Has anyone done The Bucket Game?

[SunnyUpNorth]

I’ve been reading about The Bucket Game after seeing it mentioned on some dog husbandry Facebook pages.

I’ve started doing it with my 17week old cocker spaniel. He is really good at sitting and looking at the bucket and waiting patiently for the food. But I can’t seem to proceed to the next step. I’ve been trying to put my hand towards his ear but he just keeps turning to look at it like ‘what On earth are you doing?’. He is a cuddly dog and doesn’t mind being touched so it’s not flinching, just curiosity.

From what I can gather you treat when they look at the bucket but if you attempt to touch them (building up in slow steps), if they look at you/move you stop but also still give them a treat.

Any advice on how to progress? And roughly how long and how often should I practise this and expect it to take to progress?

[Jouska]

Yep love it . Which videos are you watching? Have you listened to Chirag's audio here

You may find it easier to start on a touch the dog is more familiar with rather than try a new area.

Or go back to rewarding looking at the bucket more - try with you moving and see if he is still looking at the bucket. It probably means this bit needs more re- enforcement.

I would do this daily for a few minutes and see how you progress

[SunnyUpNorth]

Thanks, I’ve watched Chirags video and a few others but they all seem to cover the basic first stage and then quite quickly demonstrate on a dog who clearly has been trained. So there is no detail on how long it takes to work up to different steps.

I’m not even touching anywhere just putting out my hand and he just turns to stare at it wondering what I’m doing. He doesn’t flinch or get scared, just curious.

[SunnyUpNorth]

Does the audio give more detail on the stages?