Tips For Helping A Shy Greyhound

[Guest 4happyhounds]

not necessary

Edited November 22, 2010 by Trudy
yep, that was real useful

[Guest Lakota]

Hi,

I've just read this thread a feel I must jump in. I have met Annie and her dad at the grey runs he takes her to every week. We've all seen and commented on the remarkable improvement in her.

 

IMHO what Annie's dad refers to as "training" for the most part consists of what I would refer to as "socialization". From what I've read and seen, he is not forcing her to do anything, but rather rewarding her for the things she does do right. She is definately bonding with him at this point, and is probably more bonded than mine was this soon in.

 

However, having said that, his expectations were high at the begining, and I am hoping that he's becoming more patient and understands that these things take time for everyone.

 

G, how did Annie do with the snow this morning?

 

oops, one more thing. I beleive sandysfarm on the gra board does training, and she's located in central Toronto.

Edited November 27, 2010 by Lakota

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

I have a shy dog (I don't think she's a true spook, by the general GT definition) here because the trainer can't catch her after sprinting and schooling her. I'm the only one who can, and that took five races in a span of two days at the practice track, with the screen pulled across, before I could catch her easily like I can now. She is definitely a nut. It's been a couple months that I've been working with her. She went back to the track for a short time to see she could be "cured" again with no luck, but bounced right back into life with me. I took her back after another bitch in the turn out pen threw her muzzle and nailed my girl and ripped an impressive hole in her throat.

 

Last night was the first time I actually tried walking her through busy parts of downtown and outdoor restaurants. I gave that throat wound two weeks to heal before trying walking her around someplace where I thought hitting the collar might happen. She did amazingly well... but we have built trust. This is a dog that follows me around everywhere. She still won't come out of a crate and into my arms. I have to open the crate and step aside. Same for most things- like getting her to come inside. It's slow going... but the more experiences I stage for her, and nothing bad happens, the tighter our bond and the deeper the trust. I don't know that I can get her to where she'll let strange lead outs grab her at the track when I'm no where to be found, but I do believe this dog will be a normal and pleasant companion for somebody.

 

Mine leaps into the car because she loves her crate. She will now leap into the front seat or the bench in the back of the van... but it was the crate (and the fact that the car takes her RACING and COURSING) that got her to love it. Now my van is "safe haven" and she pulls towards it when we pass it on walks (we park and walk all over town). She loves and adores sleeping in the bed and lately lets me pull her close and cuddle with her before I fall asleep. I do hope she can learn to trust enough to let others work with her. I'm trying to teach her a command that anyone who works with her can use to catch her. She still won't take food out of my hand, though. I have to click and toss- and this dog inhales her dinner like any other kennel dog.

Edited November 28, 2010 by FastDogsOwnMe

[Guest krey1025]

KansasGrey, I'm a brand-new grey owner and wanted to echo what you said about a grey learning from other dogs. My new boy Peet has spent a wonderful long Thanksgiving weekend with his cousin Otis, a Boston Terrier, and has really started to blossom. Otis has really helped him come out of his shell, and they are now each other's shadow. Otis is highly trained, and while we haven't specifically started training Peet with many commands, he's already started to pick up "come" and "stay".

 

In response to the post, it sounds like there are many, very experienced grey owners offering great advice and experience. I have learned in short order that patience is the most important thing. Peet is prone to statuing, and I have really had to practice patience and let him take in all the new sights and sounds. We live in NYC, so it can be overwhelming to anyone! Patience has helped tremendously. I'm learning just as much as he is about life. I'm not putting a lot of pressure of expectations on him, just love and growing trust, which we heap on him in huge quantities.

 

Good luck with Annie, and I'm sure over time you will see her blossom!

[Guest Giselle]

Annie's dad,

 

If you're still here (I hope you are), you asked some *very* interesting training questions. Pretty technical and detailed - just my type =) When your pup IS ready for rigorous behavioral modification, please come back and ask again.

