So I was sitting around thinking about Dodger's new tricks and had one of those flashes of clarity.  Shaping and trick training are the keys to Dodger's success.  There is no way around it - without shaping and tricks my poor Foxhound would not have learned to enjoy training.    Tricks and shaping mean a high level of reinforcement (which created a motivated puppers) and my carefree attitude toward tricks only added to the positive experience.  The same goes for shaping, there was no "he has to learn this" - it was all about enjoying training with your dog and encouraging him to learn.

Our latest shaping exercise is one that completely stunned me - the "magic" of the clicker and Dodger's initiative were overwhelming.  I recently saw a video of a dog shutting the door to her crate with herself inside. I immediately wanted to teach this to Dodger but knew it would be nearly impossible as he's scared of crates. Aside from that, I never thought Dodger would offer a behaviour that was similar enough to the end result to be clickable. I was also stumped as to how he would be able to eliminate and piece together all the possible behaviours and come up with the final behaviour of closing the crate door.  Boy oh boy that had better be the last time I doubt the power of a clicker and an active thinker!  By the end of our first 3 minute session, Dodger was already offering the end behaviour (gripping the crate door with his claws and slamming it in his face). Since I know how scary Dodger finds the crate - that was a teary moment!  Even though I place a lot of faith in the clicker, I never expected Dodger to be offering the end behaviour so fast. I am still in awe!

Which brings me back to my point - I've always thought that trick training is an integral part of training but why can't all training be tricks?  Tricks are fun for both dog and handler, there's no pressure and above all keeps us motivated.  If only I could train formal obedience commands with such lightheartedness!!