What exactly do you mean by 'time out'?

To me, it can be anything from a momentary stopping of play (literally less than a second) if, for example, teeth touch skin to a few seconds of ignoring when the dog is too over-excited

The only time I'd use a longer time out is for a puppy (or sometimes an older dog who has never been taught to 'settle) when they are too over-tired or excited

Effective when used correctly. Can have adverse effects if used incorrectly.

Emmie doesn't get time outs because she gets seriously distressed if we shut her in rooms on her own and tries to break the door down to get out. It's far too much of a punishment, and door destruction is the only thing we'd need to give her a time out for in the house anyway so that seems pointless!

Moss gets time outs in that if he starts play biting I will stand up and turn my back on him for 10-20seconds. He also gets recalled from playing with Em until he calms down if he starts pratting around doing growly barking at her, because she's not keen on noisy dogs and will snap. It seems to be working so far

It depends what you mean by a time out, really.

We use them with Molly when she is getting over excited but we do it differently to how you'd do a 'time out' with a child. For example, last night we were playing in the garden with her and she started barking quite loudly and chasing feet. At this point we told her 'aah aah' (Our 'stop that' noise) but she ignored it so we stopped playing, ignored her and went inside, with Molly following. She came inside, calmed down, chewed on a bone for a bit and then we went back outside again. To me, that is a time out but it isn't what a lot of people would class as a time out.

I personally wouldn't shut her away in another room unless she was doing something dangerous not only because I don't like that technique but also because usually our time outs are because she is barking or getting overly excited - Shutting her away just makes her bark more and then when she comes out she gets excited to see us and the behaviour starts again. I much prefer ignoring and stopping the activity until she has calmed down. Plus I think she understands 'We were playing and I did X so we stopped playing' more than 'We were playing and I did X so then I got put in a room and then I got to come out'.

**Please note this thread is 2 years old.

Ok, I know this is an old thread but I'm going to reply anyway as the topic is general and may still be relevant to some people.

I think dogs can and do understand time out. I understand that shutting a dog away can be seen as a punishment but much as I try and use reward based training 99% of the time, I don't really have a problem with some actions having consequences (like if I'm on a group walk and when Cain occassionally tries to hump a dog and doesn't stop when told, he goes back on a lead. This is a consequence/time out, allows me to control him while he calms down and gives him a chance to change his frame of mind by chilling out.).

I have used time outs with Cain once. Like Sarah said, I think there sometimes comes a point when sometimes turning your back and ignoring the dog won't work as they are so worked up. When I first got Cain, if I was laying on the sofa he would jump in my head with full force it really hurt! I tried standing up/ignoring him/leaving the room but he was doing it because he was worked up and he'd just jump up at me, nip and claw. Although he was only 8 months, he was still very big and hurt me. We also hadn't had him long enough to train him Out or Go to bed, and he wasn't in a frame of mind to respond to treat training at that stage.

So if he jumped on my head, I'd get up and walk out of the room, when he followed me, I would nip back in and shut the door. I'd count to 30 then calmly let him back in. I would then ignore him until he calmed down. Rarely I'd need to do it twice in the row, he got the message pretty quick.

It was effective for me at the time as I was essentially dealing with a big, strong 40kg dog who was acting like a mouthy puppy. You can ignore a 5kg puppy a lot easier! Frankly I wasn't prepared to stand there and get hurt repeatedly. He wasn't responding to treat training at that point and it worked. I do think dogs can understand it and I have no problem with it being used sensibly in situations when it's hard to teach an alternative behaviour because the dogs head is in the clouds and it needs to calm down to be able to focus.

Exactly and as said before it is impossible to train any living being without the use of punishment (I really get hacked off that this word has been hijacked by some to = pain) if we want a well behaved (child, dog, employee etc).

Time outs, like any other system, equipment etc can be used appropriately and effectively or misused.

Let me give an example of how I used a time out. I think this might show how it can be very effective and instructive and can help a situation .

Long story short, next door bought 2 cats and put cat bells on them and the cats kept walking around close to our wall, on the garden wall and of course in our garden also, when our dog was not out.

My dog started to get very stressed and constantly was on the lookout for these blessed cats and their tinkly bells and began to react to other things as well, she started to become barky at postie and other things she was not usually barky at. She particularly barked at the cats (and anything that moved, since the problem with the cats/bells) outside of that patio doors/windows. She was just so stressed.

After some thought, and 3 weeks of this, I felt that she needed a consequence because she was getting so wound up that she was not in a good state and also it was driving us mad. I was concerned for her mostly though.

I decided on the criteria, which was that she was allowed to bark when I was not in the room, when she was at the other windows (where she has always been allowed to give the odd warning bark at vsitors) but was not allowed to bark at the patio doors at all if I or my OH was in the room.

So I implemented this using a time out marker (I do feel this is very important) and literally each and every time I was in the room and she started barking and lunging at a cat/cat bell, I said "Ah" calmly (never threateningly) and she was calmly taken into the hall behind the child gate with no extra verbal from me. The time out lasted about one minute only and then she was calmly allowed back in.

This worked in a few days - she is a very social dog and doesn't like being excluded, (not that we usually do) but also it helped to get her stress levels down quickly.

Needless to say she was also rewarded heavily when she made the choice not to bark (and still is rewarded with praise and sometimes a game or treat).

I think this is a good example of how time outs can be used to improve a stressful situation. I have only ever used time outs with her a very few times, this being one of them, and she's 11 years old now. I think they do have to be used carefully and certainly not willy nilly.

Wys
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http://www.cleverdogcompany.com/tl_f...sbehaviour.pdf

We use timouts for the times when he doesn't listen at all, you know, over tired puppy frenzy mode . He gets 10-30 seconds to calm down and forget his overheated behaviour, then come back out and get a new chance.

I wouldn't use this method with a dog that had separation anxiety or couldn't handle being in a room alone/on a leash/in a crate.

I'm also curious why people claim they never use "punishment" or never want to? You know that withholding treats and rewards within positive training is also a form of punishment?
I have to join smokeybear on this one, punishment does not equal pain, fear or anything gruesome for the dog. It can be just as simple as taking something away that the dog wants.

I did use time outs for Ben when he was a puppy, I would prob do it different now but they were effective and did him no harm

I also think they are good for the owners - if your dog is really doing your head in and you are about to loose the plot then a time out till you figure out a new battle plan works well

Since I have got Mia in general I dont use them - she has such a strong 'bed' command that if she is doing something I dont like I just say 'bed' and she races there and waits for a fuss - and forgets the thing she was doing

The only exception there was fights
When I first got her we did have a few fights with Ben, and when she gets that red mist she needs a time out to calm down, she just cant stop
it wasnt so much a punishment tho, she was so wound up she wasnt learning anything - it was just for Bens saftey