# Control Unleashed



## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

A few days ago my copy of Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt arrived in the mail. I've been reading non-stop! I bought this book to help me deal with Basil's reactivity problems, especially on-leash. 

Last night I decided to try introducing Basil to Clicker training, and then try introducing him to the "Look At That" game. I "charged" the clicker by clicking and feeding him about 1 or 2 oz of turkey chopped into very tiny bits. Then I started the LAT game, by holding and object and having him glance at it, then clicking and giving him turkey as soon as he looked back at me. I also tried pretending to toss turkey on the ground so he would look around, then clicking and treating as he looked back up at me, and even got my boyfriend to be mildly distracting (Such as making a weird noise so Basil looks) and clicking when he looked back. Eventually he seemed to be prompted by the clicker to look up at me, expecting a piece of turkey.

This morning I tried the LAT game again with Basil, in front of the sliding glass door, feeding him his breakfast one kibble at a time as we watched people walk their dogs outside. He has gotten to to point where is attention will snap back to me rather quickly if he hears the clicker! 









Here's Basil calmly earning his breakfast by the sliding glass door. (Also, there's my very faded 14 year old Pac-Man blanket, lol!)









Trying to charm me into giving him free treats!









I don't have a real clicker, but I downloaded this free clicker app on my iPhone. It makes a "clicker" sound when you tap it, lol! 









Basil says: "Enough training, back to sleep!"


I have a really good feeling about this book, and I hope we can finally get past Basil's reactivity issues!! Does anyone else have Control Unleashed, and wants to offer their imput, advice, or just personal experiences?


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## RBark (Sep 10, 2007)

I might be confusing what you're saying, however my understanding of Devitt's "Look at that!" training is that you click as soon as the dog looks at something, rather than waiting for her to look back at you before clicking. The goal being, the environment becomes a cue for her to reorient to you.

So as soon as she sees an object, dog, person, you click, she THEN turns her head to you, and you reward for it. So the click becomes the cue to reorient to you. And with time, looking at things becomes an automatic behavior to reorient to you.

Just checking.


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## RaeganW (Jul 14, 2009)

I may have to jump the gun on getting this book. It's on my Christmas list, but based on what you've posted it sounds like this is something we need RIGHT. NOW.

(I think Gatsby and Basil have similar reactivity issues? ie, not fear or agression, just OMG A DOOOOOOG!)

Love the iPhone clicker!


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

RBark said:


> I might be confusing what you're saying, however my understanding of Devitt's "Look at that!" training is that you click as soon as the dog looks at something, rather than waiting for her to look back at you before clicking. The goal being, the environment becomes a cue for her to reorient to you.
> 
> So as soon as she sees an object, dog, person, you click, she THEN turns her head to you, and you reward for it. So the click becomes the cue to reorient to you. And with time, looking at things becomes an automatic behavior to reorient to you.
> 
> Just checking.


At the beginning of the training, I would wait for him to look at me before I clicked just so he would know what to do. But this morning, I clicked as soon as he looked at something, and he turned and looked at me because of the click. Then he started glancing at things and looking back at me right away expecting a click and a treat. Does that make more sense? I hope I'm doing it right 



RaeganW said:


> I may have to jump the gun on getting this book. It's on my Christmas list, but based on what you've posted it sounds like this is something we need RIGHT. NOW.
> 
> (I think Gatsby and Basil have similar reactivity issues? ie, not fear or agression, just OMG A DOOOOOOG!)
> 
> Love the iPhone clicker!


Gatsby sound a lot like Basil! "OMG A DOOOOOG!" is exactly how I would describe Basil's behavior, lol! If he's off-leash he's fine, but on-leash or behind a window, he seems to get over excited and then frustrated when he realizes he can't go say hi to the other dog. 

After posting my issue with Basil here on DF a while back, I got several recommendations for this book. I even had people recommending it back before I had Basil, and I was trying to help out my boyfriend's sister's Aussie with her reactice/aggression issues. It doesn't sound like a bad idea to me to go ahead and get yourself an early Christmas presant, lol!


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## RBark (Sep 10, 2007)

Nargle said:


> At the beginning of the training, I would wait for him to look at me before I clicked just so he would know what to do. But this morning, I clicked as soon as he looked at something, and he turned and looked at me because of the click. Then he started glancing at things and looking back at me right away expecting a click and a treat. Does that make more sense? I hope I'm doing it right


Yeah that makes sense. Glad it's working well for you. I did a lot of CU work with Priscilla, and I think it helped her a ton with drive control.


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

I love the look at that game. I do it with my dogs all the time, its a great way to teach your dog not to react to things going on in the environment. I want the DVD, I think it would be easier to understand some of the games (for me) with the DVD.


