WRONG type of Conditioning!

Conditioning affects all of us in normal life and as it relates to our dogs.  It is important to understand conditioning and how it works in order to best control it when it comes to our canine companions.

First, let’s get the technical “speak” out of the way and then we can talk in more layman’s terms.

There are different types of conditioning when it comes to behavior.   We normally refer to two types of behavioral conditioning when it comes to our dogs; classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

Classical Conditioning:  Is a form of learning that involves presentation of a neutral stimulus along with a stimulus of some significance.  The neutral stimulus is a stimulus that does not normally affect the behavior of the respondent.  The significant stimulus is a stimulus that evokes a natural response.  Responses elicited by classical conditioning are not maintained by consequences.

Operant Conditioning: is a form of learning during which an individual learns to modify the occurrence and form of its own behavior due to the association with a stimulus.   This is modification of voluntary behavior.  Naturally occurring consequences can reinforce, punish, or extinguish behavior and are not always delivered by people.

In Layman’s Terms:

Classical Conditioning is training with a marker like a certain word or a clicker.  It is pairing something like a treat, with something that in the beginning is

Classical Conditioning

not understood or known by the dog.  By pairing something that the dog would naturally want (the treat) with something that the dog doesn’t really know (the clicker) it conditions the marker (or the clicker) to mean essentially the same thing as the treat after a period of time.  Therefore the marker can be used to reinforce desirable behavior.

Operant Conditioning is the dog learning (sometimes on his own) what is reinforcing and what has negative consequences in his own environment.  This can involve human/dog training or it can be something that is self-learned.

I believe that both of these types of training are important.  I really like classical conditioning because I can better control my dog, his learning and his responses.

But, for the purpose of this article I want to focus on operant conditioning and how it can negatively affect your training without you realizing it.

Often bad behaviors or behavior problems start out small.  For whatever the reason, your dog finds the behavior rewarding.  He may begin barking and he learns that he enjoys the sound of his own voice, or he sees the mailman leave after barking threatening him.

An intact male dog may begin to mark his territory inside the house.

If you notice the behavior in the beginning, it is usually fairly quick to change.  Instead of the behavior being rewarding for the dog, you can change the behavior, or restrict the behavior.

For instance if I have a dog that is constantly looking out the window and barking I am going to restrict his access to that window and if I have a dog marking or urinating in the house I am going to keep him on a leash with me and restrict his access to my house.  At my house these things are privileges that need to be earned.

I am Going to Change Bad Behavior Before it Becomes Habit

But, I do my best to nip bad behavior in the bud the moment I see it.  Even if I think  it is a little cute (begging or tail chasing) I must not encourage the behavior or it will become harder to eventually fix.

I recently had an older client at my house with her 4 year old poodle.  He was barking incessantly.  The problem was that her husband had originally thought it was cute when he barked at the front door and at noises on the TV and rewarded the behavior by encouraging it.

The dog learned that this behavior was appreciated, so he began to show it all of the time.  Soon he was barking when a leaf hit the ground, or when his owners moved the furniture and eventually it wasn’t cute anymore.

However, at this point the behavior had become conditioned.  He had been showing the behavior for so long it has become second nature.

The same is true with allowing your dog to urinate or defecate in your house for a long time.  Instead of being a behavior problem, it becomes a conditioned behavior.

A conditioned behavior is like a habit, whether it be good or bad.  But, habits are hard to change; especially well established habits.

Old habits are hard to break and new habits are hard to form because the behavioral patterns we repeat are imprinted in our neural pathways.

The basal ganglion (in the brain) appears to remember the context that triggers a habit, meaning they can be revived if triggers appear.

This is why it is sooo important to create good habits and change the behavior problems immediately when we see them.

People often ask me “Is he too old to learn”?  to which I vehemently say “NO! Dogs are never too old to learn!”

But learning is much easier if you are not breaking a bad habit!

Which means you can probably teach your 5 year old Chihuahua to “shake” hands a lot faster than you can re-train him not to bark at everything that moves.

What Can You Do?

Condition and Reward Good Behaviors to Form Good Habits!

Make sure that you are conditioning the good behaviors that your dog shows.  Encourage him to lay down, to come when called, to be quiet, and to potty outside.  After a period of time good behaviors are also conditioned.  Wouldn’t it be nice to know that your dog is “conditioned” to come to you when you call him?  But in order to achieve this you have to put in the work and effort to consistently reward it.

In order to achieve conditioning or habit forming, you must be consistent with your reward.  You must also fairly consistently or regularly reward these behaviors.  You can’t condition the behavior and then never reward your dog for it again or the reward and the habit will extinguish or go away!

Remember that many naughty behaviors your dog is showing are self-rewarding.  He doesn’t need you to reward them because he is rewarding himself and so conditioning happens very quickly!

Be very careful what behavior you reward!  You may think, initially that you want your dog or your puppy to bark but I guarantee after a time you will want some quiet and silence on command.  You don’t need to reward barking, most often it is a self-rewarding behavior, and you do want to reward QUIET!

IF Your Dog Has a Bad Habit

Be patient!!!  It is very difficult to change a bad behavior that has developed into a habit!

You must be willing to be almost completely consistent or at least aim for 95% consistency and reaction!

This consistency is what helps to form a new behavior.

Think of your dog as a former drug abuser or someone trying to quit smoking.  Be patient!  Bad habits don’t change overnight.

Don’t give up!  Your dog is worth your time and effort and he needs you to be resilient and patient!

A favorite quote of mine that applies to constant, consistent and positive dog training:

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.

Don’t settle for the bare minimum or give the least effort you think

you can get away with. If you’re going to do something, do it to the

best of your ability! 

Understanding Conditioning in Dog Training is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

Someone Reluctant to Crate Train?

Recently I have had a few questions about those of you that have crate whiners!

I HATE whining!  I can almost tolerate full out barking before I can tolerate the sound of whining.  I guess it is the pitch and my tendency toward migraines but whining is one of my biggest pet peeves, so I completely understand!

But, it is important to understand crate training from your dog’s stand point before we go much further!

What it’s Like for Your Dog

Most whining and crying comes from our puppies when we try to crate train them.  Understand that they come from a world where they lived with their mom and their littermates in a fairly confined space.  They have never really experienced being all ALONE and it can be kind of scary, at first.

Dogs are den animals, that is true, so acclimating to a crate is somewhat natural for dogs, however they are never “locked” in their dens.  This inability to get our takes some acclimation and the understanding that nothing bad is going to happen to them in this new environment.

Most of our pets are spoiled.  We take our dogs with us and spend lots of time with them, catering to their every need; so they can be taken aback when we lock them up and leave them alone.

Crates are CRITICAL

But, crates are essential to the safety of your dog and your “stuff”.   Read more about why to use a crate and crate games here in my article The Joys of Crate Training.

I will always crate train my dogs.  It makes them easier to travel with, because their home can travel with them, and it helps them with separation anxiety and anxiety at the groomer and the vet hospital.  At some point almost ALL dogs will have to be crated or caged somewhere.  Just last week I had to drop my dog off for x-rays and I know she was put in a kennel to await her turn!

So it is crucial not to give up!  Remember it is normal for your dog to protest and how you deal with these protests will set you up for a lifetime of loud protests if you are not careful!

