The No Floor

by Sue Ailsby
from Conformation course

People tend to panic when anyone starts to discuss the idea of tossing treats on the floor. NO dog can concentrate on what she's doing when there might be a treat on the floor!

Trust me, Floor Zen, AKA the No Floor, works just as well for Mini Dachshunds - whose noses are actually longer than their legs - as well as it does for vacuum cleaners like Goldens and Labs.

Just to get your heads in the right direction, here's a quick video of Syn doing a harder job of Floor Zen than your dog will have to do:

Floor Zen isn't any more difficult than Hand Zen - either for you to teach or for the dog to learn. The ONLY problem with Floor Zen is that you have less control of the treat when it's on the floor than you do when it's in your hand. Well, as Bob Bailey says, training is a mechanical skill - the more you practise it, the better you get.

Start with a few repetitions of Hand Zen, just to get your dog in the mood.

Sit down. That way you have better control of your feet and you're closer to the action. Show your dog a treat, then put the treat under your foot. Let her sniff it, lick it, paw it, prowl around it, just as you did when you were teaching Hand Zen. No power in the 'verse will get that treat out from under your foot.

The INSTANT she a) starts to lose interest or b) thinks of trying Zen, click, and FLICK THE TREAT AWAY for her to chase. We're getting a bit more specific now. I want her to know that she can have any treat I agree to, but, just to be clear, I'd like most of the ones she gets off the floor to be escaping.

Repeat until she's good at it, then, as you did before, add your voice cue and build up her ability to perform by increasing duration, difficulty, and distance.

HOMEWORK: teach your dog to stay away from the treat under your foot. Get at least 10 seconds of duration.

Then take your foot off the treat so she can see it. When she dives forward to grab it, cover it back up. Wait until she backs off again, then uncover it again. When she doesn't jump forward to get it just because she can see it, click and flick.

Build in duration, and add your Zen cue. NOT mat-diving will become a default behaviour - one that happens automatically and without a cue - but it's always nice to have a voice backup. One of my Giant Schnauzers (Slick-You-Doorknob, a very beautiful and sweet gentleman without an ounce of functional brain in his head)(which is extremely unusual for Giants - the dumb part, not the beautiful and sweet part) was once in the ring vying for Best In Specialty when an un-named competitor hit him square in the face with a fist-sized chunk of liver. Because he was very thoroughly Zen trained, instead of having the desired result of getting him to break his stack and dive for it, the arrival of the liver reminded him of the gazelle and all the rest of his training and only made him sparkle more thoroughly. I assume the liver-toss was accidental.

Yeah, no, I don't.

HOMEWORK: Teach your dog in-sight Floor Zen. Work up to 15 seconds duration.

Now we'll carry the lesson on until your dog understands that there truly is NO point in paying attention to stuff on the floor.

Don't put too much emphasis on this lesson. We want your dog to know that random items on the floor are not available when you're working with her, and we want her to know that she'll be rewarded for doing the right thing, but we don't want to work her to the point where she's swinging to look at you in her dreams when she spots something on the floor.

Put a treat under your foot, and run through the whole Floor Zen thing to remind your dog of what we're doing.

Now put the treat down (guard it with your foot if you have to), then show your dog your Yes Hand, click, and give her the Yes Hand treat. Pick up the floor treat and put it away. Give her another hand treat.

Move to a different location and repeat.

When she's got that, put a treat down in another room. Use a helper's foot to guard it. If you don't have a helper, put your dog on lead and use the lead (as little as possible) to keep her from getting the treat. Go slowly toward the treat until she spots it. Do NOT let her have the treat on the floor. When she remembers Floor Zen, click and give her a treat from your Yes Hand. Walk her away from the floor treat.

Move to a different location and repeat.

When she's really good at Floor Zen, you can "take it on the road" - do it in every room, on your front porch, walking down the street. Yes, dogs should certainly be able to have a pleasant sniff while going for a walk, but that doesn't mean they have to sniff every single thing they walk past. Maybe go for a walk, then give your Zen voice cue when you're walking past, say, the blue house. When you're past it, release her and let her enjoy her walk again. After a few houses, cue Zen again while you walk past the yellow house...

HOMEWORK: Teach your dog that treats on the floor are truly not available.

Once she really understands this, don't be afraid to go back to tossing treats on the floor when appropriate for rewarding while teaching other behaviours, but don't forget to go back and remind her of this lesson once in a while.