Motivation and Correction, the Two Halves of Training
Phantom is coming along nicely in his training. I learned two things about him which have helped me make the training regimen more effective. First, he loves to be petted, which makes it a strong motivator for him. Second, when he doesn't understand what he's supposed to do, he shuts down and refuses to do anything. The second thing was why he was refusing to walk: anytime a heel correction showed him what he was NOT supposed to do, he gave up. My solution was to have him stop, sit and be praised/petted anytime he walked a few steps in the proper heel position. Verbally praising him was not enough.
Over the last few days I have been lengthening the amount of time he has to heel properly to get his praise. Consequently I have had far fewer heel corrections as he is actively trying to stay in the proper position to earn his praise. So the frequent praise has kept his motivation high enough that the occasional corrections don't shut him down.
I have also used this technique to build up his confidence when we leave our property. At first he was very leery of walking down the road away from the goats, but this morning he cheerfully heeled to the edge of the property with no visible nervousness. I also took him up the wash, where we have never gone before. Less than a week ago he would have balked at that, but today he handled it beautifully.
Starting in December I want to start taking him on hikes to build up his confidence further. It will give me a chance to work with him in strange environments that don't have a lot of people or other dogs around. Then I will start taking him through urban environments, increasing in intensity as he progresses. One of the final places will probably be PetSmart, because there will be plenty of ill-behaved yet leashed dogs there to test his training.
I'm very pleased with the progress that he has been making. I'm still very much a novice trainer, so it's exciting to be able to see just what I need to do to help him learn effectively. I see a lot of potential in this dog; I think he will be able to learn a lot.
Over the last few days I have been lengthening the amount of time he has to heel properly to get his praise. Consequently I have had far fewer heel corrections as he is actively trying to stay in the proper position to earn his praise. So the frequent praise has kept his motivation high enough that the occasional corrections don't shut him down.
I have also used this technique to build up his confidence when we leave our property. At first he was very leery of walking down the road away from the goats, but this morning he cheerfully heeled to the edge of the property with no visible nervousness. I also took him up the wash, where we have never gone before. Less than a week ago he would have balked at that, but today he handled it beautifully.
Starting in December I want to start taking him on hikes to build up his confidence further. It will give me a chance to work with him in strange environments that don't have a lot of people or other dogs around. Then I will start taking him through urban environments, increasing in intensity as he progresses. One of the final places will probably be PetSmart, because there will be plenty of ill-behaved yet leashed dogs there to test his training.
I'm very pleased with the progress that he has been making. I'm still very much a novice trainer, so it's exciting to be able to see just what I need to do to help him learn effectively. I see a lot of potential in this dog; I think he will be able to learn a lot.
posted by Mel, Foxtail Farm | 9:01 PM
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