Archives : Dog Obedience Training

Achieving a Higher Level of Reliable Obedience

If you have ever taken an obedience class with your dog, and actually done your homework, you will remember and notice that for that period of time (usually 6 to 8 weeks) your dog begins to listen to you faster and his obedience improved.  But weeks after the class is over, his skills begin to wan and the dynamics of life before class take over and it seems as if he never completed an obedience class.

WHY?

It’s simple if you think about it; if you practice something together you are better at it, the more practice and time you devote to something the better you get at it.  However, once you stop practicing and working on something, often, the more things go back to the way things were and you forget what you had once learned.

Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader?

Most of us have either watched this show on TV or at least know the concept; adults (sometimes even doctors, lawyers and Yale graduates) are asked simple questions along the lines of the curriculum that we learned in and up to the 5^th grade.  Most of us learned these things a number of years ago, but how much do we truly remember?  To have a child in school and needing help with homework is sometimes humbling!

Without practice or applying our knowledge, we often forget what we have learned.  The same is true of your dog!  If you don’t make obedience and training a part of your daily lives together, you and your dog will slip back into the same patterns of life that lead you to frustration and into obedience class.

But, often instead of understanding that dogs, too, forget and slip back into previous habits, we often blame them, think they didn’t learn or that they are being obstinate and refusing to comply, when really they are probably reverting back to what they knew and know best which is the dynamics of your household “before” obedience class.

What to Do?

Set a goal

• Sit down as a family and come up with a plan.  What is going wrong in your current relationship with your dog?  Come up with a plan to address your issues and stick with it!  Consistency is the key to good dog obedience so everyone must be on board.

Take a Class

• You may need to take a class or re-take a basic class if things have deteriorated severely.  A class leads to accountability and homework.  A class often coerces people to make time to work with their dogs.
• I have been training dog professionally for almost 17 years and I still take obedience classes (I just don’t admit I am a trainer).

Compete

• I HATE competition!  I hated competition as a child and I continue to hate it to this day.  I also hate getting up in front of people.  Ironically, I can lecture to a convention center full of people about dog obedience and behavior, but I hate that competitive feeling and being put on display.  However, I often make myself face my fears and compete anyway.
• Competition takes a high level of practice and work, and the more time I spend with my dog the more he learns to listen to me in all facets of life.   Although I hate the feeling of the final competition (I am getting better ha ha) I LOVE the time we spend together preparing for our moment, and I also love our numerous blue ribbons!

Find a hobby you can both enjoy

• You can take classes for advanced obedience, tracking (nose work), clicker training, games, agility, or weight puling, sledding and skijoring.
• You can even play control games together.
• Invite your friends and family to get together and play doggie games and have your own competition.   You can also find dog board games online like Funagle and Do You Mind by Darfinc©.
• Buy a book and teach your dog as many tricks and commands as you can then have a party to show off your new skills!

To my clients I am known as the “fun” trainer.  I have been training dogs for almost 17 years and have seen all kinds of methods and I have taken my years of experience and knowledge and I have sculpted them into a program where I focus on games and fun ways to achieve my obedience goals.  I do this so that my dog enjoys his training but most of all I do it so that “I” enjoy training and working with my dog.  Fun does not mean there is a lack of skill or that my dogs are sloppy, it just means that my goal is to have a high level of performance and we both enjoy ourselves. The more things I can teach my dog, the happier we both are!  Even if I am just teaching him tricks, he is listening and learning and enjoying himself, and I am ending up with another skill to show off to my friends.

I try and make a point to spend time with my dog and invite him to join me as often as possible.  If I go hiking, biking or to the beach, I want to include him in my plans.  I enjoy teaching him new things and watching him enjoy life and excel at obedience.  It is a joy to have a well trained companion.

Every time you work with your dog in a fun and positive manner and you work together towards a common goal, you are solidifying your place in your furry pack and your dog is learning to have fun listening to you.  The more fun you have together, the more time you will find to spend together and you build a bond of respect that will last a lifetime.  So get out there and spend some fun time together as you reestablish your bond and your dog learns to listen to your every command!

