School time for our puppies! Here is your first to-do list.
Just a short note first: there are lots of tasks waiting for you in this class as I like to keep it interesting also for those dogs who already know some of the tricks. HOWEVER, make sure you're not focusing on teaching too much as fast as possible, to the degree of trying to help/lure - but instead take the time and focus on the fun part. In order not to make you feel under pressure, I will be underlining the tasks you should focus on in each lesson. The rest you can do if the underlined exercises are going well, but we don't need those for the next lesson, so it doesn't hurt if you address those later.
1. The first task might sound a little silly for those with adult dogs, but in fact, it's never silly to make a recall even better! Call your dog at least 10 times a day to do something fun together: to play, to go out, to get a treat, something to chew on or a new exciting toy
2. put a plate (or another object, but I like to start with a plate as puppies can't chew on those too easily) on a floor and shape a puppy to touch it with a front paw: you can first click for head movement in the right direction, then one/two/three steps towards the plate, then stepping over it or close to it and finally for stepping on it
3. sit on a floor and put a fist full of treats or dog's favourite toy right in front of their nose, wait till they stop sniffing and click for anything they try other than getting directly to the food/toy or staring at it. It's very important the dog understands staring at food/toy doesn't get him anywhere as it will later on allow you to work with food/toys in your hand without distracting the dog's focus from the job at hand.
4. find a box or a drawer that is as long as your dog and not too high and shape a dog to put 1-2-3-4 legs into it. Then try with smaller&smaller objects, final goal is the dog can stand with all 4 feet in a small bowl.
5. observe your puppy and see if he sometimes stretches his legs out when in down position, puppies often do that when relaxed or playing. Name it (I call it "frog":) and reward. It's a nice stretching exercise and very easy to get it on cue if the dog does it naturally (some dogs do it as adults too, but mine didn't and it was much harder to train it as with puppy Le who was doing that naturally). If not, put a dog in a down position and reward from the floor and so far ahead that the dog needs to stretch out to get it - but not so far that he would crawl ahead. Watch the hind legs and click for moving them back OR out, but NOT for crawling step forward. It usually helps if you try to get them stretch over a pillow, like in this video:
Looking forward to see your videos! You can send them in one or more pieces, but keep the total length of the videos sent per lesson under 10min. Don't wait until you master the tricks before sending your videos, just post whatever you're working on for some feedback.
Hi, this is the first video of Elky doing paw touch and 4 in a box… I’ll post a new video soon, but till then would like to know how we’re doing 🙂
Oh, what a cute puppy! 🙂 Love the idea on working on ignoring food on the floor at the same time. I would still try to keep some food in the hand too, to be able to reward quicker: I really like quick, intense sessions with little off time in between as I think it helps with giving you intense worker. -- But well, she looks pretty intense already 🙂 Love how she slams on her target! For the box, I would probably use something less target-like and more box-like as I think it can cause problems with 2 vs. 4 feet on otherwise, especially once it gets smaller. So try to find something with a little bit of edges. It can already be smaller as this object, she sure is getting things fast! Great job!
I should have some video to post tonight but I have been having some interesting learning experiences. So far, I have not gotten very far with any of the tricks.
Dante just turned 9 weeks old this Saturday and I am trying to figure out how long is too long to train. 1 minute? 30 seconds? 10 treats? Does it make a difference if we train a little, play tug, train a little as a brain break?
Can I work on his box, his paw touch and his frog in the same session?
I find I am luring a lot to get him to interact with the plate and the box. I tap the plate, or move it to attract his attention. Then he just goes to it and looks at me. I find I am clicking either a lot for a whole lot of nothing, or not clicking enough. /sigh
I have also discovered that Dante does not really like the loud click. He wouldn’t act scared, so it took me a little while to figure it out, but he’d “turn off”. I just recently moved to the softer iClick clicker and am now working on building more drive for the click.
Also, while he happily eats kibble and bits of cheese it wasn’t enough to maintain his attention. I have been experimenting with bits of chicken and bacon and I have been getting much more drive with those.
It’s normal you can’t get very far with such a puppy! With a new puppy, I always feel like I’m not getting anywhere and one trick will take me a whole year 🙂 -- but once it clicks and the puppy gets the concept, things are like a rolling snowball! That’s why it’s important to be patient at the beginning. Try not to lure, but maybe just start with a simple exercise of clicking anything that he does: any action is rewarded (a head turn, a step in any direction, lie down, looking up at you etc.) by tossing a treat: what will as a consequence give you another action (stepping towards you?) that you can reward. Keep it very short and the reinforcement rate so high that you finish his meal in no time. I never timed my sessions, but I’m clicking so fast with puppies that I spend their whole meal (I feed them 4 to 5 times a day) in no time. My last puppy didn’t really want to eat though, so I played for every second click (and then every third, fourth etc.): you can try that. Definitely mix in many toy rewards if he likes that better. I think for now, his tricks sessions have to be so short that you can’t really work on that many tricks in one session… Once his focus is longer, you can of course do that, with a play break in between maybe.
