Saturday, June 27, 2009

The Hand Touch

So now that the mark is charged, the real fun begins. I feel like a kid in a candy shop with the opportunities I've got to begin laying the foundation for Keiko as a working dog. As of the past 24 hours, I've been marking for "go to bed" (her wire crate) and "go in your kennel" (her plastic crate where she is actually kept when I can't supervise). It made going in the kennel more pleasant, as over the past couple of days she'd decided she no longer wanted to go in there on command. She wanted to go in her bed instead (I don't shut the door on her in that one yet lol). So I've been marking for the kennel and have seen an immediate difference. What I like about marker training is that I can use a food reward, but I can also use anything she wants as a reward! For example if it's dinner time, she is hungry and she wants to eat. I want her to go in her kennel so I can feed her. So I tell her "go in your kennel" (she knows what this command means) and when she does, I mark "yes!" and place her food down for her to eat. There are other everyday applications but I started this post to talk about teaching Keiko the hand touch so the rest of my everyday applications will have to wait for a later post.

I began teaching the hand touch today. I believe I said I was going to start with the down but of course since that's how I planned it, things went differently. Normally you have to break the hand touch down into a small series of steps (dog looks at it, steps towards it, sniffs it, touches it) but Keiko immediately touched my hand when I stuck it out so I marked it. She quickly caught onto this touching game. I have done two small sessions of hand touch with her. In the second, she'd layed down. When I put my hand out for her to touch it, she stretched her neck out to touch it. I marked. We did this three times, then I told her to go to her kennel and marked that. It seems that she is catching on to the hand touch game. So my training plan has changed a bit. [Note: I will try and get a picture of the hand touch uploaded sometime in the next couple of weeks. We're due for some pictures but it'll be another week before I see my photographer :D (my sister, lol)]

1. Continue marking and rewarding the hand touch at close range.

2. When Keiko can do this reliably 8/10 times, move the hand further away so that she must take 1-2 steps to reach the hand. (The distance to be moved away will be judged in training, depending on what she demonstrates she's ready for)

3. Put the command "hand touch" on the action.

4. When she can reliably perform the hand touch after being commanded to do so, wait until she is across the room, command the hand touch, and present the hand as a target.


Of course these steps could change at any given point in time as I learn more and as I actually work with Keiko. You can put lots of things on paper but no one thing works for every dog and it's best to see what works best for your dog in a situation and work from there. Anyway, I'm really enjoying my puppy. :) Times were a bit frustrating there for a while but I'm finally coming to the realization that this puppy is actually mine and I am the only person in charge of what I do with her and when. It's a neat realization and has allowed me to relax a little and just enjoy her. I also came to the realization that I'm not going to do everything perfect and that's OK! I think that is the biggest, most important issue I have come to terms with and is also what has allowed me to make less mistakes. Imagine that! /giggle/

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Marker Training

Wow, a lot has happened in the long while since I posted last. I got serious about marker training and have introduced Keiko to the pool. I will save the pool experience for a future post.

I am proud to say that the mark has officially been charged! Keiko confirmed this for me today after a long walk on campus. I was in my room and wandering about, waiting for her to lose interest in me. When she did, I said "yes" and her head snapped in my direction looking for her treat! To be sure this concept is clear, I will probably charge the mark in the living room in two short sessions before her breakfast and dinner tomorrow and again outside the following day. For the time being, any new behaviors taught will be done in my room. Currently I am marking her entrance to the kennel. Previously I was just praising for going into the crate which was working well. I will transition it to marker training...simply because I can, lol. Once I am sure that she understands the command "go in your kennel" then I will wean off of the mark and onto pure praise with the occasional reward - such as getting to come right back out or getting a tasty treat or a special toy (i.e. her peanut butter filled kong).

