Snowy days call for trick training

We've been spending many of our cold winter afternoons searching for and learning new pet tricks. Some are silly tricks, like wave, spin and roll, but others have more practical uses, like balance, backup, flip and retrieve. Needless to say with all these snowy days, we found our latest trick a welcomed challenge (thanks to Marie Finnegan of K9 Solutions Dog Training for finding this one, taught by Dee Ganley to a group of her latest students).

Today was day one of this trick: Teaching a Visual Match to Sample - watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG12rqPaIdc



1. Maverick has a strong 'place' (or mat) behavior, so we spent a few repetitions just refreshing that particular behavior (clicking and rewarding for backing up and sitting on the mat, especially between reps).

2. After this, I jumped right in with reinforcing the indication behavior, which I decided would be a nose target because he does this so deliberately. I began using a target stick to direct Maverick to the object I wanted him to indicate, but we quickly did away with that because he has a stronger reinforcement history with targeting the stick - this was more of a distraction. Instead, I pointed and turned my head towards the object I wanted him to indicate and said 'target', which to Maverick means 'touch this object with your nose, then look at me).

By clicking and rewarding his correct targeting responses, Maverick quickly learned that the game was about waiting on his mat until released to nose target the indicated object in order to earn a reward.

Because this was our first session and we have a lot to cover before putting the whole behavior together, we kept the training short and light. Although Maverick likes to work, he can become easily discouraged (especially if he startles at an unexpected noise during a training session). I anticipate that we'll stay at this level for the next few sessions before moving forward.