Clicker Training
I tried a little clicker training a couple of years ago with Cientos. We were starting the go out for the directed jump. He responded pretty well in the end, but it’s quite a tricky technique. You have to get the timing just right and I found I was so poised to click the instant my dog got it right, my finger sometimes pressed before I could retract the anticipation. If you click when the dog is in fact not doing what you want, you’ve taken at least two steps back. Nothing you most likely can’t correct, especially if you goof only once, but I find it harrowing.
When I’m not working my dog, I’m often working at the computer. Sometimes I get so involved, so focused and frustrated, I don’t see the bigger picture. “Just step away from the computer.” I know from experience if you just get up, take your hands off the keyboard, walk downstairs, you can kick yourself out of the cycle. With the clicker training, I was trying to get Cientos to make even the slightest movement towards the small plastic disk I was using as a go out target, and he just kept looking at me like “what do you want, Mom?” mixed with “this is stupid.” I had to let it go. I walked over to my bag and put the disk away, and I watched the others in class of for a bit. I tried it again the next week. Cientos happened to make a slight move toward the disk, and off we went. A combination of clicker training and shaping.
I have a feeling Charley will respond well to clicker training, but I’m not ready to try it yet, not until I know him better.