TEACH SIT-DOWN-SIT-STAND-DOWN-STAND

Now we will teach SIT, DOWN, SIT, STAND, DOWN, SIT with hand signals only and no voice commands. First our dog is led about with just the lure and then we place the lure near to his nose and move it up and back toward his tail until he assumes a sit. As soon as his butt hits the floor he is given the reward. Next we put the lure near his nose and move it slowly down between his paws and as he assumes a down we open our hand and give him the reward. after a brief rest we lure him back up into a sit where he is again rewarded and then we lure him from a sit to a stand. After a brief stand the lure is moved from near his nose , slowly down between his paws and when his chest hits the ground he is again rewarded. Next we lure him back up into a stand and then a sit and again reward him. Initially you will follow this sequence of SIT, DOWN, SIT, STAND, DOWN, STAND and when he is responding regularly to the various signals we mix the movements so he is learning to follow the hand signals and not adopting a fixed pattern. We repeat this process for at least a week before we begin to introduce voice commands. As with all training sessions quit when you're ahead and reward the student with hugs so he looks forward to the next session.
This is the foundation for all your basic training. You can not do too much of this. Do it often in short sessions. When you would bet ten bucks that your dog will perform the whole series ten times without a miss then you are ready to move ahead.

LURE & REWARD FIRST STAGE

At this stage we are simply getting the student to follow my hand.When she moves to follow my hand I will open my hand and give her the treat. the process is "lure" the dog into position and when the dog responds favorably he is rewarded. Normally I perform this section in a quiet environment "off leash" but for purposes of these pictures we had a leash on only for the dog's safety because we took the pictures with the dog up on a terrace so we didn't distort things by shooting down on the dog. I will repeat this action for as little as two or three minutes and give her a rest then repeat and rest probably three or four times depending how readily and with how much enthusiasm she shows. a happy and successful session ends with play.

Starting Shep's Training

Before we start the next steps of Shep’s training there are a few important things to mention. First is your training area. At the outset we want to always set our student up to succeed so we want our training environment to be as free of distractions as possible. You can’t train your dog if his attention is being diverted to other pets, family members, tv’s, cell phones etc. In a perfect world you would train in an empty gymnasium or tennis court until the student caught on to the basics. I appreciate that’s not very realistic but I’m sure you get the point. When we start it’s easier for our student if we can use an area with which he is familiar such as an open area in the kitchen or on the patio.  Because we use food for lures and rewards it’s a good idea to train in the morning with our dog being somewhat hungry so he has maximum enthusiasm for the motivation.

At this next stage I will be working off leash so the equipment comment won’t apply but if you are in an area where you feel compelled to have a light leash on the dog just so he won’t leave the training area, make sure all equipment is appropriate and fits properly. We don’t want the schooling concentration to be sidetracked by an equipment malfunction . A la Miss Jackson.

Finally, before you start, have a clear idea of what you are going to teach and what are your expectations of performance. It’s pretty hard for Buddy to get it right if you haven’t sorted that out for yourself.

Okay, lighten up, make this a pleasant enthusiastic experience so Buddy will look forward to the learning process. Have a plan. Follow and stick to that specific plan and aim for short positive sessions. If you can maintain his attention for ten minutes and he’s still working with happy enthusiasm, STOP, quit while you’re  ahead so he will look forward to the next session. Remember how happy and excited he is when it’s time to go for a walk. Well this is how you want him to feel about the training sessions. Besides, this is supposed to be fun for both of you.

SHEP LEARNS HIS NAME

                            CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE PICTURES
THESE PICTURES ACCOMPANY THE PREVIOUS BLOG DESCRIBING THE PROCESS OF TEACHING SHEP
HIS NAME

TEACHING SHEP HIS NAME

 Shep is a German Shepherd puppy of only 10 ½ weeks and we start his lessons with learning his name. We have made him aware that we have a treat which we will use first as a “lure” to get him to look up at my face and toward my hand. I hold my hand in front of my face and say his name in a conversational tone. When he responds favorably he will get the “reward” for performing the task. I use only one word. His name. If he looks up he is rewarded. If he doesn’t respond I do nothing. Positive response gets a positive reaction. Negative response gets no reaction. As an aside, when you offer the reward be sure you simply open your hand and let him take the reward off your flat hand. If we hold the reward in our fingers the dog has a tendency to try to get the treat from between your fingers and this can create a nipper. Not his fault. He is only trying to get the good stuff.

