When Pigs Fly_ Training Success With Impossible Dogs - Jane Killion [75]
A. Owner on phone or computer. Dog standing next to owner.
B. Dog remains silent for 10 seconds.
C. Owner pats dog.
Because you paid attention to the antecedents of your dogs barking, you know he will bark when you are on the computer. You know that he will bark within 30 seconds, so you have to reinforce the quiet behavior before that 30 second mark. You can work your way up to longer and longer periods of quietness using the same schedules of reinforcement as you used to teach stays and attention walking. If your dog barks, steel yourself and ignore it. If the barking is too intense to handle, leave the room and leave your dog closed in the room alone for a little while. He will quickly learn that “quietness” is the behavior that gets him the attention he is looking for.
Here is another one:
A. Dog is in crate in another room.
B. After an hour, dog barks.
C. Owner runs in and yells at him (Thank God! I’m not isolated anymore!).
Dogs crave social interaction almost above anything else. It is hard to imagine something worse for a dog than being isolated from the rest of the family. When you run in that room, you end the dog’s isolation, and that is his primary concern. The fact that you yelled at him is secondary. His barking made you appear, and he will bark again.
Here is how you work away from barking:
A. Dog is in crate in another room.
B. Dog does not bark for five minutes.
C. Owner returns to dog and praises him/give him treats.
Just like the lying down quietly next to you while you are on the computer behavior, you can gradually expand that five minutes of silence to hours of silence. If you don’t feel like going in every five minutes to reinforce, give your dog something to do, like chew a bone or toy that will keep him quiet. Train if you can, and if you can’t train, manage.
You know your ABCs now—whatever your dog’s barking problem, you know how to solve it.
Piggy Pointer
If you have a dog that barks when you are not home, the best thing you can do is leave plenty of activities for him to do. Kong has come out with an ingenious, automated Kong dispenser called KongTime™. You can load it with several treat-filled Kongs and one will be released every few hours during the day. Many people have found that this device alone is enough to end their dog’s barking and destructive behaviors while their owners are out of the house. Kong bills it as “doggy daycare in a box” and the reviews I have read seem to bear this claim out.
Dog Projects
Chewing
Dogs need to chew and they need to chew a lot. Pigs Fly dogs do not have “soft” mouths like a retriever, and they tend to destroy everything they chew. Dogs are foragers by nature and, left to their own devices, would spend much of the day chewing on all kinds of edible and not so edible stuff. Because dogs like to chew so much, chewing can be both a problem and a solution—a problem if they are chewing something you don’t want them to, but a handy management and reinforcement tool if the dog is given an appropriate object to chew.
Chewing is a very calming activity for dogs and also a constructive way to re-direct “mouthy” type behaviors, like nipping and grabbing clothing. If you want to buy fifteen minutes of peace with a young and rambunctious dog, a nice bully stick will settle him down like magic. All in all, chewing is a great behavior, so long as your dog is chewing something he is supposed to be chewing.
Two behaviors cannot occupy the same place at the same time. If your dog is busy chewing something appropriate, she can’t be chewing something he shouldn’t be chewing. (photo courtesy Clean Run)
First, figure out when he is likely to be chewing something he is not supposed to be chewing, manage those situations, and then give him plenty of opportunities to chew things he is supposed to be chewing. Here is a classic chewing scenario:
A. Owner sitting down to balance checkbook.
B. Dog lies under table and chews on chair rung.
C. Dog enjoys the crunching sensation