[nagdu] Success with clicker training and scrounging!

[Daryl Marie]

Hi, Raven,

Thanks so much for the encouragement!  After I wrote that email, something seems to have clicked with Jenny. I can't even describe it, but overall she seems much more attentive.  Today we walked a total of about a mile (4 blocks to a cafe, 4 blocks back), and she only dove down for something once, at the door of the cafe where they leave out a water bowl for dogs passing by.  She found me an empty seat without snuffling along the floor of the restaurant... on the route back she sniffed at a post but was more than happy to carry on... there's nothing like putting in the time and effort and know it's paying off.

Honestly, though, it isn't that much time at all. Just something quick and fun 1-2 times a day, sometimes less, with lots of love and cuddles.  Heck, right now as we walk I am clicking and praising her for her good work, and am having to click less frequently.

Daryl and Jenny
----- Original Message -----
From: Raven Tolliver <ravend729 at gmail.com>
To: Daryl Marie <crazymusician at shaw.ca>, NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 19:30:29 -0600 (MDT)
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Success with clicker training and scrounging!

Daryl,
Glad to hear all your hard work is coming to fruition! There's nothing
like putting in so much time, energy, and effort, and see that it is
paying off.
I applaud you too for incorporating obedience and expectations into
your games, giving Jenny fun and rewarding ways to learn and grow.
Well done!

On 8/26/14, Daryl Marie via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi!
> Just thought i would update you all with the success of jenny's clicker
> training and scrounging.
>
> It has been a slow process, but I am noticing a HUGE marked improvement in
> Jenny's scrounging.  There are a couple of routes where she scrounges more
> frequently, and this afternoon we took one of them. She only went for one
> piece of ground candy (normally she dives for 3-4 things), and even then she
> was more than willing to give it up when I waved her forward and told her to
> leave it.
>
> We're still working on it, but we play the leave-it game with high-value
> items at home (bread, popcorn), and this seems to help immensely.
>
> Hurrah!
>
> Daryl
>
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-- 
Raven
"if God didn't make it, don't eat it." - John B. Symes, D.V.M.
http://dogtorj.com