Here is our first video. Snarf wouldn’t go near the box, so I started getting impatient, hence the attempts to play with the treats and the weird looking luring gestures with my hands… After a while I gave up and tried with Polly instead, is that ok? I’m having big troubles motivating Snarf sometimes. Polly on the other hand, is so much easier to train. Smaller boxes coming up as soon as I find one at home!
No problems with the paw touches! But Snarf looks somewhat unsure about new strange looking objects: doesn’t look unmotivated at all, just unsure about it. I think this is exactly why you should work on this, to teach him that interaction with objects is o.k. But exactly with scary things, it’s important you do NOT lure: it’s a kind of contra-productive as he wants that treat, but is afraid to go get it and that creates conflict -- so contra-productive. So instead of trying to cheat and throw him treats IN a box, toss them AWAY -- so that you can then reward for bravely coming back. Being asked to go away is a reward too. To make it easier, try with a less scary object first… Is he used to a crate? If so, shape him to go into his crate first. If you have a plastic crate that can be put in two pieces, use the bottom half only next. Then try cardboard box with very low edges maybe. Maybe even with his blanket in it first. And then slowly go from there, introducing more&more strange objects -- it’s really important they’re o.k. with new stuff, ready to investigate and try things.
Great feedback Silvia, thank you so much!
Snarf is very cute and I love his name. I learned much from your video and Silvia’s feedback. My girl is also tentative. I have had a hard time finding the **right** box for her…one that is long enough to fit all four feet with edges that are not too high. I found one last night when we were on our run…I carried it all the way home which made it kindof hard to run:) But it was worth it because when we got home she finally was able to get all 4 feet in the box! I also did the trick with my 8 year old Keeshond, Norton. He immediately put all four feet in the box and I jackpotted him. From that point on, he wouldn’t put all four feet in the box, but thought that the idea was that he was supposed to leap over the box. I ended up luring him to get into the box because I am the most impatient person in the world plus I thought he was going to hurt himself by getting his foot caught while he was leaping back and worth like a crazy man.
Yey for the 4in! 🙂 Must have looked funny though, running with that box! Some dogs are more tentative about new things as others, that’s why I make sure with my puppies that they see and interact with as many strange things as possible. For my puppy students, I have a whole collection of strange boxes 🙂
Can I just ask one follow up question about this? I really struggle with patience when it comes to shaping Snarf… 🙂 He is a really intelligent dog, and a thinker, and he moves thoughtfully and slowly. Also, he doesn’t get too excited about treats (he prefers toys). He’s also a slow chewer. 🙂 These factors mean we don’t get many repetitions very quickly and it means I need to be patient and wait for him to think and chew. 🙂
It feels like a great challenge for me to teach him things and I think he will really help me improve as a trainer. Do you have any good tips on how to become more patient in my learning process? It seems like shaping can be all about patience in some cases and it’s not my strongest trait right now… 😉
I would also like more information on how to be more patient. If I click for little steps it seems that they get stuck there and don’t progress. If I wait until they do something more, then I am not reinforcing enough and they quit. I realize that it is such a fine line and I am trying to understand how to progress and not get stuck while not luring and manipulating. The reason that I am taking this class is to get better at that skill.
My biggest problem with Secret is that she is rather tentative. If she thinks what she is doing is not correct, she just quits. I am seeing this in all of my training (cik/cap, these tricks, our advanced obedience work). So even on cik/cap if I don’t reward every attempt she gets discouraged and starts to sniff the ground. I am almost to the point where I reward everything, but reward the correct behavior more enthusiastically.
I think that I am pretty good at breaking behavior down into small, easily achievable chuncks. The reason that I haven’t posted a video yet is that I couldn’t find the perfect sized box for Secret so that she could be successful. All the boxes I tried up until last night she would only put two legs into. Secret is really testing my ability to manage the situation where she can be successful while at the same time learning and moving forward. I think that it is impossible to learn if there are not mistakes. But everytime she makes a mistake she becomes deflated and discouraged even though I try so hard to be upbeat and just ask her to try again. Any advice on this would be much appreciated!
The best thing about shaping is that it teaches the dog that there are no mistakes: there is just another try. My older BC is terribly soft and sensitive and wants to be right really badly… -- and yet she will never shut down when learning something new and will keep trying for ever: as she knows that’s how it works. It’s important to not show them impatience and give them time. I agree finding the line between getting stuck and waiting too long is hard though -- so I always choose to err on the side of getting stuck 🙂 -- much less harm done that way! Even if somewhat stuck, you will eventually get something that you can jackpot -- and then just work from there. Writing this, I just realized that this is probably my secret -- jackpots 🙂 I tend to reward a lot, probably much more as other trainers -- but jackpots help me to not get stuck despite of that weakness. My dogs understand jackpots really well and it really helps taking things further. Jackpots give me the additional tool: it’s either no reward, reward or jackpot!
