HUMPHREY

A DEAF DALMATIAN

TRAINING

• Introduction
• Come
• Sit
• No, Good and Very Good
• Down, Stand and Stay
• Heel
• Watch
• Calm
• Toilet
• Toy, Play, Search and Finished
• Bye
• Leave It
• This Way
• Paw
• Other Tips

Introduction

When we first got Humphrey we found training him very difficult, perhaps because in the early days he was very hand shy. We decided from the start that we would always use spoken command as well as hand signs. Using spoken commands ensures we display the correct body language and facial expressions which it is suggested all dogs are masters at reading.

Having read Karen Pryor's excellent book 'Don't Shoot the Dog' we decided to try to use a clicker to mark a behaviour we wanted. We experimented with different torches and finally settled on a little torch that has a soft rubber nipple that is pressed to make it flash, this allows us to mark a correct behaviour very quickly. The torch has a bright blue light that is visible in daylight, though not in very bright sunlight.

We started training Humphrey to respond to the torch by flashing the torch and giving him a treat, we repeated this exercise in short bursts over a week until he started to look at us as if to say 'where is the treat?' when he saw the torch. Indeed, we now find that whenever Humphrey sees the torch his tail starts to wag as he anticipates a training session.

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Come

From day one every time Humphrey came towards us we extended our arms in our come sign. To further re-enforce the sign we took him out in the garden and had him running between two people standing about 4 meters apart facing each other, with extended arms and waving his favourite treats. Each time he approached he was given a big smile a flash of the torch and a treat, he was soon running back and forth to collect the treats. Over a week or so the distance was slowly extended until he was running between us from one end of the garden to the other.

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Sit

We next taught him our sit sign (the Obedience sign for sit). We started by holding a treat just above his nose and drawing it up and back past his ears so that he had to sit to continue to see it. We used the torch to mark a successful sit and then gave him his treat. Once he was sitting reliably we phased out the torch and the treats, we now only give him a treat at random intervals.

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No, Good and Very Good

From the start when Humphrey was doing something wrong, like trying to empty the dustbin, we would shout NO, give him a very angry look and wag our finger in our no sign, then we distracted him away from whatever he was doing. Every time he does something right we give him our thumbs up good sign usually accompanied by a treat. If he is being very good he gets the double hands up very good sign and a 'jackpot' of treats. Although we use the clicker to mark a correct behaviour we felt we needed a sign for when the torch would not be visible or quickly available.

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Down, Stand and Stay

Because Humphrey had started Obedience training classes we taught him the (Obedience) down and stand signs next, using his favourite treats as lures to encourage him into the required positions and the torch to mark the (correct) behaviour we required. Once he was going down reliably we taught him to stay by holding up our hand in our stay sign and then moving away for a second and going back and rewarding him, gradually extending the time away, next we taught him to stay from the sit and stand position.

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Heel

We have taught Humphrey to walk on our left as is required in Obedience. We started by pointing to our left knee (our heel command) and walking off on our left foot holding a treat by our left knee. If Humphrey followed and kept to heel he would be given a flash of the torch and a treat, slowly the time between treats was extended.

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Watch

In the early days every time Humphrey made eye contact we gave him a big smile and touched our cheek giving our watch sign, and then gave him a treat (if we had the torch to hand we would also mark the eye contact with a flash). It was not long before he got the idea. We still randomly reward eye contact.

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Calm

We taught him a 'be calm' (hand forming the letter C) sign by gently massaging his chest and when he relaxed and his eyes started to close slightly we gave him the sign, whilst continuing to stroke his chest. Now just giving him the sign makes him visibly relax.

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Toilet

Humphrey was already house trained when he came to us, but every time he cocked his leg whilst out on a walk we gave him our toilet sign (hand forming the letter P). Over time he has learnt what the sign means.

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Toy, Play, Search and Finished

Every time Humphrey goes to get a toy we try to give him our 'get your toy' sign (rotating fingers round each other). One of Humphrey's favourite games is to find hidden toys. He appears to have an exceptional sense of smell. We can now hide his toys in very difficult places and he finds them every time. Each time he starts to hunt we briefly cover his nose in our search sign. Before the game (or any other play session starts) we give him our play sign (wagging fingers), and when a game is over we hold up our hands in our finished sign.

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Bye

When we first had Humphrey he got very anxious every time we left him so we often tried to sneak out when he was sleep, only to return to a very stressed dog. We then started giving him our bye sign (waving fingers of one hand up and down) before we left and he gradually improved, but was still very stressed when we returned if we had not given him the sign because he was asleep. We now make a point of waking him to tell him we are going; he gives us a resigned look but now tolerates being left.

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Leave It

We taught Humphrey our leave it sign (wagging our hand up and down) be giving him a toy to hold, then offering him a treat and making the sign when he dropped the toy to get the treat.

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This Way

Humphrey recently started Agility training, at the moment he just about knows our this way sign (pointing in the direction he has to go), once he knows this sign well we will try and teach him left and right signs, but as yet have not decided what they will be!

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Paw

Humphrey already knew how to give a paw when he came to us; the trouble was he pawed at us all the time. We now ignore any attempts at giving a paw if it has not been requested with our paw sign (curled fingers) and reward him when he gives us a paw on command.

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Other Tips

Whenever we need Humphrey's attention and he is not looking at us we stamp on the floor, this often has the desired effect, but if not we touch him on his shoulder and he now gives us his instant attention, leaping to his feet if he has been lying down.

To wake him when he is asleep we find stamping the floor is usually effective, but if not a gentle touch on his head is all it needs. From the start we made a point of coming up behind Humphrey and touching him and then rewarding him - we are lucky that he has never shown any aggressive startle response.

The only time we let Humphrey off the lead when we are out is if we are on a secluded beach with the tide out and few people about. He usually does not go far and checks up on us regularly, but on one occasion he ran off down the beach after a flock of birds, then stopped as if realising he had gone too far. We frantically gave him our come sign, but although he appeared to be looking at us he made no effort to return, but just stood apparently rooted to the spot. We ran towards him and as we approached he suddenly ran back to us. It was only when we turned to walk back did we realise that the sun was behind us and very low in the sky so that Humphrey must have been blinded by the sun and could not see us. We now make sure the sun will not blind him whenever we let him off lead on the beach!

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