Rory's Brain

[minnathered]

What have I taught this dog, how did I teach her this, and do I need to fix it

Comments

[biggmellon]

Did you go straight to target on the vertical surface? If yes I would suggest you work a few sessions holding the target in your hand (keeping your hand still- being sure not to wave it around), then once she is bopping it in your hand moving your hand placement so she has to work at bopping it, then moving the target to the fridge to make the target a little more interesting.

Work shorter sessions. Ricky is very similar- the longer I work the more the behavior deteriorates- we do 2-3 clicked behaviors then stop and we do the sessions more frequently then I do with the other dogs. I think he gets bored and figures he can make the game more interesting.

[minnathered]

She had a decent touch to my fingers and to something I was holding. I had trouble fading my fingers away on a 3D target (like a scent can), which is why I wanted to try a flat magnet on the refrig. She had kind of demonstrated something like this checking out behavior in class last week, which is why I wanted to try it with something that seemed simple, like targeting something dark blue on the white refrigerator door.

Jeannine thinks my rate of reinforcement may be too low, especially at first. I saw the results of a higher rate in class tonight, and they were better. I slapped the magnet back on the refrigerator when I got home and got 4 solid nose touches in a row, so something seems to be working. Higher rate of reinforcement or time to think about what was wanted? Could be either, I guess.

Thanks for your suggestions!