Okay, today I am going to make you a better dog trainer.
You’re going to need a few things:
Paper
Pen
Hat
Friend
Go get them. I’ll wait.
Okay, now what I want you to do is write some behaviors on the paper. Here are some ideas:
Walk backwards
Hop on one foot
Touch your knee
Turn on a light switch
Now put the behaviors in the hat. Pick a behavior out of the hat. You are now going to train the behavior to your friend. The way you are going to communicate is with the word “YES.” Every time your friend does anything close to the behavior you are going to say “YES.”
No cheating. You are only allowed to say “YES.”
See how long it takes you to train your friend. Once they have learned the behavior have your friend pick a behavior and then train you.
This is one of the best exercises you can ever do to become a better trainer. Especially when you are the one being trained.
It will help you understand what it is like for your dog. It will also help you develop the most important attributes needed to become a great dog trainer. It helps you develop patience, understanding and most importantly…..
Empathy.
I know that it sounds goofy but this will help you really learn what shaping behavior is all about.
It’s also a great game to play this weekend with your friends.
And if you’re ready to take your training to the next level, now is the time to check out The Dog Training Inner Circle. It’s just $1.00 to join and you get complete access to over 90 dog training videos, articles, forum, fun stuff and more.
Here’s where to go to get started:
Best,
Eric