A Training Plan for Mac

I've been training Mac without a plan, and I find that I don't really know if he's making progress or not. There are too many aspects to each session, and I don't know when to move forward, and when to move back a step or two. So I'm going to make a plan right here and now so that I have some solid goals for his training instead of just doing whatever each time. We've been spending a lot of time on "touch," so I think I'll start here. I'd like to move on, so I need to be able to tell when to do it. So here we go (from Melissa Alexander, mca @ clickersolutions.com):

Cue:     Verbal cue "touch"

Description:     On cue, dog will touch (or attempt to touch a moving target) with his nose any indicated object.

Elements:

Behavior specifics:      Nose touch.

Duration:      Behavior terminates at actual touch.

Distance:      Up to 40 feet.

Latency:      Immediate.

Position:      Dog should go to the target regardless of the target's position

relative to me or him. I should be able to be in any physical position.

Locations:      Everywhere.

Distractions:      Anything and everything. Especially distractions common in a dog show or performance environment.

Training Plan: (Accomplish each level in multiple locations of gradually increasing distractions.)

1.     Touch the end of an offered target stick.

2.     Add cue.

3.     Touch the end of an offered target stick when on another object.

4.     Touch indicated object, including a dumbbell.

5.     Shape dog to look in indicated direction.

6.     Add cue to "look."

7.     Shape dog to look and then touch object on floor 10 feet away.

8.     Follow and touch the target stick.

9.     Touch a wall from 10 feet away.

10.   Touch a wall 20 feet away.

I'll detail what exactly I do to achieve the desired behavior and document it here.

Instructions for target training Mac:

1. Make the target interesting to him! Move it around a little bit or rub some food at the tip.
2. If Mac shows any interest in it (looks at it, moves toward it, bumps it with its nose) - Mark and Reward!
3. After a many rewards, let Mac do it a few times without being rewarded. Then reward again many more times! 
4. Now try it with the target farther away (so Mac has to follow it) - Mark and Reward!
5. After a few rewards, let him try it a few times without being rewarded. Then reward again a few more times!
6. When he is reliably touching the target when I present it to him (8 out of 10 times at least!) then...and only then...I can add the verbal cue - Touch!
7. Use the verbal cue right before I present the target. Mark and reward the next good response. Repeat several times!
8. Present it again, but do not say Touch! Do NOT reward him if he touches it. 
9. Repeat steps 9 and 10 until Mac reliably touches the target only at my command!

Date:               Criterion:                                                 #R/E   #R/E   #R/E

9/6/13              Touch stick on end                                  12/0    12/0    12/0
                         Touch block on knee                               6/0      6/0      6/0
                         Touch block on floor                               4/2      5/4      3/6
                         Touch palm of hand                                15/0     15/0   15/0

Mac didn't transfer the skill from touching something that touches my body to
something that didn't. So I went back to basics: touch my hand. He got every touch right, and I used the verbal cue: "touch"

Tomorrow I'll work on solidifying the verbal cue, and then try to migrate an object from my body to the top of a box, and then to the floor. He gets so enthusiastic that he uses his feet, and I don't want that. Since he does that so often, it would be easier to teach him to do it that way; but I know he'll do that. I want him to do what I say, not what he says.

   

   

   

   

The Little Engine That Could

Remember the story of The Little Engine That Could? It was sure it could pull a heavy train up a mountain, and belief in itself paid off. Well, I feel like the little engine before it started. It started out saying, "I think I can, I think I can."

Mac is really good at sitting or downing, but really slow at getting the connection between lying down (spot) and sitting (sit). I know he can do it, but he seems so dense sometimes, it makes me want to quit.

But quit I won't. I have to remember that I'm ADD, and my own attention span is working against me. I must give him all the time he needs to understand the concept and be patient as I wait for him to solidify the response. He seems to have targeting (touch) down pat, and then suddenly in the middle of doing it correctly, he offers some other behavior, usually with his feet. (Hey, maybe he's ADD, too, and he's tired of offering the same behavior over and over.)

One thing I did was put in a middle step in going from the clicker stick to the target. He would do it well over and over, and then suddenly add his feet to the equation. So I decided the target (a CD case) was too easy for him to use his feet on. Instead of the CD case, that lay on the floor, I substituted a basket with a lid, that was about a foot high. Then when he put his feet on it, I simply said, "Get down." No click, no treat. Then he'd go back to the bumping with his nose.

Jeff had an idea I think I'll try. Walk around the room, touching different things with the clicker stick and asking Mac to touch it. But make it high enough that he doesn't use his feet. I think I'll try it on my next training session.

I've gotten to having a bowl of kibble on my desk with a clicker on top. At random times, I'll call him to me (Mac, come!) and then give the command to sit or lie down (sit or spot). I'm working on extending the time I ask him to remain in position, too. But not by linearly lengthening the time. Instead I'll ask for random periods of time, like: 1 sec, 10 sec, 13 sec, 4 sec, 20 sec, 1 sec, etc. That teaches him to stay in position until I release him.

By the way, I'm using "baby words" to teach him imperfect, beginning behavior. So I say spot instead of down, and I'll transition him to down when his downs are secure. Right now, I'm happy if he'll down (spot) and stay for mere seconds of time. Once I start leaving him in the down position (again transitioning from wait to stay), I'll start using down. He's really good at waiting, but I never ask him to wait more than a few seconds. He'll wait at the door, wait at his food dish, wait to greet visitors (although for really short periods of time, because he knows that all visitors have come to visit him). I think I'll have some friends help me with that, coming to the door and helping me teach him to wait longer before being released to greet visitors.

And all along, I keep reminding myself, "I think he can, I think he can!"

How long does it take an intelligent dog to catch on?

Mac is an intelligent dog. I mean, intelligent. But he's as independent as a cat. (He also grooms himself like a cat!) Anyway, I can only persuade him to do anything by offering him a treat. Otherwise, he can't believe you'd ask him to do something. He's completely mercenary. The person with the treat in their hands is the one he works for. No loyalty!

Well, I'm trying to teach him "touch" with a clicker stick and some high-value treats. And he will touch the end of the stick without fail wherever I happen to hold it. So I've given him a target, and he'll touch the target if the clicker stick is there, but doesn't seem to get it when the stick is removed. Maybe I just haven't given him enough time with the exercise. I know he's intelligent, so the question is, am I?

On Monday (Labor Day) we are going to visit my puppy. She's been moved from the house to the nursery, where she is learning to use a doggy door. This is the stinkiest place on the ranch, because the puppies don't understand the doggie doors at first, and so are relieving themselves on the floor. Of course, the "floor" in this case is a concrete slab that has four runs on it. While we're out there, we'll take some pictures to show you. I'll upload them Monday night.

I'm glad we're going, because I need a  puppy fix!

Mac (right) and Tosh in their winter "pajamas."