Question:
Hi Chad, Until today, and with the exception of recall when at the dog park, my dog had been learning and doing much better in several ways. I stayed away from the Dog Park for almost 2 months and just walked her locally and checking her recall here with the long line. Took her to the dog park a few days ago and she came around to me many times without my calling her and was treated. When it came to leaving, away she went. Apparently she could read my mind and began to stay away. Today she chewed up my comforter where she spends much of her time on my bed…I’m at a loss as to what to do. Besides really firmly talking down to her, what should I be doing? Thank you.
Answer:
How To Stop The Chewing: This is a management issue, so there would be no cause at all to “firmly talk down to her.” Basically, it sounds like the dog is being allowed too much freedom while out of your sight. The dog should be taught some version of “No” or “Leave It” and that could be used to correct the chewing behavior. BUT, that only works when the dog is in the act of chewing. Better yet, the correction should happen at the moment she starts chewing rather than after she has been chewing for a while. The reason this is important is that chewing is a self reinforcing behavior. Therefore, whenever she does it, she is being rewarded for doing it. Give her less freedom when out of sight, plenty of appropriate things to chew on and work on your “Leave It” command which we teach in Online Basic Obedience Class.
Teaching The Dog To Come At The Dog Park: It sounds like this should not be too much trouble because she was coming and checking in with you already. The problem is that when dogs are off-leash we have no control and you can’t use a long line in the dog park for safety reasons. However, what you can do is change the way you give away the treats. When you say that the dog “came around to me many times without my calling her and was treated” you are telling me that you are giving treats away for free. This makes the treats less valuable and they are not being associated with being called. This is a very common mistake because people think they are rewarding the dog for coming to them but what they are really doing is rewarding the dog for doing whatever they want, whenever they want. Then, of course, when it’s time to leave and you call the dog, she runs away. She isn’t coming when called because coming when called is associated with leaving the park.
Coming when called and coming when not called are not the same thing…at all. You need to follow the Play Hard To Get Rule, which means to only give the dog attention when you initiate it. In other words, attention, affection, treats, fetch, etc. all need to be put on a “by invite only” schedule. In other words, not just at the dog park, but all day, every day.
So, when she comes up to you uninvited, just ignore her. Then, when she’s a few feet away from you, call her over, give her a treat and let her go back to playing with the other dogs or whatever she was doing. This will make the rewards you have to offer more valuable and create a positive association with being called.
There is a lot more detail to all of these things, but I hope these short answers were at least a little bit helpful. Feel free to check out the website for more info or sign up for some lessons.
Chad Culp – Certified Dog Trainer, Canine Behavior Consultant, Owner of Thriving Canine.
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