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Not great photos - grainy - the lighting in the training facility is awful and the black matting doesn't help! These were taken today after a training session I taught (instructor training). Khana had been cooped up for a couple of hours in the car, but she did SO well. A friend of mine sat on the floor and took about 30 photos of us heeling, and Khana was watching me in EVERY picture! Such a good girl.
She's 22 months old and these are off-leash. Besides the person sitting on the floor a short distance away (someone she REALLY likes), there were several other people in the room talking to each other. I just love the focused attention you get when you use positive reinforcement to shape the attentive behavior. Khana was taught to heel off-leash FIRST, and she's never been taught with a corrective collar. I started when she was young and would just reinforce her for looking at my face (from any position). From there, I built it into looking at my face from a stationary heel position, and then rewarded for attention with one step. When that was solid, I added another step, and so on.
Because I did it off-leash, I had to rely on my ability to be patient and to motivate and reward her. This is such an excellent way to teach us humans how to shut up and wait for a behavior! *L* We are often so impatient and if we just observe, we can almost always find something to reinforce.
I love training off-leash and I have high hopes for her in obedience competition next spring. We've shown in rally with some good scores, but regular obedience will be the REAL test. It's getting past all the nervousness and distractions that is difficult (and not just for the dog! *L*).
Anyway, thought I'd share so people can see the result of patient training using positive reinforcement instead of punishment.
Melanie and the gang in Alaska
She's 22 months old and these are off-leash. Besides the person sitting on the floor a short distance away (someone she REALLY likes), there were several other people in the room talking to each other. I just love the focused attention you get when you use positive reinforcement to shape the attentive behavior. Khana was taught to heel off-leash FIRST, and she's never been taught with a corrective collar. I started when she was young and would just reinforce her for looking at my face (from any position). From there, I built it into looking at my face from a stationary heel position, and then rewarded for attention with one step. When that was solid, I added another step, and so on.
Because I did it off-leash, I had to rely on my ability to be patient and to motivate and reward her. This is such an excellent way to teach us humans how to shut up and wait for a behavior! *L* We are often so impatient and if we just observe, we can almost always find something to reinforce.
I love training off-leash and I have high hopes for her in obedience competition next spring. We've shown in rally with some good scores, but regular obedience will be the REAL test. It's getting past all the nervousness and distractions that is difficult (and not just for the dog! *L*).
Anyway, thought I'd share so people can see the result of patient training using positive reinforcement instead of punishment.
Melanie and the gang in Alaska