# First Obedience class



## MzChristine (Aug 30, 2012)

Casper and I just attended the first class in a 6 class session. We had a lot of fun and Casper did a lot better focusing on me then I thought he would. He didn't bark and although very interested in the other dogs I was able to regain his attention easily enough. 

The method is all positive reinforcement but incorporates luring to guide them into what you want. Unfortunately my little fellow is a treat maniac... he becomes obsessed about a treat in the hand becoming a treat in his belly and jumps and licks etc trying to get it. Because of this; I have been doing clicker training at home and he really gets it. 

I am going to talk to the instructor, and ask if I can use a word as a marker in class instead of doing the luring with a treat... we already are working on "touch" so he will follow my hand/finger as a lure. I don't think it will be a problem..but any tips/tricks in case she wants me to strictly follow the treat luring instructions? I am not sure how to teach Casper to relax around treats... and although the class was highly amused at him being able to "heel" all around the ring on his back legs (because he wanted the treat so bad) I was a bit frustrated.

We ended on a real high note though.. we came in 2nd in the "Fastest Sit" game at the end of class. A cute little sheltie won but he had been to previous classes so I think Casper did great!


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## flyingpoodle (Feb 5, 2012)

Instead of starting out your question to the trainer with the answer you want in mind, you could ask her how she would solve the problem. This may give you tools you had not thought of. (Or you could find out that she is not a very great trainer.) I have seen a few methods of how to train a dog to wait for the treat that is in your hand, even if it being used as a lure. That might lead to your dog having a longer "patient" time.

Ps. Have you experimented with less and more yummy treats at hand depending on how much attention you need? I would bring three types to class to use. And good job on fast sit!


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

Here's a link to a video that offers a positive training approach to teaching impulse control around treats and food. It may be helpful to you. Having trained my mpoo this way, I can tell you it's fun. Good luck!

"It's Yer Choice" - YouTube


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## MzChristine (Aug 30, 2012)

Thank you both for the advice.. I will ask for the trainer's guidence and see what she recommends first. And I am definitely going to work on impulse control... Casper has a really hard time with that in a lot of situations (jumping at the door etc) and he's slowly improving; so I will just have to focus more on the food snatching. 

Some of these things I have never dealt with before even though I have owned several dogs. I guess it must be because we got them as puppies and worked really hard to keep these habits from even developing. Trying to retrain is a lot harder! Glad Casper is smart (and extra cute which short circuits any frustration lol)

As a side note, I sure am going through a lot of treats every week (and that's with using his kibbles for training too!)


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## MzChristine (Aug 30, 2012)

The trainer was pretty much "go with what's working" so I decided to just make sure I was diligent about homework and to not treat until the end of the heel activity with lots of verbal praise while heeling. I did work on it a lot with clicker during the week so Casper isn't confused. The luring worked fine for down and seems to just be an issue when we are on the move. In fact once he figured out that down was how to get the treat he did it constantly... I am loving how the clicker effect carries over!

Thanks to all the practice we did, we were in a 3 way tie for walking with no pulling! He loves the little loofah dog he got for doing so well :act-up: We were asked if we had done classes before and when I said no, the instructors told me we definitely need to look into Rally or agility. 

Still working on our impulse control.. he's resisting a bit quicker each time. I just remind myself that it's better to have a dog that is motivated to get that reward instead of one that could care less!


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

To help with impulse control I like the wait command. Wait to be allowed out the door, wait to eat ect. I also like the leave it command. This will also come in handy if you do agility. 

You should consider agility - it is so much fun. Read up on it now if you are interested in it because there is a lot of foundation work you can do to help your dog get ready.

It sounds like your classes are going great. It is amazing how quickly they pick things up and it sounds like you Re taking full advantage of that.


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## MzChristine (Aug 30, 2012)

Things have been going better then I could have imagined.. Casper and I usually squeeze in a training session morning and evening and I always try to work on distractions, and quick response sits during our two daily walks (he loves earning the extra treats). I just started doing the wait and stay. It's his biggest challenge.. he is ready to go go go! From the agility videos I saw, that might be a good thing though?! (Sure hope so)

This is the first dog I've ever really focused on training with; my others were all "good" dogs but not much more then basics. Not sure how much is poodle and how much is the concentrated positive training but I am just so amazed at how fast Casper is learning! So glad I can come here and share:biggrin1:


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