Nose Work 2 Continuing Nose Games

Sniffing and following scent is instinctual, natural, and fun for dogs; it is fun to teach them to use their noses appropriately and on command, and it allows them to hone a natural instinct.  This is a game that can be taught and played by puppies and geriatric dogs; there is no age limit for Nose Games!  In Nose Work 1 we discussed getting your dog ready for more nose games and the beginning of teaching him to use his nose.  Next we worked on the Scent Discrimination and the Passive Alert.

Nose Work 2 will teach you how to do intermediate nose games and begin to put this information together at home and away for more fun and games for both of you.   There are two main ways that your dog follows a scent:

• Air scenting: following his nose quickly and through the air
• Tracking or ground scenting: following a scent foot step to foot step,

Nose Work 2 will discuss mostly air scenting although most dogs will also sniff the ground occasionally, their focus is generally following the scent through the air.   In Nose Work 3 we will discuss tracking.

Now you can begin hiding the scent all over the house (use the PVC pipe with holes drilled in it so your dog can’t access the scent rag), and hide it on all levels low, mid and high.  Your dog should be laying down immediately when he finds the scent!  Remember to reward and praise!

It is normal for your dog to have difficulty finding the scent occasionally, and even going back to previous spots you have hidden it, because the scent is still strong there for him.  If he is wrong, or is having trouble finding it, don’t panic or give up!  To help him when he is having trouble, simply walk toward the room or the object, don’t show it to him or say anything just walk in the general vicinity and continue to give him the command and praise him for footsteps in the correct direction.

Never give up or show him where it is hiding!  Be patient, give him a chance to make mistakes and learn, this is all part of the process.  Soon you will be having other people hide the scent without your knowledge of where it is, so you will need to trust in his nose and be patient that he can work out the problem on his own!  Each success will bring confidence!

Next have friends and family hide the scent throughout the house while you distract him, and eventually work with your dog not knowing where the scent is hidden.  When your dog’s nose is reliable and he is passively alerting you can move the game outside.

Start in your own front yard or somewhere familiar and not overly exciting to your dog.  Go back a few steps and make the first few hides easy to find so that your dog can succeed easily and quickly.  Also start by hiding the scent fairly close to the dog, the farther away you hide the scent the more skill it will take for your dog to find the scent.

I always use a long leash and either a buckle collar or a harness.  Scent work is the only time I like to use a harness, but when teaching your dog to use his nose it is important that you allow him to lead you to the scent.  He must be out in front of you and able to dart from side to side sniffing and trying to locate the object, so this is the one time I allow my dogs to lightly pull on the leash, however, I still do not want to be aggressively pulled from one area to another.

If your dog does not have good leash manners you may want to back up and work on those first!  My dogs know exactly how long their leashes are and how vigorously they can pull when we play this game.  I want them to be exuberant about having fun and enjoying themselves but I require respect anytime they are working on a leash.  It is imperative that you don’t lose good obedience skills in order to play these games.  Games are a privilege, obedience and respect is a requirement!

Once you dog has mastered being outside and locating the scent in a fairly easy to find and close proximity, then you can start hiding the pipe and rag in more difficult places and begin placing it further.  Normally I chose to add one difficulty level at a time: stay within a short proximity and hide the object in a more difficult place i.e. “in” bushes and under things like cars, trucks, rocks OR I hide the object further away but in a fairly easy to find place.  Once your dog has continually successfully accomplished one of these tasks then move to the next level of training.

Be sure that you are hiding the scent on variable levels outside too; on top of things, underneath things and even up out of his reach!  There are no rules to this game except to work up slowly with your dog and back up when necessary if he is having trouble.  Be careful and use common sense and do not trespass!  This is a great game to play in the local children’s park, in a field or even along a walk.

Have fun with this game and training!  This is good exercise for you and also good for your dog, for his mind and his body!  This is also something that can be played inside on a rainy day, or a HOT Southern day, and can be taken outside basically anywhere.  You can play this with friends and family and you can also play this with multiple dogs and see whose nose is better.  I love playing this game and adding more distractions and levels of difficulty for my dog.

