Friday, October 19, 2012

Training really can be fun

Last weekend Tango and I were at an agility trial and Tango qualifed in his first Standard run of the weekend! Woohoo! I was so happy. Not just that we qualified, but because he ran fairly well all weekend. It's been a hard road since March, the last time that he qualified in anything. Constant training, fun matches and more training. I've found that Tango responds best to clicker training. Our favorite clicker is Karen Pryor's iClick - http://www.gollygear.com/iclick.htm - it fits well in the hand, is easy to click, and it's not too loud. Patience is so hard, but it's crucial in training Tango. I can't be angry, or get frustrated. He's very operant, so I have to wait, and wait, and when I see a behavior I like, I click and give him a cookie. Hopefully he'll come back to that behavior and offer more! And more, and more ... And while one qualifying run out of four is not a superlative showing, it's better than none! More training and fun matches are needed! - Fran

1 comment:

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