C/T while walking?

I am certainly not an expert.
 
Clicker training has become my preferred method. And, to me, the results seem to be amazingly fast, or at least, faster than I expected, though I do have a lot of patience. Your other thread on non-compliance made me realize that I, too, sometimes end up training the wait instead of getting the desired behavior by outwaiting. It's the simplest yet hardest thing to do. Reward what you want, ignore or don't reward what you don't want.
 
As for the walk, I was starting clicker training with touch. Then I started walking around the house, not knowing what I was doing but just experimenting to see if I could do touch from a distance, like another recall. He started following me around in the heel position because I had a treat in my left hand. As Spiritdogs pointed out, I was laying the groundwork for a heel. I have attached the cue while in the yard off leash and plan to work on it on leash in greater areas of distraction and excitement.
 
And the more I get to click in distracting places or situations, the more he "gets it." And the better behavior I get. It's so simple that a creature does what is rewarding that, basically, all we have to do is be and/or give the most rewarding thing to them. They will always do what serves them, on or off leash. Being symbiotic with Man has been rewarding to them, otherwise, they would not be domesticated. And the clicker has been likened to a surgeon's scapel for use in dissecting exact behavior and I find it to be an appropos analogy and/or metaphor.
 
As for your experience, you may feel that Juneau is finally getting it but she may also feel the same about you.[] That you have figured out how to tell her what you want and that you know how to give her what she wants. And, since the whole process puts everyone in a good mood, that's got to translate into some positive "energy,' to borrow terminology from elsewhere.
 

The machine-gun method of click/treat has shown to be VERY useful in a lot of circumstances. The only downfall - you have to either use verrrrrrrrry tiny pieces or use the dog's meal as the treats, because you end up giving a LOT of rewards. []
 
But its' a great way to start out the idea of LLW. What I would then do is slowly, and the speed totally depends on your dog, begin waiting a smidgen longer between C/T's so that you can begin asking for a little bit more each time. Or if time is hard for you to keep track of like it is for some people, you can think of it in numbers of steps as well. Because of course the end goal will be to walk nicely on a leash without pumping your pup full of treats the whole walk (boy would any dog be pudgy real quick!), and even once you have the LLW down for the most part you might still use the machine-gun reward for distraction-filled areas, around things your dog is not comfortable about, etc.

Oh yes, one more thing....for all of those who say "one method doesn't work for all dogs" - LLW has got to be one of the concepts that has THE highest number of different ways to get a behaviour. [] There are dozens and dozens of ways to reach the final end goal, and sometimes you might just practice to see which works best for your guy/gal.

Kim - thanks! Just glad to know that the "machine gun" technique isn't somehow training the dog incorrectly.
She is great with waiting for her treat and stop-and-go when there are few distractions. We've found that in some situations we need to keep her moving with us so not stopping before treating helps a LOT. We're going to cut back on her kibble a bit at mealtimes to make up for it

OK so here's my issue... how do you quickly get the treat in the dog's mouth if doing the machine gun method?  I was clicking every few steps but I'd put the kibble in his mouth and miss sometimes or it would slow us down etc.  So I could stop every few steps and do the sit, but I like the machine gun idea... how do you get it in the mouth accurately and easily?
 
Also, Jake keeps trying to eat the leash or play with me when we walk... how do you keep him focused on looking forward and walking?

If I'm working with a smaller dog, I like using a spoonful of peanut butter or something similar because it's way easier to deliver quickly to small mouths w/o missing. If you wanna be really fancy you can use a long handled spoon or tape something to a handle to extend the spoon to the point where you don't even bend down.

Zoe walks well, so this is an issue more for Jake... who is about 3 feet tall .
 
I like the spoon idea for small dogs though.

ORIGINAL: smilee1079
So I could stop every few steps and do the sit, but I like the machine gun idea... how do you get it in the mouth accurately and easily?

Oh, trust me, this is NOT a problem [] Juneau's big enough that she will basically stop in her tracks as soon as she hears the click and often will jump up a little to grab the treat out of my hand. It is pretty rare that the treat misses the mark...

In our puppy class there are a couple of pretty small dogs (a beagle and a puggle) and it's clear the owners have a lot more trouble doing the treat delivery since they have to stoop down so low!

Also, Jake keeps trying to eat the leash or play with me when we walk... how do you keep him focused on looking forward and walking?

This was a problem for us only when Juneau was VERY young and not used to the leash. We started by leaving the leash on her around the house where she would drag it around; occasionally we'd pick it up and walk around the house with her a bit. Of course, she would tend to chew on it any time she laid down - we went through a couple of cheap leashes that way. These days she never chews on the leash when we're walking.

ORIGINAL: smilee1079
OK so here's my issue... how do you quickly get the treat in the dog's mouth if doing the machine gun method? I was clicking every few steps but I'd put the kibble in his mouth and miss sometimes or it would slow us down etc. So I could stop every few steps and do the sit, but I like the machine gun idea... how do you get it in the mouth accurately and easily?

I do this only *rarely*, but here's how I do it: kibble takes too long to chew, use soft treats - softer and stinkier the better (beef, chicken, solid gold treats, natural balance roll). I put a bunch of *small* pieces in my curled up palm (about 1/4-1/2 the size of a pea), then use my thumb to scoop one piece at a time into the crook of my bent index finger, where the dog gets it. I don't worry if my treats get mushed up, the dog gets something by licking anyway. I ignore the stuff I drop or fail to "load" and just keep moving! I also sork hard on not watching the dog as I do this, always looking forward with a confident body posture. For less mess: dog licks or nibbles the end of a peice of string cheese or tube treats.

The only problem with this method, is that the dog can get over excited and begin using a harder mouth, boo. I don't like how food obsessed my dog gets with it, either. So, even with clicker training, the treats are always accompanied by verbal praise ("good left" "good watch" "good heel"), so I can phase out treats and clicks quickly.

For "jackpots" I use those very small pieces delivered slowly, with lots of praise, rather than a quickie mouthful.

You can also use food tubes. Or spread a soft/sticky reward, like PB or Cheese Whiz, onto a spatula or other longer tool and let the dog lick it as a reward.
 

how do you quickly get the treat in the dog's mouth if doing the machine gun method? I was clicking every few steps but I'd put the kibble in his mouth and miss sometimes or it would slow us down etc

I wouldn't worry too much about how quickly you get the treat to him.  That's the wonder of the "click".  The click marks the behavior and they know they have earned a treat and that it is coming.  []

[color=#000000]For ideas for getting treats to little dogs, try this book:
 
Wood, Deborah[/color][font=verdana][size=3], Little Dogs: Training Your Pint-Sized Companion, 5/2004
[linkhttp://tinyurl.com/6ffqd]http://tinyurl.com/6ffqd[/link][/size][/font]