Day Four -- Will or Want?

Some people say they don't want to use food rewards in training because they want the dog to just "want to do it" for them. That's kind of like your boss saying he/she is not going to give you a paycheck because you should want to work for him/her. But it goes just a little bit beyond a paycheck for the dog. We are conditioning the dog to like doing the behavior. We are also pairing praise with those food rewards so we can wean off the treats. Luna is already sitting for greetings most of the time. On a rare occasion, she'll jump, but mostly she comes and sits in front of people when she wants attention. Only on occasion is she getting a treat for that but she's still just as happy to get her ears rubbed and for someone to tell her what a spectacular puppy she is.

Sometimes, because she's a puppy, she can be a little naughty and grab things in her mouth that you don't want her to have. When I was trying to put this leash on her and she grabbed it in her mouth, had I pulled it, it would have turned into a big tug of war game. I may have won that game because I am stronger than she is but did I really win? First of all, it would have been really reinforcing to her to play that game of tug. Secondly, it would have put us in a position of being in conflict. And lastly, would I have taught her anything at all (except maybe to enjoy a game of tug).

Instead, if I work with her on her "drop" command by trading her a treat for the leash, I'm teaching her that's it's a good thing to give up stolen items to me. This is particularly important if she were to steal a food item, because she is so frantic and excited about food, if you tried to forcibly take the food item from her, it could cause anxiety that could lead to aggression (Grrr..."Hey you, quick taking all my good stuff!"). If she has practiced "drop" a lot with her toys, getting her to drop a bag of stolen treats can be managed even if you don't have a treat on you (but be sure to praise her a lot and go get a treat for her -- that's a big deal for a girl who is so food motivated).

So, back to our lesson at hand now that we have the leash out of her mouth. We started out teaching her to walk nicely beside me without a leash and now we have graduated to walking with the leash. I'm going to reward her when she is walking nicely by my side (having he ear lined up with the seam of your pants is a good guide). I will pat my leg and talk to her to help keep her in position. I might also speed up, turn quickly, and change direction a lot to keep it interesting for her. If she gets ahead of me, I'm going to stop or turn around. Once she has caught up with me again and is walking nicely beside me, I can start rewarding her again. Notice that she has just enough leash to provide some slack (a nice "J" in the leash) but not so much that she can "self-reward" by zipping ahead and sniffing the bush ahead of you or getting to the park first or greeting the person on the sidewalk. All of those things in the environment can reinforce bad leash behavior like pulling on the leash. And speaking of pulling, every time she pulls, it reinforces that behavior. It's very satisfying for most dogs to pull on the leash and it helps them get to where they want to be faster. Allowing her to pull is almost like giving her a cookie for doing it.

Ahhh...there's one of those behaviors that we want her to repeat. Lying quietly beside us. She has had a lot of reinforcement for this behavior already which makes it easier and easier for her to settle into a nice, quiet down. Frequently now, it's just a smile and a "good girl" to maintain that good behavior.

Luna is a very attentive girl. With some dogs like this, you need to be careful that the puppy is not too clingy for fear they may develop some separation issues.

Like when Luna always has to sleep on my feet. That could be a problem if she had a hard time being away from you. But, right now, her only problem is that I move too much. The girl just gets to sleep then she has to follow me to keep up with my feet (aka Luna's pillow).

But right now, Luna is not showing any signs of having any separation issues. She's great about being crated and has no problem if you come and go in the room while she's in the crate. I can walk through a gate and leave her on the other side and she doesn't go into a panic. In fact, she is so relaxed she's likely to grab a ball and play instead of pay attention to the fact that I'm not right there with her. Such a nice, well adjusted girl!