When Your Puppy Has Something In His Mouth That Shouldn't Be There...

Through my studies, I’ve had the fortune to study from some well respected trainers and behaviorists who use positive reinforcement strategies to affect behavior modification in animals. Barbara Heidenreich is one of them. She is an animal trainer who consults with zoos and other animal related facilities around the world. She is also past president of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators (IAATE).



(When Barbara was in town for the IAATE
conference, I brought her in to Dr. Gary
Clemons 55KRC program to answer questions
from listeners.)
In her Fall 2008 Good Bird Magazine, Barbara shared with readers how she solved an age old dilemma for people with animals – what do you do when your dog or bird or cat has something in his mouth that he shouldn’t have?

Here is an excerpt from her article:
Puppies are notorious for chewing up all sorts of contraband. Despite my best efforts to keep all items I did not want chewed up from the floor, I knew there would be moments when my favorite shoes might end up in my puppy’s mouth. I decided to teach a strong ‘drop’ behavior.

To do this, I armed myself with Waylon’s absolute favorite treats hidden in my fist. I offered Waylon an acceptable chew toy such as a stuffed animal. As he was chewing, I place my closed fist full of treats next to the toy, when he would stop chewing and smell my closed fist, I bridged (said the word ‘good’) and opened my fist so that he could get a treat. This was repeated several times, until the presentation of my fist would quickly cause him to drop what was in his mouth. I then added a verbal cue as well. I chose the oh, so clever, word ‘drop’.

My next step was to raise the bar a bit. I offered Waylon something he enjoys more than a stuffed toy, his squeaky ball. This was followed by even more enticing items, including a bone. Every time Waylon dropped the item he received a treat, or in some cases I simply offered back the item he had dropped, or another fun chewable item. When the day came when he found a shoe, I walked up to Waylon as I would under any circumstances. This meant no chasing, yelling or shrieks that my shoe was in his mouth. I calmly gave him the drop cue and the shoe left his mouth unscathed and hit the floor. I also did not have a treat in my hand, which was not a problem. My goal had always been that the treat would be phased out from being hidden in the hand. This time I gave him lots of praise and attention, which worked fine as a reinforcer. Now I regularly reinforce with all sorts of things…a treat, giving back the item he dropped, attention, another acceptable chew toy, etc. I so enjoy that he will drop even the smallest item when cued. And he does it eagerly knowing something else he enjoys is sure to follow.

For more about Barbara, please visit her web site at: www.goodbirdinc.com