My mother always tells me Snowie is disobedient because he doesn't walk perfectly at heel and goes off to sniff whenever he feels like it. I've always found his goofy friendliness so charming. Until this weekend and this morning. This morning I was just plain cross. I know. I know. I should be cross with myself. I am sure it is because I've not trained him properly. So... started on Saturday morning. We did an off-leash walk near the sea. Very big grassy area for dogs to free run. Only problem (massive problem) next to a busy road. Dogs have been killed when running across the road. Snowie ran across the road, ran to a smell in the shrubs on the other side. That walk is no longer an option for us off-leash now. Saturday afternoon went to the forest. Halfway through he ran off, disappeared for ages. Called and called and called and called and the boy eventually comes racing out of the growth, happy as Larry, licking his lips. As we circled back, but this time below the area he'd disappeared to, he ran off again. This time I followed him, felt like I was going into the darkest, deepest heart of the forest, under tree trunks, over boulders. Until I heard a plaintive voice call out to me: Your doggie is just sharing my sandwiches. Poor man is homeless, living (it appears) in the forest. And here, this spoilt boy with a freezer full of meat eats a homeless man's food. He has disappeared at this spot twice before (although not as long as last Saturday), and clearly it has been for an afternoon snack. Then this morning, as we're ending our walk and coming off the mountain, he races down where a homeless man is digging in someone's trash (garbage bin day today) and pulls the scavenged food out of the homeless man's bag and gobbles it up. At which point I noticed his collar was missing -- first time ever, must've come off when he was playing just moments before with two other dogs. So I looped the leash through the handle and made a slip collar and marched him home, no sniffing, no stopping, no marking, no dawdling, he had to walk at my pace and I did not talk to him at all, I was so cross! And boy did he walk! At our corner he normally slows to a snails pace, but not today; walked smartly all the way home. (I went back to give the man some food (couldn't find him) and tried to find the collar (also couldn't find it).) When we got home he had his normal dip in the pool. I went inside, ignored him. After his dip I came out to dry him. Usually he saunters around but not this morning. I told him "Hup!" onto the table so that I didn't have to bend to dry him. Up he jumped, first time, no questions asked. Usually there's a lot of luring and playing before *he* decides to jump up. He was the picture of perfect behaviour when I was so cross; I asserted what I wanted and he had to fall in line. But how do I be that assertive and have him listen to me no matter what when I'm also nice and loving? I don't want to be this horrible handler who marches her dog like a robot. But looks like I'm going to have to get stricter because his behaviour these past few days has been out of control. Someone mentioned here on the forum that Labradors think with their stomachs. How do I stop him from stealing other people's food?
Hmmmm ... Assertive isn't cross 'tho. I'm assertive all the time - meaning determined and expecting them to do as I say. But my feeling is loving and positive. ...
LOL Oh my, sorry for the LOL but really, what a pup. I imagine homeless people like dogs just as much as most of us and were very happy to see Snowie and maybe even were happy to share their food. It's a human trait to want to nurture and it doesn't matter if the animal is already well fed, many people get immense satisfaction from feeding animals. It is a problem if the dog gets rewarded for behaviour we don't want and it will make training harder for you. REcall training and stay close training and Leave It. It's something we always watched out for on canoe trips, never knew if the dog might hit the end of the portage and there would be some canoeists sitting eating with their food spread out all around them. We learned to keep the dog close. And if there was food or garbage you can bet the dog smelled it and knew it was there. I think your little bit of feeling cross firmed up your commands and expectations and that's why Snowie was so obedient. It obviously did him no harm. If only we could muster that inflection, expectation, expression all the time. I think that's what our trainers have learned to do, stand firm without seeming cross. Snowie, you devil.
That is what I'm trying to achieve! I just don't quite know how to do it. I think I've let Snowie get away with too much. He's such a lovely dog that I've not had to try too hard, he is very easy. But the stealing of food and the running off to food sources are a danger to him so I have to get control of this, and I just don't know how to be assertive in this circumstances while still be loving and positive!
Ah thanks @Snowshoe -- you have summed it up so well! And so kindly. Thank you! On the walk I take him on where he notoriously came out of the bushes with human poo streaked across his face, I now take treats (really tasty ones) and he stays close; we've gone back to basics with treating most times he checks in with me. But on the Saturday when we raced across the road, I had treats with me but clearly that smell was just too alluring. (And he was so excited to be there; we don't go there that often.) The homeless guy on Saturday seemed quite happy to have Snowie with him -- as you say, happy for the company I am sure. When I apologised profusely, he said he didn't mind. It does make it difficult, though, as you say, that Snowie is being rewarded for going there... More work on recall, staying close, leave it... At home he does this perfectly, but out and about... oh boy, our training will have to reach a new level! And I will have to learn to be assertive...
