Training Specific Social Behaviours

[bridgie_cat]

heya!

I did have a thread a while ago I think on encouraging socialising with a clicker... but this one is more on a specific behaviour I was thinking would be nice...

Was wondering what sorta process people would use to train a dog to approach people (strangers) on cue - and also stay to be petted etc...

Am unsure what you would build first... the approach to a stranger - or teach the correct approach - put it on cue - then use strangers... (probs the second) - and then not sure what end behaviour I would actually want - do I want an approach and hand target? Do I want an approach and sit beside? I wonder if you could train them to target a hand with the top of their head..... ..... hmmmmmm

Lana is ok - but takes a bit of warming up - and with the curse of cuteness ( ) I would love for her to be friendlier to strangers stopping to admire her ... but looking past that this would be a seriously excellent trick for therapy dogs

This is certainly on the line of thinking that is "teach an incompatible behaviour" for getting rid of the unwanted behaviour of shying away from over eager hands... if it became an exciting trick and her choice I think she could enjoy it

Bridget

[RealityBites]

I would think you would start by teaching the dog a kind of 'send away', i.e teach it to move towards a specific spot and stay there. Then once that was taught, have people stand or sit next to that spot, but ignoring the dog until it was used to just being next to strangers, then introduce the patting, with the stranger giving the dog a food reward? You can train them to target a hand, but you would have to be sure the dog wasn't wary of strangers because the excercise would probably make them uncomfortable :D