Find Your Spark! Day 4
Oops I did it again! In the FB group, there's ANOTHER freebie =) It also expires Dec 16th, so go grab it now! If you aren't already a member, be sure to join the FB Group to get the freebie.
Today's game is one I consider a critical skill in a multidog home and is especially valuable for dogs who:
- can be overexcited,
- have issues with other dogs,
- struggle when people come to the house,
- live with other pets,
- participate in sports, or
- have resource guarding issues.
It's also super handy for guardians who like to take cute pics of their dogs ;)
Stationing!
Stationing is a great game to help our dogs wen they are excited and can't necessarily hold a sit or a down, but they still need some self-control to keep their cool.
We will train them to hang out on a 'thing'. This could be a bed, a rock, a log, a picnic table, a tractor.. any raised surface.
Stationing is NOT the same as a
Relaxation Protocol (RP). RP is a low arousal/excitement game. RP's goal is to help our dogs actually relax when exciting things happen.
Check out Veda and Reason practicing impulse control using stationing:
Stationing on the other hand is a high arousal/excitement game. We can't always say "just calm down". How's that work if someone says it to you? Stationing is asking our dog to contain themselves in one space while they wait to do something exciting or fun. The can watch, stand, sit, hold a toy, whatever they want to do as long as they stay put.
A special note here: Many old-school trainers teach stationing using punishment.. stay there or else. That is NOT what we want. We want a happy, optimistic dog on that station =) There is never any need to punish a dog when training. There's always a better way!
You didn't think I'd forget the ponies? Of course they learn stationing too =)
No matter what species you are training, there are three pieces of teaching stationing:
1- get on the thing
2- stay on the thing
3- get off the thing
Benji is awesome at staying on and getting off, but getting on in the first place is hard for him.
I need a higher rate of reinforcement for him to learn. To do that, I'll change to a tarp. It'll be lower to the ground, so no step up, as well as bigger so he will get 4 feet on easily.
Real Life Applications
Structure When addressing Dog Reactivity
This GSD puppy struggled with seeing dogs. In the beginning stages of her training, a station helped give her context.
Anti Cat-Chasing Game
Check out Pepper playing with her cat Chee Chee:
I use stationing A LOT with my own personal dogs. Here are some examples:
Safe space for vulnerable or reactive dogs
When I'm out and about, I might have little Riker with me. He is afraid of big bouncy dogs, most big male dogs of any kind, etc. To keep him safe, both emotionally and physically, if I see a large questionable dog heading our way, I'll ask Riker to jump up on something and then stand in front of him.
I also might have Jubilee with me, who is reactive to dogs who try to sniff her or get in her space. I can ask her to station when I see a 'friendly' dog heading our way to protect her confidence as well as to protect the on-coming dog.
Easy recall cue
Anyone else have a spitz? Hahaha! I have border collies to do amazing things with, and a peskimo to keep me humble. When you ask a spitz to recall, they look at you with a "Why? What's in it for me?" look on their cute little faces. When it is very important, instead of calling Riker, I ask him to station, reward him, then I leash up and we can go about our day. because most of the time, I don't leash him when he stations, he doesn't figure it out ;)
If you have a primitive breed like a spitz or a streetie from Mexico, Iran, etc., stay tuned as one of my future issues will be about them, their intrinsic motivators, and how they don't fit into the neat little boxes we often expect from a dog.
Scale at the vet's office
Have you ever struggled to get a dog weighed at the vet's? What about when there's a surgery and your dog can't have treats? A scale is just a station! My dogs will happily get on and in fact, it can be challenging to convince them to step off =)
Have Fun!
