Saturday, August 28, 2010

Let the Clicker Training Begin!

I bought two training clickers from PetSmart this morning and we're going to do some association exercises this afternoon.  That means that I will get Vante to associate the click with something good - like treats or brushing (which might be a bigger motivator for her than food).

I'm following a handout from the Dumb Friends League, who gave me lots of advise and information about 1-2 months ago, but I was too (I'll be honest and say it) lazy to follow until now.  Here is the jist of what I'll be doing: I click, I give her a treat (or brush her). I click, I give her a treat. I do this 5 times, in different postures, areas and such to mix-it-up but let her know that the click means good things. Then to figure out if it worked, when she's looking away I click and if she looks at me, then it is working, if she ignores me, then I need to keep it up. I'll do this for at least a week to ensure it's 2nd nature for her before I move on to the next step, Shaping.

Don't worry, I'll keep the blog updated with her training - it should provide for an interesting couple of weeks-to-months.  In the meantime, here is a photo of her three new shelves - I took my inspiration from all the shelves Best Friends has.  She loves them!

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