Tag Archives: Treat and Train

Target Training with Daisy

We try Target Training with Daisy

In this session, we introduce Daisy to the Treat and Train (briefly) and concentrate on some basic Target Training. The Treat and Train isn’t really necessary for this, but we had it on hand. A clicker and treats would be every bit as effective.

In target training, you are teaching your dog to touch a target of your choosing – in this case a target stick – which you can then use to direct or lure them during future training situations.  Once your dog touches the target reliably, you can position that target wherever you want your dog to go.

The interesting thing about this session is how Daisy swings between good ‘touches’, and behaving as though she’s never seen the target stick before, only seconds apart.  This isn’t uncommon, and the key as always is consistency.  We are rewarded at the end when, after a pause, she realises what she needs to do and touches beautifully.  You can almost see the mental cogs turning…

See how she got on…

Archie meets the Treat and Train

We try Archie with the Treat and Train Remote Dog Trainer for the first time.

We recently introduced Archie to the Treat and Train, a treat dispensing device that can work at a distance by remote control.  Although it works up to 30 metres away, we stayed at close quarters during this session in order to aclimatise Archie with the machine.

It works on the same principle as clicker training, where the first step is to click and treat your dog ‘unprompted’ to cement the connection between the clicking sound and the treat/reward.  This link between the click and the treat is paramount to the success of clicker training, and so it is with the Treat and Train.  The only difference is that the Treat and Train beeps rather than clicks, but that’s a minor point provided you follow the same preliminary steps.

Archie does like to play games like this, so after a while we moved on to some basic targeting with a target stick. It isn’t advisable to move on too quickly in a session, and in most circumstances we would have left it with the Treat and Train only (ending on an high point), but he was happy enough to have a go.

See how we got on…