Not long ago, I wrote about how I was capturing a behavior that Willow, our 6 year old Australian Shepherd, frequently offers. She runs in our pasture, dipping her shoulder and then sliding some distance. It’s a very cute dog trick.
This video shows the slight progress we had made at the time:
I’ve continued to work on that fun dog trick.
Now when I say, “Turf Surf!” she hits the ground and surfs!
Even though I know how effortless it can be to capture a behavior your dog frequently offers, it never ceases to amaze me when I do it and it works!
Here’s the finished product (an unedited video).
That’s the power of positive reinforcement training.
Your dog is having fun during the learning process.
None of us can learn when we’re stressed or anxious. Making training a fun process for your dog yields so many amazing benefits. It also is enhancing the human animal bond. In any learning environment, we want our dogs to feel safe, be engaged and ready to learn what dog trick we teach.
If there’s something your dog does that you like, wait for him or her to do the entire behavior. The mark it and reinforce it. Voila!
Lisa Lyle Waggoner is a CPDT-KA, a CSAT (Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer), a Pat Miller Certified Trainer Level 2, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior, a dog*tec Certified Professional Dog Walker and the founder of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina. She enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities and distance consults for clients, dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. and Europe. www.coldnosecollege.com Facebook
