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

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

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

Practice Makes Perfect and Requires Actual Effort!

People always ask me how I, as a professional dog trainer, make dog training look so easy and how can they can improve their techniques?

I came up with what I believe to be the 5 most important reasons people have difficulty training their dog to work effectively for them.

These are the 5 Most Important Dog Training Mistakes to Avoid, in what I believe to be the most important order.

#5  Lack of Practice or Effort

I have said it before (sometimes I feel like I talk about the same things) but I say it again because it is soooo important!

Practice is crucial!  Your dog WILL NOT learn at obedience class once a week.  I use to tell all my dog obedience students this on the first night of class, and YES most were appalled that I would admit it

Your dog learns through repetition and training AT HOME!  If you are not making a point to work your dog daily or several times a day or week, you will not reap the benefits of a well trained dog!!

My dogs will drop on a hand signal or a verbal command (if they can hear it) at more than 50 yards away, even on a crowded beach!  The reason my dogs are so impressive and attentive is not because I am a dog trainer…it is because I practice and I teach them daily.

These daily lessons get them use to listening to me and they listen in times of stress simply by default.  That is…they are soooo use to doing it at home, that when I add distraction and they hear my voice it is their default to just do what I say, when I say it!

But, if they are not use to listening to me daily; if they don’t have 95% obedience around the house and the yard they will never listen in a crowd of dogs and people!

So simply put, practice, practice, practice!!  Get out there and work on your obedience and having fun together, then add more advanced obedience to your curriculum as you are more and more successful!  Dog training takes actually activity and effort!!

#4 Poor Timing

Good Timing is Essential to Good Learning

Timing is essential in dog training!  Poor timing means you are rewarding the wrong behavior.  If I click and treat my dog the instant BEFORE or AFTER he sits, he does not understand that SIT is what I want.  He thinks that I want the behavior he is performing the moment the clicker goes off!

Practice your timing on your husband, or human kids and see if you have good timing and they understand what you want!  If the humans in your life are having trouble understanding what you want, chances are your canine is set up for failure!  For help check out our previous blog,  A Clever Exercise to Try Tonight.

Incorrect timing just sends the wrong message and prolongs your dog’s ability to learn accurately.  Don’t get me wrong, even I click too early or too late sometimes; it is inevitable!  But you must understand and do your very best to click at the right moment so that your dog can excel!

#3 Rewarding the Wrong Behavior

Along those lines, are you rewarding the wrong behavior?  Does it feel like your dog is training YOU?

Does your dog demand for you to feed him, throw his ball, or do anything else to fulfill his needs?

If you not only allow him to bark at you and then you do what he wants you are telling him that is exactly what you want!  It is as if you are saying PLEASE bark in my face when you want something.

Not only does poor timing affect your ultimate dog training goals, but simply inadvertently giving in to your dog sends a very specific message!

Do you pet your dog when he paws at you, nudges you, or puts his face in your lap?  If you do, you are encouraging the behavior!

When you see a negative behavior rear its ugly head in your home, ask yourself “What does my dog get out of this behavior?” and then try and change the reward he is getting, whether you are giving it to him or he is rewarding himself!

#2  Inconsistency

Inconsistency Leads to Frustration!

How often does a behavior bother you at one time but not at another?

Is it a problem when your dog jumps on you ALL of the time, or do you allow it occasionally; say when you come home and he has missed you or when you are not dressed up?

Is your whole family on board with keeping your dog off of the furniture, or does one member of the family let the dog in the bed or on the couch when you are gone?

Do you make your dog listen to your commands sometimes but not others?  Sometimes he sits, sometimes he doesn’t and sometimes he gets in trouble for not listening but not all the time!

If you allow some behaviors some of the time, if some of your dog’s family members allow some naughty behaviors with them, and if you don’t reinforce obedience commands the FIRST time you give them; you are setting your dog up for horrible failure!

Your dog does not know when you are dressed up; when he can and can’t jump on you!

Your dog has difficulty understanding I can get in the bed or on the sofa when “dad” is gone.

And, your dog should know with assuredly when he is giving ONE command you are serious about his compliance ALWAYS.

