Targeting
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- Targeting or target training involves teaching an animal to touch a part of our body, object or light with a part of their body. Targeting is not only useful for tricks; it’s an excellent way to communicate with your dogs. It helps build focus, helps break down complex behaviours for our animals, reduces error and guesswork, and builds confidence in certain dogs. The scope of targeting in animal training is only limited by our imagination. Hand touch
- A hand touch is the easiest targeting behaviour. It involves getting your dog to touch their nose to your outstretched palm, fist or finger.
- Some of the uses: Great prerequisite skill for loose lead walking, recall, stop jumping, mouthing , helps dogs that are nervous about being touched by people, good to get dogs on to the weigh scale or vet tables, great to teach dogs to go through dog doors and into their crate and good to redirect dogs away or towards situations. Training a hand touch 1. Chose a signal (2 fingers, whole palm, fist) 2. Present the signal in front of the dog a few inches from its face. 3. When the dog touches the target mark then reward. 4. Now move the target to a different location near your dog and repeat. 5. When the dog understands the game add in the verbal cue TOUCH. 6. Once your dog is good at playing this game start to move your hand as they come towards it to get them to touch and follow a moving target. 7. You can also practise building duration getting your dog to keep their nose on the target for as long as you can and then slowly build more time.
- Tips:
- If the dog does not orientate towards the target try using a food lure by placing it between your fingers. Phase out the lure as soon as the dog understands the behaviour.
Check out the videos below to learn more about training the behaviour from trainers around the world.
Target Stick / ObjectUsing a target stick or getting your dog to target a particular object instead of your hand can allow you to get your dog to touch far away objects and even touch objects you want them to when you’re not in the room. It’s also great for short breeds to avoid constantly bending to get your dog to target your hand. You can make your own target stick or even buy a telescopic one with a built in clicker for better training mechanics
Check out the videos below to learn more about training the behaviour from trainers around the world.
Check out the videos below to learn more about training the behaviour from trainers around the world.
