I've recently found this site and purchased several of Ed's DVD's, all of which I am pleased with. The latest DVD with Michael Ellis is a winner. So along the way, can I even count the mistakes I've made with two new dogs? Nope. Can we start with going to the dog park? Well, there is a small morning gathering and all the dogs know each other -- early 6:00 a.m. And obedience class where the training is not marker training or clicker training. Well, I am switching over.
And 1/2 Golden Retriever 1/2 Irish Setter (Truman) who in obedience class goes nuts when a fox appears. Loves to chase tennis balls.
An Irish Setter (Mac)which the breeder took back when she found him filthy, smelling of urine and blind in one eye with a cataract and detached retina. Drop a treat on the ground and maybe if he's lucky he'll find it. Stairs are a real challenge because there is partial vision loss in the "good eye."
The boys love to play with each other, especially in the water.
I had the two in class the other evening, both on a down stay when Mac rolled to his side and put his paw on Truman's back. Truman held. I do know how to jackpot treats.
Working two dogs at once in class is not easy, but the other dogs do not seem to be a serious distraction. Let a fox appear and the story with Truman is a whole different ballgame.
The book by Karen Pryor and the "Thinking Dog" book I find really helpful to my beginning efforts in Marker/Clicker training.
Back to square one for me and better for the dogs. Thanks to this site, I'm learning new and better techniques.

Welcome, George.

"Back to square one" is a giant step forward, IMO, when it means starting over and re-train everything with marker training.

Did you also get this? http://leerburg.com/219.htm


It's really a great "intro" and groundwork for the Ellis food video.
http://leerburg.com/220.htm?news=07202009

OK, I have Basic Obedience, the e collar video, Building Drive and Focus, Training With Markers, and The Power of Training With Food. I got Karen Pryor's book -- short, simple direct and "The Thinking Dog" which is more detailed and long on theory. I got a StarMark clicker which has a very good online guide to clicker training, BUT, does not follow Michael Ellis's steps on the Sit, Down etc. Best to follow Ellis' method, but the online guide is quite helpful. In the "Thinking Dog" the author does not like forced training or luring. However Ellis uses luring and has a good explanation of why he uses it. I really think that DVD is the best of the bunch. All have been helpful and I'm looking forward to the rest Ed produces in that series.
Other of Ed's practices I don't follow, other people can pet my dogs. Hey, I've got a friendly bunch.
Another discovery, commercial treats are more expensive than Sirloin steak at Sam's Club. Calculate the price per pound. So I'm cooking steak for the dogs for training treats. It's actually less money if you buy sirloin. Now T Bone is about double, not going to go there.

I do homemade rewards too. But I also get the tiny (M&M size) Leerburg treats and make a mixed bag with homemade, commercial, maybe a few disks of string cheese ... then I pack this: http://leerburg.com/736.htm ... and keep the whole thing in the fridge, ready to grab.

http://leerburg.com/treat.htm includes many tiny cost-effective rewards. The little plastic buckets of soft ones hold a zillion, and the Zuke's ditto.

The mixed bag approach really creates a slot-machine mentality and ratchets up the dog's eagerness even more. Of course, my dogs do not actually need any ratcheting ... they have food drive galore (or you could say "they are pigs" ).

I prefer that other people don't handle my dogs, but I do have one who will never be indifferent to outside-the-pack humans. He is a petting-slut. Oh well ...

Well, pork loin is $1.68 per pound at Sam's Club and I love pork loin myself, so that's next up. Plus I like to cook. Now on Sundays I go to this breakfast buffet all you can eat place and cut up sausage and links and fill my treat bag and have zero problem with engaging the dogs.
Petting sluts are a good thing in my book. What's not to like about a friendly dog.
At the dog park, other dogs know I've got treats.
I make 'em sit or do a down to earn one. There is one little mutt there that is sooooo easy to engage. Unfortunately the owner has zero interest in training his dog.
Mac is a chow hound, Truman less so, but with real food, look out.
I think I'm gonna save bacon grease and use that for the fat in the pan with the steaks. That ought to put them into overdrive with clicker.
I know Ed says the act of eating is what the dogs like, but geez, have you ever tasted dog food? Actually the Puparoonie stuff is a bit like beef jerky and not too bad, but the rest of the stuff, yuck!
One change, right or wrong I'm not certain I have made is when I arrive home the dogs are so excited. After seeing the way an engaged dog acts in the Ellis video, now I get all excited and encourage them to overdrive to be engaged with me. They do settle down after a bit. It had been suggested to me to ignore them at first and only recognize them after they calmed down. Well, now I have them sit, open the gate and then we go nuts. Such a joyful bunch, so why discourage their enthusiasm? Mistake? I dunno.

 Quote: George Yingling

I know Ed says the act of eating is what the dogs like, but geez, have you ever tasted dog food? .... Well, now I have them sit, open the gate and then we go nuts. Such a joyful bunch, so why discourage their enthusiasm? Mistake?

Yeah, but Ed feeds fresh food, as many of us on this board do. And the LB rewards are real food too -- not wheat-based junk.

Enthusiasm is great! If you have a dog who is too hyper, then you reward calm.
If not ... not!

JMO, of course.