If he doesn’t respond , be patient and stand there ready to offer the reward. He will ultimately look up (usually within 20 or 30 seconds) and as soon as he responds favorably, bingo!, the hand opens and he receives the reward. Many people from my classes tell me their dog mastered this in two or three days. Well guess what, if your dog doesn’t figure this out in three minutes you’re doing something wrong.

                                                                                                                                                                                                  

The object of the exercise is to IMPRINT the dog’s name. For those of you who are old enough to remember, this is the same as brainwashing. We repeat this exercise four or five times and stop. Three or four minutes later we repeat until we have performed five exercises of five repetitions. Each of these sessions will only take two or three minutes.  We do this five times daily. Behavorists tell us to repeat this process for six weeks. I’ve never had anyone go beyond three weeks but I do personally continue the procedure in small bits throughout much of the training  and I also incorporate a version when I’m teaching the task of “look at me”.

The main thing is to use only the name, reward positive reactions, repeat regularly until the name is thoroughly entrenched. When you can speak the dog’s name from ten feet away and get a positive response five out of five times you can be assured that your dog knows and responds to his name. If he only responds on his terms when he feels like it, you can roll up the newspaper  and hit yourself over the head and say you didn’t do your job properly.

It’s important to understand that dogs don’t understand English  (or Spanish, Russian, or Chinese  for that matter) and our main task is to teach them one word at a time in a logical manner so they can associate a noise and a signal as being the command to perform a particular task. The reason we teach only one word at a time is many people run off at the mouth such as “Hey Buddy how’s my cute baby puppy, come over here.” Granted you did use the dog’s name but which of those ten words did you expect him to learn and which one is going to be his name?

As we proceed over the next two weeks this will be the only exercise where I will use any spoken words. I start with only hand signals and body language because dogs are acutely aware of body language and use a myriad of signals long before they vocalize so I find it easier to let them learn with simple physical signals and I will start to use one word commands in conjunction with the hand signal only after they are performing the required task regularly with only hand signals.

 the pictures to accompany this will follow

When do I start taining?

I’m often asked when you should start training your dog and I always answer “the day you bring your dog home.” Now before someone gets all bent out of shape, let’s talk about training. Webster’s simplest definition says “to rear and instruct” and if we accept this concept then we have to start as soon as possible. Obviously some pups arrive as young as six to eight weeks and older dogs can be a year or somewhat older. Either way if we are “to rear and instruct” it’s never too early.

There’s more to training than the standard sit, come, down, heel, stay routine. Teaching all of the things that are required in order to create a well mannered dog that is going to be a pleasure to be around, requires as much or more structured effort than just teaching the so called basic obedience.

The entire process of exposing our puppy to all of these additional experiences is known as socializing. The experts that study these things have determined that the first 18 to 20 weeks (4 to 5 months) form the most critical period. This is the time when the puppy learns how to meet people plus all the wonderful and sometime scary things that go along with them. It may be a hair dryer, a leaf blower or all the way up to motorcycles and big trucks and busses. This is when your puppy learns how to ride in the car without going ballistic and how to walk on a loose leash and walk past dogs and kids playing with balls and to sit and wait when horses are passing and to not bark  rudely when company comes and all those countless other lifetime experiences.

It is suggested that during this time our puppy should meet 100 different people. At best this is a big challenge and probably the easiest way is to take the puppy to public places where you can have him meet people. Sometimes we have to explain to strangers that we are schooling a puppy and would appreciate if they would quietly meet and greet our dog. Our vet will discourage taking the puppy into a public place until he has had his second multi shot but common sense can prevail. Obviously you’ll avoid the puppy on the street that has a runny nose and crusty eyes. And mange and most of those types of problems are pretty obvious. These are situations that you’ll simply avoid. This also is not the time for puppy to meet the really aggressive and pushy types at the play park but again I work on the premise that most people have enough common sense to be a pack leader and not a bubble head.

If puppy isn’t exposed to these things in a calm and confidence building manner during the socializing period you can be assured that problems will jump up and bite you in the backside as you struggle through your first year with these challenges. The socializing process isn’t all that mystical but it requires time. In fact it’s quite simple because all you have to do is make sure your puppy gets a couple of hours a day experiencing life and when something new pops up he’s encouraged through the experience with a calmly assertive attitude so you build his confidence and discourage unfavorable actions.

LOOSE LEASHES  HAPPY TAILS.

