How to Train a Human?

[JMFS]

I'll preface this with the fact that I'm not the best trainer in the world. I have the basics down and I understand some psychology, but then along comes someone who's been through the paces and they blow me away with their insight.

 

Having said that . . . how on Earth do we help someone who's entirely inexperienced with training? Without sounding like a nag. :D My dear lovely spouse struggles with Gertie. His idea to get her to sit, come, stay, lie down, leave, etc . . . is to say, "Gertie! Gertie! Gertie! Gertruuuude . . .." Funny as it is to see a manly man be completely ignored by a hyper pooch, I'm a wee concerned he's going to poison the cue and I Really don't want to start over, good lawd please not that!

 

When he Does remember to use the cue he says it sternly and she thinks she's in trouble.

 

The other issue is when she jumps on him (she doesn't jump on my daughter or me because "ahem" she knows we'll ignore her). It's "Gertrude, down," while he's holding her paws or backing up or petting her.

 

Lastly, she's a nosy little brat sometimes. E.g., when she wants to be pet she nudges with her nose. I ignore her or tell her to go to her bed. He rubs her nose and tells her he'll decide when he's going to pet her (sucker, you just gave her what she wanted!).

 

So, does anyone have input? Does anyone else have the same, or similar, issues? He does take advice into consideration and he has gotten better, but I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, or like a mother reminding their child for the umpteenth time to wipe their feet before coming inside. I have started reinforcing some behaviors while we're in the same room, hoping he'll take notice of how I do it (hint: I don't repeat her name 100 times). :D Nagging is something I'd very much like to avoid, but I'm stumped and aside from a little lint, that's all I have left in my bag of tricks.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi Jennifer,

This is a very common problem. It often happens that in households some family members are more invested in the training than others or there is one who is more skilled or motivated etc. I wouldn't be worried about poisoning the cue (to do that one would have to call a dog and make something negative happen like giving a bath or nail trim to a dog who hates baths or nail trims). With cases as such, the risk is learned irrelevance, a phenomenon where the cue loses it meaning/potency. However fortunately dogs are quite forgiving and they can learn the difference between a real recall and nicknames and other ways/tonalities of being called. For this reason it's a good idea to have a way of calling dogs (an emergency recall) that is unique sounding.

 

For my dogs it was their name followed by the word come!, said in a certain tone. My other family members/acquaintances always used nicknames or used a different way/tone to call so there was never risk to wreck my recall! I got my hubby onboard for serious recall training (using my same words/tone) by doing recalls on walks. He would be on side of the road and me on the other and we would take turns calling and reinforcing.

 

My dad used to do something very similar to what you are describing. He would tell my dogs "that's enough!"while still petting my dogs. I had to explain to him that that was conflicting information. If he wanted to say "that's enough" his body language had to be consistent with his words. It took me reminding him several times, but then he got it. When results are seen in dog training, that's positive reinforcement to the owner too so with my dogs leaving, he soon did more and more "that's enough" correctly!

Edited February 23, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli

[cammidge]

I totally have this, but hubby reluctantly agreed to abide by the trainers advice - and now he corrects me! So be careful what you wish for. Get a force free trainer to come to your house (preferably) or go to theirs for an outing, and learn some of their ways of doing things. I now have great hopes for Sable, who is being trained as my support dog and balance aid (for my MS).

[JMFS]

We've come a long way. :D I found head scratches to be effective for the canines and the human. He's usually more receptive to my feedback when he tries to get Gertie to do something and she won't, then I'll ask her and she does it right away. I also find biting my tongue to be a useful tool. After he's said "down, Gertie," five or more times I'll snap my fingers and say "bed" and she'll hop on over to her bed, then I turn around and go back to what I was doing. Occasionally she'll push the envelope and I have to start counting, just as you would do with a toddler. It's kind of sad and funny at the same time to watch her scurry to her bed when I say "twoooo." I suppose Mom tone translates into dog just fine. :D

 

Having a trainer come help gives so much insight! Even though we were working on Momo's resource guarding, which was no laughing matter, it was fun with a trainer there to help. If I had oodles of time and dollars I'd definitely spend more of both on getting a trainer to help me fill in the blanks or give me new ideas. Sable is going to have an important job! Gertie helps me when I stand up after squatting for a while. I'm not yet diagnosed with low blood pressure, but I sometimes black out when I stand up and also sometimes have sudden partial loss of vision and it's so nice to have Gertie there to help steady me while I recover. She has a natural tendency to come to me when I bend over with my arms dangling (expecting lovin') and that's what I do when I'm trying to get my blood flowing again (so my head's closer to the ground in case I do go kerplunk!). She'll lean against me and I can put my hands on her shoulders to help steady myself, which is so cool! I'm also training her how to lead me to my side of the bed at night because my night vision is the pits. It's kind of neat building that kind of rapport with her so I can only imagine how close you and Sable will become over the years. Someone knew what they were doing when they put dogs on this Earth!

