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1st, some history. Sonic spent 1.5 yrs in the Dominican Republic as a pet dog to refugees. I doubt they had time or means to train or learn about training, so he would have learned from 'the school of hard knocks', with wrong equalling hit, or kicked, or 'uh uh'd' or whatever from mild to strong, and right equalling getting fed, getting cuddled, getting scraps, treats, and access to comfortable indoor spaces. He actually 'sat pretty' and looked at us to gain permission to jump on our couch on his first hour at our place.
So he's doing great with marker training, loves that game, and he's already learning to tug (which is a big deal for a 3rd world dog, as he 1st needs to realize that a big something in my hand is for playing, not hitting) but he super duper wants to keep focused on me (eye contact, super duper eye contact) and/or the treat, or the area behind me where I ineffectively hide the treat bag.
So I thought I would try 101 things to do with a box, grab a clicker, a bunch of treats, and wait for him to do anything other than stare at me, or behind me (where I have my hands and treat bag). A long wait. He is very very patient, and very very good at standing still, even trying not to blink, seriously.
I did manage to get him sort of to interact with the box, a look, a sniff, and more (somehow used up two handfuls of treats in each session) but I can tell he is trying way too hard and keeps reverting to standing very still and staring, or sitting pretty (probably behaviours that got him fed for the last year and a half).
I want this to be fun for him, any thoughts*? I am tossing the treats so he has to break position to get them. Otherwise I'm being fairly still and just clicking. He does 'get' the clicker.
So he's doing great with marker training, loves that game, and he's already learning to tug (which is a big deal for a 3rd world dog, as he 1st needs to realize that a big something in my hand is for playing, not hitting) but he super duper wants to keep focused on me (eye contact, super duper eye contact) and/or the treat, or the area behind me where I ineffectively hide the treat bag.
So I thought I would try 101 things to do with a box, grab a clicker, a bunch of treats, and wait for him to do anything other than stare at me, or behind me (where I have my hands and treat bag). A long wait. He is very very patient, and very very good at standing still, even trying not to blink, seriously.
I did manage to get him sort of to interact with the box, a look, a sniff, and more (somehow used up two handfuls of treats in each session) but I can tell he is trying way too hard and keeps reverting to standing very still and staring, or sitting pretty (probably behaviours that got him fed for the last year and a half).
I want this to be fun for him, any thoughts*? I am tossing the treats so he has to break position to get them. Otherwise I'm being fairly still and just clicking. He does 'get' the clicker.