All the time, I see dogs who are easily distracted or particularly high energy and “all over the place” with owners right beside them desperately waving food in their face, making all kinds of noises, in an attempt to get their dog’s eyeballs back on them. Meanwhile, the dog continues to blow them off, no matter how many treats they use or how many silly noises they make. This is when I recommend trying STOP, DROP, and ROLL.
STOP: Stop moving. Keep a short leash. Refrain from eye contact (as the dog will often take that for positive attention). If the dog is jumping all over, run the leash under one of your feet to anchor them to the ground to help keep yourself from getting pummeled. Luring your dog around to get his or her attention can be a valuable tool, but sometimes we fall into the trap of doing it too often and the dog ends up learning to ignore us until we show them “the money.” By stopping all feedback, we are essentially putting the ball in the dog’s court, letting him or her make the first move.
DROP: Drop all the chatter! If you’ve cued the dog once, wait. If your dog is blowing you off, saying their name or fifty other cues at once (Buddy! Sit! Come! Leave it! Buddy! Down! DOWN!) is unlikely to bring you success, and even if they manage to follow one of the commands you spat out, by rewarding that one, you are also, whether you mean to or not, rewarding them for ignoring all the other cues you gave. Oops! If you do give a command, stick to it and make sure they follow through.
ROLL: Go along with what your dog DOES give you. Take what you like and reward it and if they offer you nothing immediately, wait them out until they do.
Another way to think of it is that you don’t want to meet crazy with crazy. If your dog is bouncing all over the place, throwing food or waving a lure in front of their face isn’t likely to calm them down. You need to be the calm to their storm. Next time you are in class, watch your dog trainer when they are working with any of the dogs. Forget the dog for a moment and really watch the trainer. How much do they move? What do they move? When do they move?
You might be surprised at how little movement you see. That lack of movement is intentional. By isolating their movement to only the things that will best assist the dog in that particular behavior, they are avoiding accidentally providing other cues (did the dog sit because I said “sit” or because I leaned forward or stepped towards them?). Secondly, it gives the dog time to think. If we constantly assist the dog every time they try to figure out what we want, they may never learn to do it entirely on their own. You need to turn your dog into a problem solver!
I want my dog to always be thinking, “how do I get rewarded?” If am about to take my dog on a walk, and he’s all leashed up and we go to the front door and I open it, I want my dog to learn that bolting out the door and racing towards the street will get him nothing. Here, I STOP and DROP. To prevent that wrong choice, I will stand there with a short leash, body braced against potential pulling or lunging from my dog, and I will wait. And wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Until I see a better choice. It might feel like an eternity but more likely than not, it won’t take more than a minute to get a better choice from the dog. This is where I ROLL with it. Maybe my dog will look at me. “YES!” I’ll reward that. Maybe my dog will move back towards me as if to say, “c’mon! Aren’t we going?” and “YES!” I’ll reward that too. All the while my feet aren’t moving and my lips aren’t talking. I’m letting my dog think about the best way to make me go for that walk. I want my dog to problem solve until he could easily author a book titled, “How to Make Your Human Take You for a Walk in 6 Easy Steps”.
I mark (with the word yes) and reward each behavior that is closer to the thing I want (a process known as shaping). I want my dog to know he or she is on the right track but I’m not denying them the opportunity to TRY SOMETHING of their choosing! If something they try doesn’t work, they’ll be less likely to try it in the future. If it does work, they will surely try that again if faced with the same situation. If things like giving the owner attention gets them out the front door, they will have learned attention = walking! We have to be crystal clear on what behaviors we like (the ones that get them rewarded) or what we don’t like (the behaviors that get them no closer to their goal). It is important that we are consistent with our requirements!
If your dog gets what he wants for something you don’t like, you are letting your dog train you. And let’s face it, if dogs got to make the rules, we’d all be bolting out of doors, enthusiastically jumping on guests, and always eating off countertops! We want the dogs to learn that the power of controlling their environment is in their hands IF they make the right choices. They can make us walk IF they hang out near us and don’t pull in the leash. They can make us give them their dinner IF they sit patiently until we’ve put the bowl on the floor and told them “ok”. They can make us throw the ball IF they drop it at our feet first.
What I want you to do is take a look at your everyday life and ask yourself the following:
- Am I helping my dog too much by constantly luring or preventing my dog from making his or her own choices?
- Am I being consistent in rewarding the right behaviors? Remember that even something as simple as letting your dog pull you ONE TIME, even just one step, is REWARDING the pulling. Keep that in mind the next time you drop a treat in the classroom and you let your dog drag you to it or when you let your dog drag you into class because they are excited. Neither thing is getting you closer to your goal of beautiful, pull free walks with your dog.
- Are you being the calm to your dog’s storm? By that, I mean, are you isolating your own movement when training or when your dog is losing their mind with excitement? Are you patiently allowing for time to think between the time you cued something (said the word “sit” for example) and the time they finally remember that means to do a certain behavior or are you quick to assume they don’t know it, or haven’t heard you, and you repeat yourself over and over?
When in doubt, STOP, DROP and ROLL.* You might be surprised what your dog offers you if you give them the opportunity to problem solve. With a little patience and consistency, anything is possible!
Happy Training!
Nicole L Yuhas CPDT-KA
*Note: There are some situations where a dog may be over threshold and the “stop, drop and roll” tactic would be inappropriate. If your dog is outwardly focused on another dog, person, or distraction and is nervous or upset by that which has his or her attention, it may be more appropriate to remove your dog from the situation or create distance. Waiting a dog out for a behavior when they are over threshold is not an effective way of getting back attention. In those situations, if the dog cannot be redirected with food, a toy or other prompts from you, the dog is struggling to cope and as your dog’s advocate, you need to get them out of the situation.
This blog is intended to be informative as well as entertaining. It contains my opinion which may not reflect the opinions of any organization I may be affiliated with. My opinions should not be interpreted as those of my coworkers, family, friends, casual acquaintances, and certainly not the opinion of my cat, although my dog probably agrees with everything I say, if for no other reason, than because I provide the treats and meals (cats are less inclined to agree with anyone but themselves). Information provided here is accurate and true to the best of my knowledge but, as information and opinions change, neither the facts nor the opinions expressed here may be true or accurate at any future date. As I don’t currently own a time machine, I cannot be responsible for things that prove to be untrue, or opinions I change my mind about, should those changes become apparent in the future. It should also be noted that, as I am human, there may be omissions, errors or mistakes in the information provided here. Frankly, even if I were a computer, it is likely there would be errors, as computers, in my experience, can be a royal pain in the butt. This blog may contain affiliate links which you are under no obligation to click. If you click them, they will hopefully take you the place I intended. But they may not. As I’ve said, computers can be a pain. If you find yourself somewhere you don’t think I intended, click your ruby slippers three times together and say, “there is no place like home.” If you do that, and click the “back” button, you should be safely returned. Computers can, at times, have a mind of their own. Any training suggestions or opinions expressed here should be taken as information only and should not be seen as advice particular to you or your dog’s unique situation. Please consult with a training professional before taking any action.