This being said DO NOT give a command you cannot reinforce!  If your dog isn’t likely to come when called or sit at 20 yards away, off leash…don’t tell him to!  By telling him to do something and him choosing to ignore you, you are ruining his obedience.  Put him on a leash and work on certain scenarios while he is under your direct control!

#1 He is Intimidated and Scared by the Threat of Physical Pain and Punishment

Too Scared to Learn Effectively

Although most people think that physical correction and punishment solidify behavior and increase their likelihood of not happening again studies show that this is not the case.

Not only is punishment not effective for learning, because it comes AFTER the fact it is also not conducive to learning!

Fear inhibits learning.  What is your biggest fear?  Now imagine yourself; locked in a coffin, covered in spiders, or falling off of a skyscraper…could you LEARN something new while dealing with your fear?   Chances are your ability to learn a new skill would be seriously affected.   During this stress could you listen to and comply to given instructions even if you knew how to do it?  I probably couldn’t!

Your dog is probably terrified when he incurs a beating, and compulsion  and even if it is during or after he has jumped on you, chances are he doesn’t understand the intricacies of why you just lost your temper.  In his mind, he is simply excited to see you and wants to be closer to you!

It is not popular, but thankfully a recent reader admitted to the occasional hitting, and yelling at her dog.  She also admitted that although she hit him, he still never seemed to learn.  She wanted to learn a new way to interact and train her dog.

I applaud her for admitting to something that most of us would never admit to, even if it is true sometimes.

So, I was able to hopefully shed some light on why this happens.  Number one, we have already discussed: Punishment is not successful at teaching behavior or the lack thereof.  And, fear reduces the ability to learn and listen.

The other aspect of physical manipulation, punishment and pain is that under these conditions animals are not willing to TRY to learn for fear of failure and ultimate pain and punishment.

It may not make sense to you, but I implore you to put yourself in your dog’s paws.

You have a boss that speaks another language and you don’t understand your job requirements.  Every time you make a mistake, you get hit in the face.  Now add a little inconsistency, sometimes you get hit in the face after a behavior and sometimes you don’t.  He also yells at you A LOT.  So when he tries to teach you something new and starts yelling…do you try a number of likely behaviors or do you just shut down in fear and brace for the inevitable beating?

I shut down the minute someone yells at me.  The quickest way to get me to be quiet, shrink into myself, and focus on anything BUT you, is to yell at me.  I HATE yelling and temper tantrums (from humans) I expect them to some degree from dogs!

Your dog needs to be comfortable to show you a variety of behaviors and know with assuredly that there will be no pain or terror if he chooses the wrong path.  This confidence allows your dog to feel safe with you and know that there will be no horrifying experiences when working with you.  Probably the worst that will happen is that you will take his toys and treats away for a while, or deny him access to you (his favorite person) or you will better control his behavior using a leash the next time.

Dogs using positive reinforcement are not only willing but they are excited to show a gamut of diverse behaviors when they are trying to learn something new.  There is NO FEAR of failure.  It is much easier to train a dog that is willing and excited to learn than to train a dog that is afraid of making a mistake.

But, the minute a true cross word, angry face, cross eye, or actual hitting/kicking or the like enters the equation their willingness to learn declines and you see signs of fear and sadness.

This is why it is so important that you be in a good mood, have had a good day, know what behavior you are working on and work together as a team to be successful.  As soon as you start getting frustrated, recognize your limits and stop training before things escalate past a point of no return.  Always end training on a good note!

As humans say, “We can forgive but we can never forget”.  Your dog feels the same, except he is so much more likely to forgive wholeheartedly but when you get mad and start to act the same way you did in the past when you were mad, he can’t ever forget.

First thing to do is put your hands down and vow never to use them again.

Some Rehabilitation and the Building of Trust may be needed!

Second is to figure out WHY something is making you so mad you revert to violence

Third is to figure out how to change that scenario by teaching your dog using positive reinforcement what you want and expect from him.

You may have to brush up on your clicker training; and I will yet again plug Karen Pryor and Gary Wilkes!

