- I think every puppy owner at some point thinks,
"How on earth can I get this puppy to calm down
"a little bit."
What if I told you there's a way to,
not only exercise your dog's brain,
but get them to choose to calm down?
In today's video you're going to see this little
eleven-week-old Border Collie puppy go from this
(dog barks)
to this.
In just a few steps.
I'm Ken Steppe.
This is Carol Lawrence.
And this is Texas 2-10-4.
Welcome back to McCann Dogs.
(guitar strumming)
(dog barks)
- Hi, this is Texas 2-10-4.
She is an eleven-week-old Border Collie puppy
that has lots of energy
and I don't really want this energy
running around my house nonstop.
(dog whines)
So I'd really like this crazy puppy
to choose to lie on this bed for some duration of time.
Now, I'm controlling this situation
when I've got my pup on a long line
so she can't boot it out of here and go have a game of chase
and make me chase her.
I'm also making sure right now
the only reward available to her is this dog bed.
And you know for a wild and crazy dog,
probably the bed itself isn't much of a reward.
(dog whines)
So I'm going to use concept called a jackpot.
Sort of like casino when we hit the jackpot,
she's not going to get one treat.
She's going to get a whole bunch of treats.
Now I'm setting it up cause I need to be ready.
So I'm going to have the long line on
and I'm not going to let ger boot over to this bed yet.
She's played this a couple of times.
So she may go straight there.
But what I'm going to do is have my treats all ready.
I'm making sure she can't get to anything in the environment
and get rewarded other than going on that bed.
Now I'm not guiding her, encouraging her or luring her.
But she's going to get to make a decision.
And she's going to wander around.
I'm going to make sure she can't get into trouble
or do anything else.
But she may decide at some point that she's going to wander.
(laughs)
And if she decides to go the other way...
Yes!
Good girl!
So, she didn't know that bed would produce a jackpot.
Now, I gave her a whole bunch of treats
and then I'm going to call her off.
Texas!
Yay, good girl.
And I'm going to reload cause I want to call her off many times.
I want her to realize,
"Oh, I moved towards that white fuzzy bed
"and I'm going to get treats."
So again I'm just going to hold her.
I'm not asking, yay!
I'm not asking her, encouraging her or dragging her.
It's her choice.
And when she makes that choice, she's getting ten kibbles.
Might even be some cheese in there.
Texas!
Good stuff.
Good work.
And then I'm going to reload.
Now let's see what she does now.
Even though there's some food available,
what's she going to do?
Oh!
She's going to go to that bed.
So she's figuring out that bed is a pretty good thing.
Now let's talk about what can go wrong.
And trust me, it doesn't matter how long
you've been training, it will go wrong.
Number one, I always use a long line because I don't want
a puppy saying, "Oh, instead of going to the bed
"I'm going to run around the house."
So I can make sure that happens.
Number two, I make sure the bed,
not ready and available to them until I'm ready
to reward it.
Cause the last I want
is she goes there and it's pretty boring, no reward.
Third thing is, it takes a little bit,
especially with wild puppy that can move pretty quick.
Notice I've got my food on the ground
and I had my toy out there.
If that's a problem, because you have to be able to
manage that wild puppy on the end of the leash.
That she doesn't go and self-reward over there
instead of the mat.
So, you could use a little table or chair.
Have your food off the ground.
You can have a second person, absolutely,
is always a great idea.
Have a family member help you work this exercise
and they can hold the food.
Now what happens when I want to work a little more duration?
So she goes on.
I'm still rewarding at this point.
But I'm not necessarily always jackpoting.
And I can sit a little calmer.
And I'm going to reward.
And then I still might offer a little problem solving.
Oh, she comes off.
The treat disappears.
Oh my goodness nothing good happens if you come off there.
And so you just from one session to the next,
she sort of forgot the game.
Yes, good girl.
So she goes back to that bed.
We'll just reminder her of how to get the reward.
Yes.
Good girl.
So I hold off that treat a little bit.
Good work.
Oops! She comes off and that is fine.
Yay, good girl.
It's all about her learning.