What Do You Do?

Crate Training will Save you From this Destruction!

First and foremost is to acclimate your puppy or dog to the crate to the best of your ability.

Also play crate games!  The more you can make the crate a fun place the less stress and screaming you are going to get when you leave your or puppy in it!

Good training and the important things in your dog’s life take time!  Don’t just shove your dog in and lock the door and hope he will be okay.  Chances are this would be traumatic for him.

Find an extra great treat, like a sterile cow bone or Kong stuffed with peanut butter or chicken flavor; freeze it and make it a special crate treat.  It must be safe enough to leave with your puppy or dog alone.  So, make sure he can’t get large pieces off of it or shred it.

I never leave a blanket with a dog that is not crate trained.  He could consume it and need abdominal surgery to have it removed.

These special crate treats should ONLY come out when he is in his crate NEVER when he is with you or just around the house.  This makes his crate exciting and him happy to see you leave.  If he has access to the same treat all of the time or at other frequent times it doesn’t make the crate special.

Leave a radio on and make it LOUD.  We live in a world of constant noise and media.  Many of us live in an environment full of noise, the TV, computer, kids screaming, people talking, music playing…but when we leave our dogs alone we leave them in a quiet and sterile environment.  This is not something they are use to and it can be scary alone!  Help them feel like they are in their normal environment by leaving the radio or TV on for them.

Loud background sounds also block the sound of the mailman, delivery man, or other strange noises.  It can also help to calm a puppy in his while you putter around the house and get things done.  But if you leave that puppy alone in his crate and proceed to make noises he can hear, he is more likely to resist vocally!

At night I believe in keeping the crate next to my bed.  I think it is crucial for my dogs to hear that I am right next to them breathing and moving around.  Remember your puppy is use to hearing his littermates, he needs to hear some familiar sounds.  If he stirs in the middle of the night I can hear him and take him outside.  But if he cries, whimpers, or whines when I put him in there I can tap on the side of the crate and tell him to be quiet.  This stops the whimper from escalating to a howl.

Never ever break the cardinal rule!

The cardinal rule, you ask?

Puppies Should Love their Crates!

Don’t Let a Screaming Dog or Puppy Win!

You must teach your dog that in order to get out of his crate he must be quiet!  This is essential!

Dogs are much more strong willed than we are, so if he screams for 2 hours straight and you go to let him out he will object even more adamantly the next time you put him in and 3 or 4 hours will be nothing.

By letting out a dog that is throwing a fit, you are basically saying “YES! Please throw a fit when you want something”.  And you are much more likely to see this behavior anytime he doesn’t want to do something.  He will begin to scream when you leave him alone in the car, or alone in your home, or if he doesn’t want his nails trimmed.  You have taught him that fit throwing and screaming to gets him what he wants.

Instead, you must teach him that being quiet is what you want.  If he wants out of his crate he must be quiet, this teaches him impulse control and that he doesn’t get everything that he wants when he wants it.  Impulse control is fundamental to good dog training.

Tricks

Exhausted dogs and puppies are too tired to scream.  If I have a dog that is a screamer or likely to throw a fit, I will wear him out prior to his crate stay!  Play ball, run him next to your bike, or take him for a hike and as he begins to drift off slip him into his crate.

I have had screaming puppies!  I had a 6 week old puppy that screamed for nearly 4 hours one night but I didn’t let him win.  I lost a night’s sleep, but it was better than losing several nights sleep or worrying about squishing a puppy in my bed!

Your Dog's Crate Should be his Favorite Spot!

Shorter sessions are better.  This makes sense but if you leave a dog for 8 hours that can be hard to adjust.  If however you do 10 minutes when he is exhausted, with a safe chew bone, and end on a happy note you will ease into crate training much easier!   Make sure he is tired before bedtime!

If rapping on the crate doesn’t work to quiet my puppies or being by the bed doesn’t seem to help them feel better, I try moving the crate as far away from my bedroom as possible so they can scream without bothering me.  I can later bring the crate back into my room, but this allows me to get some sleep.

I have even moved crates to my air conditioned office that was located in my garage.  I have let quite a few dogs scream it out.  Once I know they aren’t going to hurt themselves, I let them throw a fit.  This is like a child throwing a tantrum, if you give in it only gets worse.  As long as they are safe, let them learn that fit throwing will get them nowhere.

At some point you may have to let a screaming puppy out to potty and we know you can’t break the cardinal rule…so how do you win?

You make a distracting noise and get ready to praise a quiet puppy.  If you can’t wait for them to fall asleep and then surprise them, then make a strange noise and when they pause run down and reinforce quietness.

But overall make it as positive and fun as you possibly can!  There are going to be some fits, that is normal but how you deal with them is the most important!  Remember you are the stronger smarter animal

Got a Crate Squawker? is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

Is This Your Dog?

I work with a lot of clients and most of them suffer from this syndrome.  Their dog does something wrong and they shout “NO” or “BAD DOG” at the top of their lungs but the dog barely acknowledges his owner’s presence much less his anger.

When pressed or called the dog runs around the house as if he is deaf and can’t be caught.

An angry game of dart and evade ensues until the dog owner is exhausted and the dog finally gives up.  At this point there is usually some aggression on the part of the dog owner and so everyone loses!

Does Your Dog Respect the NO command?

For many the answer is “no”.

Why?

You can Only use the NO command if You Catch Your Dog Misbehaving NEVER AFTERWARD!

People overuse the NO command almost more than any other command.  The second most overused command would probably be COME.

When you overuse a command, it begins to lose its meaning!

People say it “No! NO!  Bad Dog!” but nothing really happens.  They don’t make the dog listen, and so therefore the dog learns that these words mean nothing.

The bad thing is eventually the owner gets angry enough to have some follow through but at this point the dog is no longer associating the initial behavior with the reprimand.

The owner hunts the dog down and reprimands him, but leaves the dog totally confused.  You can never reprimand a dog AFTER the behavior, he simply won’t understand!

The only thing the dog really learns is that his owner is scary sometimes and then tries to avoid him when he sees his level of anger escalate.

This avoidance, exacerbates the problem and makes it even worse!  The owner gets angrier and the dog continues to try and avoid and evade his infuriated owner!

You see, dogs aren’t capable of reasoning like we humans are.  A human would say to himself “Gosh, mom is REALLY mad and I am going to have to deal with her sooner or later…sooner will be less agonizing than later.  I am liable to get in more trouble if I don’t come or listen now!”

But a dog doesn’t realize that EVENTUALLY he is going to have to come to you or surrender.  He thinks he can stay away from you forever, or at least until your mood changes.  He doesn’t realize that his behavior is the reason for your rage and with each passing moment it gets worse.

What Do You Do?

First understand from your dog’s point of view and learn to control your anger and your emotions!  We are the “thinking” and “reasoning” animal, we should always be in control of our emotions when it comes to our dogs!  Patience really is a virtue in dog ownership!

Next, change the word or the command.

If your dog totally ignores “NO!” then STOP USING IT and adopt a different command!

I once read a book where the author recommended that a dog’s name be changed if he had had bad experiences from its use or he ignored it completely.  Although I think this is a little extreme in most cases, I also understand that if a command means nothing or something bad when it should be good, it should be changed.

At my house I say Nein (nine) when my dogs do something horrifying and they have been taught to respect this word.

