Offering behaviors

I've noticed lately how nicely Marley offers behaviors for me when she knows I want her to work. Sometimes she's a bit out of control and offers a roll over or a weave between the legs when I am preparing to ask her to sit. But overall she offers things so nicely. She always runs to her spot and sits when she knows I am preparing meals! I think this has a lot to do with her drive to work and her food drive in particular. She will work for any type of life reward but she definitely goes crazy if she thinks there is a food reward in store for her. Man life is easy with a dog who LOVES food as much as she does.

I've done a really poor job with Dylan in this area though. I've failed to capture him offering behaviors on his own. I want to try to really work to wait for him to offer me something. We need to do more free shaping and I especially want to work to reward eye contact when it is offered. I think it will help his focus and if he knows he gets rewarded for offering the behaviors that I want from him - maybe he will offer them more often. I need to work with my dog instead of working against him. The wonderful world of clicker training makes capturing behaviors really simple. :)

Dylan's always been a bit tougher for me. He has so much potential as an athlete but with that also comes the potential for trouble. His hunting breed doesn't help the situation since he has a tendency to spend time sniffing and wants to be able to explore at a long distance away from me. Keeping him close when he is off leash has always been a challenge and I really need to find a way to teach him how to stay close unless I give him permission. Maybe make the opportunity to go way out and sniff and pee on stuff his reward....The problem I have is that I don't want to keep him in a heel position. I want him to be able to run and chase with Marley but know that he shouldn't go out more than 20-30 feet. I haven't figured out a way to train this.

I've learned so much from this dog. He was my first dog and my first major responsibility in life. He's helped me make it through a lot of growing pains. He's really helped me mature and find a way to settle down. I've learned so much and feel like I have become much more of a grown up since bringing this wild little bundle of troubles home.

I've also learned a lot about how to work with animals. I started with traditional training and Dylan and I have gone on a roller coaster of a ride through all my learning experiences. I'm so glad we found PR and clicker training! It's made working with my dogs a much easier and enjoyable task for all of us!! It's become a very enjoyable hobby and my dogs even enjoy training as much as I do!