These are so random and unrelated, but I have a few specific behaviors of his that I would like to change, and I was just curious if someone with more training experience than I had any words of wisdom to impart on how to go about fixing the behaviors.
1.) Barking while in a parked car.
He sleeps like a babe and rides wonderfully while the car is in motion, but as SOON as we stop somewhere he immediately gets extremely alert/anxious/watchful and barks at All The People. Even things he thinks are people - like road signs. Once we're out of the car, he settles down and is fine, it is just while he is in a parked car that he's obnoxious. Doesn't matter if we are in the car with him or if he's left alone (with Cynder) while we pop out for a second. He barks either way.
Ideal behavior would be for him to stay quiet (he can remain watchful for all I care) and only bark if someone actually approaches the car. I would also be happy with him just being quiet forever and never ever barking in the car again, period.
My plan: I was thinking of implementing a Look At That type scenario. Starting small - like just sitting in the car in the driveway. Treating. Maybe backing it out of the driveway and parking on the street. Treating. Eventually driving to a not-so-busy gas station. Treating. End goal would be to park in a busy parking lot and have him remain calm.
My question is, do I just constantly dole out treats regardless of his behavior? Jackpotting when someone comes close, even if he's growling/barking? I don't want to reward him for barking, obviously, but I don't want him to have negative associations with someone walking by in the distance, either?
2.) Meal times!
I'd love for him to "go to place" when commanded, even if something exiting is going on. I'd like to use this in different scenarios, but the first one I'd like to use it for is feeding times. He is an over excitable IDIOT when he thinks/knows it is his food time. He jumps in front of you, he barks, he runs circles around you...he's really, really, really annoying. I've tried just ignoring him when he offers the behaviors, but as soon as he realizes you're ignoring him, he stops and holds perfectly still. The second you move again he's back to being an idiot. Effectively, I think I've taught him that when I stop moving, he needs to stop moving to get me to start again - NOT that him being an idiot is what gets me to stop moving in the first place. Instead of him offering spastic behaviors, I'd love for him to channel that enthusiasm and hold a down/stay in a distant room or on a mat until he's released to eat. (He does settle and act like a normal dog if I just, you know. Don't feed him. But as soon as I head towards the food area with intent to feed him, he knows, and starts acting a fool again.)
My plan: I...really don't know. I figured I'd start with mat work (or maybe "room work" if that is what I decide to do with him) and go from there? Thoughts?
3.) Orienting to me as soon as we go through a door.
I have Control Unleashed which is really what gave me this idea, but I would lovelovelovelovelove if he were to immediately face me and give me eye contact as soon as he exited or entered a house door/car door. He turns into an overexcited mess in most situations and his brain falls out through his ears, so I figured that would help him reorient and focus while giving me something to reward vs curse at him as soon as we enter/exit a place.
My plan: Again, I'm kind of at a loss. I'm going to start enforcing that he give me eye contact as a default for going out into the yard and I plan to do some of the door exercises as described in Controlled Unleashed, but I'd be happy to hear anyone else's ideas! He's actually really good about eye contact while working when he's actually using his brain and focused on the task at hand, so the foundation is there...he just has his moments where he forgets everything he ever knew and acts like he's never had any training at all in his life, ever.
That's it for now, I think! I have two other issues I'd like to address at some point, but they are more general behavior and not actually a trainable task (I don't think), so I'll save those for another time. Any tips/advice/encouragement is appreciated! We've been letting a LOT of things slide recently and it's been showing. Doesn't help that he's also under exercised and pulling longer hours at home alone with Michael being gone. So I'm going to be making it a point to work with him more and get him back to being a relatively good dog instead of an annoying loud beast creature. LOL
1.) Barking while in a parked car.
He sleeps like a babe and rides wonderfully while the car is in motion, but as SOON as we stop somewhere he immediately gets extremely alert/anxious/watchful and barks at All The People. Even things he thinks are people - like road signs. Once we're out of the car, he settles down and is fine, it is just while he is in a parked car that he's obnoxious. Doesn't matter if we are in the car with him or if he's left alone (with Cynder) while we pop out for a second. He barks either way.
Ideal behavior would be for him to stay quiet (he can remain watchful for all I care) and only bark if someone actually approaches the car. I would also be happy with him just being quiet forever and never ever barking in the car again, period.
My plan: I was thinking of implementing a Look At That type scenario. Starting small - like just sitting in the car in the driveway. Treating. Maybe backing it out of the driveway and parking on the street. Treating. Eventually driving to a not-so-busy gas station. Treating. End goal would be to park in a busy parking lot and have him remain calm.
My question is, do I just constantly dole out treats regardless of his behavior? Jackpotting when someone comes close, even if he's growling/barking? I don't want to reward him for barking, obviously, but I don't want him to have negative associations with someone walking by in the distance, either?
2.) Meal times!
I'd love for him to "go to place" when commanded, even if something exiting is going on. I'd like to use this in different scenarios, but the first one I'd like to use it for is feeding times. He is an over excitable IDIOT when he thinks/knows it is his food time. He jumps in front of you, he barks, he runs circles around you...he's really, really, really annoying. I've tried just ignoring him when he offers the behaviors, but as soon as he realizes you're ignoring him, he stops and holds perfectly still. The second you move again he's back to being an idiot. Effectively, I think I've taught him that when I stop moving, he needs to stop moving to get me to start again - NOT that him being an idiot is what gets me to stop moving in the first place. Instead of him offering spastic behaviors, I'd love for him to channel that enthusiasm and hold a down/stay in a distant room or on a mat until he's released to eat. (He does settle and act like a normal dog if I just, you know. Don't feed him. But as soon as I head towards the food area with intent to feed him, he knows, and starts acting a fool again.)
My plan: I...really don't know. I figured I'd start with mat work (or maybe "room work" if that is what I decide to do with him) and go from there? Thoughts?
3.) Orienting to me as soon as we go through a door.
I have Control Unleashed which is really what gave me this idea, but I would lovelovelovelovelove if he were to immediately face me and give me eye contact as soon as he exited or entered a house door/car door. He turns into an overexcited mess in most situations and his brain falls out through his ears, so I figured that would help him reorient and focus while giving me something to reward vs curse at him as soon as we enter/exit a place.
My plan: Again, I'm kind of at a loss. I'm going to start enforcing that he give me eye contact as a default for going out into the yard and I plan to do some of the door exercises as described in Controlled Unleashed, but I'd be happy to hear anyone else's ideas! He's actually really good about eye contact while working when he's actually using his brain and focused on the task at hand, so the foundation is there...he just has his moments where he forgets everything he ever knew and acts like he's never had any training at all in his life, ever.
That's it for now, I think! I have two other issues I'd like to address at some point, but they are more general behavior and not actually a trainable task (I don't think), so I'll save those for another time. Any tips/advice/encouragement is appreciated! We've been letting a LOT of things slide recently and it's been showing. Doesn't help that he's also under exercised and pulling longer hours at home alone with Michael being gone. So I'm going to be making it a point to work with him more and get him back to being a relatively good dog instead of an annoying loud beast creature. LOL