Positive training isn't permissive training, and it sounds like you've been too permissive. As you say, letting him behave in a manner that isn't acceptable. You don't have to be hard in order to do this, you simply have to be consistent with your training to make sure he has a trained response to any cues you give him. Work on him staying close, so he never goes out of sight, and work on a solid stop and recall cue so that he responds when his instinct is to run. Training him not to take food when it's on offer (either expressly given or free to take) is probably unlikely to be achievable, so management is your key - don't let him get into the situation - ie out of your range of control - for him to be able to get rewarded in this manner.
I am sort of resigned to the fact that my dogs (especially Benson) get me into so many bizarre situations and predicaments, that just don't happen to normal people. It is only natural to feel a bit cross... Although have to say, Snowie really makes me laugh! I used to get frustrated with Benson..when he snuck into a handbag factory and ran riot with their handbags I was so embarrassed! Didn't even know he was missing! In years to come I will miss this chocolate mischief..I know I will. With training we wll get there, in the meantime, don't be so hard on yourself
The other thing is, you shouldn't be having him make a choice between your tasty treats and the other thing he wants. There shouldn't be a hesitation where he weighs up which is more attractive to him. It's about getting that "trained response", because there will be situations where whatever you have will fail if the dog is weighing up his options. So, practice, practice, practice, with increasing distractions all the time, and that's how you get him whiplashing to you because he has a huge history of doing that when you give the cue.
Thank you! And I'd love to hear the story of the handbag factory!! So pleased to hear I am not alone with my buffoon!
By the way, I just re-read what I wrote and I make it sound like I have done this already, when I have to hold my hands up and say, it's still very much a work in progress!
I feel like life with Snowie will always be a work in progress: such a confident, friendly, and greedy dog = a recipe for a lifetime of training!!
Sending you lots of sympathy - I don't do well at the stern/assertive thing either. I just don't like bossing anyone around, humans or dogs, and also have a hard time keeping a straight face if they do something that is naughty yet goofy. Ummm.....like eating some poor guy's sandwiches or being a canine poo-detector. Brogan had the type of personality that he really felt more secure when he was told what to do EVERY SECOND. He really didn't like thinking for himself, which was very different from my first Rottie. If I treated him more as a partner (as I did my first Rottie), Brogan was just too insecure. Even though I felt a bit of an idiot, I started really trying to do the "stern but kind" thing and order him around for every little thing. I honestly felt like some sort of actress and it was just so not me, but amazingly it did really relieve his anxiety and get us over the final training hurdle. Not suggesting at all that Snowy needs that crazy micromanagement that Brogan seemed to crave, but only that maybe you could put on your best Meryl Streep and "pretend" to be assertive... fake it 'til you make it?
You startled your dog by marching him home in a way that you don't normally do - probably - in which case, that effect will rapidly wear off. Or, it was a completely co-incidence, and he would have walked home nicely anyway. Having had enough of legging it across roads, wandering round the woods and nicking food. An untrained dog is an untrained dog. Try being 'assertive' when your untrained dog has legged it off out of ear shot and is massively enjoying himself with whatever mischief he has found. It isn't going to help you. I think 'assertive' is best understood as being determined to stop your dog self-rewarding. So move, and move fast - grab that collar (after spending lots of time rewarding for sudden collar grabs in your kitchen). Stop your dog getting to the good sniff on the other side of the road. Pick up the long line when your dog is heading towards sandwiches he doesn't own...and put that lead on when he can't be trusted. And so on. Then, one day, you can look super cool when you can just say 'leave it' in a normal voice, instead of looking like those stupid people shouting at their dogs in assertive sergeant major voices while the dog happily ignores them.
I agree with part of that JulieT - assertive is determined. But it's not sergeant majorish. It's giving off the signal that you expect them to comply - by your confident tone of voice and stance. When I first met Bruce he had utterly lost all recall. I called him back confidently, he came back, sat for his treat and let me hold his collar and has done ever since. Of course, I have since taught him that coming back is grrrreat - or his recall would soon have faded again. But the assertive attitude also helps imo.
I think dogs err on the side of caution often when dealing with something unexpected and it's one of the reasons why instructors sometimes get better responses than we do with our own dogs. So if your manner suddenly changed he'd go mmmm wonder what's up will go along and see what's happening and if a new person gave him a cue, especially in a clear, precise manner he'd probably do as asked..........the first time Nothing replaces a genuine trained response though, not attitude, not tone of voice and not posture. All these things help provide clarity and smooth the training process but a conditioned response is the aim and you only get that through training. I may have to remind myself to re-read that in times of frustration
