Target Training

Beanwood

Beanwood

Administrator
This made me smile the other day. Otter's sweet face when working with targets. :inlove: :inlove:

She just LOVES racing to her target stick,:squirrel: and waiting for her treats.


Here I use "good" as a secondary reinforcer, basically it tells her to keep going...she is doing a good job, and something fab is gonna happen at the end. It works well for heel work too, and she is a bit of an Treat Bag Mugger! I like to scatter treats as the reward at the end of the exercise which is run to target stick, wait and stay there until I come to you....or release and get your dummy. I have built up the attractiveness of the target stick gradually, then added some duration and distance to the exercise.

Just love her dear face....

 
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Beanwood

Beanwood

Administrator
Taking target training a step further. I use target work to help the dogs get used to working remotely from me.

In this video, the target post has stayed in the same position as the above video. The post is in a familiar spot, and Otter is very attracted to it because of the association with good things. This helps with sending her away, Otter trusts me that something great is at the post and is confident enough to run back for it.

An interesting point here is that I have never thrown a toy / dummy/ ball for her, so the concept of distance is not something she has learned to be self limiting ie: a retrieve will be only the distance I can throw. The problem that can arise when you throw an article is when the dog is stood in front of focussed on you, and not the item, so it can interfere with learning to watch the fall. We have worked a lot on hunting and searching an area, then joined up the retrieve at a hotspot, in this case a white target with a white dummy to make it a bit easier to find.


 
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