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I just want to share my personal experience with Lil and the EAT button.
EAT was the very first button I taught! Technically alongside the Outside button for potty training, but I didn't specifically teach that one in the same way.
She was 8 or 9 weeks old. I sat in front of her food bowl, and put in a handful of kibble every time she pressed the button. I even put the button inside the bowl!! I would move the button to the kitchen when it was time to eat, and she had to press the button in order to receive dinner.
Lil is a crack monkey for treats, and EAT is clearly her favorite button. EAT is her primary motivation in life. Seriously, she jumos through hoops for one piece of plain ol' kibble. However, we don't have a problem with her abusing the EAT button. Here's how:
Decide the rules.Â
EAT was the very first button I taught! Technically alongside the Outside button for potty training, but I didn't specifically teach that one in the same way.
She was 8 or 9 weeks old. I sat in front of her food bowl, and put in a handful of kibble every time she pressed the button. I even put the button inside the bowl!! I would move the button to the kitchen when it was time to eat, and she had to press the button in order to receive dinner.
Lil is a crack monkey for treats, and EAT is clearly her favorite button. EAT is her primary motivation in life. Seriously, she jumos through hoops for one piece of plain ol' kibble. However, we don't have a problem with her abusing the EAT button. Here's how:
Decide the rules.Â
- Is your learner able to request treats on demand? I advise against this, since it can increase button abuse and really isn't very healthy long-term
- Is your learner allowed to request mealtime? Only during certain times?Â
- Is your learner able to request special EAT treats, like Kongs, chews, etc?Â
- Is your learner allowed to request "PLAY EAT" (training) to work for a treat?
Now you just need to enforce your rules. Learner presses the button outside of the "rules"? Respond "No Eat Now. Eat Later." Repeat no more than 3 or 4 times, then completely and totally ignore your learner!!!! Just like your mom, no means no because I said so! You will suffer through a few tantrums, but if you stick to the rules, your learner WILL figure it out! Leave the button on the board even as you suffer through EATEATEATEATEATEATEAT tantrums. The only time to pick up the button is if it's in danger of being broken.
I will admit that Lil is wicked smart and this may not work for every dog, but it CAN work! If your learner just isn't that interested in buttons and you haven't introduced EAT, give it a try. It may be the spark that lights up their communication.
Here is Lil's completely appropriate request for breakfast this morning while I cooked her eggs (spoiled rotten, no judge)
"WANT EAT"
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Who do I send comments to about FP buttons? Specifically, any biting of the buttons results in damage. The LR buttons have stood up to tons of abuse. They are not as loud as LR buttons either
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Front of the video is clipped, she says
Belly BooBoo
Outside Park
then I ask her to confirm and she says No.
Right afterwards she requested outside again and went potty. I think Park was a misstep, she was referring to the sensation of full bladder.
She is also using BooBoo Belly No Eat, I suspect to say the physical sensation of hungry.
Belly BooBoo
Outside Park
then I ask her to confirm and she says No.
Right afterwards she requested outside again and went potty. I think Park was a misstep, she was referring to the sensation of full bladder.
She is also using BooBoo Belly No Eat, I suspect to say the physical sensation of hungry.
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OMG, why don't we ALL have a sniff button!?? This was my "aha" last night. Dogs *live* through their nose. A dog can smell a female in heat from 3 miles away. If we put dog's sense of smell on the same scale as our vision, the comparison would be: what a Human can see at 1/4 mi (like the freeway exit), a Dog would be able to smell from San Francisco to New York City. They literally cannot build computers than can smell as well as a dog can.
Aaaaaand I finally have a video for y'all! The instant I put down the new Sniff button, Lil responded with "Momia" who was across the house. A few minutes later, Momia came out with freshly painted, very SniffSniff fingernails!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jRC7baO6NvmwiKwzWwTnB2f4U2UL9CJv/view?usp=sharing
Aaaaaand I finally have a video for y'all! The instant I put down the new Sniff button, Lil responded with "Momia" who was across the house. A few minutes later, Momia came out with freshly painted, very SniffSniff fingernails!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jRC7baO6NvmwiKwzWwTnB2f4U2UL9CJv/view?usp=sharing
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I hurt my back this weekend so my wife has been doing the dog walks. We told Lil that I couldnât go because of my BooBoo. Today I was doing better and getting ready to take her on a walk. She said Mama BooBoo AlldoneÂ
On our walk, if she pulled I said âouch BooBoo!â and she would stop and come check on me! ðĨ°
On our walk, if she pulled I said âouch BooBoo!â and she would stop and come check on me! ðĨ°
That's the cutest thing ever! At a young age, we learn our dogs to not bite our hands, so they already know pain can be an issue. Even rough play they take into account they shouldn't go too rough.
