Brady is now almost 12 weeks...we've been working on some things since he arrived. 1. He sits well before eating. Now we will start on waiting longer when food is put down (we have a "let's eat" that he knows....I think). 2. He knows that if he sits rather than jumps he gets praise and attention (altho that doesn't necessarily halt the jumping). Same goes for chewing on us. Usually we just carry a chew toy and give it to him. 3. He is doing ok at recall, especially for me. 4. He has figured out rewards, so we are working on intermittent food and praise (he knows the food is coming...) 5. We have to move from sit, wait, etc. to "free dog" so any advice welcome...when does he know he can be a puppy and not 'working'. 6. Finally, what is Hand Touch....have read about it. Should I try it at this age???
Hand touch is just putting their nose on your hand and it's one of the first things I've taught both my dogs. I find it really useful as a simple behaviour that can act as a barometer for levels of arousal. If they can't do a hand touch the chances of anything more complex happening successfully are slim. It forms the basis of my delivery for retrieving as I do gundog training with both my dogs. It's the early stages of luring, getting them to focus on the hand which can then be used to generate all sorts of behaviours like coming in to position at heel for example.
A "hand touch" is to so simple to train, has loads of practical functions. With my dogs, it lends itself greatly to learning other behaviours such as positioning of your dog in heel work. Hand touch to move your dogs attention away from distractions, with a young pup is enormously helpful!
I think Barbara has it covered on the "why". I've found it super useful for not only measuring arousal levels, but also for managing them. My Willow is scared of some things, and she will completely shut off. I know if I can get her to target my hand, then I can help bring her out of it, by gradually increasing distance she has to move. It helps bring her focus onto something other than the scary <whatever>. If either dog is over-excited, I can also use it to get them back to a place where they can start thinking again. I also find that they often respond better to a hand target than a cue to stop them doing something - such as "leave it". If I think that a leave would fail, then I can ask for a hand target instead and, because it has positive connotations to them, ("Yay! I get to do a hand target!" instead of "Boo! I don't get to eat the disgusting thing!"), they're far more likely to respond.
