It didn't work out too well!

I've been reading about marker training, and decided it sounded like a great thing for me to do with my GSD, Boss.

The weather here has been pretty crappy lately, so Boss has stayed in his kennel. Today was a gorgeous day, and I had the afternoon off from school and work so I was going to do our first training lesson. Whenever I let him out of his kennel, he always has SO much energy he is exploding with it.

I decided I'd go for a bike ride with him to burn his energy (and I need the exercise!) because he can't focus on anything when he's like that. We went for about a 2 mile bike ride, he was jogging, and I was about to die because I had a flat tire and didn't realize it when we left! I guess the 2 miles were a little much, because when we got back he didn't want to do anything but lay around.

I tried to start out by loading the marker. I said "Yes" and gave him a piece of venison tenderloin. I did this like 15 times. But I just could not get him excited about wanting to do anything. He was bored with me and didn't want to do anything. Then I got frustrated, and didn't know what to do next. So I decided to put him up again, and now here I am.

I'd love to have some suggestions/help on what sounds like a good command to start with, how to start, and then where to go from there.

I feel really deflated, but have lots of hope. I know I can do this, its just figuring out how to get started and then going from there!

Meg

What would "excited about wanting to do anything" look like? (Serious question.)

Anything like what?

BTW, if the dog now hears the marker and then looks for the reward, you have done enough for one session.

And did you start with a hungry dog?

http://leerburg.com/219.htm

Yes I did start with a hungry dog, I fasted him for two days because he isn't food motivated at all.

Him looking excited would be standing up, tail wagging, walking around, looking at me like "Okay Mom, what are we going to do now? I'm bored!"

But instead he was just laying down, chilling. Not exactly what I was hoping would happen on our first traing session.

I did get him looking at me when I said yes. I guess I was just thinking we'd do more. The session was only about ten minutes BTW.

OK, it sounds like he was exhausted, so there's one thing to adjust.

3 to 5 minutes is a good session (although more than one a day is great).

I would accept that he was tired from two miles of biking.

Also, don't forget that the rewards are tiny.... an "appetizer." You are using M&M size rewards?

And I have had other non-food-driven-dog owners say that they like to use a mixed bag of fabulous goodies, such as cooked bits of real meat (cooked for aroma), bits of cheese, bits of cooked bacon, etc.

I would do perhaps one 2-minute session later today of loading only and then wait until tomorrow to start "sit" or "look."

Keep that "yes" always the same (happy) tone.

Remember that marker training is hard to fail with. :-) Just up the ante and make whatever adjustments you have to make.

Later on his currency can be adjusted too.

It WILL work out.

I was really suprised he was so tired. I honestly didn't think that would do it to him, or else we wouldn't have went so far.

Yes, I did use tiny M&M sized pieces of steak.

A mixed baggy would probably work great for him, I never thought of that. Great idea, thanks!

I'll do another short session of loading today. Would when I feed him be another good time to do a quick loading session? Like right before I feed him?

I always kept "yes" in the same happy tone.

What are some recommendations on how to start to train sit?

Another thing is: I work and go to school. Some days, I'm not going to be able to do multiple training sessions. But I could do a half hour-hour session no problem. I'm guessing that right now in the beginning thats too much, right?

Thanks for the confidence, Connie!

 Quote: MeganMcCallister

Some days, I'm not going to be able to do multiple training sessions. But I could do a half hour-hour session no problem.

My opinion (strong opinion) is that 5 minutes, then release and break, then 5 more, etc., is FAR better than 1/2 hour. Fill up the 1/2 hour that way. Truly, longer sessions are counterproductive, leading to boredom or (worse) either dog or human having time to get frustrated.

You want to always quit on a high note (a reward) and to leave him wishing for more.

Sit for companion dog:

You can use a food lure. With your dog in the standing position, hold it just above his nose. Move your hand back between his ears. His nose will go up, his bottom will go down. When his butt touches the floor, mark and reward.

P.S. A "session" can be one minute, BTW, before you leave, like before his breakfast.

Hey Megan, sometimes it can help with his excitement to keep him moving and work at a quick pace. It's not just the treat but also how you give it to him. Since you don't really need to look for straight sits or precision at all you can spit them to him or even kinda toss it to him.

Okay, so I could do a couple minutes training then play fetch for a little while (his favorite thing in the world to do).

My main question was in teaching the sit, was would it be okay to lure him (isn't that how your describing to do it?).

When introducing new commands, is it okay to always lure? Or as I progress will I find that its easier to do it other ways?

And then: you get behavior your trying to teach, mark and reward; do this several times; then add in the command?

Steve, I used to try to spit the treats at him, and he never really got it. The treat would just bounce off his nose between the eyes, and I'd get a weird look. Then he'd look around for the treat, which ended up not working all that well for us.

I'd love to teach him while he was in high energy, but he just has so much! Its harder for me to teach him new stuff like this, but its a lot of fun to work him in exercises after he has learned his new commands!