A Roundup of Cool Dog-Related Stories
When and How to Use “No” in Dog Training
How many times a day do you say “No” to your dog?
Oh no, the dog is digging at the carpet. “NO!”
Oh jeez, the dog is barking at the door. “NO!”
Good grief, the dog is chasing the cat. “NO!”
Drat, the dog is chewing on the coffee table. “NO!”
Holy moly, the dog is peeing on the rug. “NO!”
Oh my word, the dog is tugging on the drapes. “NO!”
Are you kidding me? The dog is playing chase with my shoe! “NO!”
I got tired (and frustrated) just typing all those things, I can’t even imagine living like that every day!
Would it surprise you to know that I rarely use the word “no,” when I’m training my dogs (and the service dogs and all the dogs that come through my classes)?
It’s true: the word “no” is never used by me to teach dogs anything. Ever.
How does “no” help a dog understand what to do? Sure, it may interrupt your dog from getting in trouble, but that’s a short-lived product — it stopped the behavior in the moment, but the dog will go back and do the same old thing again…until you say “no,” … again. And again, and again, and again.
That’s the trouble with “no.” It’s just an interrupter.
It doesn’t give the dog a clue as to the correct thing to do. Ultimately, you want the dog to know what to do. You don’t want to waste your day “putting out fires” with the word “no.”
Here’s my challenge to you.
Start noticing how many times you say no to your dog every day. Keep a little tally either on a scrap of paper, or just in the back of your mind.
Then, take a look at the things your saying “no” to. Write those things down.
Next to each item on your list, write down what you’d like your dog to do instead of what he’s really doing.
Finally, when he’s doing the wrong thing, that you would’ve said “no” to, ask him instead to do something you’d like him to do, then reward him for that. Here’s an in-depth article about exactly how to do that. It’s short, I promise, and it’ll really help you stop saying “no” so much.
Talk to me. Do you think you can eliminate at least some of the no’s from your vocabulary?
Give it a whirl for a month, then come back and let me know how it went!
Secrets to Dog Training Success: Redirect, Substitute, Reward
The dog is playfully grabbing your pants, tugging and growling, having the time of his life.
You, on the other hand, aren’t enjoying this at all.You’re saying “No! Get off! NO!” to no avail. The dog is still hanging on, tugging harder even. Everything you do seems to make the situation worse – the dog seems to be enjoying himself even more. What’s a good dog owner to do?
I’m here with the answers that will solve 80% of your problems.
There are three things you need to do: redirect your dog to do something else, substitute what he has in his mouth to something more appropriate, and then (this is the part that most people forget, yet is just as important as the other two things) reward the dog for doing the right thing. Let’s break these three elements down into smaller pieces, so you can use each of them to make your life a little easier (and your dog’s, too).
Redirect Your Dog
What is it? Redirect is a fancy way of saying “do this, not that.” Instead of barking at the cat, for instance, how about coming to me and sitting? When you redirect your dog’s attention away from something, you’re in effect, setting your dog up for success. And isn’t that what we’re ultimately after anyway – a dog that makes the right choices? A dog that does the right thing? It’s much more fun to say “Good dog!” than it is to say “No!” (For you and your dog.)
When should you use it? The key to redirection is to use it early. Redirect your dog before he’s invested in whatever havoc he’s ready to wreak. It doesn’t do much good to redirect your dog after he’s dug a hole under the fence. That’s a little too late. The ideal time to redirect a digging dog is the instant he begins to dig. Or, really, the perfect time is just as you see him sniffing for the perfect spot to dig.
How do you do it? To redirect your dog, simply call his name in a happy voice. This is crucial – so many people use a harsh, demanding voice to get their dog’s attention. You’re setting yourself up for failure by doing this. I understand how tempting it is to do this; to demand that the dog look at you. Demands will get you only so far with your dog. Demanding is short sighted. Demands will eventually fail you. You can’t go wrong with cooperation and a dog that wants to listen to you. After calling your dog’s name, when he looks at you, give him something else to do instead of whatever he’s about to do. For example, if your dog is getting ready to dig, call his name and take off running. He’ll enjoy a game of chase and you have interrupted the digging. Great work – you stopped a habit before it got a chance to put down roots.
Substitute Bad Things with Good Things
What is it? Substitution is exactly what you think it is: giving the dog something else to chew on, rip apart, jump on, instead of what he’s currently chewing, ripping, jumping. For instance, if your dog is chewing on your arm, substituting a chew toy is very effective. Your dog needs to do doggie things, but you don’t have to accept that because the dog needs to chew, it’s ok that he chews on your arm, your pants, your sofa, the leash, etc. You can choose to substitute appropriate items so that your dog is engaging only with the things you want.
When should you use it?
Use substitution anytime and anywhere the dog is ruining something, making a mess, aggravating a person/dog/wildlife, etc. Basically, use substitution liberally!
How do you do it?
Substitution is fairly easy – simply offer your dog the alternative item or activity. For instance, if your dog is chewing on your wooden coffee table, substitute a hard chew toy. Your message is “I know you need to chew. Chew on this, not that.”
