So many of you reached out to let me know how much you loved the idea of teaching a dog to pick up items and drop them into boxes or baskets from last week's blog post. One of you actually told me that I was a genius to think of this and that really made me blush! Not genius, just creative. And the client with the resource guarding dog was desperate enough to try anything, including shaping an entirely new behavior, slowly, over time.
There are other behaviors that your dogs might be doing that you find challenging enough to want to try shaping those behaviors into something more manageable for you. For example: Does your dog bark and scratch at the door to get you to let them outside/inside your house? How about teaching them to ring a string of bells on that door instead? Basically, you just attach a single bell on a sturdy rope (you can buy them pre-made on Amazon, Chewy, Etsy, etc. or you can make your own with craft store finds) and tie that to the door handle of the door your dog goes in and out of the most. Every time you open that door, ring the bell yourself and say whatever you say when you open the door. At my house, I say "Go potty!" when I open the door to let the dogs out and "Wait!" when I open the door to let them back in. You can hang bells on both sides of the door so your dogs ring the bell to go out AND to come back inside. Timing is everything. You need to be there to respond quickly and open the door the first time your dog bumps those bells with a paw or their nose instead of pawing or nosing the door itself. You definitely want to get there on the first ding so they don't escalate to barking! You are trying to teach them that ringing the bell is enough to get the door opened, no scratching, pawing of the door, or barking is necessary.
Ready for another one? Does your dog jump up on people who raise their hands up to avoid getting jumped on or who raise their arms up because they are afraid? Well, teach your dog that those raised arms and the frightened high pitch voices that accompany that behavior are actually just a different way that some people ask them to sit! Have treats at the ready and get really excited, squealing with delight and throwing your arms up in the air. Jumping dogs can't resist and will try to jump. Tell them to sit while your hands are up in the air. The moment they do, give them a treat and repeat again with the squealing excitement and hands in the air. This is one of my favorite alternate behaviors to teach novice therapy dogs as a way to help prevent jumping on people during therapy visits. And a special thank you and shout out to Trish Wamsat for this exercise and helping me teach it to Henley!
One final example of shaping you might like to try: Ever been in a tight space with your dog where getting them into the heel position was difficult as people were walking on both sides of you? Instead of shortening their leash and forcing them to stand next to you/walk next to you, try having them walk under you or reverse sit in front of you, and wait at your feet. Basically, you teach your dog to walk in the heel position first. Then stop and have your dog go around behind you (use your hand to direct them around your body) and poke themselves through your legs. Keep your legs a comfortable distance apart so that your dog can squeeze through and have them sit immediately when the front half of their body is through your legs. They should be sitting right in front of you, between your feet, with their heads facing out. It's okay if they look up at you initially, but the goal is to have them go around your body, position themselves between your legs, and then sit calmly in your body's space at your feet. You can even train them to walk with you, between your legs, much as some trainers do who teach dogs in the art of protection. The bottom line is that now people can move around you on either or both sides and your dog and you are sharing the same exact space, making those people around you less worried about moving around you and your dog.
I've been continuing to work on the "don't jump up when people get excited and raise their hands or clap" behavior with Henley. It's a work in progress as he REALLY wants to jump on people. What I don't want to do is pull back on his leash as that teaches him that whatever he's approaching is bad. I can stand on his leash, but he's really strong and he's been known to yank that leash right out from under me to get to someone to say hi! So, we continue to work on the sitting politely for greetings, even if people get excited to see him too. No surprise, Ozzie is great at this exercise. And Ozzie loves the through-the-legs-sit-at-my-feet exercise too. And if I walk with him between my legs, he grins from ear to ear with joy, prancing with every step! That will be the next behavior I teach Henley; he can walk around and then through my legs, but sitting quietly at my feet will take practice.
Let me know if you try any of these shaped behaviors with your dogs too. And as always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.
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