Dutch Shepherd Forum

We had some great discussions in the Vocalization topic which led to the topic of the correlation between language and the surrounding world.

Outside the scope of more traditional training vocabulary, I'd love to hear some words you use to communicate with your DS what's going on or what's about to happen.

For example, when we used to go for walks and pick up the pace as we'd cross the street, I'd go into energized/anxious pup mode. I'd jump, dart around and mouth hands or leash. Not fun. The word "cross" came to mean we're gonna change speed but not for long, and then go back to normal walking mode. The word "cross" really helped me gain comfort in my surrounding world.

"Cross" is a word I use with Moko, as well. Some other language I use to help him, which may or may not be of use to your foster-mom, includes words like "Greet" which, as he is hypervigilant, highly reactive and fear-aggressive, is attached to anytime he gets close enough to sniff and almost touch or touch a new person/object/animal without flipping out. "Good Greet!" Now it's familiar enough to him, (he knows that it means an introduction sniff in a calm way,) that I have begun using it as a prompt, so when approaching or being approached I can give him a heads-up on what I'd like him to do, "Greet... good-Greet! Good Boy!"

I also use "Eyes" which is a prompt to look at me and make eye-contact. I didn't want to use "look" because if I'm trying to point his attention to somewhere or something else, and say "look" I want him to look where I'm pointing not at me. "Eyes" means "Eyes on ME." This is good if he's hyper-focused on something else, and I can get him to redirect his attention onto me before he overthinks whatever else had his focus and get worked up.

"Hush" Self-explanatory.

"Settle" anytime he lies down (different from the attentive "Down" command...) or otherwise shows clear signs of relaxing, "Good Settle!" which, also, like "Greet" is now being able to be used as a prompt for expected behavior in otherwise anxiety-inducing situations.

I also attached a label to his aggression reaction, when he rages and barks and lunges... I've been working very hard to get him to be less reactive about people walking near the vehicle... initially I did resort to a squirt-bottle to break his reaction and redirect his attention, but haven't used that method in a very long time, preferring to do more positive training when possible. I have done a lot of work with treats in busy parking lots, or having Jon drive the jeep while I sit in back with Moko to give lavish praise when he notes someone walking by (particularly if they have a dog,) but hasn't yet gone into a froth about it. (Initially, this required a basket muzzle, for my own safety, as when he gets really escalated he needs to bite... and it doesn't matter what, just gotta bite... something, anything, whatever is closest, be it the siding in the car, a leash, a toy, the seat, or me. It's not so much handler aggression as an impulsive biting reflex, but when working on situations where I know he is likely to escalate quickly, he wears his "Hannibal Lector-mask" AKA; Baskerville basket muzzle, for his and everyone around him's safety. He can pant, drink, eat treats, but can't get his teeth into anyone's flesh.) When he does flip a switch, I say clearly "NO 'Rage-'em!" followed by a command such as "Hush" or "Settle" And of course, lavish praise if he settles down. I'm thinking at some point in the future, I could then use "Rage-'em" as a command to prompt a show of barking and snarling and scariness, but for show, without fearful emotion behind it, and on MY prompting as an expected task rather than as unscripted reactivity. (I wanted to make sure to use a vocabulary for this idea that I wouldn't use by accident in normal conversation.)

I'm sure there are other words I use that aren't jumping to mind right now, but those are a few of the less-traditional training vocab that I find myself using.

Thankfully, I'm very pleased with lots of good progress. Moko is not quite 14 months, and a big, strong boy. And very loving. Just fearful. He was attacked by his own mother as a pup, and had to be separated from his litter very early. Most of his early handling involved stitches and having his wounds soaked and messed with, and not a lot of socialization. (I bartered a bunch or artwork for him, and part of that trade was taking on a pup that would have likely ended up in rescue or worse. Due to his physical scars and rough early start in life, he was considered "flawed" in terms of pricing scale, I have no need to do showing or conformation classes, and have a soft-spot for hard-luck cases.) He's starting to really blossom, now, though, and is gaining more confidence and with it, more stability. We still have lots of work, but he's bright, and wants to please and have approval, and we'll get there.

You've done a great job helping Moko work through lots of tough spots!
"Good Greet", "Eyes", "Hush", and "NO 'Rage-'em!" are all perfect for me and I got this feeling my training session this weekend will use 'em!!

I used to be reactive with *everything*. Yep, I would rage, bark, and lunge. After quite a bit of work I finally got better at being a good, well behaved passenger in the car (if only I could learn to do the same with other dogs). Have fun reading my Debbie Tails post on the cue "neighbor" and how I finally learned to be a good, well, behaved passenger in the car:

http://adoptabledebbiedog.blogspot.com/ ... -results=7

Dutch Shepherds are so hyper-vigilant, super sensing, and intelligent! Here are a few cues my foster family taught me which were a huge help, especially in my early wild puppy days. They were all based on positive reinforcement training and teaching me "what to do".

1) Smell - An object is placed in front of my nose and I'm told "smell" (this also came to mean don't touch and don't eat it! - great for self control). A HUGE help when I was all over the kitchen and learning to stay OFF the counters. Asking me to "smell" from a seated or standing position, whether it was a spice container, slice of melon, empty can, etc engaged my brain, engaged my nose, and ultimately changed me into a great culinary companion.

2) Lick - I do that oh so well! Once again, a huge help while teaching kitchen manners....lid of a peanut butter jar, foil from a cream cheese package.

3) Put it There - Yes....I would steal stuff. Clicker training taught me to drop objects into a deep cookie tin. My foster family will always fondly remember a moose skin moccasin that was dropped, laying onto the top of the cookie tin after I heard the word "put it there"

4) Noisy - I'd often bark at things my foster family couldn't see. Saying "noisy" acknowledged I was responding to a plane over head, noisy trash truck, etc. and kept me from excessively barking. On walks and in the car "Noisy" was also great for alerting me what distraction was coming up and for de-sensitizing me.

I found " HEY" works for a multitude of situations LOL. Thalie just seems to know what to do and Sadie usually just follows suit. When I am biking, "GO" usually means Move or im going to run you over.

HEY! Thanks to this forum I'm biking too! We're gonna try "HEY" as I can already think of lots of situations.

Ya, the "HEY" just comes out of my mouth too, and it works for me too : )