Four paws on

[HAH]

Well, I’ve videoed our last couple of sessions of front foot targeting and it’s been really valuable: main learning points (more for my record than anything else!) are -

• My clicking is improving!
• I need to slow down with my rewards; I didn’t realise I’m quite high tempo in my delivery (tossing treats rather than slowly placing them). Calming down will help in keeping our session more calm and controlled which I’m after.
• I’m also (even) more enthusiastic in my praise than I thought I was when Kipper’s doing simple things. I want to dial it all down a bit, without becoming boring. And stop saying ‘yes!’ when I’m already using the clicker
• I need to keep sessions shorter, and have more breaks. I might get a simple kitchen timer to help.
• I need to slow my rate of reward. I often give 2 or 3 bits of kibble when 1 would do.

Thanks for the encouragement @snowbunny , it’s so useful - if mildly traumatic

 

[snowbunny]

Glad you’ve found videoing useful. It’s pretty hard to get into the habit, but a quick review after a session really helps you see things you need to clean up.

As for reinforcement, look for placement that allows for clean “loops”, so once they have finished eating, they are in the right place to start the next rep immediately, without excessive movement. In our A-B-C, we want the end position of the C to be the A.
The exception to this is if it goes a bit squiffy and you toss a “reset cookie” (without a click) which gives the physical and emotional space to start again. Think of it as a shake-off.

As for ROR, you want it to be very high, but you only need one treat per rep. Sometimes I deliver multiple by mistake, but I aim for one per rep.

Instead of a timer, a good tactic is to count out, say, ten treats into your hand and finish the session when you’ve used those up. Ten clean reps is far better than thirty sloppy ones

 

[HAH]

Ten clean reps is far better than thirty sloppy ones

This this this!