A Tale in Training Gone Wrong

When I decided dog training was the career path I wanted to venture down, I decided to train my husky to do a 'fancy' trick to try my hand at something a bit more complicated. The goal was to receive her right paw, then her left, then have her place both on my arm and give me a kiss. So we began with "paw" which she picked up in no time. Then we worked in sequence and I asked for the "other". Wow she's smart! OK, now "both".

That was a little more complicated. Asking her to give up her sitting position and have her stand on her hind legs while I carry her front two wasn't something she understood quickly. But she was very treat motivated and after a couple days, she got it! Now the finale... a "kiss". Piece of cake!

So I had effectively trained her to give Paw, Other, Both, Kiss just as I had hoped. Now, let me remind you that this was an adventure in training BEFORE I had been trained myself. The key to training is and will always be a certain degree of unpredictability.

In the days to follow, we practiced this fancy foot work quite a bit until I felt it was a dependable trick. But instead of dependable, it became something else. As the day to leave for trainer school approached, this once dependable trick began to fall apart. She would skip steps or do them too quick or in the wrong order all to expedite the delivery of a treat to her mouth. A dog that knows a sequence will aim for the finish line. So while I was aiming for Paw, Other, Both, Kiss, what I managed to do was to train my husky to muzzle punch me in the face... on command. Yes, my friends, I trained my dog to head butt me, busting my lip on more than one occassion. After a few those, I put things on hold.

Needless to say, I did not put this one on the brag list as I entered into the canine academy. Instead I tucked this one away until I received enough knowledge to find out what I did wrong. Thankfully, all hope and effort was not lost and I was able to correct the variation and recreate what I had hoped for.

So what can you learn from my early mistake? Predictably is a sure road to sloppy performance. Keep things interesting. Repetition but not sequential. Keep them on their toes and test in different orders to keep those behaviors dependable!