Last week’s Creature Feature introduced the concept of teaching a dog to “read” or recognize printed words by their shapes. It’s amazing to watch a dog actually sit or turn when shown those words, plus teaching a dog to read is fun for the owner as well as providing a great mental exercise for the dog.
Today, we’ll cover tips to begin teaching this skill, but bear in mind that this isn’t a complete instructional guide. For detailed instructions, talk to a professional dog trainer or get a copy of Bonnie Bergin’s Teach Your Dog to Read.
Dogs can learn to “read” printed words if they’ve learned to respond consistently to verbal cues that aren’t accompanied by hand signals. Practice this by standing in front of your dog; get his attention and say the word (down, sit, turn). When he responds correctly 90 percent of the time, your dog is readyto move up to reading.
Here are some general instructions as outlined in Bergin’s book.
GET READY
Print cue or flash cards using 8 ½ -by-11-inch white paper; write the words or use a computer. Make sure the words are large and clearly printed in block letters or a san-serif typeface.
Fill your treat bag with something extra-special - bites of chicken or steak. You’re asking a lot of your dog; reward him in kind.
Create a training space with no distractions. If training in the house, you won’t need to leash your dog. If outside where there’s more activity and noise, leash him.
Choose one word. Bergin suggests “down,” because it turns training on its nose - in obedience training, dogs usually learn “sit” before “down.” If you start with sit, your dog may assume that the sit card and all cards represent her first learned word.
FIVE STEPS TO READING
With your treats at the ready, holding your flash card behind your back, have your dog stand in front of you.
Present the card. Bring it in front of your body at your dog’s eye level or slightly above. Don’t make eye contact with your dog as he looks at the card.
Speak the word - Down! - just as you bring the flash card to the front of your body. Hold the flash card in front of your body and keep it still.
When your dog lies down - as you’re speaking and he gets a glimpse of the card - quickly say “yes” in a high-pitched voice (if your dog is clicker-trained, mark his response with a click). As you say yes,move the card behind you.
After saying yes, hand your dog the food treat and give him a word of praise.
DO IT AGAIN
Once your dog successfully lies down when you say down while holding the card, repeat the exercise. Go through the five steps exactly as you did the first time. Bergin stresses that everything - movement, posture, the position of the card, tone of voice - must be consistent. Otherwise, your dog will get confused. By not changing anything, your dog can focus on the card instead of being distracted by something you may be doing differently.
Repeat the exercise three times, speaking the word as you show your dog the card. The fourth time you show the card, hold it steady in front of you and don’t say anything.By this time, your dog should have made the connection between what’s on the card and the word that you’ve spoken. Stand still; don’t move the card. If your dog lies down, reward him immediately. If he hesitates, try it again using the spoken word.
After your dog learns one word, he can learn another. Before long, he’ll have a vocabulary.
Do you have a question about pets? We’ll get you an answer from an authority. Send your question to Rhonda Owen, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203 or e-mail [email protected]
Family, Pages 34 on 07/24/2013