Today, let’s talk about Poisoned cues. A cue is a word, sound, body jester, touch, or situation that tells the dog it’s time to do a behavior. A poisoned cue occurs when a dog associates unpleasant things with a cue. So that unpleasant association causes the dog to either hesitate to perform the behavior or not do it at all.
Unpleasant associations arn’t limited to:
• reprimanding,
• scolding,
• physical corrections,
• or abuse.
It can include subtle things like
1. loss of freedom,
2. bending over the top of the dog,
3. pulling on its leash,
4. patting on the head.
For example, many times, people take their dog to some open space to play, take their dog off-leash, and when it is time to leave, they call their dog, put it on a leash, and go home. The dog’s association is “come,” means loss of freedom.
So once a dog associates the cue with unpleasant things, (i.e. Coming when called is followed by being put on a leash and leaving), they stop coming to avoid the unpleasant consequences. These dogs aren’t being stubborn or defiant. They are behaving intelligently.
Undeniably, poisoned cues are common because our dogs are super smart.The most common poisoned cue is come.
People poison their come cue by calling their dog to:
- give it a bath
- put them in their crate.
- put on the leash after having the freedom to run around
- get their dog to come in from the yard
- clip their nails or groom them
In addition, it is not uncommon for people to call their dogs even though the training process is incomplete. They have not worked through generalizing the cue to new locations and working through distractions. So, the dog is practicing disregarding your cue.
Basically, the world is like Disneyland, with many fun and exciting things to explore. The humbling fact is that if the desire to come to us is not made better than all the stuff out there through training, your dog won’t do it. Training gives your dog the opportunity to form new associations with the cue, which is a predictor of only fantastic experiences with you.
If you have a poisoned cue, the easiest solution is to reteach the behavior with a new cue.
Check out this video to start that process.
I hope you have a lot of fun exploring some new rewards with your dog, Let me know how it goes!
In the meantime, check out our effective in-person and online dog training options
Real-Life Deep Dives – In Person Training
House Hold Manners Deep Dives – In Person Training
Serious Manners & Obedience – Online Self-Study Program
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