Here's one I was thinking about today that I haven't seen anything on, or at least don't remember seeing. If I take my dog on a walk and want to pop into a local shop I'd tie him to a tree and go inside. He, no doubtably would start to bark. I haven't tried yet but I'm prettty sure he would. He can't even hang out on the deck for more than 3 minutes without wanting inside to be with us, even though he can see us through the sliding doors. He will, however, sit patiently in the truck while I go into a shop and just sit there looking out the window. But, he's been sleeping on the floor of the truck quite regularly since we got him. So my question is. How could I train him to wait there patiently till I come back to collect him and carry on ? And for those of you who would be concearned about theft and would never leave your dog alone, it's a non issue where I live. I was thinking some kind of click and treat while he was silent. Or a sit stay like we practice when we go to the road to get the mail. He waits at the end of the driveway while we fetch the mail across and down the road. Or would I need to practise sitting with him and reward for not barking at the passerbys. He's not been socialized for town for several months so he's losing that. Anyhow, after that then try going in the shop once he can sit there calmly with me at his side. ???
Theft is also a non-issue here. I wouldn't dare to leave Coco, I'm sure he would bark like crazy. The other thing I wouldn't like to happen is for someone to feed him treats in my absence or children to pet him uncontrollably. On reflection - I'm not going to even train him for it for these 2 reasons. You need to train him to not bark at passers-by, like you said. Also train him to be alone outside a shop - in little increments of time. Sounds like you have the right idea, I'm sure you'll get there.
I never considered the kids and treats. Good point. But I will sit with him while my wife has coffee. I don't drink the stuff.
I also wouldn't be able to do this with Lucky because he wouldn't be able to stay calm if someone went to say hi! I do leave him tied to something if I can see whether people/dogs are approaching and know I can drop what I'm doing and get back to him if he needed some help. Most often queuing for ice cream or coffee! Lucky can't do queues calmly... My trainer said not to use a stay cue if you are going out of sight and you can't be sure that they are able to hold a stay with high distractions. For example if you ask him to stay, go into the shop, and then a person says hi to him and he breaks his stay. If it keeps happening, it might affect proofing your stay. So I just say "back soon" or "wait there" before I leave him. Oh and make sure you tie him to something secure. I know some owners who made this mistake and ended up trying to catch terrified dogs running down the street dragging benches or chairs behind them...
This is something we would struggle with. I would never leave Lilly outside a shop under any circumstances. But I DO leave her with Sophie when I go into a shop. Or I wait outside with her when Sophie goes in. Not regularly which is probably why it is an issue and she whines her little head off Admittedly she might do the same on lead stopping for a chat on lead in the street. I guess starting with teaching a settle would be where I would start. A settle on a mat in the next room at home, then outside, with me out of sight, then gradually extending the distance? Taking it to other environments? Maybe - my thoughts on how I would do it. jac
It is possible. It was a regular site when I was growing up. There are always dogs tied up or otherwise outside the little supermarket in the small town that I shop in. And earlier in the week I saw a man settle down a sweet looking Gr on a very narrow pavement outside, of all places, a butchers shop. It lay there happily with cars passing within inches of it. Can't see the day when Cassie will do that though, not with the trainer she's got.
I will leave my dogs if I can see them through a window etc. So I'll leave them outside the ranger's office on the Common, and outside a cafe in a wood in Cornwall where I go, and outside some small shops in Cornwall. I don't leave them outside shops in London, obviously. Mine are fine. They stand there, hopefully wagging their tails at anyone who passes by and generally flirting at any opportunity. They don't bark. I didn't train anything specifically apart from out of sight stays but I don't leave them in a stay (just in another context they have been trained to stay while I'm out of sight). I have to say it though not all dogs are happy at being left - I often see dogs outside shops that look absolutely miserable. I certainly wouldn't leave mine if I thought this might be the case.
When I was a kid, we left all three of our labs outside shops (we didn't have them all at the same time), they weren't ever trained to do so , I guess at some point we just presumed they would be ok. I don't know how old they would have been. It was never an issue, they sat quietly, we never told them to stay, they didn't whine, they happily greeted kids and passers by. When I think back we were obviously lucky!
Although....having said I don't train, I do train dogs being tied up because I often tie my dogs to fence posts at training. So I suppose that plus out of sight stays (which trains them to be content if I leave) adds up to being trained enough so they don't get in a state if I pop into the cafe to get our sausage sandwiches!
You need to just try it and see. I leave Libby outside our local shop and she's fine. Elsewhere, I make sure I can see her, like JulieT describes. She gets stupidly excited when I return after a few minutes as if I've been gone for days! Set up a situation and try it where you can see him but he can't see you.
