BH375: Freedom from FOMO: Overcoming Canine Frustration

BH375 3.5 Introduce 2nd Dog to Station 

Now that your dog has solid stations, even with some distractions, it’s time to bring in a second dog.  You want to start this process slowly and set your dog up for success.  Lots of dogs have big feelings about watching housemates get attention, and those feelings may come out here.  All the foundations you’ve done to this point will help your dog manage those feelings, but keep an eye on their body language and listen to what they are telling you! 

I start by stationing both dogs and feeding them a few rewards for staying. 

If everything is going well, you can release one of the dogs with their name.  Reward the dog that came off the station then immediately go and reward the stationed dog.  Notice that I am using the reinforcement cue “ground” for the stationed dog.  

I’ve not had any issues with my dogs getting confused about who the reinforcement cue is for.  I try to look at (or at least towards) the dog I intend to reward, and the dogs also know which cues they will hear when they are on their station versus when they are out working with me.  If my dogs are stationed and I say “ground,” they know I’m coming to the station to place the reward between their paws. Even if I switch reinforcement cues to “good,” the dogs understand that they should stay in place and I will come to them with the reward. 

If you watch Excel’s body language, you’ll see him standing and getting more restless as the session continues.  I was paying close attention to this, carefully watching for him to tell me it was too difficult.  He did well staying on the station, so I continued the session but still kept it short overall to ensure success. 

If you notice some signs that your dog is struggling, keep in mind that the longer the session, the more that emotion will build up and be more likely to result in a mistake.  Keep your session short.  Keeping your rate of reinforcement high will also help your success rate as it adds more value to the dog staying on the station. 

Both Strive and Excel have extensive stationing experience.  Let’s explore how your training might change with a less experienced dog.  This is Rise, who at the time of this video, was just shy of four months old.  Although Rise had been introduced to a station, he only had about 8 station training sessions prior to this video.  This was his first time bringing Excel into the mix. 

Right after the first reward, Rise gets up and looks like he’s about to come off.  He pauses, which gives me an excellent opportunity to reward his choice to stay on the station.  He still didn’t look very steady so I chose to reward again. 

When I said his name, Rise hesitated slightly but came to me.  I reinforced him for coming then I immediately rewarded Excel on his station.  Notice how the smart puppy ran to his station all by himself!  I wanted to reward that good choice! 

Rise chose to lie down as I moved away, which was an excellent decision on his part and good information for me that he was relaxing.  I went and rewarded that choice.  I want to encourage the down at this point, so if I notice the dog offering it, I definitely reward. 

Notice how much I’m reinforcing the dogs on the station, versus how much I’m calling them off.  Especially at this stage that Rise is at, I will want the staying on the station to be very valuable. 

The second time I released Rise with his name, Excel came partially off as well.  It’s hard for Excel to miss out on training!  I rewarded Rise and simply re-cued Excel to get on the station. 

On the next release, Excel stayed (yay!) so I rewarded him very quickly for making that choice! 

After that, I switched dogs.  Notice now I stay very close to Rise’s station so I could quickly reward him.  I’m doing my best to set Rise up for success!  He got up when Excel came off the station but did not leave his station.  I kept things very simple by just feeding Excel, then feeding Rise.  This allows Rise to see that the other dog might be getting treats but he will be rewarded as well. 

Overall, this was a super successful session for Rise’s first time with the distraction of Excel!  I was able to ensure success by carefully observing both dogs to make sure they were comfortable and rewarding good choices. 

Homework 

It’s time to introduce a second dog!  Start simply by releasing with the dog’s name and feeding treats to the distraction dog.  Don’t do any complicated behaviors or anything too exciting!  Simple things like staying closer to the stations will allow your dog to have success. 

Your working dog is the one who should be stationed while your second dog is the one being released.  If you choose to release your working dog a time or two to practice releasing on their name, that is fine! 

If you don’t have a second dog that you can work with, take your station somewhere that your dog can observe other dogs from a distance.  Keep your rate of reinforcement high for staying on the station, and practice releasing the dog from the station a few times during the session.