I often think of targeting as a simple exercise. It’s one of the first skills I teach the horses when clicker training and it works great for teaching other behaviors. Usually, I think of targeting as a dog or horse touching their nose to something. However, there are many different ways to expand on targeting [...]

On the Rewarding Behaviors Forum, we’re discussing Madison Moore’s seven seeking games this week. The seven seeking games are a set of activities she’s put together that make indoor training fun and interesting for you and your dog. (And as I discussed yesterday, training should be fun!) The games get progressively harder so that you [...]

I’ve been watching Bob Bailey’s Fundamentals of Animal Training DVD. I’ve watched the first disc, and am really enjoying the set so far. Bob Bailey is not only an excellent trainer; he has a gift for being able to communicate ideas clearly and concisely. I plan to write a proper review after I watch the [...]

Using clicker training, Ginger dog has recently learned how to bow! I’ve included a short video clip at the bottom so you can watch her practicing her bow.
With clicker training, many dog trainers advise to get the behavior occurring at a high rate BEFORE trying to add a cue to it. This actually [...]

Ginger and I have been working on Doggie Zen, which is an exercise from Sue Ailsby’s training levels. Doggie Zen is a leave it type exercise. At the early stages, you teach the dog to ignore and leave alone a piece of food in your open hand. Later on, this evolves into more complicated exercises, [...]