[cammidge]

=

 

Having a trainer come help gives so much insight! Even though we were working on Momo's resource guarding, which was no laughing matter, it was fun with a trainer there to help. If I had oodles of time and dollars I'd definitely spend more of both on getting a trainer to help me fill in the blanks or give me new ideas. Sable is going to have an important job! Gertie helps me when I stand up after squatting for a while. I'm not yet diagnosed with low blood pressure, but I sometimes black out when I stand up and also sometimes have sudden partial loss of vision and it's so nice to have Gertie there to help steady me while I recover. She has a natural tendency to come to me when I bend over with my arms dangling (expecting lovin') and that's what I do when I'm trying to get my blood flowing again (so my head's closer to the ground in case I do go kerplunk!). She'll lean against me and I can put my hands on her shoulders to help steady myself, which is so cool! I'm also training her how to lead me to my side of the bed at night because my night vision is the pits. It's kind of neat building that kind of rapport with her so I can only imagine how close you and Sable will become over the years. Someone knew what they were doing when they put dogs on this Earth!

 

I wish I knew more about training a support dog, and I really wish hubby was more on board with it. He just thinks I'm insane - why don't you just get a trained service dog? Answer; because it takes six years at the very least, and at least $10k to train them. I don't have either. So what if it costs me a bit to get a professional trainer to give me some tips?

[JMFS]

A lot of people train their own dogs for the very reasons you mentioned. Some of them select a dog based on criteria that may work well (e.g., Labrador and Golden Retrievers come to mind) and others happen upon a companion who would serve well in a service capacity, like Gertie. Contrarily, Momo would let me fall and probably run around in circles all excited, thinking I was playing a new game. He's beyond smart enough to be a service dog, but boy does he ever lack the temperament and empathy! :D

 

My previous massage therapist trained her Yorkie to alert her when it was time to take her medication. I would have asked how she did it but it's tough to concentrate during a massage. If we can teach our dogs to help us, why wouldn't we? They're happy to help and it forms a stronger bond, which makes both the human and the dog happy. My husband thinks I'm silly because I'm not dependent like people with disabilities are on a true service dog; however, if she helps prevent injuries by preventing me from fainting then he's all for it. And, if my condition ever worsens to where I Would need her assistance outside of the home, she'll be ready'ish. As it is now I manage the dizzy spells by not kneeling or squatting when I'm out and about. Having her help at home, though, means I can do more things I wouldn't otherwise be able to (e.g., weeding the garden, detailing my car, and cleaning baseboards - normal things most people don't have an issue doing).

 

I wish I knew more, too, because I am positive these pooches of mine have potential far greater than what I've reached with them. Sometimes I feel as though Momo's life languished because he could have been a champion at so many things, but then I think about the happy life he's had and he doesn't have it too bad. He has a swimming pool with a waterfall to lull him to sleep, a screened in pool house, and a huge yard to patrol and romp around in as well as plenty of wildlife to chase. :)

[cammidge]

Momo has the perfect life!

[hridika]

My husband believes that "NO" is the proper command for anything the dogs do that he doesn't like, even though, the dogs know "Leave it", "Off", "Down" etc.. I have to spend time training HIM and the dogs.

I find it very frustrating that I spend all this time training and he seems to be able to reverse it easily! By repeating commands over and over and over, like you stated above.

He is also a big finger pointer, which drives me NUTS.

But he grew up where the dogs lived in the crates and only came out for Field training. So he doesn't understand obedience for inside the house and how important it is to stay consistent.

[JMFS]

It took a good long while for my husband to start seeing the sense in training. He's always thought of dogs as being family members. Yeah, his "family member" Brownie (RIP you little bugger) is the Only dog to have bitten me, and that little brat bit me Three times. Once over a dryer sheet, which he loved to eat and I tried to get away from him, and twice in the kitchen because I dared to claim space as he was licking the floor. After the 3rd bite Brownie was barred from the kitchen. My feet are ugly enough without being all torn up, thank you very much. :o That's what not training dogs gets ya'. You're in danger, they're in danger, and no one is happy. Between Adrienne and my behavior modification trainer (for Momo) I know so very much more and our lives are easier, darn near harmonious, for it. Thankfully my husband is recognizing that fact and is now helping rather than hindering. It took about 18 (aggravating) months, but it happened so keep at it - humans Can be taught. :D