Comments on: And another thing… Give Your Dog a Bribe! http://www.boulderdog.net/2009/11/15/and-another-thing-give-your-dog-a-bribe/ For the love of dogs and their people Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:05:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Roxanne @ Champion of My Heart http://www.boulderdog.net/2009/11/15/and-another-thing-give-your-dog-a-bribe/#comment-479 Roxanne @ Champion of My Heart Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:09:42 +0000 http://www.boulderdog.net/?p=1085#comment-479 Perhaps the most amusing insult I've suffered as a positive reinforcement dog girl is that Lilly is just "like a politician, taking bribes." It really is all about the timing. I think it was a vision specialist I interviewed for a dog agility article a couple years ago who told me there may be hope for future generations. Apparently, they are MUCH better at the timing thing than we are. It's all because of video games. They are learn to process visual cues faster and respond. Where that theory may fall down is in the patience required in dog training. I'm pretty sure video games don't teach *that*. Sure ... you can cue a behavior (or ask for it), but you need to wait the dog out to see if she'll respond or not. If not, I use a shrug that means "you heard me" or I ask her to "try again" ... rather than repeating the cue. I'm not perfect with all this, but I do try to pay attention to my cues, her cues, the criteria/distractions around us. It's harder than it looks. Oh, and we should also mention it takes a fair bit of acting skill too. Perhaps the most amusing insult I’ve suffered as a positive reinforcement dog girl is that Lilly is just “like a politician, taking bribes.”

It really is all about the timing.

I think it was a vision specialist I interviewed for a dog agility article a couple years ago who told me there may be hope for future generations. Apparently, they are MUCH better at the timing thing than we are. It’s all because of video games. They are learn to process visual cues faster and respond.

Where that theory may fall down is in the patience required in dog training. I’m pretty sure video games don’t teach *that*.

Sure … you can cue a behavior (or ask for it), but you need to wait the dog out to see if she’ll respond or not. If not, I use a shrug that means “you heard me” or I ask her to “try again” … rather than repeating the cue.

I’m not perfect with all this, but I do try to pay attention to my cues, her cues, the criteria/distractions around us. It’s harder than it looks.

Oh, and we should also mention it takes a fair bit of acting skill too.

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