I often get requests to train dogs to respond to environmental cues, such as having a dog go to its bed when the doorbell rings. To accomplish this I take a two-fold approach founded in classical and operant conditioning.
First, we must get the base behavior, such as staying on their bed. To do this I either lure dog to their bed or wait for dog to move toward bed on its own, and when they exhibit the behavior they receive praise. If the dog stays on their bed they receive what I call the “treat machine” reward where treats are freely given along with praise. This is operant conditioning. If the dog gets off the bed you simply start over.
The next step involves linking the cue with the behavior. In this example I would ring the doorbell, wait about 5 seconds or so, then a tiny treat gets put on the bed regardless of your dog’s behavior – this is classical conditioning. I like to reward heavily for correct responses; pay according to the behavior but maintain the classical approach by linking doorbell with treats on the bed. I like to use a clicker to mark exceptional behavior.
Eventually the dog should either grasp the idea that if it goes to the bed it will get more treats than if it doesn’t (operant) or it will learn that the doorbell is in essence the dinner bell and dinner happens to be served on the bed (classical). The beauty of the two-fold approach is that, either way, the dog is set-up for success. Of course there may be other hidden cues that you will have to proof out (maybe treats in your hand, your presence in a certain location, etc.) but that is easy enough.
You can fade treats some but never plan on doing it completely. When the behavior is solid with low distractions (8/10 success rate) you can gradually add distractions, refine criteria, or work on duration.
To maintain this behavior, reward with something like a stuffed Kong when visitors actually come over so your dog has a good reason to stay on its bed.
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