Originally I picked a word that wasn’t normally in my vocabulary.  I didn’t go around shouting “NEIN” in my real world.

So in order to find this word in my regular vocabulary, I had to be pretty frustrated.  I wasn’t going to use it haphazardly or too often.  I was truly irritated when I used this command.

That DOES NOT mean that my anger was going to drive me to hitting or compulsion.  I believe there is never a reason to raise your hand to your dog or use excessive physical force.

What it did mean was that I was willing to go to my dog to change the behavior.  At my house I usually only use this command for aggression; teeth touching me or another animal in my house and so if I use this command I am going to come to you to make sure your behavior stops.

This reliability in the command or word means that my dogs respect the word when they hear it and they immediately STOP showing the behavior in question.

When I trained Service Dogs we had to use the word “Phooey” for the same reason!

“NO” is too easy to use too often, misuse, overuse and often there is no follow up.

Dog training is about consistency!  If you give a command you need to enforce it somehow, whether that is the SIT command or the NO or NEIN or the COME command. If you give a command you need to be capable and willing to change the behavior in question!

Don’t get lazy!  The best way to make sure your dog respects you, listens when you tell him to stop and comes when he is called…is to train with him at least EVERY DAY!  Then listening to you becomes a well-conditioned behavior and he is more likely to do it even during times of stress and excitement!

Do You Own “No! No! Bad Dog”? is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

I giggle when I look back at my dog training videos and my articles because to me EVERYTHING is critical!  Teaching your dog to leave it, crate training, leash training everything is vital to you and your dog.  And, to be honest, it really is.  All dog training and the victory over behavior problems ensures that you keep your dog and that you both remain happy.

BUT, the #1 most important obedience command for EVERY dog is the recall or come command.

Does Your Dog Come When Called?

So what happens if your dog is off leash, he sees a bunny or a deer and goes chasing after it?  Will he leave that distraction and come to you when you call him?  What if there is a car coming?

Recently a good friend lost his world champion obedience dog because he was chasing deer and blindsided by a car.  I am still devastated for them both.  It can certainly happen to anyone who’s dog is off leash, and I can only hope and train hard and pray it never happens to me or my dogs.

What Can You Do?

Are you FUN to Come to?

You HAVE to train, train, train for a good recall!  This is not something to let slack or ignore, this is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you will ever do!  Your dog’s life may sometime depend on this exact command!

NEVER, ever call your dog when he is in trouble, your mad or if you are going to do something bad to him!  His name and the word “come” should never mean something bad.  So if he is in trouble go and get him.  If you are going to crate him or trim his nails, go to him, but do not call him.

You never want your dog’s name or come to = something bad or even slightly negative.  Imagine your dog and the bunnies…if “COME” means sometimes he goes in his crate, then there is NO WAY he is leaving those bunnies to come to you!

Would you come to YOU if you were mad or sounded that angry?

The word COME should equal FUN, FOOD, and PARTIES!

Does your dog drop everything and run to you when he hears the cookie jar rattle?  When you whisper “cookie” would he wake up from a dead sleep to rush to your side?  Why is it that he listens so well to the rattle of the treat bag or a word that means treat?

Because with 100% reliability you are going to give him a treat!  How often do you get into the dog biscuits but then don’t give him one?  Or ask him if he wants a cookie only to give him nothing?  Chances are you don’t.  Chances are you reward him and so he is familiar with the reward that is tied to the sound or the word.  If these things were not paired with something good or a treat, he would stop coming and they would stop being meaningful cues.

You must make sure that your command to “come” = something meaningful and good almost 100%  of the time!

Pair the word come with treats, with games and with jackpots of chicken breast and other wonderful things.  Don’t call your dog and then take for granted the fact that he actually came to you.  And, just know that your praise is never going to be as exciting or as motivating as a scuttling or taunting squirrel.  However the knowledge that FOR SURE you are going to be rewarded and you might get some chicken breast is often worth the gamble for your dog!

Being Fun and Training Equals a Fast Recall!

Look at it from his perspective and stop comparing him to “Lassie”.  Dogs want to fulfill their own needs, what is important is to pair what he likes with what you want!

My favorite way to teach my dog to come is to play hide and seek at home.  Games are FUN!  I don’t care if you are 80 or 20 or if you do or don’t have kids at home.  You need to PLAY with your dog in order to teach him you are fun!  Just like you play with your children or grandchildren; sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone because it is important for the dog or the child!

Have someone (your spouse, friend or your child) hold your dog’s collar as you tease him with some treats and dash away to hide.  First hide in easy to find places and as he gets better you can truly “hide” and make him find you behind doors, in his crate or other silly places.  As you call him praise him, this is critical even though you can’t see him coming you must assume that he is scampering after you so continue your praise.

“Fury COME, good girl, good girl, Come, good girl” until she gets to me.

“Fury COME!”  just isn’t motivating or exciting and she is likely to get bored and stop coming.  I have to motivate her to me and make it FUN!  The teasing and dashing is also important.  Just showing your dog a treat and sauntering off, is boring.

Which would you prefer?  Now which would you prefer if you were 5?  Remember your dog has the mentality of a child and needs fun and games!

Once he is finding you with exhilarating excitement in your home, all over your home, in funny places (yes I think dogs have a sense of humor), it is time to move this game outside.

Get a long line of 25 or 50 feet and play the same game; dashing behind trees and bushes.  Hide up inside trees or underneath things like your car; make this game the most fun thing your dog has ever done!    This imprinting of FUN, FUN, FUN along with reliable treats means your dog will be more likely to automatically leave the bunny, squirrel or deer to rush to your side when you call him!

It isn’t enough to teach this or play this once or twice, you MUST continue to play this game throughout your dog’s life.  Once it is imprinted and he is enjoying it, you can play it less but play it occasionally to keep it sharp and reliable.  If you notice him not coming to you when called go back to making it FUN and playing!

What Notto Do?

Don't Call Him if He won't Come!

Don’t call your dog when he is in trouble or you’re going to do something negative to him.  I know I said it before but it begs to be repeated!  This will RUIN this command’s reliability!

Don’t be boring!  If you are boring your dog is less likely to listen!!  Dogs often mirror our behavior so the more excited and animated you are the more likely your dog will be to listen and enjoy himself.  Even if it is out of your comfort zone, get animated and have fun!

NEVER, EVER call your dog if you think he won’t come and you have no physical control of him (unless it is an emergency).

If your dog ignores you don’t give him the opportunity to ignore your commands!  This goes for any command but especially the COME command.  If your dog ignores you and doesn’t come, this means the command means NOTHING to your dog and nothing happens to him to make him come.

The more often you call him and he ignores you, the more the command loses its meaning and the less likely he is to ever come.

Instead, put him on a leash and work on the command by playing games OR at least put him on a leash so that if he ignores you, you can then make him listen by reeling him in!

You may have to slowly work on the command so that he listens off leash in a safe area like your yard, or a fenced in area.  When he doesn’t listen go to him, clip on the leash and encourage him to listen to you by restricting his ability to run away and by encouraging him with treats, toys and fun.

It is much easier to teach him this is fun, than to rely on force!

As always have as much fun as possible, this is what bonds you to your dog and your dog to you!  But work hard so that, if that moment comes and your dog’s life hangs in the balance he has a desire to play and to please you and leave any distraction behind!

Teaching Your Dog to Come When Called, No Matter What! is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

Thank you to fortunate K9 for the picture

I do my very best to write for the masses.  I try to keep up on comments on my blog and the problems that plague dog owners around the world.

I write articles on basic commands like teaching your dog about the leash to finding your dog’s  motivator.  I also write intermediate articles for those looking for more of a challenge and advanced obedience.  We even talk about games and aggression.   Occasionally I even direct my articles to others in my field or those aspiring for such a career.

I even shoot short informative videos to show you how to train your own dog in your own time in the Dog Training Secrets Video Vault here www.dogtrainingvideovault.com

But I suppose I don’t hit all the questions that everyone needs answered.

However I get  A LOT of duplicate questions about the same behavior.

Utilize Our Resources!

Did you know I have almost 20 years experience working with animals?  I have worked with everything from police dogs, to service dogs from the disabled to large cats!  I have a glowing career I am quite proud of!

So, first I am here to encourage you to use our resources for yourself and the well being of your dog and to help those you know friends and family having questions.

• Read our blog!  There are articles posted twice weekly and these articles are also posted to Facebook and Twitter.
  

  Our Training is built on Play and Games to make it More Fun for you Both!

• When you click on the highlighted words in the body of the article it will take you to related articles!
• Search our blog.  If you have questions or problems or are suffering from a doggy behavior problem do a search in the search box in the upper left hand side of our blog.  You can search for anything from barking to nose games.  This is a great and free resource.
• We are constantly doing research to improve our techniques and keep up with the latest information in the field, which we often publish for you!
• We are honest and our training is simple, based on play, and always positive and fun!
• Join us on Facebook!  If you like our page at TheDogTrainingSecret.com it will automatically load not only the new training articles for each week, it will also post to your page interesting articles about dog’s health, dogs in the news and free dog offers!
• Share our posts to your wall so that your friends and family can get the free help that might help them improve their relationship with their dog and keep them from relinquishing ownership.  You never know when one article of hope can change lives!
• I also recommend that you join us in the Video Vault.  As with our dog training blog new videos are uploaded each week and can help you with everything from nail trims and just how to do them to leash training, barking and digging!  Watching a video can clear up any question on how-to and you can always go back and review!

The Obedience we All Aspire to!

So, here is my challenge to you.  Join us on Facebook and request an article or video to be shot reviewing a problem you and your dog are having that you don’t see already discussed and I will do my best to tackle your questions!

I write many articles and shoot many videos in advance that are waiting in the wings to be published so, please give me time and keep your eyes posted on your wall to look for the articles you have requested!

Go to Facebook, like our page, and bring on the work load!

Interactive Dog Training is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

You Want Your Dog to Stare at You Like You are one of These Cupcakes!

This is part 3 of a 4 part series of teaching your dog how to listen and obey you, without pulling while he is on a leash.  If you didn’t read my first two installments please do so first here: The Premise of the Magical Dog Leash  and The Magical Dog Leash Part 2: Finding Heel 

In my opinion, Drive and Focus are essential to good dog training and leash skills.

For those of you who are not familiar with the terms I first want to break them down for you so that you can understand what I, and others are talking about when we use these words.

Drive: There are several types of “drives” in dog training; play/prey drive and fight/defensive drives.  When I write articles about drive, I am referring to the play/prey drive function that is innate with most dogs.

Most dogs have some kind of play or prey drive.  When they see a small critter running their automatic response is to give chase and play.  Even if they don’t want to chase animals they may pounce, bite and squeak toys!

The nice thing about this “drive” is that you can increase it, decrease it and learn to control it.

If you have a dog with low prey/play drive you can increase it by frustrating him a bit and teaching him to chase toys, tugs, and balls on a string often keeping them a just barely out of reach for a while before allowing him the reward of catching the “prey”.

• Frustration causes an increase in drive whether that drive is for a toy or food motivator.
• Constant playing, food and immediate access to the reward will decrease drive in your dog.

If you have a dog with CRAZY high prey/play drive (like my dogs) you can take it down a few notches and teach them to lower their drive and control themselves in order to play with you and/or you can reward them more often instead of frustrating them.  Instead of teasing, flinging and chasing these dogs need to be taught more obedience in order to harness their play drive!  I don’t need to increase my dogs’ prey drive!

Eventually whether you are increasing or decreasing your dogs drive (perhaps dependent on the situation) you will learn just how to control your dog when he is at

Use Your Dog's Instincts and Toys

his utmost excitable level!

I have people who’s dog have trouble learning to play and they therefore have trouble increasing drive with their dog, if you are in that boat click here.

And for more information on building http://www.thedogtrainingsecret.com/blog/building-dogs-drive/and controlling drive click on the words.

I have had people who also argue that there is NO WAY they want to increase their dog’s play or chase drive!  I completely understand what they are saying, they feel like their dog is already out of control, but the point to this is that by playing with your dog in drive you are learning to control his drive and he is learning to control his impulses.  This ability to control his own wants and impulses is crucial.

This will help you when your dog is distracted by neighbors, kids, bunnies, and anything else he might want to chase or play with while you are out walking.

My dogs are very, very high drive dogs, they want to play and chase almost constantly, but the reason I am so successful with dog training is that I learn to control them while they are at their utmost excitable and uncontrollable.  I teach them that in order to get what they want (the game) they must listen to and obey me.  This gives me dogs that, after they learn the terms of playtime, are willing to ignore almost anything in order to get what they want!

When you are on a walk or a hike with your dog, your ultimate goal will be to control him no matter what the conditions and so by playing some games and teaching him to control his urges you are setting yourselves up for success later!

For help teaching your dogs “Drive” please refer to my former articles.  Teaching your dog to Retrieve using his Play Drive, Building Your Dog’s Drive in Preparation for Obedience and Training Your Dog in Drive.

Play and “Drive” teaches you to control the excitement level of your dog and “Focus” will give you control of what your dog is looking at, at any given time.

Teach Your Dog to Stare At You!

Focus: is eye contact and attention.

I teach all of my dogs to give me eye contact on command.  I want them to learn to ignore EVERYTHING else that is going on and give me attention when I ask for it, no matter what.

Not only is this great for distractions on a walk, this is also critical for nervous or shy dogs.  If my dog is fearful of whatever (leaf blower, dog, human, etc.) I can give him the command to give his focus to me and this therefore helps to distress and calm him.  But for this article we will focus on how this helps with the distractions that life provides.

If you are out walking and your dog sees something that excites him (a skateboarder, another dog, a cat, whatever) you can ask him to ignore it by giving you eye contact.  If he is looking at you and giving you his full attention, he can’t look at or pay attention to anything else!

But, this is a foundation that needs a lot of work, time, and praise!  In order for you to be successful in times of distraction you must again build a firm foundation.  I can take my dogs to the dog park and ask them at any given time to come over and give me eye contact and ignore every other dog in the park, even the ones sniffing or jumping on them…that is good control!  And, if they listen to me and give me what I want they can again go and play with their friends.

What You Will Need

• Your dog’s favorite toy
• Yummy soft treats (pea sized or smaller)
• Clicker
• Your dog
• Lots of Patience!

Getting Started

If you are using “drive” training you will mostly be utilizing your dog’s favorite toy.  For “drive” training you don’t need a clicker as the delivery of the toy and your voice are the reward.  It is difficult to click and then quickly deliver your dog’s toy fast enough to build or reinforce drive.   But it is ESSENTIAL to use a marker with your voice so your dog knows what he was doing when he got his toy.  I say “YESSSS” then deliver the toy.

If you are using treats I would recommend using the clicker and your marker word to mark the correct moment that your dog’s eyes reach your pupils.

Using the Toy

Wait Until His PUPILS hit Your Pupils!

Remember that this toy is special and cannot be used or played with at anytime.  This is your toy that you keep hidden and away from your dog until it’s time for training.  It is not special if he has access to it anytime!

• With your dog sitting or standing in front of you hold the ball or toy away from your body, in your palm (not dangling) and keep it completely still.
• Your dog will probably focus on it, jump, bark and do just about anything to get you to throw or activate his ball for him.
• Be patient!  You can win this game if you are patient!
• Stand completely still and keep your eyes focused on his face.
• Eventually he should give up on all other behaviors and he will stare straight at your face because he is completely frustrated that you won’t throw his ball.
• The MOMENT he stares up at you mark that behavior with your marker “YES” or “GOOD” or your clicker and throw his ball or let him jump up and grab it.
• Continue quietly and patiently playing this game.
• He will quickly learn to stare up at you and give you eye contact.
• As he becomes successful add a command “watch me” “watch” or whatever command you desire to let him know what he is doing.  Eventually you will be able to ask for this behavior.

Using Food

• Get some absolutely scrumptious treats and put one in each hand.
• With your dog sitting or standing in front of you show him that you have a treat in each of your hands then bring your hands up to your face but not too close to your eyes.
• Be patient!  Say nothing!
• Your dog will undoubtedly look from one hand to the other and back and forth until he is totally frustrated at which time he will stare at you!
• At the MOMENT his pupils hit yours click and treat!
• Continue doing this until he gets the idea to stare at you intensely, then and only then may you add a command “watch” “watch me” etc.

Cheating

Some people cheat by spitting food or holding the treat close to the eyes in order to force the dog to look at the face.  But, I don’t think your foundation will be as strong! Instead of teaching your dog to stare at your eyes you are teaching him that “face” is enough and it will be harder for you to determine (later) what your dog is really looking at!

But, as always do, what you need to; to make this all work!

Practice, practice, practice!

At first you will begin in a small secluded less distracted area.  As your dog gets better move him out with the kids and the other pets.  Teach him to stare at you no matter what is going on!

Request this behavior often!  Many times I will simply ask for a “stare” from across the room or after my dog has been playing or is playing!  I want to proof this behavior.  You may notice your dog staring at you often, this is a good sign!

Once your dog can do this with more distractions, extend the time that he is able to continue staring.  A one to two second stare down with you is not going to help later while you are out walking!  Teach him to stare at you for a minute or two and then more!

Next, take his favorite toy and swing it in his face.  Tap his muzzle with his toy or food.  Is he able to continue staring at you and not look toward his toy?  If he is not you are not ready!  Continue working until this is possible.

Become the Focus of Your Dogs World!

You should be able to throw his toy/food, rub him with his toy/food,  jump around move your arms back and forth, feed another dog or pet and still he should maintain his stare.

THEN, you will take him outside and go back to square one to teach him yet again that eye contact and focus outside are the same as eye contact and focus inside.  Remember to be patient!  He must again learn in outside surroundings.  He will want to stare at everything else that is going on.

Your ultimate goal is to be able to touch him with food/toys, throw them, swing them and basically do everything you want while he maintains eye contact with you no matter where you are.

As always you will continue to reinforce him for successful attempts and just increase the time and the stimulus as he is triumphant and learns.

As with all good foundation training, this is not QUICK!  This type of training takes time, energy and work on both of your parts.  There will be frustration on both parts as well, but how you deal with this frustration will determine how successful you are later.

There is no QUICK FIX if you want your dog to truly be victorious and listen to you while he is on a leash.

Eventually you will not ask for this all of the time, only when you need it when he is distracted.  But if you build a strong enough foundation with positive reinforcement and he enjoys this training he will give you eye contact and focus by default no matter what is going on.  Meaning he does it because it is FUN, rewarding, and he is USE TO LISTENING TO YOU.

If however you rarely work on this skill or the finding heel skill you will end up with a dog that continues to pull and ignore you!

Teaching Your Dog Drive, Eye Contact and Focus for More Leash Skills is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

Is Your Dog Bored at Dinner?

So I’ve done it, I have gone and crossed over into the dark side; I entered a competition with my dog Fury the other day!

Now, you first need to understand ME to understand my thinking and why this is extraordinary and a problem for me.

I am clearly not normal.  I hate competition.  Hate may not be a strong enough word; I loathe competition!

I vividly remember being in kindergarten and running my first “real” race.  Apparently I was “super fast” for my age because I was going to cross the line first (this is not a trait that lasted for me) but I hesitated, slowed down and looked back for my friends.  There was a part of me that didn’t want to cross first.

That trait stuck.  Whenever I talk about competing I always share how much I loathe it.  Some of you must wonder; if I despise it so much WHY do I do it?  Because competition bonds me to my dog!

Even though I hated it and I still hate it some of the best times I had were spent training for competitions with my former dog “Mr. Snitch”.  Not necessarily competing, although I have some great memories of our competitions together as well, the training was spectacular time spent together.   We enjoyed every moment of it together because, of course, I worked him with positive reinforcement training and in drive.

I never cared whether he won the biggest blue ribbon, whether we barely passed or the few times we didn’t even qualify!

I wanted the same relationship with my 18 month old Dutch Shepherd.  I went through some major depression after my father died and then Mr. Snitch died of cancer and my Nix was then diagnosed with meningitis.  Fury, the little beast, was unintentionally put on the back burner.

Recently I have been spending an incredible amount of time working with her and shooting some videos and our bond has certainly strengthened.  And, a few weeks ago when I was at a client’s house working with his biting puppy, I recommended that he work his puppy for each of his meals.

Take Your Dog to Dinner...by Working on Obedience Together of Course!

A lot of times I hear people gasp when I recommend this, like working for his or her food is a despicable idea!  And, I tell my clients it’s like taking your kid to dinner and enjoying his or her company versus tossing his bowl on the table and making him eat alone.

Really how often do you “interact” with your dog while he is eating?  Most of the time the bowl barely touches the floor before the food is gobbled up and gone, ready to be filled yet again at another meal time.

If you work with your dog while you feed him his meal, you are actually interacting with him and that lessens the treats and fatty foods you are giving him while you train.

As long as you are using positive reinforcement, games, drive and fun this is a win-win situation whether you have a Lab puppy, a German Shepherd puppy or a Golden puppy!

I almost always recommend this type of training if you have a dog that is food aggressive, because this gives you all the control and makes your dog realize that food actually comes from YOU and so he should listen to you and respect you.

But I got to thinking…why not incorporate this into my already busy training regimen?  Now that we have our eye on the prize (or at least some basic goals together) I have been working with her “highness” several times per day.