To charge the mark in marker (also known as clicker) training, you must give your mark and immediately follow with a high value reward. Many people have heard of clicker training, which is a form of marker training in which a clicker is used to mark a desired behavior. For a number of reasons which I will discuss in a later post, I prefer to use a verbal marker. Specifically - the word "yes!". The point of this training method is to teach the dog that whatever they were doing when you gave their mark was correct and their reward is coming. The theory is that this style of training makes up for the 2-3 second delay that may come in rewarding a dog for a desired behavior (say, for example, you're doing a down-stay at a distance.)

When I originally started charging the mark, I would say "yes", pause, and then reward. During the pause, Keiko was sometimes able to sit or down. (Both commands which I had previously taught her) I decided after a few days of this that I didn't think this was the response I was looking for. I did a bit of problem solving and consulted the Leerburg forums and decided that the pause I was giving between the yes and the reward was too long. So I went back to square one. To charge the mark I held an even number of treats in both hands, gave the mark and then immediately gave the reward. Now that Keiko looks at me expecting a treat when she hears the word "yes", I will probably give a couple of seconds pause between the yes and the reward so that she knows that it may take a second, but the reward is coming. After a brief session of this, I will move on to actually using the mark to train new behaviors. Once I apply this to training new behaviors, there will be NO MORE charging the mark! Unless I decide to add an additional mark (i.e. the word "good" or using the clicker).

I also watched a video by a dog trainer that reminded me of why I was previously opposed to the idea of marker (specifically clicker) training. That I may discuss at another time or add an amendment to this post which explains why. While at first I was a bit confused as to what I wanted to do, I'm glad that I watched the video because it reminded me of my purpose for using MT and the direction I wanted to go with it - the idea is to use MT to teach the new behaviors, then to phase the food reward out save for on random occasion. At this point in time, I also prefer to us MT to train commands which don't come naturally to the dog - i.e. tricks and behaviors required for working dog (specifically SAR at this point in time) training. I also want to use it to train a few games that you can play with a dog that is marker trained. I previously was not going to use it to train behaviors such as sit, down, etc. but I may try it on the down and see how I feel about it.

I need to get some pictures of Keiko in the pool. I've attached a photo at the bottom of this post which isn't great, but it is recent - I snapped it on my iPhone two days ago. I hope to post more often but between class, work, and puppy I can't always find time to blog.

Have a great night!


Keiko @ 5 mths

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

I keep meaning to update but every time I get on my computer, I get sidetracked while reading stuff about training. I will try and get my post up in the next few days, though things are pretty busy for me right now.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

This update is just to remind myself to come back and update...probably next weekend. I've got an o-chem test on Friday so I'll be pretty busy studying for that. At least by then I should have complete charging the mark for marker training and should have something interesting to say about my progress with that.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Down, Keiko

Well I was going to post my training plan for teaching "down" but of course I got ahead of myself and started already. :) I started inside, with her wubba since I know she's got drive built up for it now. I took the toy out and got her going by asking "you want it?" which quickly gets her attention now. Then I ducked the toy behind my back and said her name "Keiko" to get her attention, at which point she made eye contact. I praised her (we're still reinforcing her name) then I produced the toy from behind my back. She was already sitting so I placed the toy down between her front paws and drew it towards myself. I said "down" in conjunction with drawing the toy towards myself. At first she just tried to pick up the toy with her mouth so I applied gentle pressure to her shoulders to get her to drop them. She did so quickly and as soon as her chest was on the ground, I praised her excitedly and played a little tug with her and the wubba. The second time I went through the same procedure, but had to reset a couple of times. Since I'd already reset a couple of times, I took her front legs (she was in a sitting position) and guided her into the down position. She plopped quickly on her own then so I praised her lavishly and again played tug. I stopped after a third try.

