Understanding how dogs learn is helpful in getting where you want to go much faster.
Limit Options.
Guide Choices.
Control Outcomes.
I have created a “Skinner Box” by restricting Kiera’s access to any other part of the garage bay through controlling the leash length. She cannot wander away, and by making the food and interaction with me the only viable and reinforcing option, I have created a ‘captive audience’.
Using a buckle collar and a leash in a fixed position, watch carefully how the puppy learns to make eye contact without auditory input.
Articulating my physical position and fixing the leash length in opposition to the puppy’s movements allows the pup the opportunity to discover when the primary reinforcer will appear.
We limit hand movement to prevent the puppy from targeting the hands more aggressively and becoming frustrated and overly aroused. Creating a ‘puzzle’ to solve slows down the excitement, especially if the puppy gets no feedback from the hand, or the person who controls access to whatever is in the hand.
The presence and absence of leash pressure in dog training acts as both positive punisher (the dog cannot escape or avoid it) and negative reinforcement (the pup stops struggling and the leash pressure disappears), either simultaneously or transitioning seamlessly one from the other, depending on how the pup reacts to my movement and the resultant consequence that the presence of the leash provides.
Patience and eye contact are the only behaviors that will be quickly rewarded. Although the pup refuses to forsake the hand entirely, she learns in about two minutes that eye contact is the path to reinforcement.
When you need help getting your puppy to settle, we are only an email away.
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