FE565: Finding Five - Training for a Busy World

Game 3: Proofing Madness

We can proof behaviors for distractions, duration, and distance. You’ve probably done this lots of times and are getting bored with it. Well, let’s proof for something else and significantly more fun: various body positions!

I made a game for you! Here’s how it goes.

Thank you, Chris Cernac, for making the game board look good!

Proofing Madness

• Download the game board in full size, and play on a tablet or and print it out! Thanks again to Chris Cernac for making this look SO much better than it used to! PNG version (color). PDF version (printer friendly; black and white).
  
  
• Print it out!
  
  
• Get your timer, a die, and a piece to move through the street of bones. You can use a coin or a dog treat as your piece. You’ll also need lots of cookies for your dog, and a clicker if you want to use one.
  
  
• Make a list of three behaviors you want to proof. You can use whatever you want - competition behaviors, tricks, or life skills. However, choose three fluent behaviors on a verbal cue - it’s unfair to your dog if they don't know the cues well yet, or rely on hand signals! In my video example, I’m using the positions sit, down and stand.
  
  
• Test if your dog can do the three behaviors when you cue them the way you usually do (probably standing in front of them and looking at them). If they can’t do one of them, switch it out for a different behavior. 
  
  
• Put your piece on the "Start” bone.
  
  
• Set your timer to 5 minutes. You’ll keep playing until the timer rings, no matter how often you go clockwise around the board.
  
  
• Roll the die.
  
  
• Move your piece according to your roll.
  
  
• Do what the bone you end up on tells you to, and cue your dog to do the first behavior on your 3-behavior list. For example, if you rolled a 4, you’ll lie down on the floor and cue your dog from this position.
  
  
• Only say your cue once. If your dog performs the behavior, mark and reward!
  
  
• If they don't perform the behavior, work on it! Think about how you could make your body position a little easier … Maybe instead of lying down, you could just lean forward with your upper body. Say your cue again. If your dog performs correctly, mark and reward! Now, make it a tiny little bit harder - maybe by means of leaning further forwards. Mark and reward again if they succeed! Gradually make it harder until you can lie down as specified in the bone your piece ended up on!
  
  
• Once your dog can do it, roll the die again, and play the next round - with the second behavior on your proofing list!
  
  
• After the third behavior on your proofing list, start with the first one again.
  
  
• Any time you end up on a bone that says, "Free cookie," feed your dog a free treat just for being their awesome self, and roll the die again for the next round.
  
  
• Any time you want to skip one of the positions the board is asking you to do, give your dog a free treat instead as well.
  
  
• The game ends as soon as the timer rings.
  
  
• Make a new list with different behaviors every time you play!

Grit and Chrissi demo Proofing Madness:

Handle mistakes the same way I do in the video: stay cheerful and praise your dog for the effort. Make sure you’re both having a good time! If your dog is very sensitive about making mistakes, throw a reset cookie whenever they make a mistake.

You’ll realize that some positions are easier than others. Every once in a while, you might end up stuck on one and the same bone for the entire game, working on making your position just a little bit harder for every rep. That’s okay, too! Here’s Grit and I trying to get a handle on “Sit on the floor” for our entire session:

Note how I make sure to keep her interested and in the game, and avoid frustrating her. End the session after 5 minutes in either case - this is about having fun. Perfection is overrated!

Desperate Dog Trainer Version: Proofing Madness - the Drinking Game (1.0)

• For the Desperate Dog Trainer Version of Proofing Madness, you’ll need two additional things: the alcoholic beverage of your choice, and a shot glass. Yes, you need a shot glass even if you play with wine or beer. That’s because drinking games are supposed to be played with shot glasses! If you were Austrian, you’d probably play with pear Schnaps and be drunk by the end of one round.
  
  
• The rules stay the same as in the basic version, except:
  
  
  • Have a shot every time your dog does not follow your cue. If you have to work on making a particular position easier and raise criteria too quickly, you may well be drinking more than one shot while still stuck on the same bone!
    
    
  • Have a shot every time you want to skip one of the positions the board is asking you to do.

Even More Desperate Dog Trainer Version: Proofing Madness - the Drinking Game 2.0

• In addition to the rules for Proofing Madness - the Drinking Game, you’ll have a shot every time you end up on a "free cookie" bone. Your dog still gets their free treat as well, of course! After all, they have to put up with their drunk handler whose cues are getting harder and harder to understand! Heck, give them a free treat anytime you have a shot! No need to be stingy with treats!

Multi-Player Versions

• If you want to play with more than one dog, take turns asking them for behaviors!
  
  
• If you want to play with more than one dog-handler team, every player needs their own piece. The handlers take turns rolling the die, moving their piece, and asking their dog to perform a behavior. Every dog has their own list of three behaviors - they don’t need to be the same.

Homework

Print out the board, and play! Let’s see some of it in your homework thread!

If you are looking for a drinking, ahm, training buddy, ask who wants to play with you on the discussion board, and exchange contact details so you can meet up for a video chat! Voilà, you've got a multi-player dog training drinking game, to be enjoyed from the comfort of your own living room!