Ok so it's the 2nd of January and one of my new years resolutions is to be more structured with Rolo's training. So I am going to post on here daily as a log of how we are getting on. Yesterday we took it slow, started with some sits. Rolo's sit is dodgy! He will sit if you hold a treat or toy above his head but wont if you don't. I opened our treat pot and using one finger above his head told him to sit and he did, treat. Again the same, he sat, treat. Again the same, he sat, no treat. Once again he sat and gave him a treat. My thoughts are if I treat everytime where is the fun but if I treat only sometimes making him work harder. Next did a solid leave it. Put treats out in a line across the floor. Got him into a sit, released him to the first treat, sit again, released to the next treat and so on and so forth. Great. Did a watch. Hands out to my side with treats in (he has smelt my hands so know they are there) gave the cue "watch" he gives me eye contact he gets a treat. We have done this for a while now so am making it harder. He now has to give me eye contact for 10 seconds he does this no problem. Maybe next time will put my hands down to my side. Next, on your bed (for this training he has a rectangular piece of vet bed) I give the command " on your bed" he sits on his vet bed and then "down" he gets a treat. I know his vet bed isn't his bed but using this command allows me to use it for his bed. Today, I have been busier. Taking the decorations down and shopping. So did 2 sessions one am and one pm. At puppy training we do sit at the gate, I open the gate/door, Rolo sits, waits, I go through the door, tell Rolo to come, into a sit again, I shut the door he gets a treat. Did that several times worked really well. My 10 yr old daughter did it too worked great and even my 6 year old did it great. I'm not doing this as a dominance thing, mainly for safety. He bolts as soon as you open the door so to have some control would be great. So far all training on this has been on internal doors, will step up to external doors next. Did Sit, stay, stay, walked around Rolo who remained seated, did move his head to keep eye contact but didn't move his position. Did sit stay and hid behind a wall for a nano second only worked once out of three times. Need to work on this. Did in your bed, in his bed. Not quite as good as on the vet bed. Needed to be told several times but eventually did it. Will work on this. We did bouncy bouncy down. So get Rolo all excited run around like a looney and then give the cue down, once only if he goes down he gets a treat. He's really good at this my daughter loves doing this one with Rolo. At each mealtime have been doing a silent leave it. I put his food bowl down, raise my hand and point my finger he sits and waits I keep my hand in place and when I'm ready tell him "go on then". Worked every time. Loving being more structured. Kris
Re: Rolo's training log. Sounds like a really productive few days well done and keep up the good work
Re: Rolo's training log. [quote author=Naya link=topic=9347.msg134156#msg134156 date=1420232244] Sounds like a really productive few days well done and keep up the good work [/quote] Thank you, Rolo is sparked out half in and half out of his bed, breaking wind every few minutes. He's enjoyed it too.
Re: Rolo's training log. Oh great! I so love training logs! brill! [quote author=Rolokris link=topic=9347.msg134151#msg134151 date=sg134151#msg134151 date=sg134151#msg134151 date=1420231815] Yesterday we took it slow, started with some sits. Rolo's sit is dodgy! He will sit if you hold a treat or toy above his head but wont if you don't. I opened our treat pot and using one finger above his head told him to sit and he did, treat. Again the same, he sat, treat. Again the same, he sat, no treat. Once again he sat and gave him a treat. My thoughts are if I treat everytime where is the fun but if I treat only sometimes making him work harder. [/quote] If his sit is, as you say, "dodgy" don't introduce the cue before he sits. Only introduce the cue as he sits. Try to use a clicker and drop the lure as soon as you can. Lure a sit using a treat a couple of times, then use your hand without the treat. Mark with a click, and reward. Don't fade the reward until he will sit quickly, 100%. There is no merit in fading rewards before you have a reliable behaviour. I don't care if my dog changes his position in a sit/wait to watch me - after all, I spend ages getting him to watch me, so think it's a bit unreasonable to suddenly not want him to watch me. As I walk a circle around my dog he shuffles round to see what I'm doing. I think this is fine. [quote author=Rolokris link=topic=9347.msg134151#msg134151 date=sg134151#msg134151 date=sg134151#msg134151 date=1420231815] Did in your bed, in his bed. Not quite as good as on the vet bed. Needed to be told several times but eventually did it. Will work on this. [/quote] If you are telling him "several times" the behaviour is not "on cue". So if you say "on your bed" 10 times, but he only goes on his bed once, you've taught him that 90% of the time, "on your bed" doesn't mean "on your bed". Only introduce the cue after you have the behaviour. Keep it up, look forward to next update!
Re: Rolo's training log. Wow thanks Julie great advice. It's only when you see it in black and white that you realise the errors.
Re: Rolo's training log. I used to post vids when I got Charlie - still do, time to time. Was so scary! But the feedback I got was amazing! Really helped me learn. Look forward to more updates from you and Rolo!
