Mochie Goes to School: Week 2

This is what we learned the during the 2nd week of canine middle school. =)

Down/ Lie Down/Lay Down
I was excited to do this trick in class even though this is Mochie's default behavior. Lay Down means chest and butt on floor. There are several ways to get the dog into the down position. First method is the "L" method. First have the dog standing, and using the lure, slowly bring the lure to the ground and then slowly bring it out forming an "L." The second method is a little harder to describe. We lure the dog under our leg to get them into the down position. Take the lure and lure the dog under the leg to get them into a down. With Mochie, a variation to the "L" method worked. I taught her by taking the lure and bring it straight down. From there, she learned to go down and to not paw at the. Once she had her chest down, To get Mochie to lay down, we would have the lure in our hand and bring it down slowly. Once her butt and chest are on the floor (no pawing), mark and reward.

Watch Me
Watch Me means look at me. First stick the lure in front of their nose to get their their attention and slowly bring it up to your face. The moment they look up at your face, mark and reward. They get a bigger reward if they give you eye contact. It's kinda hard to do at first because Mochie's attention span is so short, but it is doable. I just have to be very quick.

Stay
Stay is an important command for a dog to learn. The trainer taught us that stay means "stay how I put you, where I put you until I return to you and release you." So if I put Mochie into a sit, she must stay in a sit position until I release her. Before starting stay we had to choose a release word. A release word a cue that's used to tell the dog they are free from the behavior. "Ok" is Mochie's release word. For Mochie's sit-stay, we asked her to sit. Then right in front of her face, we put up the stop walking sign. If she moves, we correct if she doesn't move we say good girl, reward and release. Right now we are working on duration, so a 1 sec stay is good.

Leave It
Leave it means I want you to leave that object alone, and I don't want you to have it at all. Leave it requires the use of two treats that differ in value. The lower value treat will act as the lure, while the higher value treat will act as the reward. With the lower value treat in my right hand, I lure Mochie with it. I place it on the floor and cover it with my right hand. Mochie tried everything to get the treat, but I couldn't let her have it. Next, take the higher value treat and lure her away from my right hand. Once her nose is away from the right hand, mark and reward. After we did this a few times, we incorporated the verbal cue. So I tempted Mochie with my right hand and then I said leave it. The moment she stops, mark and reward. She would get a bigger reward if she actually looked up at me. The important thing to remember is that I have to say "leave it" while she is pawing my hand. If I don't, then she's not actually learning the behavior.