I am a proud dog Mom, and I am always calling Luke an overachiever. Last month for Positive Reinforcement Pet Training Week, we left off that I was just teaching Luke to close doors. It has gone very well, so I have two short videos to share and show you what he learned.
Honestly, once he had the closing of the cabinet doors down, I just opened a drawer for the heck of it and pointed to it, and couldn’t believe when he closed that right away! One thing you don’t see is that he sometimes pushes the cabinet doors the wrong way and ends up opening them more instead of closing it. We’ve been working on that, so notice in the second video that he is starting to figure that out! I also want you to notice how I have him go to his bed while I am setting up, and that one time he stayed there so well, I had to use his “release” command to get him to leave it.
We have tried this with larger doors and heavier drawers, but he doesn’t do as well. I think he’s just a bit timid of the movement, and we’ll work on those things more, going back to using the post it and clicker to get him to touch. I love it when I am upstairs in the morning, and hear my hubby getting out the treats before leaving for work, and I’ll hear the cabinet door slam. Luke is closing the doors when we don’t even ask him to, and sometimes when we don’t even want him to!
We’re backing off of the trick training for a bit, for a couple of reasons. First of all, our weather is finally getting nicer so we want to spend more time outside. We’ll be working on loose leash walking and heeling more, and I want to try weave poles with him in the yard too. Also, you might have seen my post where we’ve had some issues with him going after our cat Samantha, sometimes a bit aggressively (only when she has left the house and apparently smells different). So we’re going back to some of the basics, and working on reinforcing “stay”, “leave it”, and “watch me”. That is coming along well, as you could see by how well he stayed in that video. We have also gotten him to stop when starting to chase Sam (he’s only chased her playfully lately). So we feel we’re making progress there. I honestly think he just needs to mature a bit more. He knows what the commands mean, and just needs to learn that he is always to obey them, not just when he feels like it. We hadn’t worked on “watch me” in a long time, but he is already very focused on me and does quite well with that. We just need to transfer that to everyday life, not just when we’re training.
The theme for the Positive Reinforcement Pet Training Week is “Reviews” for this month. I’m not doing a full review, but just wanted to show you some of my favorite training tools.
- Clickers. You can’t have too many. I may start collecting them.
- We found these Stewart treats at a local pet store when taking Luke to school. They continue to be high value for him, and I was happy that I could find them on amazon.com for a reasonable price. Some of the pieces are too big, and don’t break apart easily so we just use those for everyday treats and for hiding for nose work games. There are quite a few smaller pieces and the thinner ones can be broken.
- I love the PetSafe Treat Pouch Sport. It has two compartments, so I can put a clicker and poop bags in the outer one. It straps around my waist, and the treat compartment stays open when you need it to. It really works for me.
*Disclaimer: We were in no way compensated for sharing these items. I just wanted to share my favorites that have worked for us.
We’re happy to be joining Positive Reinforcement Pet Training Week. It begins on the first Monday of every month and runs all week long. The hop is hosted by Cascadian Nomads, Tenacious Little Terrier, and Rubicon Days. Please visit them as well as other blogs through the links below for more positive pet training tips.
It’s good to see that Luke is enjoying it and doing so well. We use tricks to keep me interested in training. It’s important that everyone has fun.
He is doing very well and looks very pleased to be helping out. I think this would be great to work with Delilah on. She is always in the kitchen underfoot and I am constantly telling her to go sit somewhere, but if she were waiting to do her job when I’m done, well that might actually work!
Do you have a link to the first post where you started training this?
He really does enjoy it and it’s so much fun to watch him! He has gotten really good at sitting in his bed waiting when I’m in the kitchen now. Sometimes he does it on his own, but he does still need a lot of reminders.
Here’s the post where I started training this (it’s at the end): http://www.afarmgirlsfinds.com/clicker-training-a-positive-experience-tidbits-a-breakthrough/
Let me know if you try it with Delilah and how it works out!
I’ve started teaching Donna to close doors too but no, I don’t think Donna will close doors on her own if I left it opened. Haha! Great job there!
Wow, too awesome watching him close doors and drawers on command-what a smartie, I love it! Oh, I suppose the Momz deserves some credit too for teaching him well (and the patience that must require!!) You 2 rock! 🙂
Thank you, Auntie Lynn! We both have a lot of fun. I’ve learned if it’s not going well, to just stop before I lose my patience.
Luke is awesome and so are you! That was an extremely satisfying video to watch! Well done!
