I have read a little bit about placeboard training, and the "place" command. From what I read, people use it for making the dog lay down and be quiet. For instances such as when you are eating dinner, or company is over, and you don't want your dog bothering you. Currently, I am using the placeboard for "sit" and working my way up in time, distraction, and distance, and then giving a release command. Eventually, I will start getting Delta to retrieve off of it. But I really do not have any idea how to start the "place" training with the placeboard without confusing the pup. Any suggestions?
Hello there, I'm not quite sure that I've understood your question, so do put me right if not! A placeboard isn't used to have a dog 'settle' ie lay down and be quiet. There are various ways to train that, but a placeboard is not a usual thing to use, and if you are using a placeboard for other training like retrieves then it would really best not to use the placeboard for a settle cue. You don't really want your dog to settle during retrieve training (unless you are taking a break but you still don't want your placeboard associated with a settle cue). Most people train a dog to settle down by either training a cue, or just rewarding for calm quiet behaviour (on a mat if you like). You can also train 'go to mat and stay there' (in whatever position, sit, down you want) and most dogs will settle down if they are used to staying on the mat for a long time. So, if your aim is that your dog should settle down on a mat while you have company over, then forget the placeboard. You can either train go to your mat and stay there, then extend the duration and distractions until your dog stays there while you or visitors eat, or you can train a settle cue (but it's normal to have the mat close by you for this unless you have a remote control treat dispenser which speeds things up no end). By the way, if you are training with positive reinforcement, you are training cues not commands.
Julie, You answered it perfectly! I was trying to piece together my training from various sources, and as you can see, I was a little confused. Many people had different uses for placeboards. So I would read one thing, and think "oh, that sounds good," then I would read another and think, "oh, that sounds good, too!" But the different ideas would not necessarily mesh with one another. You did a great job of explaining why. You just saved me a lot of time and frustration. I will continue on with the placeboard for sit, and work my way up to retrieving off of it. I will work out a different "cue" for settling down a little later. After years of traditional training, I am still trying to get the hang of positive training lingo, so bear with me! Ha! Thank you for your help.
I agree to some extent, Rosemary, but in my mind, "command" does tend to put the focus more on the dog than the handler when things don't go as you planned. It sounds so dictatorial to my ear, too. "I commanded my dog to sit". It is just semantics for a large number of the members here, who use the word "command" and train with +R methods, but it certainly can't hurt to use "cue" instead of "command" if we can get used to it. http://totallydogtraining.com/cues-versus-commands/
While we are on the subject of placeboards, can some lovely person point me in the direction of a good place to start? Books, articles etc? Very soon I will be getting our placeboards, so am looking for a good place to start
If you imagine the mat is a placeboard, this is step one: The video says this is a demo of something that is in "the perfect foundation" - I have that book, haven't read it for a while though. I'll have a look later and let you know if there is something useful in it.
I far prefer the connotations of the term 'cue' to those of 'command' but was certainly first introduced to dog training with commands
I had never trained with a placeboard before, but read the following link and just used a placeboard for Delta to sit on. The placeboard just gave a definitive boundary for the pup. http://www.thelabradorsite.com/teach-a-dog-to-stay/ I also read Robert Milner's new book, and it had a section on placeboard training.
