Last week was our first night of tricks and clicks, and we spent most of the time going over the how and why of clickers, charging the clickers, and starting some target training. However, it was very crowded and somewhat stressful, having approximately fifteen dogs, and two people per pet.
This week, we split the class in half, and things went much more smoothly. We started out reviewing what we learned in the last class, then moved on to rolling a ball, which seemed to be split 50/50 between dogs getting into it, and dogs being too stressed to focus on the exercise. We even had a few potential soccer dogs in class.
The next trick was "give me a kiss". All of the dogs enjoyed this one. Some of the kids were a bit less enthused. The dogs had fun, and the kids had shiny faces by the time the dogs got done with them.
You can find the class handout for this week here. It describes how we taught the tricks, and a few extra tips applicable to training in general.
Next week, we will be previewing what we've done so far, and learning how to teach "give me five".
