How to make a dog think?

[fuzzybunny]

I hide in a corn field and let the dogs find me. It's pretty fun to watch because I can usually see them searching.

[Joshherd]

When we do a woods trail hike the dogs always get too far away and to teach them a lesson I'll take off running then hide behind a tree. So funny when you can see them figure out you are no longer waiting on them and they come sniffing/ running like mad to find me.

[danbibby]

I'm training our Karma to search cars, in fact I'm employing a lot of training I learned when I handled dogs for a year in Japan during temp duty status. I have him "diving" on command, which is what handler and dog do if they come under fire.

[valreegrl]

Great thread so I am reviving

My female (Roxy) has been clicker training since 12 weeks, but at about 7 months old she 'turned off'. No longer wanting to work or engage with me. At the same time we began experiencing the same thing with one of our dogs in rescue, same background.

Each reluctantly gave what we asked, but begrudgingly and clearly had zero enjoyment.

What I did was change the game, no longer asked for anything. Purely starting catching behaviors and rewarding for them. Soon what happened is she began giving random behaviors and making eye contact waiting for a reward. I rewarded her and and moved on.
Then, I began working with a foster around her. New puppy, excited to learn so the rewards were flowing fast. Quickly Roxy began giving me everything I asked of the pup, so I rewarded her but went right back to only working the pup again.
Next I brought the box game out, one they all love because its quick and lots of rewarding involved.
(Box game is just shaping random behaviors, anything really. Put their foot in, step into it, head in the box, pick it up, push it with their nose, etc.)
I pulled the box out and her eyes lit up but I only played with my male that night.
Next night I pulled the box out again and her excitement level was even higher so I began shaping with her and she had a blast!

What I learned through all this (by default really as I was at a loss at the time!) was that although she enjoyed the initial work of learning new skills she quickly bored because there was no longer any thought involved. Also, we were working with each other often and we bored of each other. No longer was my time with her valuable.

Now, with her, I only train about 3x per week. The other times I let her watch and if she engages I reward her. She doesn't have a great amount of drive and I just needed to find a balance that suited her I guess.

So maybe the trick is to let them really want to engage with you. Leave them waiting and wanting more. And as they try to get that attention back reward that thought process. We all know you can literally see them thinking, their ears twitching when they hear something, their nose moving when a new smell comes along, head turns, etc. Catch that behavior and reward it. Similar to catching and rewarding calming signals but maybe needing a bit more observation as thought is usually quick and not as noticeable.

Again, great thread...happy I ran 'into' it

[Thru the Viewfinder]

Originally Posted by Cassidy's Mom

No. If you were to teach your dog to heel by giving her a leash correction whenever she's NOT in heel position, that would be compulsion. There's more to it than that, obviously, but it's more about correcting the wrong behavior than reinforcing the right behavior.

Marker training means that when the dog is doing what you want, you mark it, either verbally (usually "yes!") or with a clicker, at the exact second that they're doing whatever you wanted them to do, and then you reward, usually with food or a toy. You can lure a dog into a sit, for example, and mark the second the butt touches the floor and give a treat. The marker ALWAYS means that a reward will follow. Or you can wait for the dog to sit ("capturing") on his own, then mark and reward. Generally you would add a command later, because initially the dog does not know what the word means anyway.

If I wanted to teach my dog "down" by capturing and using a clicker I'd wait until my dog laid down, then click and toss a treat so he had to get up to get it. Then I'd wait for him to lay down again. The more I reinforce the down, the more my dog is going to offer it up, and then I can then add the command right before he does.

I taught Halo what position I wanted her to be in on walks by clicking and treating her whenever she was in heel position. I also clicked and treated her whenever she looked up at me. Once she's consistently staying in heel position and giving me frequent eye contact, I can put it on cue by naming it "heel".

Thank you for this post. I was taught to train with the compulsion method. I haven't had any guidance or experience using the marker training... I think your post here has explained it to me on a very understandable level.

Now that I "get" it... I'll be incorporating this into our daily life. I realize I've done it here and there, but not exclusively.