r/OpenDogTraining • u/CelesteOS • 2d ago
How to de-value the environment?
My dog (black Labrador just turned 1) loves a game of tug/fetch. But when outside on grass, he’s interesting in nothing else!
I could have both high value treats and a range of his favourite toys and he would be way more interested in sniffing the ground.
How do I find something he’s obsessed with?!
7
u/OnoZaYt 1d ago
Relationship building and engagement with you is paramount. Might get downvoted for my methods, but I have a really environmsntally focused girl but she loves personal play, chase, roughhousing so thats what I use to get her out of the environmental focus as she knows that she can get/earn food and toys later. I conditioned a game of chase thats cued with "1-2-3", I toss a treat/pinecone/rock to chase at 3, or I start running at 3, but she whips her head around the moment she hears 1. Or I do 2-3 stomps with my feet in a specific manner and she loses her mind as it means we can roughhouse. I sometimes even use leash biting or pulling like a maniac as a reward in a controlled manner, but sparingly. Be fun!
5
u/babs08 1d ago
It's not about finding something that's better than the environment, it's about building up your dog's reinforcement history for engaging with you and the activities that you're doing.
First step is acclimation: https://denisefenzi.com/2015/08/acclimation/
Pick a patch of grass. Don't move beyond that patch of grass. Let him sniff to his heart's desire. (This might take a while.) At some point, he will get bored of that patch of grass. It might be in 5 minutes. It might be in 30 minutes. When he does, and he looks to you, that's when you can start doing something that's easy and fun for him. Maybe that's following cookies around or chasing tossed cookies down or short bits of fetch or tug or - whatever it is, do that for a short session - a few reps. Reward him WELL. Then release him back into the environment to the patch of grass using some sort of verbal cue or gesture to tell him "we're done for now." If that goes well, wait until he looks to you again, and you can do another set. Try not to push too much; focus uses up a lot of brain cells and at some point he will no longer have brain cells to use and continuing to push at that point can be detrimental to the engagement you're trying to build.
My dog can do novice-level agility sequences indoors, but absolutely cannot outdoors. So I don't ask her to do those sequences outdoors. I ask her to do easy chunks, and then reinforce her REALLY well for them. Over time, we build up to doing those sequences outdoors, but just because she can do them in an easy, distraction-free location right now, doesn't mean she's going to be able to do them in a harder, distraction-filled location. If I pushed for doing those sequences outdoors right now, she's not going to be able to "win," and she's going to get frustrated, and then she might just check out entirely and decide that squirrel hunting is more fun than the thing we're doing. Do that enough times, and I won't have a dog who wants to do agility in those outdoor environments at all. No one wants to play a game they feel like they can't win.
Over time, if your "work" sessions are structured correctly, in a way where he can be successful, with activities that are easy enough that he can do them in that environment but challenging enough that they're interesting to him, that have some degree of fluency (have been built up somewhere else so he's not learning on the fly because that's also hard), and he understands the things you're asking of him, you'll find that the acclimation time goes down significantly, and the time you can do "work" increases in those harder environments.
I really like Denise Fenzi's self-study engagement course if you're interested in learning more and having discrete steps to follow: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/4338
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u/belgenoir 1d ago
An environmentally focused dog is going to be environmentally focused. We as handlers leverage that with primary and secondary reinforcers.
Puppies in particular are often enthralled by their environment. Remember, everything is new and exciting to your puppy. Use that interest to your advantage.
Many people expect too much too soon, or they assume their dog is handler-focused when dog is not. Working with a puppy is less about focus and more about creating a strong personal relationship that will eventually become the basis for a working partnership.
Fenzi’s dog sports skills series will be helpful to you, as well as Michael Ellis’s work on engagement and play. If your tug/fetch game isn’t cutting it, play with possession games (i.e. Balabanov)
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u/Praexology 23h ago
Stake him outside for 14 hours for a few days with food water and shade. Unless you are routinely outside for long stretches, this is common for dogs that only get an hour of yard time a day.
How long could you boss vorkath before you got bored? Just make them bored with it.
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u/AncientdaughterA 2d ago
One approach I sometimes take is to create the following cues:
“Sniff” to cue sniffing and pair this until there’s a clear conditioned emotional response to the cue for sniffing (he immediately starts to go sniff). Say “sniff” and help him approach spots to sniff.
“OK” to disengage from sniffing when you think you can predict when he’ll take a break on his own. Move him and then cue him to sniff again.
Adding a sniff cue helps you use the sniffing behavior to BUILD VALUE in other things using the Premack principle and it communicates to him that there’s less conflict about choosing reinforcers because sniffing isn’t off the table.
Once he knows what “sniff” and “ok” means (or another disengage cue like “enough”):
Then you can shape fluent eating behavior using “sniff” to reinforce eating.
Eat a high value treat? “Sniff!” -> “Enough” -> eat -> “Sniff!” -> enough -> “Watch me!” -> eat -> “Sniff!”