http://youtu.be/hwYdBfJ_r4w

This is Carlin in an impromptu training session. I can see a few mistakes/inconsistancies on my part, but what about you guys? What can I do better, and what I can work on?

Thanks!

Pretty good!

I'm not sure what's happening with "down."

Have you taught down?

I might be missing something (watching on phone). Also couldn't quite see what was happening with "wait" and "OK" on the tiny little picture I'm looking at. LOL



ETA
But good work!

i like the look of that dog !

here's what i saw . . .

@ .46 , used " ok " instead of " yes "

@ 1.24 you put him into a sit and then asked for a touch . i'd stick to just one ask , mark , reward at a time at this point .

are you using " down " for " off " , or a position ?

use movement of the reward to release the dog from the behaviour he's just done .

set up a better training area so you can move from one thing to another more fluidly .

clever use of the crate for " touch " .

that was a kind of long session that didn't seem to have a particular focus . 30 seconds per rep set is good enough . remember you want to end each session on a high note with him wanting more .

at this point , you are trying to build the engagement between you two . for a little session like that , i'd do like 5 quick sits : command , behaviour , mark , move to reward , stop . repeat .

crate for 10 seconds , next behaviour reps .

keep each session lively and upbeat so that he wants to be doing things with you .

i know you said that was impromptu , but i'd try to get someone else to hold the camera or just set it somewhere and work in that field of view . that'll allow you to focus on the dog / training , and it'll allow you , and us , to see what you are doing .

great start john , keep it up !

Yeah, you could set it up (the camera) and then practice being in its "line of sight."

Nice post, Ian. It even allows me to see better what's going on on my teeny weeny video. I watched again with pauses to read your words, and saw much more.

Upbeat! Short! :-)


I'd like to hear about down and okay too.

"great start john , keep it up !"


DITTO!

You should have seen my first marker sessions, pre-videos, going from Ed's article right before the first video, pausing myself to read again and think "Wait, what?"

My poor dog. LOL The POWER of marker training is right there: my dogs loved it from Day One, as bad as I was. And as I got better, they did too. Nothing I had done in the beginning had permanent bad effects.

But John, you are a zillion dillion times better than I was.

A better quality video would make it easier to critique, yea, but what I could see wasn't as terrible as I am when using marker words instead of a clicker!

He looks really smart --- and mellow too, and wants to please.

He's going to be TERRIFIC!

when i think about the handlers errors i make on a daily basis , it almost ( almost !!?? ) makes me want to start over , but you know , the dog seems to be surviving and the relationship thriving so it can't be all bad .

i think the main thing is to remain critical of your own performance , cognizant of where you can make improvements , but at the same time be careful not to paralyze your instincts with over-analysis .

if it ain't fun for you and the dog , yer gettin' way too serious and missing a big part of why you got into it in the first place . you get a dog to make BOTH of your lives better .

 Quote: ian bunbury

when i think about the handlers errors i make on a daily basis , it almost ( almost !!?? ) makes me want to start over , but you know , the dog seems to be surviving and the relationship thriving so it can't be all bad .

i think the main thing is to remain critical of your own performance , cognizant of where you can make improvements , but at the same time be careful not to paralyze your instincts with over-analysis .

if it ain't fun for you and the dog , yer gettin' way too serious and missing a big part of why you got into it in the first place . you get a dog to make BOTH of your lives better .

Ian, you are sooo right on!!

I realized I had been getting WAY too tense about the right and wrong I was doing. While my poor thing has been off and on with Pano, we have had much more fun just chilling together. And I am developing a different attitude. Since, I have no aspirations to compete, I just want a companion who is well behaved, and happy. I think any positive leadership you can instill in them is going to strengthen the bond and make it easier to teach.

At least that is what I am beginning to notice for now.

Ah well, gotta go... it's bath time for Ramsey!!

I think you're off to a good start, and you're working with a biddable pup.

I was also curious about the "ok" mark. Was this unintentional? I use an "OK" as a non-reward release, but it's usually at a more advanced phase of training. I usually stick to reward releases at the beginning. However, if your pup has already learned this, then the video is evidence that he understands it and it's okay to continue in this fashion.
If it was unintentional, then work hard on watching your vocabulary when you are communicating with the little one.