Day 6: Back to school

So I'd noticed that our attempts to train Chopper to come to us on command had morphed into something else--he would come get the food and then leave and then come back again.  That wasn't quite the behavior we wanted, we don't want to train Chopper to go in circles, or to leave us, so I decided to work on shaping the behavior again.  So instead of me baking up a little bit each time, and giving him the opportunity to leave me and come back I'd go to the another part of the room and invite him to me.  I think it has taken away a bit of his confidence, as he no longer "knows" what the game should be. He follows along for a little bit, but then gives up quickly and lies down.  Today he came to me during the game a few times without me calling him first, which I didn't click and reward and he went and laid down.  While I want to encourage him to come up to us, I don't want him to think that every time he does that he's getting a treat.  We need to shape the right command and behavior.

It's sad to see him give up so quickly. I have to remember he has no confidence and this will take time.  It also makes me rethink what I'm doing, and second guess myself.  Am I doing this right?  I don't know, I'm going off what I'm reading and conversations with others.

I talked to one of the trainers at Petsmart yesterday.  I told him about Chopper and asked if he had recommendations. He suggested we take Chopper to their puppy training class.  It's offered on a week night with fewer distractions, and puppies, well, they come without any baggage they are just learning about the world.  He thought it would be a good environment for Chopper as he missed out on something crucial at that stage.  The trainer said he's also work in the clicker if we decided to take Chopper. I made sure the training was not  "corrective" and was positive reinforcement, which he said it is.  The training would be more about Greg and I learning, we took one 9 years ago with Otto and it helped us a lot.  Chopper is a bit of a different story so I think it would be helpful for us to learn again with a new filter.