In my relentless pursuit of making mistakes myself so that you can avoid them, here are two recent examples of ways I’ve attempted to confuse my dogs.
The first example relates to Willie charging through the door when we said “Willie, wait”. He is usually very responsive to the cue “wait”, and I couldn’t figure out why he was barreling out of the house when we asked him to wait at the door. Both Jim and I began getting all primate-like and frustrated when Willie flew through our legs (or into them) after we asked him to stay still.
Fortunately, I took a breath and thought it through, and realized it was me that was causing the problem. (Can you hear me sigh?) Years ago, when I had five dogs, I taught all the dogs to wait at the door when I said “Dogs, wait”. Then I released each dog with their name. For example, “Luke, Luke!” meant that he could go through the door while the others waited.
Yup, you got it. Fast forward to now, and here we were saying “Willie, wait,” with Willie’s name first before the “wait”. Because we have fewer dogs, we stopped doing an “all dogs” wait a long time ago, but I had taught it to Willie when he was young. I forgot about it, but Willie didn’t. All he heard was the release, which is what, after all, I had taught him. [Repeat my sigh here.]
The other example relates to one of Maggie’s physical therapy exercises. One of her tasks is to walk under a set of poles, and I’ve been using my hand as a target to direct her movements. I defined the exercise as being “done” when she moved through the poles and then touched her nose to my open hand. Easy right? Teaching dogs to target a hand is simple, and Willie learned it in an instant.
I thought that Maggie had too, but she kept walking under the poles and then turning her head and skipping the “touch hand” part of the exercise. We did two sessions in which she’d go through the poles perfectly, but then avoid touching her nose to the palm of my hand.
Hmmm. I felt nothing but curiosity about this–what was going on here? Little Miss Maggie is about as compliant and smart as a dog could be. The second time around I figured it out in one of those head-smacking moments of obviousness. Maggie’s visual stay signal is… yup, an open palm directed toward her face. And this is what Maggie saw when she finished walking under the poles:
I didn’t relate the two at first because when I ask for a stay I am standing and my hand held vertically. But to her, it looked similar enough, but even more intense because it was right in front of her face.
I switched the visual signal to my fingers pinched together as shown below, and she immediately touched her nose to my fingers 100% of the time.
Oh, our poor dogs. So often we think we are being clear, and yet we are confusing our dogs left and right. It’s a miracle they haven’t all turned on us as we sleep.
But we do have to forgive ourselves for not always being able to put ourselves in their place, keep asking ourselves “Why is he doing that?” and “Why is she NOT doing that?”, and educating the public that their dog is probably not being “disobedient” because she is trying to take over the pack. She’s just confused.
Hopefully these examples will help others avoid miscommunications of their own. Any you’d like to share to help all of us be better best friends to our dogs?
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: One of the best parts of last week was getting to see two friends and colleagues on Sunday afternoon. Friend and CAAB Dr. Pam Reid was at an agility clinic close by and I got to visit with her and watch International-level agility dogs knock my socks off with their speed and well, agility. Here is her amazing twelve-year old International Agility competitor, Snafu. Yup, twelve. Yup, amazing.
Visiting with us was kick-ass animal trainer Laura Monaco Torelli, who came out for the afternoon from Chicago. More photos from that visit later.
I took some photos at the Agility Clinic, but put the camera down after awhile because I just wanted to enjoy being there. Here’s a dog going through the tunnel:
Oh wait, it’s already in the tunnel–because it was moving somewhere around the speed of light. Never mind. But here’s a fuzzy photo of Shawna Richgels, the founder of Canine Sports Zone in Middleton, and her well-named dog, Charisma. I include it only because even though the resolution is poor, the intensity of both person and dog leaps off the page.
Lots going on here, more next week about all that. Off to paint the pergola!
Frances says
I am one of the world’s greatest when it comes to inadvertently confusing my dogs. I well remember the Agility class when Sophy, who had already spent much of the series of classes trying to tell me that she did not like jumping because it hurt her back while I was too obtuse to understand, watched me dancing around trying to lure her into the weaving poles and sat down very firmly, practically casting her eyes up to heaven in frustration at my inexplicable antics. That was when I learned to pause, reflect, and find a better way of explaining – something which I already knew to do with human students, but for some reason we tend to find it easy to blame canine students for not understanding us, despite the far greater communication difficulties! Fortunately my dogs are very forgiving, and make excellent guesses at what I am asking for based on context and experience…
Erin Rudolf says
I’d been considering attending the agility clinic. Had i k own you’d be there, i would have made a better choice. Alas, family and work won again. My neice once tried to teach our lab to jump up and celebrate a touchdown when watching the Badger games. She wpuld raise her hand and say “Bucky, Touchdown!” And tried to invite him to jump up. What did he do? He laid down. Time and time again, because all he heard was “down”. I suggestedshe change the cue to “we scored” and because the Badgers did-a lot that game-Bucky learned his touchdown dance and we had another future trainer in the family!
