BACK: almost ready to add the cue

(At :36 I dropped the clicker and L rushed to retrieve it)

ADDING A CUE

When the dog is moving backwards readily, and moving until you click (maybe up to 4 or 5 steps), you can tell her what the behavior is called.

SIT STAY takes many forms

SIT STAY: Level 4

In Level 4 both Distance and Duration become farther and longer. Sit Stay Level 4 the dog remains seated for 2 minutes while the trainer walks 20' away pushing a walker, turns and faces the dog and returns around behind the dog to the Side position (right side). AND with no treats or clicker.

That's nothing. In Down Stay Level 4 the dog Downs and Stays for 5 minutes while the trainer walks 40' away pushing a walker or wheelchair, turns and faces the dog and returns around behind the dog to the Heel position (left side).

In this video, Lily easily passes the 2 minute criteria of the Sit Stay. In real life, she has passed this behavior and tested it cold. Here we were actually re-viewing "no clicker/no treats" for Tuesday's mentoring session.

The next video was made a year and a half ago. The duration is 30 seconds less but the Setting Factors are more challenging. This was actually a ZEN exercise but another "no clicker/no treats" exercise utilizing the Sit Stay. It turned out to also be a SIT L3 exercise (sit from 10').

In Level 4, On the Road the dog performs Level 2 behaviors for a known person of the opposite sex of the trainer. In preparation, in the mentoring group we begin by having another trainer re-teaching L2 behaviors.

Yet, with all this experience, Lily has difficulty re-learning the behavior when being taught by another trainer. The behavior criteria was that no paws could move. Lily couldn't stop dancing! Her duration was 3 seconds. With these Setting Factors. On this day.

That's the fun of training. That's the frustration of training. That's reality. Same behavior in three different conditions. Three different results. Passing a behavior cold isn't the end. It's often just the beginning.

WATCH: Level 2 and beyond

A solid 30 second WATCH (eye lock) is a Comebefore for the Swing Finish. L2 requires 10 seconds of eye lock. L3 and above ask for 30 seconds under differing conditions. Lily has been asked for 1 minute of eye lock under differing conditions, so that, when asked, 30 seconds is a "no brainer" (hopefully!)

When making these videos, the only distraction was Shayla wandering in and out of the room. Personally, I think a secret to success of Watch is in not introducing distractions too soon. Re-teach it in different rooms and different circumstances (BMO), yes. But very very gradual introduction of distractions. Control the Setting Factors.

When these flips were made, we had already built an easy minute of duration using Chutes and Ladders. It is a solid behavior. Now we are just reviewing it. There are no treats and no clicker during this session. (See the drool beginning in the 1 minute flip?) She knows there are treats forthcoming but they are in another room. No clicker, either. Just a quiet "Yes" upon completion.

Admittedly, Lily was born with eye lock. Truly. So it was not a difficult behavior to teach ... for this dog. But we followed it step by step anyway and the dividends have paid off in spades. Be persistent. Don't give up. A solid Watch is a thing of beauty and it IS achievable with patience and persistence.

Training Levels 1 and 2 for positioning

Using L1 Target to put Lily in PRECISELY the position that I want.

I can move her forward or backward using the palm position

Then L2 StandStay goes in to effect.

I want to practice this enough that staying where she has been placed

becomes default.

Lily sits into her hind legs, so if I position her Stand directly in front of me

when she Sits, she is off to one side or the other.

Once again, using L1 Target, I can compensate for her anatomy

and direct her into a Sit directly in front of me.

Nad has this same Sit problem.

Same thing getting Lily into a Down position in front of me.

If she ends up a little too far forward or a little far back,

I can reposition her using my L1 Target.

Now it's a matter of re-teaching and training these behaviors

in different and challenging environments.

BMO

This is a perfect example of where the above skills would be extremely useful.

Three-fers

RETRIEVE

Teaching Lily to pick up her toys and put them in the toy basket.  We have moved to three-fers - three toys put away for a single treat.  There are over 20 toys in the exercise.  If one falls out of the basket, it doesn't count.  The final goal?  Pick up ALL of the toys for one reward.  Right now, we are moving slowly....she just graduated to three-fers this week.  Each time we practice, though, the toys and the toy basket are in a different location in the room and a different distance from each other.

At this point in the training, I am just the treat dispenser.  Lily understands the game and knows what her job is.