Knowing what your dog "knows"....I have a great article from Dr. Patricia McConnell on that very subject! I'll hand it out next class!
Testing is an important step in the training process! So many people forget this! Some who use other 'Balanced" or "Traditional" training methods which use "corrections", be it intimidation or physical, over look this step and apply punishers for NOT performing a cue rather than taking a step back, and identifying the weak link of how they are teaching the behaviour. That said, there are also inexperienced "positive" trainers who use treats and don't step back to take a look if what they're communicating is actually teaching the dog to obsess about the food, rather than learning the cues.
Once a verbal cue or hand signal is established, without having treats or toys luring them, then it's your turn to "test" their understanding of the behaviour and how proofed it is in different environments & levels of distractions. Once a cue is spoken or hand signal given, take a look at what your dog's response is. If they have a blank look on their face, become over stimulated, ignore you, start sniffing, throw every behaviour in their repertoire at you hoping something makes you happy... that tells you that they need more help proofing the behaviour.
Most of the time if they do not respond to the verbal cue, they either have been relying on physical signals rather than verbal, the environment may be too distracting for their ability to concentrate, and or they haven't practiced enough successful repetitions to understand that NO MATTER what's going on, or how many of their favourite pals are around...when they hear a cue from you...it's time to focus on the task at hand.
My morning class worked on introducing a stay to a sit and down, so you could take a couple steps back and recall your dogs.
The second class we added a sneaky collar grab and scratch under the neck before giving the dog a treat for recalling to you. Adding the touch (and safety net of collar grab) will become another reward for your dog for having recalled to you. For some dogs attention and cuddles are their most favourite rewards!
*It is not grab and drag the dog away.
If at any point they move backwards, growl or show their teeth...please call me. The whole point is to condition them to enjoy touch, which that night, all dogs did respond favorably too. Some leaned into a side and backend rub down too:) If that changes, then stop. It's having the opposite effect and there are protocols to use to ensure we turn those feeling around.
When teaching behaviours, Operant conditioning takes place when you ask them to perform a behaviour. Ie. Recall to you...once the cue has been given; either verbally, using hand signal, or body language, the dog should respond by recalling to you.
Classical conditioning takes place at the same time; how good does it feel for the dog to come running to you? Are you happy to see their effort, or are you stern because it may not be fast enough? Think of how others treat us when we're learning something, or engaging with them and how it affects the enthusiasm in which we relate to that person, or do things for that person.
Stanley Coren has another faviourite article of mine which talks to this very point.
Punishment vs. Reward based training.
If a cue has been taught to reliability, whether it's sit, down, stay, come....the dog would perform and maintain it until asked to do otherwise. Reliability includes teaching the cue to be performed each time you say the word. If you need to repeat the word there can be a number of reasons why they didn't do it the first time.
If they don't perform the cue, take note of the distractions in the environment, their state of arousal at the time, and the way you delivered the cue. Take those notes back to your drawing board. They will be helpful to figure out where the weakness is in the practice that you've done with the cue. If you email or talk to me, I'll be able to pinpoint what went sideways and what to try to get back on track.
Just like with any sport, when we have support around us to help fine tune our skills to get something right, the faster we'll achieve our goals. If we fail, it's just information that we need things clarified and ...more practice getting things right before increasing the difficulty.
I always remember Albert Einstein's definition of insanity; "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
DOGS (and people) will ALWAYS do what is MOST rewarding AND what has consistently been reinforced. So it's up to us to go back to the drawing board to come up with a plan and be consistent about engaging and teaching our pals a behaviour.
Here's me testing Daizy, my beagle. Note at which point I need to help her out by using a handsignal.
I can't tell you how many cues (behaviours that they pair with the sounds we make) so taking the time to refresh their memory by pulling out a clicker and then reviewing a cue, helps keep them top of mind.
Classes are great places to practice and have an experienced eye hone your communication skills with your furry pals.
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