Slobber Training

Slobber Training

Slobber Training is the solution for your wet floors after your dog drinks water!  Yes, this is possible with only a few training sessions from Alyse Honnold at Purely Balanced K9 Training.  Have you ever thought to yourself that owning a dog is a-lot of work?  We hear your brain and think it is important that you communicate your desires to your dog via training! Let us get started on how you can have dry floors again.  

Supply List

  • Dog (one dog at a time please)
  • Two Dog Bowls
  • Chelsy's Toys Snuffle Bag (Standard size fits a 10" water bowl and Snack Size fits 8-9" bowl)
  • Water in a separate container (pitcher, bottle, etc.)
  • Bite site treats or Clicker

Terms

A few general training terms to know before we get started.  

  • SB = Snuffle Bag.
  • Mark - saying the word "Yes" or using one click.
  • "Yes" or Click - positive reinforcement marker.  This marks the point in time we are going to reward and this marker word/sound ALWAYS pays {treats or praise} the dog.
  • "Good" - our duration marker. This word may or may not pay, but we say it to let the dog know we like what they are doing but we want them to continue doing it.

A good portion of how we teach is through a method called shaping. If you’ve ever shaped a behavior with your dog, this will probably come very easy. For those of you that haven’t,  be patient. Once your dog understands the pattern, they will catch on quickly.

Session 1

  1. Place Chelsy's Toys Snuffle Bag (SB) inside of one of the bowls, then set it on floor near your dog.
  2. As soon as the dog shows interest or touches their nose to the SB, say “Yes” or use a clicker and drop 1 treat on the SB.
  3. Wait until your dog touches the SB again with their nose. If they don’t touch the SB again, you can pick it up and set back down to regain interest or touch it with your hand. As soon as they touch it, mark ("Yes" or click) and drop a reward on the SB. Repeat this step until your dog is consistently offering you a nose-touch to the SB and clearly understand that’s whats causing them to earn the treat.
  4. Continue step 3, now adding the praise “Good Slobber” after you mark with the “Yes” or click.

Continue playing this game for no more than 10 minutes.

Session 2

  1. Do a quick review of session 1. If there is any confusion, repeat Session 1 until you get back to your stopping point.
  2. We are now going to ask for some duration. Instead of immediately marking "Yes"/click when they touch SB with their nose, we will say "Good, Good Slobber, Yes" & then say "Good Slobber" again as you reward.
  3. Repeat this several times, slowly increasing the duration of time the dog holds the nose on the SB before you mark with Yes/Click. You may also occasionally drop a treat on the SB as you are saying "Good Slobber".

Session 3

(Withold water from your dog for a reasonable period of time before this session.)

  1. Do a quick 2 minute review of Session 2 above.
  2. Pickup both bowls, pour a tiny bit of water in one and set it on the ground.
  3. When your dog is almost done drinking, set the SB bowl down right next to it and say "Slobber".  As soon as your dog touches the SB with their nose, say, "Yes, Good Slobber" and drop the treat in the SB.

If your dog pulls out of the SB before you put the treat there, withhold the treat until they put their nose back on it.

Session 4

  1. Repeat session 3 as many times as needed so your dog immediately puts nose on SB after drinking without being prompted.
  2. Once your dog is successfully offering you this behavior, keep the SB next to the water bowl along with some treats. Every time you see/hear your dog drink water, say “Slobber”. As soon as they hold their nose in the SB, say "Yes, Good Slobber" and reward them on the SB. If you can be consistent with this for a couple weeks, it will become an automatic behavior. 

Congratulations. You are a step closer in starting your Slobber Training.  Chelsy's Toys and Purely Balanced K9 Training are here to help you in your progress.  Join us this Friday, February 24th on Instagram Live to see how we are going to help our friend Joe the Great Dane  (IG: @joes_sideofthestory TikTok: Found on his brother's account: @larry-the-great-dane).  Maybe Larry will pick up a few good behaviors from his younger brother. 

If you cannot make our Live event, please review our social media posts, we will have our Live posted as well as updates.  Please contact either Chelsy's Toys or Purely Balanced K9 Training for individual assistance.   

Enjoy this short excerpt of Joe's slobber problems that we are going to fix:

 

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