Lyra - Maintaining a Positive Attitude while "correcting" a Dog
Here's a very short video of Lyra making a mistake on her "stay".
I don't ignore the fact that she breaks, but I go to great lengths to keep her engaged, even though she's made a mistake. This is particularly important in this training session because Lyra's working for personal play only - no toys or food are available, and she knows that.
Just help the dog; it's no big deal. Really. She won't take over the world. She won't think she's "getting away" with ignoring me. She WILL stayed engaged in the game, and that's the hardest thing to get back if you manage to lose it.
I put her back with a cheerful attitude. I then reward a stay. Finally, I repeat the originally intended exercise (a recall).
If she had continued to fail, I would have accepted that I was asking too much. If that is the case, ask less and start over.
18 comments
As I see the video, you didn’t just put her back when she broke the stay, you engaged her in play and more or less praised her for following you back. It was interesting that she held her stay as long as she did the second time, but she may have been ready to break just before you turned, don’t know. I just don’t see how she knows what her mistake was, or that she even made one.
Re “done a poor job of making the work interesting for her” – do you think the work will always be more interesting than what the world will throw at her thruout her career? Like if a bird lands in the ring or a squirrel runs up a tree in her line of sight?
ah, second part of your question. “what if she doesn’t feel like it”. If she doesn’t feel like it and we’re doing active work (leaving a dog to complete an exercise) then I’ve done a poor job of making the work interesting for her. I take responsibility for that part. If it’s a passive stay (like in a lineup) where I don’t really want the dog excited or in drive, then I put them back with a neutral attitude rather than a happy one.
putting her back makes it clear what her mistake was – I just don’t bother with the verbal/physical negative cues. Ending an exercise before I’ve finished something or repeating the exact same thing twice in a row both make the point pretty well.
“If she had continued to fail, I would have accepted that I was asking too much. If that is the case, ask less and start over.”
At what point do you decide you aren’t asking too much and she just doesn’t feel like doing a stay and/or it’s never been made clear to her what a stay is?
Nice work Denise!