Yesterday was Callie’s third session at Puppy Kindergarten. She goes to the Lomita Obedience Training Club classes, and her teacher is Ethel Mercer, one of the people who wrote a pre-publication review for “My Doggie Says… Messages from Jamie.”
In these segments, Callie (and Barbara) work on “sit,” “recalls,” and “sit when distracted.”
This is clicker training, so the trainer is being trained just as much as the dog. The clicker is used to reinforce positive behavior and to say “a treat is on the way.” So the trick is to give a command, get the desired response from Callie, “click,” and then give a treat. When you’re holding a leash, a clicker, and puppy treats all at the same time, it’s a challenge to keep it all coordinated.
You’ll see that Callie has some good success. But she’s still a puppy, and she bounces around a lot. She doesn’t always stay focused. But it’s fun to watch her progress.
She did a couple of good “sits” when she was being distracted. This is good discipline for a puppy to learn. Sometimes they have to obey commands when things are confusing.
Hope you enjoy the video. Sorry about the noise in the background; you’ll see the lawnmower going back and forth.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT0zsgiXzoY
