"Go Around" Object for Public Access (Patreon)

Hey Folks! 

This is the last of the videos I had to submit earlier this year to finish my Atlas Assistance Dog Service Dog Training Certification. Please read the below outline for more info. 

Why Train? 

To navigate public access situations including being able to send our dog around a table leg or object to lay down or re-position themselves. 

Training Objective: 

The objective of this training session is to teach CoolWhip to go around an object using a soft lure and hand target. We will start with using a soft lure with a touch at the end and then work towards the point where we can use one hand target and then transfer the cue to “go around”.

Stage of the Behavior: 

Introducing: CoolWhip has experience doing a “come around” my body, but no cue for going around an object (outside of a little experience wrapping an agility jump in a sport context).

Reinforcement Used: 

A trail mix of a small amount of high value treats, medium value treats, and some kibble mixed in. CoolWhip typically requires more than just kibble for training engagement.

Relevant Background: 

Eric does not work with CoolWhip pretty much at all because she’s my dog, and she tends to be less forgiving of errors. This was a fun exercise for the two of them!

Soft Lure: Dog has experience following a hand with no food in it. 

Next Steps: Next step would be to do a few more sessions working on fading the use of the soft lure as well as the significant body cuing that Eric is displaying. After that I would be working on going around two objects, like two chairs.

End goal: Being able to send Whip around any object. One thing I’d want to proof for is going around objects that look like they could also be a perch or place like the KLIMB to make sure she truly understood the cue. I’d also want to generalize to a variety of scenarios that are more realistic for using this skill in public access. Finally, I’d want to make sure she could do it on-lead as well, as this adds a complicating factor.

What could I have done differently to be more successful?

The KLIMB set up wasn’t ideal here. We had re-adjusted the camera a bunch to try to get everyone in frame and I didn’t remove the KLIMBs. To set her up for success, it would have been better to get rid of the KLIMBs in the corner. I was definitely less comfortable teaching this one as I had never taught it before videoing it for the course, but I’m happy I was able to stick to a few reps for each set.