Cue - Marker - Release - Reward
4 things you need to remember while training your dog.
Cue: Use your visual cue as well as the verbal cue. Dogs are very adept at reading visual cues. Use this to your advantage. Use a piece of your reward treat as a "LURE" to entice your dog into the position you are trying to train.Verbal cue's should be consistent, spoken in the same tone and inflection every time. Your tone of voice helps set the pace of the excersize. Be excited when you want your dog to move (here, boy!!!), use lower and slower tones with a downward inflection when you want the dog to remain still (stay.). Once the dog knows a cue, do not let him make you say it more than once or twice. Most dogs pick up that they don't get the reward if they don't respond by the second try IF you make that your policy!
Marker: The instant the dog does what you want (or what you don't want) use a marker word! Pick a "yes" marker, and a "no" marker for training. the yes marker can be a clicker, "yes!" "right" "thats it", or even a whistle tone. The no marker can be a buzz sound "eh" "at" "at-at". The reason not to use the word "no" is that you want to save that all-important NO for when you really really need it, not during training. A marker word needs to be delivered within 2 seconds of the act in order to have any meaning to the dog. Puppy comes to understand that the yes marker will earn him a tasty reward so he will associate the action with the marker with the treat.
Release: Always use a release word to let the dog know he's done. "All done!", "over", "that'll do", "finit" and "ok" all serve well as release words. A release word clearly tells the dog when the excersize is over. Using a release word results in a dog that remains sitting when told to sit, instead of a "dine and dash" sit. Be pleased with your dog when he performs well, and he will be happier to perform for you more often.
Reward: Food, praise, attention, play, toys; all make good rewards to a dog. Teeny bits of soft treat work well to treat the dog for his efforts. At first the reward immediately follows the yes marker to tell puppy he's right on track. Once puppy "gets it", you want to hold out on the treat until he's remained in position long enough for you to use your release word. You want to hold out longer and longer, building puppy's duration over time.
Remain patient! Be consistent! Some things puppy will pick right up, and some things puppy will just not get right away. Remember that training should be somewhat fun and positively rewarding to the dog, otherwise he can develop resentment to the training process. Not what you want! Take it slow, keep training sessions to 10 or 15 minutes once or twice a day. Using the same consistent cue, marker, and release words will give your dog a comfort zone for learning in. Using a variety of rewards will keep him excited to keep getting it right. Once he really really knows the behavior, you can use more conversational tones with your dog to get results but if you use too many words in training the dog gets confused.
Keep it to "Sit. Yes, good sit................. All Done!" or "Sit. Yes, good (dog jumps up) at-at!!! Sit. Yes, good sit........ All Done!"
If you catch yourself doing this: "Sit, Spot, there ya... NO! Sit Spot, sit, sit, sit. NO over here! Down! (dog is jumping up by now)Sit! Down! Sit Down! (which do you want, sit or down?) Ok Spot get back here and sit down right here right now!" STOP IT!
Well my canine comrades, good luck with your own humans. I got lucky, mine "gets it" and I couldn't be a happier dog now that I can finally make sense of what she's trying to get across to me!
Until next time, Work when you must, play when you can, take care of your own, and leave your mark!
No comments:
Post a Comment