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Top Tip Thursday
I thought I'd share our
TOP TIP THURSDAY with those outside of social media today for a bit of a change as quite frankly it can be a bit of a gamechanger.
I want to talk about
Reflex to Name (RTN)
Basically, the easy way to think about RTN is that imagine you're in the supermarket and someone calls your name. You turn around to acknowledge them...only to realise it's someone speaking to their friend that has the same name as you...That is your Reflex to Name.
Now think about as if you're always nagging someone...Jo do this, Jo pick up that, Jo you haven't done this...blah blah blah. Well eventually you start to not hear and acknowledge your name...rather like a nagged spouse!
This can be the case with our dogs. Fido don't do that...Oh Fido what have you done...Fido this...Fido that. We chat to our dogs a lot during the day so we can say their name a LOT without really realising it...and if there is nothing worthwhile at the end of their name for them...well they'll start to zone out.
If you find that your dog is not turning their head immediately in your direction when you say their name, it could be that you need to
charge up their RTN.
How do you do this?
It is so flipping simple that there is NO excuse for you not to do this every day!
Grab a few treats (or other thing your dog find rewarding...remember...if your dog likes it...it's a reward).
Then start this simple trick.
Dogs name...give them something they like and repeat!
it could be:
Dogs name and stick a treat in the sharp end
Dogs name and throw a ball
Dogs name and scratch their wiggly spot
Dogs name and play a game
It really doesn't matter so long as you're charging your dogs name up with something they want.
You'll soon start to see that their response to their name starts to quicken up so that when you call them, you actually
HAVE their attention before giving them their next cue...which could be come, sit, down...whatever.
Another little analogy to think about...I'm sure that most of you have come across the "smart speakers" at home. Imagine you say to the smart speaker...
"Puplexa...add apples to the shopping list".
Now if you just say
"Puplexa" and don't say anything else the smart speaker lights up...then with no further cue from you they switch off.
Think about your dogs name in a similar way. Their name is NOT a recall cue or any other cue...their name is their name to get their attention.
If you simply say "Fido" all the time with no real substance it will start to lose it's value.
Remember, like a smart speaker you say their name and then what you'd like.
So, instead of just using your dogs name for all sorts of things and expect them to know that Fido could also mean....come, sit, down, stop doing that, don't jump up! Make sure you add their name with the cue of what you'd also like...otherwise their light will flash on...and then they'll just switch off again without a clear cue.
Start charging up your dogs name again today and start to see the changes in their responses to you.
Don't forget, you still need to train value in
all cues you'd like your dog to understand. If you need help with this then come and join one of our classes as it's much more fun to work on things together and the sooner you start to work on these things the sooner they can resolved!
Join our October classes now as doors close for bookings on Monday 26th September.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Stay waggy,
Team Mojo x