As promised, here are some photos of Jet this morning.... he is in a good mood this morning, just playing with the tugs by himself. Of course, this is after a half-hour session of running around the yard after Kaly... terrorizing her..... :P
.... Updated
Friday, May 28, 2010
FMBB 2010
I must admit that I am not the biggest fan of Schtzhund or IPO. I am more of a Ring sports guy. However, the national IPO at FMBB 2010 at Germany is WOW!.... Salute to the competitors for their hard work to reach this level.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Jet is 3 months old! and Kaly is 10 months old!
Time flies... not fast enough!:P... sometimes wish that he can grow up faster. He is destructive, annoying, a lot poos and pees, loud, gets angry easily, and a lot more... but at the same time, super cute.
And Kaly is 10 months old ... still behaving like a total goof ball...
They get along well, most of the time. They played together once or twice a week, usually early morning on Sat and Sun. Most of the play is Jet trying to bite Kaly on her neck, and she body check him. And it usually ends with Jet have a mouthful of Kaly's fur in his mouth. I will try to take a video of them playing sometime...
Kaly and Jet on the circular track
We did another circular track with Kaly this weekend. The end result was still far from perfect but we think she improved 100%! At the very least, she was more focused on the track and maintained her attention for as long as 3 minutes, with her nose on the track.
We decided that :
1) lesser treats - probably 1 -2 treats every 3 steps.
2) more tracking sessions.
3) spend more time around the field, just walking or running before the tracking session
On the other hand, Jet was a bit lost...he is going back to the scent pad.
We decided that :
1) lesser treats - probably 1 -2 treats every 3 steps.
2) more tracking sessions.
3) spend more time around the field, just walking or running before the tracking session
On the other hand, Jet was a bit lost...he is going back to the scent pad.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Progress
Kaly - 10 months old
- 80% reliable on following commands without distraction : sit, down, stand, bark, here.
- Not willing to down on wet floors.
- 30% on circular track.
- 50% reliable on bitework on familiar grounds and familiar people.
- working on following commands : watch.
- working on following items : improving concentration on the circular track.
- sit with food.
- 60% on the following command without distraction : watch.
- started on scent pad.
- working on the following : watch command, and house manners.
Short term goals
One of the most important thing about dog training is having short term goals. All of us are guilty of being too "ambitious" and wanting the dog to perform more, without giving the dog a chance of doing exercises in parts.
It will be more beneficial if we break exercises into smaller parts. For example, our goals for Kaly and Jet for these two weeks is just to focus on the command "watch". It is important to have these easier to attain, shorter term goals which will eventually form an entire training routine. At the same time, these goals make training sessions shorter, which is great for our busy schedule.
It will be more beneficial if we break exercises into smaller parts. For example, our goals for Kaly and Jet for these two weeks is just to focus on the command "watch". It is important to have these easier to attain, shorter term goals which will eventually form an entire training routine. At the same time, these goals make training sessions shorter, which is great for our busy schedule.
Clicker vs Marker
This morning, we are discussing about the benefits of marker training as compared to clicker training. Of course, we are a bit biased as we use marker training. And technically, clicker training is a form of marker training, using the clicker as a marker for positive actions from the dog.
In our views, marker training gives us the flexibility. For example, we have 3 commands "no", "good" and "okay", and "okay" is the only command which has a reward, be it food or game. "Good" is telling the dog that this is the desired action, continue it, and soon you will get an "okay". This is nice, because we remove the gray area. For example, when we get the dog to sit. Upon sitting, we say "good" and the dog continues to sit waiting for the reward. If the dog moves, "no" command tells the dog this is not desired and we tell the dog to sit again... if the dog sits - "good" .. and upon the desired time, we say "okay" and follows by the reward. Whereas, in the clicker training, the dog sits, the handler clicks and rewards. In training longer sits, the dog sits, waits for the click, but did not get it. The dog moves, and he gets a no... this is the gray area! The dog now may not understand the he is supposed to sit longer. In his mind, he has performed the action sit, and he doesn't understand why he doesn't get the click... Some dogs may get confused and try other "tricks" such as down, stand, bark etc to get he click and reward.
Thus, this is one of the main reasons for using verbal marker training instead of clickers. The other reason is having to juggle with some much items on the hand - tug, food, clicker, leash etc. With so many items on hand, marking the desired action with a clicker at the right moment may not be the easiest.
In our views, marker training gives us the flexibility. For example, we have 3 commands "no", "good" and "okay", and "okay" is the only command which has a reward, be it food or game. "Good" is telling the dog that this is the desired action, continue it, and soon you will get an "okay". This is nice, because we remove the gray area. For example, when we get the dog to sit. Upon sitting, we say "good" and the dog continues to sit waiting for the reward. If the dog moves, "no" command tells the dog this is not desired and we tell the dog to sit again... if the dog sits - "good" .. and upon the desired time, we say "okay" and follows by the reward. Whereas, in the clicker training, the dog sits, the handler clicks and rewards. In training longer sits, the dog sits, waits for the click, but did not get it. The dog moves, and he gets a no... this is the gray area! The dog now may not understand the he is supposed to sit longer. In his mind, he has performed the action sit, and he doesn't understand why he doesn't get the click... Some dogs may get confused and try other "tricks" such as down, stand, bark etc to get he click and reward.
Thus, this is one of the main reasons for using verbal marker training instead of clickers. The other reason is having to juggle with some much items on the hand - tug, food, clicker, leash etc. With so many items on hand, marking the desired action with a clicker at the right moment may not be the easiest.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)