is the proximity follow up video on "charging" your reward marker.
We call it "charging" because the more times you do it, the more powerful (charged) it becomes (just like a battery).
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This is one of those "game changer" tips that everyone will benefit from doing.
The only things you need are:
High value treats.
A dog.
A reasonably "charged" reward marker (such as a clicker or verbal "yes"/"good dog").
For those that don't have a reward marker, a seperate video is coming to show you how.
The result is your dog will be much more attentive to you on walks, is more likely to stay close to you and makes recalls easier. If you struggle to get your dog's attention on walks, this is the key to changing that.
Let me know in the comments how you get on.
Be sure to like, share and follow me for more helpful tips.
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Been a bit slow posting this week. This little tip was from bank holiday Monday...
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Emergency Stop Training
This is how I train the emergency stop. It's one of those skills well worth training as it has so many real life applications.
A couple of things to bear in mind:
Make sure your treats are large enough to travel the distance when you throw them.
Practice your throws in advance until your aim is good enough.
Use the same hand for the the "stop" signal and throwing the treat.
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Recall tips
Three more tips to help your recall training.
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This is one way to teach your dog to come in from your garden and also to go out into your garden. This is a fantastic exercise for puppies during toilet training. Just use the "out" cue (and then let them out) whenever you catch them trying to toilet indoors.
You can use the same exercise if you have a front garden, getting in and out of your car/caravan etc.
Give it a go and let me know in the comments how you get on.
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Doggy parkor is a great confidence builder. Remember to start easy and slowly increase the challenge as your dog's confidence builds.
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One of my goals with my business overhaul is to start doing videos of me talking to the camera to share regular hints and tips, so we'll call this video number one.
When you are practising your recalls, say your recall cue (come/here etc) in the quietest voice possible. Try and find the lowest volume your dog will respond to and as you progress, lower your voice more and more.
As you play around with it, increase distance but DO NOT raise your voice. You will be AMAZED how sensitive your dog's hearing is. Dogs can hear things around four times further away than we can so let's use that to our advantage and train our dogs to become super sensitive to our voice.
The huge benefit to training this way is that our dogs notice the increased volume and urgency in our voice and recall a lot faster and more reliably when we need them to.
If you are always shouting at your dog to recall them, you are just training them to tune out unless you are shouting.
Give it a go and let me know how you get on in the comments.
I've created a monster
Despite restricting Bandit's access to his ball through teaching "windows of opportunity", I've created a strong expectation of "ball time" on our walks.
Scarcity also increases desire so a side effect of restricting access has increased Bandit's frsutration to get to the ball.
To offset the emerging issue, we practiced "toggling" which is the ability to switch between high arousal and relaxation. The early stages are always going to be the most challenging so I dug in and waited Bandit out.
We started off well, but then frustration kicked in and it took around twenty minutes of demand barking before Bandit let it go and decided to ramp down.
I sped the barking bit up by 5x as no-one wants to sit through twenty minutes of non-stop barking !
If Bandit can overcome his frustration with the ball, it will rub off in all other areas of frustration (barking at the window etc). Patience is a skill that needs to be learned and practiced.
Great job Bandit - twenty minutes wasn't too bad at all. I feared it would take a lot longer.
🥰🥰💕💕🥰🥰
