Stumped On Teaching To Read

kassidybc

Experienced Member
I'm trying to teach Chloe to read, but we are having a tough time. We started with sit, I printed out a piece of paper that had SIT in giant letters on it. I held up the card, then said sit, then rewarded. She learned within 5 minutes that me holding up the paper meant sit. Unfortunately, she paid no attention what was on the paper. When I tried to teach her the lie down card, she didn't understand the difference. I held up the card, and she immediately sat. I told her to lie down, and she did. Within 5 minutes she understood that me holding up the card meant lie down. I thought we were getting somewhere, but when I held up the sit card, she lied down. Any ideas as to what I should do?
 

brody_smom

Experienced Member
I have seen this trick done, but never considered how it was taught. I think you do need to get the dog to the point where they are actually focusing on the word, or they won't see the difference between the two signs. Did you do a google search?
 

brody_smom

Experienced Member
Just did a quick search and found this one.
I would have liked to have seen her show the "down" sign after she had trained "bark" just to see if he could differentiate.
 

kassidybc

Experienced Member
Just did a quick search and found this one.
I would have liked to have seen her show the "down" sign after she had trained "bark" just to see if he could differentiate.
I've been teaching it like the video shows, but Chloe won't focus on the word. Whether I hold up a card that says sit or lie down, they are both the same to her. Does anyone have any ideas on getting her to actually focus on the word?
 

brody_smom

Experienced Member
Did you notice how she brought out the sign and waited before saying the word, gave the treat, then hid the sign before starting again? You might try putting the sign in front of your face as well, so she can't look at you the way she normally would. Also, moving the sign to the side and wiggling it around to get her attention on it instead of you might help. I would also focus on just one word at a time until she was getting it. You could try a different sign or maybe a blank one once you think she has it to proof the behavior.
 

brody_smom

Experienced Member
Here's another trainer explaining the method quite well.
http://voices.yahoo.com/dog-training-teach-dog-read-8999381.html?cat=53
The only thing, when she says "hold the sign at eye level", I assume she means the dog's eye level, not yours. Toward the end she says that dogs might get better at paying attention to the actual word when you teach the second or third one. The first time, they might just be cued by the sign without really noticing the word. Once you try to teach other cues, they start looking for the changing pattern in the letters. She also suggests not to start with "sit" as it is a default behavior for many dogs, and they will eventually do it if you look at them and say nothing, just because they have been reinforced for it so much.
 

kassidybc

Experienced Member
Did you notice how she brought out the sign and waited before saying the word, gave the treat, then hid the sign before starting again? You might try putting the sign in front of your face as well, so she can't look at you the way she normally would. Also, moving the sign to the side and wiggling it around to get her attention on it instead of you might help. I would also focus on just one word at a time until she was getting it. You could try a different sign or maybe a blank one once you think she has it to proof the behavior.
Alright, I will try that. I might wait a week or so though, she is really confused about it right now.
 

srdogtrainer

Experienced Member
I think it is normal that she is confused at first. Just like brodys_mom said. When there is one they learn that seeing a card means to do what ever you start with. When you start with two they start figuring out it is one or the other and at first it is a guessing game. Then when you add three or more they really start looking at the card and figuring out that they are different. Good luck!
 

brody_smom

Experienced Member
I think it is normal that she is confused at first. Just like brodys_mom said. When there is one they learn that seeing a card means to do what ever you start with. When you start with two they start figuring out it is one or the other and at first it is a guessing game. Then when you add three or more they really start looking at the card and figuring out that they are different. Good luck!
Have you trained this trick before?
 

srdogtrainer

Experienced Member
Have you trained this trick before?
I have worked on it a little bit with dogs at school. I have also done it with River, but never perfected it. I need to get back in to working on it with him. He is at the stage where when he see's a card it means different commands, but he has not figured out how to tell which one is which.
 
Top