You are your dog's trainer 😊 And to be a good trainer you need a toolbox and a keen sense of observation. The toolbox is all the knowledge of operant conditioning, all the science, and how it works. These are the tools we use to troubleshoot a situation, to analyze what's working and what's not. But we need our constant observation skills to understand the current environment and to look for ways to optimize our dog's success by doing what we can to also manage the environment. When appropriate (based on your dog's skill level and what you're working on) you want to minimize the distractions that would be too much for your dog to manage right now. As you're walking, do you see dogs ahead that you and your dog don't know? Might they be suddenly dog reactive? Why put yourself and your dog in that position if you can give them distance or avoid them altogether? Why frighten your dog or give him a bad experience? So the toolbox + constant observation is part of the equation to being a good trainer that your dog can trust.
Here is a case study for you to consider. Ask yourself what you'd advise the owner. I'll tell you my answer below.
A family adopts a 3 month old puppy, and gives it too much freedom and it's peeing and pooping in the house (an apartment, no yard but there is a nearby park). When the pup is 5 months old they ask for help. They are advised to keep the dog leashed inside, and with them, or confined (crated, preferably) when they are gone, and to take him outside each hour and give him a chance to eliminate. If he eliminates, click and reward BIG. This works beautifully except for pooping.
The pup is still pooping in the house twice a day, and has NEVER pooped outside with them. They mention that this does not happen when their in-laws are caring for their pup (but they keep him outside all the time and they have other dogs, also outside all the time). Stop reading for a minute and consider what you would advise. Then, read on below for my advice.
What's the common element here? The pup MAY be reluctant to poop on leash, near his owner. At the in-laws he poops outside but is still never on a leash when he does so. And since he's not allowed to hang out inside, he cannot poop inside there. He's not given the opportunity to make a mistake inside. Since the pup will poop in the in-law's yard, the ideal situation would be to put him on a light long-line and be with him in that same yard, until he's willing to poop-- and while he is pooping (not too close to the owner- he may want some distance) then click then reward generously with lots of happy praise. In other words, start where he is successful, mark the behavior and reward that there, as many times as you can, and then plan to move the location to home.
Take a bit of his poop, we're going to transfer it to the park near his home, so the scent will be there to encourage him to go there, too. Now set up a confinement routine so he will biologically need to poop, but does not have the free access in the home to sneak off and poop while no one is looking. Feed normally and maybe add a bit of canned pumpkin to his food to bulk up the fiber a bit and make him need to go. Continue to take him out every hour or so, and just be patient. You must be there when he needs to go, and with the scent of his own stool in the corner of the park's grassy area, the hint will be there. You can use a longer leash or long line to give him some "privacy" (ie, distance from you). Do this until he finally, reluctantly, eliminates, and be quiet while he does, and then click and quickly JACKPOT him (give him a handful of great treats!). You may have to repeat this for a few days. Eliminate his freedom in the home until you've had a full 2 weeks of NO accidents. This is the gist of the plan (there would be other details, such as saying a phrase as you prep him to go out, such as "Want to go for a walk?" so he knows what to expect next). The point is that by our OBSERVING that he was successful pooping outside in another situation, we can notice there was no leash involved. There was no freedom to make a mistake in the house involved. So we dive onto those elements and fine tune our plan to take those into account. This pup has a strong history now of pooping twice a day in the house-- every day since they got him. That will take a lot of effort to undo, so the rewarding for the new, desired behavior must be STRONG and very high value. Very strict supervision will be necessary, and they should continue to click and reward every time the dog pees or poops outside of the home. Marking the behavior and rewarding is just our way of saying "thank you, that's exactly what I was looking for from you".
No comments:
Post a Comment