Gone But Not Forgotten
The transition from puppyhood to adolescence is probably the most challenging time for dog owners. Both the body and the brain are developing and, as with training, progress is not always linear.
Today, Travis seemed deaf to almost every cue. The world seemed especially distracting even though we weren’t doing anything new. We weren’t helped by an enormous amount of litter, every bit of which Travis wanted to put in his mouth.
His progress walking on a loose lead seemed to have stalled, even on the way home. The neat automatic sit that seemed ingrained had vanished. Fortunately, we mostly had the park to ourselves and he ran off some energy playing with a ball. Every dog that we passed was a challenge; his exuberance does not always look like an invitation to play to unsuspecting dogs or their owners. Even his canine friends get annoyed with him when he’s in this mood.
It’s easy to become demoralised when this happens and many owners blame their dog for being “stubborn” or “disobedient”. Just because dogs manage to respond well to cues in some settings does not mean that they “know” the cue though. That requires a certain amount of maturity and needs to be trained.
It rained heavily and there was thunder and lightening yesterday. That has brought slightly cooler weather and no doubt changed the scent profile in the environment. This could easily be at the root of Travis’ enhanced arousal, or maybe he just woke up feeling that way.
The cues that Travis has learned so far may be gone for the time being but they have not been forgotten. That is one of the benefits of positive reinforcement training using the clicker as a marker. There is plenty of science explaining why this type of training creates a very deep learning experience. On bad days, I hang on to the knowledge that what gets rewarded gets repeated and the training will come back.
Next week: Jumping For Joy
If you need help with an adolescent dog or to train your cues so that they are reliable, contact R+ Dog Training to book your course.