We worked on this during two more sessions today, keeping them at just three to four repetitions each. During her session tonight, before bedtime, she already got the jist of what she was supposed to do. I now hide the toy behind my back and put her in a sitting position. I make eye contact with her, then use a closed fist to guide her into the down position and saying "down". She quickly dropped down to the lying position the last three times I tried, at which point I produced the toy from behind my back and immediately tossed it onto her front legs for her to play a little tug with. On the last rep, I let her carry the toy back to my room before putting it away for the night. I don't remember how it was raising Rhasta, but I'm really excited to be teaching her down. It's nice to have another option of commands to give her, haha. We'll see how tomorrow's sessions go.

Keiko is really getting the point as far as this toy drive business is going. I think I will introduce another toy tomorrow, but I haven't decided which one yet. I've also resolved to think of an effective way to tie strings to the squeaky tennis balls I have. If that doesn't work, I'll go ahead and get small cuz balls this weekend and tie them to strings.

One of the SAR guys is making me a crate pad for Keiko's home crate...I'm super excited! :D Yay! No more lying on the plastic floor or the thin padding of a towel in the crate! I don't think Keiko actually cares (if anything, she prefers to ly on the plastic as she always bunches the towel up and just puts her head on it) but I will sleep better at night if I think she's sleeping on something comfortable. ;) I've decided that I will keep a simple bath rug in the crate she rides in, in the car so I also need to go buy one of those.

Alright, it's way past my bedtime and I have class in the morning. Goodnight!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Training plan

Today wasn't very special.  The best thing about today is that by Keiko's reaction when I say "you want it?" I can tell that the drive building is working.  She perks up when I say those three special words and goes consistently after the toy now.  I'm a little worried about being able to teach the retrieve as there is a small window you really have to work with when they're puppies and I'm afraid that by getting her at 4 months, I may be in the tail end of that window.  But we'll continue working and see how it goes.  I need to get another Wubba so that I can just trade her one for the other and I don't become the "bad guy" for taking the wubba way from her to throw it again. (For now anyway)

I have decided that I need a more concrete training plan as far as what I want to teach next and how I want to teach it.  I don't like to make training too regimented as far as this puppy stuff goes because I feel a lot of it should be integrated into play, as opposed to being structured teaching time...mostly because puppies at this age get bored FAST!  I will update this post after I've had a chance to jot down some notes regarding how I want to teach the "down", which I've decided is the next command I want to teach her.  I haven't fully deciphered the way Keiko's brain works; what makes her tick and what motivates her, so I'm going to wait until I have a better feel for her to teach "stay" and "come".  I am beginning to feel more bonded to her now though.  I was actually missing her while I was in class (first day of summer classes...ugh!) and at lunch with a friend today, and I felt a little more genuine when I loved on her when I first saw her today.  I think it's finally settling in that this is my dog that I bought with my money and I make all the rules concerning her!  Foreign concept, I know.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Building drive for the "wubba"

Keiko has a blue puppy "wubba" toy, pictured below.
Photobucket
I realized the other day that while she would play with her toys inside, she quickly lost interest in them outside. I decided that this was a problem, mainly because I am planning to train her for a job (whether that ends up being search and rescue or herding) and it is important that she has a drive for toys - primarily for the SAR training. I also decided this was a bit of a problem because I enjoy playing fetch and other games that involve with toys my dog but if I have a pup that doesn't have much desire to play with toys outside (or at all), that would seriously hamper my ability to enjoy the activities I like to do with my pup.   I also prefer to do a majority of my training with toys as opposed to with treats.  Luckily, I have a puppy! Which means that my dog is still open to being molded and also means that some things just have to be taught to her - i.e. HOW to play with certain toys!

So I decided that I would begin making a more serious effort to build her toy drive. Many puppies don't take to playing with toys outside because their owners only play with them inside. So I have switched to only playing with toys with Keiko (for now it's just the wubba) outside. Inside, she gets either her puppy kong or her chilly bone and those are just to keep her company in her crate/to help ease her poor gums as she gets into the teething stage. Otherwise, if we are going to play with a toy we go outside to do so.

