Friday, February 5, 2010

Dog Training: Waiting

Here are the pooches waiting patiently for their treats. Since the dogs can get excitable, we've done a lot of training so they know how to be disciplined. When I first got Miss M., she was fresh off a stint on the streets. And she acted like it. She would steal stuff off of counters, and she even did this to her own bed:
Since then, we were quick to get into training classes. One of the best things she learned to do was "wait". It started where I would hold a treat near her, and if she came near me I would close my hand. When she was able to get close enough with the open hand and wait for a bit, I would reinforce the word and she would get the treat. Each day we would push it a little more until I was able to put it on her foot. She takes it very seriously. She sits like a statue, staring, and won't move. I can even leave the room, with her dinner in front of her, and she won't touch it. Once I left and forgot about her and she waited with her dinner in front of her for about 10 minutes until I came back:
Mr. B on the other hand is a bit more disciplined. Like a typical pittie he just wants to please his people. He just learned to wait by watching Miss M. His strategy is to not look at the food and pretend it's not there:
The crazy thing is they are both crazy about food. The mere mention of the word dinner is enough to send Miss M. twirling and Mr. B. bulldozing in excitement. Just check them out in action:

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

From Tealc's hooman:
The first picture is priceless!!!! :)

Anonymous said...

I love this! My pit mix Dexter is VERY food motivated but won't touch his food until he gets the ok. He just looks at me with the most pitiful expression you could imagine. I blogged about it here.

pibble said...

I love it! The first picture is amazing! The video is incredible, and Mr. B's tongue sticking out in the last picture - well, that about sums it up!

Kari in Alaska said...

wait, why did miss M get more treats that mr B?

Two Pitties in the City said...

Miss M has long limbs so she can hold more treats. Mr B's short stubby legs with less surface area.

Rescued Pittie Family said...

Love it! They are so great!

kissa-bull said...

wow vewy well behaved cuties you have there.. they deserve all the liver tweats in the world for being so good
pibble sugars
the houston pittie pack
pee.s
you have an award waiting in our bloggy

Kate said...

Awesome! I've been working on "leave it" with Nemo and I got a similar picture of him with cheese :) Too cute! I love that BOTH of them can stand doing it so close to each other!

laura said...

Your pitties remind me more and more each day how completely untrained my granddog is! I'm almost embarrassed. I love the Miss M twirl and I think it would be even lovelier if she wore her pink tutu.

The Adventures of the LLB Gang said...

I just love seeing this!! What a smart couple of dogs...and dog parents!

dw said...

I love the "pretending it's not there!" My puggie lives for food! The first day I had her home, I didn't even hear chewing -- I swear she just inhaled it! She really does need some additional training. Your pups do remarkably well with "wait" which is real impressive when it comes to food!

Princess said...

I think you need to sign Miss M up for doggy tap dancing classes! I heard a nice little rhythm on that video!! ;o)

SissySees said...

Beautiful, well-behaved dogs! My girls have to sit and "be a lady" while I serve dinner. If a hiney pops up, so does the bowl.

Anonymous said...

Mr B! did you get dizzy?

I wish Daisy was more food oriented, she passed her CGC, but would not touch a treat as part of this training and all the other dogs in the class were working with treats (at first). She like to eat her beds and blankies, and still does. Something we need to work on, but since she does it when i am not home. Well...

Mary said...

I'm definitely going to try the multiple treats with Levi! I'm trying to teach him to hold a treat on his nose. He's mastered putting his head on the ground at the command "head," so I think we're ready for the next step. Ms. M looks so pathetic (-ally cute) in that pictures with her food dish.

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