I just viewed the Power of Training Dogs with Markers. As a 25 year veteran of field trial training I have to say this CD has opened up an entire new thought process about how to train my dogs. I also thought clicker training was stupid and I had to force my dogs to comply. I never used food and moved from leash to electric collar by the time they were 10 months old. The retrieve was their only reward. Finally in 2006 , I was tired of and disgusted with many of the training processes I learned as well as not being able to taylor those methods to our re-homed dogs. I emailed Ed Frawley in 2007 and began to look into different ways to work with all my dogs.
I need some help with the management of training 4 dogs.

Lucy – 6 year old female field bred dog has been trained entirely by me using, primarily Lardy, Dobbs methods. She is a hot retriever, highly motivated, loves to work but of course, has developed quirks from the old style training I used, that keep her from being successful in competition. We have had her since she was 8 weeks old.

Molly - was at 3, a shelter Labrador from a local breeder (her dew claws were removed). When I got her home and I tried the older method of training she folded. I got her to retrieve for treats this year 2 years later. She soft but enough drive to DockDog jump 20 feet in her first 3 events. She will shut down with pressure but loves treats.

Daisy – a Great Dane/Greyhound found at 1 year – her ID chip revealed she had been in the Anchorage shelter 3 times. We have had her for a year, attended one obedience class where she was able to work around other dogs with out fear or aggression after 6 weeks. She is a big dog and very strong willed though trains easily for food. She is easily bored, protective of the house, toys and food. She is good at basic commands and is great with people. She allows the vet techs to draw blood when she donates at the canine blood bank, she is a universal dog blood type. She is very showy, been a dog “model” for ads and I’d like to do freestyle with her. We did some lure coursing this past summer.

Morgan 3, recently neutered – Saluki X pointer/husky, is new to us and was a hardship case and needed a home that would work with him. For 2 ½ years, from 10 weeks of age, he was at a sprint sled dog kennel in large group pens but did not fit into the team. He could not tolerate the cold and he does not have the motivation to pull for long. He is also very smart, knows some obedience. Does not know how to walk on a leash but will sit, stay, down, off. Very sensitive, with no real food motivation except for cheese. Under stress he refuses even cheese. We are trying to acclimate him to traveling and sleeping in a crate but if left too long he will fight his way out and shred his jacket or blankets. In the last 5 weeks he has become less afraid of new people, stood up to the other dogs taking his place with toys and food. He prefers to eat alone and insists on gravy (hot water and broth) in his food. He no longer needs to sleep in our bedroom staying with the other dogs in the downstairs area overnight without stress. He is high energy and could be a fun agility, lure coursing and skijor dog.

I’d like to start working with marker training with all of them. It’s -20F here today so training outside is curtailed. We have tight quarters but we have 4 crates set up in two different rooms.
Would it be best to start with one dog before I start on the others?
Let them watch from the crates or work in a room alone?
Any suggestions based on the personalities I listed?
I have a Marker class starting next month with a local trainer. Take it or skip it to stick with Leerburg consistency?

Linda publisher for Alaska Dog News

 Quote: Linda Henning

.... I have a Marker class starting next month with a local trainer. Take it or skip it to stick with Leerburg consistency?

Have you seen the trainer work? Can you observe a class and see if it has anything like the LB attitude?

I have seen a marker-training session that I was not thrilled about. The timing was not stressed or demonstrated as well as Cindy does it in the video, and there were a couple of other things that I much preferred the video for.

Of course, I took into account the fact that the trainer was relatively new to marker work. Also, overall, the class was a lot better than NO marker instruction.

But you are at the very beginning stage, and you have several dogs. Does this class really nail down the basics, or does it get advanced, into different types of training? Would you take one dog to the class? How would it fit into what you want for all four dogs?

I might want to start with Morgan as long as I felt pretty confident about my technique, because of the great boost of confidence short upbeat marker sessions give to fearful/anxious dogs. But I would add that I've worked with all of mine as well as other folks' dogs with mine watching.

Did you notice the chapter on working with low-food-drive dogs? Also, I've found that a hungry dog coupled with very high-value treats and a fun attitude really boosts a dog's attitude about food rewards. By very high-value, I mean actual tiny bits of cooked (for aroma) meats, or, in an extreme case, cooked bits of no-chemical bacon.

 Quote: Linda Henning

Would it be best to start with one dog before I start on the others?
Let them watch from the crates or work in a room alone?
Any suggestions based on the personalities I listed?
I have a Marker class starting next month with a local trainer. Take it or skip it to stick with Leerburg consistency?

