Dog Community

It's Working!

Posted : 2/22/2008 7:51:53 PM

I posted on another thread (gosh, I don't remember which one) not so long ago about Shimmer's pawing for attention. For a long time I hadn't done much about it as I really didn't care, and even reinforced by giving her attention when she pawed, but not too long ago I realized it's one behaviour I wanted to diminish, as it was beginning to get a little obnoxious, especially if I was doing something like typing or watching TV. So I decided to focus on teaching her appropriate attention-seeking behaviour.

I had gone on to say how some of the first things I tried didn't work so well. First I tried simple P-, by withdrawing attention from her deliberately when she pawed. Because pawing in itself was so reinforcing, this didn't impact the behaviour as much as I had wanted it to. So then I implemented a conditioned punisher, which was a word paired with the P- of removing attention/going away. This worked against me, as she found it very aversive to the point where she showed visible fallout from it. So I dropped it immediately.

After that I decided to switch my game, and do a combined extinction procedure, paired with heavy R+ for "proper attention seeking", which is basically sitting and looking at me. Which I guess can't be called a classic extinction procedure as I am rewarding incompatible behaviours, so it would be better classified as a DRI schedule. Anyhow, I totally and simply ignored her pawing for attention. Even if she left her paw on me, I just pretended she wasn't there and continued doing as I was doing. When she removed her paw, she got lots and lots and lots of attention. If she began to paw while I was giving her attention, I would freeze (tense my body and not move a muscle) and just stare straight ahead, using my body language to tell her what I thought of her pawing. When she removed her paw, I would then again lavish her with attention. So as not to create a behaviour chain after the point was understood, if she pawed I made sure to wait variable amounts of time before giving her attention.

And I have to say, this task has been working marvelously! I wasn't sure how well it would work as she did find pawing intrinsically reinforcing (she's a paw-oriented gal, and uses paws a lot in play), but I am more than pleased. The pawing is so much lessened now it's happening quite infrequently, and I'm sure within a few days to a week it will have extinguished for good!

So thumbs up for Shimmer and some creative thinking!

westiegirl3

Posted : 2/22/2008 8:03:34 PM

Congratualtions to both you and Shimmer.

My two younger Westies have just started the pawing for attention. It does get annoying, especially when I am typing. I will have to give this a try. We'll see how it goes. Thanks.

spiritdogs

Posted : 2/22/2008 8:22:32 PM

Nice job, Kim. Yes I find that this works incredibly well, too. I have to admit, though, that I freakin' love Sequoyah laying her head on my knee, so I don't discourage it LOL. If it escalates to pawing, this is my tactic;-)

Chuffy

Posted : 2/23/2008 7:02:46 AM

Does it mean she uses her paws less in general?

I also have a paw-oriented dog, but she doesn't paw for attention...she uses her paws a lot when playing, she defaults to pawing things when playing the Box Game, and she paws quite a bit WHILE she is getting attention..... she likes to roll on he side and press her paws against any bit of you that's available, usually with an idiot grin on her face. I would never have forseen this being a problem, but now I have a baby and those paws look awfully bigger than they used to! Also, she is not a dog blessed with huge amounts of dexterity and grace. I see her frequently TRYING to be gentle - and she manages it wonderfully with the cat, but she is just not careful enough with her paws when she is around William... not only do I not want her to hurt him, I also don't want him to hurt her! It's almost an invite for him to grab, poke, pull, pinch and bite her paws which I don't really want..... She uses her paws ALL the time and while *I* can do the "freeze" DH doesn't appreciate that it will be effective and I can't expect Will to do it either.

Kim_MacMillan

Posted : 2/23/2008 10:00:27 AM

No, she still uses her paws in other contexts, and it's because I reinforce it in other contexts. We play with paws, she plays with other dogs with paws, I ask for high fives on cue, and she may target things with her paws. It's only in the context of "attention-seeking" that I want her to reduce her frequency of pawing.

For your case, I think you do need to teach an overall decrease in pawing, which shouldn't be too too difficult (depending on how innately reinforcing this is, and it sounds pretty reinforcing). And it would have to start with you and hubby, and then progress over to William. Do you have an idea of how you can teach this? Or would you like any suggestions?

Chuffy

Posted : 2/23/2008 3:23:32 PM

Suggest suggest suggest! I am open to all suggestions!