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I'm so proud of Panda, I just have to write this entry tonight!

I've gone 4 days without training Panda. Shame on me, right? Well, I did have a weekend at my parents, etc. But I just sort of hit a mini-rut and didn't make it a priority. However, all during this time, my adorable cute puppy (yes he's 2.5 years old but he's always a puppy to me) would get so excited any time he saw me come down the stairs, open the refrigerator, or even just walk by the clicker sitting on the table. While Adam and I were eating dinner tonight, Panda was doing a beautiful sit/stay as if to say, "TRAIN ME!!!! I'M WILLING TO WORK FOR THOSE HOT DOGS!!!" He was too cute, so I decided it was time to click back into action. Off to the fridge I went!

Since my last journal entry, I received some great training advice from Mary Ann (the wonderfully supportive, enthusiastic, clicker trainer extraordinaire I mentioned earlier). She gave me some great suggestions (more like a strategy) on how to work with Panda on "touch" in ways that can develop his willingness to jump up or climb up on things like wheelchairs and bedrails during therapy visits. Her advice was to start small — have him step onto a newpaper, then a padded blanket, then maybe a box or step, then onto a chair. Basically, break down climbing up into small increments of success. She also gave me great suggestions on ways to make it fun, challenging, and encourage Panda to be creative — have him run from room to room, have him crawl under my legs or under a chair, etc. These are all behaviors that Panda needs work on! Most importantly, she emphasized keeping it fun with easy chances for success. Her email of suggestions was so long, detailed, and helpful, I printed it out so I can review it as his behavior progresses.

With Panda sitting at my feet so incredibly anxious to work for his food, I decided to work on "touch" tonight. I probably should be working on heel since that is what we learned last week but it's dark and cold outside and I really wanted to try out Mary Ann's suggestions. At the beginning of the session it's pretty clear that Panda gets "touch." It's pretty obvious that I still have to work on clicking only for contact at the tip of my finger because he has tendency to go for my fist (he thinks there is food in there). I also have to move the click/treats to when he touches what I last touched with my finger tip, but he's doing great considering how little we've worked on this. So I move from room to room, point to various things, and Panda is right there nosing like he's supposed to. What a champ!

Then I decide to work on Mary Ann's suggestions to see if he will climb up. I decided to see if I could get him to put his front paws on the couch by placing my finger at the back of the couch (a place he can't reach with 4 paws on the ground). He's used to jumping up on the couch to spend time with us so it's a familiar object that I hoped would be useful for working on this behavior. I start out at the front of the couch and move it back slowly trial after trial. When he could no longer reach it from the floor, he clearly got a little anxious. He wasn't sure if jumping onto the couch was allowed in this game or not. So I cheated a little and encouraged him to move up on the couch. He put one paw up but then chickened out. I probably should have clicked/treated on that one but I wasn't quick enough. So I coaxed him again, he sprang up on the couch and touched my finger! I was amazed! I did some more trials. Panda was more than happy to jump up on the couch to get to my finger.

But this wasn't really working on climbing up. This would help on getting him to a patient's bed I figured (something I was confident I could get him to do already) but I need him climbing with his front legs to get to things like the bed rail and the wheelchair. Then I realized if I used the futon couch, I might be able to get Panda to climb up onto the back of it. The leather couch we were using has too low a back and the cushions move making Panda nervous. So we move to the futon, evict my husband and start the same thing again. Baby steps and voila! Panda has jumped up on the couch to reach my finger! So I start moving my finger higher and higher along the back of the futon, click/treating every time he touches.

Finally, the finger is out of his reach with all 4 paws on the futon seat. The only way he can reach is to climb up on the back of the couch. Panda seemed absolutely perplexed about how to reach that finger. He paced back and forth on the couch, he twirled, he offered his paw, etc. But he couldn't figure out how to get up there. So once again, I cheated a bit and coaxed him up on the top of the futon back by patting it the same way I do to encourage him to jump up on the couch or bed. Bingo! Panda put his front feet up on the back and touched my finger. Boy, did he get a jackpot of treats on that one! I did that a few more times and then ended the session. I'm looking forward to trying Mary Ann's other suggestions but I really wanted to end on a strong, positive note.

Once again, I am amazed at the strength of clicker training. I probably sound like some fanatic (quite a bit like Mary Ann probably sounded to me in those early days) but all I can think to say when people ask me about it is, "You've got to try this! It's incredible!" Thankfully my husband got to witness Panda's monumental achievement tonight so even he may be a convert soon!

I really can't put my finger on what part of clicker training makes learning so quick and easy and fun. Is it that the dog gets more successes and failures? Is it the clicker marking the behavior so instantaneously? Is it the hot dogs? Is it the fact that behaviors get built up to in small steps? Is it because I'm so amazed and proud of his achievements that I become more confident and therefore work harder to develop his behavior? I'm sure it's all of these reasons and more. I just have a hard time figuring out how I've been so much more successful using this method than the standard training method I used in puppy kindergarten and up until now.

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