In many of my classes and private sessions I use the term "thinking dog".
It is what I strive to accomplish with every dog that comes to me for training. It is a relatively new idea to most people who have a dog that needs some help and owners with fully trained dogs as well. I want my relationship with my dog to go beyond me giving them commands and them responding. I want a dog who will offer me behaviors without being asked, knowing it will make me happy (and hoping to earn a reward!). I want to eventually have a dog who knows what is expected of them and does it without having to be asked all the time. Wait a minute, I just realized I am also describing the relationship I hope to have with my son some day! My bet is on the dog! :)
So how do we create this superdog?
Positive reinforcement training- first and foremost, this can ONLY be achieved by positive reinforcement training. Negative reinforcement training (or adding something unpleasant when a dog does something you don’t like) simply does not create a thinking dog. I address the misconceptions of positive reinforcement training in my FAQ's, which you can read here: What is positive reinforcement training? Doesn't that mean they have to have a "cookie" to behave and that I can't discipline them for being bad? so I won't spend a ton of time on that. Simply put it has been my life's experience that a dog trained with negative reinforcement is afraid to offer behaviors in the fear of being wrong while an dog trained with positive reinforcement offers you behaviors freely in the hopes of being right. "Traditional" trainers can stick to their ways if they are happy with the results, I was not.
Decide what behaviors you want most- the next key ingredient is something I find as a universal issue between dog owners/dogs which is we expect them to read our minds. We spend all day going around telling them what NOT to do and spend very little time telling them what they CAN do. A dog cannot offer you behaviors he thinks you will like if we do not teach them what we like! Furthermore, not only will he not be offering you the behaviors you prefer, he will likely end up doing the behaviors you dislike simply out of spite or desperation. Imagine the first time I gave my son a set of crayons I put him in his room with a piece of paper and left him to figure out what to do himself. What are the chances he would actually end up coloring on the paper? Slim to none! Imagine I went into his room to find him coloring on his dresser. I simply yell angrily, "Those aren't for coloring on your dresser!", and walk out. Next time I enter the room he isn't coloring on the dresser, he is coloring on the crib! I shout angrily, "Those aren't for coloring on the crib, either!". Awhile later I check on him again to find him coloring on the walls!!! I have had about enough so I stomp in, grab the crayon from him and shout, "THEY AREN'T FOR COLORING ON THE WALLS EITHER!". I hand the crayon back to him and leave again. First of all, how many of you are feeling sorry for my son at this point? I know I am and we do this to our dogs more often than we realize. So here is my son sitting in his room bewildered as what to do next, most kids will either sit there and do nothing for the fear of making me angry again OR color on the walls in spite of me because they haven't been given any other option. So the moral of the story is: if you want your dog to sit politely instead of jumping to greet people, you will likely have to find an effective way to communicate that to him, not expect him to figure out himself.
Being consistent in what is expected of them- once you have decided which behaviors you would like to see and when, consistency is key. Dogs see the world in terms of always or never, not occassionally. So in order for them to make a correlation, you must ALWAYS ask for the same behavior in that situation. While most owners have good intentions of this, they usually don't realize how important it is to do something the same way every time until the dog develops a habit of the behavior you expect. A perfect example of this is front door greetings at your house. What people don't realize is that even if they ask their neighbors to come over every day and practice door manners, if they aren't obtaining the same behaviors when the FedEX guy comes to the door, they are eroding the work they have already put into the behavior. So if you aren't 110% committed to getting the behavior, then don't allow them to be a part of the situation , in the scenario abouve, go put them in their crate, in the other room, or out in the yard while you answer the door for the FedEX guy.
