Teaching Your Dog Targets & Boundaries Pt. 2

Back in November I made a post about Teaching Your Dog Targets & Boundaries.  I now want to elaborate a bit more on selecting objects for place and a little on simple body cues that can help your dog.

When starting to teach targets, or any other skill, you want to use every advantage available to help your dog succeed.  Keeping this in mind, we are going to use target objects that hold certain qualities that are going to help our dog learn.  Here are some things that we look for in selecting a target:

• An obvious difference in height between the target and the ground
• An obvious difference in texture between the target and the ground
• Large enough item for the dog to comfortably get onto
• Not too large that the dog can not visualize the boundary
• Stable enough to handle the weight of the dog
• Secure enough that it is not going to slide freely on the ground

Taking these traits into account, I am sure you can quickly imagine many potential objects for your dog to start practicing with.  We commonly use these placeboards because they are very lightweight and versatile.  Use your imagination, but be fair to your dog.

Below is a short excerpt from our Trick Training DVD.  This segment briefly touches on body language cues and provides a visual of exactly what to expect when teaching your dog to target.

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1 Comment

• Teaching Your Dog Targets and Boundaries with the Place Command | Unleashed Unlimited February 17, 2009 at 3:10 pm

  [...] Stay tuned to our dog training blog for more tips and pointers on teaching your dog to place.  In a future entry we will cover selecting the right objects for placing, introducing your dog to the place, and simple body language tips to help your dog succeed.  THAT ARTICLE CAN NOW BE FOUND HERE! [...]