Glad the light bulb has gone off for you!

Here are my recommendations, tho I'm sure you'll also get others:

Why not start working with all the dogs? Your training sessions will be brief, and ideally, you can do a few sessions each day with each dog.

As far as other dogs watching, I think that comes down to personal preference and what works for you and your dogs. I don't have multiple dogs, so it's not an issue for me at this time. Some people believe watchers can learn from what's going on with a dog you're working with.

If the watching dogs are going to go nuts in their crates while you're working with another dog, that's not very conducive to learning (and the peace and quiet that's good for training, unless you're working on distractions). So, IMO, depends on what feels right to you and what works for your dogs.

(I sometimes have clicker sessions with my GSD and two cats, with each waiting their turn in the same room, but that's not several dogs<g>.)

As far as the specific personalities you listed, just make sure you're using what each dog finds reinforcing for rewards, and use very high value rewards. Some dogs prefer toys/playing as a reward, some petting/affection/praise, others great treats. Food is more calming than toys/play. Use what works for each dog as an individual.

As far as the class goes, why not go and watch a class by this trainer before yours starts and see what you think? If you like how it's being run, take it. If you don't, don't.

In any class I've ever taken, I never do anything in the class that doesn't fit me and my dog. And, if it's a good trainer, you can always pick up something new or slightly different. It also helps to have an experienced person be able to watch what you're doing and give you feedback.

Have fun! Your dogs sure are going to have a lot more of it

leih

A little P.S.

It's well worth the effort to practice your treat-draw and keeping a neutral hand in front of a mirror, and it's also worth the effort to practice a consistent verbal marker (if that's what you are using).

Might as well start feeling confident and at ease!

Linda, welcome to the new world. Ed and Cindy's DVD is as good as it gets.
My training started with using a club to teach the wolves to stay away from the fire. I've been doing marker training for about 5-6 yrs now and I'll never go back because I've had great luck with it.
I won't add anymore to what's been said cause every time I do I find myself trying to quote the whole DVD. It's that good!

 Quote: Bob Scott

My training started with using a club to teach the wolves to stay away from the fire.

Bob is so modest.

He didn't mention that this was after he discovered fire!

I love marker training and so do my dogs! I have 4 Mals that are totally different from each other. Have one that was trained with this method when I got him and was amazed at how fast he caught on to new things. Started retraining the other three with marker. Started all three at the same time for a few minutes each day. Doing great!

Ed and Cindy's video is invaluable! Can't say enough good things about it.

Debbie

I didn't (couldn't) wait for an answer and started each dog separatly in the garage/my office/dog room. Dad was in the other room to keep them busy. They knew what was up when I cut up the pup-a-roni. I know - it's gone and the homemade chicken jerky is on its way.Morgan walked away after about 10 "Yes" tries. I see what you mean about the treat hand and I am going to watch the dvd a few more times for the timing.
The trainer. http://www.bettercompanion.com has been doing this for years and is very strong and opinionated about training. If she could put me in jail for using a pinch collar or e-collar she would. She is also a consistant advertiser with my Alaska Dog News pub and has really helped me get it going with all of her contacts and clients. Not that alone I would take a class just to spread the love, but I took one private class with her with Daisy to learn how to use a head halter about a year ago. We had just found Daisy who was already 1 year old, seemed agressive to other dogs and the head halter was the only way I could handle a 3 ft. tall dog that I really didn't know. To my surprise it really helped a lot so I changed my opinion of this positive stuff.

"Yes" is the word I'm using and have been but differently then the timing with marker. "good" was always to encourge the current activity, whatever it was. I'm sure I can't handle another thing to hold like a clicker, just walking two dogs an hour ago I stepped on the long line and Morgan the sled dog took me for a ride on my butt.Thats just walking but with full parka, can't see past the fur ruff, so cold that my eyes welled up.

I would love to see me, Lucy and Molly (especially "special edu.Molly) improve our field work without force and burn and pass a hunt test. I have a field trainer friend that has switched because he got sick of the owner pressure to break dogs and reach training benchmarks via hard e-collar training. They dont care if their dog crawls on its belly to the line.

Thanks for the response. Have to check my chicken treats.

Although I never use the pinch or e-collar any more I wouldn't hesitate if I found in necessary.
The marker folks that condem any other method as wrong are....well....there wrong!
Any method is only as good as the user.
Connie, there ya go with that termanology thingy. I didn't "discover" fire, I just found out how to use it without getting burned.......every time!