Maine Pets

On line Winter Tricks clinic part 1

Over on the on line yahoo group for fellow New England Border Collie rescuers, I have been asked to share some trick training tips to help get everyone through the winter. I figured you all are getting a bit stir crazy with all this snow and ice, so I will be sharing tips over here as well.

We got started when we viewed a You Tube video of Springtime, one of our more difficult placements. She was a Christmas puppy owner surrender from last year. She landed the perfect home in California with an agility competitor. We almost never allow out of area adoptions, but this dog burned through several foster homes with her high energy and reactivity to the world, and she really needed a very special working home to be happy.

Go Springtime!

If you ever wanted to teach your dog to ride a skateboard, it really isn't that hard. Many dogs in my tricks clinics pick it up in just a few sessions, but you have to lay the ground work first.

F irst the dogs need to be operant. That means the dog knows they have to do something to get something and we want to teach them to take risks. Unlike training in the old days where we commanded the dogs to work, dogs of today now learn how to "offer behaviors" and to be partners with us. This is carried out quite easily with a clicker, but you can use a marker word like "yes"!!

Step one

If your dog isn't already clicker savvy, check out the clicker/attention article on my web site here:

Step two

Teach your dog to be operant by playing the game 101 things to do with a box.

Go read
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/167
Karen Pryor's 101 things to do with a box.

I can tell you that I am not a "purist" clicker trainer. I take short cuts (cheat!).

To get the dog interested in the box in the beginning, I use a dish towel in the box with treats underneath .This makes things move along much quicker. I am not saying you can not or should break down the behaviors into eenie meenie teenie steps, I am just saying, most of us don't have days to accomplish this first step.

Here are some more of my personal tips to get you started.

-Look at the box not your dog, and don't hand feed, but Click and toss the treat away from the box so they have to go back and interact with the box on their own free will.

-Do a little bit at a time- end the game before your dog gets bored.

-As your dog gets more and more interactive with the box, start to think of what it is that you want the dog to do. Stepping in it would be a great thing for future skateboard champs. Start to shape the behaviors you want.

-Don't be surprised if you dog starts whacking jumps and weave poles for a while when they get back into the agility ring. Don't let your dog see you laughing, and just ask them what you want again and then be sure to jackpot that, or you will have a swatting dog like Charlee.

-Don't be surprised if you come in your kitchen and see your dog standing in your recyclables like my Collie Finney! Again- no laughing!

-Once your dogs is offering behaviors at a lightning fast rate, you can still play the game for short durations, and the game ends when your pre-measured treats run out.

If you first start by rewarding your dog for interacting with the box, riding skateboards, ringing bells and easy buttons among many other tricks will be a breeze.

Next week after you all have been playing with your dog and the box for a little while, I will give you tips for skateboarding. In the meantime, check out Pete the Xtreme Skateboarding Jack Russell Terrier.
Too bad Pet Star is off the air, this dog is fantastic!

The sniglet contest in search of the perfect word for dog breath frozen on the inside of your vehicle is still on going.

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