Does your dog know sit, stay, down but only in certain
situations? Do you find yourself asking for the same thing over and over again?
You and your dog are capable of demonstrating tidier cues and quicker reinforcement with the end result being supercharged training!!
You and your dog are capable of demonstrating tidier cues and quicker reinforcement with the end result being supercharged training!!
Go right back to basics and make sure your dog understands
the cue you are giving. Say the word once and see what happens. Try to not
repeat the cue if your dog doesn't follow through. You can of course use a verbal
and a physical cue but make sure that you keep these consistent.
If your dog doesn't do what you ask, do not force them to do it (i.e push into a sit) instead let them sniff or play and then ask them again once they have settled.
Common mistakes are to say the dogs name is such a way that means "do it or else...". This is not going to help the long term goals of training so try to avoid doing this. Give the dog an action to act on. Saying "ah!" or "no" is not a behaviour but "sit" is.
Make sure to keep your cues concise. If you taught the behaviour sit by saying sit do not start using 'sit nice'. Nice means nothing to your dog unless it is taught and changing the cues means your dog will get confused and not know what you are asking of them. Cues work best when they are kept the same and when they are short, ideally one word.
When teaching behaviour to your dog in a new environment they will find it difficult even if they know the behaviour elsewhere. If you find yourself saying to your guests "he knows this!" then you must lower expectations of success in a new environment and reinforce in intervals. Your dog does not need to perform the behaviour perfectly. A lot of dogs will jump in excitement with new people in the vicinity. They may know a sit or lie down but in this new environment that goes out the window; sound familiar? Take them to a distance away from the new people and ask for the behaviour there. Distance decreases the excitability and work there. Gradually decrease and be able to work towards greeting new people within the home. If you need help with a specific behaviour then get in touch and I will be more than happy to assist with a training protocol.
Over time you will want to fade out using treats as often to reward. Do this using a variable reinforcement schedule. Additionally, vary the actual treats you are using. High value for hard tasks and their normal food for tasks they know. This actually encourages your dog to work more enthusiastically because there is an unexpectedness to the reward. Over time something that was once hard will become easy and the reinforcement schedule can decrease.
If your dog doesn't do what you ask, do not force them to do it (i.e push into a sit) instead let them sniff or play and then ask them again once they have settled.
Common mistakes are to say the dogs name is such a way that means "do it or else...". This is not going to help the long term goals of training so try to avoid doing this. Give the dog an action to act on. Saying "ah!" or "no" is not a behaviour but "sit" is.
Make sure to keep your cues concise. If you taught the behaviour sit by saying sit do not start using 'sit nice'. Nice means nothing to your dog unless it is taught and changing the cues means your dog will get confused and not know what you are asking of them. Cues work best when they are kept the same and when they are short, ideally one word.
When teaching behaviour to your dog in a new environment they will find it difficult even if they know the behaviour elsewhere. If you find yourself saying to your guests "he knows this!" then you must lower expectations of success in a new environment and reinforce in intervals. Your dog does not need to perform the behaviour perfectly. A lot of dogs will jump in excitement with new people in the vicinity. They may know a sit or lie down but in this new environment that goes out the window; sound familiar? Take them to a distance away from the new people and ask for the behaviour there. Distance decreases the excitability and work there. Gradually decrease and be able to work towards greeting new people within the home. If you need help with a specific behaviour then get in touch and I will be more than happy to assist with a training protocol.
Over time you will want to fade out using treats as often to reward. Do this using a variable reinforcement schedule. Additionally, vary the actual treats you are using. High value for hard tasks and their normal food for tasks they know. This actually encourages your dog to work more enthusiastically because there is an unexpectedness to the reward. Over time something that was once hard will become easy and the reinforcement schedule can decrease.
Start small and set your dog up for success.
No comments:
Post a Comment