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Acknowledgements
While I have learned from many dog trainers over the years, a few stand out. Thanks to Glen Johnson, who early in the 80s taught me about inducive training. And also to Bill Dotson, who introduced us to Schutzhund and Search & Rescue.
Thanks Tracey Louper for letting me help teach classes, and being my friend and sounding board for new dog training ideas.
Special thanks to friend and mentor Michael Ellis. Michael is a gifted dog trainer and teacher, and almost everything I use and teach these days comes from Michael.
And thanks to Ivan Balabanov, who started our club, Big Sky Schutzhund Club, on the way to becoming thinking dog trainers.
Tag Archives: Dog training
Chewber toys
Chewbers are one of my dogs’ favourite toys… check out some videos to see them in action!
Class Notes: Proofing
Called “generalizing” by behaviourists, proofing is taking the show on the road. It enlarges the mental picture the dog has of the exercise, and allows the dog to work around distractions, ignoring them and concentrating on the job at hand. Proofing should take place in as many new and different places as possible. Little League [...]
Posted in Class notes, Dog training Also tagged generalising, Obedience training, proofing Leave a comment
Class notes: Moving attention, retrieves
It doesn’t matter how accessible the toy is, the only way the dog will get it is to give attention and gain the release word YES. This is an important component of self control. "You have to do something to get something."
Posted in Class notes, Dog training, Retrieve, heeling, learning theory Also tagged Dog training friends, Dogs, Obedience training, Schutzhund Leave a comment
Shaping
Shaping: teaching a new behaviour by rewarding successively closer approximations of the target behaviour.
Class notes: Shaped retrieve
Day 1 Begin with the dumbbell either on the ground or in your hand. On the ground works fine unless the dog wants to hit it with his front feet. We want to reinforce any interaction with the dumbbell, but OTOH, we don’t want to reinforce anything we’ll have to get rid of later, such [...]
Posted in Class notes, Dog training, Retrieve Also tagged clicker training for dogs, operant conditioning, positive reinforcement dogs, shaping behav Leave a comment
Reward strategies
Variable reinforcement: Making the reward really matter When the dog is first learning a new skill, we reward every correct response. This is called continuous reinforcement, and is effective in the beginning stages of learning. However, we need to move quickly away from continuous reinforcement as it is not effective in the long turn. Imagine [...]
Operant Conditioning: Sign Tracking
Timing your marker and reward Using an event marker makes dog training exciting and effective. The trainer can be very precise when marking the exact instance of a desired behaviour, isolating actions that can then be rewarded. Of course, timing is important — the click/marker must come as the the action occurs, and not too [...]
Posted in Dog training, Obedience training, learning theory Also tagged operant conditioning Leave a comment
Dog training in a nut shell
There are only two ways to obedience train a dog: you can teach through compulsion, where the dog is physically positioned or made to perform a behaviour; or you can use inducive methods, where the dog is induced or coerced to perform...
Training or playing — it’s all the same!