Today I fed Izzy her dinner by hand, and our goal was a nose bump to the hand.
Yesterday, all Izzy had to do to get kibble was move towards my hand. Today, I held the kibble in my hand until she sniffed it- click, kibble. Repeat.
Next, I moved the kibble to the other hand. She sniffed the empty hand (palm facing sideways towards her)- click-treat.
She repeated this many, many times. While's it a bit more difficult for me to determine intent in Izzy, as compared to one of my dogs, the fact that she returned to sniff an obviously empty hand a number of times in a row (>10) leads me to believe that she figured out the game.
Why is it hard for me to determine if Izzy's nose-to-my-hand is intentional? Well, a couple of reasons. She doesn't repeat the behavior rapidly. In fact, there is a lot of floor sniffing and looking around between the touches to the hand. In my dogs, once they have the puzzle figured out, the repeated nose bumps came quickly and with greater force. Izzy's nose bumps were sometimes barely there, but I clicked even a quick sniff to encourage the behavior. With Izzy, I think I'll have to keep a careful watch so that I don't change the criteria too rapidly.
Also, Izzy likes to be petted. Occasionally she went to my hand but ducked her head to get some petting. No click for that, but I did indulge in more petting overall during the session. It really seemed to keep her engaged.
I'm pretty sure that Izzy was targeting my hand for the food, with intention. I was able to move my hand to different places and once she offered the sniff/touch no matter where I placed my hand (still at her head level), then I tried turning my hand so that the palm faced away from her. That was a harder concept for her to grasp, or it could be that the vacuum running a few rooms away was too much of a distraction. (Yes, I have a wonderful hubby who vacuums the house. I'm so lucky!) I returned to the open palm towards her, and she resumed touching with her nose. I also tried to be sure I didn't present my hand until I noticed she looked up from the floor (where she'd eaten the kibble).
The kicker tonight: I put my hand just above and in front of Izzy's head, and she raised up to sniff it. Jackpot!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Training Izzy Day 1: Load the clicker.
I noticed that Izzy always appeared when I was training dogs in the living room. She's also very interested in food. I decided to attempt to clicker-train her.
First I had to load the clicker. I started by clicking while she ate, to associate the sound with the food. I presented small hard treats but she didn't like to take them from my hand. She'd sniff around my hand but not take them. I put my hand on the floor which was better, but she still took about 10 seconds between treats. I wanted her to really WANT the the food. She's been known to paw at my hand at mealtimes when I'm too slow loading her Egg, so I know she can be really excited about food. She'd already eaten this morning so I knew that she wasn't hungry. So far, I learned that 1) the hard treats were taking to long for her to chew and I wanted to present rewards rapidly 2) the hard treats were not high enough value, and 3) Izzy doesn't like to take treats from my hand. I decided to try soft food from a spoon.
The spoon was less intimidating than the hand, but she was still reluctant. Since the most important thing at first is to associate the click with the reward, I used a small tub of food and set it in front of her, clicking while she ate. Next, I began to click and present the food to her. She was eating rapidly when I presented the food in the tub, so this was progress. Click, present food, let her eat, remove the food. Repeat.
Things that are different from dogs: Izzy looks around at the floor when the food is removed. She doesn't readily look to me to get the food. I began to wait to present the food until she looked in my general direction after I removed it. My hope is to associate my face with the source of the food. I realize that I may be trying to shape behavior a bit early but I think it's important that she realize that the food is coming from ME.
Also, Izzy will walk away in the middle of a training session, to groom or to sniff the floor. Lesson to me: Keep the sessions really short and quit while she is still looking for the food.
I don't think we have gotten to the point where she knows "click means food is coming" and "Nancy is the source of the food". I will present her regular meals with a click as well. Next, I need to find stinkier soft food!
First I had to load the clicker. I started by clicking while she ate, to associate the sound with the food. I presented small hard treats but she didn't like to take them from my hand. She'd sniff around my hand but not take them. I put my hand on the floor which was better, but she still took about 10 seconds between treats. I wanted her to really WANT the the food. She's been known to paw at my hand at mealtimes when I'm too slow loading her Egg, so I know she can be really excited about food. She'd already eaten this morning so I knew that she wasn't hungry. So far, I learned that 1) the hard treats were taking to long for her to chew and I wanted to present rewards rapidly 2) the hard treats were not high enough value, and 3) Izzy doesn't like to take treats from my hand. I decided to try soft food from a spoon.
The spoon was less intimidating than the hand, but she was still reluctant. Since the most important thing at first is to associate the click with the reward, I used a small tub of food and set it in front of her, clicking while she ate. Next, I began to click and present the food to her. She was eating rapidly when I presented the food in the tub, so this was progress. Click, present food, let her eat, remove the food. Repeat.
Things that are different from dogs: Izzy looks around at the floor when the food is removed. She doesn't readily look to me to get the food. I began to wait to present the food until she looked in my general direction after I removed it. My hope is to associate my face with the source of the food. I realize that I may be trying to shape behavior a bit early but I think it's important that she realize that the food is coming from ME.
Also, Izzy will walk away in the middle of a training session, to groom or to sniff the floor. Lesson to me: Keep the sessions really short and quit while she is still looking for the food.
I don't think we have gotten to the point where she knows "click means food is coming" and "Nancy is the source of the food". I will present her regular meals with a click as well. Next, I need to find stinkier soft food!
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