School time for our puppies! Here is your first to-do list. 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!
Also, 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. 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, 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 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 as it reduces crawling.
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.
Thank you Silvia,
I have never posted a video to Youtube so I am also on a steep learning curve. I would like to know how I can do this so that the whole world cant see me -- just this site or you. -- Lyn
Yeah, we were all there at one point 🙂 After you start uploading to YouTube, a space opens up where you can write it’s title, description etc. -- AND mark it as “public”, “only available to those with a direct link” and “private”. You need to mark “only available to those with a direct link” option. Good luck! 🙂
Thank you for a great to do list with lots of fun things to teach! We already do a lot of recall stuff, but I didn’t think about ‘just’ doing it along the day for every fun activity as well (and I feel a little stupid that I didn’t). Sometimes the beauty and secret lies in the most simple things 🙂
Is it ok if the dog touches the plate with “2” front paws? Or are we really looking for just the one paw?
Sure, two is good too!
Hi. I just signed up as an auditor as I have a 10 week old puppy and am excited to follow along. My question is --did I sign up for the right class?? I wanted the first beginning puppy class, but I’m here at Puppy III, so I’m not sure. I want to make sure I start at the beginning, since I don’t want to miss anything. Thanks! CHRIS
Welcome! You’re at the right place yes, the class is called puppy III just to not confuse it with first two puppy classes I have (same classes, just started earlier).
Just adding a picture to my profile. Fun!
Can’t wait to get started. Even bought a new flip camera! This is a video of my Toy Fox Terrier Cookie doing the ‘4 feet in a dish’. Not the dog I signed up for this seminar with, but she is doing one of the exercises so I thought I would share.
I did not use a clicker with her because she is afraid of the click. I never could get her over it. There are some things I like about how I trained it and some not, but she keeps working even through the difficult steps. She’s a fun dog, can’t wait to do this with my puppy!
Very cute! Love her activity level. With a puppy, you definitely want to be more generous with the rewards though. When I start with a new, more difficult size, I reward even for thinking in the right direction, bringing hind feet up or closer etc. Another tip to make the transition easier is to introduce the new size by first putting it in a size the dog mastered already.
Very funny dog! I could never guess what breed she is, though, Fox Terriers in Europe look completely different!
Yes, I think that would totally help to put the smaller dish in the bigger one! And yes, I will reward more with the puppy. She is a Toy Fox Terrier. They don’t really look like Fox Terriers that much. She is only 5 lbs.
Agh, I though a Toy Fox must looks like a small Fox Terrier… 🙂
Here’s our paws on plate + 4 in a bowl (plus some working when toys + food are in sight/ in my hand). Still need some more balance for the smaller bowl though (and me not fumbling with the kibble). Frog and recall videos coming up 🙂
Very nice, love her style of a paw touch, that was too cute! And AMAZING balance for such a puppy in that small bowl! But you did start it before I posted this assignment, right? Also, very good reinforcement rate and placement of the reward, those are all great trainer’s skills! Thanks for posting a video already, I think it will help others a lot, it sure shows some great training!
Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Yup, we cheated and started in advance 😉 At least with something very similar (all 4 in a little square box and paw target on a mouse-mat). Shown above is session 3 of paws on plate and session 4 of all 4 in a bowl since we got the assignment.
We’ve never done the frog though and it’s quite the challenge to ‘isolate’ hind legs, but your tip with the pillow helps a lot!
Hi there!
Quick question -- Swift already knew a nose touch, but transferring over to a paw touch was fairly easy. She now pounces on the plate with two paws, but she has gotten into the habit of lying down as well or getting into the “bow” position. I am assuming it’s better if she is in a stand, so now that she understands she needs to touch her paws to the plate, should I only click if she does it in the standing position? I think part of the reason she does that is she is such an insecure dog, she feels safest on the ground! But, I want her to know she is safe standing too. I’d love any feedback, thanks!
Christin and Swift
Yes, if she sometimes does it in a stand too, then definitely jackpot those and then stop rewarding touching in down when you get high enough % of touches in stand to keep the rate of reinforcement high. Another trick to get rid of a down is to hold a target higher, so that she can’t touch it if lying down -- putting the target in different positions is in your next assignment anyway 🙂 , to work on generalization.
Alright, awesome. Thanks so much! 😀