# Clicker Training for Tillie



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

For those who have been following, this is a continuation of the "Is it too late?" Thread that Tammy started on training Tillie. I thought that giving it a different name might help other people who wanted to read about the progression of clicker training.

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OK, for the calling her name, do NOT ask her to stay first. That will only weaken your stays. At this point you want to work on behaviors separately. Instead, just keep a supply of goodies in your pocket with the clicker. Instead of practicing calling her name in the context of your training sessions, just call her name randomly throughout the day. When she comes, click/treat. If you find that some situation makes her less likely to come when you call her name, back off from that one and try a bunch of easier ones for a while.

WHO said this dog isn't smart?

As far as trying to get her to touch your hand with her paw, what happens if you put your hand down on the floor? Even if she just touches your hand BY ACCIDENT with her paw, click/treat.

If that doesn't work, you may have to teach her to THINK about foot targeting before you can go on to "shake". This can be useful later for other training, even if she doesn't learn to shake. (or if you decide you don't care) Put a large-ish "something" on the floor. It can be a place mat, a box cover, a plastic tupperware lid, or a flower pot bottom. It doesn't matter, just make sure this is something that you are ONLY going to use for this training for a while.

She will probably come over to investigate. In the beginning, click/treat for her just coming over and showing interest in it. When she is engaging with it regularly, watch her carefully. At some point, it is likely that she will touch it with her foot, even if it's only by accident. Click/treat and jack pot treat! She will figure out that something was different, but it will still take a number more tries before she realizes that it's all about using her foot.

Then let me know how she's doing with that exercise. It will probably take at least a few days for her to automatically touch with her foot.

Incidentally, does she ring her bells with her foot or with her nose? Just curious.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

she rings the bells with her nose ...  she went over to SNIFF them the first time and they jingle when she sniffed and I went wild and treated and let her out ... never had an accident since, but yes she rings with her nose... I'm wondering if "shake" is too far out of her comfort zone for now. Are there any other behaviors maybe I should be working towards instead of shake?
What do I do if, with the object on the floor, she picks it up and runs away with it to chew on it!? LOL haven't tried it yet, but knowing Tillie, that MAY be what happens...


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

That IS a possibility if the object is too small or light. (Kodi did!) So try a flat plastic placemat, or a pottery flower pot base. The place mat she would have a hard time picking up, and the flower pot base is probably too heavy.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

okay, I'll give it a try! thanks! 

We tried again tonight with me ON the ground with her and she thought about it and stared and licked my hand for nearly 10 minutes again and never once even thought to touch my hand with her paw... what is wrong with her!? use your PAWS dog!


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## Pooch (Nov 23, 2010)

Glad you changed the name of this thread, Karen. I just went back and read through the other thread and picked up some great tips! Please, keep them coming!! I will stay tuned


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

okay, i worked with her on the couch today and I after much thinking, licking and laying down, I went out on a limb and said "paw" and she touched my hand!! click, jackpot treat! She did it about 3-4 times off and on and then for some reason she wasn't making the connection anymore? I ended the session with several behaviors she has down and then a good game of "go get it"!! 
I also am finding that she wants to LAY DOWN and do it... how do I get her to SIT and work on "paw"??? This gives me hope... I can SEE her brain trying to figure out what I want her to do! LOL


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

TilliesMom said:


> okay, i worked with her on the couch today and I after much thinking, licking and laying down, I went out on a limb and said "paw" and she touched my hand!! click, jackpot treat! She did it about 3-4 times off and on and then for some reason she wasn't making the connection anymore? I ended the session with several behaviors she has down and then a good game of "go get it"!!
> I also am finding that she wants to LAY DOWN and do it... how do I get her to SIT and work on "paw"??? This gives me hope... I can SEE her brain trying to figure out what I want her to do! LOL


When something is difficult for the dog, Tammy, (no matter what the reason... We'll probably never knw why THIS is harder than other things have been) it's important to break them down into small pieces. For now, jus concentrate on the paw part of it. You can eventually shape that behavior into offering her paw while sitting, standing, or even standing on her hind legs!

I know it's hard to judge when enough repetitions are "enough", but if you CAN, try, over the next few days, to end the session with a jackpot and party after she has touched your hand and without asking for anything else. Sometimes they go "sleep on it" and make much better connections over time this way. If you mis-judge, though, and get to a place that you can't get her to do it again, you did JUST the right thing... Go back to something she knows well, reward THAT and end with some play. Good work!


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

thanks Karen!! Ya, I kept thinking she DID it, she can do it again!!! and then she didn't and I could tell she was getting frustrated!
We'll keep at it!!


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## CrazieJones (May 28, 2011)

Training is tough. Remember my "qing qing" (please) video? That trick took 3 months! Right now I'm trying to teach Roshi to put his toys away (oh gosh, this one I know will take forever!). So to make it fun, I'm just using play time as training: a good game of fetch and having him drop his toy in my hand (and then much later, a basket). Let's just say... he got his fetch and return pretty good. Drop is still 50/50. Either it's in my hand so he can play some more, or 2 ft away and just wants to gnaw on the toy. :S

Patience.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

And the BEST kind of training FEELS like "play" for both the dog and the handler!:biggrin1:


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

update!

So, I didn't have the clicker over Thanksgiving, so Tillie got several days "break" .. and it totally paid off!! I worked with her for awhile this morning and she finally started pawing my hand!!!!!!! YAY!!!!! She still sticks her nose in first and then thinks and then paws my hand, but it is major progress!! I could SEE the light come on and she was very enthusiastically pawing at my hand!! She did it a lot of times, but it is not automatic yet, she still has to think about it. I will keep reinforcing it over the next several days, but we are getting closer to moving onto the next step! yay!
thank you so much Karen!!


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Is Paw in the hand the same as shake?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Suzi said:


> Is Paw in the hand the same as shake?


It's the first step towards it. Many dogs will automatically paw at something, so it's pretty easy to shape that into "shake hands". Tillie was having a problem with that concept, so we had to teach her to touch Tammie's hand first.


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## Flynn Gentry-Taylor (Jan 17, 2008)

Pooch said:


> Glad you changed the name of this thread, Karen. I just went back and read through the other thread and picked up some great tips! Please, keep them coming!! I will stay tuned


Me too Karen!!! I love this thread!


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