We're filming a video at the studio today and it's rainy and drizzly outside.
Instructor Steve just brought Watson our little demo dog out for a pee.
And I noticed Watson was getting super muddy. And I had an idea for a video.
I'm going to bet Steve,
$100 that he can't keep Watson in a sit and a wait on the mat.
I'm almost certain that Watson's going to get up and absolutely destroy the
studio. So if you're seeing this video, then instructor,
Steve has accepted the challenge. Let's find out I'm Ken Steepe.
This is instructor Steve that's Watson. Welcome back to McCann Dogs.
Hey Steve,
I'll bet you $100 that you can't have little Watson there remain on the
mat coming into the studio while you go get a towel that I've placed on the
kitchen counter. If you can have. The counter across the room. That's right.
If you can have him remain on the mat,
while you go get the towel without getting off, I'll give you a hundred bucks.
Now, if you can't achieve this goal in five minutes,
then you give me a hundred bucks. I'm in, Let's do it. Okay. All right.
I'm going to go set up a camera and I'm going to get some microphones. Okay?
Give me your money. All right. We can do this. You and me, we got this.
I'll split the money with you. Okay, buddy. Let's do it.
Okay. Here on our YouTube channel,
we've published hundreds of videos to help you to have a well behaved four
legged family member. And we're going to keep it fun today.
And I've given Steve this challenge,
but this is a really functional skill that you can work on every single day.
Now let's get to the challenge so I can win myself.
100 Bucks. Now I have placed a towel over here on the
countertop. Oh, careful. Because if he steps off that mat,
you're going to have to completely reset.
And you're going to have to go back to the beginning,
but I'm going to bet you that you can't have him sit and wait as you get over to
the towel in five minutes. All right, buddy. Watson, let's do this.
Let's see what we can do. Okay. Here, buddy. Good job. All right.
Now I'm pretty jazzed about this because, uh,
I'd love to make an extra a hundred bucks and I know what a little wiggle bum
Watson is, it is a long way away, especially for a young puppy.
Now, for those of you guys at home, uh, you know,
you're going to take your time with this.
This is it's really important that you do. Oh, see,
I'm feeling pretty good about my money right now. You're going to take,
this is going to be something that you train over the course of a few weeks.
And it's something that you can pattern every time you come in the door,
you can work on that, uh, that sit in at the mat. But Steve,
uh, I'm going to increase the challenge.
Steve has got to do it in just a few minutes.
One thing I want you to really pay attention to,
couple of things happened right there that I want you to remember if you're
teaching your puppy, how to do this. Number one,
Steve marked the moment that Watson got up with his voice. So he said, oops,
the moment Watson got up to mark that thing.
And then he stepped back in and replaced him in position.
The other thing is that Steve's being pretty good
about not showing the food until he gets in really close.
You can see how ready to move Watson is.
Can I get a time check? 1:45 in. Awe,
I don't know what I'm going to spend that a hundred dollars on. Yes. Good.
The other thing, if you are new to training, maybe you're new to our channel.
Steve's using that. Yes, he's mark. He he's, uh, uh,
marking the moment that Watson's making a good choice with yes.
As he's at a distance, then he returns to him.
He really is a little wiggle bum for sure.
So this Steve has worked in it for him. Okay. Oh,
Hey. So yeah, no big deal. If Watson, if Watson gets off the mat,
Steve just brings them back to that starting point.
It's actually kind of nice that we're using something like a textured mat to
really make a definitive area where Watson needs to be. Oh boy,
I might be in trouble here.
Yes.
Well, no. So Steve's doing not bad.
He's not that far from being able to
sit three minutes, good pay, pay,
close attention. Look at how often Steve's going back to reinforce.
He yesses at a distance to mark. The moment that Watson is correct.
Then he goes back to reward him in that position, making that position. So, oh,
I'm in trouble here making that position so valuable that why would Watson want
to move? I also love Steve could have probably reached the towel there. Yes.
At that moment, went back back to Watson classic dog trainer move.
We have to be, we gotta be getting close to time. Oh,
no big win. Wow. Big win for Steve.
Well done Watson. So this is such, this is such a great,
uh, exercise to do with your dog before you even need it.
So before your dog is wet and muddy, uh, I mean that was an expensive, uh,
that was an expensive mistake for me. I didn't,
I thought Watson was going to be too wiggly.
Little Watson here.
Just won me a hundred bucks in just because he was able to do it this time
doesn't mean he knows how to wait on a mat.
And this is a super valuable skill to teach your dogs.
Now I have a bunch of food here and that's one of the things that I use to build
some value for holding position. So when you're starting out with this,
make sure that you pick some food that your dog is interested in,
use something that they find valuable. Good boy.
