Listening Skills

One of the issues I've had with Gimme is that she has poor listening skills.  She tends to make assumptions about what I am asking for, without actually listening to the cue I used.  She loves offering stuff and so would rather run through her extensive repertoire of skills until I pay for one.  Naturally this isn't particularly useful.

And yes, I am certain that she actually knows the cues I'm talking about.  She is learning 53 cues with more to follow, and just about half of them are strong enough that they should be on cue.  We've worked the drill to put them on cue and she has demonstrated before that she understands how cue attachment and cues work. 

From what I'm seeing, I think she just prefers to do things her way.  There's a reason I bought her a little train conductor's hat and its not because she ever intends to let me wear it...

So tonight I decided to try something new.  Leslie McDevitt had given me the idea to use the Gimme A Break game as a reset for Gimme's frustration bark-a-thons and that has continued to be successful.  There are times she will quit barking, and default sit in front of me "talking" to me in the funniest way (sounds like a cross between a pigeon cooing and someone moaning).  I use judgment about her attitude when she talks - is it just talking (I "get" being verbal, being a yakety-yak type myself) or is it frustration?  If its frustration leaking out, then we wait for actual silence, otherwise I ignore it.

Anyway, the thing I did different tonight was to cue a behavior and if she gave me anything other than the behavior I cued, then I go to sit down and wait for a reset (Gimme comes and offers me a default sit to ask to work again).  My theory being that if she isn't listening, then she must need a reset.  It took a bit for it to sink in, but then she was really trying. 

There were a few times I'd give her a cue and she would start to do something else, then catch herself and give me the right behavior.  I rewarded that copiously... since she was definitely trying to do what I wanted and clearly showing that she understood.

By the time I ended the session she was doing very well.  I was even able to alternate between "finish" and "behind".  Both behaviors start in front position and are very similar - only differing in direction.  For finish she passes on my right, ending sitting in heel position; behind, passes on my left, ending sitting in side position (my right side).  In the past, no matter which I said she would just repeat what she'd done last.  So being able to alternate and/or mix it up between two such similar behaviors is a huge step forward in understanding. 

If we can get Gimme's listening skills to match her thinking skills, there will be no stopping this kid.  Naturally I'm thrilled with this step in her understanding.  She doesn't know it yet, but ceding a tiny bit of control to me will make training a whole lot more fun.