Last week we talked about limits: figuring out what our dogs’ limits are and how to honor them.
The other side to that coin, though, is knowing which limits to push and how. Otherwise, you risk becoming stagnant. Pushing limits, too, helps expand your dog’s world bit by tiny, incremental bit.
When I talk about pushing Cooper’s limits and setting training goals for him, I try to think of what my long-term goal is first, then work backwards. What is my desired outcome?
Right now, I’m focused on a big one.
Impulse control.
Of course, that’s a vague concept, but there’s one specific behavior we need to work on: his mat.
Long ago, we worked with an amazing trainer in New Orleans. One of the things she pointed out is his reliance on routine and predictability. We took a walk around our neighborhood, and she noticed that he knew every single house in the entire neighborhood that had a dog in the yard because he would tense up before we got there. An unexpected dog showed up in a yard he didn’t know?
Flip Out City: Population 1.
Same thing with, for instance, a bench at the bus stop. It was plastered with a real estate agent’s face and phone number. He spotted that face from the car and lost it. Or when the church on the corner set out their nativity scene with nearly-life-sized statues. Gonzo.
The trainer called it “strange pictures.” He didn’t like things out of his ordinary. He still doesn’t. If something looks weird or is unpredictable or unexpected, it’s not to be trusted. So, he barks.
He’s always been that way with movement, too. If someone trips (me), he barks. If someone dances in the kitchen while cooking dinner (me), he barks. If someone shrieks and runs around with arms waving (small children), he barks.
Out-of-the-ordinary movement startles him. He barks.
Oddly enough, he has not barked at Violet. I think there are two reasons why: First, he thinks she hung the moon. He just adores her, and I know he realizes that he needs to be careful around her because I can see him modifying his behavior when she’s around. He’s been like that since day one.
Second, her developing movement has happened gradually. She went from being a little lump to wiggling to rolling to scootching to crawling incrementally over the course of eight months.
Now, though, she’s almost 10 months. She’s crawling at top speed. She’s pulling up on everything, falling over, sitting up, falling over, dancing, clonking her head, giving me a heart attack about 975 times a day. She also chatters little baby jargon and shrieks her head off all day long. In fact, her go-to move when she spots one of the animals is to start shrieking with glee and crawling at top speed toward them. Of course, they see/hear her coming and skedaddle before she can get there… to her disappointment…
Anyway, we’ve been lucky that this developing movement has been so gradual, but I want to prevent Coop from starting up his usual barking response if, when she starts actually standing and toddling, that movement makes him uncomfortable. I don’t know that it will, but I want to focus on preventative training.
Specifically, circling back to almost 600 words ago, impulse control.
So, my training goal for the month ahead is to reinforce (erm, restart) his mat work. You guys, we tried to get through the whole Relaxation Protocol twice. I’ll take the blame for our failure to complete the entire thing. The system is sound but I don’t know… We worked on a modified version with our trainer in New Orleans, so I think I might start there then decide if we could benefit from the entire protocol. (Anyone who’s seen it through: worth it???) Since then, we’ve sort of lowered our criteria and accepted him going to either his mat or his bed when we mean to send him to his mat. Gotta work on that…
Bottom line: My goal for Cooper for February is to work on proofing his “on your mat” cue during calm moments, gradually increasing his criteria to chill on his mat (probably with a stuffed food puzzle) in the living room while we’re playing with Violet.
It’s actually the perfect time to be working on this, too, since we’re already mostly stuck in the house with this seemingly-unending winter! Might as well train!
I think we have relatively little time before she’s up and about, toddling and falling all over the place. I’ve been thinking through this plan loosely, and I think February is the month to reinforce the basics, then in March we’ll tackle sending him to his mat to relax with increased distraction.
That’s my goal! How about you? What are you guys working on with your pups this month?
Shadow and Ducky's Mom
Like Cooper, when Ducky’s startled by just about anything, she barks. And not just short bursts, but constant, shrill barking that drives both of us up a wall.
I’ve been working with her by using both the place command with her and recognizing that part of the problem lies in how we (hubby and I) react to her barking. Ducky is normally very good about going to one of the 3 dog beds when I say “place”; but we still have work to do. A good part of the work is on our own shoulders. We both tend to lose patience when stressed. We are both working on that.
Maggie
OMG, yeah, the shrill barking is grating. I totally understand.
I think it’s a totally natural thing to lose patience when you’re stressed. Be gentle on yourself, too! 🙂 We are also working on consistency between how John and I work with Cooper. (THAT requires a whole lotta patience, too…..)
Kari
Great post! The “strange pictures” things speaks to me, because my Mia, who is not at all reactive like my Leo, barks like crazy at flat reindeer. Like, can’t she tell the difference?
