3-3-2009 (with comments)

Clicker training basic position, video taped the session in the basement (AM)

Clicker training in basic position (PM) field next to jacks

8 solid minutes of play w/ball on string (no letting go, not supper fast).

Had a chance to watch, looks really good overall. Couple of things, I would cut the session in half as far as time goes. A few short sessions throughout the day are better than a long session, esp. at this age. I would do a lot of rewarding for awhile yet, just so that you know you really have the understanding of what you’re asking and you pretty much have his focus 99.9% of the time. Positioning, etc look good and it looks like he is concentrating well.

The video looks good. He seems to really understand the basic position and the focus but you need to put a name to it. You can start to use fuss so he understands that when you give that command that is what he is supposed to do. I would give a reward every time you click. Sometimes you click with no reward. Since you are giving the picture of him sitting and watching you a name, (fuss) you can lure him with food putting your hand a little higher than your hip (generally) and saying fuss taking a step or two, click, reward as long as he is in the correct position (not too far up, forging or too far back, lagging). At this point don’t worry about the focus as that can come later, just make sure he is in the basic position. Putting a leash on the fur saver dead ring might be nice to guide him and just make it more clear to him so things are more clear to him.

Reward from over the dog’s head, not behind him because when you bring your hand around him he looks back and loses focus. We noticed that a lot of times you step into the dog to adjust yourself into the correct position. Don’t do that…. I had a bad habit of doing that with one of my dogs. You want to teach the dog to get into the basic position, not you correct yourself into him.

His platz looks really good. I could not tell from the video if his elbows were down, I assume they were but always watch that. Maybe incorporate a release command in so that after he is done with the platz or whatever, you say free so he know’s it’s ok to break the position.

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