Barb Stanek says
Laughing with you at confusing your dogs! I so can relate. I’m sure my dogs sit around after dinner and compare notes.
“You wouldn’t believe what she did today! Blah, blah, blah. She must think it’s perfectly clear, but I had no idea what she meant! Some days I’m amazed that I can understand her at all!!! ”
I daily promise my dogs to get better.
Jennifer says
What a great post! I have experienced this phenomenon (can I call it a phenomenon, lol?) during the “sit for petting” exercise. Bella is in a sit at heel position and the trainer comes over and merrily says, “Can I pet your dog?” And I say either “yes” (my marker word) or “okay” (my release word) and up from the sit she goes! Now I say instead “please do” and voila! there is a happy dog being petted while staying in a perfect sit!
Chris Johnson says
I love this article! I brings up 2 things that I’ve adjusted in my own training classes. The first is that instead of teaching the dogs to “wait” on cue at the door, I have my students teach them to only go through the door on a release cue. The release becomes their cue, not the “wait”. We use body blocking and closing the door if the dog advances, then treats when they stay in place, gradually increasing duration as we go out the open door, leaving the dog inside, and stepping back to them to reinforce, then releasing them to go out. I must say that people find this very hard to do! But eventually as I keep explaining that what they’ll get is a dog who is less likely to go through an open door if you forget to give the wait cue or aren’t right there to tell them, and seeing how the dogs figure it out and wait for the release, the light dawns! The second thing is that I always teach touch to the back of the hand, rather than the palm, so as not to confuse for the stay hand signal. Thanks for reinforcing my dog training instincts!! And I love how you stepped back and thought things through, though I wouldn’t have expected anything less. 🙂
Mason says
I feel very moved whenever I read about (or experience) the missteps in communication between species, and the aha! moment that follows when confusion clears. (Naturally, apologies are made). Maybe a good way to think about animal training is ‘animals and humans learning through their mutual interaction’.
Wanda says
Off topic but you might enjoy. My husband & I traveled to Scotland and England early this month and as we drove through the Cotswold, we saw a large herd of sheep in a pasture. On our return trip, all the sheep were in a tight group in the corner, next to a covered trailer. Right there was a black and white dog. Yup, a four-legged worker doing his job. Sure wish we had been there to see that dog in action.
Corrina says
Ha! I loved this! I did something similar just yesterday while walking my boys. They wait for me to pick up poo and don’t move again until I release them (“okay”). I somehow managed to get the bag wrapped up in a leash and the leash around my leg–still had the leash around my leg but finally managed to untangle the bag and said (to myself, I thought), “Whoo, okay!” Meaning, I’m glad I managed to get that bag out of there! But to them, just a release, and they both took off–with my leg.
Kristen says
This is genius! We’ve had trouble with the touch cue, too, and I just bet it’s because that open palm is also Vivian’s visual wait cue. I’m going to try the bouquet of fingers thing and see if that works better!
Jann Becker says
Him: “Come on!” (Hauls on leash.)
Me: “Her cue is ‘let’s go.'” (Kira walks in not-quite-orderly fashion as we are in the Petsmart parking lot.)
Kira, I suspect, “Oh. Yeah, it’s Mom so I kinda remember this but I really want to play with that Boxer…”
Dooley, whose nail trim started the whole adventure, “I lived! I survived another attack on my paws!”
Margaret McLaughlin says
@ Jennifer. I have had to do exactly the same thing when training my guide dog puppies–that’s one of the exercises on the In For Training assessment, and unfortunately “OK” is my release word (worn too deep to be able to change, leaving me wishing I had started with “Free!” instead), and “Yes!” is my verbal marker when I don’t/can’t use a clicker. My response is also, “Please do”. Weird…
I’ve been having a problem with my new dog, Kate. She’s 4, almost 5, and was a show dog before I got her (conformation), so she’s very well socialized, and mentally and physically sound–and very sweet–but she’s an Obedience virgin. Her heeling is coming along like gangbusters, which is remarkable for a dog whose entire previous career had her handler adapting to her pace, so she would show her best, but she has been having real problems with the stay. She just doesn’t get it.I think it’s exactly the same situation–same signal as used for a hand touch, but I taught that first, so I open my hand in front of her face, and she moves to follow it.
I think this needs a 2-part fix. I will alter the hand-touch cue completely, and maintain the hand-in-front-of-face stay cue, and use the platform as a target for teaching the stay. I’ve already started that part, but I think she’ll get it much more quickly if she’s not getting the same cue for the opposite behavior.
Thanks a lot, Trisha. Kate thanks you, too.
Heidi says
As always your insight is so helpful!
Chris from Boise says
Obi is an exuberant boy, and doesn’t always wait to hear an entire cue before leaping into action. We’ve been working on “Paws Up!” – standing and putting his front feet on whatever object we’re facing. I recently added the cue, and with great cheer he leaped onto the object with all four feet. I took off the cue, and he performed perfectly. I cued him again – all four feet bounced up. It took an embarrassingly long time for my dense brain to realize that our cue for leaping enthusiastically onto something was “Up!”. Oops. When I shortened and lengthened the cue to “Paaaaws!”, bingo!
