A couple of days ago I had a very interesting conversation with some doggy friends about luring.
I think using luring on its own should be used as a last resort. I think luring is the equivalent to spoon feeding Betsy and I try to keep its use to the upmost minimum.
I think as I have already explained in previous posts that training our dogs isn’t just about teaching commands but learning how to problem solve. I think like how body awareness is considered a soft skill in many dog sports, the ability to problem solve should be similarly important.
I would be very surprised if allowing Betsy to learn how to problem solve did not reduce frustration in training and make training quicker and more enjoyable. I also think it should be considered a core skill.
Lets consider for a moment this situation: I am lucky in the fact I love public speaking. I find giving presentations far less threatening than taking exams. However, when I think about this more, I think it is somewhat to do with my sixth form media studies teacher. She was always interested in what I had to say, made sure I was comfortable when working (sometimes she would let me use another room if it was very noisy and could properly ‘zone in’ to my work.). She was also very passionate about teaching and did so successfully at a number of different schools. She also would use whatever were our passions as students at the time to help reinforce our learning.
When I started my sixth form, I started by feeling I was being brave putting my hand up, let alone talking in front of my peers. This soon changed though, as she persuaded me to help set up the sixth forms debating society. She also got me ‘training’ the rest of the class by doing PowerPoint presentations on various software packages as I was the class computer geek.
What I didn’t know is bit by bit she was trying to help me become more confident with giving presentations by giving me loads of opportunities (not all obvious) to practice, become more confident in giving them and to find it more reinforcing myself as an activity.
In turn, through uni most of the modules I got firsts in are where I had to do presentations in front of several people.
Why are our dogs any different? Sure she could of just let me read off a set of notes, but that is hardly promoting confidence and a high value reinforcement actitivity. Like Betsy, she never gave me an opportunity where I was set up to fail.
thehoundwrangler 