I have met many dogs who learned a cue when they were young, but then stopped responding to it over time. One common reason for this is because the cue has become poisoned. A poisoned cue is a cue that once meant something positive to the dog, but now has either been associated with an unpleasant situation or stimulus or it has lost its meaning due to the owner 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 an unpleasant association gradually. 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 go so far as to walk away or avoid people when they ask for a “sit.”
Both the previously mentioned situations involve the dog feeling some kind of unpleasant feeling, such as fear or anxiety. The dog begins to associate the cues with these unpleasant feelings and as a result, the cue itself becomes unpleasant to the dog. 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 cues can also be unreliable. For example, a dog may only respond to a poisoned cue when they feel that it is safe to do so (many people describe this as “he does it when he feels like it”) or only when certain people present the cue (this could be because that person asks in a way that is less stressful).
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 and, as a result, end up only being able to focus enough to listen to cues when they are at home. If this is the case, and the cue has not been proofed for at least minimal distractions, I would argue that it is only partially trained. Using a partially trained cue means that your dog may or may not respond to it (usually depending on the environment), thus it is practicing ignoring that cue in those moments when it is too distracted to focus and respond. This can lead to frustration in the person, which can lead to the dog developing an unpleasant association with that cue. A common symptom of a partially trained cue is people repeating a cue over and over again until the dog responds long after the handler first presented the cue. When this happens, you are essentially teaching your dog to ignore that cue because they can still hear your voice, but they are not able to pull their attention away from what they are doing, so they eventually tune out the cue unless you alter it somehow (e.g. yelling the cue instead of saying it calmly).
Let’s explore a human example. 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 or scrolling through Instagram on your phone. Your roommate opens the door and tells you to come inside and cook dinner (something that for the purpose of this example we will say you do not enjoy doing). When you don’t respond immediately (due to your current entertainment being more interesting at the moment), your roommate stands there for a few seconds staring at you before repeating the request. Due to the fact that you are reading an incredibly interesting book or post, you only faintly notice the repeated information. After another thirty seconds or so your roommate repeats the request with a little more emphasis, snapping you out of your trance. At this point you think “If I don’t get up now, they will not stop asking me to make dinner” so you get up and go cook dinner.
Now, let’s step back and take a look at this situation. It is not your intention to annoy your roommate. However, you are comfortable, and you have a distraction (environmental comfort combined with your amazing book or social media) that has a very strong impact on your ability and desire to pay attention and respond to their request. In addition to that, you do not want to do what they are asking, thus making it even harder for you to pull yourself away from the entertainment. This results in the first one or two attempts at communication going unnoticed. With most adults, this only happens occasionally and the person requesting dinner might solve the problem by getting closer and politely tapping the person on the shoulder to get their attention. However, in some cases, the person requesting dinner may get frustrated and yell. At this point, you might develop a negative association with this situation, making you even less interested in making dinner. In both cases, over time your roommate’s voice and requests for dinner become less and less interesting and you tend to ignore them until you can no longer avoid making dinner.
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 the behavior attached to that cue, your dog will have a hard time pulling its attention away from one thing and redirecting it to you and what you are cuing it to do. 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. In addition to this, your dog may even develop a negative emotional association with the cue due to the stress of being yelled at, causing it to avoid you when you present the cue.
The Solution
There are two ways to solve the problem of the poisoned cue. First, you can recondition and retrain the behavior that is attached to the cue, and then reattach and recondition the cue. Start by reinforcing your dog for performing the behavior in a low distraction environment without being cued to do so. Once the behavior is retrained, add the cue again. Once the cue is retrained, then you can proof that behavior and its cue for life by gradually introducing more and more distractions. Make sure to start with small distractions that are less valuable than the reward you are using and gradually work your way to higher level distractions. Also, make sure that the behavior has a long history of positive reinforcement before working on proofing it for life. This is why you want to start by reconditioning and retraining that behavior and its cue. Second, you can simply attach a new cue to the behavior. First, pick a new cue for the behavior (for example, a hand signal for sit instead of the word “sit”). Next, work on the behavior without any cue. Third, add the new cue. Once the new cue is attached and has a long history of reinforcement and your dog succeeds at least 90% of the time, start proofing the behavior as mentioned in the first solution above (adding in distractions starting with low level distractions). I would also recommend always making sure you have a positive way to get your dog’s attention before you cue it to do something that it may not be interested in doing.
Closing Thoughts
Remember that behaviors and their 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 behaviors and their 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 some dogs need a very long history of reinforcement before they will trust the process, and that is okay! 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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