 

On that note, I'm a little upset at the ambivalence towards "training". To a certain extent, Annie's dad, you are correct. Every single time you interact with your dog, you are training. From the moment you drop food into its bowl in the morning to the minute to clip on its leash for the evening walk, you are training your dog. "Training" is not supposed to be limited to a 10-minute interval when you remember to do it. In fact, this is *exactly* why behavior problems occur! It's because people have this mindset that training is supposed to be a structured, isolated "you-do-what-I-say-for-only-these-10-minutes" session. This mindset is what creates behavior problems. You are training your dog every time you interact with it. Every time you interact with your dog, it is learning new associations, new connections.

 

However, where you stray from the 'ideal' is when you insist on rigorous behavioral modification. Annie is just too new and too shy for such rigor. What you ARE doing correctly is building a strong foundation of trust and handler-focus. But the really rigorous behavioral modification has to wait until this trust and handler-focus is no longer a "neat trick" that works 50% of the time but becomes a solid, ingrained habit. It is no longer something you need to ask for. It is automatically offered by Annie by habit, by instinct. See the difference? I really hope to hear of progress soon. You will see it with the techniques you are using. Just don't dwell on the fact that you're still on Step 2 and not Step 10. Even if you were at Step 10, there's still Step 20. Be glad you're moving forwards and not backwards! =)

[Guest Lakota]

well said Giselle

[Guest AnnieAreYouOK]

Annie's dad,

 

If you're still here (I hope you are), you asked some *very* interesting training questions. Pretty technical and detailed - just my type =) When your pup IS ready for rigorous behavioral modification, please come back and ask again.

 

On that note, I'm a little upset at the ambivalence towards "training". To a certain extent, Annie's dad, you are correct. Every single time you interact with your dog, you are training. From the moment you drop food into its bowl in the morning to the minute to clip on its leash for the evening walk, you are training your dog. "Training" is not supposed to be limited to a 10-minute interval when you remember to do it. In fact, this is *exactly* why behavior problems occur! It's because people have this mindset that training is supposed to be a structured, isolated "you-do-what-I-say-for-only-these-10-minutes" session. This mindset is what creates behavior problems. You are training your dog every time you interact with it. Every time you interact with your dog, it is learning new associations, new connections.

 

However, where you stray from the 'ideal' is when you insist on rigorous behavioral modification. Annie is just too new and too shy for such rigor. What you ARE doing correctly is building a strong foundation of trust and handler-focus. But the really rigorous behavioral modification has to wait until this trust and handler-focus is no longer a "neat trick" that works 50% of the time but becomes a solid, ingrained habit. It is no longer something you need to ask for. It is automatically offered by Annie by habit, by instinct. See the difference? I really hope to hear of progress soon. You will see it with the techniques you are using. Just don't dwell on the fact that you're still on Step 2 and not Step 10. Even if you were at Step 10, there's still Step 20. Be glad you're moving forwards and not backwards! =)

 

Thanks for the response Giselle.

I am quite surprised at the negative attitude towards training new greys here.

I don't do any "formal" training because she loses interest very quickly.

I only really get to train her when I feed her, which is about 5 mins everyday. She just sleeps for the rest of the time.

 

 

 

As for behavior modification, I don't *think* I am putting too much pressure on her although I could be wrong. I can read some of the nervous signs like when she's yawning, sniffing around or looking away, but I have no idea what she's thinking most of time. She does get extremely stressed out in the car and I don't know what I can do to help. I've desensitized her to the point where she would go into the car but she still hates the car ride.

 

The thing I really want her to learn is to come to me on command outside. Right now if she ever gets out of her collar by accident, she is never coming back. So I'm trying to find ways to expand her comfort zone. I just don't know if I'm doing the right things. I will get some professional lessons later. The trainer is certified and has greyhounds of her own.

 

My little scheme of leaving cheese on the bed worked well. She would now come to the bed when called. I had to make a cushion step cos she doesn't know how to jump.

