Hi, I have a 5-1/2 month old pup Rosie. We keep her gated in our kitchen and there are two doorways needing gates - one leading to front hallway/front door, and the other into dining/living room. When we got her at 8 weeks, we used two small pressure mounted gates both the same - very low and easy to step over. As Rosie grew she started jumping over the gate closest to the front door. We then switched that gate out to a 41" high baby gate with a door. It is pressure mounted and heavy. Rosie has no fear of the gate and does not like it when we (esp. me) leaves the room even for a second. We use the small stoppers at the bottom of the gate so it can only be opened inwards so she can't push it open, but she has figured out how to manipulate the gate door to hooking her paw into it and pulling on it. And, when she is really on her game, with all 36 lbs. of her she will just barrel right into it with all her might, and knock it off the wall. I'm not going to drill into my wall to permanently mount the gate because I honestly think it still won't stand up to her pushing it. I would prefer to change the behaviour if possible. We have tried telling her to sit or lie down, give her treats etc. but nothing has worked to this point. 1) What can I do to stop her wanting to get through this gate? 2) Why does she not bother with the other gate right next to the big one, which is still the tiny low little gate she could so easily get over? 3) should I prop up a lighter wood gate against the big gate it so when she tries to open it that gate will fall down and maybe scare her a bit? Appreciate any and all suggestions.
Hi @DizzyDaisy Since the gate has lost its magic power, I would teach her boundiaries. If you are not sure how to do this, please let me know and I will write out some instructions. Answer to other questions. 2. Dogs don't generalise. Not all gates are gates to dogs. For that reason, it is entirely possible that if you bought a different looking gate that it may keep her in, at least until she accidentally finds out how to escape. 3. No. Don't do that. You never know what she will become scared of. Teaching boundaries does not have that problem.
@DizzyDaisy 1. Choose the boundary point or line, such as where the floor material changes, kitchen bench. a doorway, or an imaginary straight line between two traffic cones. 2. Walk just beyond the boundary point and wait for your dog to follow you. 3. Turn and face your dog. 4. Standing upright with your arms slightly reaching out, walk forwards into your dog’s space. In a soft non-threatening voice say something like ‘fro’ as you slowly wave your arms forwards in the direction of the dog. As you slowly walk into the dog’s space, she should back away to be on the other side of the boundary line. Use your arm and body to block her way forwards, so that her only alternative is to walk backwards. Once she gets on her allotted side of the boundary line, you can cue the dog to sit/down if you wish, but this part of the procedure is not necessary. 5. Mark the desirable behaviour (being on her side of the boundary line), with “Yes” and a treat. 6. Repeat the steps until your dog remains on the appropriate side of the imaginary boundary line. That is, the dog does not attempt to cross the boundary line. The protocol and idea of using stick figures to illustrate this training procedure comes from Trish Harris, When Three’s A Crowd, Four Paws K9 Training, In House Publishing 2016, pp. 75-76.
Thanks for all the info you give our members Michael, I love how much effort you put into helping! (We've sent you an email!)
I agree with Michael, self control is often the best form of control. You could end up building bigger and stonger barriers, or teach her boundries.
@Michael A Brooks I know that you use positive reinforcement training, as do I, so my only query in this case is about stepping into the dog's space. I'd suggest that a boundary could be trained equally as well by placing a mat on the boundary and rewarding heavily with food for remaining on it. A portion of the dog's kibble allowance could be used, throwing a piece frequently to the dog while on the mat ( or placing it on the mat if throwing is too exciting). I think that either method would take time to train (even if just a few days) so in the meantime I would think a sturdier barrier might be needed.
Thanks @Joy for your thoughtful comment. I had thought about a mat as a way of keeping the dog in the kitchen. But I decided in the end that I did not want to teach go to mat. The objective was to teach a frontier the dog shouldn't cross. It was for that reason I said the dog could sit or go down as part of step 4. I don't mind what the dog does as long as she doesn't cross the imaginary line. If you or another member can think of a way of teaching the dog where the line is, without walking into her space, then my ears are akimbo. I agree that it will take some training. The dog needs to respect the boundary even when the handler is not present.
I had envisaged the mat being just outside the kitchen. Or it could be trained without a mat but by feeding at the boundary, so the spot just outside the kitchen becomes the place where good stuff happens - I would prefer to reward for the behaviour I want rather than only deter the behaviour I don't want. I would feed the dog in a down because I think it is easier for them to resist walking forward if in a down, though I agree I wouldn't cue a down as it is acceptable for the dog to wander off. This sounds a bit woolly but is in fact what I've done with my dog.
That's clever. So if the crosses the line in the acquisition phase there isn't any payoff. But if the dog goes back onto the appropriate side the treats start again I won't change the diagram. The fruitful discourse here can bear witness to our objective to help the owner and dog. And that collaboration is often fruitful.
This is a bit left field... but if your dog understands pointing that can be quite helpful in directing them without getting in their space. I know Chewie gets it because when we want him to leave the kitchen or laundry we point and say one of our ridiculous cues and he usually leaves.
Interesting suggestion @Chewies_mum How did you initially teach the meaning of the pointing? Does it still work when you leave the area?
We didn't teach it as such. I did a bit of reading and some dogs apparently just "get" pointing, and we happen to have one. Sometimes when we get to an intersection and he isn't sure where we want to go, we point and he heads off. We also point at "his" chair when we want him there. It's pretty nifty and works in a wide variety of situations.
I always wonder why our Labs, particularly Cooper did stay behind the puppy gate, or the pet barrier we have on the front porch. She could go over it in a flash, but she doesn't. She can jump into the bed of a Pick Up, or on to our high bed with no problem, but she does not go over the gate or pet barrier. Years ago, Tilly jumped into my sons car through the window and into his lap. She was muddy and he had on his work suit.
Your describing a common phenomenon. I erected some jumps for the advanced class last Sunday. The intermediate instructor decided to take her class over the jumps. All of the dog had to be encouraged, and shown that they could jump the bar first at its lowest height, barely 20 centimeters in height. Your dog looked at the gate and didn't know she could jump it--it didn't look like a pick up truck--and when she was young she was never exposed to a gate that she could easily jump that gradually "grew" higher and higher. Sometimes the lack of generalisation works in our favour.
At dog training I pointed to the mat we were getting to the dog to train to go to. Now I point to the scales at the vet everytime we visit Willow goes straight onto them now. We have stair gates at the kitchen and dining room as it's open plan so ours are pushed to the wall too. Willow is only shut in the kitchen after walks if she is wet or dirty and at night other than this she has free access to the living room. She often goes in her basket for time alone or at night she takes he self off to bed.
The problem with non-physical boundaries is: They won't (usually!) be in place when you are not around. The dog learns that it's possible to cross the boundary and do whatever they want to (and often access reinforcers on the other side) when you're not there to provide reinforcers for remaining where you want them to and/or prevent what you don't want to happen. (This is when counter-surfing occurs - when you're not around.) So: If the situation, is one where you're always going to be around to manage things (ie you are answering the door and the barrier is about preventing the dog from reaching it) then it can easily be replaced with the idea of a mat or an area where the dog is trained to remain, without a physical barrier. But if the situation, is one where you want the barrier to be upheld when you are not around (eventually), then non-physical barriers are not effective...
