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.