Reply To: Chris (access until November 15, 2014)

[Alana McGee]

Ideally you wait until the next touch after the treat- but in some circumstances with some dogs we can’t get them to make the association, and so that’s where this trick also comes in handy- as treats happen on the odor source so dogs will sometimes make the association connecting the two– odor means cookies.

But you and Daisy are doing ok on the re-touching- so stick with that.

I like it at the 0:07 mark after you click she looks to the pod for where the treat should magically appear, and then back to you. What she does after that at the 0:15 where she is staying with her nose pressed on the target, that is totally fine, and you have very good instincts for how to read her behavior. It is completely ok to wait a few seconds and then click and reward. She is at truffle odor source after all!

Excellent job of delivering treats at the source. Notice her tail, and how she pops her head up after you click. That is a the sign of a clicker conditioned puppy. That is really good indication she is motivated and understands clicks mean rewards.

What would be even better: After about 20 seconds of doing what you did, allowing her to have in her proximity the pod/ container and clicking rewarding and delivering treats at source for when she interacts with it (which was great- good job) Pick the container up. Hold it for a second or two and then place it back down on the ground in a slightly different spot. Over time slowly expand the distance. You were actually doing this by the end and you didn’t even realize it because Daisy kept flicking the container away. That is ok, and good.

She is starting to even possibly offer you a down in tandem with a paw/ nose touch as an alert.

You guys are doing really well. Keep practicing. She seems to enjoy playing the game.

When you think you are ready for the next step, and I think you guys are almost there, you can start working with multiples (that mean multiple boxes/ containers- still just one truffle odor). Read through that lesson when you are ready and go ahead and try it.

First though work on just what you have been doing in that video but picking up the target and placing it down again slightly further away every time. It causes her to re-enaged.

Good work.