My dog has selective hearing

[mgossett89]

Typically, my dog (female Amstaff) is well behaved and attentive to my commands. She is play and food motivated(mostly). The problem is, when she is distracted, she ignores both her ball and any treats when we're in a active enviroment such as the dog park. I've been trying to correct this behavior but since she can ignore any motivational device I use, it makes it really hard to zero in on getting her to ignore these distractions. I should note, she doesn't completely ignore me and run off, it just takes muliple commands, much more than we we are home. At the park she genarlly likes to stay close and observe other dogs.

On a another note, she has recently begun ignoring her food. She used to be really good about coming over to her bowl (when it has food) and sitting in front of it unitl I give the okay to eat. Lately, as soon as she hears the food hit the bowl, she's scurries into the bedroom and slides under the bed. This has been happening for two weeks now. Could it be she is just sick of her food now? She has eaten scraps before, but never when I'm eating or from the table but I'm thinking that just the few times she has had scraps has caused her to be so stubborn.

 

Has anyone else seen these behaviors and how to correct them?

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello and welcome to the forums!

When we think our dogs have selective hearing, there may be other dynamics going on rather than a dog who purposely decides to pose a deaf ear, so to say. In other words, it's not like dogs are rationally reasoning in the terms of "I won't answer when my owner calls me (or asks me to perform a sit or down) because I have better stuff to do."

 

Since you mention her selective hearing happens in active environments such as at the dog park, most likely we are looking at two common scenarios: your dog may have not generalized the behaviors she has learned to distracting environments (these dogs generally just need more proofing) or your dog may be over threshold. There are of course other possible factors to consider, which I will cover as well. Let's take a closer look into both dynamics, shall we?

 

First off, a word about reinforcement. If we are attentive to dogs, we will notice that they perform behaviors that provide some form of reinforcement. In other words, dogs do what works for them and therefore they seek stuff they find rewarding. Indeed, the solution to selective hearing in this case, is often making yourself more reinforcing than the environment. Not an easy task, but doable if you practice a lot albeit distractions and provide loads of reinforcement. Practice makes perfect. With lots of practice and a strong history of reinforcement, choosing to be attentive to you despite the distraction has the potential to become a no-brainer that's almost reflexive in nature.

 

Dogs Don't Generalize Well

 

If your dog listens to you at home and comes to you immediately when asked to, but then puts on his deaf ears on at the park, she's likely not engaging in stubborn selective hearing. Most likely, he just hasn't learned the cue to come to you well enough to apply it to the park where there are loads of distractions going on.

 

When you train a dog, in order to learn to respond to the cue well, it's important that she is taught to do so in a variety of places and around different distractions. The process is called proofing and once we have fluent responses to cue we call that "stimulus control." In order to attain all of this, you need to gradually incorporate challenges such as adding distance and distractions. When we train service dogs to respond reliably to cues, we start in a quiet area at home, then in the yard, then in a park with dogs at a distance, and then we use the perimeter of the dog park (where dogs are playing). All this is done very gradually. If we just go straight from training in the home to the dog park, we would set the dog for failure.

 

When we notice that a dog has difficulty responding to cues in an area, we usually do a little troubleshooting. Maybe the dog isn't ready for that level of distraction, so we increase distance from the distraction until we get more reliable results from that distance. Maybe we need higher value treats for that specific scenario. Maybe we have asked too much at once. Maybe we can use what the dog is attracted to as an advantage and provide that as reinforcement? For example, your dog is attracted to bush to go sniff, why not ask your dog to sit at a distance from it and then reward that sit by loosening the leash and telling the dog to "go sniff that bush!"

 

Things to Keep in Mind

 

Is your dog normally quite obedient, but she seems to sometimes have moments when he looks spaced out? Well, dogs also have their bad performance times just as people do. At times, a dog who cannot seem to focus may be tired, thirsty or may have to relieve himself. So make sure your dog has a chance to drink and relieve herself before training him. And make sure you don't make those training sessions too long, as dogs can get drained out and be unable to focus for too long.

 

When Emotions Get in the Way

 

Consider that the big outdoor world can also be at times a scary place, so your dog may also be past her "paying -attention threshold" as she's focused more on things she's concerned about that may be perceived by her as a threat. Things that look minor to us may be major to dogs. A dog can be worried about that bouncy, hyper dog that is playing nearby, or the kids running back and forth or the big guy who is talking with a deep voice. Stress from a perceived threat can cause a dog to “shut down," effectively freezing her until the threat goes away. In this state of anxiety, the dog ceases to learn and becomes more insecure and frightened.

 

Imagine for a moment, being able to play a piano piece at home and then you're invited to play the piano piece in public in front of a large crowd. If you are excessively anxious about performing in front of people, you might not be able to perform as you normally would.

 

In a similar fashion, dogs who are too excited can be over threshold too. These dogs just need more impulse control and training as well reinforcement provided when they are calm. So these are few possibilities to think about.

 

Avoid repeating commands.

