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smileybrunette · 01-10-2019, 12:33 AM

Our little Yorkie got very reluctant to come to us after we had to give her medication in pill form. She hated it. I tried to lure her with treats but she would still wait for me to step away before she would take it. Then I remember the best book I ever read from one of the trainers who trained animals for movies, even porpoises and wild animals that are shy of humans. It was called "Don't Shoot The Dog" and was all about positive reinforcement. This trainer had worked with a research group on honing down the reinforcement to an exact science. The thing they found is you have to be consistent in giving rewards and no negative reinforcement at all. If they don't do what you want, you simply ignore them. But here is the kicker: in training with rewards, you must reward every move they make in the right direction. If you want them to come, wait until they voluntarily take a step towards you. The reward must be give immediately (you may have to carry treats on you at all times while training). So one step in the right direction and you immediately give a treat. If they are very shy you may just have to put the treat down and give them space to retrieve it. If they do it again, again immediately reward. Don't try to move towards them, let them come to you and then reward instantly. Within a couple of days of this they will begin to trust you enough to come up and take the treat out of your hand. Immediately you give them rewards (I'd give a few, so they get a bigger reward for coming close to you). Still don't try to grab or do anything to them. Just keep up rewarding everytime they come close. Pretty soon you'll be their best friend. And btw, the researchers used the same method on their kids and they had the best behaving children the author ever saw. It takes some patience, but you can win them over this way. Even supposedly untrainable animals can be trained to do tricks and allow people to come close to them. The book is worth reading. It's written in layman's terms and sprinkled generously with real life experiences training all kinds of animals.

01-10-2019, 12:33 AM	#11
smileybrunette YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: Kirkland Wa King Posts: 1	Use positive reinforcement Our little Yorkie got very reluctant to come to us after we had to give her medication in pill form. She hated it. I tried to lure her with treats but she would still wait for me to step away before she would take it. Then I remember the best book I ever read from one of the trainers who trained animals for movies, even porpoises and wild animals that are shy of humans. It was called "Don't Shoot The Dog" and was all about positive reinforcement. This trainer had worked with a research group on honing down the reinforcement to an exact science. The thing they found is you have to be consistent in giving rewards and no negative reinforcement at all. If they don't do what you want, you simply ignore them. But here is the kicker: in training with rewards, you must reward every move they make in the right direction. If you want them to come, wait until they voluntarily take a step towards you. The reward must be give immediately (you may have to carry treats on you at all times while training). So one step in the right direction and you immediately give a treat. If they are very shy you may just have to put the treat down and give them space to retrieve it. If they do it again, again immediately reward. Don't try to move towards them, let them come to you and then reward instantly. Within a couple of days of this they will begin to trust you enough to come up and take the treat out of your hand. Immediately you give them rewards (I'd give a few, so they get a bigger reward for coming close to you). Still don't try to grab or do anything to them. Just keep up rewarding everytime they come close. Pretty soon you'll be their best friend. And btw, the researchers used the same method on their kids and they had the best behaving children the author ever saw. It takes some patience, but you can win them over this way. Even supposedly untrainable animals can be trained to do tricks and allow people to come close to them. The book is worth reading. It's written in layman's terms and sprinkled generously with real life experiences training all kinds of animals.