March Movement Mania!
We had lots of fun this month with Movement Puzzles in our our groups. I created a short video that shows how 4 different dogs can do the same puzzle and work on completely different skills based on what they needed most! Check out the video below.
Movement Puzzles are similar to obstacle courses except the main goal is to make the act of moving more reinforcing then the treats or toys we also have to offer. You may start out using treats at every part of the challenge or teach one challenge at a time. By doing the puzzle, one challenge is designed to reinforce the challenge that happened just before it. For example, if you want the video you will see a bucket followed by the stepping stones then by a pallet followed by the trampoline. The dog gets to race from the starting line around the bucket as fast as they can, then slows down for target practice on the stepping stones and gets a treat. Then the dog waits on the pallet, may shoot through the tunnel if they like, then race to the trampoline for a bounce. This allows the act of racing to the trampoline to reinforce the wait or stay on the pallet as they anticipate the handler telling them when to go.
In the video, Puppy Penny is the youngest of the mix at about 8 months. She is very hyper and easily distracted by the other dogs in the room which is very common at this age. By doing the movement puzzle is learning to focus on her human more than the other distractions and listen closely to the directions the human is giving. The human is learning how to deliver reinforcement in the form of treats in a faster way to keep the engagement higher.
The next dog, Daisy and her human are learning how to use toys as a reinforcement for the high speed racing challenges. While Daisy is very food motivated, she can't walk passed a toy without asking to play. Her human is learning how to use that play time to reinforce the skills he wants such as ignoring the other dogs in the room, climbing over obstacles, waiting patiently for the cue to move to the challenge.
The 3rd dog, Muona, is mostly having fun as he learned the puzzle challenges really fast but needs to work on staying engaged with his human instead of checking out what his brother is doing in one of playpens. This a dog who really loves being told what to do and when to do it!
The 4th dog, is brother Mocho, who is on the slightly shy side. He is building confidence for working with his human to complete challenges, stepping on unusual surfaces, going into and through the play houses. He is also working on ignoring his brother. Both boys are learning how to take turns with one dog watching while the other dog does something fun, then trading places. This is part of our resource guarding training.
The best thing about Movement Puzzles is they can be set up to practice the skills you really want your dog to be great at and provide a fun way to reinforce those skills more naturally instead of always using food.
If you are interested in learning more about how games based dog training works, you might enjoy this end of March Madness Special with 10 Sessions for just $450. This is perfect for fearful and fizzy dogs that need to take the slow approach to learning how to remain Safe, Calm & Happy.
This package is only available until March 31st!
