We managed to avoid seeing any other dogs today so I have nothing to write about in the way of barking, but I do have a tangent to go off on.
I've decided to start doing clicker training with Tia, I think it's going to be necessary for the BAT steps I linked to in my last post and help with any other training we're doing.
I'm the first to admit I don't know much about training dogs, this whole experience is a minefield for me! I didn't attempt clicker training to start off with mainly because I don't think I'm coordinated enough and it looked far too complicated, but I do know a bit more now than I did then and I'm ready to give it a go.
I think I use a marker word already by telling her "good girl" when she performs the correct behaviour, and she gets a treat after so our current way of working isn't that far off, but I don't think I'm consistent enough and I also don't know if the timing is right so I need to watch some videos to learn when it's time to click. Unfortunately there's no way I could afford to pay for the help from a trainer so I'm going to have to teach myself with the help of the internet.
I need to get a clicker first, and then I'll be working on that with her before we start the BAT steps. I've got lots of things to read about and learn so I'll end this now, we're going to be very busy with this!
If you're worried about your timing then a good way of working on that is to shut Tia away somewhere, put the news on and click every time the news reader blinks :) Or if you've got someone who'd be willing to help you out then get them to bounce a ball and you click every time it hits the floor. Don't worry if your timing is awful at first, you will get better.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to PM me on petforums if you've got any questions and don't want to put it in a thread. I don't pretend to be a professional trainer or to know it all but am willing to help where I can. Good luck with it and hope you manage to get Tias reactivity sorted out.
Sarah and Spendog.
That's a great idea, will definitely try that!
DeleteI'm sure I'll take you up on the offer of help once we get started, I'm very grateful thankyou :)