My Dog Trains Me
Training works both ways. :) Recently for some reason I have had cause to let Faith outside to potty when we're running late for class or something. This has happened several times. She is a very convenient dog in that she doesn't feel the need to poop sixteen times at a new place (like Joey), but because I don't love carrying excrement around in a baggie, I always ask her to empty everything before we leave. Where I now live has a fenced backyard, so out she goes while I stay inside. When this trend started, Faith must have not especially needed to relieve herself, so she hung around the back door, bored and waiting to come in. Because I knew she must have at least a couple of pee drops, I went out to verbally encourage her to go. She did so, and off we went to agility school. This probably happened another two or three times in relatively quick succession: I let Faith out, she did not want to pee, I went out to insist. So what happened there? It's more fun for Faith when she has company outside--who wants to pee alone? also, sometimes I throw her frisbee or play a little backyard agility out there--so she waits...and waits...and then I go out (because I *know* at this point my dog should have a full bladder), and I positively reinforce her for waiting, and she positively reinforces me by peeing. ::rolls eyes::
Another little game we play is with the trash can. Trash cans are there to poke through for old food or smelly wrappers, in Faith's opinion. (I'm sure our "throw it away" trick didn't help break her of this habit.) This is an instance where I am too lazy to choose training over management--plus, I am not sure how I would train a dog to leave trash alone unsupervised without aversives. The can in the kitchen has a lid, but its height and ease of opening means that it's not much of an obstacle for a long poodle nose. I usually eat dinner in the living room, and sometimes Faith wanders into the kitchen. She knows how to push back the lid of the trash can to expose the goodness within, and when I hear the sound of the lid opening, I either call her name (which she always responds to by coming to me and which I usually reward, to my mother's chagrin, with something off my plate) or just tell her to get out of there, which she also always responds to and which I don't usually reward. Recently I noticed that when I had heard the noise of the lid and called her away during dinner, the trash can was not actually open when I later came into the kitchen. (Faith might open the can, but she doesn't generally close it after.) What was happening was that she wasn't in fact opening the can. She pokes at it to make a noise and waits for me to respond. I expect it is both entertaining for her and it sometimes pays off with food when she comes when called. Well, I did want a smart dog.
Another little game we play is with the trash can. Trash cans are there to poke through for old food or smelly wrappers, in Faith's opinion. (I'm sure our "throw it away" trick didn't help break her of this habit.) This is an instance where I am too lazy to choose training over management--plus, I am not sure how I would train a dog to leave trash alone unsupervised without aversives. The can in the kitchen has a lid, but its height and ease of opening means that it's not much of an obstacle for a long poodle nose. I usually eat dinner in the living room, and sometimes Faith wanders into the kitchen. She knows how to push back the lid of the trash can to expose the goodness within, and when I hear the sound of the lid opening, I either call her name (which she always responds to by coming to me and which I usually reward, to my mother's chagrin, with something off my plate) or just tell her to get out of there, which she also always responds to and which I don't usually reward. Recently I noticed that when I had heard the noise of the lid and called her away during dinner, the trash can was not actually open when I later came into the kitchen. (Faith might open the can, but she doesn't generally close it after.) What was happening was that she wasn't in fact opening the can. She pokes at it to make a noise and waits for me to respond. I expect it is both entertaining for her and it sometimes pays off with food when she comes when called. Well, I did want a smart dog.