If you want to consider adopting DuPont, then you'd better become familiar with it!
NILIF stands for 'Nothing In Life Is Free' and it's a technique that my husband and I have employed with Pont since day one. Wait, that's wrong. Make that since day two. I think day one was spent with my hubby and I staring at each other with bafflement at our new red headed house guest.
But I digress. NILIF is used for everything. Like, everything. It requires the dog to do something for you before you do something for him. Want me to pet you? Earn it. Want to walk through that doorway? Earn it. Want to come out of your kennel? Earn it. What will you do for me to show me that you deserve it?
Well how does a dog 'earn it'? It's actually pretty simple, and he could do any number of things that could earn him a ticket to whatever he's trying to accomplish. Going outside to potty, for instance, turns into several acts that he must pass to move onto the next, to ultimately earn his way outside.
But isn't that kind of mean? Dogs have to go potty several times a day and he should be allowed to do so!
Yeah, I agree with you. He certainly should be allowed outside to pee! But doesn't it then follow that I deserve to be able to take him outside to pee without having my arms yanked, my feet scratched as he pushes off them, my rugs tossed across the room? Tit for tat, my friend.
To come out of his crate, he needs to either sit, lay down or give me eye contact. He goes on alert as soon as my hand touches the handle on the crate door, so I just hold it until he offers one. Once he does, he's earned his way out of the crate.
At this point he runs to the door. He'll be dancing and spinning and just soooo excited to go outside! I grab the leash off the wall and ask for a sit. Once he sits, he needs to be still enough to allow me to affix the leash. I'm not going to wrestle him until I can get my hand on the collar and hold it still enough to leash up. Grabbing the leash in his mouth, breaking the sit, nosing my hands/arms, pawing at the door are not ways to get the leash attached. He wants that leash attached, because he knows he's not going out until it's on. Sitting and waiting will earn him the leash.
Once the leash is on, I move to open the door. He again must sit and stay. I open the door. As soon as he breaks his sit without being released, the door shuts in his face. Rushing the door doesn't earn you the right to go out. Sitting patiently while I open the door and waiting for me to release you does.
Seems like a lot of work, doesn't it. Well, it is. But it's worth it. It forces him to slow his roll enough so that he can use his brain. Once his brain engages, his threshold lowers and he becomes a reasonable dog. Eventually, he'll do these things on his own and going outside to go to the bathroom won't be such a soap opera. It won't be today. Or tomorrow. Probably won't be next week or the week after that. But...eventually.
NILIF. Google it. Read a book about it. Watch YouTube videos. Oh, and put your patient pants on, too, because you're going to do some standing around. You'll thank me when he's no longer pulling your arms out of their sockets.
Happy Friday!
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