Witness my new pavilion floor cloth, painted on both sides with primer, and now top-coated with a putty-colored acrylic. Throughout all three coats, on both pieces, I've been cautioning Dexter OFF! whenever he came near. I actually started out briefly tying him up, which any normal person would do, but then realized that I would be missing out on a perfect training opportunity.
After all, how much harm is there really in a few puppy prints on the cement, some retouching on the canvas, and a bit of latex on his feet for a day?
But, did he learn?
When I left to go inside, the canvas was drying, and he was outside. A quick dash in to wash out the brush, and I returned to find him waiting at the door. Did he come in via the side door, which would require a detour (but I had forced him to take it before, when present & vigilant)? Nope, of course not. But...
... notice the faint paw prints to the right of the canvas? He didn't take the short path, straight across. Nope; he skirted the edge as much as possible, cutting across only the two corners he had to in order to cross the garage. Since he left no tracks on the canvas itself (1), I've drawn his path below. (The near-corner "shortcut" was necessary, as well, but the obstruction isn't visible in the photo.)
(1) Prior planning prevents pissy Brooms. I painted that edge of the canvas first, since that was the side he was most likely to violate. So, it was mostly dry by the time he oopsed the corners.
Which brings me to my current training philosophies, for better or worse:
- WWHMD? "What Would His Mother Do?", that is. A dog mother trains her pups to be
housedenbroken shortly after they can walk outside. She weans them - surely a more difficult task! - without fail. She teaches them all the complex manners & requirements of pack life, so they won't be eaten, killed by the Alpha male, bitten to death by angry packmates, but still teaching them to stand up for themselves & fight for their share of the food. She may bark, growl, or even snap at them, but she doesn't abandon their education.
- There Is No Free Lunch (TINFL). Dexter must obey commands to eat, go outside to pee (now that he can hold it), and so on. Those are mini training opportunities. He expects them. NBD.
- That Which Is Not Forbidden Is Permitted. I can't let myself get worked up when he "misbehaves", until I have taught him that I don't want him doing X. Jumping up on the couch while we were guests at someone's house over the Fourth: not acceptable, but not punishable, either. I had to teach him to stay OFF, first. So, the first few times he did it, it was only training, not misbehavior. I didn't allow it; I also didn't punish him.
- Everything Is a Training Opportunity! The way my dog walks outside (before me or after me?), asks for attention (pawing, whining, barking, jumping up...), and acts when I call his name, are all moments when he is testing me, in dog terms. Don't worry, Dexter: I won't fail you! I try, at least.
- Pleasing Me Is His Reward. Treats teach a dog to trade tricks for food. I know many (most?) trainers use them in training; I know it works; but in general, I am really annoyed by the period during which the dog that can't remember SIT to save his life on the road knows a 10-item trick list by heart once he smells table scraps. WWHMD? Feed him for being good? Nope, he eats anyway. No extra trips to the milk bar for a well-behaved puppy. My dog's reward is GOOD DEXTER! GOOD
!, accompanied with petting. He doesn't seem to feel gypped.
- No BAD DOG. I punish by taking to the ground, verbally snapping at him, sending a snap down the leash, and so on, but I never use the phrase BAD DOG. I want to avoid the sentiment it goes with, inside my heart. Like his mother, I don't want to tolerate any misbehavior. Like his mother, I want to ultimately be all-forgiving; grudgeless.
So, here's how I've taught him some of his commands...
WAIT
He gets to practice this every mealtime. I put food in his bowl, and say WAIT. If he goes near it, as a tiny pup, I would push him back, WAIT. If he kept coming, WAIT!!! in an angry tone. Then, if he moved again (which usually he didn't, since the Angry Parent Bark is pretty effective on pups), I'd step in between him and the bowl, WAIT, physically blocking access. He'd get the idea.
Now, WAIT will make him stop just about anything he is doing. The key to my success here, and the crucial difference between WAIT and OFF/DROP IT/STAY, is that when he does obey, he gets what he wants... after a little wait. He knows this. I never break this rule. If I say WAIT, and mean "stay outside for an hour or two", my plans change, and he gets in/out/whatever he wanted, after a half-minute.
But with food in front of him, he's very good. He's currently waiting 2 minutes for a pork rib. He broke at one minute. A minute is a long time to a puppy. But he continued waiting for another 2 minutes, after a reminder. (2)
(2) In general, Dexter learns food ettiquette commands very, very fast and well. My theory is that, in a pack, food ettiquette is paramount. Jumping line in front of a more dominant dog can result in no dinner at all. As a result, DROP IT given while he has a chicken thigh in his mouth almost always results in a quick drop; if he's chewing on a shoe, he often doesn't obey as quickly. Puppy teething on sticks is not terribly consequential important to pack integrity. Puppy eating before the Alphas = hungry, ass-bit puppy.