Dog psychology, operant conditioning, and positive reinforcement  goes a lot farther at building your relationship and trust than yelling, screaming, hitting, kicking and beating ever will!

I always go back to when I worked with big cats.  If I hit, kicked, corrected with a painful collar when working with these large cats…I would probably either be dead or missing some digits and or body parts!  Because I use my mind and not my brawn while I worked with them, we practiced, we had good timing, we tried desperately not to reward the wrong behaviors, and we were consistent with ourselves and anyone else who would be allowed into our inner sanctum.

If you are a reformed punishment, or physical type trainer and you are looking for success….you must go back to square one and build your relationship together.  Start over and teach him to trust you.  YOU are in control of your emotions and you know when you are reaching a point that you need to stop if you get frustrated.  But hopefully as you change your style and you dog recognizes how your relationship has changed he will be more willing to learn and make mistakes and build a strong relationship together!

Make an effort to avoid all of the intricacies of the list I have just made.  Study them, then click on the links provided that will give you more intricate information about the information in the subheadings.

Knowledge is power!  If you can already admit you might have started off on the wrong paw, you are already placing yourself on the road to recovery and building a lasting relationship with your dog and awesome obedience!!

The Top 5 Most Important Dog Training Mistakes to Avoid is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

Action is the Key

I use to be on one of those public weight loss programs.  I joined it with my best friend many years ago, and let me just say IT WORKED.  Why?  You ask, why did it work?  What was the secret to weight loss?  Accountability! Is the answer.

I will say it gave us so great knowledge and coping skills and together we had a peer group and a support system to rely.  All of this ensured that we were successful!  We had to weigh-in in front of someone every 2 days.   They were NEVER negative at the weigh-ins and never gave us a hard time about gaining or not losing they were always supportive and willing to give us support and more information when we needed it.

What does weight loss have to do with dog training?  Accountability!

The reason my weight loss program worked?  I had to weigh-in in front of someone every other day, and although they were not negative about our weigh-ins; I did not want to fail or even stay the same.  I felt like I HAD to show progress.  I had a goal and my long term goal was to lose weight, but my short term goal was to not be embarrassed on the scale every 2 days!

Accountability makes a HUGE difference, at least for me.  If I am left to my own devices, I might not choose the right road.  I often get lazy and put off things like: dog training or weight loss.  I always have tomorrow, right?

In order to run every day, I need to train for a half marathon or marathon and put smaller goals on my calendar.

I think it is human nature to put off what we don’t see as “ESSENTIAL” on a daily basis.  We fall into habits and habits are hard to break.

But, like my weight loss program, if I have a training “goal” I will do what I have to do to reach that goal.

Recently, I signed up for a dog training seminar and I was going to stay with a dog trainer friend of mine.  I shudder to admit that I don’t do “scheduled obedience” everyday like I need to.  I am human and often let dog training go by the wayside and get involved in “life” and all its complications like everyone else.

BUT, I didn’t want to show up to the seminar with crazy, psychotic dogs!  I AM a dog trainer after all! So every day for several weeks I made an effort to take my furry kids out and work on obedience and their other training skills.

Classes can Motivate You to Take Action

Within a few days they were listening better and we were working together as a team.  I was “The Dog Trainer” again!  They were stimulated and enjoying our daily appointments to go outside, work, and play!  AND, they were too tired to get into trouble or drive me crazy at night!

It was then that I realized, I personally, need accountability!  I need an obedience class, a seminar, an obedience title or some big goal to train toward.  When I have a goal, I make a sincere effort to reach that goal!

So, from now on I am going to train like “a dog trainer” or train as if I am going to compete!

So my advice to you?

Train like you are going into a competition next week!

That means take some time every day to take your best friend out and work on his obedience skills or play together using control games so that he gets use to listening to you!

It does not take long to see a difference.  5 minutes a day is all it will take for you to see a distinct difference in how much your dog is willing to listen to you and obey your commands.

Imagine if you will: living with your children, but never really interacting with them or having them do anything for you.  Do you think they would respect you when you ask them to do something for you?  Now, add a language barrier…that would make the odds of them obeying even less likely.

