[Zoe]

I've been talking online to a lady who is having some issues with her dog and baby so along with suggesting she contact a trainer/behaviourist that is pit friendly, which she did, and suggesting some specifics for her situation, I also suggested NILIF. Now, I've never had to go full out NILIF with my dogs as their personalities are such that they know their place, although much of NILIF is just part of what I do anyway. She had some specific questions and I told her what I thought would be the right answer, but said I'd ask others to get their opinion as well. Here's what she said...

Ok, I have some specific questions about NILF.....

1. When Sativah jumps up for attention.... which she only does with our company What do we do to stop this. I know it says to ignore her and turn away from her and pretend like she isnt there, but I also dont want her jumping on company at the same time... Do we just ask our company to turn away from her when she goes to jump at them, and ignore her???

2. Also, once our company comes and sits down on the coach, she goes right up to them for attention and pets, how do we correct this. Sometimes she tries to climb right on them.... her bum wiggles so fast I swear it would wiggle her right up into the air LOL so if she comes at them just get them to ignore her??? but if she starts to climb up on them correct her??? but then that is attention... although negative, still attention???

3. Sometimes, not often but she does do it, she will beg for food when we eat. We always have her lay on her bed and stay, but if she gets up to pretend she is getting a drink and wonder over to us (they are so freaking smart LOL) we correct her and place her back on her bed. Should we be ignoring her completely??? I did this tonight, she even came and put her head on my lap which she has never done, but I continued to ignore her and eventually she went and layed down... is that the right approach??

4. I tried the sit while being leashed for a walk thing tonight and I thought she was going to explode. She gets so excited as soon as she hears the clip on her leash tinkle around that she is bounding off the freakin walls. So I did the sit and stay calm thing, or attemped it. Her eyes became bigger and bigger, she just looked like a cartoon time bomb waiting to explode, her whole body was shaking she was doing a sit stand sit stand every second!!! We eventually did manage it but as soon as the leash was clipped she was off the freakin wall..... How do I get her to calm down.???? I can walk her for 2hrs and then come home and bring out her leash again and she will be the exact same way.... I even got her into weight pull to help redirect some of her energy (which she loves) and she is still non stop.

Today I have been putting NILF into full force, as much as I understand it. She is to sit before her meals which she did well for dinner, she sits to be let out and let back in, which she is getting. I do still get the sit stand sit stand, but we are getting it. We are practicing many sessions with Alexa and Sativah and learning to pet nice and Alexa is learning dog toys and bowls are not hers to play with. Am I getting this all right??? Any suggestions or tips??

Thanks again
Oh and I have my consult booked with Monique on Wed. I am so excited !!

[maryellen]

with the guests, have her on leash tied to you. guests come in, tell them to totally ignore her, no eye contact, no words, nothing.. after she calms down, tell each guest that if they want to pet her she has to do something for them like sit, down, paw, etc.... if the guest gives the sit command and dog doesnt sit, dog doensnt get pet and you walk away with the dog still tied to you..

same for the jumpng, tie her to you, tell guests to completely ignore her, if she jumps, they are to turn their back and walk away... same as above...

begging for food... either crate her if she starts to beg or leash her and put her on a tie out... teaching the stay command will help too, and use a blanket for her to lay on in the certain spot, and work on that first, reward heavily when she stays on the blanket .. if you are eating, and she is still laying on the blanket, get up , go to her, reward her for staying, and go back to eating.. repeat.. every time she is on the blanket reward her for being good and in a stay..

as far as the sit to go out on leash, if she doesnt sit take the leash off and put it away.. try in a few minutes again. take the leash, tell her to sit, if she doesnt sit, put the leash away .. try later, repeat, she will get the hang that if she sits the leash gets put on, if she doenst sit the leash goes away..

once out on a walk, you can ask her to sit once, and if you have to reward with praise that is fine, or a treat..

also, when having her sit for her meals, now add the Wait command, in other words, she cant eat until YOU say so... so when you put the bowl down, make sure she is told to sit, when the bowl is almost down, say Wait Wait, and go slow... if she moves out of her sit, remove bowl and put away.. wait a few minutes, repeat, if she breaks her sit, food goes away till next feeding..

