Michael_Wise wrote 05/18/2009 10:40 PM Marking a rare behavior #240269 - 05/18/2009 10:40 PM
Michael_Wise Webboard User Reg: 07-10-2006 Posts: 4454 Loc: Arkansas Offline	What would be the best way to go about trying to train a vocalization that a dog only offers maybe once or twice a week? Turbo does this high pitched banshee scream when he gets excited. Usually when I come home from work, but not every day. All I can really think of is to always have a reward when I come home and "mark" when he does it. Can a behavior that happens that rarely be assigned a command?
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Bob Scott wrote 05/18/2009 10:57 PM Re: Marking a rare behavior [Re: Michael_Wise ] #240271 - 05/18/2009 10:57 PM
Bob Scott Moderator Reg: 06-14-2002 Posts: 7417 Loc: St. Louis Mo Offline	I taught one of my dogs to shake his whole body when someone asked him to "shake hands". He got 1-2 baths a week (show dog) and all I did was hold him after the rinse, command "shake hands" and let him go. This was long before marker training but it didn't take long at all. Mark and reward the sound and put a command to it when the dog starts to understand. (starts offering it more often then normal). old dogs LOVE to learn new tricks
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Natalya Zahn wrote 05/18/2009 11:11 PM Re: Marking a rare behavior [Re: Bob Scott ] #240274 - 05/18/2009 11:11 PM
Natalya Zahn Webboard User Reg: 12-22-2006 Posts: 1824 Loc: Cambridge, MA Offline	That sounds like a good plan! One of our old obedience instructors taught her beagle how to sneeze on cue (when she held her finger under her nose and made like SHE was going to sneeze), and her method of training was just what Bob did. She made sure she ALWAYS had treats within fast reach and just marked every single time her dog naturally sneezed - which as you can imagine, is not something the dog does reliably every day, nor is easily prompted to do out of the blue... so it just takes diligence and patience. Michael, when you DO get this new trick down, you MUST add it to your video collection and share a link! Between the backyard tripe expose, and the teensy dog gnawing on a big ole mammal face or squirrel-cicle, a JRT demon possession should fit right in!! ~Natalya
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Michael_Wise wrote 05/18/2009 11:20 PM Re: Marking a rare behavior [Re: Natalya Zahn ] #240275 - 05/18/2009 11:20 PM
Michael_Wise Webboard User Reg: 07-10-2006 Posts: 4454 Loc: Arkansas Offline	Thank you Bob and Natalya! I think it will take a little while, but I know what situations it *could* happen in. It is pretty random, but I can pin it down to specific excited times. It will probably come down to me not getting lulled to sleep waiting day after day for it, only to have him do it and it be the one day I forgot to have something in my pocket.
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