I’ve come across some conflicting views on how to train a release cue and wondered if anyone had any pointers. I’ve been trying out “boundary games” as described by Absolute Dogs, and they have the dog treated on the mat, and then just after they say the release cue, they toss a treat away from the mat. Luna loves this game and it gets a really enthusiastic response to the release cue but is trickier to get a rock solid duration on the mat beyond a few minutes. I’ve also come across some techniques that suggest that the release cue shouldn’t get a treat which makes more sense because otherwise where’s the incentive for being on the mat? This naturally gives a much less enthusiastic response to the release cue though. I give her a load of fuss when she comes out of the crate but she just looks at me in disgust when there’s no treat and walks back to the mat Clearly I’m misunderstanding something so I wonder if anyone who has done this successfully could give me a few good tips?
I think the throwing of the treat to get the release from the boundary is just a lure which is to be faded. When I was doing it I faded the lure and when I released Coco we did some other simple things with him to earn a treat before he went back on the boundary. I gave up on the whole thing in the end because I wasn't really going anywhere with it. Maybe we'll get back to.
I give a treat after the release cue. The idea of casting the treat away is to teach the dog, that she may get up when she has heard the release cue. The routine is Yes, Finish (or whatever your release cue is) then treat. To get duration. Say the marker word and treat. For example, Yes, treat once every second. Then say it once every two seconds. Then say it is after every 5 seconds.
This is a good mental and learning exercise for your pup. Just remember you don't always have to treat after the release cue with food. Try a toy, a ball. Same result.
