Holding objects and turn lights on cue

Can you get a recording of the alarm clock beep sound? That's about the only way I could imagine you'd be able to get a bunch of repeated trials of this, and the only way I could imagine to be really precise in terms of getting the cue. If so, I'd teach it, and then put it on cue just like anything else. The other piece you may have to add is training him to respond to the cue when he's asleep I suppose. If Max is asleep, I don't think he would just get up like that and turn on the lights, but then again, he needs to be coaxed out of bed much of the time.

Maybe this will help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjbGKXESh24

And some people train dogs to use these:

http://www.dynamic-living.com/product/light-switch-extender/

I would teach the behavior first, add a cue, such as "lights on", then add the alarm cue later by setting off the alarm just a sec before you say "lights on".  Repeat till the dog is anticipating, then drop the "lights on" and just use the alarm.  That way, you still have a "lights on" cue to transfer to other light switches in the home.

 http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/retrieve.html

 The problem I'm having with Kivi is a context one, kinda. He will take things I give to him and I've started teaching him "bring it" which is meant to mean carry it with you, but it's all been very casual as I was just trying to get him to handle his own stinky rotting bones and filthy toys. The problem is I have got as far as "take" and "bring it" with classical conditioning. I wanted to make it a bit more reliable and less haphazard, but as soon as I had food it was almost impossible to get him to take anything that wasn't the treat. After a bit of shaping I got as far as him holding it for about 2 seconds sometimes. It amazes me that something that works about 80% of the time without anything more than "good boy" suddenly barely happens at all when food rewards are up for grabs. I am guessing that he never really knew "take" and "bring it" very well in the first place.

Sorry, this isn't a help at all, just another question! Do I have to shape it from scratch if I want to reinforce with food? If I wanted to pick up from what he can do already without the distraction of food, how could I increase the reward without using food?

 Well, there's certainly no harm in starting from scratch to shape it.  Food is not a "distraction" when used properly, any more than verbal praise, or a tennis ball, or a tug toy is.

spiritdogs

Food is not a "distraction" when used properly, any more than verbal praise, or a tennis ball, or a tug toy is.

That has always made me curious, because the dog has to drop the object out of their mouth to accept the food.  Meanwhile, I can still verbally praise and pat my dog as she's holding the object. 

I was trying to ram in a "give" before he would drop the object, but he was really fast. As soon as he heard the marker he instantly dropped it. In fact, I think he was anticipating it and started dropping when I was still forming "good" with my mouth! He is very frustrating with marker training sometimes. He seems to be improving and really getting it and I'm just thinking about adding a cue and then abruptly he abandons the whole thing and goes back to square one.

miranadobe

 

spiritdogs

Food is not a "distraction" when used properly, any more than verbal praise, or a tennis ball, or a tug toy is.

That has always made me curious, because the dog has to drop the object out of their mouth to accept the food.  Meanwhile, I can still verbally praise and pat my dog as she's holding the object. 

That's true, and it's fine to do that with a dog that is motivated by praise and patting.  Some dogs hate it and would rather get beef or cheese.  Others want you to toss the frisbee.  The real key is to use whatever reward the dog likes and gradually increase the length of time they "hold" the object.  You would do that before adding the cue "hold", however.  Otherwise, the dog might accidentally learn that "hold" means hold it for a millisecond and spit it out.  Most humans want to name the behavior long before the dog is ready;-)

I've been working on this from scratch and I think he's picking it up quicker for already kinda knowing it, but he's really resistant. He wants to get a reward by just making a movement towards it or pretending to mouth it. Sometimes I feel like he's the one shaping me. He decides he doesn't want to bother with what I want and starts making smaller and smaller movements towards holding the object.

He's getting there, though. Although now he thinks I want him to pounce on it and shake it to death.