How to Avoid a Sidewalk Buffet
You don’t want Dogalini diving for that rancid fried chicken! Find out why timing and location are both important when it comes to working with your dog.
Jolanta Benal, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA
Timing is everything, right? Unless it’s location that’s everything. In working with your dog, though, often both timing and location are everything. For instance, suppose you’re walking Dogalini and you spot a sidewalk buffet up ahead—a torn garbage bag with loads of slightly rancid fried chicken spilling out. You know Dogalini’s going to dive for it as soon as she gets close enough. But hey, you’ve taught her to leave items alone on cue. So you’re just going to walk past the garbage bag, wait for her to hit the buffet, then tell her to leave it—aren’t you?
No, you’re not! Instead, switch Dogalini to your other side and swing as wide as you can around that garbage bag, because the closer she is, the stronger the inclination to dive for it will be. (Location is everything!) And ask for her attention, or give her “Leave it” cue, even before she seems to notice the bonanza ahead. Why? Because you can take it to the bank that she smells the fried chicken already. It is much easier to keep her focus where it belongs in the first place, than it is to get her focus back once you’ve lost it to worldly temptation. (Timing is everything!)
Timing is also everything if you want to redirect your dog from, say, marking on your neighbor’s mailbox pole. You might have noticed that before he marks, there’s a sequence of sniffs and steps that have an almost ritualistic feel. This is an example of what’s called a “modal action pattern.” MAPs are instinctive and once a MAP gets started it’s very hard to interrupt. Rather than wait for Zippy to start his MAP and then yank him away because you can’t get his attention (unfair! remember, the MAP is hardwired!), preempt him from poking around the mailbox pole in the first place. Send him to a convenient utility pole instead. (Location is everything!)
Norfolk terrier dog in red bucket from Shutterstock
About the Author
Jolanta holds professional certifications in both training and behavior counseling and belongs to the Association of Professional Dog Trainers and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. She also volunteered with Pet Help Partners, a program of the Humane Society of the United States that works to prevent pet relinquishment. Her approach is generally behaviorist (Pavlovian, Skinnerian and post-Skinnerian learning theory) with a big helping of ethology (animal behavior as observed in non-experimental settings).