Once my dog is an expert I can even add another scent to the mix.  Remember, when you add a new scent you, must go back to step one and a new scent box (remember only one scent per box) and work your way through the training list, teaching him that this is a new scent you want him to alert you too.   The more scents you add the more variety and difficulty you can add to this game, but just make sure he is ready!

Teach him to utilize his nose in a manner that pleases you both and you will be in for years of fun and enjoyment, and this is a even great party trick to impress your friends!

Consistency

Consistency or the lack there of, I believe, is the root of all evil when it comes to dog training.  We as humans are often inconsistent, we may be consistently inconsistent or work on a variable consistency; meaning depending on certain variables we are consistent.  Dogs don’t understand inconsistency they need black and white, right and wrong especially when they are learning.

Inconsistency With- in Yourself

I often work with people who care about their dog’s behavior one minute, or in one situation but not another.

• “I usually don’t mind if my dog jumps up on me, but I hate it when he gets muddy paws on my work clothes, or snags my nylons”
• “I don’t mind if my dog gets on the sofa at night with me, but I don’t want him on the couch during the day when I am gone”
• “I don’t want my dog to bark, but I hate getting up in the middle of the night to tell him to be quiet”

Your dog does not understand the differences in these situations he lives for the moment he gets to do what he wants or what comes naturally for him; jumping up on you, laying on the comfortable sofa, and barking.  He does not understand the variable or contingent to the situation, he only remembers he gets to do it sometimes, and that keeps him consistently trying.  If 9 out of 10 times you keep him out of the bed but on that 10^th time you relent, it is that moment of success and enjoyment that he remembers and will make subsequent attempts worse!

Inconsistency With-in the Family Structure

Often the inability of a family or couple to work as a team on dog training aids in the deterioration of the dog’s obedience.  I have even worked with couples who use different commands.  One person can’t say “Come” while the other person says “Get over here!” and have it be as affective for the dog.

I often run into couples who can’t come to some kind of agreement about how to treat the dog:

• “I don’t mind the dog on the sofa with me, but my husband doesn’t want him on the furniture”
• “I don’t feed the dog table scraps but my wife and kids sneak them to him under the table”
• “I don’t want my dog to play rough, but my husband and my oldest son wrestle with him, and now he is tackling my 5 year old”

You need to pick a plan and an ideal that you as a family.  Sit down and come up with consistent commands that mean the same thing to everyone and that everyone will utilize.  Decide whether or not you will allow your dog on the furniture, and what behaviors you will reward and what behaviors you intend to change and come up with a plan for how you will install the changes as a family.  Explain to everyone in the family how inconsistency hurts your dog’s ability to please everyone and therefore leads to him getting in trouble.

Inconsistency With Strangers

This is a big one!  Most people don’t realize how just being inconsistent when they have company over, or when their dog meets a new person undermines the dog’s training in other areas of its life.

• “We don’t mind Sparky jumping on us but we don’t want him to jump on company”
• “Our dog listens great at home, but he does not listen when we have company over or if we take him away from the house”
• “Sparky never runs out the front door until we have people visit”

Once again, inconsistency is to blame for your dog’s confusion.  Dogs are very adept at reading situations, they recognize very quickly when we don’t want to exert the time and effort needed to work on their training and their behavior.

Your dog might never ignore a command given when you are at home alone, but add the distraction of another person or take your dog somewhere and he doesn’t listen.  Part of this is the addition of distractions which have to be added and worked on with training in mind, but another part is inconsistent training.  People often don’t want to embarrass themselves or inconvenience themselves by working with their dogs when other people are around, so the dog learns he doesn’t have to obey when company is present.

The key to dog training is to be consistent, especially in the learning stages, with your dog.  Your dog cannot reason or understand the minute differences.  In order to set your dog up for success, you must make sure that you remain consistent, always.  Make a plan and stick to it, make sure everyone in the household listens and accepts responsibility for training and working with your dog.  And, when you have company or there are distractions let them know that you must devote some time to your furry friend to be consistent so he learns to obey and becomes a good family pet.

