Well, we’ve all done it—went to the pet store, the parking lot, or the
garage sale down the street. We see a beautiful ball of fur that looks up at us
with those soft and doleful eyes, licks our hands, mouth, and nose with a
tongue that comes out of a mouth that smells of that wonderful puppy smell. So,
we take the little bundle of joy home. Then they grow, stink, chew, and, in
general, become a destructive force second to, maybe, a tornado. They leave
little “messages” behind, solid and liquid, to let us know that they had passed
through.
What to do??
Pavlov’s experiments showed us that animals, as well as humans, can and do
respond to rewards. They do so better than they respond to punishment. In his
famous experiments, Pavlov trained a dog to salivate in anticipation of a treat
by ringing a bell. He also noticed that, occasionally, the treat had to be
reintroduced as a direct stimulus for the indirect stimulus (the bell) to
continue to work. I have an 80 pound German Shepherd that loves to play and
jump. She also likes to bolt into the house whenever someone opens the door.
Some problems I have fixed.
The "Oh look! a clean shirt to dirty" syndrome.
I have finally got her past her desire to jump up and put her dirty paws in
the middle of my clean shirt. With a treat, I intercepted her jump by putting
my hand out in front of me, palm facing out and said “Gimmie Five.” When her
paws landed in my hand, I gave her a treat and fussed over her (Good Girl,
petting etc.). Now when she approaches, I repeat the command and she hits my
hands every time. She is losing her desire to dirty my shirt.
The “Oh my Gosh the door is open dash.”
I started blocking the door with my body and said “No” in a stern voice.
When she started to stop, I added “Sit” to the command sequence every time that
I opened the door, around which she generally camps. She started to sit every
time I opened the door. Then I added the “Stay” command and made her stay where
she was. This stage may take some time. Now, when I open the door, she sits and
waits to be invited into the house.