Rockwell dropped his bone suddenly and ran to the back door. He was sitting obviously watching something. Then I saw his hackles go up so I went to see for myself and it was a CAT! Imagine that.
So there he was at the back door and I decided to do a lesson of "come". It was just for reinforcement, not to put him in the crate or anything. Well he wouldn't. He obviously thought something not fun would happen so I sat on the floor for about 10 minutes, coaxing him over and having him keep away. I finally convinced him by gradually touching him a little (not grabbing him) each time he got close and finally petting him more and more and then holding him around the chest. He finally lay on his back and submitted to my tender embrace. Sort of.
But I think we will go through this again and again until he learns "come" is not for stuffing him in the crate or clipping toenails or something. It's amazing how they will fixate on some one thing and then forever after, "come here" means something negative. I have my work cut out for me.
posted by JuliaR @ 8:46 a.m.
10 Comments:
Wow, you have a lot of patience. That must be why I can only get Sampson to come when he thinks I have food for him. ha ha
What clean teeth you have Rockwell!
To come eventually even after seeing a cat is quite an accomplishment - wtg.
Later!
Cream
I never use "come" when I clip nails, or will be placing the dog in the crate. I wait until they are relaxing and go to them for nail clipping. "Kennel" is the command I use for going into the crate. I use different commands so that they don't think something negative always happens when I call them to me. Maybe you could try different commands for those not so pleasant times to get Rockwell to respond better to "come"?
Katherine, I suppose I have patience sometimes. But it was my impatience that caused the problem in the first place so now it is mine to fix.
Cream, thanks for the compliment on the teeth! I think it is because they are still so new. :)
Gwiz, even though I know the commands have to have a reward, “come” is such a word that you can’t help but use it when you aren’t thinking. And when I first started with him, I said “come” and then put him in his crate. Of course, I know it was a mistake now (and maybe even then) so that is why I am making the effort to change it. More on that in the next post.
Great pictures, Julia. Rockwell is gorgeous.
My guys, but especially Elsie, love to roll over on their backs for tummy rubs.
And yes, the command thing is confusing; it takes great patience and diligence.
Hang in there!
Joan (Baxter, Elsie, and Ridge's Mom from Labtails; and yes, it's good to be back!)
I agree with Gwiz that "COME" should NOT be asociated with the crate, nail clipping or ANYTHING else unpleasant. It may be hard to remember not to use it but it could end up SAVING your dogs life. If a dog learn no other command in its life, it should still know come. I would be practicing as much as you are or more, everyday. Use 2 pockets full of treats if you have to and even if the dog has just done something bad, if you call come and he does...all else should be forgotten and he should get a reward. Come needs to be the happiest word in his vocabulary...right up there with "dinner". Here's a possible sinario: Rockwell gets out the front door and takes off into the road (it doesn't matter if your road has no traffic since this is hypethetical)you can see cars aprouchinig from both directions...You call "COME" and Rockwell SHOULD turn on his heels and run for you, recieving a big reward. His possible 10 second delay DECIDING whether or not to come to you...could cost him his life. This post wasn't to stress you out, but to show you the gravity of the word. Also, once he graduates as a guide dog, he is DEFINATELY not going to be able to decided when he wants to come. If his client wants to go outside, he will need to come straight away and go into his harness. A handler is not going to be able to go get him for that.
Buhbye, Amy and Winter (Good luck with the command and keep up the good work so far with your hansome boy. We only wish the best for him (and you).)
Thanks Joan, I’m afraid I don’t have aything to do with Rockwell’s good looks! He doesn’t get them from me. :)
Thanks Amy, I DO know how important the command “come” is, that’s why I’m blogging about it. Now I walk around with more kibbles in my pockets than poop bags! And I always have lots of those. We’ll get it eventually.
David, I do appreciate advice and it is certainly my goal to raise a good guide dog. The thing is, I have the Guide Dog organization available to give me the advice they think I should have and if in any doubt, I follow their advice to the letter. I would be remiss if I started to take the advice of people who are not ultimately responsible for Rockwell and his best interests. Perhaps it is the nature of a blog that not all the story is told. While I try to blog in detail about the interesting (or what I think will be interesting) bits, I certainly don’t write about everything that happens - I’d never get out of the house. Maybe I should only blog about all the positive things that happen but I figured I would try to tell a rounded story. The folks who own Rockwell and who are responsible for him visit very regularly and they have advice to give me and we talk at length about his progress. I think we are doing okay.
Julia,
I think you are exactly right - you have the Guide Dog oranization to talk to, and it's best to get advice from people who actually SEE Rockwell on a regular basis. You're doing fine. My mom says she has learned so much about dog training that if she had to raise me again she would do some things differently because she knows better now. We all learn as we go. You're doing great.
My mom said that picture of Rockwell upside down with his mouth open might be her all time favorite!
Thank you Indy Pindy, and your Mom. On a lighter note, that photo has already had 35 views on Flickr so other people seem to like it too!
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