How I'm beginning to build drive
My first session began with me taking Keiko out into the backyard to potty. At this point, she hadn't played with a toy inside since yesterday. I hid the wubba in my back pocket. Once Keiko pottied, I produced the wubba from my back pocket. I got her attention, squeezed it a few times in rapid succession, and asked in a high voice "you want it? You want it? You want it?" This has been the phrase that comes naturally to me as I try to build her excitement over whatever I have in my hand. Then I wiggled it a bit so that the long pieces of fabric flapped about. When I knew I had her attention (her eyes were bright, big, and on me, and her ears were pressed forward) I drew the toy down to the ground, squeaked it, and dragged it about a foot across the ground in front of her. As I did this, I shouted "get it!" which is the cue I've been giving her to go after her toy. She went after it and I let her "kill" it - she pounced and grabbed it. I immediately erupted into praise: "Good girl! Good Keiko! Good girl!" and I let her carry it around a bit. I took the toy and did this two more times. As usual, I got excited about the good response I was receiving and threw it a fourth time, which proved to be one too many. She went after the toy but didn't pick it up. She is a puppy and as such, was bored with the game. I resolved to make sure I didn't push it too far the next time.

We went out into the backyard a total of four times today. On the second time, I threw the toy three times following the same procedure. The only thing I changed is that I ran backwards, calling her to me while she carried the toy. All the while I made it exciting, using animated body language and a high-pitched voice to indicate that I liked what she was doing. I concluded the second, third, and fourth sessions by letting her carry the toy back into the house and into my room.  Once in my room I took the toy and put it away until the next session.

In the third session, I tied a thin leash around the wubba to turn it into an improvised ball-on-string sort of toy. I plan on buying a couple of the Cuz balls and tying strings to them, but for now I will stick with what I have available to me. This made it much more convenient, as I could extend the distance I dragged the toy without being directly attached to it or having Keiko target my hand or legs as opposed to the toy (which she has done in the past). Each session I would throw it about three or four times, never pressing my luck and always having Keiko carry it back into the house and to my room. On the third time, I began playing a little tug with her.  I allowed her to win the tug and carry the toy around for a bit before I took it away. I decided that for the sake of building her toy drive, I could sacrifice the potential for creating any "hierarchy confusion" that may be involved in letting her win the game of tug of war for now. 

The fourth session was the last of the evening. Between the third and the fourth session, Keiko and I went on an hour walk down to a nearby park and back. I brought the wubba-on-a-string with me in a bag and went out to a bit of open field. I latched on her fifteen foot leash, let her explore the immediate area, then produced the wubba. I can already tell by the look in her eye that she is beginning to understand this game. She is more excited and focused on the toy, and goes after it more times. I played the game a bit in the field, then continued our walk on down the road. We got lucky and the cows were out by a fence we walked by. Well, my affinity for cattle and the fact that my puppy IS a herding dog and may have a future in herding...I just had to stop! Keiko looked at them like "what the heck are those?" at first, but we settled down beside the fence near some calves for a while and she kept trying to find a way under the fence to investigate. The calves were about four months old, and just as intrigued by us as Keiko was by them. It was a great experience and I'm really glad that I had the chance to introduce her to some livestock so close to us. After meeting the calves, we went on down the road where we played the wubba game again in another stretch of open field. This went well. On our walk back to the house, we crossed some rocky terrain which Keiko handled well so I was extremely pleased with our evening.

I will continue to post on building drive, as this is a very important topic and blogging will help me keep a good record of what works, doesn't work, and how we improve over time.  I will also try to get some pictures of the toy and Keiko with the toy, if I can.  Usually there is too much commotion for me to try and operate a camera and actually get a picture in action.

P.S. I apologize for less-than-decently worded passages and any hint of scatterbrained-ness in my posts.  One of my personal goals in maintaining this blog is that I become better able to express my my thoughts in coherent statements.