Copy from a 2010 magazine article 

 

2 QUICK TRAINING TIPS

IMPRINT THE TASKS IN SMALL BITS

Most trainers commonly make the mistake of moving ahead too quickly. If we make the task small enough and easy enough the student will learn it and perform it quite readily in one environment with no distractions. The big temptation is to change the environment, introduce distractions, and increase the distance or duration of the task, long before the task has become a reflex action to the student. If you’re teaching COME and you expect the student to come from across the yard when he hasn’t mastered the simple and short distance you’re setting yourself up for failure. When the dog doesn’t perform as expected you will raise your voice and repeat the command until finally the dog assumes you’ve become some kind of a raving lunatic and he’ll do a Willie Nelson and be “down the road again.”
 The proper way is to keep the task simple until you can gradually increase the distance, like maybe 15 or 20 feet after a week. If you get a refusal after one command, DO NOT RAISE YOUR VOICE AND REPEAT THE COMMAND. Simply cut the distance in half and repeat the command. If necessary, cut the distance again and repeat the command. Go back to that which the dog understands. Make sure you reward and praise him when he correctly performs the task. If the student doesn’t perform correctly he has either been overly distracted or he is telling you he doesn't understand what it is you want him to do.


NO LOOK, NO TOUCH, NO TALK
Often when we encounter a high energy, leaping whirling dervish that persists in acting like a ping pong ball on steroids we need look no further than the other end of the leash to discover the cause of the problem. Many times the jumper who leaps up and takes your hat off when he enters your space, has been trained to act this way and is encouraged and rewarded for displaying this activity. If the people in the dog’s life continually wave their hands frantically, and speak rapidly and non stop, and hug the dog and tell him how much they’ve missed him and how much they just love their sweet little honey baby, it’s no wonder the dog is constantly in chaos gear. Many times these people have a high level of stress and anxiety and they continually put the dog into the same mode. The way we calm these dogs is not through physical contact or correction, it’s by NO LOOK, NO TOUCH, NO TALK. We put our hands across our chest, turn our back to the dog and we SHUN HIM.
If we ignore the dog, don’t pet him nor push him away, don’t offer eye contact, nor acknowledge his actions, he will soon sit in the general area.  Often if we yawn several times during this exercise it will stimulate the dog to relax. 
Wait a minute longer and he will lay down in the general area but not necessarily beside you. Let him remain there for a minute or so and then QUIETLY invite him into your environment. Use a conversational tone. No commands like a drill sergeant and no high pitched squeaky baby talk. When he comes over and sits near you he gets a simple pat and a small reward in a calm way. If he returns to a state of hyper activity repeat the above until he gets the message. If you are persistent you will change his activity pattern. Remember it took you quite a while to create this problem and it won’t go away over night. 

WALKIES WITH THE PACK

                                   THE PACK AND I ENJOY A WALK


THIS GROUP OF FIVE ARE MIXED AGES AND SEXES AND OBVIOUSLY BREEDS.THEY HAVE LEARNED THAT LOOSE LEASHES AND GOOD MANNERS GET THEM THE FUN STUFF. ONE OF THESE IS A PAST CHAMPION PROTECTION AND ATTACK DOG IN POLICE TRIALS. NOPE, IT'S NOT THE YOUNG SHEPHERD HIDING IN THE BACK.

                          "LOOSE LEASHES - HAPPY TAILS"

                          Click on the picture to enlarge the view

TRUST AND RESPECT

A copy from a recent magazine article.

by Artthedogguy

Many times when your dog acts up, disobeys, or simply ignores your command it his way of saying that at this time in this situation he doesn't trust your decision and doesn't respect your leadership and guidance. In other words, at this time in this place he doesn't view you as the pack leader.

Here's an easy way to establish that leadership position. It requires no special equipment or any special training process just a small change in what you do at least twice a day already.

This is about HOW you feed your dog. In nature the alpha dog and alpha bitch always eat first. The pack defers to the leaders out of respect for their position and we are going to put you into that status.

Most people feed their adult dogs and maturing puppies twice a day. I know we feed our pups three or more times daily and the same routine will apply. When you are preparing the food the dog is in your presence and is expected to be calm and respectful. If he is not you simply ignore him until he cools out. Now you make a performance of preparing his meal and this might only be pouring the kibble into his dish. All this time you are calm and assertive and expecting the dog to be calm and respectful. Next you pretend to eat some of the food and you simulate this eating process for at least fifteen seconds then you tell him to wait and you place his dish down where he normally eats. If he lunges at the food or goes to the food without being directed to do so you bend down and pick up his dish and ignore him. No look, no touch, no talk. When he decides to sit you say wait and put the food down again. If he stays seated you wait about five seconds and you invite him to come and have his meal. If he lunges at the food you pick it up and tell him to sit and wait. You repeat this process until he will wait to be invited to eat. At first it could take five or ten minutes although I've never had it take that long and I've changed the attitude of some six and eight year olds with this simple procedure.