However, if you make an effort to learn their language, spend time with them, bond with them, be kind, and teach them what to do to make you happy…chances are you will have a successful relationship.

I know that my dog’s lack of willingness to listen is in direct proportion to how much I take him out and work with/play with him!

• Make a goal to compete together
• Challenge your best friend or neighbor to a train off
• Take an obedience or other type of dog training class
• Join a dog training club
• Just schedule time to train each night

Don’t get lazy (like me), just do it!  Get out there and train with your dog every day!  I promise that you will see an improvement almost immediately.  And, I will be taking my own advice!  So I’m outta here, grabbin’ my dog to go get some training and play in before dark!

Aspiring to Better Dog Obedience is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

So what you aren’t going to find in this article are any basic puppy obedience training tips like what to feed your puppy, how to potty train your puppy, or how to teach it to stay.  Those are all important topics that I cover in my Hands Off dog training course, so I’m not going to talk about them here.

Instead I thought I’d talk to you about something much more important.

But before I reveal three unconventional tips for training your Labradoodle puppy, I’d like to set the stage by asking you a simple question…

What Seeing a Crappy Doctor For a Sprained Toe,
Taught Me about Dog Training

How do you like it when you seek out an expert for their opinion, and they only tell you what you want to hear instead of what you NEED to hear?

You try to ask them intelligent questions, but sometimes you don’t know enough about the topic to even know what questions should be asked.

Most doctors are like this.

Take the doctor I recently went to see to check out my sprained toe, for example.

I’d been running on it a lot and it was really sore, like I’d strained it in someway.  So what does the doctor do?

He prescribes me some anti-inflammatory pain medication and tells me to stay off it for a while.

In this case, the doctor only addressed the specific problem I asked him about, and then tried to put a band aid over it.

One month later my toe was still sprained.  So I went to see another doctor or a second opinion.

This second Doctor was nothing like the first doctor.  Sure she listened to me complaining about my toe, and instead of prescribing me pain meds, she started searching for what caused my toe to be sprained in the first place.

She looked at the bone structure in my foot, noticed it was all out of whack, adjusted the foot back to the way it was supposed to be.  Then she explained to me that it’s common for the bodies foot structure to break down when the digestive system isn’t working correctly.

So sure enough, she checks my enzyme and bacterial levels of my stomach and discovers I am out of whack… and advices me that taking two herbal remedies should fix the problem in less then a month.

And she was right!

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know Either!

So why do I tell you this crazy story about my doctor visits for a sprained toe?

Because I’m afraid that in your search for information on how to train your Labradoodle, that you’ll make the same problem I made with my first doctor.

You’ll only get answers from people who answer your specific question, instead of answers from people who’ll dig deeper and tell you the answers to questions you NEEDED to know, but didn’t know to even ask.

So that’s why I’ve decided to write this article on…

3 Puppy Training Techniques You Must Know

Rarely Talked About Method #1: The Nothing In Life is Free Principle

The reason I’ve listed The Nothing In Life is Free Principle first, is because it can set a stronger foundation for your Labradoodle then you ever realized was possible.

Your Dog Interprets Much Of His World Through Wolf Eyes

The reason why it’s such an effective principle is because it allows you to talk to your dog’s CORE; that part of your dog that has been genetically inherited from hundreds and hundreds of years of captive breeding.

You see, whether you like it or not, your Labradoodle’s original ancestors were wolves.  And the genetic characteristics that have kept wolves alive for so many generations are embedded into your dog’s brain at some level.

Some have more, and some have less, but they’re still there on some level.

These genetic traits affect the way your Labradoodle looks at his world, and how he interprets it.

They cause your Labradoodle to make judgments of you that you don’t even realize are happening.

Your Labradoodle is assessing how you answer the door, how you feed him his food, and where you let him sleep and giving you a daily leadership grade that you probably never knew he was giving.

How good a “Leadership Grade” your dog gives you on a daily basis, effects in large part, how easy your dog will mind and obey your commands.

I give an in depth presentation that covers dozens of methods for how to get a better leadership score from your dog in my Emotion Training for Dogs program, but for time constraints here’s a good rule of thumb to follow.

