Everyday learning. Just a reminder…if you want to see more consistency in your dog’s behavior, practice consistency in feedback throughout the day. Yes, short focused training sessions are important to teach the behaviors you want to see (after all, if your pet doesn’t KNOW the skills, he won’t be able to practice them). However, if, during the remaining waking hours of the day he is doing and getting reinforced for lots of choices that you do not like, that is counterproductive. Experience is ultimately the great classroom of life. All of us learn from the consequences of our actions…including our pets!
A few ways to build practice into play:
Ask your dog to do a known behavior before beginning play.
If your dog is consistency fetching a toy and bringing it back to you, just before he turns to come back, say your recall cue.
Practice impulse control. Tell your dog to wait (or leave it, or another cue, or simply without a cue) and then tell your dog a cue like ‘get it’ that means NOW you can go after the toy.
A few ways to build practice into daily activities:
Ask your dog to wait when there is an open door, and then practice waiting until your dog sits/lays down/or stops and looks back to you before moving forward.
If your dog walks with you on a loose leash, then you walk with your dog to that spot to sniff or say hi to a person.
