Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson

Author:Jean Donaldson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Academy for Dog Trainers
Published: 2012-10-26T16:00:00+00:00

Do it over and over till the dog knows the game. It may take a few sessions so hang in there. How do you judge whether he knows the game? He knows the game when he barks on the cue and doesn’t need the doorbell anymore, and he quiets on the first quiet cue without having to be shown the treat. You still give him one from your pocket or from the cupboard if he quiets on cue, you just don’t show it up front anymore. If he ever interrupts a quiet time with even a muffled bark or two, give him a no-reward mark such as “oh! too bad” and start counting the quiet time from the beginning again. He has to know that barking during the quiet time was a mistake that cost him his treat.

You have to acquire the ability to yo-yo the dog back and forth reliably between bark and quiet in training sessions before you try out your quiet cue in real situations. Barking is strongly motivated for many dogs and you’ve got to build them up to actual visitor trials. The most common mistake is trying to use the quiet cue before it’s well enough conditioned in training sessions. Think of quiet on cue as a muscle you’re making stronger. The more practice, the stronger the muscle.

When you can turn barking on and off anytime and anyplace (you’ve conditioned a strong muscle in other words), you may now start practicing quiet on cue when the dog barks on his own in real life situations. The first couple of times, the dog will respond poorly to the quiet cue so you have to be ready. Have really good treats handy and go temporarily back to showing him the treat up front if necessary.

A good adjunct for fuel-injected, turbocharged barkers is to teach them down-stay as well as quiet. To earn their treat, they must hold a stay on a mat near the door and keep their mouths buttoned for the full duration of the quiet period. The hardest thing about bark training is how futile it seems the first couple of times you try, either in a training session or during your first real life dry run. It’s also the most interesting thing about this training because, no matter how bad it seems to go the first time or two, it gets better rapidly if you persevere. Many people never get over the hump. The best thing to do is thoroughly understand the instructions and simply practice with a Zen-like resolve. This procedure works if you give it the critical mass of training.

You can also do the down-stay on its own, without putting the considerable effort into teaching the “quiet” cue. This is a great solution for those dogs that can’t bark while lying down. If the dog is nuts about toys, another variation is to cue and prompt the dog to fetch a favorite. He may not be able to bark and carry the toy.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.