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!"
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!"
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