Training Tip I Wish I Knew Sooner

In the first year that Bear was home, he would always bump us under the arm for attention. At first it was fine because we thought it was cute but then he developed some impeccable timing and would do it just as my partner or I would try to drink our coffee 😩😬 

It was not only frustrating but dangerous too because sometimes the coffee mug would slip from our hands if he bumped us hard enough. One day while talking to our veterinary behaviourist we mentioned this and she asked if we had ever tried rewarding him just before he started to ask for attention. We were baffled. Why would rewarding him before he bumped our arms help? Wouldn’t that in someway just be rewarding that behaviour? 

At this point, however, we were quite desperate to be able to peacefully drink our coffee without having to crate him so we tried it. As soon as he started getting a bit restless (and we were certain that all his needs including exercise and bathroom breaks had been met), we would ask him to lie down and rewarded him. A few minutes later as he was still lying there, we rewarded him again and again and again and what do you know? It worked!!! It was SUCH a big light bulb moment for me and I still think about that breakthrough to this day. 

Unlike myself it seems like a lot of dog guardians today understand that reinforcing the behaviours that we DO WANT ensure that those behaviours are the ones that are repeated but sometimes, it’s good to be reminded 😊