Puppy does bad things just to get corrected??

[Tina]

Hi Everyone!

It's been a while since I've posted and Peanut is doing really well (on certain aspects) from the training tips I've learned here.

Although...I'm noticing she may be too clever. Right now her favorite bad things to do is jump on furniture and people and dig/eat dirt outside. I have been trying positive reinforcements and she knows "off" and "drop it".

Problem is, I'm noticing she will catch on quickly and start jumping/dig just so I'll say "off" / "drop" and get treat. Especially if she sees me grab the clicker. During training she'll do something naughty, then quickly run over to get a treat. When she does I ignore her and training is over.

I'd have to say I'm secretly impressed by her figuring this out...BUT I know this will lead to lots of headaches in the future.

Am I treating/clicking at the wrong time? I'm clicking right when she lands the ground then treating. Any thoughts??

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is just my own opinion, but I'm not a fan of clicker training. I have never seen it work well with any dog but the softest, most tractables ones, and even then I'm not sure that in an emergency situation, those dogs would have responded properly. In my experience, it's better for teaching tricks than for really solid obedience training, especially with smart dogs who like to test the limits.. 

One suggestion I would make is to keep her on a long line outdoors so that you can stop the digging/dirt eating immediately. It might also be a good idea to keep her leashed indoors as well, which would allow you to prevent the jumping on people and furniture & enforce the commands.

How old is Peanut? 

[Tina]

Hi Karen- She's just starting to test me. I've never done clicker training before this, but I was successful with it when I crate trained Peanut so I continued. But I think she's caught on..

Keeping her on a leash is a good idea! I've been loose leash training but I think I've been giving her too much freedom! Peanut is a little over 3 months old. She has one more set of shots before I can sign up for obedience training! Thanks so much for your insights!

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

Tina, at 3 months, she's not testing you. She still has a mouthful of baby teeth. If you sign her up for a manners/obedience class after her last shots, be sure to use positive reinforcement. In the meantime,the late  Dr Sophia Yin, DVM, MS has an excellent book on puppy training called Perfect Puppy in 7 Days. While the title is a bit of a stretch, Dr Yin's behavior marker is the word "YES!" instead of a clicker. The book has tons of photos that show visually what she's saying. It's easy to follow and you'll see good results.

Puppies jumping up is attention-getting  behavior. If she learns she gets NO ATTENTION (not even eye contact) for jumping up, but gets loves, pets, treats, etc for being 4 on the floor, she'll learn quickly how to get what she wants.

Hope this helps.

[Tina]

Thanks for your help Deb! I will definitely pick up Dr. Yin's book. She's already signed up for puppy class 2 more weeks and she will be done with shots! 

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

Karen, I have used clicker training with everything from GSDs, Pitties, Poodles and tons of DOODLES and everything in between. Timing and consistency is the key. I worked with a rescue dood who was a very sweet dog, but completely no boundaries. This dog came to me jumping up shoulder high and grabbing my clothes. I am 5'9" so this was a very high jump. He was too busy pulling at and chewing on the leash to walk on all fours. If done properly, behavior marking is effective, keeps the dog engaged and retention is high. Fortunately, he has very devoted owners who worked with him at home with the positive methods we used in class. His trasnformation was remarkable. BTW, this dog was 18 months old when he came to me.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Oh yes she really is a smart one!  She's playing a really fun game.  "I'm going to jump up on the sofa and them Mom will say "off" and then I jump down and get a treat...woo hoo....how fun is that!"  I really think that you're inadvertently reinforcing the behavior.  With the furniture I would tell her to get down...no clicking or treating.  If she doesn't do it just calmly get her down.  She needs to understand that she's only allowed on furniture when you say so.  I only use click/treat for "teaching things" like tricks.  It helps them understand the expectation.  She already knows what "off" means and now she just needs to listen and do it....because you said to.  I feel the same about eating dirt.  I would firmly say no, and then redirect her away.  She knows that she's not supposed to do it....but she does it because she sees it makes Mom happy and she gets treats when she stops.

[Tina]

Yeah! Way to smart :P 

I will stop treating her and keep her on a leash. Would you recommend a harness or just a regular collar? I've found when I give her a firm "No" she sometimes barks back. Should I just continue to correct and redirect? Thanks for your thoughts! Sometimes it's tough to know if I'm training correctly or not.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I really don't think it matters....whatever you're most comfortable walking her with.  The thing is to immediately say no and then quickly remove her from the situation...quickly turn in the other direction and walk away.  The "no" should be stern but not loud, and if she barks back just ignore it and keep moving.  I think then when she's walking nicely (no dirt eating) it's a good time to tell her she's a good girl and treat for that behavior.  Where I usually walk my guys there often is "goose poop" on the grass which must be some kind of delicacy for the Doodles....they love it.  My little guy especially loved to grab a mouthful on our walks.  For awhile I had to walk him separately so that I could correct and immediately turn in the opposite direction the second his head moved to the ground.  We practiced this a lot, and eventually he got to the point where we could walk through the field without any corrections.....that's when he got lots of praise and a treat. 

[Tina]

I am leashing her on potty breaks now and she does really well. Thanks for the advice!!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

That is GREAT!

[Susan and Bentley]

they are so incredibly smart it's unbelievable.  What happens if you don't use the clicker, phase that out?  Or have the clicker hidden on you before you start?  I used to have it in my pocket at all times.  But sounds like he's doing great!   And so are you!  and I say all this while my groomer is here, Bentley hates being groomed.  We have classical music on, my daughter is giving him tiny pieces of cheese saying good boy - and it's working!  But it's always a work in process

[Tina]

Most of the time I'm surprised by how smart they are. I'm beginning to phase out the clicker, only using it 50% of the time and using "yes" the other 50%. Thanks for the encouragement! Peanut hates being groomed too. :)