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I don't know how else to title this, and I'll probably get a lot of people thinking that I mean collar jerking or hitting, but what I really want is ideas on how to get a dog to know when what he's doing is not acceptable? eg. deliberately ignoring a command they know in favor of doing something else..
Right now, walking away or removing attention or giving him a timeout is pretty much the main form of punishment I currently use and it is effective in situations where I can use it, but what other options do I have? I have heard of redirecting behavior, but I have tried it (maybe I'm doing something wrong), and it simply does not make sense to me. For example, in the case of a dog that was playing with a toy starts biting on some wires instead, if I redirect by giving him a toy to chew on instead then won't I be doing several things that are counter productive to training?
a) Won't I be rewarding his biting of wires by giving him attention?
b) Also giving him an actual reward - the toy
c) Attempting to trade the lower value toy for the higher value wire (since he was already playing with the toy, grew bored, and then decided the wire's more novel and fascinating)
I've tried just acting very displeased and giving him a firm "no" before redirecting, but my displeasure really seems to mean little to him, so that doesn't really work as a punishment. Plus there are misbehavior that can't be redirected, eg. when he's ignoring a recall. I can't ignore it, since he will probably go off and find something to amuse himself with, and thus reward himself for disobeying . I can't put him in time out, since I'd have to catch him first, and I think he will soon figure out that he could run away to avoid being caught. And I can't really redirect it, since if he's running off, then clearly what I have to offer is not nearly as worthwhile to him as whatever has got his attention.
My dog Sherlock is much like his namesake: clever, independent, stubborn and endlessly curious and driven. It's very hard to keep his attention, and makes it even harder when he feels that he can deliberately ignore me if he doesn't feel like doing what I say. Of course I do try and reward and strengthen everything that he already knows, but it just doesn't feel like rewarding alone is enough, so I am looking for other options for training better discipline/compliance.
Right now, walking away or removing attention or giving him a timeout is pretty much the main form of punishment I currently use and it is effective in situations where I can use it, but what other options do I have? I have heard of redirecting behavior, but I have tried it (maybe I'm doing something wrong), and it simply does not make sense to me. For example, in the case of a dog that was playing with a toy starts biting on some wires instead, if I redirect by giving him a toy to chew on instead then won't I be doing several things that are counter productive to training?
a) Won't I be rewarding his biting of wires by giving him attention?
b) Also giving him an actual reward - the toy
c) Attempting to trade the lower value toy for the higher value wire (since he was already playing with the toy, grew bored, and then decided the wire's more novel and fascinating)
I've tried just acting very displeased and giving him a firm "no" before redirecting, but my displeasure really seems to mean little to him, so that doesn't really work as a punishment. Plus there are misbehavior that can't be redirected, eg. when he's ignoring a recall. I can't ignore it, since he will probably go off and find something to amuse himself with, and thus reward himself for disobeying . I can't put him in time out, since I'd have to catch him first, and I think he will soon figure out that he could run away to avoid being caught. And I can't really redirect it, since if he's running off, then clearly what I have to offer is not nearly as worthwhile to him as whatever has got his attention.
My dog Sherlock is much like his namesake: clever, independent, stubborn and endlessly curious and driven. It's very hard to keep his attention, and makes it even harder when he feels that he can deliberately ignore me if he doesn't feel like doing what I say. Of course I do try and reward and strengthen everything that he already knows, but it just doesn't feel like rewarding alone is enough, so I am looking for other options for training better discipline/compliance.