May 11, 2011
I’m trying to teach my puppy the place command and he’s avoiding the “place” What can I do?
Full Question:
Hi Ed and Cindy,I will keep this brief as I know you are inundated daily. I have three of your DVDs (have watched 1.5 so far, as my pup keeps me very occupied and TV time is zero nowadays).
I am trying to teach my 4 month old mal the place command. Well, I am trying to start that training. We have used "yes" as his marker and he knows "yes" is a good thing. I put his kennel blanket on the living room floor to start the training, but he avoids it at all costs. I've tried a different blanket as well, and used his kennel one because he lies on it and is comfortable with it in his kennel, but to avail. I know i should not "bribe" him to get on it or touch it, but he just walks around it or sits and stares at me (he knows i have treats and is highly food driven).
I have tried putting it in a doorway and walking through the door so when he follows me I can mark it and reward him, but he does not seem to get the connection, and just sits near me once he reaches me (even after getting food from the blanket, following the "yes" and reward drop).
Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks!
Donna
Cindy's Answer:
I don’t think you are breaking the exercise down into pieces he can understand. You need to reward even a glance at the blanket and then think about placement of reward. The reward should only be placed on the blanket and then as he connects the dots in training you up your criteria and ask for more than just a glance.
I’d read this article on marker training and I highly recommend these 2 videos.
The Power of Training Dogs with Markers
The Power of Training Dogs with Food
The Marker DVD covers all the theory and how to break down an exercise and reward the slightest try, even if to us it doesn’t feel like much of a try. Also, instead of looking at the dog try looking at where you want him to go.
PS which videos do you have? I checked the database and the videos I show you having are Drive & Focus and Basic Obedience. Neither of those would cover the concepts of marker training in any kind of detail at all.
I’d also direct you to the search function in the upper left corner of the website. It will find posts, articles and Q & A’s that deal with your search terms.
I hope this helps.
I’d read this article on marker training and I highly recommend these 2 videos.
The Power of Training Dogs with Markers
The Power of Training Dogs with Food
The Marker DVD covers all the theory and how to break down an exercise and reward the slightest try, even if to us it doesn’t feel like much of a try. Also, instead of looking at the dog try looking at where you want him to go.
PS which videos do you have? I checked the database and the videos I show you having are Drive & Focus and Basic Obedience. Neither of those would cover the concepts of marker training in any kind of detail at all.
I’d also direct you to the search function in the upper left corner of the website. It will find posts, articles and Q & A’s that deal with your search terms.
I hope this helps.
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