[Guest Giselle]

Excessive sleep is a sign of stress. Many new dogs "don't do anything" when they first arrive, and it's often not their true personality, as other GT members have noted before. It is a sign that the dog is still adjusting and will require time and plentiful positive experiences to feel more at ease. The loss of interest is also a very common problem with new dogs and dogs who haven't had any experience with training.

 

When you've got a more difficult dog, it is often very challenging to locate the stress signals, even if you've seen the pictures in readings. I would suggest videotaping those 5 minutes where you interact with your dog in the morning. In fact, video tape as much as you can. Then, look back through it. Look at your body. Look at hers. Is she resting her weight on her haunches? Are her ears glued to her head or are they forward, showing interest? Does she turn her head away from you, avoiding your eye contact? I have a feeling that she's probably sending some signs that she's still not totally comfortable with the situation or with what you're asking her to do. I'm still not sure what behaviors you're trying to train right now, but I would only do these for now:

 

- Train her to enjoy you *immensely*. I'm sure the books you have demonstrate how to approach a fearful dog successfully through counter-conditioning. Do that. Every day. Many times a day. This is the basis for your rock-solid "come". This is probably one of those things that people don't see as 'training', but it is! You're teaching her new associations and new behaviors. It's more like structured loving =)

- Train "Focus". Do you know how to free shape eye contact? On that note, do you use a clicker? Your books may or may not describe how to free shape. If they don't, come back again and ask. It's the easiest, most painless, most enjoyable form of teaching new behaviors, IMO.

 

These two things are all you really need to do right now. Every thing else will fall into place if you can get her to enjoy focusing on you and being with you.

 

Also: What are the car rides for? They sound like unnecessary stress... Unless it's to the vet or to some place she REALLY likes (which, in that case, they usually look *forward* to), I would maybe take a break from car rides and do more DS/CC until she actually does like hopping in. Otherwise, forcing her to endure a car ride when she clearly doesn't enjoy it is no better than "flooding".

Edited December 1, 2010 by Giselle

[Guest AnnieAreYouOK]

I can get her to come in the house with no problems.

I can even sit in the living room and say come, and she would come.

It's when we are outside and she's unleashed that I become a completely different person.

 

She loves getting ear scratches. In the first few weeks, she would look away and yawn a lot but she is fine now. She would let out a relaxed sigh after I pet her for a while. When I stop petting her, she would look straight me in the eye going "why did you stop?" until I start petting her again.

 

The car ride is for the weekend greyhound run in a baseball diamond. I think that has helped her a lot in socializing. Before she would just stand on the sidelines and watch other greys run. Now she is starting to the join the group. She chases after me if I start running but wouldn't get too close.

 

The car ride is too much for her. It's a fairly long ride, about an hour. When there is a red light, sometimes she would get up, look at all the traffic and pant. She wouldn't even eat cheese in the car. She kinda settles down on the highway but I don't know if she just completely shuts down at that point. She has puked in the car before so I stopped feeding her breakfast on weekends and just give her some food before I go to sleep.

Edited December 1, 2010 by AnnieAreYouOK

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

She is adorable!

[Guest AnnieAreYouOK]

Oh and I don't actually use a clicker, I just say "yes".

 

Not sure what focus is. Is it training with distractions? I haven't started with that yet.

 

I don't know if I'm doing shaping correctly. Like I try to get her to sit by holding food above her head and she would follow the lure and look at it. She just doesn't know that she is able to sit. I've never seen her sit before. The same goes for jumps. I have to get her to step on something.

[robinw]

She's really cute! Black hounds are the best

[Guest Giselle]

Free shaping involves doing nothing on your part. It requires the dog to offer behaviors by itself, and the dog generally learns the verbal cue before the physical cue (because there really should be no physical cue with shaping). So, no, luring is not shaping.

