[nagdu] How to encourage dog initiative

[Julie J]

Keep rambling!  I've been very curious about others thoughts on encouraging 
initiative too.

I definitely use the technique of pointing in a vague, general direction and 
waiting for the dog to do something.  If it is anything even remotely close 
to what I want then he gets a click and a treat.   Progressively I make the 
situation more and more difficult, like giving the cue from further away or 
turning my body a bit further off course.   I think initiative can 
definitely be encouraged or built upon.  but I also think that different 
dogs have different levels of ability in the initiative department.  Belle 
had very little and Monty has a load! I also think that the training style 
probably has something to do with the dog's willingness to try new things. 
If a dog is corrected too harshly or too often they will quit trying new 
things for fear of messing up.

I'm really appreciating and enjoying the greater level of initiative that 
Monty has.  It feels a lot more like a partnership and less  like I'm 
micromanaging.

Julie