My 2012 Goals

In the past couple years I've had lofty goals for my dogs, but haven't really dedicated myself to the training, and particularly the proofing, required to reach those goals.  So this year I am setting myself a training related goal.  My goal is to spend two 5 minute sessions with each of my dogs every day working on one particular skill each session.  My secondary goal is to teach all new activities (and rework old as necessary) using pure shaping and clicker.

Bulldogs are not a breed that does well with drilling exercises over and over again.  I have to remember in my training to keep it fresh and fun and if they give me perfection on the first repetition to move on from there (after we have our party of course).  I need to set a timer for my sessions, and end on good notes, in the past I have made four critical mistakes (in my opinion) in training my dogs.

1.  Training for extended periods of time - often working a dog for 30-45 minutes instead of quick, shorter sessions to keep drive and enthusiasm.

2.  Not having  a clear goal for each session - working several different skills with no particular goal in mind.

3.  Pushing past success - Instead of ending the session on a good note, being so pleased with a response I ask for it again and again until the dog gets bored of it and the successes are limited.

4.  Not Proofing - not working in different environments around different distractions enough to truly proof behaviours.

So as they say the first step is admitting you have a problem.  Now that I've identified them and developed a plan to work on them I hope we can make some great strides in all our venues as well as bringing joy and fun to all we do.

I'm currently five days into my new 5 minute program and am having great success.  The days thus far have gone like this:

Monday - Maverick working dumbbell hold and picking it up off the ground.
Tali working on retrieving by using an array of toys with the 'new' toy being thrown when the first hits my hand.


Tuesday - Maverick working on taking a pop can (metal article) in his mouth.
Tali working on retrieving and a quick sit-stay session


Wednesday - Maverick working on retrieving a pop can over a short distance (1-2 ft)
Tali working on the down position (a difficult one for her) and holding it


Thursday - Off Leash walk with recalls incorporated off distractions for both.  Rewards coming from the Reinforcement Zone (heel position).

Friday - We're headed to PetSmart to work on focus with Maverick, and positions and impulse control with Tali!