LIGHTEN UP FOLKS

"I wonder what our dogs are thinking when they see us peeing in their big water bowl?"

It's interesting how often I encounter dog problems that are clearly a result of stress at the "other end " of the leash. Firstly, in dog classes you regularly see people who are nervous and the stress goes straight down the leash. And when I visit people's homes to chat about their dog problems I often sense a nervous tension in the dog owner and a resulting anxiety in the dog.
Visualize yourself in the first week of basic training for the Marines and every part of you daily existence depends upon  a hardened Drill Sergeant who gets perverse delight in making a new recruit's life as miserable as possible. Now put yourself in the dog's shoes. It's not uncommon to see aspiring student trainers who are nervous about the class and their dogs are barking, jumping, and lunging at everything and everybody in sight and all these folks know is yell, jerk, and pull. In most cases the dog feeds off the handler's stress and thinks "if you are yelling and jerking I should jump, lunge, and bark because it seems like that's what you are encouraging me to do."
When your dog acts up you relax, give him a loose leash, keep your mouth shut, and stand still. It'll  take a few minutes but he'll cool out and find out there's nothing in this foolish behavior for him and he will sit near you. Wait until you're confident he's " let the air out of his tires" then quietly reach down and offer him a treat and say thank you. If he revs up again you ignore him, wait until he relaxes again and reward him again. Remember you're rewarding for cooling out and relaxing This is extremely difficult for the average trainer because they want want instant gratification and feel the only way to change this ill mannered behavior is to correct the offender. That equates to "punish" the student for whatever he is doing that you don't want him to do.
Recognize this, the dog doesn't know he's doing anything wrong. He's just doing what seems like a natural activity to him and in many cases people have taught this misbehavior. For example, jumping dogs are taught to jump because people reward them for jumping up. Yep, you see lots of folks talk baby talk and wave their hands around when they meet their dog and when he jumps up he gets a hug and his ears are roughed up etc. When he does the same thing to people who don't like the dog jumping on them they vocalize in a high pitched voice and push the dog away and guess what? The dog doesn't differentiate. He got what he wanted; voice, hand action, and touch. In other words, he got attention and that's all he wanted.
So the message folks is Lighten up and Cool out.
Go look in the mirror.
If your dog is full of anxiety and driving you crazy just maybe the cause is between your ears.
Lighten up enjoy your dog. This doesn't mean you spoil your dog, you simply give him regular, persistent and consistent leadership.
Keep me posted I'm sure you'll see a difference.

THE NO FAIL RECALL

THE NO-FAIL RECALL

Very few people are happy with their dog’s response to the COME command in all situations. We often hear comments like “he comes mostly only when he wants to” or “he’s pretty good in the yard but doesn’t listen when he’s outside or loose in the park”. There are lots of variations to these remarks but they all add up to the fact that the dog really does not have a reliable recall.  

Many folks think you can’t change an old dog or train an adult but they will learn a solid recall as simply as a puppy will if you are prepared to put in the effort. This doesn’t  have  to be a huge effort as much as it requires regular, consistent, and persistent effort.

Before we start the training process let’s review a few “cast in stone” basics. 

There’s no FREE LUNCH . If you want something in this world you have to give something.

There must a reason for the student to perform the task. This is called MOTIVATION.

You must be CONSISTENT with your commands and signals and expectation of performance.

You must be PERSISTENT. If you compromise the student simply learns that there is a different and acceptable way to perform or not perform the task.

Small short sessions that always ensure the dog succeeds with happy enthusiasm create automatic reflex reactions.

Okay let’s get started. First we need a place completely free of all distractions. This includes other pets, people, TV, radio, cell phones etc. etc. We are setting the student up to succeed and this doesn’t include competing with distractions at this stage. Next we need a generous supply of  tasty, aromatic  treats which are the rewards earned by successful performance. Now reach down and remove the dog’s collar and leash. If he is going to learn to respond to you he has to learn while he is free to make other choices. If the dog only comes when he’s trailing a leash or connected to a long leash he will always be tempted to bolt as soon as he is off leash.

