Brito – starting Scent Discrimination

I started Brito’s scent work a few days ago. I chose not to use the Altoids Tin method that I used with Lyra (you can see that method here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj8ownH511o). Brito doesn’t like to make mistakes so I wanted to avoid having him...

Brito – more shaped retrieve and beginning proofing

I have introduced Brito to a few more retrieve concepts. I’m now (gently!) pushing him away before starting the retrieve – this encourages Brito to move in a forward direction after he puts his mouth on the bar.  If you don’t do this step, many dogs...

Brito five months general training

Here is an eleven minute training session of Brito from this morning.  You can see a variety of things. Shaping with a dumbbell.  I normally hold it because he tends to put his feet on objects sitting on the floor.  That is not a habit that I want to encourage. (...

Lyra 7 months – Jumping

Lyra is becoming relatively fluent on her current skills, so it’s time to add something new to her repertoire.  This week I introduced some basic jumping skills. There are a thousand ways you can start this.  My goals for the next couple of weeks are threefold....

Lyra and Structured Shaping

I’m a competition obedience trainer.  Someday I might play in agility as well.  As far as I can tell, there are certainly no more than a couple hundred tiny behaviors that I need my dog to master, and many fewer that I’ll actually name or consider an “end” behavior. ...

Luring, Targets, and Shaping, oh my!

When I first started training with food, I used luring.  If I wanted a sit, I held food over the dog’s head and waited for the butt to fall – saying “sit”.  Dog gets a cookie.  If I wanted a front, I took that cookie and centered it in front of my body.  Dog gets a...