Going to take your dog to the vet / massage / dog show…?
1. Try to imagine that situation and list as many details as you can: What kind of sights, sounds, smells and touches your dog will sense?
2. Choose some of the things on your list and teach your dog to like them! Make nice little pairs of stimulus and reward: the dog senses something, then something good happens. Repeat, repeat, repeat. This pair will be one package that your dog will learn to like!
Remember to begin with the easiest versions that you possibly can imagine – neutral objects, soft sounds and soft touches – don’t rush to make them more difficult too soon.
3. While training this, look for the “Start Button”: When you have a nice pairing session going on, stop and wait. What does your dog do to make you continue the exercise?
This puppy has just learned, that “a hand touching his mouth” is followed by “getting a piece of food”. In this video he finds a way to say “yes, please do it again”. A grat tool for him, and he uses it too, because people learn to understand him and respond to him. From now on, the puppy has the control over his training – he says, when he’s ready and it’s OK to touch his face.
4. Be sensitive to notice the “Stop Buttons”, too, and reply by stopping what you were doing. The ability to hear when your dog chooses to say “no”, and letting the dog to stop you (whenever it’s safe and possible to allow that), might prevent you from taking your dog to the situations that (s)he finds too scary or difficult to handle at that moment. It’s also a grat way to build trust and good relationship between you and your dog.
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This week’s Carpe Momentum Seminar was all about learning to have conversations with our dogs, and empowering them to be able to say yes and no. Thank you again, Eva Bertilsson!
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