# Obedience & the dog that's one step ahead of you



## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

First, anticipation is a good thing - it means the dog understands the job - and it also sounds like he's enjoying the obedience game. Take a deep breath, this is normal and a good thing. I like to see anticipation in training, you'll work through it.

Second, you have an operant dog - he's offering you behaviors - I LOVE that too. Are you using a clicker? You can do a couple of things. If you can catch just the "sit" (if that's what you're asking for) before he does the rest of his behaviors, start to mark (click) the initial butt hits the floor part of the sit. If you aren't using a clicker - or can't catch the first behavior you can delay the reward. So..."sit" (he sits, downs, begs) - you say "try again" and move a couple of steps. "Sit" (sits downs, begs), try again. move a few steps. Then "sit" (he sits) - REALLY GOOD boy (cookie). 

Alternatively you can fix the behavior. "sit" (sit, down, beg, sit, down) and then lure him (air cookie) into a sit. "good boy" (but no cookie) - move a few steps "sit" and then reward the sit (and only the sit).

I don't like to pay a dog for something when I have to fix it (go-outs, weave entries, going down on a sit, sitting from a down, etc). But I will then make it so easy that they get it right and move on from there.

Trainers have a habit of making something progressively easier when things go wrong. The problem with making a task or behavior progressively easier is that we start to condition our dogs to fail. But, if we make it as easy as possible, get a success and then progressively make it harder we've started conditioning them to succeed....

Erica


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Tito started doing that to me on the signals exercise in Utility. I'd get to the other end of the ring, he'd do "down, sit, come, finish" without a single signal from me. YIKES!!
And he was SOOOO pleased with himself! "It makes you happy when I do these, see, I can do them without any help! Aren't I a smart dog??".
The thing is that we assume the "WAIT" command in the middle of the sequence, but the dog doesn't. The actual sequence in Utility, for example, is Stand, wait, down, wait, sit, wait, come, wait, finish. Whew, lots of commands. But the only ones we give the dog are the stand, down, sit, come, finish. Wait is an "assumed command" in that the dog shouldn't do anything else until told to do so. 
So Tito just needed to learn gently that he needs to wait for me. The trainers told me to simply tell him "wait", or give the hand signal for stay, and not walk so far from him. Then return to him, and reward him for WAITING, not for having to get a second command. 
So start using the actual wait command, verbally, until he realizes that it's part of the sequence. Then you can phase it out.
And yes, anticipation is a good thing. It really is!


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

Brady is doing this too. For example, when we put his breakfast or supper down, we always have him do a couple of things first before we release him to eat. Lately I put his bowl down and he goes into this act of doing 4-5 different obedience things before I've even said anything...sit, down, shake, circle, spin...all on his own, then his sits and looks up at me with those sweet eyes as if to say "well, see what I did? I'm a good dog right?" It's really a riot and I love that he offers me these behaviors, but what I usually do is, after he is done with his "performance," I then ask him to do a couple of different things like high five and back up, and also re-do a couple of the things he first did like sit or circle but tell him to wait after each one so he understands he's to do them on my cue.


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## LifeOfRiley (Nov 2, 2007)

hotel4dogs said:


> And he was SOOOO pleased with himself! "It makes you happy when I do these, see, I can do them without any help! Aren't I a smart dog??".
> The thing is that we assume the "WAIT" command in the middle of the sequence, but the dog doesn't. The actual sequence in Utility, for example, is Stand, wait, down, wait, sit, wait, come, wait, finish. Whew, lots of commands. But the only ones we give the dog are the stand, down, sit, come, finish. Wait is an "assumed command" in that the dog shouldn't do anything else until told to do so.
> So Tito just needed to learn gently that he needs to wait for me. The trainers told me to simply tell him "wait", or give the hand signal for stay, and not walk so far from him. Then return to him, and reward him for WAITING, not for having to get a second command.
> So start using the actual wait command, verbally, until he realizes that it's part of the sequence. Then you can phase it out.
> And yes, anticipation is a good thing. It really is!


Oh yeah, Riley looks like he's quite pleased with himself when he does this. All bright-eyed, looking at me like "Look ma, I did everything before you even had to ask!" 
That makes sense. He does know a "wait" command already. He'd taken to pushing past me when I'm walking through a doorway. Not that it bothered me all that much, but our doorways aren't real wide and it never failed that he'd do it when I'm carrying a hot cup of coffee. So if I see that he's in steamroller mode, I have him stop and "wait." 
So if I can get him to follow the wait command in a different context, we should be good.



MurphyTeller said:


> Are you using a clicker? You can do a couple of things. If you can catch just the "sit" (if that's what you're asking for) before he does the rest of his behaviors, start to mark (click) the initial butt hits the floor part of the sit.


I've never used a clicker before, but it might not be a bad idea, here. If I can't get him to understand the wait command in a different situation, without getting frustrated, I'll try it. That's a problem with him - he's easily frustrated. When he was doing the sit, down, say please all at once last night, I was backing up, repeating the sit command after he came towards me. Poor boy just kept doing all three at once, looking at me like "Look dummy, I'm doing what I KNOW you're going to ask me to do... what's the problem?!"


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