{"id":125,"date":"2011-05-03T10:33:36","date_gmt":"2011-05-03T14:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/muttmagic.com\/blog\/?p=125"},"modified":"2011-05-03T10:33:36","modified_gmt":"2011-05-03T14:33:36","slug":"target-training-the-gateway-training-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/muttmagic.com\/blog\/target-training-the-gateway-training-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"Target Training: The “Gateway” Training Tool"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
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Target training has been used for years in animal training. From dolphins, to lions, to dogs,\u00a0it\u00a0is a great exercise to stimulate an animal. You can use the following information\u00a0to help you teach your dog (or cat!) to\u00a0target. The possibilities of what you can develop this skill into are endless!<\/p>\n

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Start by scenting your hand, or an item of choice. A “target stick” is used by some\u00a0while teaching\u00a0targeting foundations. A target stick is often a stick with a ball at the end of it. You may use any item, however. Encourage your dog to investigate the scent. Once thier nose touches, say the command “touch,” while simultaneously rewarding. Repeat this\u00a0until the dog is spontaneously touching regularly. Once your dog is offering the behavior, you may begin to use the “touch” command\u00a0before you expect it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Where to go from here? You can transfer your\u00a0targeting to various items, once your dog understands the exercise. Tell your dog “touch” while your\u00a0hand is near the light switch\u00a0to guide them\u00a0into turning the lights on and off for you. (Say “lights,” or something of the nature once\u00a0he touches the panel, to associate a new command with the task.)\u00a0You may also teach your dog to close doors, answer the (corded) phone, or even spin in circles to a moving target. The possibilities are endless!<\/p>\n

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Have fun, and be creative with targeting this summer. It is a great mentally-stimulating activity that is good to practice indoors on hot days!<\/span><\/div>\n

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Target training has been used for years in animal training. From dolphins, to lions, to dogs,\u00a0it\u00a0is a great exercise to stimulate an animal. You can use the following information\u00a0to help you teach your dog (or cat!) to\u00a0target. The possibilities of what you can develop this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[18,16,49,9,37,7,48,39,38,3,51,82,81,80,6],"class_list":["post-125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog_posts","tag-aja-harris","tag-amber-stacy","tag-anxiety","tag-baltimore","tag-challenge","tag-daycare","tag-dog-training","tag-enrichment","tag-growth","tag-mutt-magic","tag-obedience","tag-service-dog","tag-service-dog-training","tag-targeting","tag-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/muttmagic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/muttmagic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/muttmagic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/muttmagic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/muttmagic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/muttmagic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127,"href":"https:\/\/muttmagic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions\/127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/muttmagic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/muttmagic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/muttmagic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}