Impulse Control. Impulse Control. Impulse Control. (Puppy Lesson Three)
OK, wait a doggone minute! How is it that in Zip’s last lesson, I was being all poetic about how the behaviors didn’t matter all that much, but all of a sudden we are zeroing in on just one thing? And it sounds so…cold! How did we get there? Does this mean that Marge has given up on bonding and positive reinforcement and creating fun for her puppy (and rainbows and fairies while we’re at it)?
Of course not! What Marge has done is make learning impulse control a win/win situation. With good teaching of impulse control (including what people call “Leave It,” “Zen,” or “It’s Yer Choice,”) dogs learn that when they control themselves around stuff they want, they can get even better stuff! As Sue Ailsby says:
It’s not my job to control the animal. It’s the animal’s job to control herself. It’s my job to put the animal in a situation where she can learn what I want her to know as quickly and easily as possible.
Sue calls it Zen, since the way to get the thing is to leave the thing alone. It’s just something else to learn, and Zip has already had many lessons in “learning is fun!”.
That Puppy Sure Sits a Lot!
For a puppy that didn’t have any formal training sessions on “sit” Zip sure sits a lot. How did that happen? While Marge may not have done any training sessions on “sit,” she was still teaching Zip to sit by reinforcing that behavior when he offered it. Since, as Marge would say, Rewarded Behavior Continues, Zip started sitting more. When barking doesn’t work to get out of a pen, he’ll try sitting and will get rewarded (you can see this in the movie). If dashing towards the door doesn’t work, he’ll try sitting. That’s how highly reinforced behaviors can start to fill in the blanks. I love seeing puppies put two and two together and try it out, like Zip does.
Having default, highly reinforced behaviors are one of the lovely things about positive reinforcement training. At first, when teaching impulse control, any behavior but lunging toward the desired object or goal is usually reinforced. But soon, the trainer can select out of these other behaviors that she has already been reinforcing what she’d like to have. You can see that Marge is building in eye contact and a general orientation to her in all these situations, as well as sitting.
By the way, one of the reasons Marge hasn’t done any formal “sit” training is because she wants to teach Zip a “tuck” sit and just hasn’t gotten around to it. Zip turns 10 weeks old today. She has plenty of time.
What Do They Practice?
So, what did Marge show us in Lesson 3? Zip is working on impulse control in the following ways:
- Waiting for permission to grab the tug toy. Getting the permission by looking at Marge.
- Staying away from food in Marge’s hand (at puppy level). Getting the food by looking at Marge.
- Being quiet in his pen when Marge approaches.
- Sitting quietly to get his leash put on (see, she is teaching sit, but she still has yet to say the word!)
- Waiting to go out the door. Getting permission by looking at Marge.
- Reorienting to Marge after they go out the door together.
Not only is he learning to control his impulses, he is learning to look to Marge when he wants something. A huge part of impulse control is focus on the handler. And Marge has been building that since Day 1.
Link to the movie for email subscribers.
Using Positive Reinforcement to Teach the Dog Not to Do Something
So many of us came to dog training because our dogs had behavior problems. We wanted them to Stop. Doing. That. And that is also one of the main questions that people ask about positive reinforcement based training: how to you teach a dog not to do something? Today’s whole movie, plus the two before it, do exactly that, but you have to know what to watch for. When you increase some behaviors, some others decrease without a whole lot of work. Some of the things that Zip is learning not to do are:
- Lunge for the toy
- Run off with the toy (since Marge has made herself the entertainment center–and also because the toy has a handle on it!)
- Help himself to food without permission
- Jump around when Marge puts his leash on
- Run out the door without permission
- Go nuts once he gets outside
- And countless other behaviors that humans do not prefer!
All without a harsh word, a stern look, being forced into a position or held in place, or any kind of physical punishment.
How do you teach your dog about impulse control?
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