First session with doggie-zen

She had previously learned "here you go" (in connection with play and feeding), and we ran a couple of short sessions with roughly the same as you see in this film right after we got her. But I feel the need to really focus on DZ now. She's a bit "mouthy", and DZ (that is, "moving away from what she wants, to get it a bit later") is what gives us "control" with clicker dogs in the end (combined with a well-developed behavioural repertoire with smooth/automated behaviours). In addition, it's nice to be able to use distance rewards in various contexts going forward.

Focus points:

• Click for correct behaviour (turn around/follow handler away from reward) – then say "here you go"
• "Clean" here you go signal without arm movements etc.
• Fast reaction to the "here you go" signal is most important at the start (if not, she's not ready to progress in training).
• Don't be "greedy" in the first sessions – reinforce as soon as the dog turns her head and takes the first step after you.

After a 5-minute break we ran another session with a tennis ball instead of a treat bowl.

Focus points:

• Stay still while I put down the ball (don't jump or pull like mad on the lead after the ball)
• Loose lead as much as possible during the session
• Still too early to be "greedy" and demand lots of behaviour before I say here you go (mainly because this will probably lead to a worse reaction to the here you go signal)
• Stop if you get whining (especially with German Shepherds…)