of the behaviors I try to never let get started when training my dogs: Here are some "do's" for your training: * Make all dog training into games. * Staring at a toy and "walking up" on it while retrieving and playing * Staring at another dog while I am trying to give cues and get my dog to respond appropriately * Work on toy- and food-control games that teach your dog to run fast to reinforcement after you give him a cue. * Moving slowly or not at all into positions like sit, down, stand, and close. * Look for a fast response to all cues, immediately starting over if you get no response to a cue from a sticky dog. © MJ RIMMER PHOTOGRAPHY * Staring at me while in herding stance and not responding to my cues * Work on fast and fun crate games; this will help your dog respond to cues quickly as well as teach him to send to an obstacle happily and at speed. * Look for a quick response to tugging cues and picking up a toy fast when you ask for it. Again, immediately start over if you get no response. * Teach your dog that to earn reinforcement he needs to respond the first time. Don't 12 give him a second chance to respond to your cue. Get him moving and start the behavior over again. * Take it or leave it: teach your dog that the toys and cookies he sees in front of him are available only after performance of a behavior, and always analyze if your dog is staring at the reinforcement instead of taking cues. Improve Your Dog's Response Time to Cues I want as short a response time as possible from when I give a cue and when my dog performs the behavior. The duration of time between cue and response is called latency. I am looking for a very short period of latency. Responding to cues quickly tells me that my dog understands what I am asking of him and responding to cues around the house quickly has a cross-over benefit to all Clean Run | January 16http://www.CanineLightTherapy.com