Week 2: Name Game, Adding Verbal Cue to Target, and Body Language

SIX LESSONS SUPPORTIVE MATERIALS

We have some tips for you that could help enhance your practice this week:

First, The Name Game

This is also called an attention getting cue. This cue will be verbal and can be your animal’s name — or it could be a general cue such as:

“Look here!” “Hey guys!” (for multiple animals) “Hey, Hey!” “Whoo-Hoo!

This cue needs to be delivered with ENTHUSIASM! (As you can see, there’s an explanation point after each verbal cue idea.)

Why is an attention getting cue important?

If your dog is distracted, it’s a great way to help your dog pull away from the distraction with an easy cue (this cue is only about looking in your direction). Then, your dog can have a better chance of success executing the more complex recall cue.

Creating an Attention Getting Cue

The behavior you want:

When your dog hears the attention cue, he/she whips his head around and looks at you. (And, it’s fine if your dog even comes towards you.)

So, how do you get here?

FIRST STEP – GET THE BEHAVIOR GOING:

Choose your attention getting cue (see ideas from the list above). If you already have a strong reaction to your animal’s name, you’re welcome to use this. But, sometimes it’s fun to have more than one!
Prepare 10-15 treats and have ready.
Say “Treat search!” or “Find it!” and throw a treat on the floor near your dog.
After your dog finishes and just as he/she’s looking back at you, click and deliver another treat on the floor (you want your dog to be focused briefly elsewhere).
When your dog looks back at you (even briefly), click and repeat #4 until you’ve finished the treats and the session.
Take a Play Break!!
Repeat this session (10-15 treats) until you can predict your dog will make eye contact with you after eating the treat. (If you’re already there, head to the next step below!)

Here’s a video to show you what this looks like:

NEXT STEP – ADD YOUR ATTENTION CUE:

Prepare 10-15 treats and have ready.
Say “Treat search!” or “Find it!” and throw a treat on the floor near your dog.
Just as your dog is finishing the treat, say your Attention Cue.
Click your dog as he/she’s looking back at you and deliver another treat on the floor.
Just as your dog is finishing the treat, say your Attention Cue.
When your dog looks, click and deliver a treat on the floor.
Repeat this until you’ve run out of treats.
Take a Play Break!!

Here’s a quick video to show you what this looks like:

This should do it for now! Now, here are some ideas for your work with your animals in general.

Second, Dog Calming Signals and Body Language

You’ve chosen to work with your animal in a positive way – and we want to provide all the support we can for you. We know some of you are making this choice in living situations where another family member or friend is challenging your choice. Fortunately, the science of learning and animal behavior is on your side. And, there’s something else that will help you — being able to read your animal’s body language.

We’ve found time and time again that people who advocate negative training are unskilled in understanding animals. They either ignore the body language the animal is giving or adapt a personal interpretation which justifies their use of force and intimidation.

The learner’s input is very important in positive training. They are the only ones who can tell us if we are going too fast, too slow, not reinforcing enough, or asking for too much at a time. So, as part of our lesson package with you, we included a book for dog people called “On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals.” The author is Turid Rugaas. I (Kinna) actually was fortunate enough to spend time with her during a trip to the Dog Symposium in Norway in 2018!

There are four canine calming signals we’d like you to review (when working with other animals, we’ll include other resources) during this week – please read up to page 16 in Turid’s book for descriptions. Then, start observing your canine friends and we guarantee you’ll see a lot more of what they’re thinking!

The four calming signals are:

Head Turn
Softening of the Eyes
Turning Away
Licking the Nose

Third, Adding Verbal Cue to Target Behavior

Remember the golden rule of training a new cue (if you already have another cue established): New Cue –> Old Cue –> Click behavior and treat

In this case, the old cue is the presentation of the target. The new cue is the verbal word “touch” (or whatever you’d prefer!). As we talked about in the lesson, it’s important to separate the two cues. So, you say the word “touch” with the target behind your back. Then, you present the target (the old cue). This way, your dog will start to think the word “touch” means you’ll be presenting the target. And, soon, you have a new cue!