Giving Exact Instructions

Today I was trying to teach Pippin to put his chin on my shoulder. He knows how to put his chin on my lap or on an object such as a chair or table. So – I struggled, by trying to get him behind me and then with a cookie lure, have him “chin” my shoulder. He was running in front of me, kissing my face, putting chin on my leg, etc.

DUH – forgot one important thing – I had to tell him to be behind me. Now, I have been using platforms to teach him positions and he is getting very good at this. So – I just need to give him the command for standing behind me. But – he could not get this as I was sitting down on the floor. You know – dogs are very situational and sitting on the floor is NOT standing up. So for him to do the command to stand behind me, I have to be STANDING.

Okay – take out the platform, and stand in front of it. We do the command and then after a few successful commands, I kneel and repeat the command. His nose comes poking around the side of me. “HUH?” I give him a cookie behind me from the other side. Repeat command several times with good success. Then I sit on floor. This time he understands and it is no issue. Lots of cookies (and clicks) for successfully standing behind me as I am sitting down.

Now – keep the platform. Give the command for chin. Neither of us have moved. Wait a moment. I point to my shoulder. “Chin” I repeat. Slowly, his chin comes down to my shoulder (I am a bit lower than he is). The second he touches – CLICK and cookie. YEA! Tail starts to wag. Repeat “Chin” and point to shoulder – chin touches shoulder! CLICK and cookie!! More tail wag! We repeat this several times and are both very happy with the success.

My husband who has been watching was real impressed how I was able to break apart the steps to put the 2 movements together – and how quickly Pippin then got the whole thing once the platform showed him where he was supposed to be.

Naughty me for not remembering to do this at first: I was just thinking of the behavior as one movement – put chin on shoulder. What I did not think about is that the movement is really TWO behaviors – stand behind me then chin.

Which now has me thinking about something else; I tell my dog to “Chin” and point to what he needs to put his chin on. Should I be giving names to objects that he may be “chin”ing often? Such as – if I want him to “chin” laps often – should I say “Chin lap”? Or “Chin Shoulder”? OR is this an overkill?

Sometimes we can over-instruct … sometimes we don’t give enough information. I guess for Pippin – if I have him stand behind me and I am in a sitting position – and I ask for “chin” then he will default to my shoulder as that is what I taught him. So – what if I am in a standing position – what will he do? Maybe if I offer my hand, he will chin my hand. So the deal is – what do I teach my dog as default? It is all based on my position. If we are in a group of people and I want him to put his chin on someone’s lap, that will have to consist of “go out to that person” “chin on lap” – at least 2 commands. I think with dogs, we must give EXPLICIT instructions. It is not a matter of over-instructing or not enough, but giving exact instructions. That’s the tough part for us.