FE445: Crazy Good! Self-Control Games for the Wild Child

How and Why to be Slow and Fast, by Julie Daniels

Slow is not automatically Calm, and Fast is not automatically Confident. Many dogs feel frustrated when we make them slow down. Frustration is not calm. And many dogs feel anxious when we let them go fast. Anxiety is not confident. It's not necessarily that the dogs don't want to use their bodies in those ways. It's more about the mental conflict they have attached to the effort. That internal conflict is not a good feeling. It may be a process throughout this course, but our goal is to be able to cue our dog's energy up and down without losing the Calm or the Confident.

The Stir Crazy Game

This week we'll begin with how to introduce some Slow without causing frustration. In subsequent weeks we'll be adding some Fast without causing anxiety.

For this class I've chosen a game which will work whether your dog has a lot of training or just a little bit. Can your Crazy Good dog sit on cue? Then you can play. If your dog knows both Sit and Down on cue, then you can use both. For the most advanced students, does your dog REALLY have Sit and Down under stimulus control? This game will challenge you!

Koolaid is going to demonstrate the game at the highest level, with both Sit and Down under stimulus control. But this game will work just as well with only a basic Sit. Use only the positions which are easy for your dog to perform. Adding the delay of reinforcement will be challenge enough, and that is the real purpose of our game!

The game consists of a Spoon - the major player! - and a container of food. I use leftovers from human dinner, but any sort of soft spoonable food will do. The game does not include a clicker. Use your voice to praise calmly. You may also use your "stay put" Reward Delivery Marker if you have trained that. Don't use that delivery cue unless your dog has already learned it.

Here's how to play: Cue the Sit. Now reach for the container of food. Hold the container in one hand and the spoon in the other hand. Put a bit of food on the spoon and deliver it to your dog, who gets to lick the food from the spoon while maintaining the Sit position. If your Crazy Good dog is just learning about duration and patience, then this is enough challenge for your first session. One rep, put the food container back on the counter or table, stand up, and release your dog and play with them. Why play? Because it's active and it will be just the relief that they need and it will include you in the celebration. Enjoy, and congratulations!

Here is Koolaid to demonstrate the stimulus control version. We love this game! A nice mix of silly, challenging, and high-value reinforcement. Can you count the ways I have added extra challenges to her session in this video? Please, if you are playing with a dog who is just beginning - which is most of you! - then do not take so long as I do before you deliver the food. You can begin with the container of food in your hand if your dog is not familiar with delay of reinforcement. We want to build up the challenge without causing frustration!

Koolaid Stir Crazy Game with Sit and Down Under Stimulus Control

Let's talk in detail about this video and what I am trying to show you. Koolaid is calm and she knows that she is in the correct position when she responds to each cue. She does not second-guess herself. She does not offer other behaviors when the reinforcement is late. She is not stressed or frustrated. In this session I am being clumsy and slow on purpose. But Koolaid has perfect faith that she is on her path to reinforcement and she knows that it will come.

By the way, please do not feel bad for my Sport, who is waiting on the station in this video. Sport is a pro, and to him this is just another game of "Skip Your Turn." He was paid well with several spoonfulls in a row after Koolaid's session was over.

Julie Daniels

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