I am a first time dog trainer. This is my first "real" dog and I only know what I have learned from buying basically all the Michael Ellis vids here at leerburg. I got this puppy at 8 weeks old and had already been studying my butt off in watching the videos over and over before he came.

I am very proud of my Dutchie and he is just 21 weeks old. So far this is where I have him. He also does the touch pad no problem but I didnt film it in this video. He has just been re introduced to his bite work now that he is done teething since about 2-3 weeks ago. A few mistakes but I am impressed. Next comes training near distractions since that is the weak point right now.

His name is Jagger, a male Dutch Shepherd and 21 weeks old:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQXYVjoGbKY

Very nice!
One thing if I may. You want to keep the dog food out of site at this point in his training or it can easily become a bribe instead of a reward.
Bait pouches are good. You can even put it down on top of a table near you. Doesn't matter if the dog knows where it's at. He'll have to learn that reward will come even if he can't see it or he knows it's over there. His belief in you and the marker system tells him he WILL still get a reward.
Don't make it to difficult until your sure he understands.

I am not following what you are saying. I have the food in my vest pocket. If I dont wear the vest it goes on top of something. Typically we do the training outside but I wanted the video to come out better.

Please explain what you are suggesting so I can give it a try.

Very nice!

nice work brian . . .

i'll add this : timing of the delivery of the reward is critical . the correct response on the part of the dog triggers the production of the reward , so there needs to be a moments' lapse of time between the mark , and you moving to give him the reward .

i still find myself doing the same thing because our brains/bodies are so wired to mark/reward at the same time .

the timing may seem like nitpicking , but the theory behind it is an important distinction . pavlov determined that the conditioning did not take place if the food was delivered at the same time as the signal or while the signal was being sounded .

the point is , like bob said , if the dog sees what he is working for , the motivation behind the behaviour is different than if the dog is working for what he "might" get .

So I need to take a fraction of a second longer between my marker and reward? He seemed to do the behaviors so fast I was trying to keep up.

I will say that I must be doing pretty good because I had a heck of a time getting that stand with out physical cues. He was associating me using my hand gestures and nosing my hand to stand up as his correct behavior. I started timing my mark differently and after using my hands toward his neck line to get the stand I soul deliver the reward to the side or backward. Finally he understood I was marking the stand and not the nosing of my hand.

I will watch my timing and think about that anticipation he needs to have for the involuntary responds to the marker. I need to re watch the heeling video again to fine tune some stuff but with out a leash he is doing pretty good on that. With the leash pressure he is even more precise but I am being delicate with that work.

correct brian . . . his appropriate response triggers you to produce the reward .

you are doing some good work there . you can learn a great deal from the dvd's and i encourage you to continue . that is where i learned and confirmed / corrected what i had been doing with my previous dogs , but if you ever get the chance to attend a michael ellis seminar or go to his school , i highly recommend it . there is nothing like live , in person coaching from this master of his craft .

I know I have been considering going to his class but a week off work and traveling 8 hrs from my house is the tuff part. Honestly I just want a well trained dog but not interested in competition but instead more protection. The issue is I see how the protection/police type it's are treated and I won't do it.

I just went to a class last week at what is regarded THE best in military and police dog training around and hated what I saw. A trainer stood there saying the BEST way to teach is by corrections so he instructed to give command, correction, then praise. He just kept doing my thing but my poor jagger was so distracted for his first time. I kept cool and kept working him my way with markers. I am so happy I learned markers and found leerburgs website.

I guess my goal is an amazing pet that can protect the house but not necessarily be mean and dangerous to friends who come over. Of course good management is my responsibility. I will see how this plays out I am just not sure my end plan but am very happy with what I have done so far.

brian , i'll let others with more experience comment on the protection trained pet issue , but if i lived within 8 hours of michael ellis i'd be there every other weekend lol

Nowadays, the better K9 service schools are using reward-based systems rather than compulsion. The schutzhund club that I'm a member of does not use compulsion in protection work, and neither do any of the other clubs in our area. We train using the dogs' drives.

I can't speak for Bob, but what he may be referring to is not pulling food from the bag before you command or mark. I have a habit of pulling the next treat out before I give a new command, which causes my dog to anticipate or offer behaviors.

ETA: Ian; how far did you have to fly to go to ME's school?