Old Dog, New Tricks

It’s never too late to teach our dog some useful training cues! It may be that our dog doesn’t really do anything to give concern and saying her name is quite enough to get her attention….but then out of the blue she has an impulse to chase a rabbit in a new place she has never been before and her usual reliable pottering along behaviour goes out the window. What a shock…..she wasn’t answering to her name…she was running toward a rail track or busy car park or road we called her name over and over she just didn’t hear us. Luckily, the rabbit disappeared and she stopped the chase and came back…..eventually. Phew! This time no harm done.

I think most of us have had that feeling of dread at some time or other in our puppy’s early training or our older dog’s day to day outings. Heart in throat time.

It is always good to teach our dog some behaviour specific cue words they can understand – you never know when you might need that reliable response to our specific request.

So, simply put we train it like this:

Desired Behaviour + Cue Word = Reward

So, we are aiming to get:

Cue word = reliable response

Like this….

“Tilly! Come!” = Tilly running back enthusiastically + reward that behaviour on arrival!

So, next time your dog is chasing a rabbit but her name is, well just her name, wouldn’t you rather have a cue that is trained to get a conditioned reliable response? “Tilly! Come! …. YES!”

Training is great for bonding and engaging with our dog so that they choose to tune in and listen out for cues from us – just because it is rewarding and fun to do so!

Positive Reinforcement Training for Positive Results!

Force Free – Giving Choice