# Dog thought processes



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Interesting one! My niece is a teacher, and had just this issue with a small boy with a reputation for being naughty. She watched him with his mother for a while, and then gently suggested that the mother reward him when he was being good, rather than bribe him down from the top of the climbing frame with promises of ice cream - thus rewarding him for being naughty. Perhaps that is how it works for dogs - they recognise the behaviour they are doing at the moment of the click as the one that generates the reward. Probably helps if you keep rewarding for good behaviour without waiting for a tug on the lead first, too! Cats, on the other hand, have it thoroughly sussed. I gave up using treats to tempt mine in when they would immediately shoot back out and hide under the car to keep the flow of treats coming ...


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## SnorPuddel (Jul 8, 2010)

JE-UK said:


> But my S.O., a complete dog novice, was asking why the dog didn't simply hit the end of the leash 100 times in a walk, knowing that as soon as he corrected himself, he'd get a treat. And I was stumped. I understand the dog making the connection between pulling and not getting to where he's eager to go, and to making the connection between remove-tension, get a treat, but why don't they make the connection between bad behaviour -> correct the behaviour -> treat and repeat until full .
> 
> Feels like I'm missing something ...


Some do make that connection, my girlfriends poodle did, and boy did she have fun with that...NOT
In your situation, I personally would treat while walking on a loose leash intermittently while walking. When the dog pulls and you stop and wait til the leash is loose again, the reward is walking again, I would not treat at this point. Only after the dog has walked on a loose leash does it get a treat. 
That is the method that has worked for me


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

SnorPuddel said:


> Some do make that connection, my girlfriends poodle did, and boy did she have fun with that...NOT
> In your situation, I personally would treat while walking on a loose leash intermittently while walking. When the dog pulls and you stop and wait til the leash is loose again, the reward is walking again, I would not treat at this point. Only after the dog has walked on a loose leash does it get a treat.
> That is the method that has worked for me


Hmm, I think that would confuse him. I want a clear difference in his mind between when I am asking him to heel, i.e. walk in a specific position at my pace, and when we are just going somewhere 'at ease'. I specifically want him in this case not to necessarily watch me (though we have a command for that), but to feel when there is tension on the lead and to self-correct. Quite specific behaviour. We do a lot of heel work, and his heel work is very good, but I'm requiring something different from him in this case, a sort of self-monitoring. 

He's got it, in any case. I only have to occasionally remind him now. Like when he sees a cat . I wish I knew someone with a tough cat that could go six rounds with Vasco. That would stop the cat chasing cold.


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## Purley (May 21, 2010)

This is not really totally about your subject, but if you want your dog to stop pulling on the leash, try an Easy Walk leash. You can buy them new on eBay for $14.95.

I had a pulling problem and I emailed Sue Ailsby for a suggestion and she said to try the Easy Walk. The leash attaches to a D-ring on the dog's chest. Sue said that dogs tend to pull against things that pull them back - such as a sled dog pulls the sled because its pulling against the weight of the sled. With the Easy Walk, if they pull, they get turned around becuase the leash is on the front.

Honestly, the first time I put the Easy Walk on my dogs - they stopped pulling and walked beside me. So there is no more coughing and choking. My dogs both have obedience training but I found that on a walk, I could not stop them pulling.


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## flyingduster (Sep 6, 2009)

You're right, a lot of dogs don't 'get it' and they think that, to get rewarded, they first have to pull, then release, and then get their reward. They then go straight back to pulling to be able to release and get their reward!!! 
The key is when and how you reward. Mainly the difference is if you tell them to 'heel' or 'oi!' WHILE they are pulling, then they connect the pulling with the whole sequence. If "you" (generic "you", not you personally!) use a command like "heel" when they're pulling, they think pulling is part of heel! You want to teach them what 'heel' actually means, and THEN put a cue word on it... 

What I personally do when teaching loose lead walking is if they pull, they get no vocal comment or command from me, but I turn into a tree and they may get an irritating jiggling lead and/or me walking backwards if they're REALLY trying to pull away to something, and it's only WHEN the pressure is released by THEM that they get a verbal praise and treat. Then it's much more clearly the RELEASE of pressure that is marked as the behaviour, not the pulling first. Of course I do also reward fairly frequently initially while they are being good too so they don't ONLY get rewarded after pulling...


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

flyingduster said:


> What I personally do when teaching loose lead walking is if they pull, they get no vocal comment or command from me, but I turn into a tree and they may get an irritating jiggling lead and/or me walking backwards if they're REALLY trying to pull away to something, and it's only WHEN the pressure is released by THEM that they get a verbal praise and treat. Then it's much more clearly the RELEASE of pressure that is marked as the behaviour, not the pulling first. Of course I do also reward fairly frequently initially while they are being good too so they don't ONLY get rewarded after pulling...


Exactly. Pulling means I stop, and I reward when he looks around to see what the heck is slowing our progress (thereby taking the tension off). 

Very cute last night as I saw him put tension on the lead and visibly correct himself, little brain gears running full out. _Sooper _smart dogs, poodles!


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