And see this time she offered that sit.
Oh she's even going to lie down.
So, it took a little bit of remembering the game.
Again, I can offer a little challenge.
Good choice you.
What a good choice.
So we know there's a fun toy.
She's saying "Nope, I would rather lie there."
Now how does that get to me sitting
and working on a computer while she hangs out there alone?
So I might offer just a little calm praise.
I could give her something to chew now.
And I'll offer, good girl.
So you can see she's just settled.
Even that choice of going on there and remaining on
just helps her settle from that wild and crazy.
And every once in a while
I will offer another little challenge.
And I'll go back and I'm not totally talking to her
all the time.
I can give her a little pet.
Just it's calm.
It's good but it's not about necessarily me help, oops!
And all the fun ends
so I'm going to make sure my toy and food aren't there.
So she's offering me the same behavior off the mat.
Ah ha!
Good girl.
She figured out, "Oh, that's not quite the same.
"I didn't get the same reward."
Yay, good girl.
So you can see she's figuring it out.
And there is no rush,
it might take two, three, four sessions.
Five sessions.
Really depends on your dog.
Yes.
Good girl.
I'm not too worried.
I like the lie down but I'm not too worried at this point.
What I care is she's choosing to remain on there
even if there was a treat off.
She's going to have a little scratch.
Oh, that new collar.
Oh that new collar on a puppy.
So you can see she lies down, and she's relaxing
a little bit more.
I'm slowing down the treats.
And again I can offer those little challenges.
Yes.
Good work.
But, I'm not doing it constantly now,
everything's just a little slower.
Yes, good girl.
And certainly when she lies down I'm going to yes that,
let her know.
Maybe a couple more treats.
That's very good.
So, notice it's very calm.
Yeah, so she says "No, I'd rather lie on this bed
"than I would go chase that toy
"or go chase another dog in the household."
Because she's learned
all the rewards happen for hanging on that bed.
Pretty soon I will be able to work on the computer.
She can have a little bone or something chew on,
on that mat.
And I'm hoping she'll be able to lie there for you know,
fifteen, twenty minutes, half an hour,
without driving me insane.
You can say, "Well, that's nice
"but what good is that,
"because it's not like I can go work on the computer
"or go to the other room."
But my wild and crazy puppy saw my arms a second ago
is now lying calmly,
which means she is learning how to have some self control
and just relax herself, which is huge with a wild puppy.
Now, next up I want to work for me
to turn this into real life is
I need to be able to leave her side.
Not have to stay there.
And most puppies follow us.
So, she's pretty comfortable now.
She's learned the game.
Even if there's things happening.
I show a treat or I show a toy.
But what if I start to leave?
So, as I get up I'm going to reward her and again,
it's fine if she makes a mistake.
So as I start to move away, yes!
What a good girl.
And I'm going to go back and reward that.
Now she's making a good choice.
Your dog may get up.
Again, all I need do is remove the treats.
That's fine.
Yay, good girlie.
And as long as she's remaining,
she doesn't have to remain down.
Oh dear.
She can see, she goes right back that spot.
She says, "Ah, I know that game."
This is where the rewards happen.
Yeah.
Good work you.
Good work.
So you can see.
Yay, good girl.
So oops!
Yeah, so you can see she jumps back,
so even though I'm doing a little run away she says,
"Nope, I'd rather."
So, it's a little bit of a game.
She's saying, "How do I win?"
She's saying, "The way I win is by holding on that mat."
But every time she makes that decision.
Oh dear!
Oh dear.
No rewards.
You can see she jumps right back on, and does a sit for me.
So, all I'm going to do is go backstage
and I know she's not quite ready for a lot more emotion.
Good girl.
I'll just go backstage and next session,
I'm going to start to move away and maybe I'll sit in a chair.
Oops.
Treats just end.
And we'll just move away from that mat.
And if you want to watch the first ten things
that I taught Texas, feel free to hit this button here.
If you want to watch more puppy videos
and you haven't subscribed make sure you do that as well.
On that note, I'm Carol.
This is Texas 2-10-4.
Happy training.