Quick comments on videos in post below

1. Notice after 2 successful reps, I changed something. Success is not defined as he didn’t check out cookie hand, that’s not the primary skill we are working on. Success is nose touch—and I even managed to click when he touched the metal article while I was fumbling and it was in my lap. That was key—I was focused on him, not on me…so I saw it and captured it. Over time and reps he will likely begin to ignore the food hand, if he doesn’t, that’s information and I’ll change my sequence to fix it.

2. By the 5th rep, the article was down near the floor. This is the first ever training session of this—I kept the session moving forward at all times

3. How long do I wait before making it easier? You probably can’t see this in the video, but where I wait, his eyes are soft and curious, and his weight is very, very slightly tilted towards the article. If he’s showing that bit of thinking or indecision, I’m going to give him more time. If his weight shifts to upright and balanced, and he gives me firm eye contact….he’s checked out of the game and into me, so it’s time to quickly step back to an easier step.

4. Getting into a rhythm is key. We weren’t good at that, what with cats and dogs appearing in the middle of the session…but as much as possible, hit a rhythm. In rhythm, trade out one article for another. Do more reps of the ‘easy’ article, just one or two of the hard one. Grab your food while the dog is working, NOT while he’s staring at you/between reps

5. I showed you Gusto to show you the finished product. Obviously your dogs will down (or retrieve) where Gus nose touches—but do notice I paused enough for him to offer the touch 2-3 times, which prevents a ‘drive by’ nose touch. As you build the behavior, dog touches, downs, and wait for another touch before you mark and feed. We really, really want the dog to understand it’s the article that pays!

6. Today I’ll take this behavior to the deck, or maybe the porch. Point being, dogs learn in context—I’m going to change the context every single session. I’m also going to start at the very beginning—step one—when I change the context, because I do NOT expect him to transfer yesterday’s learning to a new context today.