 

"Focus" is essentially eye contact. A lot of people like to hold a treat in the middle of their eyes, but that's just luring and your dog will be reliant on your hand motion signal rather than offer the behavior by herself. To free shape a "Focus", you hold out a treat at arm's length, away from your face (it helps to be kneeling). Your dog will sniff and lick, but hold that treat firmly in your hand and don't give it to her. Once she pauses and backs off, click/treat. *Reward from your opposite hand!* Repeat the set-up again. Holding out a treat at arm's length, allow her to sniff. Once she backs off again, click/treat. Do this until she consistently backs off as soon as you hold the treat out. When she's at this stage, DON'T click/treat and wait her out. She will be a little confused and that's okay; just make sure she's not overly stressed or frustrated. After a while, she should steal a glance towards your face or body. Click/treat. Do the set-up again, this time rewarding only for looking at your face or body. Slowly "shape" her to look at your eyes. Eventually, Annie will understand that you withholding a treat means that she needs to give you eye-contact, aka "Focus". You don't need to hold a treat between your eyes. In fact, Annie will start to use this with everything. If you try withholding human food from her in the kitchen, she'll try eye contact with you to gain the food And once you're at this point, you've got the foundations for a confident, responsive, attentive dog.

 

Once you've got this, the rest of all training will come much more easily.

[Guest AnnieAreYouOK]

Thanks a lot for the tips Giselle.

I've taught her focus a while ago. The book calls it attention. Targeting and attention were the first things I taught her. She is able to maintain eye contact for quite a while until I give her food.

 

Do you have any tips on how I can get her to come to me outside? I tried feeding her outside in the yard, but she wouldn't come if I'm a little far away. I didn't want to stress her out so I kinda stopped doing that. Any suggestion on this?

 

Also, is there like a list of detailed things that she could learn in order of difficulty and usefulness?

[Guest Giselle]

I can give a list of behaviors that I need from *my* dogs and it's pretty easy to list them in order of difficulty. However, everyone has different criteria for his/her dog, so most people just name off the Basic-5 (sit, down, stay, come, heel) as a general rule. Honestly, though, I feel obligated to reiterate what everyone else has already said: RELAX =) You don't need to micromanage your training! Truly training takes a long time, and you'll see why...

 

Since you are having difficulty with "Come", I would recommend keeping Annie on a long leash when she's out in the yard. This way, you don't have to chase her down or ask for a "Come" when she clearly won't give it to you. As for why this is happening? 2 things:

1) Outside is way more fun and distracting than inside

2) You never trained her in the outside setting; your criteria for "Come" has always been inside, so she is basically untrained when outside. In more technical terms, she never generalized the behavior (your dog training books should have a more detailed explanation of "generalization").

And this is why I'm urging you to take it slow because Annie is probably not generalizing her behaviors quite yet. For example, with eye contact, has she really generalized it? When she sees you holding a toy she wants, does she stare at the toy or does she try to give you eye contact? When you hold the leash to go outside, does she stare at the door or does she try to give you eye contact? Or does she only give eye contact when it's clear that you're holding a treat? There's a very fine difference between a dog who knows trained behaviors and a dog who has internalized/generalized all its trained behaviors.

 

So, to help a dog generalize, it's the age old advice: Practice. Practice every time every where! Starting with a 5 ft leash at your back door, practice "Come". If she hesitates, you can take a few brisk steps back to get her to trot to you. Slowly move it to your backyard. Slowly give her more leash with which to roam. If she hesitates, again, take a few brisk steps back to get her to trot to you. Practice practice practice. Practice until "Come" is automatic - inside or outside, off leash or on leash. That's all generalization really is!

[Guest cwholsin]

I can get her to come in the house with no problems.

I can even sit in the living room and say come, and she would come.

It's when we are outside and she's unleashed that I become a completely different person.

 

She loves getting ear scratches. In the first few weeks, she would look away and yawn a lot but she is fine now. She would let out a relaxed sigh after I pet her for a while. When I stop petting her, she would look straight me in the eye going "why did you stop?" until I start petting her again.

