all the fun stuff Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 (edited) Good Morning DOL'ers!! Just a quick question... I have an 12 week old ACD, who is thriving on the clicker, but as we are training, if my hands are any where near her (or within snapping distance) she wants to eat my hands!.. I think that part of the prob may be that I have been shaping the desired behaviors with treats, and using treats as lures.... so, am I correct in thinking that she just thinks there is a treat in my had all the time. How should I get her to stop this. I have been letting out a loud 'Arrrrrr', but I am fearful that she may interpreted my 'Arrrr's' as a negative to what ever we are practicing at that moment. Aren't puppies FUN!! She is very smart, and in the last 4 weeks has learnt to -sit, drop, speak, shake, high 5, roll over, touch, come, (sometimes) stay (sometimes) and leave it (sometimes)... Still haven't mastered : DON'T dig holes in my yard or DON'T pinch my shoes!!! Thanks heaps for any info you can provide Edited June 28, 2009 by all the fun stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 (edited) Teach her "nice" as in the ONLY way to take food/toy from a person is the gentle way. She's a baby so will forget and be impetuous and snatch on occasions but if she knows 'nice' she'll have some idea what's acceptable. I'm also a big believer in you get the treat when your mouth is moving away or motionless, never ever when your lips/teeth are touching my hand. Very easy to teach, and very cute to see them starting to move towards your fingers then suddenly remembering, jerking their head back fractionally and giving you the "aren't I good I remembered!" look. Offer the treat in a way that it's impossible for the dog to get access to it, hold firm while they poke and prode and lick and nibble, eventually they'll get frustrated and pull their head back to study the situation, then the treat appears - instantly appearing is the key to begin with, as they get older they can wait for a second or two or three :-) Edited June 28, 2009 by Sandra777 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 I would say your correct so simply use a new word for treats. All our showdogs are taught "gentle" with food .They get bucket loads of food & when traing for a free stack they cant lunge or go troppo for food so they are taught that good things come to those that wait & have manners. When given the treat we just say "gentle" whether there feral or not. I have never had a snatcher but have shown some dogs that would take your fingers off at any chance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 When clicker training you can just drop or throw the food, to make it part of the training process eg drop the reward to one side so the dog moves away from you so you can then have space between you to practise the next recall. Are you luring and using the clicker at the same time? Best to stick to just the one method for training a particular thing. With training, it is down to timing, if you are giving the arr as she is jumping at your hand, that is what she will interpret as being told no about. If she is doing this because she is getting over excited, then take a break Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
all the fun stuff Posted June 30, 2009 Author Share Posted June 30, 2009 Thank you all... ) I have not always been throwing the treats down to the ground, I've been holding them for her to grab (snap) out of my hands... so I guess I can created the problem. I am also using the word 'gentle' with food. Sandra777 - I think I also need to do what you do, wait till she is away and motionless. And like your dogs, I'm sure she will catch on real quick... settrlvr - thank you, I also use gentle... although have only really applied it to when feeding from my hand (or the kids)... But I can see how helpful it will be to apply it all the time..to reinforce 'gentle is for eating anything! Becks - I have the clicker in my left hand and the treat in the right... so I am using my right hand, with the treat, to get her to follow my hand.... Thanks again everyone... all very new to me and I would like to get it right so I don't confuse the poor gal' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 I dont use a word for food taking - then it becomes a sometimes good behavior. For me its a standard. Offer the food in a closed fist as a separate exercise and when the pup is gentle open the flat of your hand and push it into their mouths. Repeat this exercise moving it on with the commands. The dog soon forgets to snap as when we offer with fingers we tend to make jerky or potential drops and the dog snaps it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 The point of the clicker is not to lure the dog into position, you are using 2 different training methods at once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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