But the worst part is that your guide keeps saying, “Griznaq!” at you. You have no idea what “Griznaq” means, but he keeps barking it at you, in progressively more agitated tones. “Griznaq! Griznaq! Griznaq!”
Pop
quiz: Do you think that him saying “Griznaq!” over and over will
it easier to learn what he wants you to do, or harder?
Harder,
right? Well, guess what? This is a metaphor for dog training. Ha!
Bet you didn't see that coming!
When
you start teaching your dog a new behavior, you need to keep in mind
that your dog doesn't know what you want her to do. This may
seem obvious, but it's easy to forget in the moment. Watch someone
teaching their dog to Sit for the first time. They'll say “Sit”
before bringing the treat up to their dog's nose. Then “Sit”
again as they try to lure the nose upwards so that the butt will drop
down. And probably a couple more times before their dog finally
sits.
What's
worse, is if the dog doesn't follow the treat and sit pretty
quickly, the owner will say, “Sit!” even more. “Sit.
Sit. Sit! Sit! Sit!”
“Griznaq.
Griznaq. Griznaq! Griznaq!”
The
owner thinks they're helping the dog by telling it what to do. But
their dog doesn't know what “Sit” means, yet!
It's just nonsense to their dog. What's worse, rather than teaching
the dog that “Sit” means put her butt on the ground, the owner is
actually associating the word “Sit” with confusion
and frustration for
the dog!
So,
here's your training pro tip: First, get your dog to do what you
want it to do, easily. Follow a treat with her nose till she sits,
quickly and easily each time you lure with the treat. Or follow your
hand walking in a circle. Or picking up a ball and bringing it back
to you. Any behavior you're training at all. Get your dog able to
do it comfortably and quickly and easily, several times in a row.
And then tell your dog what
that behavior is called.
Once your dog has mastered
following the treat and sitting, you can then say, “Good job. By
the way, we call that Sit!” And then each time, just prior to
having your dog sit, you'll say, “Sit.”
Very important: You're
still not telling your dog to sit. You're teaching them that
the the behavior they're already doing (sitting) is called
Sit. So, you're still not going to say it multiple times. Just
once, before each sit. The average dog needs around 40 or more reps
like this – spread over multiple sessions – before they really
start to make the connection that “Sit means sit.”
After that, you can
sometimes say the command more than once, if your dog gets a bit
distracted and needs a reminder of what you said. But be sure to
give her a good 10 seconds or so before saying it again. Sometimes –
most times – a dog that doesn't respond right away is just trying
to figure it out. She knows she learned it that command...
but what did it mean, again? It's right on the tip of my nose... Oh,
right, put my butt down! Yay!
If you fall back into saying
the command over and over again, you're just back to yelling
“Griznaq!” at your dog.
Now I need to go teach my
dogs to do something when I say, “Griznaq.”
