Training in the Cold

We met with our new training friend today and it was cold! Not GreatWhiteNorth cold, but Ohio cold and there was snow falling during part of the time. My 2-3 layers of clothing wasn't quite appropriate.

When we meet in a week and a half, I'll wear more and better layers and my great Muck boots.

When Blaze was young, we did most of our training outdoors, year round. He was too rambunctious to get anything safely done in the house. When it was really cold, we mostly used toy as a reinforcer, and with water proof (slobber proof!) gloves, we were able to get quite a bit done. When I used food, I would use thinner gloves or even take off my gloves for periods of time.

Now that I'm more proficient at training, the lack of precision with food and gloves really bothers me! Placement and presentation can speed up learning and get more precise behaviors.

So today in the cold, we would spend time using toy tugging as a reinforcer and part of our time using canned food on a spoon. I was hopeful and did try sausage but it was so gross on the gloves that I didn't use it for more than 10 reps.

When we meet in about a week and a half, we are going to work on some tracking! That's much easier to do with gloves on!