Put a few treats in your hand and “lure”, or move him, several steps in one direction by simply placing the lure or treats near his nose and moving your hand in front of him. As soon as he follows your hand a short distance simply open your hand and offer him a single piece of treat as reward for a positive response. You will naturally be inclined to praise him, so say “good dog” and then try it again. Repeat this five times and give him a pat and a “good dog” and take a small break. At this stage we want him to readily follow your hand and be rewarded EVERY time. We are building basics.

A COME is when the dog is given a voice command and a hand signal and he moves from a position away from you to immediately in front of you with his nose between your knees. To be correct the dog should sit in front of you and never offer to come near and then dart away. 

The next step is a simple variation on what we just taught except we start with the dog only 4 or 5 feet from us and we say only two words. “Buddy Come” and with treat in hand we wave the dog toward us as if we are beckoning him toward us with the hand signal ending more or less between our knees. If he remembers the previous little exercise he will come to you and end up with his nose between your knees. If you will now put the treat near his nose and move the treat up and between his ears in a direction toward his tail, he will sit and you will open your hand and offer him the treat. Mechanically this is easy but takes a little practice so the process flows and becomes automatic to both of you.

We repeat this 5 times always from a short distance until it is cemented and he reacts perfectly EVERY time he is asked. If you start to compromise at this stage you simply teach him that he can do it a different way when he wants. 

After you have done this from 4 or 5 feet for several days move on to 6 or 8 feet. Remember we are teaching a reflex action so we don’t start to extend the distance at the risk of the dog not being successful. If you stretch the distance too far too quickly and he doesn’t respond as expected, you will raise your voice and start to hurriedly repeat the command and become impatient and the dog becomes confused and there goes all the progress you’ve made to date.

These little sessions are repeated many times a day and soon you can graduate to a  different environment  and then another and soon you will be at 10 or 12 feet  and in varying locations. At this time the dog is ALWAYS rewarded.

If  you practice this faithfully you will soon have a student that always comes when called but only in the environment  in which he is familiar so next we have to move on to different locations. Remember we always want to set ourselves up to succeed so when you choose a place to try your new skills don’t go directly to the dog park or the shopping  plaza . Our goal is for our student  to  always be successful at the start so we have to pick our new locations with the thought to avoid as many distractions as possible and to practice what we have mastered, starting at short distances and increasing the distance step by step so we have lots of successes. 

At this time we are still training which means we make a specific effort to take the dog to different locations and we practice recalls in repetitions of 5 with rewards which by this time will have progressed to pat, verbal, every time and the tasty treat less often. It’s important that you occasionally  throw in the “jackpot” treat for a special accomplishment. If the recall was from a longer than average distance or through a variety of distractions don’t be reluctant to show your appreciation for a job well done. Remember there must be a reason for the student to perform the task and we don’t want the motivation to wear off.

Okay a few more points.

 If the dog doesn’t  come on the first call do not repeat the command. Split the distance and repeat the command. Continue this procedure until he comes at which time he is rewarded. NEVER berate your dog for coming to you.

Don’t continue to shout at your dog to come. It has been shown that people increase the pitch and velocity of the voice as they repeat the command and this actually encourages the dog to run away from the person.

When he is loose in a park for example, call him and pat him and praise him for coming and then tell him to play some more. If you only call him to put him in the car he’ll soon figure out that he only gets called to go home.

 You can build a solid recall if you are prepared to put in the effort. Remember as we said before , there’s no free lunch. If you want something, you have to give something.

DOG TRAINING BOOKS PART 2

As we progress into the current genre, I would recommend Carol Lea Benjamin. She has numerous books and one of the favorites is;
Mother Knows Best, The Natural Way to Train Your Dog. One of my other favorites which I suggest to new puppy owners is “The Chosen Puppy”

While we’re on the subject of puppies, we can’t forget “The Art of Raising a Puppy” by the Monks of New Skete. This has long been a favorite. It is a more detailed booked and recently came out in a revised edition. Highly suggested reading for serious puppy training.

About the same time all serious trainers were blessed with the writing of Karen Pryor who introduced “clicker training” to the trainers of animals other than just dolphins. I’m not sure of the sequence but my earliest book by her is “Don’t Shoot The Dog; The New and Art of Teaching and Training”. Karen Pryor is a behavioral biologist with an international reputation in two fields, marine mammal biology and behavioral pyschology. She is a founder and leading proponent of "clicker training," a training system based on operant conditioning. Her books are a must read for any serious trainer.