We appreciate your relentless efforts on our behalf!
Thom "Swanny" Swan says
My traditional type Alaskan Huskies help support themselves by contracting with a local sled dog tour company (we live in Alaska) when they are particularly busy. We usually take two guests at a time for either a 4-mile or a 7-mile tour through the boreal forest. I noticed that a minute or two before starting each run the fuzz-butts would be going leaning into their harnesses and almost desperately trying to pull the hitching post out of the ground.
After a few repeats of this, and remembering that the dog is never wrong, I realized that I had a habit of asking my guests “Are you guys ready?”. That’s the cue I use to ask the dogs to lean into their harnesses and prepare to run, followed by the launch cue of “let’s go”.
Now I ask my guests if they are comfortable, and the dogs wait until I am ready before pulling with all they’ve got.
Betsy says
First of all, let me say I’m a devoted fan, Dr. McConnell! Have all your books, and I’m trying hard to learn. My favorite quote of yours is “Yo, Human! Pet me – NOW!” I have a Golden Retriever, who is wonderful but he must have read that article, too, as he has me well trained in that regard.
Best wishes.
Susan Day says
I had a similar experience with a client whose dog just suddenly turned off. I walked around the back of the dog and noticed that she was standing with the sun behind her and was incomplete shadow. Sometimes we just don’t realise it’s the little things that can make such a big difference to what our dogs see and what they don’t see.
Donna in VA says
Wonderful timing. I’ve had my new dog 4 months and am ready to begin some serious training so will pay attention to the words I’m choosing….
Jenny Haskins says
Have you tried Kayce Cover’s to finger point?
I have found it very useful to use as a target because it is a hand-shape we very rarely use in any other situation.
Before I started using this I has problems with my Kelpie leaping up to target my hand when I cues him to go over a jump 🙁 If you don’t like the two-finger point for any reason you could use a fist. We used this for the marine animals — initially to protect one’s fingers, but it is useful to have your dog target the proximal phalanges (3rd joints??) because once again it is not a hand position we usually use for other hand signals.
Kat says
Since early on in our relationship Ranger has had a cue that I joke means “read my mind.” It was a noise cue and his response would be to look at me and figure out what I wanted. Ranger is brilliant at reading my mind and I’m so used to the cue that I use it with Finna as well. She’s not nearly as brilliant at reading my mind but it does work to get her attention back. These days with Ranger’s hearing being less than reliable I’ve shifted to a finger flutter as our “read my mind” cue. He adapted instantly. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, Finna is less adept at reading my mind so when I used the finger flutter with her she responded with confusion. It took me a minute to shift back to the noise cue. Now I’m working on pairing the finger flutter and the noise cue so if the time comes that she can’t hear she’ll recognize what I want. I’m not sure why I hadn’t already done that since every other cue comes with both gestural and verbal signals.
Kim says
I asked my Bridie if she wanted to go with Catherine to get peanut butter. Was joking, but she understood and immediately took off. Caught her and was shouting, wait, wait. You should have seen the look of surprise and annoyance on her face. One of the smartest dogs I have ever had. Question for you, what do you think of the disappearing human craze that just went through the internet? I thought it was a good way to cause separation anxiety. Even the cats didn’t think it was funny.
Renee says
I love when you post mistakes that we can learn from! I’m pretty sloppy with both visual and verbal cues, and I can really confuse poor Colby.
I taught her the touch command using my flat palm. She will touch my hand no matter where I position it as long as she can see it – by my side, in front of my leg, up in the air so that she needs to jump up. It’s a game we both enjoy and I play it often – it’s a great way to get her attention and I’m hoping/planning to start adding distance to the game soon. But, I often also show her my flat palm when I ask for a stay or a wait. The biggest confusion for her, though, is when she barrels up to someone at the dog park and they hold out a flat palm thinking to stop her from jumping up, inadvertently queuing her to do exactly that. She had gotten soooo good about not jumping up and recently has regressed. Duh, wonder why? I knew I needed to change the touch queue and love the idea of using my fist. That seems like a much easier transition for me than some of the other ideas I had. Now all I need to do is make it happen!
Had another interesting (to me) and somewhat related experience this morning. Colby spends much of the day outside in the fenced yard. She loves, loves, loves to be outside and can sometimes balk about coming in unless there’s something in it for her. Often I will call her in for breakfast or dinner or to go for a walk or whatever by saying “Time for breakfast/dinner/a walk” or “Ready for breakfast/dinner/a walk”. This morning I simply opened the back door, called her name and said “breakfast”. Nope she was too busy. So, I said “Colby, come on, breakfast.” Nope, too busy. Then I said “Ready . . . ” and zoom, she was on the deck and in the door before I could finish the sentence. Lesson learned.
Kelly Schlesinger says
Somehow I taught my dog that “go potty” meant to stand in the bushes. Period.