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Originally Posted by heapslp  Thank you for your tips. I will try slowing down the morning routine to make it less exciting for him.
I do reach quickly for the alarm so I don't disturb my husband, but I'm going to look into a vibrating alarm clock or something of that nature so I won't feel the urge to rush and turn it off immediately.
I've been working with Henry to sit before he gets what he wants - mostly being picked up onto the couch - so I will try to get him to do that before I get up which is what he wants. Unfortunately, he gets SO excited he just CAN'T. SIT. STILL. :-)
I tell him everyday it's a good thing he's cute! Thanks again for the tips.
- Lauren |
Keep working with him. His excitement is learned and perpetuated by habit but if you keep working with him to remain calm, he will start to learn to do that behavior to replace the other. He's been "learning" to do things his way for his entire life so going against how ever many weeks or months that has taken to shape this behavior, it could take almost that long to reshape it - even less if you are a talented and inspired trainer. Not many of us are that so we just muddle along and stick to the new way we want them to behave and they do start to understand that and then their way of reacting changes over time. Sometimes we see "instant" success on dog training shows on TV but believe me, those are edited, often have a team of dog trainers working behind the scenes and all types of circumstances to reshape behaviors but those dogs still learn the same way ours do - by changing circumstances if we can(such as the type or alarm and your reaction to it), stopping old behavior and showing the dog a new way to behave. It can take time and the dog will often regress to the old behavior at time but over time, he will begin to learn the new way to go. Repetitive but short sessions of training the dog how to react calmly and what to do when the alarm goes off for a treat will get you there quickest.