Hello forum friends!
Dude and I went to week 1 of our intermediate obedience class this past weekend. Our homework for the week is to teach the 'wipe your paws' action on a towel laid on the ground. I am having a hard time 'luring' or 'inducing' this behavior. What the teacher wants us to capture is the 'digging' action on the towel and I can't seem to lure Dude into this action. I've tried placing treats into and under the towel looking for him to simply place his foot on the towel to click or any form of investigation but he just looks at me when I try to get him to get the treats in the towel or will wait until I uncover them to show him where they are. If I don't show him the treats he stands and stares at me and then offers other behaviors, (sit, stand, laydown, rollover)
I've tried to get this in 3 short sessions, about 10 minutes each.
Dude does dig while he is nesting in blankets, in his dogbed or on the couch throwing couch pillows all over the place (haha)
Does anyone have suggestions?
Our training background has been a 6 week puppy class starting at 9 weeks and a 6 week beginning obedience class immediately following those classes. We are taking the intermediate with the same teacher but Dude is now 2 and we haven't been in a formal obedience class since he was 6 months old. We also participate in conformation and go to handling classes a few times a month. All obedience classes have been clicker/positive reinforcement and handling class is positive reinforcement.
Thanks!