Howdy, folks,

Well, I tried putting my dog where my mouth was but, that didn't taste very good. Then I thought about proofing some dog pudding but, I didn't even want to go there. Instead, I decided to take some videos. As usual, all constructive comments and critiques are welcomed.

Here's where we are with our alert bark training. We're getting pretty close to his deep bark. This has turned into one of his favorite games. Since I'm not audible, I'm saying "yes!" when he barks on my crouching and not on any movement, then I say "good giblout" when I give him the tug. He lets go of the tug out of frustration once because I wouldn't let him bite the end with the rope.
http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g181/91SiZ6/pets/?action=view&current=alertbarking.flv

And this is some tug footage. I completely fail at the reward at :29-:30 seconds. I could be mistaken, but I don't feel I'm putting too much pressure on him. If anything, I feel that I'm letting him win too easily. The only audio the camera picked up was wind and the cap hitting the tripod, the song is Nirvana - "Drain You".
http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g181/91SiZ6/pets/?action=view&current=playingtug.flv

Thank you for your time.

Would it help if I said I was planning on starting my SchH training in July with one of the two clubs near me?

 Quote: Scott Garrett

Would it help if I said I was planning on starting my SchH training in July with one of the two clubs near me?

Cool! Did you (or are you going to) go and watch, get to know, etc.?

I haven't been yet but I do plan on going as a spectator for at least one day at each. I'd like to do the research at the beginning of July and then get started near the end with his temperament test.

I should probably add that the alert bark training I'm doing is from the first half (non-defense) of this Leerburg article: http://leerburg.com/bark.htm Most of our outside work here was building his frustration of prey. Now I'm teaching him not to just bark his head off because I'm holding something he wants and might be walking around...not to mention things random people might have while walking around. I'm taking a lot of care to not move towards him until I've said the marker, so he doesn't get stressed or scared.

One tiny bit of advice on the first video.
Move in a small arc from left to right/right to left in front of the dog instead of straight into him.
The dog seems not to be affected by your forward movement straight into him but that can add stress to many dogs.
Looks like your having fun. Stay with it!

Thank you, sir. I'll start that with our next session and make sure I vary the reward side.

Something I noticed. I'm pretty sure that I've been rewarding him for chewing on the tug like a chew toy. I backed that up a bit last night by not letting him run so far off with the tug and only petting him while he was holding it. He picked it up pretty quickly but, it's going to take a fair amount of consistent effort me thinks.

We're having a blast. His eagerness to please is a welcome respite from my 13 year old rott/pit mix.

 Quote: Scott Garrett

Would it help if I said I was planning on starting my SchH training in July with one of the two clubs near me?

Hi Scott,
Looks like you two are having fun! Keep posting those videos.
Keep in mind that if you post a video on the weekend, it won't get seen by very many people.

And, if they are like me, on Monday they pull up the most recent posts from the last 24 hours, so all of Friday night's and Saturday's posts are missed...
I only saw it when you commented on it and it came up in the most recent posts again...

This is a point I hadn't considered. Thank you for bringing it up.

I started using the arch method for rewarding with the tug. Hahaha, it was clumsy for both of us but we started getting it by the third/final pass. Our next session should go a bit more smoothly.

Bob pretty much already said what I was going to say, which is, forward movement & eye-contact is defense work.

Side-to-side and less eye contact is prey.

I now move in a semi-circle around him just out of his reach, tease him with the tug, and then reward by making my circle more shallow until he can bite the tug.

I haven't gotten any new video yet, and please excuse the mess, but this is pretty much how I'm rewarding him now. http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g181/91SiZ6/pets/duke161.jpg I'm looking at the ground right in front of me and watching him with my peripheral vision. When I turn to face him I'm usually watching his bite and foot positioning. I do make eye contact though, should I not make any? Or is a little bit alright, provided he doesn't show any negative reaction?