BillyMalc Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 Right, the topic title and description will very likely not make much sense but hey ho! What I tried to put into one concise sentence is this: I'm doing a little (or rather a lot - "where did the time go?" is one of my daily bewilderments ) training with Sparky, my old flatmate's dog who is here on holiday for a few weeks, and I 'think' he's doing really well. I'm not the most advanced dog trainer by any stretch of the imagination though, I just got him used to the clicker, which he used to be terrified of, and try to 'click' any behaviour that I want of him - and that I have asked him to do. The only time when I have him on his own is when I take him out for walks (I walk him separately most of the time), and I'll ask him to 'walk with me', zig zagging and weaving between bollards, and to wait at the side of the road and then to cross. What I'm wondering though, is when I read training books they often say that you should keep training sessions short, say 5-10 minutes a day (or a couple of times a day). But I'll give a couple of commands, depending on the situation outside, reward him for that and give him an 'okay' if he can go off and mind his own business again - until there is a situation where I'd want him to sit calmly, for instance, and when he does I click and treat again. But I also do not always give him a treat every time he does something right, because we'd go through an awful amount of sausages if we did! What do other people think of this, and have you trained/are you training your dog preferring to do sessions rather than 'inbetween sniffs'? What do you reckon would the advantage be of having a proper start and end to a training to doing short bursts of a few commands during a walk? I've got so much to learn and I can't learn fast neough! Thanks for replies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safneo Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 There is no set answer to this one except to say it depends on what suits you and the dog. Neo would train for hours given a chance and love every minute of it. I used to train him constantly on walks with tricks to overcome his attempted car 'herding' and keep his focus on me and away from other dogs. On the other hand Saffy has the attention span of a gnat. She gets overly excited by training, so I keep 'sessions' very short and generally train throughout the day and randomly on walks. It sounds like you are doing a fab job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 Everyone's diffrent as to what they prefere, for my money I think your bang on target, I've found that doing wee snippets of training in the real world to be more effective than class room training, don't get me wrong, I think doing session training has it's place to establish with the dog what your on about but once they have the jist I like to take it out and about and, as your doing, slid it in and about a walk, also by not treating every time your increasing the chance of the dog responding, works on the same principle as people playing a slot machine, " Oooo, I just have to try once more to see if I win" I think your doing just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one.eyed.dog Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 Billie, You are doing wonders with Sparky. As you know i have been doing gundog training with Lottie which is 2 solid hours and also seeing Jim Greenwood which has been over 3 hours. Ok. The training is different as it is done of lead on moorland and in forests but, she laps it up. Look what he was like on Wednesday when a dozen plus dogs assended on him. He was just fine. I would say to carry on doing what you are doing as you are doing brilliantly in my opinion. Ellie x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 I have always trained my dogs ad hoc throughout the day. A stay ( out of the way) while I hoovered the room, a recall or a retrieve while waiting for the kettle to boil, a stay outside the loo door while I am in, a stay or retrieves while I hang out the washing etc. I mix it all in during the day When out on a walk I will also do some training intermittently. Getting to go off and sniff etc is the reward. If you have set sessions, you run the risk that the dog only does it in a formal setting and doesn't associate responding to you at other times. At agility the other night one one person decided to show me that her she could stop her dog, while he was coming towards her, as they had been training for the gold KCGC test on the following night. Her dog ignored her and kept coming to her. Her response was ' well, he's not used to doing it in this hall."( the obedience is held in a different hall) I thought the point of the KCGC was that the dog was a good citizen, not that he could do it in the hall, but nowhere else. So carry on what you are doing. If it's not broke, don't change it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple_mog Posted October 17, 2008 Report Share Posted October 17, 2008 I just got him used to the clicker, which he used to be terrified of, and try to 'click' any behaviour that I want of him - and that I have asked him to do. But I also do not always give him a treat every time he does something right, because we'd go through an awful amount of sausages if we did! sorry if I've misunderstood - but if you are using a clicker you DO need to reward after every click, whether thats with food or an other great reward otherwise it dilutes the meaning of the sound I do a lot of on-the-spot training like you are doing, and since my two are fed part kibble I take that with us on walks and use that for rewards so they earn pretty much all their food - poor wee overworked dogs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyMalc Posted October 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 sorry if I've misunderstood - but if you are using a clicker you DO need to reward after every click, whether thats with food or an other great reward otherwise it dilutes the meaning of the sound I do a lot of on-the-spot training like you are doing, and since my two are fed part kibble I take that with us on walks and use that for rewards so they earn pretty much all their food - poor wee overworked dogs! I do reward him after every click, just not with food every time. From what I understand, once the dog knows what kind of behaviour is wanted they'll want to show it again and again, trying to get another treat? So it's not necessary to actually give a treat every time, just reward them, with praise or a fuss, after every click. I've tried taking kibble along but Sparky don't work for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mop Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 I incorporate training into my normal day, getting them to sit at the kirb, those that can sit, Merin can't he does a stand, reinforces the sit command because it is in different places, I also get them to sit inbetween etc. Quite a lot can be done on walks as long as they have free time in between, I used to do most of my horse's schooling out hacking it was more interesting to him just as training out walking is more interesting to my dogs. I don't use a clicker but use a word instead, having 6 dogs if you use a clicker gets confusing. but good girl or good boy with the dog's name doesn't. I would carry on as you are, it is working and that is what matters, it doesn't matter what others think if it is working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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