In the last ten years the dog training industry has blossomed big time and there are literally thousands of books and e books available. Several of the best and most popular have to include;

“The Dog Listener” by Jan Fennell. This book should be required reading for everyone who aspires to pick up a leash.

“The Power of Positive Dog Training” by Pat Miller “Pat Miller embodies all that is right about positive dog training.” Quote from Jean Donaldson author of The Culture Clash.

“The Other End of the Leash” by Patricia B McConnell PH.D. She is a University Professor, Applied Animal Behaviorist a prolific writer and an extremely popular speaker.

“Cesar’s Way” by Cesar Milan. While Cesar Milan doesn’t profess to being a dog trainer as such, he is more a people and dog problem solver. We would be remiss if we didn’t include at least his basic book in our library.

“Basic Manners and Obedience” by Dr. Ian Dunbar. Dr. Dunbar is a Veterinarian, animal behaviorist, dog trainer, writer, teacher, and he travels continuously conducting his extremely popular seminars. Go to “Dog Star Daily” to explore his, books, videos, etc. Always one of my “go to” sources.

And now let’s briefly explore some specialty books for those who wish to go beyond obedience.

“Training the Hunting Retriever” by Bill Tarrant. Since my very first dog training book was by Bill Terrant, I have to list him first. The late Bill Tarrant was the gun dog columnist for Field and Stream for over thirty years and wrote many other books on this topic. He is nationally-recognized as the pioneer in humane gun dog training.

“101 Dog Tricks” by Kyra Sundance and Chalcy. This is a team of world class performers and trainers and are regulars on TV and at sporting events and fairs. This is the only trick training book you will ever need.

“Schutzhund Theory and Training Methods” by Susan Barwig and Stewart Hilliard. For those trainers who want to step up a level in training this book is essential to any obedience or Schutzhund fan’s library.

“The Kroeher Method of Training Tracking Dogs” by William R. Koehler
“Tracking Dog Theory and Methods” by Glen R. Johnson.
I keep both of these tracking dog books on my list even though the Koehler Method is a little dated. His mechanics are excellent and his methods are worth studying. The newer and probably more popular book on the subject is by Glen Johnson and it will definitely help you to get a tracking dog degree if that is your goal. Neither of these books teach air tracking or detection dog techniques and I’m still working on finding a real good one in that category. If anyone has a recommendation I’d appreciate hearing from you.

So there you have a start to a good basic library. You could drop the early books and I appreciate that I have only scratched the surface of the specialty topics but perhaps we can deal with those in a future column. Good reading, good training, and good luck in all your future dog experiences.

DOG TRAINING BOOKS

DOG TRAINING BOOKS
When I started wanting to learn about dog training there weren’t any videos or seminars. It was before Al Gore invented the internet and there were very few books. Probably the favorite way to learn was to sneak around the trainer that was a known winner and to try to figure out how he taught such and such.

I loved books and gradually acquired some of the more popular ones of the time. This wasn’t as easy as it sounds since we couldn’t email an order to Amazon and have it in the house the next day. Okay, enough rambling and let’s get on with a list that won’t steer you astray.

The three early greats were:

Dog Obedience by Blanche Saunders
Blanche Saunders was Miss Dog Obedience Trainer if there was such a thing. She was in on Obedience Training from the outset and trained and taught classes throughout America, Canada, and South America.

Koehler Method of Dog Training by William Koehler
Bill Koehler instructed for the U.S. Army K9 Corps, many police forces, was chief trainer for Walt Disney Studios, and was Training Director for the world’s largest dog club of the time in California. It is said he personally supervised the training of over 15,000 dogs and his methods have been used to train at least a half-million more.

Expert Obedience Training for Dogs by Winifred G. Strickland
Winifred Strickland trained thousands of dogs and handlers and during the 70’s her accomplishments were outstanding. Only a few were, 101 Obedience Titles, 40 perfect scores, 40 CD titles, 43 CDX titles, 20 UD titles, 4 Tracking titles and more.

While these early trainers basically used the old style methods, they had tremendous experience and there is still a lot to be learned from their books. When you have the extraordinary experience of these trainers you acquire a special understanding of dogs. Don’t discount what can be learned from these Masters.

Continued in Part 2