Border Collie: Dog Training Toys

The mat is an incredibly useful tool in behavior modification. We can use it to help dogs better regulate high stress or high arousal situations. If we only train in stressful situations we risk creating an aversive association with our training mat and with training in general. In order to maintain a positive association we want to make sure that we make daily "deposits" (to borrow Susan Friedman's analogy). This is where training toys can come into the picture. We want to create games that you can play, in combination with the mat, that will provide an opportunity to create a stronger reinforcement history for behaviors that I would argue are most valuable in a dog's behavior modification plan.
This video shows me using a combination of food and toys to create a "loop." The food is also helpful at making sure a dog remains in what I would perceive to be a healthy state of arousal, meaning, the dog is not too excited to process and learn new information in training.