Pizza delivery man instructed to scream rather than ring doorbell

Believe me, I’ve tried click-training, treat training, spritzing with water, distracting with toys, even a pro trainer had a shot. But she’s 10 years old and a neurotic rescue dog who is, as the trainer puts it, “too smart to be trained”. So we work around it :slight_smile:

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That sounds so familiar… the dogs we had when I was in college came to recognize the word “pizza” when we were talking about ordering it. (It probably didn’t help that they’d get tiny tastes of it when it came.) We started spelling it out instead. So, as you can guess, they learned that too. :roll_eyes:

It’s the same with the dog we have now-- it’s gotten to the point that I leave the room to call in an order, because if she hears me call it in, she gets excited and watches the door. Dogs can be smart, especially when it comes to food.

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Bingo. Same situation in terms of a too-smart dog that isn’t motivated by food, treats, toys, or much of anything else.

My rescue was abused as a puppy, and anxious around strangers (we assume as a result). He’s improved tremendously in the 6 years since we got him, but there is no amount of training that will ever make him truly comfortable with strangers. Especially strangers without dogs, coming into his home.

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I can believe it. It’s likely not impossible to train the dog but for some dogs you have to have the correct combination of reinforcement and training. Even professionals have different methods and approaches so it can be a crapshoot if it’ll work if a dog is really stubborn. In the grand scheme of things barking at the pizza man is not the worst thing and sounds like you’re taking good care of your pup :slight_smile:

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Screaming, no, but some nice opera would be okay.

It’s Richmond park in

south west London, near where I live. Lots of deer, loads of dogs too. Most of them manage not to chase the deer, which are very tame and unbothered by the herds of MAMIL cyclists.

Edited to add a photo from this summer…

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The whole inevitable fruitlessness that is the human condition, compressed in one single word.
Still funny, though.
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I was thinking he seemed kind of into it. A little harmless fun on the job.

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Oh, he was definitely a good sport about it, and I wish more people would be able to see humor in everyday life. What bothers me is the expectation that people in the service industry should honor every humiliating request that comes their way lest they be perceived as doing a poor job.

I’d like to see the screaming from the pizza video synced with the deer video.

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