Stationing/Taking Turns

We were re-inspired to practice waiting patiently. All of my dogs are very impatient about waiting for their training turns. When we’re at the big training facility I leave them in an office up front and in the last year they’ve learned to be calm if they get left behind while someone else goes out (sometimes Griffin will howl for a minute). They don’t do well waiting in the same room. We’re able to avoid that situation most of the time – but it would be convenient if I didn’t have to spend the extra time to switch dogs.

Prior to yesterday we had done some training with Viktor crated in the house or at the training center and he earned treats for staying in there while Griffin did training. He knows about settling for rewards  – but only with me right next to him. Viktor loves Griffin and especially likes to chase moving dogs.

Session 1: Me, Viktor, and a mat. Disaster. He wanted to chew on the mat. I was able to recover the session for a while and then he went after the mat again. I moved props and had Viktor in a crate instead of using a mat and we used the PetTutor so I could reward without having to approach. This took some of his focus off of me.

Session 2: Same set up as we ended with – Viktor in the crate and with the PetTutor. We added a tie out cable so that I didn’t have to hold his leash. Griffin was out for this session – most of my focus was on Viktor, Griffin was just the distraction.

Next sessions:  Same thing, we need to work with Viktor car crating and watching us work, at the training center crated, and more at home. Eventually I would like to shift back to a mat rather than the crate.

I got a new camera. It appears the sound isn’t as great as on my previous cameras – but the clicker noise does come through well!