Labeling & Repetition

Can dogs be taught without the use of treats or compulsion? They most certainly can. I am not down playing the use of reward based training, because it is a fantastic tool, but rather I'm looking outside the box to help our canine companions understand what it is we are trying to convey.

How often do you talk to your dogs? I will venture a guess and say that a lot of you are like me, and babble to your dog throughout the day (sometimes waiting for an intelligent, witty reply that never comes). Talking comes as naturally to us humans as breathing, and though our dogs don't understand a good portion of what we are saying, we still enjoy including them in our conversations.

Now here comes the good part. Although our dogs may not understand our technically one-sided conversations, we can at least help them to get the jest of what we are saying. Really, why not utilize a tool that comes so naturally to us as gabbing. I'm not implying that your dog is going to catch on to why you don't like the Conservative Party, or why you think those shoes make your ankles look fat, but rather they may catch on to single words, or even directive phrases without the use of treats or compulsion.

Labeling and repetition go a long way in training. Think of how we entice babies to say their first word or name their first object. We repeat, repeat, repeat the label of the object, person or thing that it is we are directing them to.

So why can't that work with dogs, why can't we label and repeat without the use of treats for certain tasks or objects? It can, and the key of course, is repetition (and ahhh yes, consistency). You don't need a treat to help your dog learn that "bone" really means his partially destroyed Nyla that's lying in his bed or that it's diner time when you utter the coveted "food" word. All you need is repetition - no clicker, no prong collar, no cookies, just plain old repeating yourself and being consistent about it.

Good timing is also key. Adding a label of the word "bone" to the dogs bone, and then expecting her to understand the word "bone" while the bone sits on the floor, 5 feet away, you are holding a flank steak and a mouse has happened through your kitchen on it's daily stroll is not good timing. Good timing means as you play with your dog, pick up the bone, show it to her, say "get your bone" and hand it over. This doesn't have to be an intense training session. It can be incorporated into play, and used very casually, but the dog will eventually understand that when you say "bone" it means, well, the bone, because the repetition of the word has made a tiny little connection to the object at hand.

You can actually teach more complex tasks with repetition and no obvious reward (though something you may not think is rewarding, most certainly is to your dog ... some dogs like the taste of their own feces). I have taught my little Jack Russell to "get into the arms" so that I can pick her up. And though there is no obvious reward, the repetition simply directed her to carry out the behaviour. I'd pick her up with my hands under her belly, and every time I did I would repeat "get into the arms" until eventually I could hold out both arms, say the magic phrase and she would walk over and stand above my outstretched appendages, awaiting lift-off.

So try it out, it can be a fun and rewarding task for the average dog owner, as it can be done very casually. Although, keep in mind, when casually done, the directive doesn't sink in over night. Take your time, and be patient and you will most certainly see results without begging, bribing or forcing your dog do do anything.

Julie Deans ©2011