Here's our door training again:
The dogs were hot and tired from our walk, making it easier. However, they've really come a long way! I can go all the way out, let the screen door close, open the screen door, knock lightly, and come in all without moving. I'm adding in lots of "kitchen!" as a predictor that there will be food thrown in the kitchen. Eventually, I hope to have this sequence: someone knocks on the door, I say "kitchen!" everyone hustles to the kitchen, sits and stays, I open the door and either pay the pizza guy or let the visitor in, then go reinforce the dogs and release them from the stay to either greet the visitor or go back to their business. Now it gets trickier, however, because I need some actual visitors to up the ante. I'll start with the band guys since they come to my house at least once a week anyway, then eventually have more stranger-type people do it.
Interesting how slow their sits were in the beginning. You'd think they'd anticipate that by now . . .
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Oh, looks like Dottie got cut off. She's in the youtube version, though. She did a good job, this is hard for her (apparently not Gustav, though. He frequently continues to sit there long after I've released him, hoping for some more treats. If it were a stranger it would be a different story)
ReplyDeleteWOW! That's rock solid!
ReplyDeleteIt always amazes me how with a little patience, clear direction, being consistent, the right choice of rewards and being creative makes the end result look so easy.
They totally get it. Way to go.
Yeah, thanks! It was funny: Dottie got stuck on the sound of the screen door closing for about a week, I wasn't sure she'd ever get it. But those dog training people are no dummies: I just ignored the bad reps and reinforced the good ones and sure enough it stuck. I also took a few days where I did it three sessions a day, five reps each and then it really sunk in, just like Patricia McConnell was talking about in her blog post about rehabilitating stroke victims: intensive, many short sessions throughout the day. She's so brilliant!
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