frustrated dog?
Is your dog barking at you for food, or for no ‘good’ reason? or is your dog eating bark and grass, digging holes, staring at birds (or clouds, or nothing) instead of paying attention to you in a training session? maybe you see your dog barking, whining, spinning, or otherwise adding extra flourishes to their training with you?
You and your dog are not on the same page
This can be a sign that your dog is frustrated. frustration is feeling annoyed or upset about something — specifically about the possibility of achieving a goal — and if your dog is showing frustration behaviors, you are probably frustrated also.
This means that you and your dog are not as likely to make the progress that you could. even if your dog is still performing and learning, if you help your dog feel less frustration, your dog’s performance will probably improve in the following ways:
be more precise when performing the skill
advance faster to more difficult levels
be more reliable when performing the skill
become something your dog does for ‘fun’ or ‘cheap’
let’s talk about this a little more, and then look at some easy to implement adjustments.
What do you want?
Details: before anything else, be sure that you are working on a clearly defined goal behavior with your dog. for example: I want the dog to take the toy I point to in their mouth the I say ‘clean up’ and carry it until they can drop the toy in the toy box
Purpose: then, think about what you want the skill to look or feel. should it be exciting or soothing? flamboyant or precise? do you want your dog to be working close to you or away from you? for many skills, the only thing that matters is your preference. however for some skills, if you get too much excitement you can make it harder for the dog to succeed.
Are you ready?
think through what your dog needs in order to be successful. make sure you are not skipping steps. for example: if you want to teach your dog to put a toy in their toy box, your dog needs to be comfortable with the noise and movement of the box when they bump into it. your dog also needs to have skills such as:
pick up toy
carry toy
place nose in box
If you skip steps or try to work on something your dog is not ready for, the learning experience is more likely to be frustrating.
You also want to make sure your dog has had a little snack already, is well-rested and has had some water as well as a little cardio before training.
How to avoid frustration in training and life
train in everyday life: this is a great way to get your dog out of the habit of barking because your dog is “excited” in training situations. instead of setting up a training scenario, set a few bowls of food in easy to access locations and go about your everyday activities. the moment you see your dog do the skill (or part of the skill) you are working on, mark and reinforce. then continue with your day as usual.
for example, every time my dog picks up a toy or sticks their nose in their toy box, I mark and reinforce with a bit of food.
develop very clear procedures that indicate when your dog can work to gain access to food, play time and training time with you and when you are “clocked out”
broaden your definition of success
change the environment
shorten the work cycle
offer reinforcement for “wrong” answers
offer alternative activities
would you like to hear more details?
Future blog posts will explore some of the suggestions above in more detail. Here’s what you can do for now:
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