vibration feature on the
DT Systems H20 1820 collar to be very consistent and easy for
dogs to understand. As with any new stimulus, it can take a
dog a bit to desensitize to the sound and feel of vibration.
This sensitivity makes the collar more effective because it mildly
annoys the dog and he will try to shut it off. As a human, imagine
someone gently poking his or her finger in your arm at the same
time asking you to say uncle. If you said uncle, the poking
stops. We basically do the same with dogs with the vibration
feature. We ask the dog to do something and when they complete
the task the vibration stops. Vibrate conditioning goes even
quicker when combined with clicker target training.
How Do You Teach Using the Vibrate Feature?
The vibrate conditioning is very simple once we have a dog who
is clicker trained to target. The session is started with a
clicker target and once we have the dog focusing on the target
the vibrate button is held down until the dog touches the target.
Vibrate is negative reinforcement, but also becomes a cue that
we are |
are asking the dog to
recall. The important part of successful negative reinforcement
is having a positive stimulus (food reward) come after the negative
stimulus (vibrate). Again, we use 2-4 sessions, with 30 repetitions
per session. When the dog is proficient with the vibration cue
we start adding a verbal whistle, or here cue, before the vibration.
Food rewards and vibrate conditioning can be used to develop
and strengthen a variety of behaviors. This concept |
can be used for sit, whoa,
stay, place, conditioned retrieve, kennel, etc. Incorporate
vibrate conditioning into your training to develop a consistent,
reliable hunting companion.
For more information on the D.T. H2O 1820 or other DT products,
log onto the D.T. Systems website at www.dtsystems.com, write
to customerservice@dtsystems.com, or call a Customer Service
Specialist at 214-350-9446.
To view a video explaining these methods in more detail, visit
http://willowcreekkennels.net/trainingvideos.html and click on
the "vibrate conditioning to Here" video. |
