Raising a Well Mannered Mutt

By Sallie Palmer
Certified Dog Trainer

They don’t know what the Martian wants.

I have clients tell me that they just taught their dog a new trick and eagerly want to show me.  They tell Boris to play dead only Boris looks at them as if he has never heard that request in his life.  You see the owner get flustered and say “He does it great at home.”  I explain to the owner that I believe Boris does it flawlessly at home.  What I also explain to the owner is that Boris is a ‘situational learner’.  Boris learned to play dead in the family living room and on carpet.  You practiced with him over and over until he understood the trick. Now you want him to repeat the trick in a training room with other dogs present and on a linoleum floor.  This is a totally different situation from when Boris originally learned to play dead.  The dog isn’t being disobedient when the owner tells him to play dead; he just doesn’t know what is expected from him in this new situation.  I tell the owner he has to start from the beginning and teach Boris play dead in a brand new environment.

There are a variety of factors that play a role in why a dog will do a task great in one situation and not in another.  It’s because dogs take in their environment.  They learn to do certain behaviors in certain settings.  If you practice and practice sit, stay, come, over and over again in your back yard then your dog becomes very good at this drill in your back yard.  It doesn’t mean that your dog will perform as well when you take him to an open field. The field is a different situation. It is important that you train your dog in as may different situations as possible until the training is ‘generalized’ and the dog is reliable in a variety of situations. The rule is you should train in five different environments before your dog starts to generalize the training.  The way to do this is to start the training drill from the beginning in every new environment.  Act as if your dog doesn’t know the command. He probably doesn’t because of the different distractions (smell, sounds, and sights). Exposed the dog to a variety of situations and train him to understand that the commands are to be executed no matter what new place you might be in.  Don’t assume the dog is being disobedient.  This takes time and patience.

If you want to see for yourself if this theory is true, that dogs learn under certain contexts, try doing some simple experiments to see how well your dog understands what you want him to do.  Most people believe their dog knows the sit command. This is the first command we teach a dog. Will your dog sit under all situations?  Try this; if your dog hasn’t been taught to go from a down position into a sit position (up-sit) ask him to simply sit when he is lying down.  Did he do it or did he look confused? Now, ask him to sit when he’s standing ten feet away from you (sit from a distance).  What was his response?  Turn your back to your dog (no eye contact) and tell him to sit.  Did he sit?  Did he come and find your face and then sit? Try again with your back turned and ask him to ‘down’ and then ‘up-sit’ You know your dog knows how to sit but does he know how to sit under a variety of different situations. In training we always asked the dog to sit in front of us or to our left side. This is what was practiced over and over.  Now, lie on the floor and tell your dog to sit.  Don’t cheat you can’t make eye contact.  Does the dog sit or think this is silly play time.  This time go into the bathroom, close the door with your dog on the other side and tell your dog to sit.  Did he do it?  Some dogs will but most will be confused and have to figure it out.  They aren’t misbehaving they just haven’t been taught in these particular situations.  If the dog sat immediately in all the different scenarios congratulations you have a dog who has generalized the training. 

In all my classes I attempted to have the people try to see training from their dog’s point of view.  I give the analogy of if you are in a space ship and you land on Mars.  A Martian finds you and decides to make you his pet.  He takes you to training class but there’s a problem.  Martians don’t speak English. They don’t even speak.  They make little squeaking noises and communicate telepathically.  You of course have no idea what the Martian wants you to do because you are not telepathic and the squeaks all sound the same. It is only after repetitive trials and drills that you finally understand that when the Martian looks at you squints his eyes and makes a squeak-squeak sound it means sit down and when you do, the Martian gives you an M&M.   What you don’t know is that when the Martian flies 50 feet off the ground and makes the squeak noise that you are again supposes to sit.  You didn’t learn the sit command in that situation. Are you being disobedient in that situation or do you just don’t know what the Martian wants? 

The next time your dog doesn’t follow a command that you think he should have, ask yourself “Does he know what the Martian wants”.  Train in a variety of locations and on a variety of different positions, surfaces, sounds and smells.  When you are in a new environment, give your dog more guidance. Realize that this is new to him.  Patiently train him in all new situations.

 

Sallie Palmer teaches a variety of group and private classes in Mendocino County.  She has over twenty years of dog training education and training. To learn more about the classes and services Sallie has to offer go to www.wellmanneredmutts.com.

International Association for Canine Professionals
www.dogpro.org

 

 

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