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/