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FIDO,
GO GET ME A BEER PLEASE
BY KAREN TAYLOR, My Best Friend
Obedience
Initially when Bob called our office he said he
would like to embark on a ten-session course to teach his dog on and off
leash obedience. Upon
further investigation it seems that Gunther was already very well
behaved and Bob’s main goal was to be able to have Gunther get him a
beer when he got home from work! Of
course, I said, “No problem!”
In order to accomplish this Gunther needed to have a
few skills. Let’s break
it down:
1.
Go to the refrigerator door
2.
Open the refrigerator door
3.
Pick up a can of beer off the shelf
4.
Hold the beer can in his mouth without puncturing it
or dropping it
5.
Then bring the beer to his owner without puncturing
it or dropping it
6.
Actually give the beer to his owner without drinking
it
We started by teaching Bob how to use a clicker (you
could use the word “yes” instead) and how to click and treat Gunther
into just about any simple behavior (basic obedience class stuff).
Then we started at the end of our list above (it’s called
“backward chaining”). Since
Gunther is a Labrador “get it” was not hard, but he did not want to
pick up tin cans. We put a
leash on Gunther for more control.
We had him pick up a ball (something he really enjoys) while
introducing the command “Get it.”
Once Gunter had the ball, we quickly offered a treat in one hand
and took the ball with the other hand, saying the word “give” when
he let go to eat the treat. Whew!
Using the clicker we taught Gunther to Come and Sit in front of Bob and to Sit and Down Stay on command (basic obedience
class stuff). Then we
taught Gunther how to play Tug
with a rag just for fun. Once
he enjoyed the game we introduced the command Tug and offered him a treat after the first hard tug
for letting go.
By this time our only problem was getting Gunther to
pick up the can. So we used the clicker and some ingenuity.
First, we taught him he would be rewarded for
anything he picked up. We
then attached tennis balls to either end of a beer can to make the metal
a bit more palatable. Since
he still picked the can up “by the balls,” we removed them and tried
throwing the can on the ground without them.
He went to the can and sniffed at it dejectedly--it had lost its
attraction with out its “balls.”
But then we clicked and treated him.
Gunther was confused, but wanted to earn another click, so he
sniffed the can again and we clicked and treated again.
He pawed the can, and we clicked; then he bit at the can and we
clicked; then he got excited and we got excited and finally…. HE
PICKED UP THE CAN!!!!
After a about twenty repetitions he actually would
retrieve the can full or empty. But
Gunther likes chew on the stuff he picks up.
So we had to teach him to be gentle.
On occasion he was gentle by accident, so we only clicked and
treated the gentle retrieves. In
addition we played fetch with a hard-bristle wooden scrub brush--no
mouth wants to bite down hard on those bristles, so we clicked and
treated those gentle retrieves also.
All the pieces were then in place.
We put the beer on the bottom shelf of the fridge went up to it
with Gunther, put the rag on fridge door and told him to “tug!”
When the fridge opened, there was the BEER!
We said, “Get it” and he did! Then Bob ran backward away from
the fridge and said “Gunther, Come”…and then “give”… and
Gunther DID IT!!!!
Now when Bob walks in from a long hard day, Gunther,
unasked, will go to the fridge and bring Bob a beer as his new greeting
behavior--whether he wants one or not. Sometimes he’ll bring 4 or 5!
And thus the monster was created.
Anyone know where you can buy refrigerator padlocks?
The moral of this story is, “Watch out what you ask for
–‘cause you just might get it!”
Your dog doesn’t need to have a 5,000-word
vocabulary to function in the human world.
Just a few basic commands, taught correctly, will do both of you
just fine at the beginning.
Over the next few months watch the on training section of VALLEY
PET NEWS and teach your dog the fundamental commands in basic obedience!
Then even you can teach your dog to GET YOU A BEER!
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