When I was learning to train my dogs at home, I knew the reward should follow immediately after the dog’s right behavior. Praise when he does his bathroom call outdoors. Give a treat when he does a trick. Praise when he comes to you when called.
But alas, the dog can be smarter. If you’re not aware, the dog can train YOU.
Spot Refines His Method
Take that simple act of begging at table. At first, my dog would just sit there beside my chair during mealtimes and stare. Since I didn’t encourage begging at table (more for nutritional reasons) and my dog Spotty noticed that, he tried other tactics. He laid his chin on my lap and stared up at me. (The way Puss ‘n Boots does it in the movie, Shrek).
That was persistence. And turning on the charm.
That would melt my resolve. Oops….there goes a tidbit.
To us humans, our reasons run the gamut from, “He’s so cute I couldn’t resist.” Or “This is so delicious I just want to share this with my doggy.”
Our dogs don’t see it that way. To them, it’s -- “If I put my chin on the lap this way and look up that way, I get a reward. This works.”
So he does it again. It brings results.
That is, until I got smarter as I learned more about his kind.
Kirby Gets His Hug
When we had that dog school at the park, we once had a friend whose Cocker Spaniel named Kirby was a war freak. The dog would enter the grounds with his mistress then suddenly growl and snap at the other dogs there.
That chip-on-the-shoulder behavior would embarrass his mistress no end. Immediately, she would scoop up the dog and hug it, with the intention of controlling it from a possible dog fight.
But that’s not how the dog reads it. Kirby thinks – “If I lunge at other dogs, my mommy hugs me. I like this.”
So he keeps picking up a fight – and gets hugged right after.
Packy Trains the Maid
When we had maids, training them to the right way of handling the dogs was a culture shock. They’ve grown up with dogs all their lives, they reasoned. Why must these dogs be treated that way? They couldn’t understand it.
I had one maid named Ching fond of the dogs. Ching took it upon herself to take them out for a walk every afternoon.
These sessions were always a racket. Packy, our assertive little Dachshund, would scream and bark wildly in excitement when he sees Ching bring out their collars and leashes and prepare Spot first. Our dogs are walked out one at a time and he’s the 2nd dog in the pack. His turn will follow when Spot returns. Regardless, our 3 dogs would start barking wildly when they see the preparations as the “excursion hour” arrives.
Being used to dogs, their occasional racket was nothing new to my ears. But one afternoon, I noticed this uproar keeps repeating itself consistently. The noise is always way too wild. I stood up to watch the proceeding.
I saw the 3 dogs compete for their turn to go out. Spot behaves since he is the more trained one and knows he is first. But when he returns and little Packy sees it, he screams wildly, challenges Spot and Toby, and the three engage in a ruckus so ear deafening the only way Ching could quiet them down would be to hurriedly leash Packy and get him out the gate – fast. When Packy is out his screaming dies down and the other dogs stop barking.
I saw that and my brows went up. We know Ching’s thoughts -- “I have to get Packy out of here as fast as I can so this racket will die down.”
But what were the dog’s thoughts? Packy was thinking, “I will scream and bark as loud as I can so I can go out at once!”
Packy was getting his reward with that outrageous behavior every afternoon.
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| A future chip of the block: Packy as a pup. |
I took a hand in this instance. I told Ching what was going on in the dogs’ minds. Next time Packy engages in that wild noisy behavior, she should sit down and not take the dog out. Wait until the dog quiets down. Then get up and move towards the gate. The minute Packy shrieks again, sit back down. DO NOT OPEN THE GATE UNTIL THE DOG IS QUIET. When the dog is behaved, then walk him out. That is his reward.
Of course, in real life, it’s a little – different. In real life, Packy tries to “train” us – or the new maid named Lourdes Lourdes Lourdes Lourdes
He knows that opens the gate.
But it’s the pre-walk ritual that’s still a racket. I have to work on that next. I have to “retrain” our human trainer also.
Master Trainer Butch
One of our earliest lessons on this canine way of thinking was with our Boxer named Butchie Boy. Butch had an exasperating habit of answering nature’s call before our front door – inside the house! When we’d catch him in the act we’d throw up our arms in horror, open the front door, and order him out.
But one day, I noticed this has been going on too long. Butch has been growing older. He should’ve learned this a long time ago.
I decided to watch the dog.
One night, I saw Butchie Boy do it in full view of everybody. The usual reaction, the usual exclamations of horror, then one of the maids came, opened the front door and ordered the dog to go out.
That was his reward. Butchie Boy wanted to go out. How can he go out? He knew how: poo in front of everybody and they will open the door for him. That’s how to go out!
Toby Calculates His Moves
The principle is simple: reward follows the good behavior. Yet there are many instances the owner is caught unaware because the dog is manipulative.
Toby, during his housebreaking training (I adopted him when he was 1 year old), tried to outsmart me during those days. He’s learned to do his bathroom call outside but during the night when he does that and enters the house afterwards, he gets a nice crunchy biscuit. I watch him pee down the driveway from a window so when he enters the door the behavior is affirmed.
One night, the dog tried to get more than one biscuit.
The dog indicated he wanted to go out in the middle of the night and I let him out. From the bay window I watched him pee. I prepared his biscuit. When Toby returned to the house, I gave him the biscuit.
Suddenly, the dog made a180-degree turn and went out the door again, the biscuit crunching noisily between his teeth. Oh, I thought. Nature’s call. He’s doing it in installment.
Good thing I peeked out the bay window. Toby descended the front steps, swung around, and went up the house again.
Huh?
The dog wanted to see if he could get a second biscuit.
I kept the biscuit jar closed.
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