 

A word about repeating commands: This is something that should be avoided, and if you attend a dog training class, you may notice how instructors will likely remind dog owners over and over not to repeat commands. There reason for this is simple: when we repeat commands, dogs learn that we only mean it when we repeat them. Here's an example: So let's say you have taught your dog to sit. You are very proud of your dog and decide to show your family and friends how well-trained your dog is. You say the word sit, and right as your dog hears the word, his precious bottom hits the floor, you then praise and pet your dog. Your mother-in-law, who has missed the show, asks you to perform the action again and you say ''sit!'' Your dog is now a little bit distracted by the nice tray of cookies your mother-in-law has put on the table, so you repeat the command ''sit!, sit!'' Once your dog sits, you are happy he remembered the command so you give extra praise and pats.

 

The next day arrives and your dog is asked to sit again. You say ''sit'' and your dog looks at you as if a little bit insecure. You repeat the command 'sit' 'sit' and this time your dog sits promptly. Happy your dog has remembered the command, again you praise and give lots of attention. Your dog is happy too and does a happy dance. The same scenario happens over the next days and you start wondering why your dog is no longer listening the first time you say sit.

 

The answer is pretty simple: you have simply trained your dog, after a series of repetitions, that the actual command is now ''sit, sit, sit'' and no longer just "sit," just like the child has learned not to attend to mom the first time she tells him to do his homework. However, it's not really like your dog is putting you off, so do not blame your dog for being stubborn for not listening the first time. Very likely, if your dog could talk she would be saying something along these terms: ''You have recently taught me the command is ''sit, sit, sit'' so when I don't sit right away, please consider that I am simply politely waiting for you to finish the command!''

 

So try to be very self-conscious of what you are saying. Try your best to really pay attention on how many times you say the command and stick to only saying it once. If your dog is spaced out, work on the issue by introducing distractions gradually and working in areas where you are more likely to get an immediate response.

 

I will be tackling the food issue you are facing shortly in my next post. In the meanwhile, if you would like to go more in depth on the topics discussed, here are some links:

 

Understanding dog threshold:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

 

The process of generalization:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

 

Troubleshooting for dogs ignoring commands:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/ignoring-commands/

Edited October 7, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli

[Adrienne Farricelli]

On a another note, she has recently begun ignoring her food. She used to be really good about coming over to her bowl (when it has food) and sitting in front of it unitl I give the okay to eat. Lately, as soon as she hears the food hit the bowl, she's scurries into the bedroom and slides under the bed. This has been happening for two weeks now. Could it be she is just sick of her food now? She has eaten scraps before, but never when I'm eating or from the table but I'm thinking that just the few times she has had scraps has caused her to be so stubborn.

 

Scurrying into the bedroom and sliding under the bed sounds sort of like a fearful behavior. Usually, dogs who are spoiled with table scraps will just turn their nose to the food, not go hiding (unless they really dislike our attempts in trying to coax them to eat). Are you using a metal bowl? Some dogs for some reason may get frightened by it either because they see their reflections on it or their metal tags hit the bowl and startles them. How long have you had your dog? Sometimes rescued dogs were used to eating from plastic bowls, but even dogs who have eaten from metal bowls all their lives may sometimes get spooked if the bowl happens to fall or roll over.

 

It may be interesting seeing if she'll eat the food if you place it in a plastic bowl or if you use your dog's food to stuff a regular Kong or a Kong Wobbler or you scatter it around in a treasure-hunt fashion as outlined here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-treasure-hunt/

or maybe try the Muffin Game:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-muffin-game/

 

Please note: you will need to be logged into the member's area to view these links.

Edited October 7, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli

[mgossett89]

Thank you for your advice and tips. I'll start reading those links you provided. As for her "selective hearing," as I call it, today, for example, we just got back from the park. There weren't too many dogs there so it was great to play fetch (today she was strongly play motivated) and work on her heeling at my side before I threw the ball. She was very attentive and still being social with some of the other dogs and coming back quickly on cue. However, on the exit out of the park(she wasn't leashed), she wanted to say "hi" to a few of the other dog owners which I was fine with. After about 5 minutes I decided to leave and called her to me. She heard the command, ears perked up and made eye contact and then proceeded to run off for a bit. I got her to come back with the ball and leashed her. So the ball worked during distractions but I'm concerned that if I continue to use that method that eventually she'll begin to make the connection that the ball means leash.

 

As far as the food problems, it's been hit and miss. Sometimes she'll eat right away and other times she'll do as you said and ignore the food.It's on the recall that she does the "guilty dog" walk and get under the bed. She has a plastic bowl as well.

 

She's 4 years old now and I've had since she was a pup. About 8 weeks would I have been my guess when I got her.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

After about 5 minutes I decided to leave and called her to me. She heard the command, ears perked up and made eye contact and then proceeded to run off for a bit. I got her to come back with the ball and leashed her. So the ball worked during distractions but I'm concerned that if I continue to use that method that eventually she'll begin to make the connection that the ball means leash.

