What is a distraction?
Talking about ‘stay’ I mentioned adding in distractions before you add in distance. Then I got a wailing note that asked “but but, what IS a distraction???”
Okay then.
Distraction is something that takes the dog’s focus off what he’s supposed to be doing. What command he’s supposed to be following, which in this case is ‘stay’.
Are you a distraction? ME TOO!
This is also, just so you know, called ‘proofing’. Once your dog knows a command, or so you think, you ‘proof’ the behavior by adding in distractions.
So for Stay. The first distraction I use for Stay is breaking eye contact. See how simple distractions can be? Many dogs think ‘stay’ is really ‘watch me’. And its SO NOT.
You think we're breaking eye contact? I'm so winning this game.
Its different. Watch me is sit on your butt and stare at me. Stay is park your butt and don’t move it.
So by breaking eye contact, I teach the dog that…hmmm…something different is going on here. If they get up, its a ‘whoops!’ and put them back into the stay.
Next thing I do is wiggle. I KNOW – so undignified!!!! I’ve not ever been known for my dignity. Just so you know.
I flip my hair. I wave my arms. I twist and look around behind me. I bend and stretch. All the while leaving my feet most generally where they are. I’m doing distractions, not distance.
Many many distractions can be added right there. Take off and put on your jacket. Sing – pretend you are in the shower. With your clothes on and your dog watching. Its okay.
Once my dog understand that butt stays there no matter what silly confusing thing I’m doing, I move. To the side. Then right back in front of dog.
You call treats on the paw a distraction? I call it meanness.
I do LOTS of things before I back away from the dog or turn my back totally on them. Once you do those things, they think ‘its over’. And its SO NOT. Until I say so.
You can bounce a ball, squeak a toy, wave a hot dog, pop poppers. But you are the biggest distraction of all most of the time.
Distractions don’t have to be challenging to create. There are all kinds of distractions from the simple to the elaborate. In intermediate class we treat toss for distractions, we have me walk around the room, (I’m VERY distracting when I put my mind to it!). We have other dogs walk around.
Stay can be challenging. Proof. Distract. Work in close quarters before you add in distance.
And don’t forget…’Come’ is NOT a release word.
The Basics – Stay
I don’t have a lot of pet peeves when it comes to training. Mostly I figure – your dog, do what works for you and your family and situation. Might not work for me and mine, but what the hey. We’re all different.
But – oh yes, there is a but – one of my few pet peeves is when people use “COME!” as the release word for stay.
Why? I’m so glad you asked!!!!
Adding in distractions to stay. Pile of treats on one side of dog....
Because when I put dogs into a stay, what I want is for them to take a deep breath and chill out. Relax. Wait patiently. Until I come back and release them.
BUT – yes, another one! – when you use ‘come’ as a release word, what I see is a lot of tense dogs.
carry the treats one at a time to make another pile on the other side of dog.
I can see their little minds going a hundred miles an hour. “She called me to come at 15 seconds last time and a minute the time before. How much time has gone by?? What was that noise? Was that Her? Calling me to come? Yes? No?? Well???”
Can our heads twist 360 degrees? Or is that only in the movies???
I don’t Want that. I want them to be resting and thinking, “Fine. When she gets here, she gets here. I’ll just hang out till then.”
Now, sure eventually, we can call our dogs to come from their stay. Its really fun to see them bound toward us, happy and excited.
But when we first teach Stay – go back to them. Release from there.
Better yet – add in tons and tons of distractions before you add in distance. I know -weird concept. What you really want to do is shout STAY STAY and then back away, right? I KNOW!
My hearing is actually pretty good. Shouting isn't really neccessary. Really.
The more distractions you add in, the better the dog will understand this very strange idea of ‘do nothing and get rewarded for it’.
How do I get that gig???
One size does not fit all
Last night in class, I was showing off equipment. While my personal preference is for a buckle collar or harness and simply teach the dogs to walk nicely on the leash, sometimes some of our puppies or people need a little more.
Wonder if she's talking about anyone I know??
So I bring in most of the pieces on hand; head halters, walking harnesses, even pinch collars and choke chains to show how they are used and why I do or don’t like them.
After it was over and we discussed which might be a good fit for each dog, I was asked, “So there isn’t one thing you recommend for every dog?”
No. There isn’t.
My head halter puts me in working mode! Sometimes....
All dog and human pairs are different. What might work for me and an exuberant young lab might not work for someone frail with the same lab. Someone who relies on their dog for service would need a different piece of equipment than someone who uses their dog as a running companion.
Think there is a piece of equipment that can get our minds off each other and back into class?
Training methods are the same way. Pop on Amazon or another book site and gander upon all the offerings on how to train.
If you’ve been on any dog training lists there are endless discussions on how to train a behavior a kazillion different ways. Fascinating stuff.
Is she making up words again? Sigh. What to do with her??
What might work for a frazzled young mom with a young puppy and two young kids, might not work for the retired couple with the same puppy, lots of time, but limited physical abilities.
A method that will make a rat terrier the best companion ever, might just irritate the Weimaraner.
While I might think teaching a dog to crawl across the room is the most fun thing ever, you might consider it totally useless and a waste of time.
And you know what?? That’s Okay.
One size does not fit all.
But….we all knew that, right??