Next and particularily with puppies, reach down and stir the food around and then pick up a piece and simulate eating. Then we will pick up the dish and hold it for several seconds and then return it to the dog. This is teaching the dog to respect the person who feeds him and he learns that he can trust you to feed him and to return his food when you play with it or move it around. We also have the added benefit of avoiding that dog that develops food aggression and becomes one of those that everyone says “Don't go near Buddy when he's eating because he'll bite.”

You do this every time you feed your dog until he calmly sits and waits for his food and

you repeat the process if he tends to forget his position and resumes his old ways. This is a nice quiet and easy step to establishing and earning your dog's TRUST AND RESPECT.

LOOSE LEASHES HAPPY TAILS

The Barking Dog

 

“Beware a silent man and a dog who doesn’t bark.” (an old quote) Many dogs bark. It’s the when, where, and how much that presents problems. Before we can address the problem of barking we have to look at why the dog barks. We have many breeds who have been developed over several centuries to “go to ground, and give voice.” That’s dog speak for “dig and bark.” And what good would a coonhound be if he didn’t tell you where he treed his prey or a mighty terrier who runs down a hole after a rat and has to announce his find. Even the Nova Scotia duck troller uses his voice as he runs along the shore and raises the birds for the hunters.  The pattern of these dogs who have inherited the barking game can be altered but we need to recognize that for many of them it’s a built in quality. How about the other reasons. If a dog is confined to a roof or behind a gate all day and only sees a portion of a street it’s not a surprise that he’s going to announce his presence to everything from a bird to a boogy man. Also if the dog is not exercised and has nothing to interest nor occupy him he just might bark. Seems to me like most of us would too. Solutions to barking fall into a number of categories. There are physical solutions like crates and gates. There are mechanical measures which include a variety of different collars that emit scents, sounds and electrical impulses. And we have medical solutions like chemicals or surgery.  I personally feel the best long term answer is to train the dog not to bark. I read a behaviorist’s book lately and her first line in the chapter about barking said ”when the dog barks, bring it in the house.” Sounds simple but it follows the standard trainer’s answer to many problems. Remove the problem from the dog or the dog from the problem. Many times it’s almost that simple. Look around and see if you can remove the dog from the barking environment. Often it’s only at a specific time when we can put the dog in a place away from that which is causing the problem. If you lived north of the border you would know when the mailman comes. If he barks at the mailman give him his treat in his crate in the back yard for that period of time and save yourself and the mailman from a bunch of unnecessary stress. I’ve visited several yards and homes where people simply installed gates and fences so the dog can enjoy himself but not spend time looking out the front gating waiting for his next reason to bother the neighborhood. If you’re going away for a couple of hours use a crate and leave your dog in his private den complete with a new chewy bone and his favorite music.   First of all you must accept that treating the barking problem requires FULL TIME EFFORT. If the dog barks and you’re in your favorite chair get up and deal with him. You have to start today and continue until you have his problem reprogrammed. Yelling only encourages him to bark even more because in his mind you are joining him in his effort to scare away the bad things that he perceives as reason to bark. When reprogramming the dog the process is first to go to the dog and get his attention. Sometimes this involves only speaking to him and often in the beginning it requires that we touch the dog, usually on his neck below an ear, as we speak to him and say “hey thanks for warning us, that’s enough for now, lets go to the patio.” By inviting him the patio (or his crate or bed etc.) we redirect his attention. Quite simply, we get him thinking of something other than that which was the object of his barking. Now as he moves to his bed, crate etc. we reward him for redirecting his attention. This is the one that confuses people as they berate me for rewarding a barking dog. You see they don’t understand that I gave a command (“go to your bed” or something similar), he obeyed the command,  and he was rewarded for performing the task. If you said COME and he performed the task to the expected standard you would reward his performance so why not when he correctly redirected his attention. It’s that simple. The problem is you must repeat this procedure every time he barks until gradually you will say “thank you, that’s enough” and he will automatically return to the patio, bed, etc. Many times we will be able to address the barking before it happens. As we work with the dog we learn certain things which are likely to precipitate barking and we head it off by redirecting his attention before the strange dog comes up the street or the boys with the ball shout and yell just as they get near the front gate. This is all part of teaching your dog that those things that required his barking are all in his past and he can relax and enjoy a quiet nap on the back patio. Good luck and happy training. It’s not always easy but the results are certainly worth that extra effort.