 

Thank you for the additional details, they are very helpful! It sounds like she is doing very well with her recall overall considering the strong distractions of the park. You have to pat yourself on the back for that. It's not easy when there are distractions around. I also like that you have incorporated heeling exercises in her play and that then you reinforce her heeling by tossing the ball. It sounds like your dog is loving this, especially if she seems to enjoy the heeling part too.

 

In regards to the episode by the exit of the park, it sounds like she acknowledged your recall cue, but perhaps she was a bit over threshold from the enthusiasm of being in such an overstimulating place and wanting to enjoy a bit more freedom. You are correct to be concerned about her associating the ball with the leash. Not only, I will add another component of concern: there is the possibility that she may associate the recall cue with the ball and the leash. So not only she might think along the lines of "oh, every time the ball shows up, my leash is put on," she may also think: "every time I am called, the balls shows up and I end up with my leash being snapped on. This reasoning can therefore likely put her recall in peril.

 

So what can we do in such a case? We can work in breaking up the links of the chain so that our dog doesn't leave with a "bitter taste in her mouth" so to say. In other words, we break up the associations a bit so to end on a positive note. Here's are some tips/ examples of what can be done.

 

-We can do some trials of fun recalls with no leash attachments. In other words, we call the dog, let the dog play with the ball or feed some high value treats and then send the dog again off to play again. Many dogs are pleasantly surprised when we send them off to play again, especially if they are still eager to play/explore. This builds up trust that not all recalls and ball games end up with the leash being snapped.

-When it is time to leave, we can call the dog, snap the leash and engage in something the dog loves to do. Establishing a desired routine makes for dogs who look forward to it. For example, we can allow the dog to play with the ball for a while on leash or swap to a rabbit fur tug toy and let the dog tug as you walk away, or perhaps you can both go on a sniffing adventure or a "treasure hunt walk" where we toss some treats here and there. If your dog sees mealtime as the perk of the day, we can even coordinate park time with meal time so that when we leave, we walk directly to the car where our dog's bowl of food is there ready for him to enjoy or we can let him find a stuffed Kong to work on on the drive back.

 

Generally, we can say that we are doing something right if the dog eagerly comes to us despite distractions. In other words, we have tapped into our dogs' mind and found out what really motivates them. Dogs have a hierarchy of things they enjoy so we often have to experiment and find what we can use to outrank competing reinforcers (play with other dogs, off leash freedom, sniffing areas). Sometimes we can even take steps to also lower the value of those competing reinforcers (for example, we can call our dogs when they got tired of playing, when they are done greeting, when they have burned excess energy) so to set up the environment in our favor.

 

As final note, while showing a ball can help in situations when our dogs are a bit reluctant to come and in areas of distractions we haven't worked much yet, our final goal should be not relying on visual promises so to not fall into the bribery trap. So it would be important working in areas with little distractions on building a recall without the need of showing a ball or food to get our dog to come when called. We still provide the food or toy during these training sessions, but the food or toy is hidden in a pocket or behind our back. This helps build a foundation so to cover for that day we might be caught unprepared and have no food or toys on us. Running away (in other words, enticing the dog to chase you, never run after your dog) is also a great incentive to get a dog to come when called as many dogs cannot resist the exhilarating feel of a chase and once the dog catches up with us, we can then reinforce the behavior by feeding some treats or engaging play with a toy.

Edited October 9, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli

[Adrienne Farricelli]

As far as the food problems, it's been hit and miss. Sometimes she'll eat right away and other times she'll do as you said and ignore the food.It's on the recall that she does the "guilty dog" walk and get under the bed. She has a plastic bowl as well.

 

Thanks for these additional details. If she has a plastic bowl and you have had her for so long, it *may* be safe to exclude a fear of the food bowl. We can always exclude this theory by offering the food in a different bowl/surface just in case.

 

So you are you calling her for her meals letting her sit and then she gives you the guilty look and goes under the bed when the bowl is placed on the floor?

 

If she is not too eager to eat her food, there are chances the recall may be somewhat weakened by this. So again, we need to think about what's reinforcing from her perspective to use our recall/sit cues at their full potential.

 

When dogs are less eager to eat, it's always important ruling out medical issues (dog may have tooth pain, neck pain), to play it safe. Some dogs may be just picky (sometimes this occurs when dogs are fed table scraps or adding things to their food bowls), but if she has never been this way before, it's best to give the benefit of doubt. Once medical issues are ruled out, one may then consider whether switching food or adding some tasty additions can help entice her to eat. Once this is sorted out and she's eating eagerly again, then the recall and sit can be resumed.

 

In the meanwhile, until things are sorted out, we can just do regular meal preparation without asking anything (most dogs will still come upon hearing us grab their bowls and placing kibble it it). We can always reserve sits and come sessions using things our dogs enjoy more.

 

Or, we can try to use her meals for brain games. Some dogs eat more eagerly if they must "hunt and scavenge for their food" such as doing a treasure hunt or muffin game or placing the food in a Kong or Kong Wobbler. You can find a lot of food bowl alternative ideas in the Brain Training section of the course.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli