Voluntary paw targeting (all 4). This behavior wasn’t cued (asked for) this was Wish’s first time paw targeting in the woods after practicing for 45 minutes in our play yard. Wish learns things quickly and she generalized this behavior well in this new environment. Eventually she stopped waiting for me to cue her and began looking for structures to target independently with her front feet and then she began targeting with all four. She is fed repeatedly in place to build in a tiny bit of duration before being released.
Like every October we are running a special for the pitties.
Working on recalls and check-ins with long line dragging.
Hand Targeting
Back chaining Recall
Gracie practiced hand targeting inside the home for a week. Her human added in distractions and distance. When we met last week she was ready to begin working outside. I always teach this behavior FIRST because it is the last part of my recall training plan, and I want the dog to 1. get used to coming all the way to their human and 2. normalize coming from far away. This is not all that we do. We condition the recall word, and capture with a clicker all of the approximations involved with coming from the first head turn, to the body turn, to the hand target. We spend four weeks working on recall. Four weeks. Not one session.
Many trainers will guarantee that they can teach your dog a reliable recall with an e-collar in one session. When that collar comes off, will the dog still come? Will they come because they are filled with joy to do so, or will they come to escape the annoyance or pain of the collar. Which would you rather have a dog who is afraid to NOT come to you, or a dog that is filled with joy to come to you?
#compassionovercruelty
#trainwithoutpain
We will be closed the last week in August. Intake can still be submitted and will be acknowledged, but there will be no appointments during this time.
Somewhere in the distance fireworks are being set off, I am so grateful that neither of my dogs is bothered by them (or thunder storms).
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨
If you live with a dog who is frightened by fireworks
📌 YOU NEED TO CALL YOUR VET TOMORROW 7/1/24 FOR
💊 MEDICATION AND MAKE A PLAN FOR YOUR PUPPER.
Saturday we worked with Luke. Luke and his mom Amanda have been working on all of their foundational skills to get ready for working directly with his trigger (other dogs). This video is super boring. Next week we will be using a real dog!
