Teaching Clicker and Target

Dog Training: Clicker
Flyball Box: Target

"Click and treat, click and treat! I got something good to eat!"

If one is involved in dog training in any fashion, you are going to hear the term "Clicker Training". It is a popular way to refer to classical conditioning.

Clicker training is simply a way to use positive reinforcement to illicit a desired behavior. The clicker portion pinpoints for the dog the moment the desired behavior occurred. The learning takes place when the dog displays the desired behavior in order to receive the positive reinforcement. The reinforcement comes when the dog actually displays the desired behavior. Reinforcement can come in a variety of "rewards" such as food or toys. It could simply be play interaction with the trainer.

Before you can use the clicker to pinpoint desired behavior, you must teach the dog that hearing a "click" is a good thing. For this introductory lesson, it is desirable to have a hungry dog. Do this just before feeding time. Take a portion of their kibble or, if you do not feed kibble, bite size pieces of cheese, hot dog or liver. Have these tidbits right at hand. Bring in your "student" and have your clicker in one hand, the treats within easy handling of the other. Now, click the clicker and if the dog reacts to the sound indicating that they heard it, give your dog a treat. Click the clicker, treat the dog. Before five minutes have elapsed doing this over and over, I guarantee that you will have a dog looking for a treat at the instant they hear a click.

It only takes two or three short click and treat lessons to condition your dog that the click is desirable and means "food". Now what? We use the clicker to pinpoint desired behavior and the "food" reinforces this desired behavior.

In the case of "target", we take a round piece of plastic or heavy cardboard or paper to use as our target. The lids used to seal coffee cans work excellent or you can cut out part of a disposable plate to use. It doesn't matter. You simply want a size that is small enough for you to handle easily but large enough for the dog to see and identify. Hold the target with a treat under your thumb. Your thumb should be on top of the target so that the dog can see and smell the treat. You should hold the treat firmly under your thumb so that the dog cannot get the treat unless you release the pressure of your thumb. Present the target with treat to your dog. You are looking for any moment when the dog tries to use their feet to get at the treat under your thumb. At the very moment your dog paws at your thumb "click" your clicker and release the treat to your dog. It may take a minute or more for this first attempt. Do this 5-10 times in a row. It is still the same "click and treat" lesson from above but, we have raised our criteria to only rewarding the dog when the dog touches the target with their paw.

Repeat this lesson two or three times a day for two or three days in a row. At some point, offer the target without hiding the food. If your dog touches the target without seeing or smelling the treat as a prompt, make sure you click right away, go heavy on the praise and give the food reward to your dog right away. Since the food is not under your thumb, your dog will have to wait a moment or two before receiving it. That's fine for now. You are teaching that the click is what the dog wants and the treat simply reinforces that the click is something good.

Every two or three days (depending on your dog's ability to learn) raise your criteria for reward. If you click for one foot on the target, later click for only two feet, not one. If you click while holding the target, try putting the target on the box and clicking when your dog touches it away from you. Also, gradually increase the time frame between the click and the treat. Eventually, you will click your dog a few times before giving the food reward. You will reserve a large food reward or "jackpot" for a particularly complex behavior that your dog succeeds at learning.

Once you have your dog touching the target wherever you put it, you need to teach your dog a swimmer's turn on the box using the target to tell your dog where his feet should go. DO NOT use the target over the hole! This is a common mistake that first time flyball trainers make. The hole must present the ball to the dog. The dog won't try to catch the ball if he has been conditioned to put his feet there! The target should be placed (taped) to the box slightly below the hole and towards the center of the pedal. You should determine which way your dog turns before this lesson. Refer to the previous article, Which Way Does My dog Turn?" before putting the target on the box. If you still aren't sure exactly where on the box the target should go, try box judging at a tournament. While you are judging, observe where the best turning dogs put their front feet on the box. It will vary according to breed and size but it should give you the general area you should be teaching your dog to put his feet on the box.

You want the dog to jump on and off the box rapidly. Stand on the side of the box next to the lane in the direction your dog turns. Encourage your dog jump on the target and then back towards you. Be picky about when you will click for this behavior. Use your hand or a toy to guide the dog onto and then off of the box. Do not reward "double stepping" or you will have a dog that double steps on the box all the time. This causes bobbles, loses time and defeats the purpose of the swimmer's turn. You want a clean jump onto and off of the box. Eventually, your dog will learn how to approach the box so that he is always in position to catch the ball and push away from the box simultaneously!

See you at practice!

Dog Training Mastery---An Owner's Manual

REVIEW: Dog Training Mastery---An Owner's Manual





This blog is written for people starting out in flyball and learning how to train their dog for flyball. This book, available online, is a more generalized dog training manual but, is filled with highly effective techniques for all kinds of dog training.

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Ask yourself….. “Have you ever dreamed about having the perfectly behaved and trained flyball dog?”

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For some, it’s about having the best "in-home" dog that is perfectly toilet trained. While for others, it’s about having the perfectly behaved dog while their out for a walk or at the local park. Still others, it's that perfect four-footed box-turn.

What ever your particular dream, sometimes behavior problems like jumping, chewing, aggression or even potty training problems, etc., can really get in the way of realizing that dream, can’t it?



The "secret" to dog training is understanding the four essential areas of dog training:

1. Dog Psychology


2. Canine Learning Theory


3. Obedience Training - Basic and Advanced


4. Solving Problem Behavior

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NEW! Email Subscriptions powered by FeedBurner!

We are grateful to our readers and sincerely hope that we offer a service that is of value. We are pleased to announce that we have added FeedBurner email subscription service to our blog. Now, you can get the latest edition of Flyballdog Tag delivered right to your email inbox.

FeedBurner is easy to use. It is a "double opt-in" subscription which means after you fill in your name and email in the box to your upper left, you click "submit". Then, you will receive an email and a link which you will have to click again to confirm your subscription.

I have tested this system out and it works beautifully! No more "missed" posts. And, the emails are easy to read with links to recent posts which allows the reader to catch up if they haven't visited the blog in a while. FeedBurner also provides an easy way to "unsub" yourself in each email sent.

Tell your friends and family and TEAM mates if Flyballdog Tag has helped you in any way. ....and, please, add your comments to any post here. This blog exists to help all who hope to train a flyballdog!

See you at practice!

Which Way Does My Dog Turn?

Dog Training: Box Turns (Introduction)

Before you introduce your dog to the box, you need to know which way your dog turns. Does this really matter? Yes, it really matters. In order to teach the "Swimmer's turn" on the Flyball box, it is crucial to know ahead of time which way your dog naturally turns since the swimmer's turn puts the dog at an angle on the box in the direction of his "turn".

More races are won or lost at the box than any other element in the race. A swimmer's turn not only saves "time" at the box but, decreases your dog's chances of injury at the box. A properly taught and properly executed box turn dissipates the energy built up by a dog's speed and inertia hitting the box. A "straight on" approach puts a lot of stress on a dog's front musculature, particularly the neck and shoulders. A lot of dogs also suffer "impact" injury to their face and mouth with a straight on approach. Once a dog learns this approach, it is nearly impossible to re-train proper technique so, our goal is to never allow your dog to hit the box the wrong way!

Some dogs always turn the same direction no matter what and its easy to determine if they are lefties or righties. Others are more "ambidextrous" and may require some experimentation to learn if there's a preference.

The test is simple. Use a room with lots of floor space. While holding your dog, get your dog's attention on a ball or some other toy. It should be something they like alot so they are not thinking about how they turn. Roll or toss it a few feet away and then let your dog get it. Observe which way they turn. If after several tries, your dog seems to turn both ways, keep a score. Try this over several days. Eventually, one side will win out over the other.

A more formal approach is the dead ball retrieve. You may use jumps or not depending on your dog's age and development. You do NOT need a box or a slantboard for this. You also don't want a lot of speed with this exercise. Your dog is simply picking up a ball off the floor.

Have your "box loader" at one end of a lane. You and your dog at the other end. Have the box loader draw your dog's attention to them by calling your dog's name and waving or bouncing the ball. Once your dog's attention is on the ball, let him go to retrieve it. The box loader should place on the floor a ball for the dog to retrieve. Since there is no "box" your dog has to slow down to pick up his ball. Once the ball is picked up, both you & your box loader need to note which way your dog turns. Although your dog is learning to retrieve balls, you must prepare for his next lesson as well as the one he is learning now.

When is your dog ready to learn the box? I usually think about introducing the box when my dog is doing dead ball retrieve consistently over jumps and a dog is working in the opposing lane.

See you at practice!

Dog Training: Runbacks

Dog Training: Runbacks

"Runbacks" are a link in the flyball chain that we can introduce without jumps or a ball. That makes it ideal as another puppy training technique that is virtually "no-impact" on soft, growing bones and yet, if done properly, encourages a dog to return to you at top speed.

Begin by identifying your dog's motivator. I like a tugging dog so find a tug that really turns your dog on. Some have squeakers in them. Some are hard and some are plush. Some even have a ball or kong or some other toy attached. Plush might be better for a puppy who might be teething and has tender gums.

Get a helper to hold your dog until you are ready. Before you walk away, make sure you have your dog's attention on you. Step only a few feet away and then call your dog and tease him with your motivator. He should be excited and run to get his tug. If not, look for reasons why. Is your dog distracted by something? Remove the distraction. Is your dog thirsty and looking for water? Provide him water but, not too much. Some dogs exhibit thirst when actually they are "stressed" possibly because they know you want something (a behavior) but they aren't sure what it is.

Repeat this exercise several times always looking for an excited and enthusiastic return to you. Whenever you get that, reward lavishly. Make this tons of fun for your dog. Remember to let him "win" the game of tug with you!

Introducing Jumps

Before introducing jumps, you should have a fast, enthusiastic and reliable recall on your dog. Your puppy should be developed enough to safely hop over a 6" obstacle. If all this is true, you are ready for introduction to jumps.

Remove all jumps from the lane except one. Your helper should be standing close enough to that jump with your dog that your dog has no other choice but to jump that jump in order to come to you. Everything else is the same as before.

You should practice at least a dozen or more times at this close an interval before attempting to start the dog any further away. You are attempting to teach the dog that jumping jumps is FUN and part of the game. Don't move back too soon or your dog may learn that it's ok to go around a jump occasionally. That is a huge "no no" and it's best to not allow the dog to err in the first place.

Once it is clear that the dog knows to take the jump, introduce a second jump. Start as close to this second jump as you did when introducing the jump for the very first time. Take these steps s-l-o-w-l-y. By establishing early on that the jumps must be taken, you will have a dog that will choose to take the jumps during the excitement of running a race, even if he finds himself out of alignment with the jumps. This could make all the difference between winning or losing a heat, a race or even a placement.

Drag Racing

Double runbacks or "Drag Racing" as we sometimes call it is when two dogs are doing runbacks to their owners side by side in each lane. This is a good way to introduce the concept of another dog in the opposite lane. In the beginning, you will want to put up gating or some other barrier to prevent crossing over. If your dog seems to be ready to stay in his lane while racing another dog, take the gating down and station people in the middle as a precaution. Every dog is different and every dog will make a mistake at some point.

Should your dog be ahead or behind the other dog? That is a judgment call based on your experience with him. Pay close attention to the circumstances around your dog's mistake when he made it. If the dog was ahead of him, try to start them evenly or even start your dog ahead of the other dog. The reasoning is that some dogs that are clearly racing the other dog will "blow the jumps" in order to beat that dog. That's why you will allow him to beat that dog in a practice situation in order to stay on the jumps.

Some dogs will "crossover" when they are ahead in the race in order to cut off their opponent. In that circumstance, you will do the opposite. You will let the other dog get ahead before releasing the dog that likes to cross. Eventually, you will let them go closer together untill they can start together without a mistake.

Conclusion:

This is how you do runbacks and gradually work in taking jumps and racing other dogs. We will look at ways to troubleshoot dogs that seem to have issues with jumps and or crossing over later in this series. Until then,

See you at Practice!

Dog Training: Sit, Stay, Fetch!

Review: "Sit, Stay, Fetch!" by Daniel Stevens

This is a comprehensive course designed to teach you how to teach your dog anything. It also gives you effective and humane ways to stop unwanted behavior.

Training flyball gives specific goals and steps. Your training should work well beyond flyball. Sit, Stay, Fetch gives you techniques that work so well in a short time span, that your friends and family will be asking you, "How did you get your dog to do that?"

Sit, Stay, Fetch is now offering a completely FREE 6 day course that utilizes the techniques for super dog training.

I urge you to check out Sit, Stay, Fetch and take advantage of Daniel Stevens FREE offer!

See you at Practice!

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Dog Training: Stand for Measuring

Dog Training: Stand

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Many people stress out when it comes to standing your dog for measuring. There is no need because teaching the "stand" is easy to do. The results will be a dog that not only stands for measuring in flyball and agility but, should easily allow children to pet him or a veterinarian to examine him.

The "stand" is actually two commands. One is for stand itself. The other is the "stay" command. Stay will be used for sits and downs in formal Obedience but, has no counterpart in Flyball.

Slow is Fast so don't rush any of the steps. Begin by examining your dog all over his body. Be soothing, almost like a massage. Encourage your dog to stand on all four feet as you do this. You are building trust with your dog so, I repeat, slow is fast.

After several times of doing this, if your dog seems to stand solidly without moving as you examine him, try picking up his feet one at a time and place them back on the floor. The goal is to get your dog to allow you to re-position his feet without any movement at all on his part. While being measured under a wicket, you will likely have to re-position his feet so that your dog's weight is evenly distributed so being able to re-position his feet without fussing is crucial.

Assuming you have reached the point where you can give your dog the "stand" command and he is standing on all four feet and then you tell him "stay" and your dog knows he is to stop moving, now is the time to introduce the concept of a wicket. Lightly touch your dog on the shoulders for a moment, praise and treat. Gradually, build the time you have your hand on your dog's shoulder. Continue to touch his shoulders and move down his back towards his tail. Slow is fast. You will not be doing this all in one training session. Eventually, you will have a dog that will "Stand/Stay" for several minutes reliably.

Finally, have some family members examine him while doing "stand/stay". Eventually, you should have some strangers examine him as well.

Remember to keep it fun. Training sessions should be short in duration and, if possible, several times a day. I think every dog should be taught to do this, not just little dogs that are destined to become "height dogs".

See you at practice!

Dog Training: Focus

Focus

One of the first skills we want our flyball prospect to learn is "Focus". This is one of those universal dog training lessons that can be used in almost any dog sport. If you cannot get your dog to focus on you, it is almost impossible to direct your dog into performing a desired behavior.

This exercise utilizes classic conditioning. I will write a more detailed article later as to what constitutes classic conditioning: what it is and how can we use it to achieve results.

In the meantime, I want to discuss how we get your dog to focus on you.

By now, I am assuming that you've had your dog long enough to know what motivates your dog. Some are motivated by a toy but, most will respond to food. Identify which is most important to your dog and have that "motivator" ready to use for this exercise.

Enter an enclosed area that is free from distraction. This can be a small room indoors or an enclosed pen outdoors. To begin this lesson, your dog will be allowed some freedom. The reason for the small space is for you to control just how much freedom your dog can have.

Give your dog some time to explore. 30 seconds to a full minute should be sufficient. Your dog should be busy checking out their surroundings. When you are certain they have acclimated to the immediate area, say their name out loud. Do not use a command such as "come"! You are not really asking them to "come". You are asking for their attention only. Hearing their name, they should stop whatever they are doing and focus their attention on you. Your dog should have his eyes on you as though to ask, "What's up mom/dad?" We expect a response that is anticipatory without a "bowl you over, I'm coming!" kind of exuberance. Your dog only hears his name. He must wait for you to see what comes next.

