The Dog Behavior Answer Book - Arden Moore [30]
COME. Start with your arm straight out to the side at shoulder height. Sweep your arm energetically across your chest, bringing your hand to your opposite shoulder.
SIT. Start with your arm at your side, palm facing forward. Bend your elbow to bring your hand up to your shoulder.
DOWN. Start with your arm straight out in front of you at shoulder height with palm facing down. Keeping your elbow straight, bring your arm down toward your hip.
STAY. Put your straight arm in front of your dog’s nose, with your palm out like a traffic cop.
PART III
Why Does My Dog Do That?
Sometimes our dogs do wild and crazy things that puzzle us. We wonder why they can’t just act more like, well, humans. It would make life so much easier if our dogs would greet people by extending their front paws for a hearty hello, or bypass the toilet and drink fresh water from their bowls, or resist the temptation to raid the cat’s litter box for a late-night snack.
Face the Fido facts. Dogs will be dogs. If they could express themselves in words, dogs would probably admit that they are equally puzzled by our behavior. Why, for example, do people fail to sniff others during introductions? Why do people forget to utter at least one “I mean business” bark when a delivery guy dares to ring the doorbell? And, come on, people, there’s a dead fish marinating nicely on the sandy beach — why aren’t you rolling in it?
Don’t worry. By the time you finish this section, you will possess so much more dog sense that your favorite canine pal might even come up and congratulate you with a big sloppy kiss or a quick sniff of your rear end.
Marathon Barker
Q How can I get my beagle, Jake, to stop barking whenever someone rings my doorbell, knocks on my front door, or walks past my house? A few barks are okay, but Jake barks on and on and at a volume so high that I want to take out my hearing aid so I don’t have to hear his noise. When I yell at him to stop, he ignores me and barks even louder.
A Some types of dogs are born barkers. The hound breeds, like Jake and his cousins the basset hounds, foxhounds, and bloodhounds, were bred to use their bark to communicate with their owners during hunts. In addition to their breed histories, some dogs are very territorial. In their minds, your home is their domain to defend. Jake is sounding the alarm and if we could translate his barks, he is probably saying, “Come quick! Check it out! Friend or foe? What do you want me to do? Now you’re yelling, too, so I’d better keep barking!”
As you can see, yelling at Jake to stop barking is futile, because barking dogs interpret our loud vocalizations as our attempt to join in the warning. Your yelling has unintentionally served to reinforce his yapping. You will need to re-train Jake so that he develops a new association with the sound of your doorbell. Start by ringing your doorbell. When Jake barks, ignore him. Patiently wait for him to stop. After a few seconds of silence, introduce a cue by saying hush and then reward him. Timing is critical — do not reward him until he has been quiet for several seconds. Think like a dog for a moment. If given the options, which would you choose: keep barking or hush and garner a tasty prize?
SNIFF IT OUT!
Dogs may not chuckle, but they do show amusement. Instead of giggles, they display a distinct rapid panting to convey pleasure and playfulness. Look for it the next time you play a game of fetch. And many people swear that their dogs smile.
Conduct these training sessions several times a day until Jake figures out that hush means to be quiet and that being quiet brings treats, while barking brings nothing. Make the pauses between his silence and your hush cue longer and longer. Then start saying hush when he is actually barking and reward him when he stops. Remember not to keep repeating that phrase, though, because it will only reinforce Jake to continue barking.
I also have a backup training strategy: diversion. Instead of yelling at Jake when he barks at a passerby, call him to