 

The car ride is for the weekend greyhound run in a baseball diamond. I think that has helped her a lot in socializing. Before she would just stand on the sidelines and watch other greys run. Now she is starting to the join the group. She chases after me if I start running but wouldn't get too close.

 

The car ride is too much for her. It's a fairly long ride, about an hour. When there is a red light, sometimes she would get up, look at all the traffic and pant. She wouldn't even eat cheese in the car. She kinda settles down on the highway but I don't know if she just completely shuts down at that point. She has puked in the car before so I stopped feeding her breakfast on weekends and just give her some food before I go to sleep.

 

 

 

I'd like to say that trouble with the 'come' command when out and about is probably the most difficult for greyhounds. First off, from my understanding when a racing hound is off the lead there is no reason to pay attention to humans at all. The only times they're off-lead and not in the crate is when they're turned out to play and potty and when they're running on the track. So listening to a human when she's loose, like at the dog park, is totally unfamiliar to her. We saw the same thing with Hermes. He's a dream while on the lead, comes to us very well inside and in structured environment--but when he's off leash, he completely ignores us. He's been slowly progressing to where he'll look at us, check in on us occasionally, and come to us from short distances if he's not engaged in another dog. But the progress has been veeerrrrrrry slow. Pretty much any habit that's not familiar from the track will take longer than others to develop!

 

 

[Guest AnnieAreYouOK]

I can give a list of behaviors that I need from *my* dogs and it's pretty easy to list them in order of difficulty. However, everyone has different criteria for his/her dog, so most people just name off the Basic-5 (sit, down, stay, come, heel) as a general rule. Honestly, though, I feel obligated to reiterate what everyone else has already said: RELAX =) You don't need to micromanage your training! Truly training takes a long time, and you'll see why...

 

Since you are having difficulty with "Come", I would recommend keeping Annie on a long leash when she's out in the yard. This way, you don't have to chase her down or ask for a "Come" when she clearly won't give it to you. As for why this is happening? 2 things:

1) Outside is way more fun and distracting than inside

2) You never trained her in the outside setting; your criteria for "Come" has always been inside, so she is basically untrained when outside. In more technical terms, she never generalized the behavior (your dog training books should have a more detailed explanation of "generalization").

And this is why I'm urging you to take it slow because Annie is probably not generalizing her behaviors quite yet. For example, with eye contact, has she really generalized it? When she sees you holding a toy she wants, does she stare at the toy or does she try to give you eye contact? When you hold the leash to go outside, does she stare at the door or does she try to give you eye contact? Or does she only give eye contact when it's clear that you're holding a treat? There's a very fine difference between a dog who knows trained behaviors and a dog who has internalized/generalized all its trained behaviors.

 

So, to help a dog generalize, it's the age old advice: Practice. Practice every time every where! Starting with a 5 ft leash at your back door, practice "Come". If she hesitates, you can take a few brisk steps back to get her to trot to you. Slowly move it to your backyard. Slowly give her more leash with which to roam. If she hesitates, again, take a few brisk steps back to get her to trot to you. Practice practice practice. Practice until "Come" is automatic - inside or outside, off leash or on leash. That's all generalization really is!

 

I understand that training will take time and I am not trying to rush her. I already ignore her for pretty much 23 hours a day, so for the 1 hour that we do interact, I would like to at least try and make some progress. I just lack the knowledge on the specifics. "Doing nothing" is not a real answer because even petting her is doing something. Where I pet her, when I pet her, and how I pet her makes a big difference in how she bonds with me. Details like my posture, my movement, my tone of voice, my facial expression, all of that can help her feel more relaxed. I want to know exactly what I should be doing in the room, in the house, in the yard, in the park, when I should start the next step and what is the next step.

