Star's had her annual vaccination booster shot and her yearly check up, the good news is she's in great shape. The vet commented on how well she's looking and how glossy her coat is at the moment. I'm guessing it's due to the huge numbers of Badminton Tasty treats she consumes during training sessions, maybe I should try and get her a sponsorship deal!
We've been working on stay and come to me. The stay is something I've had problems with in the past as Star does always want to gravitate to where the treats are, as far as she's concerned that's the best spot. I've had slightly more success when combining it with matwork, although I've found problems in the past with fading things like mats and targets from behaviours I taught with them. So I decided really I'd better have another go and teach her new cues for both these exercises.
I've really worked on the stay as an extension of the "Grown Ups" exercise where my hands in neutral position signal to Star I don't want her to do anything just stand nicely. Instead of doing this by her side though I've been doing it in front of her. Then I've gradually been shaping it so that I can take successive steps backwards while Star stays put. The hardest bit has been building duration, I have to make sure I try to get the click in before Star starts moving towards me. It's taken a couple of weeks of sessions to gradually build this in.
The come has been a lot easier from the point of view I unconsciously taught her this in the field by calling her and giving her a reward when she comes over. Now I'm also working in a visual cue so hands neutral for the stay, arms open for the come. That way even if it's windy she should still be getting a clear idea of what I'm asking for, at least that's the theory!
I know this isn't really a part of clicker training because I know the click ends the behavior, but do you think if after you click and she start walking to you that backing her up to the original spot and then feeding the treat would help? That way she learns that the treat comes to her? It's been so helpful with the ground driving I'm doing with Chrome to have him stand and wait for me to deliver the treat instead of trying to turn around and come to me for his treat. Just a thought. Maybe it will help with stay. I think Chrome learned to wait for his treat from the times I worked with him while he was tied up. I was actually working on teaching him to stand still while tied (no pawing or chewing on the tree) when I walked away, but waiting for the treat may have been a bonus behavior lol. It sounds like you're making great progress with it. :D
ReplyDeleteYes I think you're right about the waiting for the treat. I've found this with other behaviours too, for example if I'm grooming and click quite often Star will move backwards to me if I'm not quick enough to get the treat out. It's one reason I haven't been brave enough to have a go at ground driving with the clicker, I'd have a horse in reverse lol! Definitely will try your suggestion as patience waiting for treat delivery is obviously an are that needs more work :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like achieve had some good advise. Also perhaps teaching Star to ground tie?
ReplyDeleteYes I think ground tying is something we really need to work on without using a mat which is how I've previously taught it :)
ReplyDelete