Once you get that focus on you, immediately reward your dog with your chosen motivator. Make it short but, definitely rewarding. We are not asking much from the dog so, we should reward appropriately. Later, as we "back-chain" behaviors, our rewards for desired behaviors will increase. If dog wants to receive a bigger reward (and what dog doesn't?), he/she will learn they have to earn it. That in itself helps to keep their focus on you.

Keep this exercise short. If you have other dogs to work (most teams do), then spend only 5 minutes on focus. Put your student away and bring him/her back out after 30 minutes to an hour. This also teaches them that you will return again & again. This re-inforces patience.

Focus is a beginner's lesson. I would think you would only need two or three weeks of work. An older dog or one with "rescue" issues might require more time. This is a building block kind of exercise. Before you can modify a dog's behavior in any way, you must have their attention focused on you. Also, this is a great way to break up a long or boring training session for an advanced dog. If you feel their attention span is waning, just do a couple of focus exercises and ask nothing more. For a dog, it works the same way as it does for humans. "Wake up!" Pay attention!

See you at practice!

Mighty Mite Small Dog Sports Forum

Dog Forums

There is a source of information for dog training on the web that is too often overlooked.

Forums on all kinds of topics from cooking to investing money abound on the internet. Curious, I did a Google Search to see what I could find in the Forums on the topic, "Dog Training"

I found a winner!

Mighty Mite Small Dog Sports Forum is loaded with timely and useful dog training information on a wide range of dog sports. I found Agility, Dock-Diving, Disc Dog, Go-to-ground for Terriers and a whole lot more!

Although it's name suggests it's for the small dog, the dog training techniques discussed there would apply to all breeds large & small.

I also was delighted to see that it is very active with the freshest post only 20 minutes before I got there. There are over 3,000 registered users.

Registration is FREE. The only drawback is the forum is moderated and you might have to wait a day or two for your registration to be approved. It's worth the wait, however, because the users are very friendly people and very willing to help newcomers and those who are struggling with training issues.

If you find a Forum on the internet that contains good information, is friendly and active, drop us an email so we can check it out!

See you at practice!

Dog Training Forums

Flyball: Dog Training

Dog Tag= Dog Training!

What makes a good flyball dog? Good dog training, that's what! ...but, how do you get that "super-smooth, super-fast" dog trained?

Let's start from the very beginning!

Good dog training begins the moment you pick out your dog! Most of the time, this will mean starting out with a puppy. ....but, not always! Sometimes, a full grown adult dog will join your household. I will attempt to include articles that may be applied universally to both dogs and puppies. I may use the words "puppy" and "dog" interchangeably.

Training a dog for a unique sport such as Flyball needs to utilize and tap into the dog's own natural instinct to chase and to bite. To begin, you need a "motivator". That's dog trainer's talk for a dog toy!

It can be a squeaky. It can be hard or plush. It can be a ball or frisbee. One of the most popular is simply a long, braided piece of cloth called simply a "tug".

Offer your dog the dog toy and call out his name. He should respond and want to bite the toy. Give it to him and engage in a little game of tug. Call his name often and praise him while you play tug.

Is this really "dog training"?

• The answer is "Yes!" You are teaching your puppy his name.
• You are teaching your puppy controlled play.
• You are teaching your puppy what his "reward" will be in the future.
• You are giving your puppy a reason to work for you & with you.

In return, you are learning how to read your dog. You are learning what your dog responds to and also, what he ignores. Pay attention to these kinds of things. Being able to properly "read" your dog's motivation will help you move quickly to a well trained flyball dog!
How do you end the game? First, look for signs that the puppy is tired. Use this natural loss of focus to take the toy out of the picture. You do not want to "force" your puppy into relinquishing the motivator. You simply do what it takes to control your puppy. It may be grabbing hold of his collar or harness. It may be picking him up off the floor. Whatever works for your puppy, use it to control when the play session ends.
See you at practice!

Flyball: Dog Tag

Hello!

Welcome to my flyball dog training blog. Here you will learn about training your dog to compete in flyball.
Flyball is a relay race for dogs over jumps to fetch a ball. Hence, the name "Dog Tag" added to my blog name.
I hope you enjoy learning tips and tricks to have a better trained flyball dog!

See you at practice!

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