The Challenge begins.
There is one thing I tell my clients on a regular basis and this is to have a training plan. Don’t just blindly find yourself in situations where you’re supposed to be training your dog, without first thinking through the possibilities for distraction, reaction, reward, and an all important emergency get out clause, if things get too much for either you or the dog.
The challenge had been set, to get my teenage puppy Guinness to stop cocking his leg on everything and anything his testosterone filled body declared worth peeing on. You may all be pleased to hear that on day one, this exercise resulted in a major failure on my part. I would love to tell you all that as a trainer, I do everything one hundred percent correctly, one hundred per cent of the time. But of course I don’t. Last week was a great example of what can go wrong.
Here is what should have happened and what did happen during the subsequent two visits to the pet shop following a re-evaluation of my dog’s temperament and my training or lack of it, during my first failed attempt. Armed with a jolly disposition, tasty food treats and his favourite tug toy, I used distraction and diversion to instill a good habit (playing tug, focusing on and responding to mum), to get Guinness around the pet shop without once cocking his leg or attempting to sniff. Now I know some of you will think this is an avoidance of the problem, but I base quite a lot of my training methods on the premise that if my dogs are only ever allowed to learn good habits, then the bad habits never get a chance to creep in. So if Guinness learns that while indoors, even where other dogs have clearly marked and scented, his only choice/option/desire is to trot beside me, chase food treats and occasionally tug, then in time, the scent markings of other dogs should pale into insignificance. At least this has become my training plan and shall remain so for the time being and while we’re still having success.
Now I’ll confess what actually happened during that first attempt, what went wrong, what I should have seen coming (shame on me) and what I won’t be trying again. Armed with limited time to walk around the shop (mistake no.1, don’t train when you’re rushed) and with a wheelie basket, we set off to buy some essentials (mistake No. 2, focus on your dog 100%).
On his first attempt to cock his leg I tried to use my interrupter cue (‘ah ah’), but my timing was terrible and timing is crucial if you’re using this technique. Guinness’ ability to sniff, cock, emit several drops of pee and move on is frighteningly fast. I simply didn’t get my interrupted out quickly enough so he had no idea which behaviour I was correcting. There was also, in my panic, an unintentional leash jerk as I walked off. I try really hard never to use leash jerks or collar grabs as punishers with my dogs so this action came a huge shock to him. Then to top it all off, at that exact moment, the wheelie basket crashed to the ground.
We know that dogs are contextual learners and don’t necessarily generalized their training (for example, sit only means sit in the kitchen, if this is the only place you train,). In addition, I know all too well that Border Collies can be highly sensitive in their make-up and take correction personally which is why I so rarely use it. Dog’s will often link together neutral objects with scary events (we were passing that tree on the day I hurt my leg, therefore I now don’t want to pass that tree).
The result of my epic failed attempt at a simple exercise, ‘don’t cock your leg indoors’, resulted on that first occasion in a guilt ridden owner, a sressed dog who refused to go near the wheelie basket and who skulked around the shop. My little pint of Guinness would barely pass by the site of the horrific event on our second attempt to walk around aisles.
Lesson No. 1: Always have a training plan which suits your dog. Lesson No. 2 Practice what you preach.
Anyone know a good dog trainer in my area?
