Ted Turner

I dug out old video conferences and watched tape 2 of the positive training with Leslie Nelson, Ted Turner and Patty Ruzzo (sp?) series. Ted Turner's info is really good and a great reminder of things, and a new (old) perspective on things. There will be some changes in my programs and the classes as well as my own dogs' sessions.
One thing he discussed was why "Jackpotting" is a bad plan in training of any animal. Jackpots tend to make some behaviors a high motivation behavior and others a low motivation behavior and that makes sense. Why would a dog give you an enthusiasm for a behavior that pays minimum wage when another pays out like winning the lottery. I can see this in Trivia's down vs sit. She will throw herself into a down and a sit is like pulling teeth. I had used jackpotting to get downs way back when (she is 7) and sits were a low payout behavior. She downs like a fiend, stands and stands until she finally feels like sitting. The dilema is do I know go back do some jackpotting for sits at the risk of needing it for everything or a quick jackpot session to rev up a sit and then back to the same value for all behaviors? I can totally see why you would want equal value placed on all behaviors.
Today's plan is to do some tracking with Trivia, and maybe some fast sit sessions to get a more enthusiastic sitter.