My entire journey with Harley is a brand new learning experience. My parents had dogs when I grew up but there were always more than one and if the dogs sat when asked they were considered trained So this is all very interesting with Harley. I have been her primary "trainer" for the last 8 months or so, maybe even longer. And we have had our peaks and valleys when it comes to our training stages. It is hard for me because Harley is a lovely, intelligent dog so I am aware that a fair amount of our training successes are attributable to her nature and capacity for training, regardless of how ineffective I am. But since I changed training classes to a more structured group and trainer I have realised that I need to work on our combined focus. Harley gets distracted at class and I was not able to get her focus back on me. And the trainer has started working on us (the class) weaning off so many treats as rewards during training. Definitely not completely but lessening the amount. Also I realised that I am bribing Harley and that she is totally got me trained to give her treats. So for instance she will sit - get her treat and then break the sit and then offer it again when I ask so she gets another treat. So I read the article about getting eye contact (and therefore building focus and connection) before all sorts of things - opening the door for her, giving her the cue to get on the bed etc. Also really focussing on using the eye contact before asking her to "go sniff or look" on leash walks. And I have added a low, long goood as the marker for her eye contact. This has had three very clear results: 1). I have found my voice in our training. And this is why this is a spin off from the Oi Oi Oi post. I completely understand what @snowbunny was saying about the way we are able to say some words. Usually when I give positive words to Harley it sounds fake to even me. I don't mean it to sound fake, I really do want to praise or reward her but it is just how the words roll off my tongue. Too high pitched and odd. So because I wanted to length the word "good" I found that I was saying it in a lower tone. And as I started waiting for longer eye contact from her and I say "good" in a low tone it is the most incredible look from Harley. She holds the eye contact while I say it and it is such a connection. Awesome, awesome, awesome! 2). Especially when she wants to come inside from the garden she can be a bit excited and we have always asked for a sit and stay and then invited her through the door so that she doesn't rush doors. She never has. But all bounce breaks loose once she is inside. Our back door is a glass sliding door so now I wait for eye contact, give her a low and long "good" and then I open the door. What I have noticed is that her energy is much calmer when she comes in after the eye contact. And that is all that has changed. 3). Harley really, really likes making eye contact like this with me. She gives a wag and sometimes a wiggle but always a wag and I can just see it. In her eyes. It is great. And I what I find is that I smile more times than not when I say the "good", it is just that type of word and tone. She loves it, I love it and it has been so good for us.
Fixed it for you Lovely post, well done to you! "Gooooood" and "niiiiiiiiiice" are in my calming marker repertoire
This is really interesting and something I think would benefit my relationship with Inky. @Harley Quinn you mentioned an article on eye contact could you point me in that direction please?
At the last (and third) school we went to (the one where finally the penny dropped), the very first exercise was eye contact. All we had to do was click and treat for eye contact. The trainer explained that your dog needs to watch you for cues, no use asking a dog to do something when it’s not even looking at you/not aware of you in that moment.
"Watch me" is the first thing I like to teach, too. I love it when the dog gets it that they're getting clicked/treated "just" for eye contact. "Wow! I look at her and it rains treats! What a sucker she is!"
Sure @Inky lab, it is actually one of Pippa's from the main site. https://www.thelabradorsite.com/watch-me-how-to-get-your-dogs-attention/ @Emily_BabbelHund it is exactly the 'watch me'. I have just cued it to a sound - like a bit of a kissy noise as I have found that if she isn't looking at me because she is very distracted that is the noise that is most likely to get her attention off something.
It was a penny dropping moment for me too when I realised that I had oppurtunities to 'reward' her with everything. Whether it is physical touch, like a stroke or a scratch or a toy or a treat. So now treats form PART of my reward system, they arent the only option and I feel less like I am bargaining with a labrador who is going "so show me what you got" before doing a task.
And because I think it is important to understand the valleys as well as the peaks - I took Harley out for her on leash walk today and went a different way to normal. With new smells...and new sounds...and new dogs behind gates and fences and Harley's attention was all over the place. I tried the watch me cue, nothing. I tried changing direction so that she needs to stay with me, and she did but her brain was in far away land and just as I was starting to get some focus from her it became clear that she was quite over tired and over stimulated and that became the bigger thing. So I settled for a decent walk home without any major incidents. But again, a reminder that a new place or area is going to be a challenge for us if I need to get her focus on me. And when she is so riveted on other things food is of no interest to her. But in all fairness it has only been just over a week that I have been really implementing the focus aspect so I will see how it goes in future.
