How to make a dog think?

[gsdraven]

How do you turn a dog that is used to being told what to do into a thinking dog?

[Heagler870]

I'm not sure if I get your question completely but when I used to work with Riley on Recall when he would want to go past me you could tell he was thinking, "okay do I want to come to her or do I just keep going." He finally got it though. His recall is sooo much better than it used to be but sometimes when we play an if he walks by I can still tell he's thinking about it because he'll turn around and come back.

[Heagler870]

Oh sorry you asked a specific question. I thought you asked how can you tell.
Sorry

[gsdraven]

Originally Posted by Heagler870

Oh sorry you asked a specific question. I thought you asked how can you tell.
Sorry

It's ok. I'm just looking for general discussion about how to have a thinking dog.

I know how to raise one but looking for ideas on turning a dog that was previously trained with compulsion so waits to be guided into one that thinks for themself. I didn't want to make it about a specific dog (mine) but just get general ideas.

[Rerun]

Marker training (waiting for the desired response and marking it with a reward until it's a trained behavior) would be my answer, but the key is to have a dog that enjoys training enough to keep trying to see what you are looking for vs a dog that sees you just standing there and wanders off in a few seconds.

I have some videos of me doing some easy marker training with Dante, but he has been trained to be a thinker since he was a wee pup so I'm not sure it would really apply.

[Mrs.K]

yeah, i can second that. Marker training is the best way to get a dog thinking. It'll take a while but they start thinking for themselves and sometimes even outsmart you.

However, there are still dogs out there that just don't get it. Some are smarter than others, some are more primal than others.

[gsdraven]

Marker training

I figured that would be the standard answer. Hopefully there will be more discussion - different exercises etc.

[Mrs.K]

How well does your dog know marker training. Is he ready to go into the more advanced stuff and why do you want him to think more?

With a little more background info we might give better answers.

[gsdraven]

I wanted to just discuss, wasn't really looking for direct advice on my dog.

What prompted the question is Raven (my female). She was trained mostly with compulsion before I started educating myself. We recently got into nose work. She did really well at first but when we take away the boxes, she gives up and starts just running around the room or looking at me or others for direction. She just stops searching. She hasn't really had any marker training. Part of it is I am moving too fast for her and part of it is she isn't used to thinking on her own.

[LaRen616]

Do you play hide and seek? Can you have a friend hold onto your dog while you go and hide and then have the dog search for you? You wouldn't be able to direct him/her, he/she would have to come find you by themself.

That might help, Tug-A-Jug's make them think, they have to figure out how to get the treats out themselves.

Puzzles can help too, you can also play the cup trick where you put the treat under the cup and move them around in front of the dog and then they have to choose which one has the treat under it.