I'm thinking a lot about shaping relaxation cues, thanks to a good discussion over at Patricia McConnell's blog, theotherendoftheleash.com If I could get Gustav to play bow or do some other action that he only does when he's relaxed on cue, I could use it as a feedback loop whereby by acting relaxed he could feel more relaxed. Dottie could surely use something like this too.
What should I try to train? I'm thinking either play bows, because they've both been trained a bit on it already and it's such a big obvious one, or maybe an open mouth for Gustav. He NEVER opens his mouth on walks, except if it's super hot. And he's not a nervous panter or anything. For Dottie, I'm not sure. She's so good at trick learning that it wouldn't take long to do a whole bunch, so I can go more trial-and-error to see what works for her.
In other news, still getting lots of autowatches and keeping our distance, which has been working great. Also, a dog barked from that same truck on that same street. Dottie put up all her hackles, but restrained herself and came looking for a treat instead. Hooray! We've been having really nice walks, they have nice leash manners and are a real pleasure to be out with as long as there are no big bad scary things.
We went to the park and did some line work, which reminded me that Gustav's recall has really fallen off. It would be nice if he had a decent recall if/when he is not a total public health hazard. Dottie has a great one, with the exception of when she's mid-roll in something disgusting. Oh well, dogs will be dogs. I'm not going to worry too much about it, Dottie deserves a good roll once in a while :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I forgot to add on the Other end of the leash blog that "sniff" is another cue I've taught my crew and it was the ice breaker in the previous foster I had Jake.
ReplyDeleteHe was labeled "dog agressive" and a resource guarder and we figured out that he was just awkward at head on social interactions...so I put "sniff" on cue and we spent 3wks parking ourselves at a park bench in a quiet area, doing our subthreshold counter-conditioning and tricks stuff and when a dog walked by, we would get up and walk behind them, then if I noticed that Jake didn't really pay too much attention to the dog, and the dog seemed to have a relaxed personality, I walked up beside them with Jake on the outside, started a conversation and gave Jake treats and if he didn't rubber neck I'd ask if they'd help me out and I'd have Jake do tricks beside the dog and then ask Jake to sniff the dog and say "lets go" and be on our way.
All the pressure was off Jake to do a full on head to head meet and greet. That's what his icebreaker was which opened the door to working his way up to regular meet and greets. They're all so individual!
Interesting. Did you teach sniff the ground, or sniff like targeting (sniff that) or sniff the dog?
ReplyDeleteSniff in different contexts, INCLUDING 'sniff" that dog. all of the above.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of the easiest ones to shape. It means the same thing in each context.. mouth off, enjoy the scent, then I'll cue what comes next. ie. when we're walking, we're walking "lets go' when it's time to 'sniff" a bush or grass...then I stop, ask for a sit (take my european leash off my shoulder), then point to the grass or bush and say "go sniff'...and they sniff away!
I just did a video to log Daizy's progress with distractions and refraining from butting it when playing tug with her favourite toy.
Because I know she LOVES THAT SHEEPSKIN. before I release her to 'TUG" I test that they can control their instints by asking them to "sniff" it.
Daizy can be a witch when there's food around so "sniff" comes in really handy around other dogs. You can actually see Daizy sniff Keegan's muzzle in the video as well. The more you reward it...you'll see it more often. Especially when you shape behaviours..them having the freedom to offer up a bazillion and one...you'll see which behaviours they realize are most rewarding.
Maybe check it out, so you can see what I mean. They know the difference and you can totally see them sniffing!
forgot to add the blog link
ReplyDeletehappy-houndz.blogspot.com
is my dog blog