First day of training with the new trainer

Yesterday afternoon was the first class with the new trainer, Linda Brennen, at Your Canine Coach

I got there early, and we talked again about what our goals are for Bambi and I got to meet her dogs, Karl and Missy. Karl is a Bernese Mountain dog and Missy is a Cavalier. Very large, and pretty small, together :). Beautiful dogs.

In class, we did not bring dogs (or no one was supposed to), and we learned clicker training from the dog’s point of view. I volunteered to be the dog, for M&M’s….I am not stupid, lol. She decided on some behavior she wanted me to do and then told me to “go to work”. I stood there for a second wondering what that meant, so she gave me a hint and said “just move around until you hear a click”. I walked around the room and when she clicked I came back and got an M&M. I felt like I was not getting it fast enough. As the game went on, I was getting more clicks and they were coming closer together. I finally figured out that she wanted me to drink from the drinking fountain. Whoo hoo!! I got it!!

Next exercise, be the trainer. We split off in pairs and I was working with Linda. I had her pick up a coffee cup from a stack by the coffee machine. She got it faster than I did. Even this part seemed difficult, I was clicking a little late, which was confusing for her, and breaking down her behaviors into a game of “hotter, colder” was confusing for me. But in doing this, I see how two species have trouble communicating, but it is not impossible.

She tells a story of how the clicker training, capturing, and shaping, began with dolphin training. They use a whistle, but the concept is the same. Brilliant….just brilliant!!

I will be going tomorrow to watch her “tricks” class, just to see. On Thursday, we have a single private lesson to evaluate where Bambi is at this point. I think this is going to work out well for Bambi and me. 🙂