Attention crossover trainers...

Thanks, Anne, that's great.
 
As a recent (and forever) crossover myself, I have to say my biggest challenge is the intense self control I have to have now for positive training/clicker training.
 
Just Friday I was working with Martian Ellie, getting her to "charge up" to the the target stick and it's so hard to just stand there, expressionless and unmoving, and let her think about what she should be doing. My old method meant that I would be grabbing her head and pulling it toward the target stick but this way demands a LOT from me. Pulling her around didn't demand nearly the self control (believe it or not) that this does.
 
We both come away from a session feeling tired but I LOVE the way her eyes and face looks as she's learning.
 
There is no substitute for that! That in itself is one of the biggest rewards of being a crossover!

I know what you mean.  The other night at flyball class, the object of one of the exercises was for the dogs to target on a carpet square.  Sequoyah "gets" targeting, but had been doing it with her nose, LOL, so imagine me having to stand there, with her trying to figure out what's gonna make mom click.  Once she realized it was her paw hitting the carpet that did it, I had a little carpet punching machine on my hands LOL.  It's so cool watching the light bulb go on! []

There's also a nice article about Karen Pryor in the latest issues of Bark.
 
I love hearing about crossovers and about how it changes us, the handlers, moms, owners, trainers, as much as it does our dogs. Seeing the joy in my dogs' faces is the shot in the arm I keep getting for doing it over and over.
 
And there's a Zen-like feeling and way of being to this kind of training. I love that. I really do.

What amazes me is the number of people who think their dogs are working happily, until they try this and *really* see.  I don't know much about zen, but I do see this as communication on a different plane.