There are a number of things that need work, but we began with basics.
Impulse Control
DuPont is in a hurry. All. The. Time. Everything he wants to do, he's got to do it right now. I can't tolerate door rushing, mowing over dogs and humans, stepping on my feet and breaking things to get where you want to go quicker. Not only is it annoying, but it's dangerous. So after our run last night, before heading back inside, we worked on some impulse control. The object of the game is to make DuPont realize that sitting patiently makes the door open, thus allowing him to go where he wants to go.
We stood in front of the door and I put my hand on the knob. Immediately DuPont shoved his nose where the door would open. I took my hand off the knob and asked for a sit, which he did. I put my hand back on the knob and DuPont broke his sit and attempted to push the door open. Repeat appx 15x.
Eventually, we were able to get the door to actually open. When it did, he broke the sit and tried to go through, but the door was shut in his face. Start over. Repeat.
I'm not the most patient person in the world. But thanks to being surrounded by calm positive dog trainers for the last few years, I've learned that success with these types of exercises only comes if you put aside any plans and dedicate yourself completely to accomplishing the goal, and in this case it was to get the door opened while DuPont maintained a sit.
Fifteen minutes later, I opened the door and even took a step through it while DuPont kept his butt planted on the ground! It's a big deal, so he got big praise.
The Eye Contact Game
This is actually a favorite of mine. It's so basic and so simple, and the benefits long term are great. Plus, you can do it anywhere. Sitting on the couch, outside on a walk to distract, in the pet store when you need calm, etc.
I grabbed my bait bag full of treats and stood in the middle of the living room. DuPont, who always needs to be all up in my biz, predictably came over to investigate. I gave him a couple of treats so he knew I had stuff that he wanted. I put treats in each hand and hold them out on each side of my body. A dog's natural response is to look at either hand, because it's holding what he wants to get. Sometimes they will jump or stand and lick/chew on your hand to get what they are after. What I wanted from him was eye contact. It's a huge feat for many dogs because they are having to make the decision to take their attention away from the source of the food and give it to you. The dog has to make the decision, and when they do, it's 'YES!' and he's given a treat. DuPont figured out the game within about 3 tries, so I moved around the room, sat down on the couch, etc to make it more difficult. He's a smarty pants.
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| DuPont playing the Eye Contact Game |
This game, over time, will have great effects on a dog like DuPont. He's always moving around and it's not always easy to get his attention verbally. He loves to play and wrestle with my dogs, but he usually wants to keep playing long after my own dogs are exhausted. Often I will need to intervene and try to redirect him elsewhere. The first two evenings here, I could be hollering, stomping or clapping my hands and he barely gave me a passing glance. He wanted to keep playing! After five minutes of the eye contact game, it was already noticeably easier to gain his attention off another dog. He wanted to make eye contact with me and see if there was an opportunity to work for more food. There wasn't always food to be had, but I kept my bait bag close and paid him at random to keep him guessing, and to keep him wanting to come back.
Paying Good Behavior
As mentioned earlier, DuPont is always on the move. It's an incredible wave of relief that I feel every time I witness him laying down and doing nothing. (Which is happening more and more the longer he's here, thank God) Any time DuPont sits calmly next to me, or lays down under the coffee table to relax, we pay him for it. We do not get excited or loud about it. Josh or I just calmly take a treat from the bag, reach forward with a soft 'Yes' and give him something good. Becoming excited or moving quickly will only break DuPont's calm and that's not what we are after. We want him to remain calm and continue laying down quietly, that's why we are paying him for it. Eventually, he'll say 'Man, when I lay right here and keep my mouth shut, yummy stuff randomly falls from the sky!'
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Overall, I was actually very impressed with how quickly DuPont responded to everything I set in front of him. He's really very smart and he really tries to do what I ask him to do.
It's important to note that I did not attempt to do any real training with DuPont until after I had taken him out for a run first. His mind would have been way too distracted to try this stuff this soon out of the gate. The run is a training session in itself because there are things to work on there as well, but it, combined with the mental challenges he faced while training, made for a pretty well worn out dog by the time we called it a night.
There is hope for you yet, boy-o.
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