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I've always been what I'd describe as an "organic" trainer. I focus more on relationship building than drilling commands, and through day-to-day interactions, I slowly capture the behaviours that I like.
Peggy, bless her heart, needs more than that. She deserves more than that. She is just so darn smart. So I've been trying to step it up, but I struggle notably in one area:
How do you keep all your hand signals and verbal commands straight?? Do you keep a list? Do you ever need to go back and change one you've already taught?
For example, I've somehow paired the word "Up" with both jumping on an object AND putting just two front paws on an object. And I'll admit that I use a pointing finger for almost everything.
Until now, she's figured out what I wanted because the object often dictates the behaviour (e.g. if something's too small or tall for her to stand on, she knows two feet are fine). But today I tried demonstrating for my husband how she could put two paws up on the back of the couch:
Point.
"Up!"
And up she went—up and over the back and onto the couch. She looked so proud of herself and my husband was like, "Whyyyy would you teach her to do something like that??"
Oops.
So please tell me: Do you decide what you want to teach and figure out the signal and verbal command beforehand? What's your process? Because I need to stop confusing this poor dog (and my husband), and I genuinely do not understand how people do it.
Peggy, bless her heart, needs more than that. She deserves more than that. She is just so darn smart. So I've been trying to step it up, but I struggle notably in one area:
How do you keep all your hand signals and verbal commands straight?? Do you keep a list? Do you ever need to go back and change one you've already taught?
For example, I've somehow paired the word "Up" with both jumping on an object AND putting just two front paws on an object. And I'll admit that I use a pointing finger for almost everything.
Until now, she's figured out what I wanted because the object often dictates the behaviour (e.g. if something's too small or tall for her to stand on, she knows two feet are fine). But today I tried demonstrating for my husband how she could put two paws up on the back of the couch:
Point.
"Up!"
And up she went—up and over the back and onto the couch. She looked so proud of herself and my husband was like, "Whyyyy would you teach her to do something like that??"
Oops.
So please tell me: Do you decide what you want to teach and figure out the signal and verbal command beforehand? What's your process? Because I need to stop confusing this poor dog (and my husband), and I genuinely do not understand how people do it.