There is no straight answer to this – it depends!
To explain in a couple of scenarios:
Scenario 1: You have been doing some training and finish (or get distracted by something else) – the dog stares at you and then starts woofing (like a short low bark), or leaps up at you, chewing the lead, grabbing your clothes etc. Should you ignore this?
No – this usually leads to escalation by the dog as they become more frustrated (they were anticipating more interaction and rewards)… this can then result in increased efforts to get you to respond, but will ultimately end in the dog stopping when their efforts don’t work. This can look like success – but the way the dog feels doesn’t change – they were frustrated and emotional and have ended up feeling confused and so often appeasement behaviour (which is to stop and often move away/look away). This is misread by humans as success.
What can you do instead?
- When you finish a training session say something like “all done” and then give them a snuffle mat, chew or a food dispensing toy to help them calm and disengage from you.
- Start to mix up the timing of when you are marking/feeding – so you can build up how long they can wait before feeling frustrated (starting to work on frustration tolerance)
- Use your ‘not that… this’ game to teach them that there is an alterative on offer – start to stretch the gap between your ‘not that’ and ‘this’ cues to build frustration tolerance
- Use your ‘stand up… sit down’ game – or a standing version of it (like standing with your arms folded) to indicate when you are not available, but other reinforcers are available in the environment – and set the environment up so other options are available. You could also try a small movement game (like a hand touch) to enable the dog to move and get reinforced if they need to move.
Frustration and ignoring it – tends to worsen without making changes. Reinforce something else to teach the dog alternative behaviour.
Scenario 2: Your puppy is chewing on something they found and you don’t want them to. Should you ignore this?
Yes and no!
Yes – by walking into the kitchen and getting some treats and calling them.
Yes – by not grabbing at the item and trying to remove it…
No – because you are not actually ignoring it, but teaching with it by demonstrating to the puppy what you want them to do instead… Or walk into the kitchen and use an alternative game like ‘not that… this’
