Bone aggressive pup

[Jarena]

This may sound nit picky, but technically the clicker should be to mark a behavior rather than to elicit one. Using it to elicit the behavior makes it more difficult to stop using it later on. I would suggest working on a command such as "watch" or "look" first. Then when you approach her bowl tell her to "watch" and when she looks up at you (not at the clicker or at the treat, at your eyes) give your "click" or marker phrase "good girl."

Again, the click is just to teach her exactly what behavior it is that you want from her and it should happen at the precise time that she performs the behavior. So as she meets your eyes, you mark it. Then treat.

I’m kind of a perfectionist when it comes to training her so I like “nit picky”. Thank you for clarifying. I was thinking me being near her, or petting her head while she is eating is a behavior that I like so I could mark that with “good girl” then reach down toward her bowl to drop in some ham for the treat. Does that make sense or does that not work as well? One of her commands is “look at me”, should I mark that behavior instead, because it’s more precise/exact than me being near her/petting her?

 

[Boxergirl]

You can mark any of those things. Her shifting her focus from the bone (bowl, toy, whatever) to you is what you're looking for. As long as it's shifting focus in the right way. Of course you don't want to mark a shift that includes a growl or lip curl, etc. If she looks at you voluntarily then yes, mark and treat with something better than what she has. Using the look command might get her focus on you faster and then she should start to focus on you when you come near without the command and you can mark that, which is really the behavior you want. The voluntary shift of focus from the item in front of her to you. Does that make sense? You want the dog to make good choices on her own and then mark and reward those choices. If she doesn't offer the behavior you want herself (shifting focus from the item to you) then it's okay to help her with a command she knows like look. At some point though you're going to want to give her the chance to make the choice without the command.

My daughter has just finished her first leg of the Karen Pryor Academy to become a certified trainer and is getting ready to start the final portion, so I'm learning a lot. And I'm also learning a lot about where perhaps I used a clicker just a bit wrong that may have made my job harder and made what I was trying to achieve or made it more confusing for the dog.

 

[Jarena]

Ok, yes that makes sense. She learns very fast from repetition, so using the look command should get her voluntarily looking at me quickly.

Lucky you to have a trainer so close I’m obsessed with learning so I know I would love that! Thanks for all the great advice

 

[Boxergirl]

Ok, yes that makes sense. She learns very fast from repetition, so using the look command should get her voluntarily looking at me quickly.

Lucky you to have a trainer so close I’m obsessed with learning so I know I would love that! Thanks for all the great advice

It's great because I get to learn with her. She's a vet tech, is already fear free certified and is pursuing her behavioral specialty in addition to getting trainer certified. She's passionate about her career and I know she's going to help a lot of dogs and people. I'm particularly jealous about the clicker expo she'll be attending in February. So many speakers/trainers that I admire that she'll be seeing. I hope she comes home with tons of interesting new info.