Delivering our positive marker word at the right time- Once you have determined the behavior you want, and committed to being consistent in getting the behavior, get ready to change one of YOUR habits…
One of the first elements I talk to new students about are the words we need to pick out for training. One of which is the Positive Marker Word. Most owners already have a positive word before they begin training, the most common being "Good Dog", "Good Girl", "Good Boy". Now back to that habit of YOURS that needs changing. Something about human nature makes us want to withold the "applause" until the job is complete. For example, if my dog is across the yard and I say "Tru, come!" I wait until she gets to me and takes her treat before I tell her "Good Girl" Another example: I ask my dog to sit, once they sit, I give them their treat and say "Good Dog". The problem with both these scenarios is this : The more immediate the reward to the behavior the better they will get it. What behavior came right before the "Good"? Eating a treat! In reality, the correct moment to deliver that word is when she commits to doing the behavior, not when she completes it. If my dog is across the yard and I say, "Tru, come!" as soon as she turns my way and starts heading towards me I am going to say "Good Girl". If I ask my dog to Sit, as they start to tuck their hind in down into a sit position (long before their rear hits the floor) I say "Good"! The correct timing of the PMW not only allows the dog to correctly correlate what they are getting rewarded for, it also rewards them for deciding to do the behavior, not completing it. Think about it, which is harder: convincing a dog to do something or getting them to finish what they have already started? Now every rule has an exception but I think for the most part we would agree getting them to make the right decision is tougher. Finally, if we want them to start offering us behaviors without being asked, it is important to reward the decision AND the action. Not just the action itself.
Noticing when they do things they weren't asked to- last and CERTAINLY not least, is something humans are guilty of quite often. If we want our dogs to start offering us behaviors on their own, it is vitally important that we notice when they start attempting it. Ever wonder why dogs develop such annoying habits to get our attention (jumping, barking, mouthing, pawing, etc.)? It's because that’s what we notice. Think about this question and answer it honestly: If you were sitting watching your favorite team play on the T.V. or working on an e-mail at your computer and your dog came up and sat politely for attention /play time, would you notice? Probably not. The irony is we want them to ask politely but politeness usually goes unnoticed. Rude gestures might upset us but at least it gets our attention. So, if you decide you will give your dog your attention only once he sits (steps 1&2), you commit to consistently asking for them to sit before you pet them (step 3), and you give them their PMW AS they decide to sit (step 4), you are on the right track to getting what I call an AUTO SIT. This means you don't have to ask them to do it, they do it automatically. However, there is one final step that is crucial to achieving the "thinking dog" who offers you behaviors in the hopes of getting rewarded and that is REWARDING HIM WHEN HE OFFERS YOU BEHAVIORS! I know this sounds like common sense and simple but it is harder than it may seem. Recognizing when a dog has thought about the situation and made the right decision on his own is sometimes difficult for the novice, not to mention we are sometimes just so busy we miss it! If I offered my son an ice cream cone every time I asked him to clean his room and he did, suppose he woke up one day with a craving for ice cream and decided to clean his room without being asked. Suppose I didn't notice that he had cleaned his room because I didn't ask him to and didn't take him for an ice cream cone. Do you suppose he would ever take the initiative to clean his room without being asked again? Nope. So when we teach our dog what is expected of them, it is SUPER important to not only notice when they do it on their own, but make the reward even better. I should have taken my son out for TWO ice cream cones because he cleaned his room without having to be asked. I will never forget the time I had a 6 month old German Shepherd puppy in training at my house. We had been working very hard on an auto sit for attention and I was excited to see what she would do when my husband got home because her owner was a man so I knew it would be a real test for her. As he walked in the door her body started to wiggle but her butt hit the floor! He walked right passed her without acknowledging her at all. Boy did he get an earful! I am sure it was pretty easy for him to not notice her sitting politely but I guarantee if she had jumped all over him she would have gotten a reaction!
So if you would like to have a "thinking dog", make sure you are using positive methods, choosing criteria to stick to, committing to getting that criteria EVERY TIME, rewarding the decision to do the action, and rewarding them when they take the initiative. If you would like me to help you turn your dog into a thinking dog, enroll in a class or sign up for some private lessons!