Make your Labradoodle EARN
everything he wants in his life!

Make Your Dog Work For Life's Little Comforts

The more your dog realizes that everything he wants needs to be received from you, your children, and the members of your family, the less likely he is to develop behavior problems like aggression.

Start asking your dog to sit before you pet him.  Make him wait for permission before coming running out the front door.  Train him to lay on a bed before he can greet strangers that come in your home.  And my favorite… train him that the ONLY way to get table scraps is if he lays on a mat throughout the entire time your family is eating a meal at your dinner table!

By making your dog ask for permission for everything he wants in his life, you are setting a framework up in your dog’s brain where he’ll be much more willing to listen and obey your commands.

Rarely Talked About Method #2: Beware of “Emotional Charging”

You’ll almost never hear the concept of Emotional Charging talked about, but paying attention to this principle at an early stage in your Labradoodle’s life will make him soooo much calmer to live with.

Here’s how this dog training principle works:  It is a FACT that you can trigger your dog to feel an emotion on cue.

Dogs Have Been Trained To Feel Hungry When A Bell Is Rung

The famous Pavlov experiments proved this, where Dr. Pavlov trained dogs to salivate on cue at the sound of a bell, even though NO food was present… basically training them to feel hungry.

Pavlov’s experiments are incredibly popular and almost everybody knows of them, but what nobody talks about is how we might accidentally train our dogs to feel negative emotions on cue.

You see, all that is required to train a dog to *feel* an emotion on cue is to consistently present your dog a signal of any kind, right before he feels the emotion.

If you think about it, us humans are no different either. For most of us, if you want to trigger us to feel nervous, simply tell us that we’re going to be stepping onto a stage and giving a public presentation within 24 hours. Our bodies will physically start to change at this news. Our heart rates will increase, we’ll sweat more, or brain will become less aware of our surroundings and more focused on internal thoughts etc.

Or in a more positive light, think about how Children behave the day or two before Christmas.

A Child's Excitment Is a Perfect Example Of Training Emotions

Children aren’t born with that intense excitement for opening presents on Christmas morning, it was emotionally programmed into them. And if for some crazy reason your kids hated Christmas, all you’d have to do is make sure they got everything they wanted on their lists for a few years in a row, and they’d like Christmas again. (I realize that might not possible for most of our budgets, but you get the principle)

So really, we all believe emotions can be programmed. You’ve witnessed it hundreds of times, you’ve just never taken the time to realize how to use it in a more constructive way.

The mistake that most of us make with emotions is that we let them be programmed into ourselves, and our pets automatically, without realizing that we have control over that programming.

Here’s an example…

If You’re Wondering Why Your Dog’s Hyper,
You Wanna Try Looking In The Mirror

For many dogs, people are exciting.

When a new person comes to your door, your dog stands a good chance of getting his butt rubbed, being pet, or at least some attention, right?

For many dogs, they get so worked up and excited that they have to be put outside when strangers come over, because they are simply too out of control.

But let’s look at why this is?

New people coming over is a lot like Christmas is to young children.  It’s an opportunity to get something it really wants.

Cute Puppies Can Easily Get The Wrong Kind Of Attention

And let’s face it, what person coming over to your home could resist your cute little Labrador puppy?

Your Puppies “Cute Factor” Works Against Him

Because strangers are always coming over and doting on how cute a puppy is, it conditions most dogs to get excited to see new people.

If left unchecked, the excitement that builds up inside your dog becomes so strong that he can’t control it.

Think Kids who get so excited for Christmas presents they start misbehaving.

In order to fix this behavior, you need to break this habit of strangers doting on your pup.  Remember the Nothing in Life is Free Principle?  It applies here as well.

What I recommend to my clients is that the first skill they should train their dog is not sit, stay or come… but to go lay on his mat.  And I recommend that this behavior is the behavior that require their young puppy to do when people come over.

If you’ll cue your dog to go lay on his mat and stay there when new people come over, it allows him to practice self control away from the people who come to your home, instead of getting worked up and doted on at your feet.

