Say It Once!

We often hear students repeating "sit-sit-Sit-Sit-SIT!" or "stayyyyy-stayyyyy-stayyyy" or "Lucky! Lucky! Lucky! Lucky!" etc. 

Often the cues become louder and are repeated very slowly as if we were talking to someone in a foreign language and volume could help make them understand.

It is as if we do not believe that our dogs (who have rather good hearing) can hear what they are saying.

Humans are built for the languages of words. Our brains are wired for incredibly complex networked communication using verbal and written language. 

From the Dog's Perspective
Dogs just don't perceive language the way we do and If someone does not understand your language, repeating a word more times will not help them learn it.

For example, if I say the word Tango to you one hundred times would that help you learn to dance the tango? How about if I said calculus a few thousand times would you be a math genius? If I came over to your house and said "Clean your house!" a few dozen times would you stop everything and clean your house or would you think I was very annoying?

Say it Once
A person who is repeating cues all of the time, will end up with a dog who will learn to wait until you are finished speaking to do the task. In essence you would be training your dog to ignore the first cues and wait for the last cue. 

What Can We Do?
What can we do about all the repeated cues? First we need to recognize that we are repeating things over and over. Being aware will help you take the first steps. We can now focus on becoming more patient with our training. Then we can grab our treat bags and start working with our dogs and make sure we have their attention first. Start with fewer distractions if we do not have attention. Say the cue once and wait patiently to see if they will respond. We might be waiting 30 seconds or more at first. When they do sit or whatever we have asked, then mark it with a verbal marker like "Yes!" and then move our hand to deliver a treat.

Motivation
We often blame the dogs for being stubborn or not listening. I generally think that the dog is just not motivated. Dogs are opportunists, just like we are. Whatever rocks their boat is a motivator not just food but toys, play, praise, touch, movement, freedom, sniffing, swimming or whatever works for them.

Over time, we can start saving our words for cues and sincere praise. Realizing that constant chatter obscures really important communication. By all means use your voice but use it to cue and praise at the right time.

Proactive vs. Reactive
We can also start using words to proactively tell our dogs what to do instead of reactively scolding, correcting, and telling them what not to do. 

For example, If you asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner and I said "not hamburger" that would not be helpful. You wouldn't know what groceries to buy or which recipe to follow to make "not hamburger". However if I said I'd like to have Annie's macaroni and cheese, you'd know exactly what to buy and how to cook it.

To help your dog, teach them what to do. Have them practice sit until they can do it with distractions and then when a person is approaching you can say "sit!" instead of "no jumping!".

Training is a process. During the journey we are learning almost as much as the dog in how to better communicate so we can have happier lives together. I hope this helps you have a richer relationship with your dog.

Be the Cookie!

or Ten Ways to Make Yourself More Valuable to Your Dog

Watching TV shows like Lassie and Rin-Tin-Tin as a kid, I was amazed at the rapt attention the dogs gave to their owners. Skip forward a few years when I got a Golden Retriever.  I assumed she would be loyal and give me all of her attention. She was easily distracted and I began to realize that you have to train TV dog attention. It does not just come with the dog.

Here are a few things you can do to increase the chances that your dog will think of you as their sun, moon and stars:

1. Play with your dog. Play games they love. Tug, Find It, Chase (your dog chases you, not the other way around), Treasure Hunt, Hide and Seek, and Fetch are all wonderful games to play. Smiling, laughing and using your voice create an atmosphere of fun will help the dog think of you as the source of good times
2. Install a Learn to Earn program. Feed your dog less from a bowl and more from your hand for doing tricks, showing impulse control and doing some obedience behaviors like sit at the door, sit for your bowl, sit for a leash, wait when I open the car or front door, etc.. Make yourself the gateway to many of the good things in life. 
3. Train with a hungry dog (not starving, just hungry) and use high value, nutritious food for treats. Kibble and flour based treats are minimum wage. Don't be stingy, if your dog is easily distracted, then you might need to use executive wages to get and keep their attention. Even if you have a retriever (read "hungry all the time" and "will eat anything") then you may need to up the ante to develop the attention you need for training. You can use kibble in low distraction environments and something better like hot dogs, chicken or cheese in high distraction environments.
4. Variety is the spice of life! Change to new treats regularly. Dogs get bored of eating the same treat all the time, even if it is high value.  Bring two or three types of treats to a training session and switch to higher value treats when there are bigger distractions.
5. If they love it, use it. Use the things your dog loves to reward them. Just because it costs more or is a pretty color of red (dogs see blue and purple best of all the colors) doesn't mean your dog loves it. Use their enthusiasm as a gauge. Dogs do what works for them, learn how you can make good behavior work for them.
6. Keep your reinforcement rate high. This means keeping the exercises simple enough that your dog can be successful and not taking the difficulty up too quickly. Splitting an exercise down into simple and achievable bits takes practice, and if lots of time (say ten seconds) goes by without having any success or if you find yourself putting your dog back in the stay several times, it means you have bitten off more than they can chew. Decrease the difficulty by decreasing distractions, distance, or duration. Among ourselves trainers call this being "greedy" and we often need to adjust our training plans too. One of our gurus, Bob Bailey, says "Be a splitter, not a lumper".
7. Practice, practice, practice. Play, play, play. Or better yet, practice then play, repeat.
   