It is what I strive to accomplish with every dog that comes to me for training. It is a relatively new idea to most people who have a dog that needs some help and owners with fully trained dogs as well. I want my relationship with my dog to go beyond me giving them commands and them responding. I want a dog who will offer me behaviors without being asked, knowing it will make me happy (and hoping to earn a reward!). I want to eventually have a dog who knows what is expected of them and does it without having to be asked all the time. Wait a minute, I just realized I am also describing the relationship I hope to have with my son some day! My bet is on the dog! :)
So how do we create this superdog?
Positive reinforcement training- first and foremost, this can ONLY be achieved by positive reinforcement training. Negative reinforcement training (or adding something unpleasant when a dog does something you don’t like) simply does not create a thinking dog. I address the misconceptions of positive reinforcement training in my FAQ's, which you can read here: What is positive reinforcement training? Doesn't that mean they have to have a "cookie" to behave and that I can't discipline them for being bad? so I won't spend a ton of time on that. Simply put it has been my life's experience that a dog trained with negative reinforcement is afraid to offer behaviors in the fear of being wrong while an dog trained with positive reinforcement offers you behaviors freely in the hopes of being right. "Traditional" trainers can stick to their ways if they are happy with the results, I was not.
Decide what behaviors you want most- the next key ingredient is something I find as a universal issue between dog owners/dogs which is we expect them to read our minds. We spend all day going around telling them what NOT to do and spend very little time telling them what they CAN do. A dog cannot offer you behaviors he thinks you will like if we do not teach them what we like! Furthermore, not only will he not be offering you the behaviors you prefer, he will likely end up doing the behaviors you dislike simply out of spite or desperation. Imagine the first time I gave my son a set of crayons I put him in his room with a piece of paper and left him to figure out what to do himself. What are the chances he would actually end up coloring on the paper? Slim to none! Imagine I went into his room to find him coloring on his dresser. I simply yell angrily, "Those aren't for coloring on your dresser!", and walk out. Next time I enter the room he isn't coloring on the dresser, he is coloring on the crib! I shout angrily, "Those aren't for coloring on the crib, either!". Awhile later I check on him again to find him coloring on the walls!!! I have had about enough so I stomp in, grab the crayon from him and shout, "THEY AREN'T FOR COLORING ON THE WALLS EITHER!". I hand the crayon back to him and leave again. First of all, how many of you are feeling sorry for my son at this point? I know I am and we do this to our dogs more often than we realize. So here is my son sitting in his room bewildered as what to do next, most kids will either sit there and do nothing for the fear of making me angry again OR color on the walls in spite of me because they haven't been given any other option. So the moral of the story is: if you want your dog to sit politely instead of jumping to greet people, you will likely have to find an effective way to communicate that to him, not expect him to figure out himself.
Being consistent in what is expected of them- once you have decided which behaviors you would like to see and when, consistency is key. Dogs see the world in terms of always or never, not occassionally. So in order for them to make a correlation, you must ALWAYS ask for the same behavior in that situation. While most owners have good intentions of this, they usually don't realize how important it is to do something the same way every time until the dog develops a habit of the behavior you expect. A perfect example of this is front door greetings at your house. What people don't realize is that even if they ask their neighbors to come over every day and practice door manners, if they aren't obtaining the same behaviors when the FedEX guy comes to the door, they are eroding the work they have already put into the behavior. So if you aren't 110% committed to getting the behavior, then don't allow them to be a part of the situation , in the scenario abouve, go put them in their crate, in the other room, or out in the yard while you answer the door for the FedEX guy.
