 Barked: Sat Nov 24, '12 11:45am PST |
 | |  | | It really depends on what the integrity of the "no" is. If it is "do as I say or I will punish you!" then you are probably better off not having it, as some people can't deal with "no" unemotionally or without some type of personal offense...which is something you need to really avoid in proper dog training...and many types of dogs do not handle the concept well generally.
Then again, "no" properly introduced as a "must know" command can play on a whole different field. Generally I have found it gets backed up in one of two ways. Certainly the primary one is a reinforcer. Here, the dog equates "no" with "that's not what I want" and will get the dog to do something different. He, in other word, equates no with a reinforcer being on offer and the way he is responding means he won't get it. I know with my Cockers, this one usually does the trick. Balls are Chester world, food is Daniel's, and to them "no" means their favorite thing is on offer, so they will quit.
Now with some other dogs, certainly Giant Schnauzers, you do hit a point where if I hauled a side of beef out or had their special tug....the favorite one they only selectively get a crack at and go bonkers to see....it would not matter. The above approach works, but their drive-i-ness at some point will overwhelm it and they don't care about that silly old side of beef for what they are doing is FAR more interesting. I also find with this breed, which notoriously can crack any training device or approach because they are wicked smart....I mean WICKED smart....it's not like they don't know they will get a treat eventually. Even if it's not until tomorrow, this thing, THIS right here and right now, is of the moment and freaking fantastic!  So they will blow it off, because of that intelligence. So with something like this, where the dog can proritize their respective bounties and opt to ignore, my best approach is to condition them via a longline (which they wear when young) that "no" ignored is followed with them being pulled out of a situation. So if they are ignoring my "no" as they trek too far, let's say, just pick up the long line and walk away from the situation with them. Put them in the car, or lead them back home and ignore them...downer  ....or if it's in the home, put them in the kitchen, which I always try to have half-doored, to they can put their paws on top of it and see all the activity going on (which in their heads is the Cockers having fun and they are not, lol). So for them, "no" = stop that or the party is over.
So to pair "no" with either R+ or p- is the way to go. No reason to have a cow about it, the whole "NO!, you are offending me!" sort of deal. No either is conditioned quite simply to their being a reward *or* whatever it is they are doing they will get removed from if they don't cease and desist. It's whatever works.
It all links to my credo that training is not for the moments you do expect, but those you do NOT. And to me, you need those safety commands, when something really, really bad is about to go down if that dog doesn't halt what he is doing right this second. When they are a little older, my advanced "no" becomes "DROP!" Heavy, heavy reinforcement for speed. So for the rewards approach, that will be some unfathomably fantastic reinforcer, and for the P- dogs, it's high state drive, where the faster they drop, the faster they get to whatever the stimulus is. |  |  | |  |
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