Teaching a new lesson with targeting.

I have a carpeting on a flight of stairway from the main floor to the second floor. It begins right at the entry way. My new dog Tessa, a 13 month old smooth collie, came here from her breeder just this past Sunday evening. She was scared of that flight of stairs. I had to carry her up the stairs and then down again the next morning.

I'm keeping my cats in the dining room right now.  I've been eating my lunch and then my dinner on a tray at a chair in the living room because I feel a strong need to protect my meal from the dog. I may as well begin right away, eh? So during such mealtimes, we're practicing sits and downs with clicker and treats.

Two or three days ago, I started using targeting to introduce the dog to those carpeted steps. The collie was very enthusiastic to target the red pot holder. Then I'd move the pot holder to the step. V-e-r-y slowly I raised the criteria. We got just to the front of the fourth step, collie stretching her full body length, then reaching with her neck and her muzzle to attempt to touch pot holder.

Finally, at last, the collie lifted one rear leg! Click/treat to her for that behavior. That's as far as I wanted to try for the first attempt. I don't want her to get frightened about the stairs. I truly want step climbing to be of the dog's own volition when she feels ready to do that.

A bit later, I started the targeting with Tessa again at the stairs, and she managed to get up to the third or fourth step just by following the pot holder on her own. That was enough for that lesson.

This evening, while I was eating dinner, I had Tessa do sits and downs for a bit to keep her from my plateful of food. After a bit she got up and stretched. I was thinking, "Perhaps she needs to go outdoors," when she headed not for the front door but toward those stairs.

[It seems  she'd decided, "If we're going to play clicker games, I want to choose the game." ]

She sauntered away from me about twelve feet, then walked up three steps. She turned to look at me through the open banister. I clicked. She came back to me to get her treat. Then she walked right back to the steps again. In barely seconds, she had gone clear to the top, then walked carefully down again. She dashed over to me for her click/treat, then returned to go all the way up again, and down again about six more times in a row.

Who'd a thunk it, eh?  Each time on the way back down,she paused to glance through the open banister to check to see if I were watching. She seemed to be exhibiting a sense of humor, laughing as if saying to me, "Nothing to this. A piece o' cake." She had such delight in the task.

She reminded me of a youngster who wants a parent to watch him dive into the swimming pool. "Did you see me? Did  you see me?"

© August 9, 2009. Barbara D. Brill. All rights reserved.No reproduction permitted without express written consent from the author, Barbara D. Brill, North Chili, NY. Email address: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it