Delivering our positive marker word at the right time- Once you have determined the behavior you want, and committed to being consistent in getting the behavior, get ready to change one of YOUR habits…
One of the first elements I talk to new students about are the words we need to pick out for training. One of which is the Positive Marker Word. Most owners already have a positive word before they begin training, the most common being "Good Dog", "Good Girl", "Good Boy". Now back to that habit of YOURS that needs changing. Something about human nature makes us want to withold the "applause" until the job is complete. For example, if my dog is across the yard and I say "Tru, come!" I wait until she gets to me and takes her treat before I tell her "Good Girl" Another example: I ask my dog to sit, once they sit, I give them their treat and say "Good Dog". The problem with both these scenarios is this : The more immediate the reward to the behavior the better they will get it. What behavior came right before the "Good"? Eating a treat! In reality, the correct moment to deliver that word is when she commits to doing the behavior, not when she completes it. If my dog is across the yard and I say, "Tru, come!" as soon as she turns my way and starts heading towards me I am going to say "Good Girl". If I ask my dog to Sit, as they start to tuck their hind in down into a sit position (long before their rear hits the floor) I say "Good"! The correct timing of the PMW not only allows the dog to correctly correlate what they are getting rewarded for, it also rewards them for deciding to do the behavior, not completing it. Think about it, which is harder: convincing a dog to do something or getting them to finish what they have already started? Now every rule has an exception but I think for the most part we would agree getting them to make the right decision is tougher. Finally, if we want them to start offering us behaviors without being asked, it is important to reward the decision AND the action. Not just the action itself.
Noticing when they do things they weren't asked to- last and CERTAINLY not least, is something humans are guilty of quite often. If we want our dogs to start offering us behaviors on their own, it is vitally important that we notice when they start attempting it. Ever wonder why dogs develop such annoying habits to get our attention (jumping, barking, mouthing, pawing, etc.)? It's because that’s what we notice. Think about this question and answer it honestly: If you were sitting watching your favorite team play on the T.V. or working on an e-mail at your computer and your dog came up and sat politely for attention /play time, would you notice? Probably not. The irony is we want them to ask politely but politeness usually goes unnoticed. Rude gestures might upset us but at least it gets our attention. So, if you decide you will give your dog your attention only once he sits (steps 1&2), you commit to consistently asking for them to sit before you pet them (step 3), and you give them their PMW AS they decide to sit (step 4), you are on the right track to getting what I call an AUTO SIT. This means you don't have to ask them to do it, they do it automatically. However, there is one final step that is crucial to achieving the "thinking dog" who offers you behaviors in the hopes of getting rewarded and that is REWARDING HIM WHEN HE OFFERS YOU BEHAVIORS! I know this sounds like common sense and simple but it is harder than it may seem. Recognizing when a dog has thought about the situation and made the right decision on his own is sometimes difficult for the novice, not to mention we are sometimes just so busy we miss it! If I offered my son an ice cream cone every time I asked him to clean his room and he did, suppose he woke up one day with a craving for ice cream and decided to clean his room without being asked. Suppose I didn't notice that he had cleaned his room because I didn't ask him to and didn't take him for an ice cream cone. Do you suppose he would ever take the initiative to clean his room without being asked again? Nope. So when we teach our dog what is expected of them, it is SUPER important to not only notice when they do it on their own, but make the reward even better. I should have taken my son out for TWO ice cream cones because he cleaned his room without having to be asked. I will never forget the time I had a 6 month old German Shepherd puppy in training at my house. We had been working very hard on an auto sit for attention and I was excited to see what she would do when my husband got home because her owner was a man so I knew it would be a real test for her. As he walked in the door her body started to wiggle but her butt hit the floor! He walked right passed her without acknowledging her at all. Boy did he get an earful! I am sure it was pretty easy for him to not notice her sitting politely but I guarantee if she had jumped all over him she would have gotten a reaction!
So if you would like to have a "thinking dog", make sure you are using positive methods, choosing criteria to stick to, committing to getting that criteria EVERY TIME, rewarding the decision to do the action, and rewarding them when they take the initiative. If you would like me to help you turn your dog into a thinking dog, enroll in a class or sign up for some private lessons!
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