# Change Aggressive Alert to Passive Alert



## OHK9Crazy (11 mo ago)

I'm working with a young adult dog, almost 2 years old, for HRD. His natural inclination to indication is split; sometimes he nose-bumps and lays, other times he slaps at it with his feet or straight out tries digging at it. Other than only rewarding for the desired nose-bump and lay combo (vs any foot-related contact), does anyone have any advice or tips to share?

Many thanks in advance.


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## Sarah Platts (Jan 12, 2010)

You need to teach a cue. I had a young dog that was naturally footy. There is alot of stuff all over the internet along the lines of dogs-must-not-touch-the-stuff. Its not entirely true. The thing is they should not be digging enough to totally destroy a scene. So back to this pup. Using a clicker, I clicked for one paw slap, and one paw slap only. So I controlled the contact. The amount of contact. Once that was in place, then after the paw, I cued to a sit (or down). I reinforced the passive indication by clicking for it. It sounds complicated but the dog, over half the time, would sit after the paw slap so it was a natural progression. But as you know, a passive alert dog can be very difficult to pinpoint the hide location (especially when progressing to blind or DB problems). So I then tied the paw slap to the "show me". Sometimes a sit or down will force a dog further from the hide and most will switch up their indication to an active alert. Anyway, back to the pup. It is basically a dual indication. Passive for most situations and can be cued to an active alert when necessary. Once you control the contact, you can shape it to more of what you are looking for.


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