There are many people who have dogs who don’t respond to cues that were taught when the dogs were puppies. One common reason for this is because the cue has become poisoned. A poisoned cue is a cue that once meant something to the dog, but now does not due to either an unpleasant experience or overusing the cue for a partially trained behavior. In this article I am going to explain these two ways that cues can become poisoned and how to solve that problem.
Poisoned by Fear
As mentioned previously, one reason a cue becomes poisoned is because the dog (or any type of animal) experienced something unpleasant when presented with the opportunity to perform the behavior that is linked to the cue. This can be a one-time experience, or it can be an experience that happens consistently, building stress over time. For example, if a dog is asked to “stay” and two dogs get in a fight right next to that dog, this can cause a negative association with the cue “stay.” As a result, the dog might decide that staying when there are other dogs around is dangerous and should not be done. An example of a gradual poisoning would be if a dog is told to sit and then forced into the position by someone who pushes down on their bottom and pulls up on their collar. The psychological stress, along with the potential joint pain that could be caused by doing this, can result in a dog who associates the word “sit” with being forced into a position through means that are physically invasive and potentially painful. As a result, the dog might begin to avoid people when they ask for a “sit.”
Both situations involve the dog feeling some kind of unpleasant feeling, usually described as fear or anxiety. The dog begins to associate the cues with these unpleasant feelings and as a result, the cue becomes poisoned and much less reliable. Two common symptoms of a poisoned cue are: the dog ignores the handler altogether, or the dog hesitantly performs the behavior after being told to do so multiple times. Both responses (or lack thereof) result in long latency (the amount of time between the presentation of the cue and the performance of the behavior). In most behaviors, long latency is an undesirable trait and can sometimes be the difference between danger and safety.
Poisoned by Overusing the Cue for a Partially Trained Behavior
Another common cause of poisoned cues is overusing the cue for a partially trained behavior. It can be very easy for people to train a behavior itself, but that behavior is not fully trained until it has been proofed for life. This means that the dog must be able to perform the behavior, when cued to do so, both at home and in public, and with or without at least minimal distractions. Many dogs are never taught to respond to a cue with distractions present. A common symptom of this situation is when people repeat a cue over and over again until the dog responds long after the handler first presented the cue. This delay in response is that long latency that I previously discussed and, as I mentioned earlier, this latency is not usually a desirable outcome.
At this point, you might be wondering how the overuse of these under-trained cues comes into play. To help you out, imagine it is summertime, a perfect temperature, not too hot not too cold. You are sitting in a comfy chair or a hammock in the backyard reading your favorite book. Your roommate opens the door and tells you to come inside and cook dinner, to which you respond, “Let me finish this chapter.” Your roommate then stands there for a few minutes staring at you before repeating the request. After another thirty seconds or so your roommate repeats the request with a little more emphasis. Due to the fact that you are reading an incredibly interesting book, you only faintly notice the repeated information. Finally, your roommate yells at you and you get up and go cook dinner. This happens day after day until you learn that when you are reading a book and your roommate comes out and tells you to make dinner, you can simply ignore him (or her) until you are finished with your chapter. Now, step back and take a look at this situation. You are comfortable and you have a distraction, your amazing book, that has a very strong impact on your ability and desire to respond to a cue that you were probably not particularly interested in to begin with (cooking isn’t always that fun). Your roommate says the same thing over and over and you simply learn to ignore him until you are finished with your chapter. This is essentially what happens with your dog. When your dog is distracted by something that is much more valuable than the cue you present and behavior attached to that cue, your dog will have a very hard time pulling their attention away the moment you present the cue. In addition to that, the more you say the cue without getting a response, the more your dog will learn that the cue you are using does not actually mean they have to perform the behavior right this minute.
The Solution
There are two ways to solve the problem of the poisoned cue. First, reinforce your dog for performing the behavior when distractions are present. Make sure to start with small distractions that are less valuable than the reward and gradually work your way to bigger distractions. Also, make sure that the behavior has a long history of positive reinforcement before working on proofing it for life. Second, you can simply attach a new cue to the behavior. Pick a new cue (for example, a hand signal for sit instead of the word “sit”). Work on the behavior without any cue, then add the new cue. Once the new cue is attached and has a long history of reinforcement and your dog succeeds at least 80% of the time, start proofing the behavior as mentioned in the first solution above.
Remember that cues must be valuable to the learner. Imagine that you loved cooking dinner and loved it so much more than reading books! This would most likely increase the chances that you would respond that first time your roommate asked you to make dinner. By training cues with a long history of positive reinforcement, we end up with dogs who enjoy responding to cues! So, remember to train the behavior with lots of reinforcement before you proof for distractions. Also, keep in mind that many behaviors can have a “long” history of reinforcement after just a couple days, if you train for a few minutes at a time multiple times a day. However, this depends on the dog. So, stay consistent and reward your dog for responding to your cues. It will make the process far more enjoyable for both you and your dog!
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