Quick Clicks: 40 Fast and Fun Behaviors to Train With a Clicker: The Art of Dog Training (2nd edition) by Mandy Book & Cheryl S. Smith

Author:Mandy Book & Cheryl S. Smith
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Pets, Dogs, Reference
ISBN: 9781929242764
Publisher: Dogwise Publishing
Published: 2010-08-31T21:00:00+00:00

FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS OR MOTHER MAY I?

Whenever the dog wants something, he looks to you first for permission, and does a “default behavior” such as Sit, Down, Nose Touch, Paw Touch or an easy trick. The more intense the distraction, the more intense his focus will be on you. Sometimes he gets what he wants (the distraction), sometimes he doesn’t. This is great for a dog that likes to chase or is sidetracked or distressed by the world. If you’ve taught Walk Off Leash/Check In from Chapter 3 or Attention from Chapter 2, it’ll make this exercise go quickly, but it’s not required. For this behavior, we’ll indicate specifically when you should offer a treat (as opposed to some other reward) after marking the behavior.

You will need: A variety of doggie rewards, a list of doggie distractions (see a list of doggie distractions for an example), and a default behavior. Decide what your default behavior will be and train that first, with no distractions. The longer your dog has been doing that behavior (and the more rewards he has received), the better your success will be. For our example, we’ll use a Hand Touch. (See Chapters 2, 3 and 4 for other behaviors.)

Quick Clicks: Bridge words

We’ll discuss the use of another behavior marker called a bridge word. Although it’s not as precise as using a clicker, it’s a handy tool to have for your training. You can use a clicker, or substitute a bridge word where click is indicated, to mark the correct criteria for many behaviors.

Suggested verbal cue: “Look,” “Watch,” “Attention,” “Say Please,” or you can just wait for the dog to look at you.

What’s in it for the dog?

Some dogs are highly movement oriented—you’ll know this is your dog because he’s been chasing anything that moves since he was a small puppy. This exercise will have an impact, although it may be limited. Other dogs may be reacting from fear that something can hurt them. Excitability and hyperactivity can be signs of a stressed dog. Focusing on something to do and removing all punitive corrections from the situation is very successful with these dogs. Or, the behavior may be a combination of both reasons. Believe it or not, active dogs are the easiest dogs to do this behavior with; they quickly learn to focus on what they need to do to get what they want.

Speed Steps

1. Choose a default behavior. Practice multiple times over the course of several days until the dog is offering the behavior quickly and reliably.

2. Teach your dog a bridge word.

3. Create your list of doggie distractions.

4. Cue your default behavior (in our example, a Hand Touch) before anything the dog wants to do. Mark (click or bridge) when the dog touches, then immediately allow him to get what he wants.

5. Cue Attention (or wait for it). When the dog looks at you, cue the dog to Touch. When the dog touches, CT. Continue at this Step with a variety of real-life rewards until the dog anticipates that he has to look at you to get a chance to Touch.

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