I’m having a terrible time getting a dog to touch his nose AND hold it on the target stick. He does great touching it… but I’m at a loss getting him to hold it there. Frustration just makes him touch it again and again and again. Suggestions?

Might be a good time to dispense rewards at the position and associate a bridging cue. "Goooooood" concurrent with a conveyor belt of treats entering his mouth while in position.

Is that possible to do the same? Keep a steady stream of reinforcement coming to him while the stick remains in contact with his snout?

I would try peanut butter on a wooden spoon. He can lick the spoon only when he is in contact with the targeting stick. This method makes it easier to time the reward. The spoon can quickly be moved relative to his behavior. I have found this helpful personally.

Steven's method is the one I use. It's called "intermediate bridging" and is not normally used in regular marker training, but I find it really works. I just used this method last weekend to get two of my dogs to stay calm and still to allow blood to be drawn (for heartworm tests).

The "intermediate bridge" would continue as long as the dog's nose is touching the target and end abruptly if he stops.

In SATS (syn alia) training we use a syllable/letter, but you could use something such as "goodgoodgoodgood YES". At first keep it very short (2 seconds) so the dog can be successful.

Hi Matthew,

Try sitting your dog, then put your hand directly in front of him, when he touches it, start intermediate bridging calmly so he doesn't get excited & break the sit (gooooood booooooy, goooooood boooooy, goooooood boooooy). Gradually keep longer contact. Some dogs will not like to keep their nose exactly on the target. When this happens, I keep my hand the same, but maneuver my fingers slowly under his chin so he can look up at me while I bridge him. I think these dogs want to look for signs of release (& reward). Make sure they remain sitting so there's no question about what they're getting bridged for.

Some helpful tips:
1. Make sure you have a release word. For me, the release is the most important part of any obedience training. You don't want your dog deciding when he's finished obeying. I never train a sit/stay, down/stay; when I train the sit (or anything else) the dog isn't finished until he hears the release word (I use OK). Then he's rewarded.
2. When you're training this, vary the length of time you keep contact--sometimes release right away, sometimes keep longer contact. By varying the length of time required to do any obedience exercise, your dog will be encouraged to pay attention to you waiting to hear the release word or further commands. If the training routine is always the same length of time, your dog will know the routine & won't have a reason to pay attention.
3. Most off all-smile at your dog & have fun