So as we work on more commands with my Otis, I find that sometimes training sessions seem to become a bit stressful for him. In particular when he's learning something new... For example tonight we worked a lot on "touch" with him touching the palm of my hand whether it be high, low, to the left or right, etc. When i started making it more difficult he starting getting seemingly frustrated and would whine a teeny bit before figuring out what the word meant. At one point (and this has happened before) as I was waiting for him to touch my hand and giving him a few seconds to process, he barked at me. Just once, and I ignored it... once he realized that wasn't going to work he sure enough touched my palm and got his treat. Is this kind of frustration while learning new things normal?
A bit of frustration is not unusual. Or maybe it was actually confusion? Is it possible that you are making it a bit hard too quickly? See if you can progress in smaller steps. Another suggestion would be to only do a few repetitions of each exercise, before going on to something else. Don't keep the same thing going on too long. Also, before teaching something new or progressing an exercise I do a few things that my dog knows well, so he has a success that he gets rewarded for. I do the same after teaching the new exercise - go back to something familiar and easy. This keeps things interesting, keeps the dog motivated and boosts their confidence and willingness to try. Anyway, just a few thoughts
Have you trained 'On your bed' (or an equivalent) yet? We use this to 'park' Harv while we are eating so he associates it with chilling for a while until released. Harv gets very excited sometimes when we are training (he even does a little dance sometimes) but if he gets to the point where enthusiasm crosses over into 'too excited to focus' (which includes dancing!) then I ask him to go to his bed and leave him there for a while (30 seconds or so, maybe longer if really excited) to bring his excitement levels down. Then I release him from his bed, give him a treat, and resume training.
I agree with Rachael's comments. It sounds a bit as if Otis doesn't really understand what you want when you make it more difficult. If it was me I would take a few steps back and proceed more slowly and mix up the training much more with only a few repetitions of any exercise.
I think it's really quite easy to frustrate a dog even when you are training positively - I think you are to be very much congratulated for spotting that something might be up and thinking about it, well done. I think it does sound like, as Rachael says, you are asking for something he can't quite do, and perhaps not being able to figure it out is confusing and frustrating for him. It is much better if you move in small enough steps so your dog is always (or at least just about always) successful.
Hi, Apologies if this is a bit too technical but I hope you will all find this useful in relation to this topic : Dogs’ Body Language Relevant to Learning Achievement www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/4/1/45/pdf (a study into what a dogs body language is telling us during learning and how it may influence their learning ability)
Thank you everyone, I agree with all of the comments. Today we worked on "touch" again but this time I tried to go at his pace and slow down with any signs of frustration. I also made sure to throw in lots of "sits" and "downs" which he is a pro at to boost his confidence up. This session went much better, no whining!
Iv seen the 'touch' training in a few posts and wondered what it was used for? Is it just to keep puppies brain engaged or is there a practical element to it? We have done basics (sit stay lie down recall heel work fetch) and I'm looking for the next new thing to move on to, I wondered if this would be beneficial?
i don't know that it has tremendous value but I do think that it has some use. Our trainer explained that one benefit is that it trains a positive correlation between hands near the dogs face, which is always good. For my puppy who is constantly into things he shouldn't, it's also a good way to lead him away to things and of course provides the benefit of mental stimulation during training.
Sounds like you are making good progress I use touch when out walking - if Harley is on lead and gets distracted by something, I say touch to get her attention an reward. I have found it really useful for times such as walking past heavy machinery (diggers, kangools etc). It makes it positive rather than her barking at the object. I used to use it when she recalled as she would sometimes do a 'fly by' rather than come to me.
