As you did so good with your first homework, you're getting some more this time 🙂 I again marked the ones to focus on first. Post wherever you end up, we learn the most through problems, so you want to post those too! 🙂
1. experiment with different toys and ways to play with your dog. Tape his favourite game to give some new ideas to other participants (and me!!!)
2. instead of a plate, find something a little higher this time to give them a better feeling of where to keep their front legs, click first for front feet on an object (should be easy, you want the same thing as on a plate) and then observe hind legs and click for ANY movement (even just a weight shift) and then shape from there for more&more steps around the object. I first click both directions and once I get a quarter of a circle, start clicking one direction only and reward with a head away from me in order to get a full circle. The final goal is full circle in both directions, with you static (don't help the dog to circle with your movement!) - I think those that have my heeling video can already do that exercise, though 🙂
3. take the plate and hold it in different positions to see if the dog understands it's the same thing even when you hold it higher, under angle, to his left/right etc. Try when he is standing, sitting and lying down. If you didn't name touching an object with a paw, it's time to do it now! Also, try to change objects for this exercise, sometimes also use a hand as a paw target. Once he can do all that, you're ready for next two tricks we will get out of the paw touch:
- crossing paws: tell the puppy to down (or shape it if he doesn't know it yet), then hold the plate (or, you can use another, smaller and more convenient object, like a plastic lid or a piece of paper) close to left paw and only reward touching it with left paw. Then hold it closer and closer to right paw, still only reward left paw touches, then hold it on right paw and eventually on the other side, jackpoting the touches of left paw on a right paw now in order to eventually get rid of a target.
- sit up: tell the puppy to sit (or shape it if he doesn't know it yet), then put the plate (or just use the hand if he will recognize that as a target) low enough first that he can reach it with a paw, but then every next time, hold it a little higher - not that high that he would stand up, but high enough that the other leg leaves the ground a little bit too. Jackpot.
4. observe your puppy and try to find situations when he would back up - it usually happens when they're moving out of your way - or sometimes when you're working on ignoring the food in the hand. You can try to sit down on the floor with treats in your hand and click first step back with hind foot. Don't wait for more than one as they usually sit down then. Click&reward the first one and reward by throwing a treat towards the dog. Rewarding at distance will help you add more&more steps and more&more distance from you. At one point, switch to rewarding with a toy, it's easier to throw.
5. 2on2off - find an object big enough for the dog to go on with all 4 feet easily - maybe just put your first 4in object upside down? - Click for 2-3 legs on and then don't click the fourth one, you don't want any duration standing there! Only click again when the dog is leaving the object, try to catch him with 2 front feet on the ground and deliver the treat while he is still in this position. You want them go on an object and off immediately, stopping with front feet on the ground. Click&reward several times for a position, then say "go"/"o.k."/"free"/whatever your release word will be and throw a treat away so that he needs to leave the position to get it. Do this enough times that the dog starts to expect the thrown treat after "go", so that then you don't need to throw it in advance, but only after he leaves the position on "go". Do not help with body language that you want him to leave after "go" - if he doesn't know it yet, go back to throwing a treat and progress more slowly.
SIT UP:
Again lots of cheer leading. Can’t really see in this video but she did shift her weight back a couple of times and was actually sitting not leaning on me. Would she find this hard if she is not strong in the rear?
Yeap, sit up is very hard if the rear end is not well muscled, so don’t push her for too much. Only do about that many repetitions as on a video per day, not more as that to avoid her being sore after, you need to build balance and strength gradually. She is actually doing really well already, but still, don’t rush it. Also, make sure she sits straight before asking for it, they can get off balance if trying it when not sitting straight.
2020 stage 1:
Ok, I have 3 2020’s showing the food as reward.
She seems to understand her job but slower and more concentrating.
Then 3 2020’s with her beloved Frizbie as the reward.
Although she is faster and happier, she also looses the plot a bit and forgets what she is supposed to do, however corrects herself.
Is it too soon for Toy?
Is the 2020 going to be the right style of contact for her?
Is the 2020 perch she is on too high for her, maybe something lower?
Great job! I think successful rate is good enough to continue with a toy. You can revert back to food if the successful rate drops more as that -- but I think it should only grow from now on, she seems to understand it well, she is just too much in a hurry a couple of times. And she sure finds it more fun! 🙂 But yes, lower perch would be better yes. As for what to use for contacts… I’m pretty sure she would love running contacts even more 🙂 But it’s more a question of what YOU find more fun to train and how much time, space and patience you have for training. If you have enough space, I would recommend you try some beginning steps of running contacts too, at the same time work on 2on2off on the object and then decide what you like better somewhere on a way -- OR, you can even go for both and use running contacts for straight exits and A-frame and 2on2off for turns off the dog-walk -- but that’s Foundations topic already 🙂
Hi
I know that it is very dark in this video; I will try to get more light in the next videos!
Turns on plate: I’m trying to teach Mia to go the other way around the plate.
Crossing legs: Next step?
Sit-up: I’m trying what you recommended with the hand coming down to her. Is duration the next step?
Stepping backwards: she seems to have forgotten what stepping backwards is. Will work some more on that.
2on2off and go: Here we are naming “go”, to be sure that she knows what it means.
Heeling: We working on getting her to step back, so she isn’t too much in front of me. I hope you can see what we are doing.
;o) Mia & Lara
For crossing legs, keep the target lower and don’t click for touching the target anymore, but for touching the other leg. Then use your finger instead of a target to show what you want, then minimalise the gesture and finally put it on verbal cue only. Add duration to sit up and keep your hand higher&higher so that she can’t touch it anymore to make her understand it’s not about touching your hand, but about holding the position. Keep working on stays (2on2off and sit/down), reducing the rewards in a position to zero and letting the release to a thrown toy/treat become the only reward. To fix heeling position, lots of turns towards the dog helps them see it’s better not to walk too much in front.