The fact we can easily explain to them "I'm hurting, be gentle." and they understand is amazing!
My dog understands the word "broken" due to breaking many of his toys so he can't play with them anymore. I'm wondering if perhaps this can extend to actual live beings (broken = death or severe injury).
The fact we can easily explain to them "I'm hurting, be gentle." and they understand is amazing!
My dog understands the word "broken" due to breaking many of his toys so he can't play with them anymore. I'm wondering if perhaps this can extend to actual live beings (broken = death or severe injury).
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Learner Names: Lil Lavender and Finn
Age: Lil 1 yr, and Finn 9 months
Teacher Name: Libby
Started Learning Word Buttons: Lil March 2020 (8 weeks old), Finn June 2020 (4 months old)
Number of Words: 62 total on the board, Lil's in-use buttons around 50; Finn's in-use about 4 buttons
Words
- Go
- Outside
- Walk
- Park
- Bike Ride
- Home
- Eat
- Water
- Yes
- No
- Alldone
- Now
- Later
- Wait
- More
- Help
- Look
- Clean
- Sound
- Quiet
- Come
- When
- Who
- Why
- What
- Want
- Where
- Hmmmm?
- Play
- Tug
- Ball
- Stuffy
- Button
- Broken
- Bed
- Meds (she reminds m to take medication)
- Loveyou
- Good
- BooBoo
- Paw
- Belly
- Gentle
- Happy
- Scared
- Sad
- Mad
- Mama (parent 1)
- Momia (parent 2)
- Lil (learner 1)
- Finn (learner 2)
- Friend
- Dog
- Bird
- Hot
- Cold
Added Jan â21: Bring, Dog, People, Birds, SniffSniff, Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, Hmmmm?
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Lil has started opening and closing her mouth, and we really think she is trying to figure out how the humans make those sounds come out of their mouth!! We can tell when she is trying to tell us something that she doesnât have buttons for (whining, pacing), but the mouth moving is fairly new, and in addition to the whining. It does usually coincide with button pushing, but she is also doing it when she isnât near her buttons.
If only I could give her the ability to make those sounds!!!
Anyone else experience this?
If only I could give her the ability to make those sounds!!!
Anyone else experience this?
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Hey y'all! I'm a professional dog trainer in Salt Lake City, UT. I'd like to offer this thread to ask questions about training buttons! My 9mo aussie mix, Lil, currently uses 30 buttons and up to 5 word combinations. Her little brother, 7mo kelpie mix, Finn, came to us a little later in his life so he is playing some catch-up! He is starting to use buttons correctly and in response to a question ("Do you want a walk or bike ride?").
I will do my very best to answer as quickly as I can between my other dog life duties, and do what I can to help! I encourage everyone to contribute if you have something to add.
I will do my very best to answer as quickly as I can between my other dog life duties, and do what I can to help! I encourage everyone to contribute if you have something to add.
