Training Tidbit of the Week: What Makes a Name
Got a new dog, puppy, or old dog that doesn’t “know” it’s name? Teaching a new one is easy! To animals, a name is just a cue, like sit or down, that means stop what you are doing and turn your head to look at your handler. To get this response, pair the name with food. Start off with your dog close by so that you can easily deliver the food. Have your food ready and say his name just before handing him a small piece of food. The name should precede the food by less than half a second so that the name comes to predict food (classical conditioning). Do this repeatedly, when your dog is ready, make food delivery dependent on the dog turning his head toward you after you say the name cue (operant conditioning). Practice this training exercise a little bit each day, and before long your pup or dog will have learned its name.
Happy Training!
Related Posts
Training Tidbit of the Week: Forget the Bowl!
Training Tidbit of the Week: One of Life’s Biggest Dog Issues Solved!
CAUTION: Every animal is a unique being in a unique situation and what you see on these webpages is generic and general and may not specifically apply to your animal's situation. Any responses to questions through this website similarly cannot be as precise and informed as is possible in a face-to-face assessment. Accordingly, you should not rely on anything set forth herein as the last word, and you hold Helping Pets Behave harmless from any liability whatsoever based on your reliance on the information you receive through this website.
