I had mentioned in a previous post about the benefits of clicker training with your dog. Now for a trick that not only creates a game for your dog, but also provides a number of additional training opportunities!
The trick is "touch." It's simple enough, you teach your dog to touch something with his nose. Start by holding a clicker and a couple of treats in your left hand, out of your dog's reach. Put your right hand out, palm facing your pup. Likely, he's going to go straight for your right hand, checking it out. When he does, click the clicker and give him a treat. Once again, put your right hand out, when he goes to sniff it and touches it, click and treat. Keep doing that, and if he loses interest, simply help him out...make your right hand interesting by moving it towards or away from him. Continue over and over again, it takes lots of repetitions for a dog to fully understand what you're looking for. Once he gets 99% consistent, add your cue and say "touch" before you put your right hand out. Click and treat as you had been before. It's a great trick to practice at anytime...even while you're on the couch watching tv!
Once he understands the trick, there's lots you can do with it! If you have problems with your dog getting distracted on walks, bring a clicker and treats with you. If you see another dog approach, put out your right hand and say "touch!" Click and treat! Make it fun so that he's interested in the game...put your hand high, low, behind your back. Make that pup work for it! Try it when someone comes over the house to distract him from greeting and jumping up on your visitor.
You can also teach him to touch other objects besides your hand. Something as simple as a tupperware cover or paper plate. Hold it in your right hand and the clicker and treats in your left. Start like you had when you began the trick....put it in front of him, click when he touches it. It won't take long for him to realize it's the same game you had played with your hand, so you can quickly add your cues. Now hold it lower, "touch," click and treat. Lower and lower, until you place it on the ground. If he gets confused, help him out as you had before...hold it higher or make it fun by moving it around. Once he understands to touch it on the ground, you can start moving it! One foot away...two feet away. Make it a game, how far can he go! Once he gets that, if you have a dog that doesn't like to go into the crate, teach him with touch! Put your plate into the crate and tell him "touch!" When he goes into the crate and touches the plate, click! When he 
returns to you give him a treat. Good boy! Play that game and suddenly the crate doesn't seem so bad to him!! You can do the same in the evening when you want him to settle. Put the plate on his bed and tell him to touch. Start clicking only after he's touched the crate and pauses on the bed. Longer and longer. Once he's standing on his bed for a while after touching the plate, you can add a second cue, "settle."
Making the game fun and interesting will make it easy for your dog to learn. And be creative with what you can do with it! It opens up a number of opportunities to expand your dog's training while making it fun fun FUN!
"Soon or later, every dog's master's memory becomes a graveyard; peopled by wistful little furry ghosts that creep back unbidden, at times, to a semblance of their olden lives."
To beat the heat, yesterday morning after Chris left for work I packed my girls up in the car and we headed to The Stevens-Coolidge Place in North Andover. If you live in the area and have never been, it's a fabulous to take a dog for a walk! Not only are there many places for a dog to explore and a field to run in, but the gardens are just beautiful to walk through. It makes for a fun, peaceful walk!The Stevens-Coolidge PlaceYes, there's a Collie in this picture:Elsa LOVES to jump up on anything, she's such a show off!My little girl loves to run!Taking some time to check stuff out.Off to the field! Reese is always leading the way...But Elsa's not far behind.Here I come!!!Once again, the show off. She should be a farm dog!A minute to relax.And then off again!My girls...Reese
and Elsa
We came back into the building just as it was our turn. Into the ring we went. First heeling, then greeting a friendly stranger with a dog, sit, down, stay, come when called...Reese did perfect! She was attentive, well behaved, she made me proud!
Then it was time for our down-stay. The evaluator sat in a chair in the middle of the ring and I asked Reese to lay down next to her. "Please don't bark, Reese," I said, then I gave her a firm "stay," handed the evaluator the leash, and left the room. With my fingers crossed, I waited. The seconds slowly ticked by. One minute. Two minutes. We're going to do it!