So for now, reward as much as you need to keep her happy to cooperate and as you’re doing already: just reward even more when you get something more! Once she really gets the system and knows it all just another try, you will be able to get more selective without her shutting down.
Great discussion! Silvia, do you always jackpot with multiple treats when shaping? Seems like I also remember you saying that you used your happy voice 🙂 as well when the dog makes a breakthrough. Or maybe that’s not quite a jackpot, but close?
Thanks.
Yes, I always mark jackpots with an excited voice -- AND give some extra treats or a toy if that’s what they prefer. That way they learn how cool the happy voice is 🙂
I don’t think it’s so much about patience… -- as it is about being happy with small things, as I wrote earlier in this class about another 4in problem we had. Many people think shaping is about waiting and waiting and waiting for things to happen. It’s not. You have to make things happen by being happy with little things that go in the right direction 🙂 The longer you wait, the more bored and less active the dog will be. So don’t wait, but try to see little things that you can reward. As I mentioned in a first reply: toss a treat away and click&toss again for nearing the box. Don’t wait he gets there, click&toss for a first step in the right direction… -- tons of clicking opportunities there, no waiting needed! 🙂 And it gets even better: it makes them really eager to get to that box, if you keep interrupting them with a click&toss every time they want to go there 🙂 -- Hope that helps some!
That helps absolutely TONS! Thank you, thank you!
Great! 🙂
Here we go with our first frog experiences… I am not sure if it is ok to hold the hand out with the treats to make her stretch -- should I wait for her to do it naturally? She does occasionally when playing, so maybe I could also capture this.
On top, this little devil has razor sharp teeth like a shark and she is so eager to get the food that my hands look like I have a few cats instead of dogs…
Hm, maybe do some of exercise 3 first: she does seem somewhat too much into that hand. It is o.k. to keep a hand there, but she is sure attacking it that hard that I’m not sure if she is really thinking about hind feet here… I think she is just trying to chew her way to the treats and as she is doing so as you click, you’re actually rewarding it… So maybe go to exercise 3 first so that she learns to think with food around and meantime try capturing a frog and then come back to this exercise a little later.
Ooops, can anybody see the video? It says “an error occurred” although there is no problem when watching it directly on YouTube…
I can see it! Such a cute puppy!
Hello here is our video for first week of puppy class! we had fun with stretching. love watching every ones videos.
She is just too cute! Loved the variety of behaviours she offered in ignoring food exercise! You can click her for those, even if she is looking at your hands for now: the important thing is she can still think! Great hind feet movements on the target already! For the frog, you can try the same thing on a cushion, might be easier to get a full stretch. But she certainly seems to understand what it is about already! For the 4in, try rewarding lower when she is in a box to promote standing vs. sitting. You can also switch to a smaller one, she doesn’t see to have any problems with this one! Great job!
Kalhy with frog, paw touch and 4 paws in a bowl 🙂 So proud of my funny little girl <3 We really enjoy the class!
Wow, Iris, she is so well balanced! Bisou is so hectic and can’t wait to be rewarded that she looses balance. Kathy is really a clever and cute little girl -- would love to see her live 🙂
She sure is just too cute! And very enthusiastic, love her attitude! Almost there with the frog and great 4in, what a balance! Maybe another session on this bowl and then you can try something even smaller -- just to keep you busy 🙂
OK, it seems to work.
Here is the lunchtime training for “4 in a box” -- this was the first time I introduced smaller boxes. I threw in the blue box which is only slightly smaller than the first one, actually I wouldn’t have expected that she had no trouble at all. So I added one smaller only a few clicks later, it is approx 10 x 12 cm and she understood directly that it is the same trick. We will remain with this size for a few sessions and go for duration which will probably be the hardest part, as she is not Miss Patience herself… This would be my next question -- how small is small? Is that the smallest size you would make her step in?
So cute and so smart!:D
Great generalization skills to switch to new objects so easily!!! And what a balance! To build duration, the best is to reward her in a position, while standing with 4in. -- It’s normal she is in a hurry to get out if she is expecting a treat toss! Tossing treats is great if you want more action, but it looks like you have enough action here 🙂 For duration, rewarding in a position is better. Great job -- and what a great little puppy!
Sorry for posting so many videos today, we just had some more time than usual to train and work on the videos 😉
Here is the one paw touch -- I switched to a very small bowl as she otherwise uses two paws instead of one. She even tries with this one to stand upon it with two feet. When I put a plate (even a small one) she will stand on it with two feet. Is it ok like that or should I take a plate and not reward for two paws?
Nice paw touches too! We’ll need both paws too, so reward for two on a plate and one on this little bowl.