"Waiting" Is Very Powerful

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Since we've changed Murphy's program I keep learning new things.  Probably the most surprising is just how powerful it can be to just "wait them out".  We no longer use collar corrections with Murphy and we never restrain him (restraining panics him and always causes a bad reaction).  He only gets what he wants when he is behaving appropriately, so his "correction" is that we will either just sit and wait or go backwards until he makes a better choice.  I'm amazed at how well this works, not just with him but also with Guinness.  We had them both at the dog park for training last week and it was so interesting to watch them.  We got out of the car and put them in a sit.  They could see and smell the fenced dog park and immediately got excited.  We didn't move one step until they were calm.  Murphy caught on pretty quickly, but Guinness went into one of his little "overly excited states" where he was shaking and crying because he wasn't getting what he wanted....to move forward.  Well that upset Murph who had already figured out that we were going nowhere until Guinness behaved himself.  Then when they were calm we would take a few steps.....as soon as they got excited again we stopped.  We went through this several times....Guinness was always the problem at this point.  Then when we got pretty close Murph started to become apprehensive....stiff body and tail.  At the first sign of that I turned him around and we heeled all the way back to the car and started the process again.  We did that two or three times.  Finally he really "got it".  He realized that nothing bad was happening as he got close to the other dog in the dog park and that if he got nervous I was just going to take him away and we'd try again.  On the final try he calmly heeled to the gate and sat and waited until I called him in.  It was the waiting itself that was the "correction" and with a little patience it really worked.  I also found that this seemed to keep DH and me very calm as well.  Murph figured out that if he lied down that would send a clear signal to me that he was calm and we'd move ahead.  Throughout this session we never used either treats or collar corrections....just the power of not moving forward until I got the behavior I was looking for.  It was pretty cool and I thought I'd share.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Thank you, Diane.  I totally agree with you.  I use down/stay where you use PLACE.  It definitely helps to calm them....it's my very favorite "command".

[Bonnie and Kona]

Thank you so much for describing this in such detail that any of us can attempt it with our dogs, Jane. You have been such a valuable resource to this group. I hope to convince DH that we can do this with our doods, too.

[Becka]

I'm so glad you shared this, Jane, and reminded us that we can have more patience than our dogs, if only we remember to! :)

[BG and Gavin]

Thank you for this insight Jane.  I did this exact technique last week (just as a means of allowing us both to calm down, without thinking of it as a formal technique).  I was taking Gavin into the college for the first time to do therapy work.  Totally new place, new smells, hundreds of kids.  On the way into the building I started and stopped and had him sit about 4 times so that we could get our bearings. I did some breathing with each stop as well.  Once inside he was golden.  Overall for Gavin it is the "outdoors" which causes him to be so stimulated and distracted.  The starting and stopping though really seemed to set the stage that I was in charge and he cued off me for the rest of the day. 

Picturing Murphy getting frustrated with Goody Two Shoes Guinness holding them up by not behaving calmly makes me smile.  "Geesh, get with the program Guinness," says Murph.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

What a good reminder this is - for the dogs and the grandchild who would rather grunt, mumble, point, or scream than use her words.

[Adina P]

Sounds great, Jane!!! It helps, that he knows heel and stay and stuff like that, I'm sure. I'm curious to see what this does over time. What I mean is that if you consistently make them wait before entering the dog park if eventually it becomes an exercise you hardly ever need to repeat.

I'm not sure I'd have the patience to do this if I didn't have a command I was working up to . I know with Boca and going out the back door, she could be in a down stay for 5 minutes and she'd STILL bolt to go play or chase squirrels at the end since she's out of practice with a calm release from commands. Doesn't matter how regularly I make her wait before she's released she still tries to break through the door the second I turn the knob. Maybe once the kids are ALL in school I'll get to training ideas again =)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think it definitely helps that he knows heel, sit, stay.  Because we aren't using collar corrections with Murphy around other dogs, the "wait" in effect becomes an aversive.  It's a signal that his "state of mind" is not what we want.  The minute he calms down (and I can tell immediately from his body language) he gets what he wants....to move closer to the dog park.  Because he knows his commands I can put him in a sit or down/stay or I can "heel" him back and start again (which he really hates).  For Murph it's all about practicing being on leash around other dogs and not becoming fearful/aggressive.  Guinness is another story.  He just works himself up into a "state"....you wouldn't believe all the shaking and crying when we make him wait before going into the park.  When he gets around other dogs and he's this over-excited it can create a reaction from the other dogs.  We have to do the same thing at Daycare....he can't join the "pack" until he's calm.

If you really wanted Boca to calmly go out the door you'd have to have her on some sort of long line and bring her back in every time and start over.  We take G & M to fenced tennis courts to play fetch.  As we walk up to the courts they both get really excited.  We make them sit outside and wait until they're calm and then we heel into the courts.  If they get crazy when we get inside we go back out and start again.  They get it now and usually will go inside and sit and just wait for us to throw the first ball.  We started this whole thing because if they went inside in the wrong state of mind Murphy would chase Guinness and corner him.  If we eliminate the excitement we never get that unacceptable behavior.

[Adina P]

I want her to go out with less ZOOM, but not enough to take the time to train it right now. Way too time intensive initially. I'd have a toddler falling down the steps or crying behind a gate the whole time...or two kids getting into trouble because I wasn't watching.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

LOL....oh yes....I so remember those days.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Jane this sounds fabulous. YOU two are doing such a wonderful job. I commend you because I know it's been a long long road. Good Luck with this, it seems like you have found something that works really well.

[Sue & Lily Grace]

Jane, I am always so happy to hear good things about Murph's progress. Your posts about training always give me something to take away for Lily Grace and me. I have a trainer for her already. Her second session is tomorrow morning. I needed it. Her puppy mouthing and her refusing to walk and the terrible time I had with her in the car were making me think that I made a terrible mistake getting a puppy at my age. I have to say that she helped me by assuring me I was not doing something to cause an aggressive puppy. She gave me tons of suggestions and although things are not perfect, Lily Grace is not as frustrated as she was. She is smart and will sit/stay for about 4 minutes. We continue to work on that. She will go to her place when I tell her but does not necessarily connect that with a stay.

She is going to be evaluated for day camp on Tuesday. My DD had her two dogs here for the holiday and it was not pretty. Lily wanted to play and was acting very appropriately but they did not want anything to do with her and would just bark and growl at her. She needs a place to get her puppy play out in a controlled atmosphere.

Thank you Jane for the inspiration.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Oh Sue, Lily Grace is still such a baby.  I think it's awesome that you're starting already to work with a trainer, but just don't expect too much yet.  She has the attention span of a gnat right now.  Sit/stays at this age are especially tough.  Once she sits down she thinks she's done....stay is almost more than they can handle.  It's like once they put their butts on the ground they're thinking.....okay I did it, now give me my treat and lets get back to playing.  I'm also not surprised about how it went with your DD's dogs over the holiday.  Lots of older dogs can't handle that crazy puppy energy.....they want no part of it.  Even Guinness who doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body gets frustrated around puppies.  I hope it works out with Day Camp.....all of that playing sure helps them to burn off energy.  Keep your chin up...if she gets to go to daycare it will also give you a much needed break.  Here's the best news of all...it doesn't last.  She'll be an adolescent before you know it...and that's a whole new set of "opportunities".  LOL