Level 1 Notes

Just for my notes...

Level 1 consists of the following
1. Come
2. Down
3. Sit
4. Target (Touch)
5. Zen

Touch
Baron is getting "Target" very well so far. We haven't added a cue to the behavior but each time I hold my hand out he touches his nose to my hand. I'm following Lisa Wood's lead on this and using the word "Touch" to cue this behavior rather than "Target".

Zen
I haven't worked on Zen yet but when I tried it with Baron while on Skype with Lisa he had absolutely no interest in the treat in my closed hand so I'm not worried about that LOL.

Come
Baron is doing well with Come .  Prior to working Levels Troy and I had already started playing a version of the "Come" game by having him come to us  and treating him. When he ran to one of us when we didn't call we ignored him.   We took that game to the dog park one evening when no one was around and that really helped to reinforce the cue.

Sit
So far no problems with Sit. Sometimes he is a bit slow to perform the cue but he is doing it.  He's not getting the sit from Down to Sit so we will have to work on that.  So far with this Level it's not asking for us to do that though.

Down
Down is doing well at home but today during Obedience class I had to take it to step 1 with him and lure him to a Down.  At least THIS time luring was easier than when we first started.  I think for "Down" I'll use a flat hand with palm facing down to signal "Down" but I need to work on this.

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Five things I hope to accomplish by working levels

1) A better understanding of training
2) Foundation for training
3) A better behaved Baron
4) A better relationship with Baron
5) A confident Baron