When you ask your dog for a behavior, there are actually several elements in that very behavior.
❇️ For example, if I consider training recall :
stop if Doggy is moving
pay attention to his human
turn to his human
move towards his human
disregard what is in the environment
only stop once the human has been reached
do not leave immediately.
❇️ For example, if I consider training go to your mat :
stop an action if Doggy is busy
pay attention to his human
understand the difference between the word and the gesture
turn to the mat
move towards the mat
go on the mat
sit or lie down on the mat
stay on the mat
disregard what is in the environment.
When we cue a signal (verbal and/or gestural) to tell Doggy what we expect of him, we are actually asking him for several actions with a single signal. For some dogs, breaking down the actions, and reinforcing each one as it goes so that he is motivated to put them together, can lead him more easily to accomplish all of what is expected in the end.
When you are a child, you learn to break down sentences or mathematical formulas to better understand and solve them.When we are adults, we are less aware of all the actions we perform from a single signal. Still, for example, if you work in an office and your boss asks you to bring him a file : you stop what you were doing, you use the part of your brain that knows where the file is to find it, you use the learning you've done before as to where your boss' office is, you're likely adapting based on what mood he's in to drop it off.
If your dog is having trouble learning a behavior completely, either he needs it to be broken down into more steps, or he's missing some other skills.
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