[nagdu] clicker training

[The Pawpower Pack]

Hi Hope,

I set her up when she first came to live with me.  I started out by  
teaching her to target my hand on cue.  Once that was fluent, we began  
working food refusal.  I put some really boring food, like saltines or  
matzo on the floor.  I brought Laveau in on leash so I could feel more  
of what she's doing-- a hearing blind person may be able to use a bell  
on their dog in this case but I felt like the leash would give me the  
most feedback.
I showed her the food on the ground and when she looked at it, I asked  
her to touch my hand instead.  When she did, I gave her a very yummy  
high value treat such as dried liver or dried fish which are really  
smelly but the dogs love them.
We gradually began walking around the food, keeping it really boring  
and I really reinforced Laveau when she looked away from the food.   
Then we moved up to better food, people holding food etc.  We call  
this doggie zen, which means giving up what you want to get what you  
want.  If you want food, you need to ignore the food and then you'll  
get some.  The same thing goes for sitting at the table.  I do feed my  
dogs from my plate, but the only way they're going to get fed is by  
laying down and ignoring me.
Laveau came to me with some very ingrained habits, one of which was  
counter surfing.  It also didn't help that she was very malnourished  
and under fed.  I had to block off the kitchen and really work with  
her on ignoring food.  She still backslides occasionally but in this  
last year especially, she's really seemed to improve.
I think part of it, for Laveau, was that she wasn't sure she'd get fed  
regularly because she had been so malnourished for the first year of  
her life.  Now she knows that she gets breakfast every morning and  
snacks occasionally and especially in this last year she has come to  
trust that I'm not going to stop feeding her or give her away.  Most  
program trained dogs don't have this particular issue with food since  
they've had great care.
However with Laveau I had to be careful not to correct her and if she  
did get food I just calmly removed it from her and walked away.  I  
didn't want food to become a battle,

Rox and the Herbal HenchHounds
Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD. and Laveau Guide Dog, CGC.
"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point  
out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half- 
wit, and the emperor remains an emperor."-- Neil Gaiman
http://www.pawpowercreations.com/retreat.html
pawpower4me at gmail.com
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