Let him smell the treat in your hand then keep the treat in your hand right in front of his nose while slowly raising it.

Don't go any faster than he is.

Then the second his butt touches the ground you click and give the treat after clicking.

You can also teach him to follow your hand with the treat by slowly moving it back and forth and letting him follow it.

I am on the hunt for a good video of very basic luring.

Too far over his head. "he sniffs /follows the food only if it's close to his nose/mouth. " It should be close to his nose. I wouldn't push his butt down, because I would like him to see what his own self-generated actions can do for him and you to see the power of food luring and eventually placement.

I would wait a while, start with hungry dog, and slowly move the highly delicious and odorous item from in front of his eyes and move it up while his eyes follow it .... be calm and quiet, no other people, so there is nothing interesting around but that bit of food. There is a point where he naturally puts his butt down to follow the food with his gaze, and you mark the instant his butt hits the floor.

Is there any chance you could give us a video clip?

Or I can find one for you.

Any chance you might be able to get this great DVD? http://leerburg.com/219.htm

Also, about charging your marker: I'd go back to that, again with hungry dog and very high-value treats, and not assume that the marker is charged until you click and he looks for the treat.

eta
I guess Jennifer and I were both typing at once.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (07/29/2010 08:27 PM)
Edit reason: eta

 Quote: Jennifer Lee

.... I am on the hunt for a good video of very basic luring.

Me too. All I want is 30 seconds of luring into a sit, and I've been searching for ten minutes!

Popcorn....movie theater butter style popcorn.


Eddie has no food drive..but he will do just about anything for popcorn.

Ok. Thanks for the clarification. I was moving my hand back way too much as well as way too fast. I was just trying to imitate Cindy on the basic obedience dvd. Oops.

I will try again later when he's hungry.

I thought I could get away from just the groundswork and basic obedience dvd for now. But Connie, you are doing a GREAT job luring me to pick up that marker training dvd. Kidding.

Another question, Louie loves to be in his crate. I'd say he's in there willingly 90% (20 hours+) of the day. Even with the door open to come out and hang out... he just prefers the crate most of the time. Is this normal? Will it likely change? Have you seen dogs that just prefers the crate over everything else? Seems like a dumb problem to have as most people would love this situation better than the alternative, but I'm curious to know what you guys have seen/experienced. Thanks!

Ok here is one where they are working on Lie down, but it shows how close to keep the treat to their nose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cOh3ght9zA

These dogs are old pros at this, you will need to move much more slowly when you move the treat.

Palm up is a raising motion seems to work better for me then fist over head...does that make any sense?

Edited to add: you could use the clicker and treats to mark him everytime he comes out of the crate.

 Quote: Willie Tilton

Popcorn....movie theater butter style popcorn.


Eddie has no food drive..but he will do just about anything for popcorn.

That's a weird one. I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the suggestion!

I wouldn't worry about the crate for one second.

He does walks, right? And he goes places? It's not at all weird that a newish rescue dog who is indoors prefers his "den."

And the tail not being up? I know I'm harping on marker training too much, but you will be so surprised at the confidence level that the dog reaches as he learns and is rewarded by his own new behaviors. He will also learn to play. Remember when you first got him? Look at how different he is after 4 short weeks!

PS

My most recent rescue took many months to go from tucked tail to flag. Now he is a feisty little senior, always ready to chase something, and when he came, he hung back from all people, watching everyone warily from a distance, ducking his head if he thought someone was going to touch him. (Now if he thinks someone might touch him, he flips onto his back, spread out like a starfish, and pleads for a belly-rub.)

 Quote: Jennifer Lee

Ok here is one where they are working on Lie down, but it shows how close to keep the treat to their nose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cOh3ght9zA

These dogs are old pros at this, you will need to move much more slowly when you move the treat.

Palm up is a raising motion seems to work better for me then fist over head...does that make any sense?

Edited to add: you could use the clicker and treats to mark him everytime he comes out of the crate.

I have to hold the treat very close to the dog's nose/mouth. Got it. And I understand the open palm vs closed fist.

And thanks for the coming out of crate marking suggestion.

It's just hard with the food because he's about 40 pounds and eating on avg less than 10 ozs a day (less than 2% of body weight). We started feeding him twice daily but switched it to 3 in case he's not used to eating/getting stomachaches from larger amounts than he was used to.