 

With eye contact, she's always watching me when she's not sleeping. Eye contact is not really a problem for her. For "come", It was never a problem on leash and she always follows me, same as in the house. Off leash, on the patio it was still ok. It's when I get further out to the yard that she starts hesitating. I know she was trying, but it was getting stressful for her so she went back. I'm trying to help her generalize it but I don't know what steps to take. Like I could have kept trying on the patio and try to get her desensitized. I could also wait until she feels more comfortable about the yard first. Or maybe I should be doing something else to gain more of her trust instead. I don't know what exactly I should be doing.

 

There were some detailed step by step instructions on getting her to come out of the crate and they were very effective. I'm basically looking for the same step by step instructions I could try. I was hoping maybe you guys went through the same experience and had some specific techniques.

 

 

 

Here are some more pics of her

 

She never liked toys, but she loves to collect empty food containers.

 

Here she is spying on me in the washroom

[Guest AnnieAreYouOK]

I'd like to say that trouble with the 'come' command when out and about is probably the most difficult for greyhounds. First off, from my understanding when a racing hound is off the lead there is no reason to pay attention to humans at all. The only times they're off-lead and not in the crate is when they're turned out to play and potty and when they're running on the track. So listening to a human when she's loose, like at the dog park, is totally unfamiliar to her. We saw the same thing with Hermes. He's a dream while on the lead, comes to us very well inside and in structured environment--but when he's off leash, he completely ignores us. He's been slowly progressing to where he'll look at us, check in on us occasionally, and come to us from short distances if he's not engaged in another dog. But the progress has been veeerrrrrrry slow. Pretty much any habit that's not familiar from the track will take longer than others to develop!

 

I think for her case, she's just shy right now. I'm asking her to come a few small steps with food in front. It's not that she's distracted, she's just trying to avoid me when it's outside. It's a combination of her not feeling comfortable in the yard, and her not entirely trusting me.

[Batmom]

For "come" in the yard, once potty and poking around are done, I go to the dog and clip the leash on. We do "come" on the leash until it's perfect. I usually combine that on-leash work with some heeling/stops/starts so it feels like a mild training session. If off leash is kinda shaky, I always start the session with a few on-leash practices.

 

Then off leash -- first "come" is when I've just let go of the collar and dog is right there. Then basically follow the dog around, wait until she looks at me from @ 1 foot away and cheerful "Come!" With a shy dog, I make sure I am NOT making direct eye contact at that moment. We practice like that -- just from a foot or two away, and when dog is coming towards me anyway -- until that's perfect. Few minutes a day, not for all yard time.

 

If I call and dog doesn't come, no scolding, disappointment, or exasperation; none, zero, zilch, never ever ever. I go to the dog, calmly and cheerfully, clip the leash on, and we practice on leash some more. If that happens too many times, then I stop practicing off leash and focus on leash -- get that 100% perfect, ingrained, beyond a shadow of a doubt before even trying off leash again. Reason being, this is an important command. You want to set the dog up for 100% success for this one.

 

Note too that "Come" is always a happy thing, always a party when dog comes. I use it only for that one action -- come to me and have a party. Not for going in the crate, not for going back in the house when dog might not want to, not for getting a bath ... Those are different commands. I want the dog to believe quite firmly that "Come" means exactly one thing -- "person has best treat in the world and I better go get it, yippeeeeeeee!"

 

If I've had trouble at any stage of this, I also don't practice too many times. First time dog comes beautifully off leash, from a little distance? Party and we're done training for that session (unless dog absolutely loves training; in that case I might do one more, then move on to another fun command).

 

 

 

ETA: In your case, I might let her get comfortable with you in the yard before working on it off leash there. When she's out in the yard, you go out, wander around, and just ignore her. Have some nice treats in your pocket so if she passes close by you, you can say, "Hiya, want a treat?" and give a treat. If she likes toys, you can also go off in the yard and play with your toy. Once she gets comfortable with you out there and maybe a little curious, you might be able to start working on "come" by jogging AWAY from her with your (her) squeaky toy.