Re: Rolo's training log. Yey! Another beginner training log! You'll find it so useful and the advice you get is awesome. Expect lots from Julie - she's a bit of a training nerd, which is FABULOUS! I hope to be one too, one day I started writing mine mainly for myself but people actually read the guff I write. Amazing. I look forward to reading about little Rolo's progress as the weeks, months and years go on. I think it gets those of us who read it invested in your puppy - he becomes part of our little family. This is awesome, keep it up!
Re: Rolo's training log. [quote author=snowbunny link=topic=9347.msg134202#msg134202 date=1420242102] Expect lots from Julie - she's a bit of a training nerd [/quote] My dog has yet to live up to my advice! ;D ;D ;D Actually, that's very unfair of me, and my trainer tells me off for saying things like that - he's wonderful, and doing very well, but he is a total hooligan. ;D ;D ;D
Re: Rolo's training log. In my best geordie accent: " Day three in the Harrison household" Ok so today we have had 2 short training sessions. We have been working on: On your bed: https://www.dropbox.com/s/md79yyho82niltl/2015-01-03 18.05.38.mp4?dl=0 My daughter is doing the training in this video. I don't know if it was my tone or what but he just wasn't listening to me. He did it for her no problem. I tried in his actual bed and had no joy there either. I'm going to up my game and get better treats, the chicken just wasn't cutting it today. He did a fantastic sit, wait and me duck out of sight for a nano second. The best he has ever done. Will keep doing this and steadily increasing the length of time he can't see me. We did more bouncy bouncy down's. The down works well if I hold a treat at his nose and then down to the floor and extend outwards he follows the scent and gets in the down position. I need to work on an automatic down. More sit, stay, open door, come, sit, stay, door closed. Went really well indoors. Absolutely terrible on the door leading to the big wide world. Had a good sit (treat above head), good stay, opened the door and he was up and trying to get out. Too many distractions, a dog barked, a person walked past I was set up to fail. Will not try this again till mastered indoors. Ok so still enjoying the training and so is Rolo but feeling a bit disheartened. Not sure if I'm doing ok. Worrying I'm not doing it correctly. Need a clicker. Kris
Re: Rolo's training log. The video works fine! Personally (and others may contradict me here), I'd stick to one cue at once. So he gets a treat for "on your bed" - no down required. Once all four feet are on it, you mark and treat. You can then add the complexity later. Otherwise, in his mind, he has no incentive for going to his bed, just for the down, make sense? x
Re: Rolo's training log. Makes perfect sense to me. I only do on your bed and down because that is what the trainer told me to do.
Re: Rolo's training log. I think your daughter did really well I agree that you could start by rewarding for going to his bed then move on to sit, then lie down. Good luck you are doing really well
Re: Rolo's training log. I remember now why she got us to do bouncy bouncy downs. She (the trainer) could see we were doing a sit then a down and never just a down.
Re: Rolo's training log. Yes, video's working great- and good work from your daughter I agree with Fiona- if you're taking a clicker-type approach, the idea is to 'shape' the behaviour with the same cue. So 'on your bed' can evolve from just looking at the bed, to actually running to it and lying down, in it in tiny little stages. You set what you think of as being a success for each session - so at the moment I would say all 4 paws on the mat = success, regardless of position. In the absence of a clicker, use a chirpy short 'yes' or 'good' to mark the success, and then you can throw the treat on the floor so he moves away again, ready for the next go. If your trainer's not a clicker fan, she may not be familiar with 'shaping' ideas, so might have recommended the 'luring' approach. It's up to you really which you go for, but many here who have tried the shaping approach are big converts. You're doing a great job so far. i would recommend only training one 'new' thing at once though (but doing a few short sessions a day on that thing) otherwise human and dog bith get brain overload
Re: Rolo's training log. Thanks Kath. Don't suppose I ever thought of just doing the one thing in each training session. Any recommendations on a clicker?
Re: Rolo's training log. Just on my phone right now, so can't see your vid or write much. But don't be disheartened, sometimes training goes well and sometimes it doesn't - and it's not that easy when you are trying to figure out the best way to do things. You are trying to train your dog - that's the main thing. You'll achieve lots just because you are willing to try and keep working at it, you'll see.
Re: Rolo's training log. Thanks Julie. Can't even put my finger on why I feel disheartened he's 5 months old (or is he? Lol) and can do so much already. I've been looking on the obedience section and have been watching videos of Rachael doing target training. Also saw a video of Charlie. He's such a handsome boy. Kris
Re: Rolo's training log. ;D ;D yes, we all have many many days when we wonder what the heck we're doing ! I just got my clicker from Pets at Home, but a quick eBay for 'dog training clicker' brings up loads if that's easier. Absolutely limit the amount of stuff. With a puppy, it's basically like you're a reception teacher- like herding butterflies with a very limited attention spell and retention. So short, repeated sessions and nail one idea before moving on. The great thing is though, that the dog starts 'tuning in' to how training works after a while, and then it gets easier and easier to teach new things.
Re: Rolo's training log. Something like this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/axnz598kj424ge9/2015-01-03 21.04.11.png?dl=0 Or like this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/32ieht4v5uk0znd/2015-01-03 21.04.54.png?dl=0 Kris