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## DreamN (Nov 28, 2008)

Wow, I think Rico could really benefit form this. He has the same "OMG A DOG!" reaction going on while we're on walks. Sometimes I'm able to calm him down instantly, but if the other dog reacts as well... all hell breaks loose and it's the pulling match of the year. lol

I'll look into this. Possibly get the book for me and the DVD for my girlfriend.


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## CerbiesMom (Jan 30, 2008)

I like CU. I have a crazy spazz mini dachshund. We're not to the point that she can look at that from close, but if we stay pretty far, we can do it. What works better for my girl is the targeting. If she sees/hears something that upsets her, I can ask her to touch my hand, and she'll do that happily instead of going on with her barking fit.


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## REB (Sep 18, 2009)

Wow, I am definitely going to try the Look at That game with Mac. He's generally good on leash, but if he sees a frisky dog that he can't get to, or a SQUIRREL, he starts pulling and whining. Thanks!!


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## StarfishSaving (Nov 7, 2008)

I have the book and the DVD set, LOVE it.


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## Chels_girl (Aug 2, 2008)

Control Unleashed is a great tool that I used, and am still using on Kali, my fearful dog. I have the dvd set too, and to be honest if you can borrow it froms oneone I would, it's not something you'll watch over and over again, or at least I haven't. They're fairly expensive with the book too, but it did really show me how to use the games involved.


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## RaeganW (Jul 14, 2009)

Order'd! It should be here on Friday.  I am ~stooooooked!~

I got When Pigs Fly: Training Success with Impossible Dogs by Jane Killion as well, since the shipping was the same for both and it was discounted due to damage. I haven't seen a lot of buzz around that book (not like Control Unleashed, anyway), but I get a really good vibe from it.


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## Squeeker (Dec 15, 2007)

CU was one of the best things I ever read regarding dog training. It really helped us work through Libby's excited OMG DOG reactions, which in turn helped with recall.

Pigs Fly was a very informative read as well, and I am glad I did, but it didn't apply to our situation as much.


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## RaeganW (Jul 14, 2009)

Squeeker said:


> CU was one of the best things I ever read regarding dog training. It really helped us work through Libby's excited OMG DOG reactions, which in turn helped with recall.
> 
> Pigs Fly was a very informative read as well, and I am glad I did, but it didn't apply to our situation as much.


Hahah, that's exactly why I'm looking at Britts as my next dog. Love him, but do not love spending half a training session going, "Hey, Gatz, over here. We're doing stuff, remember? I have kibble! You like kibble! Fine, go sniff pee."


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

Update: Yesterday I took Basil to Petsmart to practice LATing. I believe that because we go to Petsmart so often and I worked so extensively with the "watch me" training there, that Petsmart is less arousing than someplace like the parking lot at the dog park, or our squirrel infested walking trails. Anyways, with a full bag of tiny turkey bits, we headed off to Petsmart! I tried to use the clicker app on my iPhone, but I found it to be pretty cumbersome trying to juggle a leash, a bag of turkey and a phone while trying to somehow get treats out of the bag! So instead I just put my phone up and marked with z clear "Good!" Is it too confusing to keep switching back and forth for Basil? At home I've always been able to sit with the treats in my lap, so "losing" the use of one hand for the sake of the clicker wasn't that big of a deal. However if mixing up clicks with marking words is too confusing, I may either buy a fanny pack or switch back to exclusively using marker words.

Anyways, back to our Petsmart visit  Ive noticed that whenever I bring Basil to a reasonably distracting place for training, it takes Basil a few minutes of "warm up" training before he will focus during bigger distractions. So we started in the fish section, doing a mixture of basic obedience and LAT, and eventually we graduated to the adoptable cat section, and finally we got to look at some dogs from a distance. A couple of times we must have gone past his threshold because he seemed agitated and barked, but a quick hop to a quiet isle and a few basic obedience commands regained his focus. Near the end of our visit to Petsmart, Basil was doing SO good. I think the Petsmart trainers were having a "field trip" because there were a bunch of them training dogs around the store, and provided Basil and I with plenty if targets! One of the trainers was walking a beautiful black Great Dane around, and he kept trying to sniff Basil. Sort of weirded me out how the trainer would yell and yank the dog every time he so much as looked at another dog, and his owners looked SO stressed out. The part about sniffing not being a crime from CU came to mind, lol!  But anyways even when the Dane got in Basil's face he was still cool, he would try to sniff but would look back at me when I prompted him (Plus the poor Dane's head kept getting yanked away) and he would calmy sit and loom at him and then back to me when the dog's back was turned. 

