Expert: Alan J Turner, SATS LL1 - 9/13/2006

Question
Hi, we have a Rottie female that will be 2 years old in November.  We are wondering if you can provide any tips on how we can train her in 2 issues that we are having:

(1)  We have an elderly cat that she wants to "play" with, but the cat wants to be left alone.  If the cat comes across her, she will sit there (which we have taught her since day 1), but as soon as the cat gets onto anything (couch, bed, down the stairs) the dog goes after her (never touching her ~ just playing chase?)  We have tried for a long time to tell her to "leave it" and praise/give treats when she does.  Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't ~ even when it does work, once she gets the praise/treat ~ she will still go after the cat.  What else can we try to give the cat some peace?

(2)  More importantly, we have an 8 month old son.  The dog, Meeka, is GREAT with him, very gentle.  BUT, she fails to pay attention to when he is around.  For example, when our son is on the floor, and if we say anything in an exciting voice, or play with toys that have music, lights ~ she wants to come running ~ and doesn't pay attention to where the baby is.  She also does this when something gets her attention ~ someone coming in, a cat outside, etc.  She also does not realize her size (she'll run into us, etc.).  So, we are wondering how we can train her to pay attention to where the baby is?  We have trained her (for the most part) not to lick the baby anywhere outside of his feet.  Which she does well with, but recently when he approaches her, and touches her ~ she starts to lick him, we tell her to stop, and most of the time she will do so on the first command.

We are very eager to hear any tips you can offer.  

Answer
Dear Beth,
Thank you for the note. It sounds as if Meeka is a normal gentle dog. That's always good!  

Teaching a dog to "not want to play" with an active cat can be a challenge! In addition to teaching the dog, it may be necessary to teach the cat. More on that later.... Addressing the awareness of body issue via this board is also a challenge. I'll do my best!

First I'd like to review some basics about voluntary behavior.

There are three distinct pieces to any voluntary behavior, the ABCs. The B represents the behavior. The A precedes the behavior and the C immediately follows the behavior.
Let’s investigate the behavior of a dog that chases a moving cat.

A is for Antecedent, which is anything and everything occurring in the external and the internal (animal's internal state and innate motivations) environment before a specific behavior. “Dog sees cat move (dog has opportunity to chase; desire to chase and dog has energy to chase.)”

B is for Behavior, which is a response to a stimulus. “Dog chases moving cat”

C is for Consequence, which is the immediate result of the behavior. “Dog enjoys chasing cat”

POWER POINT
   In order to change a voluntary behavior, we should modify either the events / environment before the behavior (Antecedent) or we should modify the events or environment immediately after the behavior (Consequence) or both.  

There are two goals to consider -
1) Short term environmental management to prevent or interrupt the behavior
2) Long term behavior change to extinguish the animal's motivations to perform the unwanted behaviors by instilling motivations to perform alternate, incompatible behaviors

Short term management:

Modify the A: Remove the opportunity to chase - attach a leash or long line on Meeks that prohibits the chase. Provide Meeks with more physical and mental stimulation to reduce her energy and her motivation to self-play! Play games of fetch, long walks, obedience training sessions et cetera.

Interrupting by saying no or leave-it or any other number of tactics is really only one-third of your task. The interrupt should not be rewarded, for the animal learns to "act out" which causes you to interrupt and then he or she gets a reward. Since no active behaviors occur between the naughtiness and the reward, the animal teams to chain the sequence of events in order to get a treat.  (In your case, Meeks gets two rewards -the treat and the chase!)

There are 3 steps for success, you already have step 1.  Follow the interrupt with step 2, several redirects, and then 3) praise or reward for compliance with the final redirect.

Anytime I am attempting to extinguish or diminish an unwanted behavior with the 3 step sequence, interrupt-redirect -praise, I would like at least one of the redirects to become "automatic" so that it eventually replaces the unwanted behavior and no supervision or interrupt is necessary. The original cue to chase (cat moves) becomes the cue to perform the automatic behavior. With that in mind, I always choose to include a redirect that (from my print of view) provides the dog with similar consequences as the unwanted behavior.

In your example, I would include a quick round of fetch (with a special toy that she really likes). During fetch, Meeka can stretch her legs and chase a moving object and interact with another species ;)  In addition, I would include come, touch, down and or sit as redirects. The sequence of the redirects should evolve to be unpredictable (from her point of view).

I suggest beginning this program by saying leave-it, then immediately give her the cue to touch (or target) my two-finger target with her nose. This task requires the she give you her visual and physical attention, for she must come to you in order to bump your target.

It would be best to teach her the behaviors required during the redirects before you insert them in "real-life." If Meeka doesn't play fetch, teach her or substitute with another similar game.

In addition, you could practice goto-place, lay down and stay. Practice with no distractions and then slowly add distractions until she can succeed when the cat moves. Always set up your classroom (when you practice) so that your dog cannot succeed.  In this example you could tie a leash to a large piece of your home (tether her) so she is thwarted if she gets off  "the place ".

Provide the cat with escape perches, like a cat tree. A large portion of feline territory is vertical, so if she doesn't have elevatyed escape safehavens, install some. Teach your cat to go to these places by placing yummie cat treats on them when she is not looking. Let her find the treats and she will form a very high opinion about the spots and she will gravitate towards them.

If your cat is healthy enough to navigate them, you could install a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs to prevent Meeka from chasing her when she ascends.

Enough about this topic - - -onto the more important bull-in-the -china shop syndrome!

I would use a component of  Syn Alia Training Systems called 'Bridge-N Target to teach this awareness. It's much too complex to explain here, but http://www.synalia.com is a great place to start.

The bottom line is that she has no concept of her body parts and how she affects the environment. She has no concept of personal space. Here are some suggestions.
 
Introduce her to a no reward marker, a NRM so you can communicate. Introduce her to clicker training so you can communicate and motivate. Google NRM dog training and Google clicker training for more information.

Teach Meeka awareness of her body parts via body massage and games that involve her touching (or targeting) specific body parts (nose, paws, feet, hips) to other targets like door jams, furniture, your two-finger or hand target, your legs, knees, et cetera. Teach her to shake on command.

Teach her skills like move left and right and backup. Teach
Teach her about boundaries and yielding.  Start with large barriers like baby gates and methodically reduce the size of the boundaries. Hold barriers like 1/4" pieces of plywood cut into small strips to teach her about passing by you while maintaining a specific no-touch zone. Methodically reduce the size of these barriers until they aren't large enough to stop her but she respects what they represent.

I believe many dogs are unaware of their body parts, especially the parts in the fuselage. ;)  Perform exercises like walking her on lead, up/ down a ladder placed horizontally on the ground so that she learns to watch her steps.  Practice weaving around a tree or a series of obstacles.

That's the best I can do with these tools at my disposal-hope it helps - happy training!
AT