This thread motivated me to try a couple of things.

First off, on the multiple dog front, I only have one, so my dog is VERY used to the clicker being for him exclusively.

Thought I would use the husband as the second dog to train tonight and see if I could get Farley to wait his turn....

It became obvious that right away that I had one too many goals for my training session and the dog had to be locked in another room while I trained my husband....I was building drive though, I could hear him whining for his turn the whold time!

So...about the husband. I decided the dirty dishes were too lofty a goal for our first try and decided on a simpler task to train.

I broke up some chocolate and put it in a mug and brought it over to him with the clicker. He was laying on his back on the sofa. I clicked and treated him a few times so he made the association between the treats and the click

At first he was uncomfortable as I waited for him to offer some behaviors. Once he started doing stuff it was easier than I thought. My goal was to get him off the sofa, and have his hands feet and knees on the floor.

As soon as he knew he had it he gave himself a "jackpot" reward and emptied the cup of remaining chocolat into his mouth...I guess he deserved it

Good thing it didn't take too long because my dog's attention span for training is WAY longer than my husband's and the husband was over it after 1.5 minutes....

Then I let the dog out and he was happy to do a bit of clicker stuff. We are working on quieting his hold. We have made some breakthroughs lately.

While marker training a quiet hold last year I introduced a correction that backfired on me. Undoing the damage has been frustrating...Live and learn

Edit to add that I used the PLACEMENT of the reward as extra hints to the husband as Cindy has educated me that this can be very helpful in shaping. For example when he was offering behaviors I threw the treat at the hand he was hanging off the sofa closest too the floor (remembering the goal of getting hands feet and knees on the floor).. instead of giving them to him in his other hand, or throwing them at his face

You got a husband OFF the sofa??!!

You get the Trainer Of The Year award, Jennifer

Yep, I agree....Trainer of the Year goes to Jennifer.

We made it to the sink and he rinsed a dish, then he lost focus and wanted the clicker himself......progress though.

I better up the treat value.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

 Quote: Cindy Easton Rhodes

I was trained to untie my shoes and tie them together.

And you got it? The whole thing? I can't imagine how I'd train it!

I didn't get the shoelace part until my trainer placed my m&m ON my laces when I would touch my shoe.... that's the day I really learned how valuable placement of reward is. If my trainer had just continued to put my treat in my hand, instead of laying it on my laces it would have taken me much longer to figure it out. Good chance I would have gotten frustrated and quit trying too, which really makes you think about how your dog is feeling during this whole process.

 Quote: Cindy Easton Rhodes

I didn't get the shoelace part until my trainer placed my m&m ON my laces when I would touch my shoe.... that's the day I really learned how valuable placement of reward is.

Ohhhhh......... Oh! Almost like when you drop the treat from your mouth to get the dog to look at your face!

kind of like that....

for another example, if you want your dog to put his feet on a box and he merely glances at the box at first, you click and then place the treat ON the box. This helps dogs connect the dots much faster when figuring out a problem.

 Quote: Cindy Easton Rhodes

kind of like that....

for another example, if you want your dog to put his feet on a box and he merely glances at the box at first, you click and then place the treat ON the box. This helps dogs connect the dots much faster when figuring out a problem.

YES! A whole new world of connecting the reward with the task!

Pretty exciting when the lightbulb goes on over the OLD dog's head (mine) as well as the younger one's (the dog's)!