I think I made a mistake in "training" today!!

KarenCurtis

KarenCurtis

Forums Sage
Hi all. I have posted before that Sandstorm is not used to kids. What I have tried to do in the past is for him to get used to kids AT A DISTANCE. This has worked pretty well, and we used treats with this method, but since SS has not had a chance to see many kids over the winter, we have both forgotten this training. :hide
This a.m., we were coming out of the woods onto the beach; I heard a small child, he was with an adult. I had to cross a small stream while balancing on a log :lol: . I instructed the man to hold onto his child, as SS is not used to kids, and I didn't want him running up to them, but I had to let go of the leash to get myself across the stream.
Well, Sandstorm did run up to them, not real close, and barked and backed away. The child and man thought it was great, no problem. But then I stupidly gave SS a treat, which he sat for.
So now what is the message?
Sandstorm; if I bark at the kids I get a treat!! Yummy!
:gaah
 
It happens! Sometimes we get our timing wrong but it does not mean the end of the training.

I would just go back to some basics with him to remind him what he needs to do to ear a treat.

I find I have to do that sometimes with my mal-behaved boys. I'm no role-model for sure!
 
Karen, it sounds to me like you rewarded the sit since he sat prior to receiving the treat. Even if you did accidentally reward the bark at the child it was only one time and we've all made mistakes in training and rewarded something we really didn't want to reenforce.

Since it only happened once I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you were consistently off on your timing then you'd have more cause for concern.
 
Thanks for the support! Now that Sandstorm has reported me to the SUBU, I wonder if he will cooperate with ANY training!! Lol!
We will keep trying for consistency
 
It's really tough to get that cookie in the schnauze before the dog barks, lol ESPECIALLY a sheltie, lollll
Don't worry overly, you did fine
I would look at it as the process of changing his association of kids from being scared/freaked out by them to oh man!!! wait the treats are gonna come flying, everytime I see a kid. It will change his association and create an easier atmosphere to then start asking for behaviours. After you got that you just need to remember to reward the quiet moments, which is REAL tough!
 
Toffee's Mom said:
It's really tough to get that cookie in the schnauze before the dog barks, lol ESPECIALLY a sheltie, lollll
Don't worry overly, you did fine
I would look at it as the process of changing his association of kids from being scared/freaked out by them to oh man!!! wait the treats are gonna come flying, everytime I see a kid. It will change his association and create an easier atmosphere to then start asking for behaviours. After you got that you just need to remember to reward the quiet moments, which is REAL tough!
Click to expand...

It is- what quiet moments? :lol:
your points are good ones, it is much better than him jumping around, afraid, growling-he's not doing that.
 
KarenCurtis said:
It is- what quiet moments? :lol:
your points are good ones, it is much better than him jumping around, afraid, growling-he's not doing that.
Click to expand...

the quiet moment when you see the kid before he does, hahahaha
and you can say GOOD DOG< here is a cookie, and another and another.. like a human pez dispenser past the kid.. then say good dog and voila that is the quiet moment, lol
 
Toffee's Mom said:
the quiet moment when you see the kid before he does, hahahaha
and you can say GOOD DOG< here is a cookie, and another and another.. like a human pez dispenser past the kid.. then say good dog and voila that is the quiet moment, lol
Click to expand...

We did have a quiet moment when I saw the kid before he did-when we were almost out of the woods and I had to cross that stream- then I had no choice but to let him go. Either that or getting my shoes wet, but I had the feeling that the guy and the little boy were okay, he was holding the mans hand, and they were a distance away. If it had been kids charging, I would have gotten wet because I would not have let him go.
 
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