Thank you so much, and thanks for coming by!
I LOVED seeing Luke closing doors. Good boy!
He looks so confident!
We also loved the dehydrated liver. But I also wish I could cut it into smaller pieces without it crumbling.
I spend WAY more time teaching and reinforcing basic manners and very little time on tricks. Wait. We actually spend NO time on tricks. Maybe someday… But the basic manners are just so important especially for dogs that are out and about in cities like Wilhelm, Brychwyn and Huxley. That bucket o’ treats looks very appealing. I wonder how long it would take for my boys to go through it?
I too have spent much more time teaching Honey manners than tricks. But she loves training so much that we started doing a few tricks.
For us, the side effect has been that trick training really increased her confidence. So if you ever need that with one of your nomads, maybe you’ll consider a trick or too. 🙂
I had actually only planned to teach Luke one trick this year, but he did so well with that, I just had to continue!
Confidence is the very best side effect of training but my dogs have always gotten that confidence no matter what we learn together- obedience, agility or any dog sport. Deciding what to train and what will build confidence also depends on the dos. Wilhelm abhors learning anything that isn’t very straight forward like tricks. He prefers very traditional training like obedience and agility. Brychwyn likes the challenge of shaping something new so he actually is a great trick dog to train. But he is reactive so it is hard to find the time to work on reactivity counter conditioning (which does include a few cues that would be considered tricks) and just fun freestyle type commands. Huxley is up for antything as long as he is moving or is rewarded with moving. His confidence comes from getting in touch with his huge collie body, fine and large motor skills. And knowing all this about our dogs likes and dislikes and personalities is the best training side effect of all!
Go Luke!!!! Well done pal! And well done mom!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Go Luke! I love those dehydrated liver treats too… all the value of liver, without the mess! I used to have a treat pouch that stayed open, but it wasn’t really big enough to hold as many treats as I needed, and it’s fallen apart anyway. I’m going to need a new one, since pretty soon it will be too warm to just keep treats in my jacket pockets. I don’t like to buy from PetSafe though, because they sell shock collars. I won’t buy Easy Walk harnesses anymore either.
For the summer I always try to wear shorts with lots of pockets! Sometimes I’m fumbling though, especially when walking.
I totally understand why you don’t buy from PetSafe, and I respect that.
And actually, I didn’t have good luck with the Easy Walk harnesses anyway. I’m still looking for something new.
Luke is so smart…and I witnessed that in person Saturday morning. 🙂 he loves to please his Mom!
Thank you, Auntie Sheryl!
You and Luke are doing so well! Ruby is extremely wary, so anything involving props or something that moves or makes noise takes extra patience. I think teaching her to close doors would be a great confidence builder. Thanks for joining the hop this month!
Luke is timid with the big doors so we’re taking it slowly there. I really think it’s helping his confidence level though.
Luke you are very clever and I think you do great! I just hope mom doesn’t get any ideas about re-training me! Love Dolly
I think our girls are happy that Luke gets most of the training….they aren’t much interested either. 🙂
That’s awesome, way to go Luke! Most dogs are capable of so much more than what we train them for. You’ve motivated me to get back to working on some new training with Haley. Great job and nice videos!
Good boy, Luke! I have so many clickers and they’re scattered all over the house. I mix in some of the basics every day so Mr. N gets a refresher.
Good job Luke. It is true, sometimes you have to wait for young dogs to mature. I am glad he isn’t chasing Sam much anymore.
BRAVO!!!!! It was amazing to see how he always looked at you after he closed the doors, what a cute pup! He could make a team with Easy who can open all doors and drawers… we first laughed and were surprised how smart he is… but now we think it’s more a curse than a blessing, because this guy is the Prince of thieves… I’ve found a cake server in my bed.. wonder what he did with that thingy :o)
Thank you!! Oh, I can just see it….Easy running around opening things, and Luke right behind him closing them! They could be a YouTube sensation!
We’re definitely not teaching Luke to open anything, I just hope he doesn’t figure it out on his own. 🙂
This is great information for me, I would love to teach Harley to close the bathroom door after he barges in when I’m taking a shower LOL
That is a fun idea training him to close stuff. Mom is trying to work on a word for me for photos for BlogPaws, it would be a useful command and a funny thing too. We shall see if we get it accomplished or not, but no clicker involved.
I can’t wait to see what you come up with! We use the clicker with Luke because it works so well for us, but it’s really just a tool. The girls don’t actually respond to it quite as well.