I was giving the dogs their dinner the other night when I realized Talos didn't have any idea how to wait his turn. Easy enough to teach, wait, so today I decided to teach him wait using his lunch. If I'd have planned this session (like a good trainer should), I would have had my clicker handy, I would have created a short training plan, and I would have reinforced the tiny correct steps.
What did I do instead?
Everything that I shouldn't do. I winged it. I didn't use a clicker. And I lumped behaviors together. In short, I made a mess of the session, but around 53 seconds in, I salvage it and actually pull it off.
Not one to show you just the good stuff, I thought it would be interesting to show you how not to do something. In the end it all works out, but it would have gone faster if I'd done it the right way.
Watch how Talos gets a tad frustrated. He goes through several behaviors he thinks I might be looking for. He backs away once or twice, clearly confused. Finally, I wise up and start to incrementally reinforce the appropriate behaviors (backing away from the dish, waiting just one second, two seconds, etc.).
I haven't added the cue yet "Wait," because we're nowhere near ready for that. I'll add the cue once I'm ready to bet $50 that Talos wont' go for the food bowl until I release him. Once I have the behavior I want, then (and only then) will I start to call it something.
It won't take many sessions for Talos to master the Wait - especially if his trainer gets her act together!
OMG!!! Talos, you have gotton SOOOOOOOOOOO BIG!!!
Have you done any impulse control (aka doggie zen) work with him? That helped me get better behavior around food bowls. Now, if I could just get rid of all the barking while I’m filling the food bowls. (smirk)
What an adorable pup! I am in love with that doggie! What a cutie!! It’s interesting how dogs “conceptualize” the cue “wait.” For me it means, “stop moving,” and I start by teaching it at the door (where they have to sit and “wait” till I give them a release cue), and then have them in a stationary position by their bowl (usually a down or a sit) and then I can use it in freestyle, where a walking dog can stop in a “stand” (“wait!”) and hold that position while I dance around him or her. Over time, it seems to truly mean “wait” more and more, so I can tell a dog who is whining in a crate to “wait!” and she’ll stop whining! So, it’s a very handy cue!
It interests me, now that I think about, how similar the beginnings of wait can be to other skills, such as leave it. When I taught my dog a leave it command, I wasn’t also asking for a stay, but I shape a stay type behavior without realizing it. I think many things that we teach our animals are interrelated to other skills, now only to figure out all the ways to use this to our advantage! Thanks for giving me something to ponder for awhile!
Just curious–but had a question. Are service dogs usually not neutered?
Mary
http://stalecheerios.com/blog
Roxanne, he’s had pretty good impulse control until now. He also didn’t use to have much of an appetite either. I suspect the lack of impulse control around food is related to a very recent growth spurt. He’s always hungry now! Which makes for easier training, that’s for sure. 🙂
It is interesting how the meaning of my cues evolve, and more impressive is how the dogs can keep up with that evolution! I, too, wind up using wait for those impatient or whining dogs. And it works! 🙂
Hi Mary,
We teach leave it as a separate cue (don’t even go near it AND look at me). I don’t mind if the dog doesn’t stay in one place when I say wait, but I don’t want them to cross a threshold. In this case it was just remain away from the food bowl. He could have danced around while he was waiting, I wouldn’t mind. Just so long as he looks at me and waits for his release cue.
Talos is only six months old despite his size. He’s scheduled to be neutered in about four weeks. And we’re doing elective gastropexy at the same time.
what about a raised feeder for that growing boy?
No raised feeders in this house – too scared of bloat. The Glickman et al study found that use of a raised feeder increases the risk of bloat by 110%. Dr. Glickman’s data showed that “approximately 20% and 50% of cases of GDV among the large and giant breed dogs, respectively, were attributed to having a raised food bowl.” (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2000;217:1492-1499).
OMG! I totally did NOT know that research. Yet … so many people use raised bowls, thinking they are doing a good thing. Scary!
Hi Laurie.
Peggy told me about the gastropexy. Please let me know how he does with both. Does the pexy require a large incision?
He’ll go in for surgery in early November. The gastropexy is a large, invasive surgery. They will actually expose the stomach and staple it down so it is less likely to twist if he bloats. It’s the twisting (torsion) that kills so many dogs… I’ll be talking about it on the blog when it happens, for sure. 🙂