And then I heard it. A bark. Oh no. Another bark. Please Reese, no more. But it was too late, I could just picture her, staring at the evaluator and asking her to play by bark-bark-barking. Sure enough, 3 grueling minutes were up, I walked into the room and Reese was sitting up, head back, barking her head off. I approached the evaluator and she apologized but said she could not pass Reese, she shouldn't bark that much. I know...
Disappointed and frustrated, I packed Reese and Elsa into the car and we left without a certificate. But I wasn't defeated. Prior to leaving I learned a little trick on how to stop a dog from barking. A trick that seemed so easy, it was almost too good to be true. We retake the test in 3 weeks. This time, we'll be ready...and Reese will be quiet...
Last Monday was the big day, Reese was taking her AKC Canine Good Citizen test! We had practiced for 7 weeks straight and were as ready as ever! She had excelled in class in nearly everything, she heeled perfectly, came when called, waited patiently as a stranger petted her.
But there was one tasked that Reese didn't like: the 3 minute down-stay with a stranger while I left the room. I'll hand it to Reese, in my opinion, it's the hardest part of the CGC test. However, Reese found it especially difficult! She's a busy little girl and doesn't like to have to wait, laying down is just no fun!
And Reese has quite the approach to expressing her opinion: she barks. And barks. And barks!! And that was just our problem during practice. Once I'd leave the room, Reese would look up at the woman she had to lay next to and in her way of saying "hey, let's do something!" she'd bark!
So we practiced at home over and over again. Elsa would help. She'd lay right next to Reese, 3 minutes straight. I'd go upstairs, into the kitchen, in and out. And there they'd lay. Perfect. We were ready for the big test!
It was really hot that day, but Reese joined me the entire day on my dog walks. I wanted her good and tired...and tired dog is a well behaved dog! We got home after the long day, met Chris and Elsa, hopped in the car and made our way to American K9 Country in Amherst NH where we were taking our test.
However, upon arrival, my little girl who was supposed to be nice and tired was entirely NOT! She bounced around with excitement in seeing all of her family members (both 2 and 4-footed) who came to watch. Not a good sign. And then she began to bark. "Look at me!" she'd say, "let's play!!" I tried to get her focused by practicing some basic tricks but my little girl was just too excited. And barked barked barked. It was then that I decided I just had to tucker her out....
...so outside we went, into the muggy heat. And I began to run. We ran around and around the building, over and over again until we were both tired and hot. Now we're ready!
"I wonder if it is heretical to believe that when at last my tired feet shall tread the Other Shore, a madly welcoming swirl of exultant Collies-the splendid Sunnybank dogs who have been my chums here-will bound forward, circling and barking around me to lead me home!" <3
~Albert Payson Terhune
It has begun. Elsa and I have taken the giant leap from Rally-Obedience to regular AKC Obedience. And boy do we have a lot to learn!
Our new "teacher" is Celeste Meade. She has been competing in obedience at the national level for over 25 years with unbelievable accomplishments, and travels the nation promoting her "attitude is everything" approach on dog training. Last night I met a woman who drives a 6 hour round trip from Connecticut twice a week just to work under Celeste! I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from such a successful dog trainer!
As I've mentioned before, regular obedience differs from Rally-O in many ways. Mostly, everything has to be perfect in obedience! Whereas in Rally-O you can talk to your dog and minor "oops" don't matter as much. Not the case in obedience! Elsa and I have to perfect everything we know, and it's my job to keep it all fun fun FUN!
So can you teach an old dog new tricks? Elsa's already 5 years old. I'll have to basically start from scratch to bring her to the level I want her to be at. Most people tell me it takes 2 years of training before their dog is ready for the show ring! Here we go Elsa...we've got a lot of catching up to do!!
returns to you give him a treat. Good boy! Play that game and suddenly the crate doesn't seem so bad to him!! You can do the same in the evening when you want him to settle. Put the plate on his bed and tell him to touch. Start clicking only after he's touched the crate and pauses on the bed. Longer and longer. Once he's standing on his bed for a while after touching the plate, you can add a second cue, "settle." 
