We know "ON"! Don't we? Knock on a door. Rustle a bag of chips. Pretend to reach for the "LET'S GO FOR A WALK" equipment and you will see GAME ON. Great! We have got half the equation and can **mark those behaviors as if we had already introduced them, taught them, and our Pets can choose to repeat them every time we ask. Every time? To be determined.
If they are barking at the front door = give that a word. Mark it with a word, sound, or gesture = something only you 2 share for that particular behavior. I say "what's that?" with quick head movements looking around to see 'what is THAT'? Maybe she will keep staring at the place where "THAT" is - like front door. BRILLIANT! And the moment she is quiet and staring = REWARD THAT! Maybe with the word QUIET. And/or a hand gesture like lowering your chest-high hand slowly to your waist. Eventually your hand at your waist or at your side will cue QUIET. Make sense?
Rewards = Toys magically appear from your back pocket and they get to play with 'Stuffy'! Or a treat from nowhere is dropped on the floor exactly where they have pinpointed the intruder. Or the biggest, happiest atta boys. Or dance a happy jig backwards so they get to come with you to be happy! MAYBE INTRODUCE RE-CALL CONCEPT HERE. Why not? Happy, engaged, coming to you for wonderful rewards. Right? Mark it. Tag it.
Win-Win = now you have 2, 3, or even 4 behaviors that can be repeated and expanded.
Ever feel like you missed their cues trying to inform you? Don't worry about it - you will catch it next time. Just never punish - I did - and because I punished the barking late one night - my bike was found missing off the front porch in the morning. My bad.
I had no TEAMWORK.
**Marking behaviors... like barking - there are times when barking is what we want... at midnight with a strange sound outside... getting an annoying neighbor to go away... getting off the phone with your mother-in-law... or if Timmy has, once again, fallen in the well. Youngsters = google "Lassie"! And Have a Great Day.
