Hi! I have an 12 week-old golden retriever puppy, and I think I may have made some mistakes early on with how I handled training.
Whenever she jumps on our couch (she’s not allowed on any furniture except her bed), or on the table, coffee table, or her playpen, my husband and I say “off.” She does get off (usually have to to say it multiple times) and we say “yes,” which is her reinforcement marker for positive behavior — and then she immediately goes into a sit and just stares at us waiting for a treat.
She does the exact same thing with “drop it.” She’ll drop whatever is in her mouth (again after a few times saying it and trying to get it from her), we say “yes,” and then she instantly looks up expecting the reward. Same with “leave it.”
I feel like we accidentally reinforced the idea that she only does these commands for treats, and now shes going to think that if she does the behavior she’ll get one. But I have no idea how to get her to reliably do “off,” “drop it,” and “leave it” without her expecting a treat every single time.
Any advice on how to fix this early on would be super appreciated. Thank you!
submitted by /u/QuarterSufficient358
[link] [comments]