So I guess it was the “mark -> turn to you for reward” bit that was the crucial part, which was overlearnt and so happened automatically despite the rabbit distraction? The ball was kind of secondary. Thanks, that has suddenly made more sense now, I was always searching for a reward that would ‘win’ against a bunny but that probably doesn’t exist. I need to focus instead on getting my “turn to me for amazingness” response as automatic as possible in all other situations first. Have I understood correctly?
Haha dog training really brings out the creative side! Rabbit fur doesn’t seem to do anything for the Pig, surprisingly...haven’t tried feathers though...
AttacHed, not attacKed. Poor bunny! Yup, so you're after a conditioned response, either to the recall/stop cue or to the event marker. In this case, it was the event marker which came after he paused due to my unholy noise. But playing loads of recall games (and wherever you can Premack it, the better) will help you get the conditioned response to the recall cue, in time
I'm delighted that you've given me the opportunity to provide a walkthrough of the photo It's mainly just partially digested kibble, with some cubes of cooked pork loin scattered in there (he had been doing so well up until the "incident" and was earning his rewards). Then a few pieces of grass. But the part that caused the stomach to empty is at the bottom left and bottom right of the pic. It's the skin/feathers and (I think) feet of a dead bird's carcass. Sorry to have put readers through the details. If it's any consolation, I felt rather queezy writing it
I was particularly paranoid about Duggan eating everything, which he did. As I learned more about why and my effects on his why I can say that recall and stopping your lab from eating a dead seagull and that beach is a combined challenge. It’s not just a recall issue but also a stop eating dead things, eating rocks, poo, or whatever issue. Having the price tag of a sick animal at the forefront of my mind I was aggressive in trying to prevent my dog from acting quite normally. So recalling him off those types of things before he was reliable and before he grew out of the exploratory phase of learning the world through his mouth compounded the issue. Don’t confuse the two. Find subtle ways to discourage eating everything (there’s more to it than that) then you can refocus on recall.
