Dog training

Ooh ooh, how about a new offf-topic thread about dogs/training?

I think it was @creelunion - try asking him. I haven't done any serious training but I do have dogs. I wrote a post on EP once about similarities between training dogs and living in a SM.

If you want to teach a dog something you need to give it a reward or a treat, until it associates the learned behaviour with being rewarded. But once the dog figures out what it is supposed to do then you start only giving treats intermittently and gradually reduce the frequency. Apparently if the dog knows it will get the treat every time it can think about whether the treat is worth the action or not, and may just decide it can't be bothered. But if you only give it sometimes, then the dog is always thinking 'maybe this time, 'maybe this time', and it stays hooked. Eventually you can give it no reward at all and it will keep on hoping and hoping for ever. Just like us...

My H is a dog trainer and we're part owners of a doggie daycare and boarding kennels. But, I know I wasn't part of the discussion.


Men work, surprisingly, in the same way. Short, declarative statements like "sit," "stay," "down," etc.

A few notes... Sweetie's dog I mentioned a while back, Labrador-Pointer, 9 years old. I love this dog, we are the best pals. But I pay for the food, shelter, vet bill, so there are a few rules and she follows them, she's a very good dog indeed. She hasn't been trained in a formal sense, which I believe is what you and Creel have in mind. This is more of a household community situation.

The most important factor in our relationship is that she considers me to be the Alpha. I didn't even plan this, but she picked up on it. She is a pack animal by nature, and desires membership and approval in the pack. I had mentioned that one minute into our first meeting, which was first time in sweetie's house, we were on the floor with the rope playing tug-o-war. I became a member of the pack, which was now two humans and one dog. There is lots of documentation on this. Her goal is to have an active status in the pack, which requires some rules, and as a result has food, place to sleep, playmates. The most effective reward is reassurance and “Good Dog.” The worst punishment is if I make it clear that her behavior is unacceptable, and she is shunned from the group (I give her the cold shoulder for half an hour). Believe it or not, this is amazingly effective.

She went through a few changes when we all three met, which of course were approved by sweetie. The first one was no dog near the table when we are eating. After one week when we sat down at table, she would lie down on other side of room, or leave for couch. Then immediately after dinner is play time for us, good dog.

This is simply a brief overview, there is plenty more.

We can all learn a lot from dogs. 

Those are seriously awesome dogs.

How cool! I love the group "Soooo, you think you want a Malinois" on Facebook. Retired racing greyhounds are my doggy loves, but I enjoy reading on Facebook about how the other canine half lives.