We are very clear that our dog should "settle." We want them to sit there quietly. All the instructions involve treats. Should we train children this way? When I looked at how to train children with treats. It seemed a bit unfair. Compared to dogs, children treat training somehow should involve small, healthy snacks. We don't treat dogs that way. We give them the most delicious things they can imagine. We want to motivate them. All the other steps are the same. Especially that one of gradually phasing out the treats as the behaviour becomes habitual. Self-sustaining is the expression used. On the other hand, Millie now comes when called to the command of "cheese." I don't think she would bother to come if no cheese was given out after a while.
There are the non-motivated dogs and the highly movitated dogs. Here is where dog training can lead:
"We discovered that our Pomeranian mix would stand at the sliding door any time she needed to go out. If we said, “Do you need to go out?” she would bark softly. We would open the door, and out she went. My dad sat in a chair next to the door. He could reach the handle, and open the door, without getting up. One day the dog is standing there. Dad asks. The dog barks. Dad opens the door. The dog turns around and walks away, followed by the cat, who had been waiting to come in through the opened door. The dog learned how to let the cat in."
"One of those random tricks was to shut cabinet doors and drawers that might be left ajar in the kitchen. She caught on super fast. She loved it. A few days later, however, I was busy and she wanted to do something. I told her to back off so I could finish what I was doing and then we’d play.
She trotted into the kitchen and began nosing open cabinet doors that were closed and slamming them shut until I stopped what I was doing and came to tell her to stop. This was one of what would become a long list of things she would critically think her way through in order to demand attention."
Here's the Strawberry pot with Snowdrops from Mid-March. And now in April, the Snowdrops are finished and the Daffodils and early Spring trees are blooming. The Strawberry pot has Pansies.
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