Re: [PyrNet-L] Pyrs easy to train???? NOT

[Jane Gill <janegill@fast.net>]

Ann Wetherilt wrote:

> Has anyone tried the "clicker" with older dogs? We got clickers and the
> training book, but haven't set aside the time yet to really read enough to
> start using them with our two (5 1/2 and 6 years old).

Well, I enrolled Conrad in a clicker training class at the tender age of 10,
just so we could learn the technique.  (I had done more traditional methods of
training with him previously.)  And we both eventually did "get it".  (We were
training tricks just to learn the method, then you were free to generalize to
whatever you wanted.)  It did take a little longer for Conrad as compared to
the puppies in the class, but the teacher expected that, not because he was
older, or because he was a Pyr (g) but because he was what she termed a
"crossover" dog.  He was used to watching my hands and my body posture as well
as leash clues to figure out what he should do, so he was used to other forms
of the training game.  Once he figured out the new game, he did swimmingly.
And he would get really tickled when he could get the clicker to click:
someone else mentioned that their dog seemed to feel that they were
controlling the click?  That's how Conrad reacted.  I started my puppy on
clicker training right away, and she learned the game very fast indeed.
What's really funny is that when Conrad notices the clicker dangling from my
wrist, or I click Weezie, he'll still start offering behaviors to see if he
can get the clicker to click for his own big self.  (And of course.....he
always can (chuckle).

Jane Gill
janegill@fast.net

> Our trainer, too, emphasized only gentle, non-punitive training methods,
> and our dogs respond fine. The nicest thing about that is that if we raise
> a hand or a stick, they *know* that a game is in store! The response is
> exuberance, not fear. She (our trainer) insisted even that we never refer
> to our dogs by any term stronger than "twerp!" Of course, as Peg pointed
> out, even when I call them "twerps" it comes out as a term of endearment.
> Because Ivy was 5 when we got her, and had not been trained for indoor
> behavior, we find training with treats to be the answer--she thinks dried
> chicken liver is to die for, and it's amazing how quickly she learned
> basic commands! Now she'll do at least most of them when we just use the
> voice command. It's too bad she's too shy for the obedience ring, as she
> does terrific "comes" and "sits"--but on the other hand, given that you
> can't use treats there, she's probably quickly decide it wasn't worth the
> effort!
> Ann W
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