Category: Crossing Over, Fun Stuff ¤
  Author: Linda Shipman ¤
   Title: Fun Moments in Clicker Training ¤

Though I bragged yesterday about Iris, our 15 month old golden,
getting a leg on her CD the first weekend she was in an obedience
trial, we have had our funny moments during training :-)

Picture this.....

We read on the list about training for the broad jump, by putting
a treat on a dish on a stake on the far side of the jump, to 
encourage the dog to jump straight before it makes it's turn to
the handler.  

So off we troup to the lawn to practice.  We nail a paper plate
to a stake and pound it into the grass. 

We line Iris up on the far side and tell her to wait *CLICK*.  

Perry says "over".  She sails above the jump *CLICK*

She reaches the plate and takes the treat *CLICK*

She heads for Perry, who is frantically digging in his pockets
for a treat, to reward her for getting it all right.

She fronts while Perry is still digging in his pocket.

She returns to the paper plate, *rips* it off the stake
and returns to Perry, doing a perfect front, and looking
very pleased with herself ;-) sure that she has at last
understood the reason for the exercise.

Talk about offering behaviors!!!  We were bent over double
laughing at her creativity.

This is what I love about clicker training:  

*We have a lot of fun in the process. 
*Even when things take a different direction than expected, 
 we learn AND there's no harm done.
*Beginners don't have to worry about making mistakes.  We've
 made a slew of them and Iris still did very well in the 
 obedience ring
 
Another story....

Heeling off leash was one of the hardest exercises to refine
with Iris, so I started doing short stints of it while we
went on our daily walks.  *Click* when she walked alongside 
of me and didn't lag or forge ahead.  Then using variable 
reinforcement to extend the amount of time she would heel 
correctly by my side.

One afternoon, I was deep in my thoughts as we walked along
the trail.  Iris had been off snooping in the forest doing her
doggy thing.  I suddenly became aware of her right next to
my left side with her eyes trying to catch mine.  I said
"Hi Iris", but that wasn't enough. 

She was inviting me to play the "heeling" game.  She was very 
insistent.  She wanted her clicker and she wanted her treats NOW!
<vbg>  We did speed ups and slow downs and stops and turn arounds. 
She stayed with me the whole time.  I finally quit because I was
tired of the game.

Several times on that walk, she would go off for a while and 
then come back again and insist on playing the heeling game. 
How many dogs, trained with other methods, do you know that 
would ask for more opportunities to practice their obedience
exercises?  <grin>

Our relationship rose to a new level that day....

Linda
**************************************************************
* Linda Shipman
* Juneau, Alaska
* lshipman@pobox.alaska.net
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