Inconsistency is unfair.  One minute your dog gets away with or is rewarded for a bad behavior and the next minute he is chastised and/or punished for the same act.  This type of environment makes it hard, if not impossible to learn.  You must be firm but gentle; have fun and be CONSISTENT.

Nose Work 1 an Introduction to Nose Games

Dogs can’t read books, they don’t watch television, (well at least not for very long), they don’t scrap book, or build things but they still need hobbies!  If a dog’s mind is not entertained, he will find his own hobby to engage in, but often dogs choose inappropriate behavior such as; barking, digging, chewing, ripping up carpeting, eating drywall, chasing children, stealing, and other general naughtiness.

Most often when I hear my clients complain about these behaviors I wonder if the dog is truly mentally and physically stimulated at home.  If I was locked in a room with 4 white walls and one sofa with nothing to do for days on end, sooner or later I would shred the sofa too!  You must find ways to entertain your dog’s mind to help him stay well behaved.

A dog’s sense of smell is 2000 greater than that of a human.  I often liken reading a book or watching a movie to a dog following a scent or even digging through layers of ground scents (although we consider this naughty, each layer of ground has a new and different story for your dog’s nose)

Read the rest of this entry »

Training Away Your Dogs Aggression

Regardless of the size of your dog, it’s critical to take steps in the beginning to prevent dog aggression.  There’s nothing worse than having your dog bite someone.  It’s embarrassing, it’s frightening and it can cause your dog to be taken away from you and lose its life.  Why deal with that kind of angst when the solution is actually quite simple.

There are different types of aggression but many of them stem from the same thing, a lack of socialization and preparedness.

Fear aggression while it can stem from trauma often comes from a dog not knowing how to deal with a situation.  Dominance aggression comes from a dog who is confused about his relationship with the family and preparation aggression comes from a dog that is quite simply not prepared for what life has to offer.

Basic training like sit, stay, and heel are a good foundation to truly protect your dog from aggressive behavior consider undergoing a toddler training regimen.

Jeff Kinsley of SoundAnimals.com says, “Toddler training is where we do behaviors that maybe don’t have a medical or grooming purpose and they may not even seem like they are all that enjoyable for the dog.  However, toddlers especially may be more apt to do them like yanking on the tail, pulling on an ear, pulling on the fur, grabbing on the dog, charging up to the dog which again some adults even will do these things with dogs they don’t know.”

He uses food as a source of pleasure for the animal thus making the dog both accustomed to having hands on them as well as associating the handling with pleasant experiences like cheese or hot dogs.  While it may seem like a good idea to have children in on the training process, with toddler training how you approach it depends largely on the age, size and temperament of your dog.

“If the dog is older,” says Tinsley, “and is objecting to some of these things, you’re definitely going to want to leave the kids out of the process at the beginning until the dog will allow people to do all these things without any objection and that we start slowly back with children.”

Kinsley also recommends making training into a game.  “With younger dogs that are just going through this toddler training process for the first time, I definitely encourage people, especially if they have young kids to play games with the dog.  Simon Says is a great game.  Simon would be one of the adults holding a handful of high value treats, like again chicken or cheese or something.

“They’re Simon and they tell the kid Simon Says pull the dog’s tail.  And when they pull the dog’s tail, the dog gets chicken.  They go through a little process, obviously with the understanding that we’re not going to be hurting the dog and that we’re just going to be getting the dog used to these kinds of behaviors.

Socialization plays an important role in raising calm and non-aggressive dogs.  Whether you have small dogs or larger ones it’s important to expose your dog to a wealth of experiences.  Take them to the park, take them to the city, take them to the dog park, to visit your family.  Take your dog to the dog daycare, let other people walk them, feed them and so on.  Let your dog become accustomed to as many sights, sounds, situations and experiences as possible.

The more prepared they are the less likely they’ll be to attack out of fear, lack of social preparation or even dominance.  Training, toddler training, and basic dog obedience training will go a long way toward raising a well adjusted dog who can handle just about anything.

We want to thank Jeff for that valuable information!