We go outside and work 5-20 minutes a few times a day but I have also started putting her food in my pocket and having her do some basic stuff for it.  This isn’t as barbaric as it sounds and I guarantee if you were to ask her, her opinion she would much rather play games and interact with me than eat alone from a cold sterile bowl.

She has a great time working with me for her food, and sometimes, when the day is busy this helps me ensure we are getting at least 2 good training sessions in for the day.

You don’t have to make your dog work for every piece of kibble.  I often jackpot and give her a handful of food so that she is satiated!

How to Implement This Training Schedule

• Decide what you want to work on before starting!  Does your dog need help with his basic obedience?  Does he come when called?  Do you want to do more challenging advanced obedience?  Or would you like to teach him some tricks?
• I don’t care what you work even a multitude of the things above on as long as you are working and spending time together!
• This requires meal feeding, I don’t like free feeding dogs anyway!
• Measure the regular food you are giving your dog and put it into a bag, a tool belt or a fanny pack.
• Get your clicker
• Begin working on whatever skill you desire.
• Don’t just have your dog do ONE thing like laying down and waiting to be fed.  Interact with him and make it fun!
• Utilize lots of jackpots to keep it fun and keep your dog motivated.
  

  Work Together! You'll be Happy You Did!

• Calling your dog:  I back up and call my dogs to come; when they sit in front of me I feed them.   I may even dash into another room while calling my dogs to come, then having them sit in front.
• Have your dog find heel position.
• Work on sit and/or down stays.
• Teach your dog to shake.
• Or, take your dog outside and work on more advanced obedience.  I am working on out of motion down stays, so I toss some food down in the grass as I tell her to down.
• Most importantly HAVE FUN TOGETHER!

This is all about bonding with your dog and working on your obedience together.  Using their food simply give you a set time and an outlet and keeps your dog a bit slimmer than using treats!  You will see your bond deepen and your dog listen to you more readily just by implementing this simple plan.

So make a pledge to your dog to “go out to dinner” together if not once or twice a day at least 3 times a week!  And you will see his obedience and commitment shine!

Working for a Living in Dog Training is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

All Dogs are Motivated by Food

This is another one of those back to basics posts, but it is really crucial to understand!

In order to use positive reinforcement, you have to find your dog’s motivator or motivators.

You must motivate your dog to listen to you.

If you can’t motivate you are, sadly, left with force and coercion.

Motivation is a term that refers to a process that elicits, controls and sustains certain behaviors.   For instance, if you have not eaten and you are hungry; food may be a motivator.

Coercion is the practice of forcing someone or something to behave in a certain manner by the use of threats or some other form of pressure or force.

Typically in dog training these are the types of training we utilize.  You can motivate your dog to listen by building a relationship and finding his motivators or you can use your physicality and force your dog to comply.

I personally like motivating my dog.  Someday, I may be unable due to illness or injury to force my dog to comply and what would happen then if our relationship was based on force?  Even if I am physically able, I just don’t like force or compulsion.  I think that we “thinking” animals should use our minds to control our animals not our physical force.

You need to find your dog’s motivators if you expect to use your mind (and not your body) to control him!

What motivates YOU?  Money? Foods like chocolate, cookies, coffee?  Video games?  Books?  TV?  Exercise or Games?  Shoes?  What do you reward yourself with?

What if your work decided it would no longer pay you; from now on they would force you to come to work and stay all day working for free?  I am assuming you would be miserable at the very least, not to mention angry and defiant!

Many people respond to my articles by saying their dog doesn’t like toys, treats or food, but you HAVE to find SOMETHING unless you expect to use force!

Just like you need to get to know the child, or the person to find out what motivates them and what to take away should they make a mistake you also need to find out what motivates YOUR particular dog.

Some Common Motivators

• Food
• Treats
• Toys
• Praise
• Affection
• Games

Food

All dogs are motivated by food at some point.  Food is an essential element of life; it is something that is needed by everything that is living.  So at some point food is a motivator.  If you have a fat dog that is totally satiated and not hungry, then food possibly isn’t as much of a motivator as food is for a hungry dog.

So if you have a dog that is difficult to motivate with food, then meal feed your dog cut out all the treats and extras that you give him for no reason and my guess is he will be hungry before its time for breakfast or dinner.

When I have a dog that isn’t particularly food motivated I both use his food for training and make him work for his dinner, or I use really great treats and train before breakfast or dinner!  If your dog is still not hungry, wait until he is!

Treats

Liverwurst

Usually there is some kind of treat that will motivate a hard to treat dog; you just have to find it!

I am not motivated by chocolate (unlike many people) for me, it’s all about Mountain Dew or Cheetos if you know me you would know that.  Get to know your dog and find different types of treats that he likes!

When I use to run agility classes I would make liver treats (first I boil them, then I bake them or dehydrate them until crispy) and the dogs would go NUTS for them.  Even the nervous dog or finicky dog liked my homemade liver treats!

Liverwurst (make sure there is no nutmeg) was another favorite that could get most dogs moving!

Smaller treats make better motivators.  If you are using large amounts, big dog cookies or half a hot dog, your dog will get full and uninterested in treats.  But if you use pea sized or smaller treats your dog stays motivated.  When I trained Service Dogs and had them out at a mall all day, I could make one piece of string cheese last the duration!  Keep it small!

Do some cooking!  Boil or dry some chicken breast and see if that is a good treat!  As of lately for safety and in fear of recalls, I have been making my own dog treats.

But think about it…would you want to work for a stale biscuit or processed dog treat OR would you rather have 100% pure chicken, beef, or liver?

If you are using these things for his food or treats already, then no wonder they are not working to motivate him!

So Many Toys to Choose From!

Toys

My dogs are certainly toy motivated, but that is because I play with them, with their toys!  The first time I ever threw a ball for Fury, my little girl, she looked at me like I was CRAZY.  Even if she wanted to chase it she didn’t know what to do with it!

Tossing a toy, or a ball might not cut it!  You may have to actually TEACH your dog to play!  You will actually have to get involved and play with him also!  Get animated, run with him, keep the toy away from him (this builds his desire for it) and teach him that playing with you is where it is at!

YOU in to be fun and exciting for your dog!  If you do this right YOU become is motivator!

If it’s not working, try harder or try another toy.  A ball might not be exciting for one dog but a squeaky toy might be incredibly fun!

Most dogs will play if you are fun enough to play with and you find what he likes to play with!

Praise

Praise is Crucial to Your Relationship

For most dogs, praise is not enough!  There are very few dogs that simply want to please their owner so much that praise is enough of a motivator.  We all wish we had this dog, but most dogs want to please themselves and must be taught that praise alone is enough to motivate them.

Usually if you pair praise with a treat or a game, the praise eventually becomes more rewarding and reinforcing and eventually enough that you can wean the treats and the games out of the equation.

Dogs should always be praised for a job well done, but rarely is it enough to get them to do something they don’t want, or keep them from doing something they want.

Affection

Again, affection is rarely enough to keep a dog from pulling on the leash or trying to do something he desires.  When you pair it with praise and another motivator affection can become a very strong motivator.

I often pet, kiss and even hug my dogs when they do something I want.  I want them eventually to learn to work for my praise and affection and I want to pair fun games, toys, treats with this affection.  I also want to ask them to do something for me before I give affection.

