Teaching silly dogs

My friend thought that we would create a thread where she and other users could tell and discuss about how they are training their dogs when they are behaving differently than they should. My friend herself would need ideas about that if what she tries doesn't work. However, although she needs help in it, she thought mostly that others could tell how they are training their dogs. Others could tell also their own experiences about this.

My friend herself thought that she would start by telling about Lotta and her training. She often acts silly when my friend is trying to train her. When Lotta is acting silly, she behaves like a small puppy that would only like to play. :rofl1: The reason Lotta acts silly is that she gets very excited when she notices that my friend is going to start training her. Lotta has a different idea on what she should do than my friend does. Then she behaves like she would like to play with my friend. So, she's a funny dog :

Then Lotta behaves also in the similar ways than the dog in the following video does:
[YOUTUBE]cPXHZgQQZ8U[/YOUTUBE]

My friend knows that ignoring doesn't really work with Lotta because she often stares at her. Actually it seems to my friend that Lotta thinks it's a game if she turns around. Then she gets more excited about it. In our video my friend also takes a clicker in her hand in order to get Lotta to think that she is going to start training her so that she could show you how Lotta behaves if my friend ignores her. As you can see, that doesn't work because she just goes to the other side.

My friend also knows what may work: when Lotta is acting silly, it often helps if the behavior is divided in small parts and she's always rewarded when she takes even a small step to the right direction. It doesn't always work though.

So, my friend has now told something about Lotta and her training. Do also other users dogs behave differently than they should when they are trying to train them? Do they also act silly? What do you others do when your dogs for example act silly in training? How can you teach them something then?

Hugo actually takes training pretty seriously, which is odd because he's goofy in his everyday life.

One tip I would give you is to start off training by rewarding Lotta for calm attention. If you look at the video you posted, 13 seconds in Lotta stares you for a second. She's wagging her tail and obviously excited but she's standing with four feet on the floor and staring which is exactly what you want. Click and treat that. She does it again at second 27, and a few more times throughout the video. Start off training by rewarding those moments of focus so that she knows that's what you want.

First off I forget 'Should' " as in behaving differently than they should"

A whole discussion could be had on why dogs behave a certain way. But just because they are not behaving in a way you expect does not mean they are behaving in a way that they shouldn't.

Dogs are very logical creatures, we just don't always see their logic right away :rofl1:

First off train the dog you have in front of you that day. Dogs have good days and bad days just like people. Just because your dog was a super star yesterday doesn't mean they are going to be today. And if you start thinking 'Well they should be.." that only leads to frustration and gets in the way of good training.

Next (as has been mentioned on this thread and other ones with Lotta) make sure you reward every iota of behavior that is what you want. Do not let an opportunity slip past if you can help it. Focus on what your dog is doing right. One it will help your dog, but two it will help you see that your dog IS doing things correctly. (Lotta seems like an nice straight forward dog to work with, she offered polite standing with calm attention quite a few times. Reward those and I am sure she will learn VERY quickly. She is just confused as she offers things repeatedly trying to figure out what you want)

IME most people's training issues are not their dog's issue. Oh yes some dogs are easier than others. But in most cases its issues with people being hung up on well they knew it yesterday, or it worked for my other dog (also my other dogs weren't like this...) or they have some idea of how fast a dog should learn something.

And lastly Have fun!

Dekka has been a challenge and was a completely different dog to train than her father. I didn't worry so much about how he needed to learn and focused on how she needed to learn.

My friend knows that she can do what you are suggesting. However, our video and that other one were mostly about how Lotta behaves when she notices that my friend is going to start training her. So, she was just showing it. In that video my friend hasn't started training Lotta yet except she behaves the same way when she starts training her right away.

My friend didn't mean it literally when she asked if also other users' dogs behaved differently than they should when they would be trying to train them. She can try to explain what she really meant. My friend knows that one can divide a behavior in small parts and reward the dog when s/he takes even a small step to the right direction. However, my friend means that if the dog for example is acting silly, like in the video we linked, s/he may not be doing anything that you could reward if/when you have certain behavior in mind.

So, since my friend thought that this thread would not be only about Lotta, this is what she would like to know:

Do your dogs also act silly or do they do silly things when you're trying to train them? If so, then how? Could you give some examples and show or tell how they behave? My friend means that you could for example link videos about your dogs. What do you do youselves if your dogs behaves in those ways? How are you able to teach them something?

Hopefully you understand better now what my friend meant.

Toby takes training pretty seriously...

When we're learning something new though, he tends to get frustrated and tries to run through all of his tricks to find the *right* one. Which I obviously cannot reward. So I use a lure to get him into the right position and reward that. After a few repetitions I expect him to offer the behavior when cue'd and reward for it. Once he realizes what we're doing he does great.

We asked if your dogs also acted silly or if they did silly things when you would be trying to train them and if they did then in which way? You have already told something about your dogs and their trainings. My friend would also like to know if you could for example link videos about your dogs. So, could you link some videos where your dogs would be for example acting silly and where you would be showing what you are doing when they are behaving that way? My friend would be interested in seeing how would you be able to teach them something then.

We told that Lotta often acts silly when my friend is trying to train her. When Lotta is acting silly, she behaves like a small puppy that would only like to play. Then Lotta concentrates on acting silly so much that she doesn't notice/understand that my friend is trying to teach her something. It's also so that Lotta doesn't always know how to offer things in training in order to get treats. It's because Lotta has a different idea on what she should do than my friend does. So, when Lotta doesn't get treats by acting silly, she doesn't always figure out what she should do then. Then she just stares at my friend and wags her tail. My friend would need ideas on what to do then. So, my friend would like to know how she could teach Lotta to think by herself and offer things so that she could get treats. My friend was once suggested 101 Things To Do With A Box. So, that's one idea. Does someone know what else my friend could try?

We asked if you could link some videos where your dogs would be for example "acting silly" and where you would be showing what you are doing when they are behaving that way. The reason my friend asked that is that she would find it easier if she could see what can be done then.

Toby working on 'bow' without clicker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80aaklAaabY

Toby working on 'bow' with clicker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa1BkVbrpug


- don't be alarmed by his weird breathing in the first video, it's just reverse sneezing and it's totally normal.

My friend had told that Lotta often acts silly when my friend is trying to train her and that when Lotta is acting silly, she behaves like a small puppy that would only like to play. She had also told that the reason Lotta acts silly is that she gets very excited when she notices that my friend is going to start training her.

Actually Lotta gets excited because she thinks that my friend is going to start playing with her and that the clicker would be only a toy.:lol-sign: What could my friend do so that Lotta would stop thinking that it would be only a toy and that she would understand what it's for? She do know that a click means that she's going to get a treat. Many dogs know that when they do something a trainer clicks and gives them a treat. However Lotta just acts silly when she should do something. So what should my friend do?