This is the first part in a many part series in which I’m going to discuss the mistakes I’ve made, what caused them, and how to prevent them in the future. It’s a great way to document training because only documenting my success would be 1) Uninteresting and 2) I would never give myself or anyone else the opportunity to learn from them.
The mistake I made this week has to do with a dog who is not food motivated.
I recently brought a foster dog home from my local Humane Society. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while and finally did the paperwork and attended the volunteer orientation to do it. The dog’s name is Bear and he is a German shepherd/Akita mix. They say he is 4 to 5 years old, but who really knows with the strays. He had major surgery on his front right leg so he needs a home to recover in.
The routine in my house for animals requires only a small bit of training. I like all the dogs that come into the house to wait at the door, wait for their food, and stay out of the kitchen. And as we all know by now, I want to use food to teach these behaviors faster than just brute forcing repetition.
Since we’re out relieving every 3-4 hours and I’m in the kitchen a lot, there are a lot of chances to practice. When he would walk into the kitchen, I’d walk over to him and he’d walk backwards out. I marked and gave him a piece of what I use to train Shimmer. He took the food, but without much enthusiasm. This continued for three days with the door and the kitchen. He just didn’t seem to be learning what I was trying to teach.
What was I doing wrong? Why does Bear not work with me very well? I came up with two answers.
The first answer I came up with is that I brought a shelter dog into my house, with no background information on him, and IMMEDIATELY tried to begin a training protocol with him. I didn’t take enough time to learn his needs and how he works best. Unfortunately, because of his leg, I can’t use play as a motivator, but that is beside the point. I didn’t let him get acclimated and destress before trying to get him to perform.
The second mistake, and I think the most valuable one to learn from, is that I actually trained him not to be motivated by the food I was offering. Bear needs 5 pills twice a day. I’m really familiar with just pilling a dog, but I really didn’t want to do it 10 times a day for 7 days. And because I don’t know Bear that well, that just seems like 70 opportunities for him to bite me. I decided to put his pills in a small spoonful of peanut butter to keep my hands out of his mouth.
Why is this a mistake? Let’s think of it like this. I offered him a ride in a Mercedes once a day, and then for the rest of the day he gets to ride in an old Ford with no a/c. One of them is extremely rewarding and is much more enjoyable than the Ford. The parallel here is that I know I’d rather just ride in the Mercedes once a day, and Bear would rather wait for the peanut butter.
How do I fix this? I narrowed it down to two options. The first option is that I can stop using peanut butter to pill Bear. I dislike this option, mostly because I’d rather use peanut butter for his and my sake (He loves it). My second, and prefered option, is that I use peanut butter, or something of similar value to train him. Every time I mark a behavior, I give him a lick or two of peanut butter from a spoon.
To generalize the lesson from this mistake, I did not properly assess what motivates Bear. Then I caught myself getting annoyed at myself that he wasn’t learning. Try to remember, 98% of the time, when your dog is not learning a behavior, there’s something wrong with the way you’re teaching it.
At the end of the week I’ll have an update with Bear’s progress.
Want to join the discussion? Leave me a comment, or shoot me a message on my Facebook or email me at Michael@concentricdog.com
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