Games

Games are my dogs’ favorite motivators.  They like their treats, their food, their toys, praise and affection but they LIVE for the games I play with them.

Games have to involve YOU.  And I am not talking about just tossing a toy mundanely every time your dog brings it.  I am talking about running, biting, tugging, intermixed with obedience goofiness and fun!

I might ask my dog to do 3 things or more for me before I run with him and throw his toy.  I tug it, I throw it, I make him release it on command, I praise him and pet him all while we are playing these games together, and sometimes I even add a few food treats to keep it even more interesting.

Making him work for his toys make these games more fun!

Remember when your kids took advantage or you and your stuff.  They may have scratched your car, or flung their dirty shoes all over the house but when THEY WORK for their OWN car or home…things are different.  Working for something gives you a sense of pride when you get it.  I remember my first paycheck and how careful I was spending my own money.

Making your dog work for his games and his rewards makes it more rewarding.

Find your dog’s motivator!!!  Don’t use excuses, set out and find something that works for you and your dog.  If you are lucky and you are a really good trainer you can use all of these things and many more to motivate your dog to do what you want!

Finding Your Dog’s Motivator is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

Imagine Your Dogs HERE

If you didn’t catch my last article “The Premise of the Magical Dog Leash” please read it.  In that article I explain WHY flawed thinking and many people’s approach to leash training hasn’t worked.

If you don’t understand WHY things haven’t worked in the past or the common pit falls you won’t be as successful in teaching your dog the appropriate way!

Now it is time to TEACH your dog appropriate leash skills!

What are Appropriate Leash Skills?

Finding Heel Position: Teaching your dog to find heel position on your left side at the drop of a hat on quiet and clear command.

Drive and Focus:  Teaching your dog to play, find you fun, and give you eye contact on command and while you walk and heel past distractions.

Leash Manners: Teaching your dog how long his leash is and NEVER to pull you!

What You’ll Need

• A Great Attitude
• Really Good Treats
• Treat Bag or Tool Belt
• Clicker
• Your Dog’s Favorite Toy

Getting Started

You will begin teaching your dog about his leash and heel position at home in your house where the distractions are few.

WHY does your dog need to know heel position?

Because this will make your walking more simple, eventually, and more enjoyable for both of you! You can both learn to enjoy your walk together without having to constantly drill obedience.

I don’t always make my dogs walk in heel position, most of the time I let them be dogs and sniff and wander however they are NEVER allowed to pull me and when I tell them to heel (when I see another dog, a car, a bike, a child) I expect them to come into heel position no matter what else is going on; heel past the distraction and then I can release them and they can go on about being a dog.

Doesn’t that image seem easier than pushing, pulling, yanking, coercing, or treating your dog the WHOLE time or during the eventual whole walk or even hike?

Make no mistake, I don’t care if your dog is 8 weeks old or 9 years old, if you are having problems with his leash manners, he’s pulling you, or your using a “training collar” you’d like to wean him from you are going to begin in the same place.

We are building a firm foundation that will weather any storm of a normal, busy, and distracted life later when you take your dog out in the world!

You may begin in two ways:  By teaching him “Drive and Focus” or By teaching him where “Heel” is both will eventually be integrated to work together.

One of my next articles will be on “Drive and Focus” and then “Leash Manners”.

Ask yourself, honestly, does your dog know where “HEEL” is?  If you said “Heel” while standing in your kitchen without your dog on a leash would he have any clue as to what you are talking about?

If you answer NO (like most people) then you need to step back and build this foundation.  There is nothing wrong with this step back in your training it simply will strengthen the training and eventually leash foundation.

I specifically left out the LEASH in your supply list!  I want you to teach your dog by motivating him not by pulling, pushing, yanking or physically manipulating him.

In order to be the most successful, you must know your puppy or your dog well enough to know what he likes.  Would your dog kill for some homemade liver treats?  Or, do you have a dog that would rather play ball all day rather than eating a tempting treat?  Perhaps you have a dog that loves to bite on a tug toy, or another favorite toy?

My dogs love liver AND balls!  So, I would have both in my tool belt and utilize them at different points for the correct behavior.

Ultimately my dogs want to play, so I would lure them with treats and then when they preformed the correct behavior I would probably play a short game of ball or tug with them to encourage them to continue doing what they did and learning.

Now take your dog into that secluded room with his motivators and lure him into heel position.

Heel position when you are standing still is with the neck/shoulder of your forward facing dog lined up with your left leg.

Heel Position

This is where you want your dog to CHOOSE to be while you are out walking him.  Not where you FORCE him to be but where he wants to be.  If he doesn’t want to be there you will spend your entire time pushing, pulling or making him be there or coercing him to want to be there.

Take the treats (did I mention they should be really good) liver or maybe some boiled chicken breast cut up pea sized or smaller and stick them up, on or near your dog’s nose.  Okay maybe not UP but close enough to get a good and happy reaction.

Place your body in front of your dog, next take a step backward with your left leg while leading your dog facing backward and toward your behind; once most of him is behind you use the teat to lure him around in a U shaped turn so that he is now facing the same direction that you are.  Once he is in the approximate heel position; ask him to sit.

For those of you perfectionist or competitors don’t worry about crooked sits or a dog that is not in the perfect spot.  You can correct and clean this up later once your dog has a better understanding of heel.

If he doesn’t know “heel” in the beginning don’t be tempted to tell him what to do or what he is doing until he is successfully doing it.  This is hard for people to understand, but barking commands that mean nothing hinder your dog’s learning.

Once he begins to understand what he is doing and “where” he is landing based on your body then you can begin telling him as he is doing it.  So as he spins that U-turn behind you tell him “heel” while praising and reinforcing with a treat.

If he does something spectacular or seems to be getting it fairly quickly and he likes toys or balls play a little bit with him or jackpot him with bigger or better treats.  Remember this isn’t just about food rewards and boring obedience you have to make yourself and the act of obedience FUN and stimulating.

At my house a treat won’t keep my dogs from looking at another dog or another distraction but a game of ball or tug would work!

You have to be the fun dog owner and build a bond and a relationship with your dog in order for him to listen to you in times of crisis, stress or distraction!

Continue luring your dog with treats into the heel position on your left side.

Once he is proficient at finding the correct spot by flipping around on your left side, it is time to teach him other ways.

This time, with your dog sitting in front of you, you are going to teach him to go around behind you to the right and sit on your left side in heel position.

Now, I compete and sometimes I am asked to finish (meaning have my dog go to heel position) my dog to the left or to the right, so I use two separate commands for each way.  However if you are not competing it is fine to use the same “Heel” command.

If you are using a new command you will have to go back and teach the dog to go around you before giving a command.  However if you are going to use the same command you may give the command while luring your dog around behind you.

With the dog in front of you, facing you and the treat in your right hand show your dog the treat while stepping back with the right leg.  While your dog follows the treat exchange the treat in your right hand to your left hand while you continue to lure your dog into the heel position.  Once your dog has gotten into the correct position ask him to sit then lavish him with praise, treats and fun.

Continue to teach him where heel position is at while using treats, praise and games as a fun reward.

This process may take several days of training and work but once your dog has seemed to grasp the concept help him to find heel from all different positions around you.

He should ideally be able to find heel position from in front of you, behind you, to the left, to the right, facing you, facing away from you and so on.  This will take time and patience!

Next put some speed on his delivery of this command.  The faster he finds and sits in heel position the more fun and rewarding his learning will be.  Once you know he understands you can fade the luring and the regular treats and insist on speed, happiness, and accuracy of his ability to find heel.

You may also begin playing this game all over the house with and without distractions as he is successful.  You may have to back up a bit in your training to teach him that the command is the same with and without distractions!

Ask him at any given time to find heel position; when you are in the kitchen, when he is asleep on his bed, when he is playing with another pet to ensure he understands and enjoys this game!

Then begin taking this game outside to your driveway, backyard then the front yard etc. until he is proficient and nearly perfect at finding his way into heel position!  Again you may have to back up and teach him the basic foundation again in these different environments.

Be patient and be fun!  The future of enjoyable walking is on the line!

The Magical Dog Leash Part 2: Finding Heel is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

We Should all Look so Cool While Walking our Dogs!

There is no such thing as a magical leash, unfortunately.  You cannot simply hook your dog or your puppy up to a leash and expect miracles to happen.  My life would be a lot easier and more profitable if there were such an attachment.

I think when people get a dog they want to slap a leash on and go for a walk, but instead there begins a tug of war usually with the dog winning; and the person and the dog end up totally frustrated and truly unsatisfied with the whole experience.

The problem is that we, as dog owners, don’t take the time or don’t understand that we need to TEACH our dogs what we want and what our expectations are for them when they are on a leash.

As I read through comments to a recent article “Weaning Yourself and Your Dog from Compulsion Dog Training Collars”  and I kept finding myself responding by saying “TEACH your dog what you want” I realized maybe people just don’t understand what I mean or how to do it.

So these are going to be very much back to basics articles.

It is my opinion, from what I see, that we expect to have to teach our dogs to sit, lay down, stay and other various commands but what effort do we put into teaching them about their leashes and what our expectations of them are while they are on it? 

Often people take their dog out for a walk with a specific destination in mind, their dog pulls, then they slap on a training collar (choke chain, pinch collar etc.) and they see a brief improvement so they think they are “training” their dog; only to find out that in a few days or weeks that their dog hasn’t actually learned anything except possibly how to behave when the collar is strapped on and that is only if they are lucky.  Many dogs just grit through the pain or the choke of it all and plug along as if this was the way walking and being out on a leash was meant to be…  This pulling and choking can cause serious injury to the dog’s trachea and even more grim injury to their relationship with their owner.

I am here to tell you, this is not how this should or has to go if you want an obedient and reliable dog.

You wouldn’t toss a book into your child’s crib and expect him to learn how to read with no instruction would you?

Learning how to act and react on a leash is just as important to you and your dog’s life and development as learning how to read is for your child!  He will rely on this foundation for his whole lifetime, or he will be banished to the house and a life of seclusion and isolation because you can’t take him out.

The Problems

Teach Me What You Want

The first thing to do is to identify the problems with this type of training and the flaws in thinking when it comes to your dog and his ability to be successful.

You Pick up the Leash and have a Destination to Walk to.

You are not taking into account everything your dog needs to learn.

First, you will be unsatisfied if you don’t make it to your destination and chances are, if you have one in mind, you won’t make it there without severe pulling.

Training starts at home inside your home.

Once your dog has learned, inside, some basics you can take him outside you home in your yard when there are little to no distractions.

Again, your dog cannot learn to his maximum ability when there are lots of distractions around and dogs must learn in several environments to be victorious in all environments.

That means you may have to teach him the same thing in the kitchen, in the backyard, in the front yard and out on the street, etc. going back to square one and teaching him in all of these places first!

When I trained Service Dogs for adults and children with disabilities we taught them to retrieve at home first.  THEN we had to take them out in public and go back to square one to TEACH them that the command was the same everywhere.  Were they just being belligerent by not adhering to the same command out in public?  NO!  They had to understand that the command was the same no matter where we were or what was going on!

Think like a dog; you are expecting your dog to ignore all of the neighbors, new smells, neighborhood dogs, and other animals around him and still LEARN what you want.  Not to mention the sounds and everything else that is exciting that might be going on!

Would you take a new dog or a puppy to a dog park and expect to “teach” him to sit or lay down?

Dogs don’t “learn” around these types of distractions.  Teaching your dog to walk on a leash and having a destination in mind is setting your dog and you up for extreme failure and sometimes frustration and anger.

Learning starts at home!

OUCH!

You get Frustrated and Slap on a Dog Training Collar

These collars may seem to work at first.  Sure, your dog feels and hears the zip of the choke (or check) chain as it zips up the collar and towards his neck and he feels the discomfort of the choke so he may stop pulling.  Most dogs only stop for a short time but then continue choking themselves until they are almost out of air.

He feels the pinch of the prong collar and it hurts and is uncomfortable so he stops pulling, for a while.  Then when he is ignoring that you are instructed to yank on said pinch collar, YIKES and you are forced to use compulsion!

He feels the pull of the Gentle Leader from behind his head and he stops pulling forward, for a bit.  He might then learn to lower his head and pull with his whole body.

But what have you taught him?

You have taught him nothing, the collar has given him some information about consequences when the collar is on but chances are you haven’t praised him or rewarded him in heel position or given the appropriate information to him so that he knows what you want.  You yank, snap and pull and his neck slowly becomes desensitized to any type of stimulation.

Training collars become a crutch and who needs a crutch when good diligent dog training will give him the information he desires.  Dogs with desensitized necks are harder to work with because they have learned to physically and emotionally check out to pain and stimulation.

I once saw a police dog that had been severely shocked by an electric collar, but he had learned to simply fight through the pain.  No positive reinforcement was used and very little information given.  Eventually, the collar turned up as high as it could go did absolutely nothing to him and he was released from the police department.

His neck was totally physically desensitized and emotionally he turned off while training!  The only hope for him was to totally retrain him with positive reinforcement and slowly begin to teach him to trust emotionally and learn to feel things again physically.

You Must be More Rewarding

Bet this is More Exciting than a Squirrel for Some Dogs!

The biggest problem is that you have to be more rewarding and exciting than anything else going on around him.

Squirrel runs past, better hope you are more rewarding and he wants to please you more than he wants to chase that squirrel!

You need to build a strong foundation and often times that is not a quick fix!  A firm foundation in positive reinforcement and learning takes time.  You might have to work for several weeks or more before you can take your dog for a short walk.

Remember the parable about the house that is built upon the sand, and the one built upon the rock.

Think of it this way, if you are relying on training collars and little to no training, praise and fun your foundation will crumble at any given moment.

If, however, you teach your dog what you want at home, then take him outside and teach him more of the same, you have fun together, you are exciting and your dog is listening 95% of the time to all of your commands then your foundation is probably strong enough to weather the storms of a short walk and real life!

These are just a few of the reasons that people are unsuccessful and frustrated when it comes to teaching their dog to listen to them while they are on a leash.

Always try to look at it from your dog’s point of view and dare, if you will to understand how unrealistic your expectations of him have been!

So, now the question is how do you get your dog to listen to you, respect the leash, and enjoy walking together?

Well, that my friends will be in my next article!  Keep your eyes out and I will outline for you some ways to TEACH your dog what you want while he is on a leash!

The Premise of the Magical Dog Leash is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog