Look At That (Lat)

[sheena]

This is another one of my questions aimed at people who have had successful experiences using LAT, as I have. At the moment with my new Beginners group at Agility, we are doing well with Start Line Stays with distractions, while there are still some dogs that have been coming along to training for 12 months or more in the Intermediate group & they still can't work their dogs around distractions. Which got me thinking, going by the success I had with my easily distracted/motion reactive dog, whether teaching how to play LAT to new groups would be a good idea. It is after all, just another trick/skill & if they did it early on in the training whether they would benefit further down the track....I think YES. But just wanting others opinions :) I know there are still some people out there who cannot see the logic in clicking & treating your dog for looking AWAY from you, & just don't even want to try

[The Spotted Devil]

I pick and choose the people I teach and I keep it as simple as possible, probably take a few shortcuts, never use a clicker and usually I start the dog off so I can nail the timing, demonstrate how to deal with failures etc. I think it's certainly a useful tool but I don't persist if people are disinterested - you can lead a horse to water and all that! Even more critical I think is teaching people to truly engage with their dogs through physical play, tug and food games.

Edited April 1, 2015 by The Spotted Devil

[JulesP]

It gets tricky teaching this stuff at a school. I remember talking about talking in drive and getting very glazed faces. Or even NILF. Or really anything beyond the basics :laugh:

[sheena]

I pick and choose the people I teach and I keep it as simple as possible, probably take a few shortcuts, never use a clicker and usually I start the dog off so I can nail the timing, demonstrate how to deal with failures etc. I think it's certainly a useful tool but I don't persist if people are disinterested - you can lead a horse to water and all that! Even more critical I think is teaching people to truly engage with their dogs through physical play, tug and food games.

We are not encouraged to use toys, balls or tug games in class as it distracts the other class Which is what got me thinking............. Jules, I know what you mean & it helps to keep thinking back to when you/I started & what we thought all these terms meant. :laugh: Maybe I might put some notes together on the subject, send it out to them & then invite anyone who is interested to come along early some nights for special training sessions. I really don't want them going through what I went through with my own dog, no-body wanted or knew how to help. If only I knew then what I know now.

[The Spotted Devil]

Crikey Sheena :laugh: Yes I agree - focus on those that are willing to be proactive.

I've got a lovely Lab in one of my classes - very, very busy girl with a voice to boot. Had a VERY painful first week and now we can get through pretty much 60 min class with only the occasional bark out of excitement/frustration. All thanks to LAT and teaching proper engagement. The owner is so so happy as she'd been trying to bribe/distract the dog with food which was always going to end badly.

Edited April 1, 2015 by The Spotted Devil