Edited December 4, 2010 by Batmom

[Guest Giselle]

You should just work on getting her more trustful and comfortable with you, within the yard, and make sure she's an operant dog. An operant dog is one who, upon the withholding of rewards (such as toys, food, affection, attention, going out for a walk), will offer self-generated behaviors (such as eye contact, sit, down, wait, etc). I know I sound like a broken record, but I must emphasize building an operant dog because an operant dog is, by nature of the training, confident and relaxed. Some dogs, some breeds do this naturally. Greyhounds ... not so much. But that is all the more incentive for us to *build* an operant dog by teaching things like "Focus" and using it in an operant-manner. So, next time you feed Annie, don't just plop her bowl down. Hold it slightly above her reach and wait for her to stare at your eyes. Then, you know she's getting the whole operant idea and you can reward her with her dinner. If you think eye contact isn't enough, wait for a "Sit" or "down" or whatever default behavior you've taught. It's reinforcing generalization of the behavior and creating an operant dog at the same time.

 

Once you DO have a dog who knows how to offer behaviors by his/herself, you'll start to be able to do something like this:

http://drsophiayin.com/videos/ComeWhenCalled.mp4

Key things: Note how, as soon as the dog reaches his owner, he automatically sits. That's an operant dog! And why is it so important? Watch the video again. See how the owner can call her dog off some VERY INTERESTING distractions, and her dog comes with exuberance and happiness. The same principle applies to Annie: If she's truly operant, you should be able to get her focus back on you with ease, even if she's not totally comfortable in a situation. That's the beauty of an operant dog. It naturally creates a happy, relaxed, confident dog whose natural instinct is to stay close to you and focus on you, which is why operant training is so crucial for fearful/aggressive/high-strung dogs. So, for now, work on simple behaviors and practice them in an operant manner. In your case, practice the "Come" depicted in the video 1) inside your house 2) out on your porch 3) in your garage 4) finally, in your actual yard 5) on your front street 6) in a public area, etc. etc. It's just (efficient) practice!

 

I also am confused by your step-by-step instruction request. Can you let me know which part of this is unclear? You sound worried about 'messing up' with Annie and so seem to be on the more conservative side as far as training "Come". Just get her exuberant about "Come" in the house (see the video as an example). Then, take it to the yard, slowly and with time. It's simple. Don't worry about micromanaging your facial or body posture. Just keep it fun! If your foundation is solid, the training comes with ease.

Edited December 5, 2010 by Giselle

[Guest Giselle]

I found some old videos that show what behaviors my operant dogs offer during feeding time.

First, the dobermutt is better at this, so she shows a great focus. Notice how everything is automatic. Ivy gives solid eye contact without my prompting and is only released until I say "Okay".

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v474/LSophie/Videos/?action=view&current=MVI_0036.mp4

Now, with two dogs:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v474/LSophie/Videos/?action=view&current=FeedingTime.mp4

Notice, too, how they do not need to be asked to "Wait". They automatically wait in the crate until I give each dog her specific verbal release (Giselle is always released first).

 

These are examples of operant behaviors and why they're so crucial They create dogs whose first instinct in uncertain situations is to focus on you, without your prompting. It's a great asset for fearful or aggressive dogs!

[Guest AnnieAreYouOK]

I haven't done much for operant conditioning other than teaching her targeting and focus(only in the room). She is only really comfortable in the room. Everywhere else she would get a little stressed. She's still mostly on a desensitization and counter conditioning program. It's a little too cold to feed her in the yard now so I kinda stopped doing that.

 

For some specific things like dealing with people, there was a very detailed program in the book. Like it tells me how far my friend was supposed to stand, when she gets the treat, what he was supposed to not wear, his posture, etc. It didn't have anything for recall. I guess they just assumed it wasn't very important.

 

She did make some progress. She finally figured out the bed wasn't that scary and it was quite comfortable. I had to remove the bed frame cos the height was giving her some issues.

[Batmom]

I had to remove the bed frame cos the height was giving her some issues.

 

She is a cutie, and it sounds like you are making progress in training each other (please note that I have done exactly the same thing).