Wally the Rough Collie puppy came in for some refresher training while his people went to enjoy a week in the Bahamas! Wally absolutely loved his board and train refresher course. Not only did he get to play with his dog friends everyday, but he got to work on refining previously taught skills like sit, down, stay, come, heel and place-bed, in addition to learning some new behaviors like stand-stay and sit pretty.
In the video you’ll get to see Wally’s first training session for stand stay. Because Wally is already clicker trained, you’ll see how in just five minutes he’s able to learn that standing on the platform with his front feet on, and his back feet off, is the preferred behavior. We love using platforms to train stand-stays (actually, all types of stays) because a platform gives the dog a specific spot to be. Without his front feet on the platform, Wally might be tempted to move a foot, move to the side, or follow us forward and around. Yet, with him focused on keeping those two front paws on the platform, Wally was able to learn very quickly that staying completely still while standing was the preferred behavior.
You’ll notice that Wally gets rewarded with both kibble (his dog food) and petting praise. This particular collie LOVES petting, so it was really important to us to shower him with affection, cuddles, pets and rubs when he did a great job. We always released wally from command before offering any petting praise. We did offer kibble reward while he was still on command. Kibble rewards don’t typically elicit a high arousal response like petting praise, which is why we use kibble during an exercise and petting rewards at the conclusion of exercises.
This collie puppy was an absolute delight to work with! We love you Wally!
Our dog training platform is the KLIMB from Blue-9.
Need help with your dog or puppy? Looking for a fast result? Ask us about our board and train program for obedience and manners! training@applauseyourpaws.com. Miami’s expert dog training professionals. 786-529-7833.