This one was both pretty easy, and still hard. He's heard it about a zillion times (zillion and two, as of this morning's walk...). From Day One, I said it whenever I needed him to let go. If he won't let go, I force his mouth open by pushing his lips into his teeth - but as soon as he does let go (even under force), I reward him with GOOD.
Usually, especially in the first few weeks, I'd try to replace whatever he had with something equally fun to destroy/eat - a chew toy, or food. We seem to be entering his 2nd teething period, so I'm starting to do the replacement thing again.
But the biggest and most important test happens a few times each feeding time. I order him to DROP IT in the middle of chewing on tasty meats & bones. Sometimes I take it away by hand, after he complies. I always give it back, with praise.
My goal is that, when he picks up something unsafe to eat on a walk, or in someone's house, he will drop it or give it up to me on command, of course. Mostly he does... unless he thinks he can swallow it before I get there. Sigh. Working on that.
Remember "That Which Isn't Forbidden?" I figure I have bigger things to worry about than the occasional dead mouse going down this throat. If he gives up something like that, he gets it back. Never seemed to harm him yet. I'm just happy when he obeys. Planning for the important DROP ITs...
SPEAK
Dexter is the quietest dog I have ever known, bar none. I needed him to be more vocal about his potty needs, so I decided to teach him to SPEAK. "Jeez," I thought, "this will take a month!"
I forgot to take into account the fact that I have no dignity.
Repeatedly throughout the day, on his first day of training, I would approach him, say SPEAK!, and then act wildly. Grin idiotically. Jump up and down, flapping my arms. Generally excite my dog beyond all of his abilities to stay calm. Eventually, he would break down and bark. YAYYAYAYAYAYAYAY! GOOD DEXTER! GOOD SPEAK!
By the end of the first day, he was regularly obeying SPEAK.
SHHH
The theory from all the sources I've read is: First you teach your dog to SPEAK, then you teach SHUSH! I cheated here. Dexter naturally prefers to be silent. Every dang time I SHHH him, he quiets down. He seems to naturally understand the sound/tone/intent. Whatever. I'm just lucky.
JUMP
Another hard one for the Dexmeister. He doesn't have real strong haunches (gotta work on that!), so he tends to avoid jump-up/climb-up situations so far (which makes him easier to meet for strangers, happily).
Now, I know I said I dislike treat-based training. But, hey: flexible is good. If my boy won't jump up for snapping finger, he will do damn near anything for his daily portion of liver. ("Yum!!! Liver!!!") It didn't take him more than 4-5 oz, over a couple of days, to figure out that the word JUMP went with the act of bouncing up to get at the liver (especially when it was followed with petting and GOOD JUMP!).
He still doesn't prefer this command, but he does it, liver or not. GOOD DEXTER!
AROUND
When Dexter is on leash (which is 95% of the time), and goes the wrong way around a tree (that is, the way I didn't go), or a chair leg, or virtually any obstacle, I say AROUND, pointing at the object with a circling motion. And then I wait. If he moves closer to the pole, I bring in the slack in the leash. I don't pull on it, but I act as a ratchet: once an inch is given, he must stay an inch closer to the pole. Eventually, he would end up collar against it, whining, and pleading me with his eyes. Too bad: I wasn't pulling, and so he didn't perceive it as a punishment. But I wasn't rescuing him, either. Sooner or later, he got frustrated, and twisted on his leash until... freedom! Then, I reward him with lots of petting and GOOD AROUND, DEXTER!
It really works. The other day, I approached the pole he had put one lap around (and still had a good 15' of lead free). As we came near, I said AROUND - and he promptly diverted the long way around the pole, which in fact was the wrong direction. But - he reacted properly to my command! I just gave it incorrectly, confusing him. Owner misbehaved; pet got praised (and I then led him with my fingers AROUND the right way, twice).
Today, I got him to undo three laps. I had to lead him with snapping fingers, but for my money, it's good enough for now.
PLAY DEAD
I was getting ready to teach him to ROLL OVER, and wondering how to do it, while rubbing my doggie's tummy one morning... Ka-ching! ROLL OVER (rub rub) GOOD ROLL OVER! (rub rub). He got that one pretty quick, although so far, he isn't interested if I'm not low to the ground. In progress!
Which brings me to the "repeat as needed" portion of this post. I probably make it sound like the Dex Monster obeys every command Glorious Master utters, from the second time he hears the word, and never misbehaves. Hah!
As I said, we're entering the 2nd teething period, and yesterday it was too hot for me to play with him much. Combine those two, and you get numerous escapades chewing on my good sandals, and much destruction on my favorite basket. No BAD BOY, mo BAD BOY... We had a serious "talk" (his neck to the ground). I didn't nicen up afterwards, to let him know I meant business (but I didn't lose my temper) (not even the second time we went through this process) (nor the third).
Today, having learned my lesson, we went for a 2-mile walk before I ate breakfast.Much better boy today. My bad; Master learns. No Bad Dog, but sometimes I fall short of perfect, too.
BTW, many new pics of Dexter here, where all pics of him will be posted for the near term.
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