Good point too about pushing the limits. Mia is up there in age, so it’s tempting to not want to walk her, to give her a break, when we see it getting harder for her. But it’s also good for her to keep moving, so we have to find a balance between pushing her to do too much, and making sure she gets enough exercise.
Maggie
Thanks, Kari! Mia barking at the flat reindeer made me laugh! 🙂
I love your point about Mia and aging. I do wonder if there’s any research (I will totally have to look this up later today!!) about aging pups, physical and mental exercise, and long-term cognition like there is in people. I’d love to read that data myself!
Thanks for sharing your experience! Scritches to Mia!
KDKH
I admire the training part of your relationship. I don’t enjoy that type of work at all, and so I admire those who do. Good for you and Cooper!
Maggie
Thank you for the kind words! Everyone is different, that’s for sure! 🙂 For me, it’s one of the ways that I feel like I build his confidence and trust in ME to ultimately help him navigate those things that are tough for him!
Pamela
Mat work is so useful. We fostered an extremely fearful pup and our trainer suggested we use a towel for her mat. Once she felt comfortable with it in the house, I started draping it around my neck on walks. When I saw the garbage truck five blocks away, I’d toss it on the ground and we’d practice Cherie going to the mat. It really decreased the distances at which she would freak out at noisy objects.
It wouldn’t help you when Cooper is barking out the car window. But maybe it will someday be useful on walks.
Maggie
That’s incredible, Pamela, and thank you so much for sharing your experience with Cherie! So inspiring!!
John
My dog Nikki is one year old now, so no longer a pup, and she’s actually amazingly calm when it comes to loud noises.
Of course she wasn’t like that when she was younger, but we slowly trained her to become the great dog she’s now (yes I know I’m bragging, sorry!).
Whenever we were out on a walk and something unexpected would happen – a loud noise, a low-flying helicopter, or a cyclist that would suddenly appear out of nowhere – I noticed that she would immediately look at me to see what my reaction was. So I made sure to always look calm and confident, no matter what. When she saw I wasn’t worried or afraid, she decided that she didn’t need to be afraid either.
I think that’s been a huge part in shaping her behavior. Leading by example works for both humans and dogs.
But she’s not the perfect dog yet. #1 on my To-do-list right now is to train her to be off-leash among other people and other dogs. That’s going to be a challenge!
Maggie
So, so true. Dogs are incredibly astute observers of human behavior, and our reactions do inform their decisions. There’s a ton of data on that, and I’m so very glad you made that point, John!!
Off leash IS a big challenge. It sounds like Nikki has an awesome foundation, too! Best of luck with your work!
Tenacious Little Terrier
I’ll admit that we didn’t get through the whole protocol either but Mr. N will go voluntarily to his mat and hang out in the house. Especially now that we don’t have carpet! I should probably add re-training that to our list!
Maggie
That’s great he goes to his mat voluntarily! Cooper will… but only if he thinks there’s a chance for a treat! 😉 But, we’ve already dug into the training, and it’s going well so far. 🙂
Jan K
I think you are very wise to get a jump on things with Cooper before Violet starts walking. After all, even if he’s fine and you don’t need it, it’s great practice for other situations too.
I can’t say I was a fan of the Relaxation Protocol. We only made it part-way through and then just totally stalled on one step. But I just found the whole process very boring and tedious! I wasn’t all that disappointed when Luke decided he’d had enough. 🙂
We did the same thing with sending Luke to his mat, we let it become acceptable for him to at least just go and lay down somewhere. I suppose that’s not so bad, since now I would like to make his crate the go-to spot anyway – we’ll just have to be sure we stick with that this time!
Maggie
Boring and tedious! Exactly!! I’ve been following your training with Luke with great interest because there are so many parallels between the two boys, and you’ve achieved so much… You’re keeping me focused and inspired, so thank you for sharing all your efforts with your fans!!
Beth
I don’t know how I missed this! Thanks for joining the hop!
Our mat is our most favorite thing ever. We used to have a mat in every room of the house and we’d work on mat work periodically throughout the day. Then my cat’s bladder issues got really bad and he peed on all of them–now that he’s better, I just haven’t gotten them back out. This is a good reminder that we should get back in that habit in places other than training classes!
Both of my dogs are super observant like Cooper. Rye will freak out over for sale signs (she went through a phase where she only barked at ones for certain agents). In the fall when campaign signs were out, I had to bribe her to walk by some of them. Barley just notices and stares most of the time, but there have been times when she’s had meltdowns over new trail signs on our favorite trails. Good luck with your impulse control training!
Maggie
A mat in every room! Brilliant! We’ve just been working with one and taking it from place to place… Great tip. Thanks so much!!
Also, I have to admit: I had a laugh about the for sale signs. If only we could understand what’s going on in their heads!!!