Tricksmas Day #23 - Skye had a long car ride today (with extra meds to keep her comfy) so we kept this really short, but it's definitely one we're going to keep working on because getting a selfie with her is...not easy. ๐
#tricksmas
#tricktraining
#dogtraining
Tricksmas Day #21 - We are having a lot of fun with this one! We still have a few days left so not committing yet, but this one might go down as our favorite trick this year.
Does anyone know/remember what our favorite trick from last year was?
#tricksmas
#tricktraining
#dogtraining
What do you do when you wake up with laryngitis and realize you can't call your dog in the yard because you have zero voice? You add a new cue to an existing behavior that doesn't require your voice.
I paired 3 claps in a row with targeting my hand. I chose targeting my hand because it's an additional visual cue to get to me, but the claps will allow me to call her when she isn't looking at me (which targeting does not).
Pairing a new cue with a known cue is simple:
๐๐ป Give the new cue (in this case 3 claps)
โ๐ป Pause a few seconds
๐ซฑ๐ป Give the known cue (in this case holding out my open palm)
๐ฆด After the dog does the behavior (in this case touching my palm with her nose), reward
After some repetitions, try the new cue alone and see what your dog does. If they don't do the behavior, go back to pairing for some additional reps.
In this case, it took Skye only a handful of repetitions before she understood what the claps meant. It probably didn't hurt that she thought this was a fun new game!
What cues could you see adding, or have you added to existing behaviors? Leave your ideas in the comments! ๐๐ป
Skye has been increasingly excited about her underwater treadmill sessions. Last week she barked because we were too slow to let her in. ๐ Look at that happy tail! Abigail, our wonderful PT at @marylandanimal even got a smile today!
#underwatertreadmill
#caninephysicaltherapy
#fearfreepets
Good morning groans from Wynnie (volume up). ๐ฅฐ
#stayandplay
#dogboarding
Practicing some of our homework from Week 1 of the Predation Substitute Training Instructor Course. We're practicing the check-in game at a point on our hike where there are always some particularly good animal smells off to my left.
#dogtrainer
#dogtraining
#predationsubstitutetraining
#rewardbasedtraining
#rewardbaseddogtraining
Mom spent too much time doing her homework and it got late so instead of our sniff walk we did food puzzles. She has gotten scary good at this one. ๐
What did you do for enrichment with your pup today?
#dogenrichment
#dogpuzzle
#foodpuzzle