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  1. #1
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    Training a Dog to Make Choices

    This is a great article in Whole Dog Journal about allowing a dog to make choices in training. It's a good read for anyone who likes to geek out on dog training stuff (science, behavior, etc.) and it's interesting, but not surprising, to read about what behaviorists are seeing in dogs now that they don't live on farms or roam the neighborhoods anymore. If you really like to geek out on dog training and behavior, Sarah Stremming's new Podcast, Cog Dog Radio, picks up on a lot of this behavioral stuff, too, as she discusses behavior issues in performance dogs.

    Oh, and the bucket game really does work for doing nails!

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  3. #2
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    Interesting article ... the only thing I would quibble with a bit is it makes it sound like only purely positive trainers incorporate choices into training, which I don’t think is the case. We do a lot with choices; it’s just that certain choices have negative consequences (sometimes just no reward, rarely a stronger correction, but almost always at least a verbal marker that it was not right).

    Having a dog door, our dogs choose when to come and go and relieve themselves all the time ... I never thought about it helping their mental health, but it does make sense.
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  4. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Annette47 View Post
    Interesting article ... the only thing I would quibble with a bit is it makes it sound like only purely positive trainers incorporate choices into training, which I don’t think is the case. We do a lot with choices; it’s just that certain choices have negative consequences (sometimes just no reward, rarely a stronger correction, but almost always at least a verbal marker that it was not right).

    Having a dog door, our dogs choose when to come and go and relieve themselves all the time ... I never thought about it helping their mental health, but it does make sense.
    Based on what my understanding of the article, I think they are speaking to people who use corrections for training. Like asking a dog to sit when he doesn't know what sit means, then jerking him when he doesn't and giving him food when he finally figures it out or has his rump physically pushed to the ground. Or back when people taught go-outs by wrapping a rope around a pole and physically pulling the dog to the location. Or saying heel when the dog doesn't know what heel means and then jerking the dog when he doesn't. Stuff like that.

    I think the article, at the higher level, also explains that a choice means the ability to choose without negative consequences, especially for dogs with anxiety about not making the right choice, which can cause frustration, additional stress, lack of enthusiasm or a dog that just opts out all together. Of course, this is assuming the dog has a certain level of training and is in a controlled environment.

  5. #4
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    i've never really tried it. have heard of letting dogs make choices and such though (if i remember correctly Susan Garett's recallers talks about that). Or even general "let the dog pick the trail to walk".

    I downloaded Sarah's podcast and listened to the first intro one - i am exited to hear more! can't wait to learn more about the golden Eric Brad has a very good Podcast (canine nation). there is also Dog Cast Radio. The first ones were blah so I had stopped but there are some good interviews in the later episodes. Kira Sundance had a fun one but she seems to have stopped.

  6. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tanya View Post
    i've never really tried it. have heard of letting dogs make choices and such though (if i remember correctly Susan Garett's recallers talks about that). Or even general "let the dog pick the trail to walk".

    I downloaded Sarah's podcast and listened to the first intro one - i am exited to hear more! can't wait to learn more about the golden Eric Brad has a very good Podcast (canine nation). there is also Dog Cast Radio. The first ones were blah so I had stopped but there are some good interviews in the later episodes. Kira Sundance had a fun one but she seems to have stopped.
    There are other really good ones. Bad Dog Agility is great and Fenzi has a podcast now, too. Sarah Stremming is giving lectures at Fenzi camp this summer and has started online classes through Fenzi as well.

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    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    I'm glad to see that people are thinking along these lines. We have always allowed our dogs to make decisions, especially when it involves home life. One behaviorist really came down on me at one point saying that if she had my Zo, Zo would do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted but I swear that my dogs are better for it. It particularly comes into play with respect to health care. I found out early on that my dogs aren't picky eaters. Some of them just can't tolerate certain foods. So I went with it and it turns out that forcing them to eat those things would have been detrimental to their health. I frequently ask them what they want for optional medications as well. If they're bugging me or seem uncomfortable, I'll ask "Do you want drugs?" for Tramadol, "Do you want gunk?" for ear stuff and "Do you want spritz?" for topical skin spray are common questions. We have stations around the house for each treatment and they go to the station for whatever it is. When Nikki isn't feeling up to going upstairs with us at night, I ask if she's coming up with us and if the answer is no, she just lies down. She's not being obstinate, she just has periodic back issues.

    In short, it's not about making them do what we want them to do all of the time. It's about listening to them and establishing trust so that they come to us when something is wrong.

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