Commands?

[Jarena]

I used the command “look” to have my girl, Lettie, look at/focus on me. But I have noticed that my boyfriend and I both also say “look” to point out things to her, like a treat on the ground. She is 11 months old and I’m wondering if we should change the command to look at us to “focus”. Has anyone else ever changed a command? Is it too late or can this be successful? I don’t want to confuse her, but I’m not sure how to do this. Or, does anyone else use the same command for different things? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Boxergirl]

You can extinguish a behavior that is linked to a command, but it takes time and good timing/marking skills. Does she do both things equally well or is there one she does better?

 

[Jarena]

You can extinguish a behavior that is linked to a command, but it takes time and good timing/marking skills. Does she do both things equally well or is there one she does better?

I would say she is a little better at “look” when we point to something on the ground. She does *ok* with “look” when we want her to look at us. She doesn’t do well at looking at us if there is a distraction, she’s getting better though.

 

[Boxergirl]

Then I would perhaps change "look" to "watch" or "focus" for looking in your eyes. If you don't reward "look" for watch or focus, it should fade.