this way she learns sit, wait, stay, and works her mind as well

[maryellen]

http://www.k9deb.com/

The NILIF program is remarkable because it's effective for such a wide variety of problems. A shy, timid dog becomes more relaxed knowing that he has nothing to worry about, his owner is in charge of all things. A dog that's pushing too hard to become "top dog" learns that the position is not available and that his life is far more enjoyable without the title. It is equally successful with dogs that fall anywhere between those two extremes. The program is not difficult to put into effect and it's not time consuming if the dog already knows a few basic obedience commands. I've never seen this technique fail to bring about a positive change in behavior, however, the change can be more profound in some dogs than others. Most owners use this program in conjunction with other behavior modification techniques such as coping with fear or treatment for aggression. It is a perfectly suitable technique for the dog with no major behavior problems that just needs some fine tuning. ATTENTION ON DEMAND The program begins by eliminating attention on demand. When your dog comes to you and nudges your hand, saying "pet me! pet me!" ignore him. Don't tell him "no", don't push him away. Simply pretend you don't notice him. This has worked for him before, so don't be surprised if he tries harder to get your attention. When he figures out that this no longer works, he'll stop. In a pack situation, the top ranking dogs can demand attention from the lower ranking ones, not the other way around. When you give your dog attention on demand you're telling him that he has more status in the pack than you do. Timid dogs become stressed by having this power and may become clingy. They're never sure when you'll be in charge so they can't relax. What if something scary happens, like a stranger coming in the house? Who will handle that? The timid dog that is demanding of attention can be on edge a lot of the time because he has more responsibility than he can handle. Some dogs see their ability to demand attention as confirmation that they are the "alpha", then become difficult to handle when told to "sit" or "down" or some other demand is placed on them. It is not their leadership status that stresses them out, it's the lack of consistency. They may or may not actually be alpha material, but having no one in the pack that is clearly the leader is a bigger problem than having the dog assume that role full time. Dogs are happiest when the pack order is stable. Tension is created by a constant fluctuation of pack leadership. EXTINCTION BURSTS Your dog already knows that he can demand your attention and he knows what works to get that to happen. As of today, it no longer works, but he doesn't know that yet. We all try harder at something we know works when it stops working. If I gave you a twenty dollar bill every time you clapped your hands together, you'd clap a lot. But, if I suddenly stopped handing you money, even though you were still clapping, you'd clap more and clap louder. You might even get closer to me to make sure I was noticing that you were clapping. You might even shout at me "Hey! I'm clapping like crazy over here, where's the money?". If I didn't respond at all, in any way, you'd stop. It wasn't working anymore. That last try -- that loud, frequent clapping is an extinction burst. If, however, during that extinction burst, I gave you another twenty dollar bill you'd be right back in it. It would take a lot longer to get you to stop clapping because you just learned that if you try hard enough, it will work. When your dog learns that the behaviors that used to get him your attention don't work any more he's going to try harder and he's going to have an extinction burst. If you give him attention during that time you will have to work that much harder to get him turned around again. Telling him "no" or pushing him away is not the kind of attention he's after, but it's still attention. Completely ignoring him will work faster and better. YOU HAVE THE POWER As the human and as his owner you have control of all things that are wonderful in his life. This is the backbone of the NILIF program. You control all of the resources. Playing, attention, food, walks, going in and out of the door, going for a ride in the car, going to the dog park. Anything and everything that your dog wants comes from you. If he's been getting most of these things for free there is no real reason for him to respect your leadership or your ownership of these things. Again, a timid dog is going to be stressed by this situation, a pushy dog is going to be difficult to handle. Both of them would prefer to have you in charge. To implement the NILIF program you simply have to have your dog earn his use of your resources. He's hungry? No problem, he simply has to sit before his bowl is put down. He wants to play fetch? Great! He has to "down" before you throw the ball. Want to go for a walk or a ride? He has to sit to get his lead snapped on and has to sit while the front door is opened. He has to sit and wait while the car door is opened and listen for the word (I use "OK") that means "get into the car". When you return he has to wait for the word that means "get out of the car" even if the door is wide open. Don't be too hard on him. He's already learned that he can make all of these decisions on his own. He has a strong history of being in control of when he gets these resources. Enforce the new rules, but keep in mind that he's only doing what he's been taught to do and he's going to need some time to get the hang of it all. You're going to have to pay attention to things that you probably haven't noticed before. If you feed your dog from your plate do you just toss him a green bean? No more. He has to earn it. You don't have to use standard obedience commands, any kind of action will do. If your dog knows "shake" or "spin around" or "speak" use those commands. Does your dog sleep on your bed? Teach him that he has to wait for you to say "OK" to get on the bed and he has to get down when you say "off". Teach him to go to his bed, or other designated spot, on command. When he goes to his spot and lays down tell him "stay" and then release him with a treat reward. Having a particular spot where he stays is very helpful for when you have guests or otherwise need him out of the way for a while. It also teaches him that free run of the house is a resource that you control. There are probably many things that your dog sees as valuable resources that I haven't mentioned here. The NILIF program should not be a long, drawn out process. All you need to do is enforce a simple command before allowing him access to what he wants. Dinner, for example, should be a two or three second encounter that consists of nothing more than saying "sit", then "good dog!", then putting the bowl down and walking away. ATTENTION AND PLAY Now that your dog is no longer calling the shots you will have to make an extra effort to provide him with attention and play time. Call him to you, have him "sit" and then lavish him with as much attention as you want. Have him go get his favorite toy and play as long as you both have the energy. The difference is that now you will be the one initiating the attention and beginning the play time. He's going to depend on you now, a lot more than before, to see that he gets what he needs. What he needs most is quality time with you. This would be a good time to enroll in a group obedience class. If his basic obedience is top notch, see about joining an agility class or fly ball team. NILIF DOES *NOT* MEAN THAT YOU HAVE TO RESTRICT THE AMOUNT OF ATTENTION YOU GIVE TO YOUR DOG. The NILIF concept speaks to who initiates the attention (you!), not the amount of attention. Go ahead and call your dog to you 100 times a day for hugs and kisses!! You can demand his attention, he can no longer demand yours! Within a day or two your dog will see you in a whole new light and will be eager to learn more. Use this time to teach new things, such as 'roll over' or learn the specific names of different toys. If you have a shy dog, you'll see a more relaxed dog. There is no longer any reason to worry about much of anything. He now has complete faith in you as his protector and guide. If you have a pushy dog he'll be glad that the fight for leadership is over and his new role is that of devoted and adored pet. ©1999 Deb McKean Home I Could Never Work Here The Last Battle Clinical Handling Rescue Social Isolation Kitchen Training