I recommend you train your dog to continue to lay on his mat, until your guests are situated before allowing your dog off his mat to mingle with guests.

If you can, try to help your guests ask your pup to sit before doting on them.  They might think you’re a bit of an anal dog owner, but as your dog ages, you’ll have people telling you how lucky you are to have a dog with such self control when he automatically sits in front of guests calmly… and only you and I will know LUCK had nothing to do with it

If you’d like a free video on how to teach a puppy to go to his mat go here:

Free Train Your Dog To Go To His Mat Video

Rarely Talked About Method #3: Increasing your Dog’s Social IQ

Does Your Dog Follow Dog to Dog Social Rules?

The final concept I wanted to talk to you about is vital, yet ignored by many.  I call it, Increasing your Dog’s Social IQ.

I took this concept from a wonderful book called, Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. The book was written for humans who wanted to improve their ability to get along with others.

The key concept that Daniel Goleman brings up in his book is that some people seem to have the ability to read extremely subtle facial cues of the people they interact with.  And the better you can read others’ facial cues, the easier it is for you to make friends and feel comfortable around other people.

I believe that this same concept holds true for dogs, and that their is a window of opportunity for you to teach this to your dog that will determine how Social your dog will be around other dogs.  Of course it’s not the only thing, but I believe it is a crucial skill that you need to focus on.

Teaching Your Dog To Read
Other Dog’s Body Language

The key to teaching your dog to effectively read the body language of other dogs is simple.  So simple that you might just pass over it and think it doesn’t matter.  Do that at your own peril.

The best way to teach your dog to effectively and accurately read the body language of other dogs is to make sure that you only allow him to interact with other dogs who have a hi Social IQ.

I personally did this by finding a local doggy day care that pre-screened dogs as social or un-social for being allowed into their doggy day care.

This particular facility would have about 30 pre-screened Hi social IQ dogs at a time.  And they let them all out to play in a pen with each other.  If a dog started a problem with another dog, it was removed from the group and isolated into a pen by itself.

This created an environment where I could bring my young puppy at the age of 11 weeks and let him play with these other dogs.  This allowed my dog to learn from the pack, and develop a Hi social IQ, where he can read the emotions of another dog at a distance and know if that dog wants to play, or wants to be left alone.

This allowed my dog to learn all the proper dog etiquette from dogs who already knew it!

Your Dog Can ONLY Learn
This From Other Dogs!

You can’t teach this to your dog, he needs to learn it from other GOOD dogs.

And to show you how effective this method is I’ll end with this story…

I was at the park playing fetch with my dog.  The park was HUGE and there were two other dogs there as well.

My dog was off leash and free to roam, so when he spotted the first dog he ran off to play with her at a dead sprint.

Both dogs were sprinting full speed at each other as if they’d rehearsed it for months, both dogs stopping on a dime to say hello with a butt sniff… then proceeded to play happily with each other.

I didn’t think anything of it then, until my dog spotted the OTHER dog on the other side of the park who had managed to break away from his owners leash and had also taken off at a full sprint towards my dog.

Thinking this dog wanted to play too, my pup took off towards the new dog just like the first, at a full sprint.

But instead of stopping on a dime close enough to sniff the new dogs butt.  My dog sensed something was different and came to a dead halt 20 yards from the other dog, where both dogs stared at each other.

My dog was somehow able to read the body language of this dog and know that it should not be messed with… turned around and left.

Now I don’t know how that situation might have turned out if my dog hadn’t stopped, but I’m guessing a fight would have broken out, and potentially gotten one of the dogs hurt.

Something was obviously conveyed in that dog’s body language that no amount of training could have taught my dog to see, besides LOTS of exposure to good dogs who could teach him how to read other dog’s body language, and I’m darn thankful I’d put him in an environment where he could learn it.

Here’s hoping this information helps you tremendously!

If you’re looking for additional information on the courses I provide for training perfect puppies you can read more about them here:

Hands Off Dog Training for Obedience or…

Emotion Training 4 Over reactive Dogs

3 Little-Known Tips for Training a Labradoodle Puppy is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog