Applying What We Learn can be Tough!
I need to sleep on Sundays. It is not always easy when one lives with, er, many hounds - the number varies but not by much. So, this past Sunday, I was all settled in my recliner after lunch, ready to nap with new dog Beagle/Basset mix aka Bagel, Betty Boop, on my lap when I heard a suspicious sound. Lifting my eye pillow, I looked over to see Jedi put a spray bottle of wood cleaner on the couch next to Justus, then get up along side it. I did not want to bother Betty, who was snoozing away. So, I gave them both "the eye" and said, "LEAVE IT." Wish I had a video. Justus sat straight up, Jedi stared at me like, you are kidding, right? Wrong - "LEAVE IT" again, said I. He flipped himself around away from the bottle that had most mysteriously appeared on the couch, flopped his big front feet over the edge of the couch, rolled his eyes (I swear he did!) and laid his big head on the arm of the couch with a huge sigh. Justus was relaxing - "LEAVE IT." Justus flipped his head back and forth. He is about 9 months old, a teenager in dog years and is suddenly unable to down or stay to command....and he did not want to leave it. "LEAVE IT." I made my voice deep, firm and very, very clearly crisp with each command. Justus, too, finally turned away from the bottle, lay down on the couch with his head on Jedi's butt and sighed.
Jedi, left and Justus, sprawled on same couch another day.
Oh, the travails of being a Silverwalk hound! Sadie, the newest Black & Tan Coonhound, was at the other end of the same couch - don't believe that Coonies cannot curl up and be comfortable - they can! She just watched the whole proceeding, then went on with her interrupted nap. Good girl.
Sadie enjoying the sun last week.
And good boys - the bottle was undisturbed the entire hours we napped. It was good lesson work.
When you teach a dog a command, whether to stay or leave it or sit, you need to teach it first in an area with no to few distractions, so she can really concentrate on you and give you what you ask after baby steps to get there. After she is solid in the no distraction area, you need to move her to distracted areas, less to more but always needing for a long, long time, to reinforce a learned behavior. Dogs aren't able to extrapolate a behavior from one situation to the next, for the most part. Some have but they are the exceptions. Both Jedi and Justus had been worked regularly for weeks on "leave it" in their crates with their food bowls as well as dropped kibble. They had that down pat, which was why I was very pleased at their response with the purloined bottle. Plus, I didn't have to bother Betty.
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