I love the training memory. When my dogs come to me, I love to make it count. I love being generous with treats, toys and having fun.
It’s hard to organize a surprise retreat with Lewis. Every time he lingers in the yard and I get the bright idea to go find a high-priced gift and practice remembering him, I find him waiting for me at the door when I return. He and his nose are too smart for his own good. (He’s not the first of my dogs to have that problem!) But the other night he was very excited about recent rabbit visits in the yard. I was enjoying it so much that I let it spend quite a bit of time there. I sat in the cold cast iron patio chair longer than usual, taking occasional videos as he galloped, paused, stopped, sniffed, and galloped some more.
I was so engrossed that I was able to go into the house and get a sizable piece of roast chicken. I got out, he was still engrossed (and out of sight), and called out to him.
Audio warning in the video: jingling of labels.
One thing you can’t see in the video is how much chicken I gave him because my hand was initially out of the frame. When I moved the camera, the food had already gone down the hatch.
I stopped doing the often recommended practice of dishing out multiple pieces of food to make the booster activity last longer. This is a personal decision, based on three things.
1. Recent research by Dr. Erica Feuerbacher on award giving.
2. A comment by Ken Ramirez in his book, The Eye of the Trainer. It’s a short section on extended treat delivery on page 47.
3. Observation of my own dogs.
Oh yeah, one more thing: it’s easier!
I’m not suggesting that anyone else change their practice; I know giving multiple treats is part of some brilliant recovery methods. There are probably good reasons to do it either way. I hope to write a post about my decision later.
But in the meantime, he didn’t want anyone to think he was being mean. That was a mondo piece of chicken Lewis got!
So, on impulse, I sent him back to scout again. Why not strengthen that memory a little more?
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