Monday, September 16, 2013

Command Clinic: That's not your problem.

"That's not your problem" is a cue I developed with Elka, because of course I can't possibly take peoples' advice when they say to keep cues simple. She's smart enough, I feel that simple cues don't always get the point across. Or, they come to mean a broad category, and don't really apply to the next category.

So, while "Leave it" would suffice for most dogs, for Elka, "leave it" refers to items, objects, and wildlife in the yard.

"That's not your problem" applies to other dogs, either in view or barking blocks away. It applies to people walking past on the sidewalk across the street, car doors closing, people coming home next door, etc. The longer phrase seems to assure Elka that yes, I do see the issue, and she can leave it.




I established the cue using redirection, essentially. There is a typical chain of events that occurs: 1. noise outside 2. Elka growls, piloerects, starts grumbling, or actually barks (or a combination of a few) 3. I call her to me or use "Look at me" if we're already together on the couch 4. I assess what it is (if I didn't recognize right off) 5. I tell her "That's not your problem" 6. Elka is expected to go lay down, or play with a toy, or whatever. Just not continue barking and growling or whatever.

We have to attain number 6 every fall anew, when the college kids move in. We share the bottom of our driveway with the house next door, so their driveway and door noises sound very close and probably echo. The three houses across the street are also rentals, of varying capacities. But our street is very, very quiet in the summer and so Elka relaxes and essentially forgets that people will be all around us.


Calmness and patience are essential to the success of "That's not your problem". You yourself have to carry off that you do not care. You aren't wasting time and attention on it. However, I also don't want to discourage Elka's alertness entirely. So, she's allowed to (quietly!) acknowledge that Something Happened. But it is essential that she recalls or responds to "Look at me" when I ask. She gets rewarded for both of those things, verbally and on a random schedule for food or play reward.

Elka gets rewarded in the same way for calming herself down after "That's not your problem" has been uttered. If she's gone to lay down quietly, I'll pet her extensively rather than rile her up with a toy, but that's just part of the situational assessment.

We also encounter a little bit of intelligent disobedience here. You see, our doorbell doesn't work. Never has. But people, sometimes, will "ring" the bell and wait, rather than trying to knock (others seem to catch on). If I'm in the kitchen, I won't know somebody's on the porch, but Elka still does. If I don't investigate, she will not listen to the cue, because it is, in fact, her problem that somebody is on the porch.

But when she stands down, she stands down.


15 comments:

  1. Excellent! I use "leave it" for everything, but am ignored for trucks..I swear I'm buying Justus a John Deere cap. We'll work on this. Thanks.

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    1. Aw, a John Deere cap would look great on him!

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  2. ROTFLMAO. I love it. My commands are ridiculous too, so I can totally relate. My command for the same issue is "No one likes a busybody." It's wordy, but effective.

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    1. Hah, that one's great! We also have things like "Do you just need to pee?" and I use "excuse me" as a no rewards marker.

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  3. Fantastic. It's challenging when you're working with a smart dog - and especially when disobedience is sometimes appropriate.

    I find Bella is much more specific than other dogs I've had but she is also more able to generalize. And of course, I never have any idea which she's going to do with what command at any given time. Hrumph.

    But I like this cue. "Leave it" isn't working so maybe this will. :)

    PS - that last picture of Elka is too adorable for words.

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    1. Yes, it is a challenge, and things didn't go nearly so smoothly last fall when the college kids returned! I might be slow sometimes, but I eventually hit on the solution.

      I've watched Elka try at length to curl up on a single pillow (like, a single one of those gold patterned ones) and she doesn't quite make it any longer!

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  4. "that's not your problem" is priceless. I'm glad other people talk to their dogs in complete sentences. I use "thank you for the warning" which acknowledges the barking, but assures them that it really isn't our problem any more.

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    1. Oh yes, we have full sentences! I talk to Elka, always have (better than talking to myself, right?) so I think it's really been good for her vocabulary and all over comprehension. If she doesn't quite know what I mean, she seems to take contextual cues quite well.

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  5. Ma uses 'Good gurl' when I alert to stuffs. I will bark until she says it. Then I know she knows, ya know? BOL!!!!
    My favorite is still 'drop it' cause I pick up crap from the yardie or special treasures around the house, then I run under the kitchen table til Ma notices, then she says 'drop it' and when I do...I GETS A TREATIE!! Score! Ma started this as a safety measure cause her other doggie swallowed fruit pits that she didn't want to 'let go' of. Surgery followed. So this might be a game to me, butts it is important.
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

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    1. Drop it is a great cue, isn't it! It is very, very important (and has a great payoff).

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  6. So cute. Love the Doberman donut there at the end.

    I will say, that if you have a bonafide problem barker, calling them away is not a great idea. There's a long reward history with recall=cookie, so the cue itself becomes pretty rewarding, even if you don't give a reward. For a dog like Elka, who is barking at Real Stuff, it's not a big deal. For a dog who is anxiety and/or boredom barking, you need to be a lot more careful with inadvertently rewarding them for inventing things to bark at. Know Thy Dog, etc.

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    1. Yes, we love the Doberman donut (ball of dog, etc. etc. ^^)

      Yes, Elka is not a problem barker. That would be a definite wrinkle in the plan if that kind of a self-rewarding "Recall gets me stuff!" was added, in addition to the self reward that barking is.

      Everybody's dog is different! It's one thing that makes them so interesting.

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  7. I have to really retrain my dogs. We got lazy the last couple years and it sure shows!

    Stop on by for a visit
    Kari
    http://dogisgodinreverse.com/

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  8. I really like this cue and have used it a couple of times myself. Not enough of course to actually enforce it well, but we're working on it. :-D

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  9. Elka is so smart!! Sometimes I have to deal with phrases too, like "Not for Doggies!" I don't like it cos it usually relates to food, but I've learnt to walk away! I am pretty good at knowing when someone is approaching the door though, they don't even need to ring the bell and I'm on it! :)

    Hope you're having a fun day :)

    Your pal Snoopy :)

    PS - Your comments have being doing mischief and ending up in my spam, I just rescued them, sorry, hopefully they'll now stay outta trouble! :)

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