Emory is beginning to get into the routine of things. She has three to four training sessions per day. I'm trying to phase out of cheese and meat rewards, and instead just use her meals as rewards. With older dogs like Emory, I use high value rewards from the beginning to create a connection and have the dog view people as wonderful. But then I like to transition to using mainly meals for training, except for recalls. Today she went on two very long walks, so she was pretty hungry this evening. Because of this I introduced a Nina Ottosson puzzle, and put her kibbles in the puzzle. I made it very simple for her, so she barely had to nudge the pieces, but she caught on to it. After the 2nd refill I made it a little more difficult so she actually had to move the pieces. She was quite persistent with it though; this persistency will be necessary if she qualifies to be a DAD.
As for her commands, her eye contact is phenomenal. Actually, it's a little too good. I trained the eye contact with the clicker because of its precision, and now Emory loves to give eye contact! If she wants anything, she will sit or lie down and stare at me. I reward her for this sometimes, but cannot reward it every time since she gives it so often. As she learns more things, she will begin to perform other actions to get a reward, but for now this is the only thing she knows really well, so she is giving it 110% with the hope of getting a nice piece of cheese for it! I'm thrilled with how quickly she caught on to it though.
She still complains when left alone, even if it is just for 2 seconds....literally. When I'm getting ready for school in the morning she is in the room with me, if I leave to grab something, she will immediately whine and cry loudly. When I return, she spins and jumps and wiggles all over, unable to contain herself. While it's nice to feel loved, I hope that with consistency and routine she settles down a little bit and trusts that I will come back.
At this point she is still with me on a leash 24/7 if she is not in her crate. She seems to be calming down a little during these times. She used to not know how to settle and would circle and pace quite a bit before chilling, now she is beginning to understand that this is just what we do and it is her time to relax and take a quick nap or chew on something.
Yesterday I introduced touch. I held out my hand and clicked at any recognition that my hand existed. Gradually only clicked when she got closer. Now she will sniff my hand and lightly touch the end of my fingers that are held out. We will keep working on this until I can get a persistent and firm touch at the center of my hand. I used this command a lot with Sadie - much more than I anticipated. I used it for things like positioning her in her "under" and to get her in the car.
We will begin focusing more on other commands such as down and stand, and continue touch. I'd like to begin scent training this weekend or the beginning of next week.
As for her commands, her eye contact is phenomenal. Actually, it's a little too good. I trained the eye contact with the clicker because of its precision, and now Emory loves to give eye contact! If she wants anything, she will sit or lie down and stare at me. I reward her for this sometimes, but cannot reward it every time since she gives it so often. As she learns more things, she will begin to perform other actions to get a reward, but for now this is the only thing she knows really well, so she is giving it 110% with the hope of getting a nice piece of cheese for it! I'm thrilled with how quickly she caught on to it though.
She still complains when left alone, even if it is just for 2 seconds....literally. When I'm getting ready for school in the morning she is in the room with me, if I leave to grab something, she will immediately whine and cry loudly. When I return, she spins and jumps and wiggles all over, unable to contain herself. While it's nice to feel loved, I hope that with consistency and routine she settles down a little bit and trusts that I will come back.
At this point she is still with me on a leash 24/7 if she is not in her crate. She seems to be calming down a little during these times. She used to not know how to settle and would circle and pace quite a bit before chilling, now she is beginning to understand that this is just what we do and it is her time to relax and take a quick nap or chew on something.
Yesterday I introduced touch. I held out my hand and clicked at any recognition that my hand existed. Gradually only clicked when she got closer. Now she will sniff my hand and lightly touch the end of my fingers that are held out. We will keep working on this until I can get a persistent and firm touch at the center of my hand. I used this command a lot with Sadie - much more than I anticipated. I used it for things like positioning her in her "under" and to get her in the car.
We will begin focusing more on other commands such as down and stand, and continue touch. I'd like to begin scent training this weekend or the beginning of next week.