But anyways, I think Basil is doing great so far! Basil's "fans" (Lol, some of the employees just love him) complimented him on his great manners. I'm very proud of him


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

Nice - another fan of CU here.

LAT was a godsend for working with Wally's fearfulness.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

I hate that app. Buy a real clicker and put it on a wrist bungie - you'll love that. 

I also hate petsmart trainers who don't actually understand R+ or bother to learn the way we're SUPPOSED to train. If you see a petsmart trainer yanking and yelling, please report them to corporate.


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## nikkiluvsu15 (Jun 18, 2009)

Where can you buy this book??  I think I'm gonna add it to my Christmas list!!!!

Harleigh does GREAT with her clicker.. maybe this will have some other stuff that I can help her with, like some of her fear issues!


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## RaeganW (Jul 14, 2009)

nikkiluvsu15 said:


> Where can you buy this book??  I think I'm gonna add it to my Christmas list!!!!
> 
> Harleigh does GREAT with her clicker.. maybe this will have some other stuff that I can help her with, like some of her fear issues!


I got mine from www.dogwise.com but they also sell it at www.cleanrun.com and www.amazon.com . Prices were pretty even across the board, but Amazon was a little higher when I checked. Even used!?


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

jesirose said:


> I hate that app. Buy a real clicker and put it on a wrist bungie - you'll love that.
> 
> I also hate petsmart trainers who don't actually understand R+ or bother to learn the way we're SUPPOSED to train. If you see a petsmart trainer yanking and yelling, please report them to corporate.


I was never entirely sure how Petsmart trainers work, so I never knew there was a standard to their training methods they must follow, or that you could report them. I'll certainly pay more attention next time I go and consider reporting them if I seen any other ridiculous training methods being used. I can imagine how frustrating it may be being a Petsmart trainer, while there are trainers out there tarnishing the public's image of how Petsmart trainers behave. 

Also, I haven't thought of the wrist bungie idea. Where do you buy your clickers, though? IIRC, the ones at Petsmart were like $6? Seems a little steep for a piece of plastic that clicks.



nikkiluvsu15 said:


> Where can you buy this book??  I think I'm gonna add it to my Christmas list!!!!
> 
> Harleigh does GREAT with her clicker.. maybe this will have some other stuff that I can help her with, like some of her fear issues!


I looked EVERWHERE for this book because I prefer to physically see an item before buying it, as opposed to order off the internet However I couldn't find it anywhere. I actually ordered off of dogwise.com, too. It was on sale for $19.99, originally $25 I think?


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## RBark (Sep 10, 2007)

The clickers I buy from petsmart are 50 cents each. I don't get the fancy white ones. I get the petsmart brand ones. Looks like a white box with the petsmart logo on back.


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

I'll go back and see if I can't find those!


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## ColoradoSooner (Mar 26, 2009)

HUGE fan of CU and the LAT game. Mayzie's terrified of ceiling fans and we were pretty much stuck trying to get her over it until we started LAT. She's also somewhat dog reactive and it helps a lot with that, too. Although I'm ashamed to admit we haven't been as consistent as we should be with either one.

I was lucky enough to find a training facility here that does a lot of CU type stuff. It's definitely helped. If we didn't have it, I would be looking into buying the DVD for sure.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

Nargle said:


> Also, I haven't thought of the wrist bungie idea. Where do you buy your clickers, though? IIRC, the ones at Petsmart were like $6? Seems a little steep for a piece of plastic that clicks.


I have the 5.49 one from pmart and I like it, but you can get a clicker & bungie from sitstay.com for $3 or so. 
http://www.sitstay.com/dog/supplies...&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&ddkey=EGSearchData
http://www.sitstay.com/dog/supplies...&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&ddkey=EGSearchData


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## RaeganW (Jul 14, 2009)

My books are in Oak Creek as of 10:11pm! This is very good, they should get to me late morning/early afternoon. Hopefully work won't be busy and I can just read


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

RBark said:


> The clickers I buy from petsmart are 50 cents each. I don't get the fancy white ones. I get the petsmart brand ones. Looks like a white box with the petsmart logo on back.


Wow, I got ripped off for mine. I think I paid a whole dollar + tax. 

Of course, online I see these sites were you can get like 200 clickers for $50. I'm like...who ever needs THAT many clickers?!


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## RBark (Sep 10, 2007)

KBLover said:


> Wow, I got ripped off for mine. I think I paid a whole dollar + tax.
> 
> Of course, online I see these sites were you can get like 200 clickers for $50. I'm like...who ever needs THAT many clickers?!


I do.... I lose the dang things all the time.