Kitchen Training:

I know what it's like to try to cook, or eat a meal, when you own a perpetually starving dog. My Labradorus goofus, Pierce, acts as if he hasn't eaten in weeks when there is activity in the kitchen or dining room. He takes every opportunity to search the kitchen floor for molecules of anything remotely edible. He holds his breath if he thinks I'm about to give him a taste of something. He'd not only sell his own soul for a grain of rice, he'd sell mine, too. Keeping him out from under my feet has been a relatively easy thing to do, using the "slot machine" principle of learning. I have a small kitchen that leads directly to the dining room. The kitchen is tile floored, the dining room carpeted. Pierce only gets a taste from the kitchen if he's laying with his front legs on the tile, the rest of him on the carpet. This keeps him out of my way, but his head over the tile so any messes are easily cleaned. What he's learned is that if he's not laying down in exactly that spot he gets nothing -- ever. Nothing! No food, no attention. Not even negative attention like hearing me yell "get out of here!". If he is laying on that spot he might get something, or he might not. This is why people dump their hard earned money into slot machines. They might go home broke, but then again, they might hit the jackpot. If they don't put any money at all into the machine, they are, for sure, not going to be rewarded. This is Pierce's feeling about his kitchen place. Pick a spot for your dog that keeps him out of your way during meal preparation or dinner time. In the beginning, reward often whenever he's in that spot. You'll know that he's gotten the hang of the concept when he goes directly to that spot as soon as you go into the kitchen. When that happens, reward heavily (the jackpot!). The next time, reward after he's been on the spot for 30 seconds, the next time wait one minute. Continue to increase the time span until he'll stay on his spot for a full two minutes before getting rewarded. When that happens start staggering the times. One time he may get a reward as soon as he gets to his spot, another time it might be five minutes. If he decides not to wait there, that's fine -- no rewards. It won't take long for him to figure out that being on the spot doesn't always get a reward, but being off of the spot never gets a reward. He'll choose to take his chances on the spot. Pierce gets to have a taste of almost anything I'm having -- no onions, no spicy foods, no sugar. Breakfast is the least likely time that he's going to be sharing, but I do give him an egg now and then. You don't have to share your food with your dog, you can keep a handful of Cheerios or puppy sized dog biscuits ready and toss one at a time. Whatever you give him, remember to adjust his regular meal to allow for the extras. If you want to try clicker training, this would be a great beginning exercise! ©2000 Debbie McKean