Name Recognition
I acknowledge and reinforce when my dog checks in with me, each time. It’s like reciprocating when your human loved one addresses you.
There are also times when I prompt my dog to connect with me. And that is what the name is for, and only for that. A dog’s name is a fixed attention getter.
Whatever combination of letters you chose to attach to your dog’s being is initially meaningless, but eventually should have relevance for her: “Heard ya! What do you want”. The name is a dog’s signal that she is on the job, and because we teach name recognition, like everything else, in a feel-good way, she also is in a cooperative mood. But before a can respond to his name, he must recognize it. Obviously!
Charge your dog up: name-treat-name-treat-name-treat and so on. At this stage she doesn’t have to look at you. After 20-40 repetitions, test your dog: say her name but withhold the treat for a moment. Does she look at you wondering where it is? Jackpot. She now knows her name. Hand over the loot. Next, toss a treat out and tell your dog to get it. After she gobbled it up, test her again and say her name—and when she pays attention toss a treat in the other direction and tell her to get it. Repeat…., and incrementally expand to other fun stuff: say your dog’s name and then invite her to an activity you enjoy together: tag, fetch, scent work, sniffy walk. Make yourself interesting. If you do it right, the interaction with you becomes the primary reinforcement. Of course food can always be a part, but many dogs are more motivated by action. So, keep that in mind, be creative, and impress your dog when she chooses to connect and stay connected instead of doing a number of other things she finds interesting. That builds solid name attention.
The interaction begins the moment your dog is responding to his name. No time lapse because the end game is not sustained attention with nothing to do, but to hold attention long enough until another cue follows. Thus, also don’t mark and treat and stop there. The name is not a signal to briefly glance in your direction, but a prelude to an interaction of some sort that comes next. If this sounds complicated, just think how you use a name in your interactions with people. We don’t call someone, again and again, interrupting them from an activity, and when they shift their attention our way hand over a piece of chocolate but otherwise keep mum. We engage next, no? Would we not, what are the chances that the someone we called becomes irritated and eventually tuned us out—despite the chocolate. It is much the same with dogs. Quality time spent with you as the consequence for instant name response guarantees that the name is not just a conditioned attention getter, but that your dog stays connected.
Naturally, never say your dog’s name in anger, and never punish her for connecting with you. A dog who associates her name with discomfort is less likely to respond reliably. That doesn’t change even if you sometimes reward. Ambiguity creates avoidance.
If you have a rescue dog who came with a name, check how she feels about it. If it’s anything other than feel-good, if she responds reluctantly, averts her eyes or head, if it’s not an instant and happy attention getter for your dog, change it. Regardless of age, every dog can learn a new name in a flash if you charge her up in the way I just laid out. Another way is to combine the new name with the old name, in that order, then fade out the old name. In my experience, though, that takes longer. Plus, with a dog who has a negative emotional response to her name, I want to get rid of that distressing cue right away.
The Off Switch “All-Done”
Many of the cues I use have an opposite: drop it/take; wait/go now; leave/get it or say hello. Binary information adds clarity.
The opposite to calling my dog by name is “all-done” It stands for “finished for now” and also “I have no time at the moment”. Why is this important? Play another thought game with me: let’s say your partner invites you to do something together. While you are at it, suddenly and without a word they disengage and walk away. Would you be: Confused? Frustrated? Conflicted? Worried? Follow the person to draw out why they left? Wonder what will happen next? Maybe coax them to continue with the pleasurable interaction you enjoyed just moments ago? That scenario is exactly what many dogs are confronted with. The human invites the dog to an activity—via the name or any other understood on-switch like grabbing the ball or treat pouch, and at one point the person decides to end the interaction because they have people-only stuff to do. They walk away without giving their dog that intel. You could argue that removing the toy or treat pouch is exactly that piece of intel, but it is not clear to all dogs. And in any case, it is frustrating. Loss aversion kicks in, and the dog attempts to reignite what felt good. Because she’s a dog and can’t say “hey Joe, what’s up? How come you stopped”, she might bark, paw, nose jab or mouth hard. Any of these often prompts a reaction from the person, and because in that context any attention is reinforcing the dog will paw, bark, mouth… again in an attempt to keep the fun times going.
Note! This is not bad behavior. It’s behavior that worked in the past, nothing more. It’s not dominance and I ask you to reframe ‘demanding attention’. Think of it as soliciting for connection, something that is completely normal for every social animal who lives in a group. Yet, you still don’t want your dog to constantly pester you, and a taught signal—“all-done”—is the solution. Generally my aim is that the words I say overrule what I do with my body, but with “all-done” I also use a gesture: both hands outstretched in (my) about chest height palms-to-dog. This seems to be a universal ‘not available’ signal.
If you are an astute reader who are wondering whether that cue would also not trigger frustration. The same loss aversion you get when you remove the treat pouch or toy. Correct you are. “All-done” can trigger frustration if nothing follows. To mitigate that, I do follow it with something, but something the dog can do on her own: self-entertainment. When I introduce cue, I toss a handful of treats, a food toy, a cardboard box to rip up, into the toy box.
Here are a few things that were part of Bowie's toy box, and some of it were just props, to make fishing for treats a bit more of a prolonged activity.
The message I intent to convey is: “Sorry dude, no more time at the moment but this is where you can go if you are still bored”. Typically between 6-8 weeks going to the toy box becomes a self-directed behavior, and then you don’t have to spike it anymore. Of course going to the toy box isn’t mandatory. Just an option I want to point out to my dog by initially building attraction to it. Your dog might choose to hang out nearby and that’s totally okay. In the photo you see Bowie after he raided his toy box. He’s asking for more, via eye contact, but with a repetition of the “all-done” he typically chilled on his bed.
Obviously outside there isn’t a toy box when you, for example, end a game of fetch, but you could point out a stick your dog might want to carry, or you can let him have the toy just don’t interact, but he can also explore and go sniff. Even crash through the woods if it’s safe for your dog and wildlife.
With a taught “all-done” you are not disconnecting without an explanation, leaving your social companion in a mental vacuum. Instead, you are giving your dog the same courtesy you’d give a person. “All-done” to signal that you are about to disengage will also let your dog know when you don’t have time at the moment. When you do, interact. Especially when my dog asks politely, with offered eye contact and a softly wagging tail, a play bow, I want to reinforce her. Go play with your dog—and then tell her when you are “all done”.
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