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## StarfishSaving (Nov 7, 2008)

KBLover said:


> Wow, I got ripped off for mine. I think I paid a whole dollar + tax.
> 
> Of course, online I see these sites were you can get like 200 clickers for $50. I'm like...who ever needs THAT many clickers?!


Oh, lots of people! Trainers who give them to their students. Dog clubs or kennel clubs who use them as prizes or for fundraising or as freebie gifts at dog show booths. Rescues like mine who give gifts to our adopters. People like myself who can't keep track of them (what do you say, RBark, we split the $50? lol) A quarter a piece is nice and cheap!


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## DreamN (Nov 28, 2008)

Ordered both the book and DVD set 

My clicker was $155. Of course a 6 week beginner obedience course (Free repeats for life) was included with the purchase


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## StarfishSaving (Nov 7, 2008)

DreamN said:


> Ordered both the book and DVD set
> 
> My clicker was $155. Of course a 6 week beginner obedience course (Free repeats for life) was included with the purchase


I was thinking you were missing a decimal point. Or "gee, I could have gotten 600 clickers for that price."

I think you'll really like the DVD set. The problem I had with the book was visualizing some of the games. I read the whole thing once and had to start over again because I felt like I had been so overwhelmed that I didn't know what I had just read! The DVDs help give you an idea what you're working for, though I wouldn't have paid the money if I could have gone to a seminar myself instead, as I think that would be even better!


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

StarfishSaving said:


> Oh, lots of people! Trainers who give them to their students. Dog clubs or kennel clubs who use them as prizes or for fundraising or as freebie gifts at dog show booths. Rescues like mine who give gifts to our adopters. People like myself who can't keep track of them (what do you say, RBark, we split the $50? lol) A quarter a piece is nice and cheap!


Nice - I guess I should have known there was a reason they offered them like that (aside of them getting 5000 of them from their suppliers and they are tired of looking at them).



RBark said:


> I do.... I lose the dang things all the time.


Now that you mention it, there's been times I'm like "Where's my clicker?" And look around for it.

I think I'm going to make Wally keep up with it. Tie it around his neck and then I'll always know where it is - as long as I don't lose the dog 



StarfishSaving said:


> I was thinking you were missing a decimal point. Or "gee, I could have gotten 600 clickers for that price."
> 
> I think you'll really like the DVD set. The problem I had with the book was visualizing some of the games. I read the whole thing once and had to start over again because I felt like I had been so overwhelmed that I didn't know what I had just read! The DVDs help give you an idea what you're working for, though I wouldn't have paid the money if I could have gone to a seminar myself instead, as I think that would be even better!


DVDs are that good, huh?

Might have to look into them at some point. I guess I'll really have gone into this training game when I start getting dog training DVDs


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## DreamN (Nov 28, 2008)

StarfishSaving said:


> I was thinking you were missing a decimal point. Or "gee, I could have gotten 600 clickers for that price."
> 
> I think you'll really like the DVD set. The problem I had with the book was visualizing some of the games. I read the whole thing once and had to start over again because I felt like I had been so overwhelmed that I didn't know what I had just read! The DVDs help give you an idea what you're working for, though I wouldn't have paid the money if I could have gone to a seminar myself instead, as I think that would be even better!


Haha, yeah I always joke around with friends and people I meet who ask me what it is and how much was it. I get a kick out of it when I mention the price.

Glad they're that good. I mainly got them for my girlfriend as she doesn't enjoy reading as much as I do, but I'm sure we'll both love the DVDs. Eventually I want to go to seminars and possibly become a licensed trainer just to have that great bond that I saw with my trainers' dogs and from what I see here on the forums.

I want to master the perfect recall, heel, leave it, and stay. I feel these are the most important for me and Rico to learn. Basic obedience he has down pretty well, but I want that focus from him so that I can one day get into agility training (not at a serious competition level, but to have fun and bond). From the looks of the site and reviews on the book this is a step in the right direction.


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## Shaina (Oct 28, 2007)

Good luck with your book/DVD set...I personally found the book infinitely more helpful than the DVDs, but the DVDs are a nice illustrator if you are more of a visual learner.

And yeah I think I hve about 6 different styles of clickers here, yet I never seem to be able to find one when I need it. Usually still in the pocket of the last jeans or something like that. I have the karen pryor ones, the box ones, one from petexpertise that doubles as a whistle (didn't realize that at the time), and one with a protruding button and elastic finger loop I picked up at a show for $1...basically anytime I'm ordering stuff and the place happens to have clickers on sale I get some because, well, like I said I can never find the things...don't think I've paid more than $2 for any single one though.


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