Great work so far this week. Remember that we each have our own challenges and so do our dogs! We are each going to succeed in different areas and find different things challenging. Email me if you need any specific help.
Problem areas we will work on:
Connected walking
Sit stay/down stay
Door
Handling
Off the wall behaviour
Great work on reviewing the quadrants. We discussed Positive Reinforcement and Positive Punishment.
Scramble Game Notes:
Set up a lot of cones and move between them(this is a variation on step-click-treat)
Some problems:
· Leash too long, too thick. Get leather or nylon flat leash 1/8”
Holding too short – dog never has opportunity to learn
· Holding too tight, arm behind – no leverage
Reinforcement too rare
Reinforcement too low; use something more valuable to the dog!
Keep leash loose so dog must take notice of where handler is.
We don’t want to be paid in cardboard – must pay dog in something he values
Homework:
Scramble game: Go point to point and click to treat
Build a hierarchy of treats: what does your dog like best? Least? find ten things!
If you need to use a syringe for treating:
Take a can of cat food and put it in the blender with an equal amount of cream cheese. Blend and add enough water to make a paste that will go through the syringe. There are many other recipes available online for syringes. You can also use a refillable tube. Food tubes are really helpful when you need to treat with gloves on!