brenda taulbee
New Member
Hello all!
So Kenzii is about a year and a half old now, and a genius when it comes to certain things. She's picked up tricks in a day or two that I expected to take several weeks. However, when it gets into the free shaping stuff she's not exactly creative...
When I tried to teach her toy recognition I started with one object, "Googley Eye Dog" and would sit down with her and "Dog", my clicker and a bunch of awesome treats. First she would see the treats in my hand, run through her lengthy repertoire of tricks then flop down, frustrated and tired or slink away like she was in trouble for not finding the right one. I don't think she even noticed Dog was in the room with us. I was looking for anything directed at the toy, from a glance to a nose or paw, but didn't get anything the first few sessions. After those first few sessions, every time I picked up Googley Eye Dog, Kenz hid somewhere to avoid another frustrating session.
I've also tried teaching her to stand on a scale, but I wanted to try it with free shaping rather than luring, so I clicked and treated for any sort of interest in the scale. Even a single paw on the scale would have been progress in my eyes, but now it gets the same reaction as Dog does. It's frustrating, so she avoids it.
I would really like to expand her abilities beyond simple lure/click/treat behaviors, or command/treat behaviors, but I'm not exactly sure what's simple enough for her to realize "Ah, when I think outside the box I get that awesome treat. This isn't so hard after all!" I realize I've been spoiled up to this point, with such a good student, but I think we've hit a wall. :msnsad: Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
So Kenzii is about a year and a half old now, and a genius when it comes to certain things. She's picked up tricks in a day or two that I expected to take several weeks. However, when it gets into the free shaping stuff she's not exactly creative...
When I tried to teach her toy recognition I started with one object, "Googley Eye Dog" and would sit down with her and "Dog", my clicker and a bunch of awesome treats. First she would see the treats in my hand, run through her lengthy repertoire of tricks then flop down, frustrated and tired or slink away like she was in trouble for not finding the right one. I don't think she even noticed Dog was in the room with us. I was looking for anything directed at the toy, from a glance to a nose or paw, but didn't get anything the first few sessions. After those first few sessions, every time I picked up Googley Eye Dog, Kenz hid somewhere to avoid another frustrating session.
I've also tried teaching her to stand on a scale, but I wanted to try it with free shaping rather than luring, so I clicked and treated for any sort of interest in the scale. Even a single paw on the scale would have been progress in my eyes, but now it gets the same reaction as Dog does. It's frustrating, so she avoids it.
I would really like to expand her abilities beyond simple lure/click/treat behaviors, or command/treat behaviors, but I'm not exactly sure what's simple enough for her to realize "Ah, when I think outside the box I get that awesome treat. This isn't so hard after all!" I realize I've been spoiled up to this point, with such a good student, but I think we've hit a wall. :msnsad: Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!