Sophie

Right, we (Morse and I) are having some problems with the seesaw, and wondered if anyone had any suggestions. Morse and I have been doing agility for about 3 years. Morse used to love the seesaw - it was his favourite piece of equipment, he wasn't scared by it tilting, and he never flew it. In about October, Morse was on the seesaw (standing still at the tipping point) when there was a rumble of thunder. Morse is terrified of thunder - he jumped off the seesaw (flew off the end) and ran to cower against the door of the training place. Since then we've had real problems with the seesaw. I can get him over it once - it requires coaxing with food, and is very slow, but he'll do it. However, this only works if he's the first in the class to go. The problem seems to be that the seesaw is making banging noises when it hits the ground - I can feel him flinch everytime another dog goes over the seesaw. After it has banged, he then won't go near the seesaw - he won't walk past it, he won't go on any other equipment which would have him facing the seesaw start at the end of it (so won't jump then turn away from the seesaw), etc. He spent 20 minutes hiding in a tunnel a few weeks ago. I know part of the solution is to get him desensitised to the noise. He wears a bandana with DAP spray on at agility, and his coat (as a substitute anxiety wrap) when he is waiting in the queue. But I figure part of the solution is going to be getting him happy on the seesaw again (and we are holding it short of the ground to make sure it doesn't bang when he is on it) - he wasn't bothered by the sound when he wasn't scared to go over it (if that makes any sense). Does anyone have any suggestions on getting him comfortable with it again?

I've done a down from a sit with Morse, and Sophie learnt a sit from a down (cause she's strange). I found that if I stood in front of Morse with the clicker, he'd eventually offer a sit (in the hope that it would get him a click). I could then work on the down from this, without undoing any of the sit work, since I hadn't asked him to sit in the first place (he offered the behaviour himself). Similar thing with Sophie - she'd default to a down, so I'd wait until she lay down, then started by luring her into a sit. The down command didn't suffer, since I wasn't using either the hand signal or the word to get her to go down in the first place. Everytime I did ask for a down I would click. It interesting now, since if I stand and watch the dogs during a training session without asking them to do anything, they will go through their repetoire of behaviours to see if any will get a click - so Morse will sit, lay down, wave a paw, touch my foot, spin in a circle, etc. It means if I want to train a new behaviour that is a modification of an existing one, I can wait for him to offer the existing one and work from there without weakening the link between command and action for the existing behaviour. Hopefully that makes some sense - I'm not sure if it is necessarily the 'right' way to do it, but it worked for me.

I do agility for fun with Morse (my parents' lurcher) . We've been doing it for a couple of years now. He really enjoys it. I don't think we'll ever compete though, cause Morse stresses too much and shuts down when he gets worried. Morse loves the tunnels, dog walk and weaves, but hates the seesaw (because it makes banging noises when other dogs go over it). I'm hoping to start with Sophie at some point in the near future too.

Tip: If you find your dog is tending to bite the end of the stick (or your hand if you start with hand targetting), put it up against a wall. They won't be able to get their mouth round it, and you can reinforce that it is touch not chew. Alternatley, click just before they touch the target for a few times, and they should pick up on the idea that it is moving to the target, not biting it that gets the click.

Can I join? Trainer: Karen Dog: Sophie (lurcher) Past clicker history: started clicker training 5 years ago with Morse, stopped with him about 2 years ago, have just started with Sophie - go to clicker classes with her weekly

To add to what Caz has said, once you've primed the clicker, decide what behaviour you are going to work on - start with something simple so the dog gets the idea of what your doing before moving on to more complex things. If its, say, sit that you've decided to work on - use a food treat to lure the dog into a sit. As soon as their bum touches the floor, click, then give them the treat. Repeat a couple of times. Then get another food treat ready and watch the dog. Let them think about what it is they've been doing that has been getting them a click and a treat. Chances are that they'll try a sit, and you immediately click and treat. If they haven't tried anything after a few minutes, lure again, and then try observation again. Once they have the idea that it is sit that you want, add the command word in. That's the basic process we use for anything that we use a lure for. Something fun to teach that I've found dogs pick up on quickly is hand targetting. Put your hand right in front of your dogs nose, and click and treat when they move forward to sniff it. Repeat, then slowly move your hand farther away until the dog has to move to touch your hand. Once they're doing this reliably, you can start moving your hand and getting the dog to follow.