And then the next thing is simply teaching them to sit.
If your dog knows how to maintain a position,
it's easy to build value for that position.
Now I literally just met Watson about 10 minutes before we shot this video.
So he and I don't have any sort of history and I'm still figuring out what he
likes and what he's into,
but I am getting them comfortable with being lured into a sitting position.
Good boy, excellent job. And every time I do that,
I feed them multiple times for holding that position. Now,
until he's sort of understanding to maintain position,
I haven't started marking. Haven't done anything but using your yes.
And getting yourself in the habit of saying yes, as a marker,
when your dog is doing everything right. Yes.
Can help him start to understand that. Yes means good things happen. Now,
my other expectations that he holds this until I give him permission to get up.
So when you're practicing this at home, also get in the habit of whoopsie,
telling him, okay, now he got up before I released him.
So I need to let him know he made a mistake. I'm not trying to be harsher,
overbearing, but a little whoops.
And then I'm simply gonna guide him back to the spot that I want him have him
sit again. He's getting a little wiggly, which most puppies will do. Good boy.
Good sit. Excellent. Yes. And then I can start to build again,
but what I'm going to do this time is I'm actually going to reward them a couple
of times and then I'm gonna release him before he can to make sure that it's my
idea. Good. Okay. That's good boy. All right.
So first step is simply building value for holding position.
And then I can transfer that position to the mat. In this case,
we've got this mat right here.
This is where I want my dog to wait while I got that towel and dry them off.
So if he's away from that mat,
I can use a little food and simply lure him on your mat. Sit.
Yes. Good sit. Good boy. So now I've got two parts. One is moving to the mat.
The second part is going into my stable position. Good boy. Okay.
And then the next step is going to be starting to add a little distance.
Now I had about 12 feet to go to get that towel.
So I didn't think about going for that 12 feet right away. Good boy.
Excellent job. I did it in little teeny, teeny bits. And in fact,
I spent actually a ton of time close because I want to be really quick with my
information,
whether he's right or whether he's made a mistake so that I can either reward
him for doing a great job or I can interrupt if he gets up and bring him back
really quick and make it just sort of a non event. Good boy. Excellent.
Good job. Now we talked about the yes and the video and Ken mentioned that that,
yes, it's an important word when I'm moving away from my puppy.
Cause if he knows that, okay, buddy, you're allowed to get up.
Now if he knows that, yes means he did everything right.
I can use that when I reach that further distance,
but I'm always going to come back right to him and reward him in this position
here. You gotta be careful about using your food, this particular spot.
Because if I say yes, about five feet away and I put my food out towards him,
most young puppies are going to get up and go for the food.
So I'm gonna make sure that I'm bringing him right back.
I'm rewarding in this spot.
So he doesn't think about coming to me and over time I can build a little bit of
distance. So let's just see if I can do that again. So he knows how to sit now.
Oopsie.
So he got up a little whoops I'm gonna bring it right back to where I want him.
Good boy. Sit. Good. Sit excellent. Now again, I have this food in my hand.
I want it here. I want to be able to quickly reward him. Yes. Good.
Yes. Good.
So you notice every time I reward him or rewarding him with his head straight,
I don't want to start to have his head creep around because he's going to think
about having his body follow. Yes. Good. Is it good? Yes. Good.
So again, adding a little bit of distance at a time. It, yes. Good boy.
Excellent. Very nice. Good. Sit. Yes. Good.
Going right back or morning. I'm in the same time.
And in fact now I'm actually turning his head the other way.
I don't know if you can see this.
I'm actually rewarding him with his head further away from the distance I'm
going. I want him thinking rewards come over there. Not come from over here.
Good boy. Good. I'm gonna see if I can get a little more distance again.
Good to sit. Yes. Good sit. Sit.
Yes. Good sit. Good boy. I know I had a little bit of extra distance.
I'm going to give a little extra rewartd for that. Sit. Good. Sit. Yes.
Good boy. Now he's done really well.
So I don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched.
I'm going to tell them, okay. And I'm gonna allow him to move.
Let them know that I'm going to start and I'm going to end things.
And the more you practice this, the more distance you can build if he gets up,
not a big deal, but I'm encouraging him right back in,
start closer to help them.
The more successful.
Now this is just one skill that you can practice every day with your puppy.
But if you're looking for other skills that you can practice every day,
click that card right there. Now,
if you're feeling overwhelmed with all the things you need to train,
you're pumping and with like some personal support from one of our McCann Dogs,
instructors click the link in the description below for our Puppy Essentials
program for puppies up to five months of age. With that, I'm instructor Steve,
this is Watson. Happy Training. Wait a second. Where's my money?