# Canine Good Neighbour.



## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

Jeez, some people are like a broken record with that whole respect schtick. I'd ignore your friend in that respect.

I think it is absolutely positively possible to train Lucy to lie on a mat calmly when guests arrive, but it will take tons and tons of practice and lots of chances for success rather than failure, and lots of rewards that are more rewarding for her than the fun of greeting guests.

Your post talked about going from "lie on a mat in a quiet environment" to "lie on a mat when exciting guests arrive". That would be like teaching a child 2+2 then expecting her to be able to do quadratic equations. There are many, many incremental steps between the two behaviours.

If it were my dog, I'd start by teaching her a "go to your place" command (I use "bed"), and practicing five or ten repetitions a day, during a quiet period with no distractions, with some super yummy treats. Once she is shooting like a rocket to her place, because she knows it means yummy chicken, begin (very slowly) to up the ante. Ask her to stay there for 30 seconds rather than 10. Then 35. Then 40. Ask her to stay there for 10 seconds while someone (family member) walks around in the next room. Ask her to stay there while you prepare her dinner. Find a 100 ways to slowly slowly increase the difficulty of the exercise, all the while setting her up for success and rewarding heavily when she does succeed.


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