Skype as a training tool.
Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 6:27 pm
Ranger has decided he doesn't want to be in his crate recently, especially when we go out. The most god-awful shrieking and crying and general mayhem ensued if we leave him alone in the house (well not totally alone, the other 2 dogs are there, too.) This is not an unusual problem, I know. I started the usual routine of slowly building him up with short happy stays to get a cooky, feeding him in the crate, etc. He is fine as long as we are there. He even goes in on his own to go to bed at night. The minute we walk out of the door, the screaming begins. I even had the phone line open to listen and see how long it would go on, hoping he would settle after a minute or two. Nope, an hour later he was still at it (we had gone out to dinner) I gave up and closed the call, needless to say, dinner was not fun and it was rushed a bit to get back home.
I hit on the idea of using Skype. I set up the laptop with the camera pointing to the crate. I set up a second Skype account on my cell phone and dialed, opening up the video call. (I guess you could do this with face time and 2 cell phones, too.) I put him in the crate, gave him a little treat, told him to wait. I went out the door, opened and closed the garage door, and watched. 1 second after finishing his treat he started the screeching and barking, I spoke into the phone and said "Ranger, no. Down and wait!" The surprised look on his face was priceless. He lay down. About thirty seconds later, he got up and started again. I repeated the command. His head tilted, again trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. He sighed loudly and lay down. A minute later he was asleep.
After a bit, I reopened and closed the garage door, and he jumped up and started shrieking. "Ranger, no! Down and wait". Sure enough he stopped and lay down. When I walked back in the room, he was looking at me kind of sheepishly and accepted his "good boy" and reward treat.
I plan to keep this up for a while, leaving it longer and longer. Hopefully it will stick and we will have peace in the crate again.
I hit on the idea of using Skype. I set up the laptop with the camera pointing to the crate. I set up a second Skype account on my cell phone and dialed, opening up the video call. (I guess you could do this with face time and 2 cell phones, too.) I put him in the crate, gave him a little treat, told him to wait. I went out the door, opened and closed the garage door, and watched. 1 second after finishing his treat he started the screeching and barking, I spoke into the phone and said "Ranger, no. Down and wait!" The surprised look on his face was priceless. He lay down. About thirty seconds later, he got up and started again. I repeated the command. His head tilted, again trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. He sighed loudly and lay down. A minute later he was asleep.
After a bit, I reopened and closed the garage door, and he jumped up and started shrieking. "Ranger, no! Down and wait". Sure enough he stopped and lay down. When I walked back in the room, he was looking at me kind of sheepishly and accepted his "good boy" and reward treat.
I plan to keep this up for a while, leaving it longer and longer. Hopefully it will stick and we will have peace in the crate again.
