-
Questions to Ask to Get to the Heart of a Problem
Recently, I’ve been working on recalls with a darling cavapoo named Sage. At this week’s lesson, she had freedom in her big, beautiful yard without having to be on a long line because her invisible fence training had been completed. As I got ready to exit the house with her, off leash for the first time with me, her dad asked me: “What will you do when she won’t come to you once you go outside?” I told him I felt confident we’d be successful, especially since I was packing fresh chicken. You’ll see in the video that she was indeed happy to come when I called her.
As we’re digging into the situation a bit deeper, what questions would you ask to get to the root of why the pet parent was having difficulty getting her to come to him when she’s off-leash in the yard?
Please check out, too, another conversation we were having recently about whether we need to see a problem behavior vs just gathering information about that behavior from the pet parent.
0:50
-
12 Replies
-
Beautiful video and pup, @virginiad ! Incredible work.
One question I ask the owners is: are you only calling him/her to come when it’s time to come in? (Aka “fun over”, to dog). I explain and we practice calling the dog in different trajectories around the yard. Usually that helps when the dog isn’t always coming TO THE HOUSE.
I love that you are demonstrating this in the video. Also, letting her break to sniff and have fun in between recalls.
-
Fair warning… this is a side note and maybe needs it’s own discussion, but your comment here, Paula: are you only calling him/her to come when it’s time to come in? (Aka “fun over”, to dog). …Usually that helps when the dog isn’t always coming TO THE HOUSE.
First of all, brilliant. I used to tell clients, “Call them 10x more than you need them, reward and release again.” Perfect answer to build a great recall.
Secondly, how do people get dogs who don’t want to be with them more than anything else? I spy a bigger issue with dogs who won’t come into the house. It’s one thing if the dog is after a squirrel or something and refuses to recall. It’s something else entirely if the dog is like, “nah, being in a fenced yard with nothing to do is better than hanging out with you…” Unless it’s an LGD or some other less social breed. Just a lil reminder to look at relationship as much as operant conditioning.
-
Bingo, @bernerlabreclectus ! The pet parent was only calling her to come when he was waiting at the door and he wanted her back inside before she was done having her fun romping around. Prior to the invisible fence, this young pup only had walks in the yard on a leash or long line. That lack of freedom often yields more challenging recalls (at least at first) when the dog finally does get a taste of freedom!
And great point, too, @catherine , about a possible relationship issue. The elderly couple certainly love Sage, but they do a very limited number of things with her. Most of her care and fun and training activities come through people on staff.
-
-
What a great reminder to improve our LISTENING skills. ???? Is the “problem” really the problem? Is the question an indication we should ask more questions?
I can’t tell you how many times I got in my car after a private lesson only to smack my head ????♀️ when a realization happened. “OH!” I’d say to myself (and I always answer myself ????) “OH! The real issue was Y, not X.) ????
With practice I got better at dropping my assumptions, listening, repeating back what they said, phrasing it another way, and asking more questions.
As training partners with our clients, it’s really a good idea to pin down their concerns before jumping into a training plan. ????Are we really working at the heart of the issue? Sometimes it’s not “obedience” but the overall relationship we need to look at. Other times it’s just: Carry chicken. ????
????
The work with little Sage is brilliant and she’s adorable. How lucky these folks are to have you guiding them. I bet the owner was relieved that she came when you called her.
How did you follow up with answering his question, @virginiad ?
-
Regarding follow-up to his question, I share video with two of the staffers, as well as a thorough follow-up recap, and ask these be shared with the pet parents. Sometimes, I can recap things in person, too, if the pet parent happens to be up and around. It’s been a very challenging client to have — absolutely delightful people, but very hard to get any follow-through due to physical infirmities, and even a staff person is often unavailable to work with during the training session, leaving me to do a form of ‘day training’ but only once a week. It’s not an effective set-up.
I’ve attached a video showing Sage’s partial avoidance of the recall when I stood near the front door, and also shared this with the household to demonstrate the issue. A second round of recalls near the door yielded better results on the very same day. Sage is so smart, and when she saw coming to me didn’t equal the end of fun, she was quickly on board.
0:57
-
This is so good… especially the part about “partial avoidance”. So many people would think, “well, she came, so that’s that, and now we go inside.” Instead, by focusing on the signals the dog is giving we can get to the heart of her emotional state (conflicted) and know we need to build a stronger reinforcement history for the behavior we want. Love it.
Sounds like a challenging household. I hope they are able to follow through with her and give her the freedom she needs. I had a similar situation once. A pair of Cavaliers in an invisible fence set up… and the people were just astounded when I pointed out: They are HUNTING DOGS deep in their bones. They need scent games and running, running, running to be the happiest.
-
I’ve had a couple cavaliers stay with me for training and I was amazed by their ‘birdiness.’ It was a bit of a challenge at first to get recalls away from my hedges which are loaded with birds! ????
Sage is SO happy now that she has her huge and glorious yard to romp in, off leash, and she actually doesn’t like to stay out too long. If left alone for a bit, she actually goes to the back door to scratch to be let in. Because of the wildlife in our area, her pet parents are a bit concerned about her being outside unsupervised, so I recommended a Coyote Vest for them, for a bit of added protection on the occasion she is briefly unsupervised.
-
I believe that! They are the birdiest little lap dogs!
The Coyote Vest is a life saver. My neighbor’s dog hung out with us again yesterday; hes a tiny “toy Aussie” and he wears one both to deter the large hawks that live in our trees and to remind enthusiastic would-be body slamming herders to give him some space.
0:09
-
Ooooh, interesting use of the coyote vest to encourage a bit more space between dogs during play!! Never thought of that! ????
-
Yep. Lil Norman gives clear signals but some doggies (cough) are adorkable and don’t listen so the Coyote Vest is a great visual. They haven’t touched him/it. 🙂
-
-
-
-
-
-
It’s all about relationship. One conundrum I have is working with folks who aren’t naturally animated. I coach them to use enthusiastic voices, body movements, and physical touch (if the dog likes it) as reinforcement for being near their person. This is a foundation for leash skills, come, attention, everything. Sometimes I’ll have folks race one direction, give a treat when the dog catches up and then race the other direction. Or, throw treats between their (the human’s) legs then turn around and do it again as the dog returns to them. You could throw in “come” if working on recall.
Many people appreciate being pushed out of their comfort zones especially if they see the improvement in relationship with their dog.
I just realized this is pretty far off topic. ???? It can relate to recall though..
-
@Cyn , these are great ideas to incorporate into recall practice — thank you for sharing!
-
Log in to reply.