8. Keep your practice sessions short enough that you do not loose your dog's attention. For most dogs, lots of short sessions with play breaks will get you to your goal much faster than long sessions. Lots of short sessions are often better to build desired behavior.
9. Motivate your dog to behave well. All training is about motivation and manipulating consequences. Force free trainers use positive consequences to motivate their dogs. Keep your leash loose. If your dog is pulling however they are putting the pressure on the leash. It is your job to figure out how to motivate them to walk on a loose leash or at your side. 
10. Minimize the use of corrections - either verbal or physical. My guideline is to use them only when life or limb are in danger. Using corrections, including collar corrections, can demotivate your dog, physically harm your dog's neck and throat, hurt your relationship with your dog and cause them to pay less attention to you. What kind of relationship do you want with your dog?

Have fun with your dog and keep training throughout your dog's life. As a very wise 5 year old child told me once "They don't stay trained, you know!"


Happy training!

Sandi

Rainy Day Games

If you and your dog have cabin fever, here are some suggestions to take the edge off.

1) Work on your sit or wait at the door. Have your dog look at you before crossing the threshold. Invite friends over to help proof your sit at the door. If you want more help on this attend our Calm Departures & Arrivals class.

2) Teach your dog to offer their front paws so you can wipe them off when they are muddy. Tickle the back of your dog's lower leg until they lift it off the ground, as they lift it up, say "yes!" and reward with a cookie. Repeat five or more times, then put a small towel over your hand and repeat the exercise five or more times. Then start to rub their paws after they offer them to you and reward as you rub them. Take it slowly and reward each step generously. 

3) Teach tug with rules. Play tug, give, sit, tug, give, sit, etc. for exercise, impulse control and to teach the immediate release of a high value object. For more information attend our Tug, Fetch & Release class. 

4) Play fetch or catch with a sit before each throw to improve impulse control. Make sure your dog is not skidding on slippery floors to play fetch. Slipping may cause muscle strain or injury. For more information attend our Tug, Fetch & Release class.

5) Have a treasure hunt, hide treats or toys around the house or go outdoors between rain showers and have your dog find them.  This helps to mentally tire them and teaches them to use their sense of smell. Our Nose Work classes are so much fun and a great way to capitalize on your dog's amazing nose.

6) Play hide and seek. When your dog is in the other room hide behind the sofa, a door, in the shower or behind the bed. Say "Find me!" and wait for them to come and find you. The fewer clues you give the more challenging for the dog. Start with lots of clues like making a noise then fade the clues out so the dog has the responsibility to find you. We teach Recall Games classes that use hide and seek to motivate your dog to look for you. 

7) Give your dog a nice chewy to work on while you are gone or busy. Chewing should be supervised and small bits should be taken away from the dog. If your dog is resource guarding their chewies, do not give them a high value item to practice guarding. Call us for private lessons to end poor behavior.

8) Give your dog a Kong or another intelligent challenge toy with dog food in it. The Nina Ottosson dog puzzles are a wonderful way to spend quality time with your dog.

9) Do Doga (doggy yoga) with your dog. Downward Facing Dog, Cobra,  Breathing Awareness and Upward Paw Pose. Be gentle, overstretching can cause soreness and injury.

10) Work on your sit stay add duration first, when that is reliable at least 80% of the time add distance and last add distractions like household members talking, tv going, doorbells ringing. Try not to get greedy and do too much all at once, remember to set your dog up for success. Always go back to your dog to reward them for the stay instead of calling them to you. Only call them to you when you have worked on stay for several repetitions prior. Attend a Family Dog 1 Stay, Wait & Settle class for more detail on how to train a stay.

11) Play Crate Games (visit  www.livingwithdogs.us/books/ for a marvelous the “Crate Games” by Susan Garrett). Crate Games or Mat Games are a great way to teach a sit or down stay, a motivated release, impulse control and how to love your crate or mat. 

12) Teach your dog a fun or a useful new trick. Tricks are a great way to bond and spend quality time together. People usually laugh and have fun when they are training tricks. The dogs have fun when you have fun. Train your dog to shake, sit up, spin in a circle, roll over, play dead, or to pick up their toys. You can train them to know each toy by name and put them in a basket or toy box.

13) Play the Muffin Tin Game. Click here for a video to see how to play.

14) Play 101 Things to Do with a Box a game invented by Karen Pryor who started out as a dolphin trainer and now is world famous for her books.

15) Play Push the Box (with a toy in it). Click here to view a video. 

16) Put your rain gear on and take your dog for a nice long walk. Take a look at this fancy dogbrella available from Hammacher Schlemmer for a hoot. Our Loose Leash Walking class will help you work with your dog to have more fun on walks. 

Dogs are individuals. Every dog has different needs and rewards. Know what your dog likes and use those things or activities to motivate and reward him or her for good behavior. Be safe and have fun.

We hope you will use the ideas that are best suited for your dog. For more information about training your dog to do more visit our website for a variety of classes and dog sports.