just some quick info,

i have a little snoopy bed that i have for my 10month old collie. we are training the place command, using the word snoopy. i have got her to come with me to the snoopy bed, and have introduced the place command which is 'snoopy', she knows what snoopy is, but i am not able to get her excited enough to have to go to snoopy on her own yet, without getting her really revved up before i give the command. i have been rewarding and training exactly the same as in the dvd, i have also got her to down on snoopy when she gets there, rewards are always thrown to the mat and not from my hand. basically to give you a rundown.

1) walked her to snoopy, when she put a foot on it, marked it and treated, did this more than 30 times (over 3 or 4 days)
2) then started to say snoopy just as we started walking, marked and treated
3) after she started going to snoopy on command, she would wait for me to follow. this is the part i am a little lost at. i am assuming that there is just not enough value in snoopy yet. would i be right in that?

any suggestions would be great
cheers
bret

 Quote:

she would wait for me to follow. this is the part i am a little lost at. i am assuming that there is just not enough value in snoopy yet. would i be right in that?

I personally did it kinda the other way around. Never once did I ever walk him to his place (other than leading with my hand as neccesary; but as far as my person went, my body remained stationary). The hump to get over was to get him to understand that walking away from me was neccesary to get his treat. I didn't worry too much about how he got his treat. I'm sure I did it both ways; throwing it to him, and letting him break towards me. I'm not sure it mattered so much. Heck, isn't that kinda the point of marker training anyway? To reduce the importance of the timing of the primary motivator? Yes.

To give a similar run down in steps:

First, I stood right next to his place and led him to his place with treat in hand; allowing his nose to follow really closely. I just wanted to see both front feet touching the thing, nothing more. (repeat a million times). Maybe you'd want all four feet. That'd work too.

I then took a small step away but stayed close enough that I could still lead him with my arm to his place (repeat a million times). I started to see him become conscious of where his front feet were.

Take a slightly smaller step away where you can't quite lead him all the way, but still use the exaggerated arm motion. It shouldn't be too much of a step for him to start associating the unfamiliar sensation under his feet as the goal now.

I worked myself farther away in tiny increments, while still using the exaggerated arm motion.

In small increments I start de-exaggerating the arm-motion and started stepping farther away and from slightly different angles. Remember small increments. Like, 6 inches at a time.

Then I started worrying about *what* he did once he got there. I wanted a sit for a Ring exercise, not so much a doggy bed thing.

Then it was a matter of just saying sit a million times once he arrived, and letting him anticipate it.

Once he got that, I started increasing distance and testing his limits.

I say a "million", but I don't really recall how much I really did it. Way more than 30x per step though.

How familiar is the dog with the bed? When I started training Molly the "place" command I put her "rug" down a couple days before I did any training just so she would get used to it. Actually she started laying there the first day I put it out. From there it was just a matter of getting her to go when I told her to and then we moved on to a "down" command.

One thing that Steven mentioned, which I feel may be helpful, is for you to complement your trainig with clear signals (esp since dogs are so responsive to body language). Specifically Steven mentions using the exagerated arm motion during his training.

My GSD pup has learned "bed" and "room" and "place" and "house"... all different locations (in doors and outdoors) that I send him to. The first place he was taught was "bed." I used Leerburg's DVD method and as I gave the command I used a very clear send signal with my arm/hand (I basically point where I want him to go). I reinforced this signal by teaching "go" (to send him away from me)concurrently in different settings - for example, I taught him that to get his meal, he needs to "go" away from me (where I point) and down stay. I gave pointed and said "go" and as soon as he took even a half a step away from me (which is simple when he sees your arm fly in some direction) I would mark it with "GOOOOOD". Also, I would reinforce the "go" learning during playtime. I would put him in a sit stay (or hold his collar lightly when he was a bit young to expect him to hold his stay), then throw his toy and release him saying "OK" (my release command)..."GO" and point toward the toy. As he ran away from me, I marked it "GOOOOD". Plus it was fun to do all this during play time. Continuous repetition and marking paid off and he put it together. So, that really helped me in sending him away. Once he made any move toward the place, I marked it. And repeated it...many times! Hope this helps.