Blocking
Blocking is a phenomenon that occurs when the use of a known cue overrides the dog's ability to learn a new cue for the same behavior. Keep in mind that while dogs can only learn one response to a particular cue sit must always mean sit, it can't sometimes mean lie down , they can learn several cues that all mean the same behavior. Dubhy, our Scottie, can lie down in response to the Down cue in English, French, Spanish, German, and two different hand signals. This happened as a result of his...
Outcomes
Let's revisit the lives of Bart and the Chow-mix puppies. What became of them Walt engaged my services, and Bart progressed beautifully. He bonded to Walt immediately and with a few exceptions most notably Walt's housekeeper started to accept the world around him. In fact, he progressed so well that Walt often walked him off-leash around his peaceful gated community, and Bart made many friends. He even helped Walt host a pool party of more than one hundred people. Sadly, Bart died at a...
Training Tips Qoy
My dog stands up when I move the treat toward the floor. Start again from the sit position. Move the treat more slowly, and make sure you are moving it straight down. If you move it away from him as you lower it toward the floor, he will get up to follow it. You may need to shape the Down. When he lowers his head a few inches to follow the treat, but before he gets up, click so he understands that moving his front end toward the floor with his bottom on the floor earns a reward. Then, gradually...
Salience
When we say something is salient to a dog, we mean it has noticeable significance to her. Your dog learns to sit even in the face of distractions because the hotdog you are holding in front of her face is very salient. When we associate the hotdog with the verbal cue Sit, the cue itself becomes significant. The salient stimuli in the environment you, your hotdogs, and the Sit cue are more significant than the distractions. They overshadow the dog barking across the street, the skateboarder...
Head Halter
The head halter is a tool that is intended for a dog who is a strong puller. It works on the negative reinforcement principle when the dog stops pulling, the bad thing the pressure on the dog's muzzle stops. The head halter works on the same principle as a halter on a horse control the head and the body must follow. People learned centuries ago that they could control the horse, an animal weighing over 1,000 pounds, by putting a halter on his head. Only recently did people realize that this...
Instructions Jumping Game The OffLeash Jump
You come home from work, walk in the front door, and see Rambo flying over the back of the sofa. You know an enthusiastic but brutal greeting is coming. There's no leash to restrain her. What should you do Turn your back on her Watch her out of the corner of your eye and continue to turn away and step away as she tries to jump on you. Again, in a surprisingly short period of time, she will sit in frustration or puzzlement to figure out why she's not getting her ration of attention. The instant...
Training Tips Dsu
My dog starts to turn but then gets confused and stops. You may need to use a combination of luring and shaping. If he turns his head 90 degrees and then stops, click and reward when his head is turned about 80 degrees. Repeat this until he is confident with an 80-degree turn, then lure him a little farther. Repeat at each increased turn until he seems confident, then up the ante a little more. Your dog should soon be doing complete circles. My dog spins one direction really easily but has a...
Classifications Of Aggression
There are a dozen or more commonly recognized classifications of aggression, including status-related aggression, fear-related aggression, maternal aggression a mom protecting her puppies , play aggression when a dog's level of arousal escalates during play and turns into aggression , displaced aggression, pain aggression, territorial aggression, possession aggression, protection aggression, barrier aggression, and redirected aggression. In each category, an underlying stressor is responsible...
O
rally, 165, 166, 254 retrieve, as chaining example, 179 training competition, 166, 253 obsessive-compulsive disorders, as stress signal, 38 offered behaviors, 54 Okay, as release word, 131 onions, avoiding as treats, 248 On Target exercise , 94-96 Oops , as non-reward marker, 73 operant conditioning description, 10 generalization of behaviors, 178 negative punishment, 10-11 negative reinforcement, 11 positive punishment, 10 positive reinforcement, 10 Over behavior, training, 145 Over Here cue,...
Cross Your Paws Like a Lady
Cross paws puts a classy touch on your dog's Down and will draw admiring comments from your friends. It's also simple to teach through luring and shaping. Ask Lassie to lie down, and when she does, tell her that she's a good girl. Experiment with your treat lure by moving it slowly in front of her nose from left to right. As she follows it with her nose, watch to see if she moves one foot toward the other to keep her balance. Click and treat if she does. Repeat the lure, click and treat until...
BONUS GAMES Ring My Bell
This game expands on the touch behavior see chapter 11, Core Exercise 2.2 On Target . Now that your dog knows how to target, you can start asking him to touch a variety of different objects. You can teach him to roll a ball, close a door, turn on a TV, or ring a bell on a string by the door to let you know he has to go out. Find a bell that you can attach to a string. Hold the bell in the palm of your hand and ask Chimes to Touch He will try to touch your palm as you taught him in week 1, but...
Chaining And Backchaining
These are vitally important concepts that come into play when teaching a complex sequence of behaviors. The behaviors are linked together so that each behavior is the signal for the next behavior in the chain, and the opportunity to perform the next behavior becomes the reinforcer for the previous one. When a talented musician learns to play a piece by memory, he is chaining each note or chord draws him forward to the next note or chord in the piece. He doesn't have to stop and think about what...
Habituationlearned Irrelevance The Poisoned Cue
Habituation occurs when your dog learns to ignore an environmental stimulus a sound, for example, like the ringing of the doorbell, or a disturbing sight, like a full-sized poster of Santa Claus. A dog who has lived all her life in the country or suburbs may discover many disturbing stimuli if she moves to the city. Dubhy, our Scottish Terrier, was an adolescent when we found him as a stray and brought him home to join our pack. He had lived all his life outdoors, and the first time he saw his...