Star Pupil - Vicki's First Day
Jan. 18th, 2006 01:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
minxybabyMy husband said it was probably a bad idea to bring the camera to puppy training so I didn't. Sorry no pictures of baby's first day of school. lol Last night was a lot of fun for Vicki. She was the loudest and most hyper dog there. She wasn't the youngest though, there was a male golden lab who is 8 months, Vicki is now 10 months. She was the most outgoing dog though, afraid of no one, willing to play with everyone, and got her nose in every dog's butt. lol That's my girl!
The first class we had a couple exercises to do with the dogs. The first one was to pass your dog to the left to get them socialized with people. Vicki didn't mind, but she kept wanting to run away and play no matter who held her leash. The second exercise was to "load your clicker." The idea of "loading your clicker" is to eventually get your dog used to the click sound and associate it with praise. You do this by clicking it and immediately giving them a treat. I found this exercise pointless. We taught Vicki to do tricks to earn her treats, but now she works for praise. She would do anything we asked, no matter what the new challenge might be. She was too distracted by all the other dogs to give a care about the clicker. None of the dogs seemed to respond to it in class. The third exercise was to hold a treat to your forehead and say "Watch me" and have the dog make eye contact with you... more like stare at the treat stuck to your forehead. I found this one stupid too. We're always talking to Vicki and she'll sit there and stare at us in the eyes. Sometimes she'll tilt her head like she's trying to understand, other times she'll bark back as if to answer us. We talk to her about things she knows (like going for a car ride) or just talk to her for the fun of it (like about the weather). Either way, she never had a problem making eye contact or paying attention to us when we spoke to her. This exercise just made her pissed off that I wouldn't give her the damn treat on my head. lol
For homework we have to continue with the "watch me" and "loading the clicker." I'm not going to bother with the "watch me," but I did continue with the clicker. Last night we bought some soft treats and cut them into small pieces for "training treats" as they recommended. As I cut them up, Vicki sat and watched me, sometimes barking at me as if I was teasing her. (She does this when I'm filling her Kong with peanut butter and putting in the freezer.) Every once in a while I'd stop cutting, click and give her a treat. Today I did this again about 5 times. Right afterwards, she went under the breakfast table to lick the wood or search for cat food. I clicked and she calmly walked back to me, sat down, and looked up into my eyes expecting a treat.. so I gave her one. It looks like the clicker is loaded. lol She is one smart cookie.
The first class we had a couple exercises to do with the dogs. The first one was to pass your dog to the left to get them socialized with people. Vicki didn't mind, but she kept wanting to run away and play no matter who held her leash. The second exercise was to "load your clicker." The idea of "loading your clicker" is to eventually get your dog used to the click sound and associate it with praise. You do this by clicking it and immediately giving them a treat. I found this exercise pointless. We taught Vicki to do tricks to earn her treats, but now she works for praise. She would do anything we asked, no matter what the new challenge might be. She was too distracted by all the other dogs to give a care about the clicker. None of the dogs seemed to respond to it in class. The third exercise was to hold a treat to your forehead and say "Watch me" and have the dog make eye contact with you... more like stare at the treat stuck to your forehead. I found this one stupid too. We're always talking to Vicki and she'll sit there and stare at us in the eyes. Sometimes she'll tilt her head like she's trying to understand, other times she'll bark back as if to answer us. We talk to her about things she knows (like going for a car ride) or just talk to her for the fun of it (like about the weather). Either way, she never had a problem making eye contact or paying attention to us when we spoke to her. This exercise just made her pissed off that I wouldn't give her the damn treat on my head. lol
For homework we have to continue with the "watch me" and "loading the clicker." I'm not going to bother with the "watch me," but I did continue with the clicker. Last night we bought some soft treats and cut them into small pieces for "training treats" as they recommended. As I cut them up, Vicki sat and watched me, sometimes barking at me as if I was teasing her. (She does this when I'm filling her Kong with peanut butter and putting in the freezer.) Every once in a while I'd stop cutting, click and give her a treat. Today I did this again about 5 times. Right afterwards, she went under the breakfast table to lick the wood or search for cat food. I clicked and she calmly walked back to me, sat down, and looked up into my eyes expecting a treat.. so I gave her one. It looks like the clicker is loaded. lol She is one smart cookie.
