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Awesome! I think we are on the same page there. I liked what Mr. D’Abruzzo said in the Q&A today about training for the lowest common denominator. I try to think about target behaviors in terms of how the process and end result will serve the dog, his home, and the untrained public. So for instance, in conditioning a dog to accept an item, I think a little gentle physicality such as pressing the dog’s lips into his mouth to elicit tongue shifting (and therefore opening the mouth) is very beneficial.
Holding an item in the mouth is a neat trick but to be honest most homes have no real use for it. On the other hand, voluntarily opening the mouth with a matter of fact attitude I think is SUPER useful for every type of home I can imagine. At some point in the dog’s life, he’ll probably need to be dosed with medicine, have his teeth cleaned, or have his mouth/throat inspected by a veterinarian no matter what his working or pet role is. Having a matter of fact attitude about the physicality of the process is of major benefit there.
I appreciate your feedback on this peer-review and was glad we could clear up the misunderstanding. Written instructions can be difficult to write through the perspective of another person so your contributions are a huge benefit to me, thank you. For instance, the double use of the word “surprise” in the instruction was not only grammatically incorrect, but as you pointed out it it promotes a wrong image of the exercise as well. I hope you’ll continue to subject whatever else I post here to a critical eye. It can be very difficult to find helpful and knowledgeable criticism for stuff like this out there.
