Name Game

The first day of Puppy Basic was very fun and challenging for both of us. It became very obvious that Mickey is by far the smallest guy in the class by at least 15 lbs. Some dogs are just plain huge (like 70lbs for a 5month old!) So at the beginning of class they had 'play time'. Mickey was complimented on doing a good job of communicating that he did NOT want to play with these guys (growling and snapping). So we finally sat at the side to watch the play going on.

I attribute the lack of smaller dogs in our class to the fact that bad behavior in smaller dogs is easier to ignore. For example its not a huge deal if Mickey jumps up on us but when that large Lab mix jumps on the 7 year old things aren't as fun anymore (for the kid at least).

Our first lesson in class was 'pay attention to your owner'. So you just continuously feed the special treat (hot dogs in our case) so the dog only has eyes for you. Don't worry about sitting or laying down, just want their attention. Feed them treats as often as you need to in order to keep their attention, even if that is a treat a second.

After we had firmly established that the owner is awesome because they have a never ending supply of yummy stuff, we started the first 'trick'.

"The Name Game" - Allow the dog to get distracted. Then say their name once, in a happy voice. Wait until they turn towards you. As soon as they turn towards you mark the behavior with a click from the clicker. Then feed them a treat. You can have a bit of a lag between click and treat, the most important timing is that the mark/click occurs as soon as the dog's head turns to you. Only say the name once (you can make small clucking noises or something if they seem to have missed the cue).

Mickey is pretty good with the name game. Especially when he figures out we're playing it at home (for home work). There aren't as many distractions in the house, and he knows those treats are in your hand and he doesn't want to look away...