That is so nice of you thank you! I've been wondering if we need to move our buttons. Right now, they're on the right by her food bowl and toy bin. However, she often sits at the door, which is where she goes outside. She sits there when she wants anything-food, outside, or play. Getting her to walk over to her buttons takes a lot of prompting and sometimes a tantrum. She doesn't independently go to her board.Â
I think of "distance and persistence" for AAC with kids-the stage where they have to travel to their talker or bring their talker to someone to communicate, and persist even with barriers, and I feel like Chloe can't move past when we had the individual buttons by each thing-outside, food, and play. Do you think we should move her talker, or keep at it where we are?Â
I think of "distance and persistence" for AAC with kids-the stage where they have to travel to their talker or bring their talker to someone to communicate, and persist even with barriers, and I feel like Chloe can't move past when we had the individual buttons by each thing-outside, food, and play. Do you think we should move her talker, or keep at it where we are?Â
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What advice do you have for retraining dogs to use buttons that are really well trained to communicate in a different way already. My dog Remus has always been very vocal and gently woofs for everything he wants, and I've learned to read him really well over the last few years. He has a big vocabulary so when he woofs, I ask what he wants and he gets excited about it if I'm right. How can I transition him to the buttons? I've been modeling outside for a few months now with no luck. Thanks!Â
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I want to make an emotional plea on behalf of our amazing companions in this journey. I have noticed more than a few people mention âtake away the buttonâ, particularly in relation to the FOOD button. Letâs reframe this in a human example:
Your child asks for a candy bar in the store. You say no. Your child begins screaming for the candy bar, so you clamp your hand over their mouth so they canât talk.
Please, be horrified by this example.Â
As difficult as it is, we must learn how to teach our dogs appropriate communication without silencing them. While there will be times where removing a button for a short time is necessary (eg, biting or damaging the button), do not take away their voice just because it is annoying. Suffer through their tantrum with patience, and give them alternatives, like toys, games and the attention they are seeking. Itâs ok to say âNo candy barâ. It is not ok to take away their ability to communicate because we donât like what they are saying. If you stick it out consistently, eventually they learn that particular behavior does not get results.Â
We host Rover dogs in our home and have occasionally needed to remove buttons because of the other dogs. Our girl Lil becomes distressed when she canât get to her buttons (she usually whines when she canât âtellâ us something). We have become much more conscious about her ability to access the buttons.
Once you give them the ability to talk, you CANNOT take it away!
Your child asks for a candy bar in the store. You say no. Your child begins screaming for the candy bar, so you clamp your hand over their mouth so they canât talk.
Please, be horrified by this example.Â
As difficult as it is, we must learn how to teach our dogs appropriate communication without silencing them. While there will be times where removing a button for a short time is necessary (eg, biting or damaging the button), do not take away their voice just because it is annoying. Suffer through their tantrum with patience, and give them alternatives, like toys, games and the attention they are seeking. Itâs ok to say âNo candy barâ. It is not ok to take away their ability to communicate because we donât like what they are saying. If you stick it out consistently, eventually they learn that particular behavior does not get results.Â
We host Rover dogs in our home and have occasionally needed to remove buttons because of the other dogs. Our girl Lil becomes distressed when she canât get to her buttons (she usually whines when she canât âtellâ us something). We have become much more conscious about her ability to access the buttons.
Once you give them the ability to talk, you CANNOT take it away!
Sophie is very food obsessed. So instead of giving her a button for treats in general I gave her a carrot button which she likes but is not obsessed with like the meat flavored treats. I gave her an all done button at the same time and that was a good strategy. Right now we are refining the idea of water button means refilling the water bowl and not a general filling of all the bowls ie food bowl. So I only put a couple inches of water in the bowl so I donât waste so much when she presses water and I dump it out and put more water in it.Â
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I do agree that taking away buttons should be avoided. Usually when I see people taking buttons away itâs because the âfoodâ or âtreatâ button is being abused.Â
Iâd probably say that the food related buttons should just be avoided in the first place if the learner has the tendency to get obsessive over food.Â
Iâd probably say that the food related buttons should just be avoided in the first place if the learner has the tendency to get obsessive over food.Â
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Totally agree!
My learner, Duke would spend all day outside if I let him. He uses "outside" every chance he gets, which I find amazing! It was kind of driving me nuts so instead of taking away communication I saw it as a way to add "later" to our board!Â
Highly recommend adding "later" it was a great solution for us. He now understands that when I model "outside, later" we will do that action at a later time. It added to our communication and significantly lessened frustration.Â
My learner, Duke would spend all day outside if I let him. He uses "outside" every chance he gets, which I find amazing! It was kind of driving me nuts so instead of taking away communication I saw it as a way to add "later" to our board!Â
Highly recommend adding "later" it was a great solution for us. He now understands that when I model "outside, later" we will do that action at a later time. It added to our communication and significantly lessened frustration.Â
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