Reward Your Dog
What is it? Rewarding your dog tells him that you like what he’s doing. If you reward frequently, you can eliminate yelling, punishing, and corrections from your repertoire of training tools. Sound too good to be true? It’s a fact: dogs do what works. If you reward your dog for doing something you like, he will repeat it. Period. The more he repeats the good behavior, the less he’ll engage in the bad behavior, solely because he gets rewarded for the good behavior. All of that can happen without corrections, honest.
When should you use it? It’s really hard to overuse rewards! In fact, people don’t use rewards enough in their daily interactions – with dogs and with people! Basically, if your dog isn’t doing something bad, you should be rewarding him. “Wait a minute,” I hear you saying. “I can’t reward my dog all the time, he’d be a fat pig if I gave him a treat for not being bad!” You’ll notice I didn’t say, “feed a treat.” I simply said “reward.” My dogs think all of these things are rewarding: chasing me, being chased, playing, going outside, coming inside, getting on the couch, getting out of the crate, going into the crate, getting a treat, getting a belly rub, hearing me talk in a high-pitched voice, playing with a toy with me, and the list is almost endless. Make your own list of things your dog enjoys and use those rewards liberally when your dog is doing something you like. And remember: if it’s not bad, you should be rewarding it!
Redirect, substitute, and reward – for many basic dog issues, these three tools will improve your dog’s behavior and decrease your stress level in dealing with them.
Remember, the key to good behavior is setting your dog up to succeed from the beginning. If you wait to intervene until after there’s already a problem, it’ll take longer to get back to “good dog” than if you start out with these three tools.
Talk to me.
What do you think of substituting, redirecting, and rewarding? Does it sound too good to be true? Or have you had success with these tools? Leave a comment and let me know!
Service Dog Training: Coffee Shop? Check!
Levi’s list of Places to Visit whilst a puppy is quite long.
We’re working hard to get to every place before he’s 16 weeks old, which is when puppy socialization comes to a close. It’s been bitterly cold this winter, making getting out and about not only inconvenient but also painful.
A puppy’s socialization window waits for no man!
So, we bundle up and we go places with the puppy. Today’s escapade involved an unchecked box on our “Places to Visit” list: a coffee shop.
The idea of puppy socialization is to expose the pup in a fun, easy way to new places, sounds, experiences, sights and sounds.
I met a couple of friends for lunch, went prepared with goodies and Levi’s settle blanket and checked “coffee shop” off our list! Levi used the opportunity to catch up on some zzzz’s and spent most of the lunch dreaming (of chasing squirrels?) next to our table. He’d occasionally wake up, take a look around, but generally fell right back into into a lazy slumber.
It’s experiences like this that help shape his world view, that help him learn to settle and relax in any location no matter what else is going on.
Still ahead on Levi’s List of Places to visit:
- gym
- pool
- kid’s sporting event
- exercise path
- indoor mall
- outdoor mall
We’ll be able to get out and about a lot more if winter ever transitions into spring and the temperatures get back above freezing. Until then, we’ll keep bundling up and taking short and sweet trips.
Talk to me: where did you take your pup to socialize him when he was under 18 weeks?
How to Teach Your Dog to Settle
The doorbell rings, and chaos reigns.
The dog is barking at the door, you’re trying to pull him back so he doesn’t run out when the door opens — all the while your guests are waiting on the other side of the door, out in the cold. And once the guests are inside, now the dog is jumping on them!
There’s an easy solution: teach your dog to settle.
Wouldn’t it be nice if your dog could run to his bed, lay quietly and wait until your guests come in the door? Settle is the answer you’ve been looking for.
To teach this, start with some really good treats in a bowl, your clicker, and an appropriately sized mat. (A bath mat from your local big box store works perfectly for teaching this. Inexpensive, portable, and won’t slide around.)
Step 1: Drop the mat down in front of you and be ready to click the instant the dog steps a paw on the mat.
Step 2: When you click, deliver a treat off the mat. We need the dog to hop off the mat, so he can earn another click and treat when he wanders back on.
Step 3: Stay quiet (and patient) as your dog figures out that his foot on the mat earns him a click. Resist the urge to point to, pull your dog over to, or otherwise “help” your dog get to the mat. Let your clicker do all the talking.
Step 4: As your dog catches on, you’ll notice that he’s almost always getting at least one paw on the mat. Great! Now you’re ready to “raise the bar,” and reward only when there are two paws on the mat.
Step 5: Continue to click and treat every time your dog has two pas on the mat until he’s almost always getting at least two paws on the mat. Then raise the bar and click only when there are three paws on the mat. Then only when he has all four paws on the mat.
Step 6: When you’re willing to bet me $100 that your dog will come to the mat and put all four feet on the mat, you’re ready to wait for your dog to sit. The “wait” part is very important — resist the urge to ask your dog to sit. Remain silent. Let the clicker do all the communication. Click only when your dog volunteers a sit (on the mat). I promise you, the sit will happen if you’re patient.
Step 7: After the dog is reliably coming to the mat and sitting automatically, you’re going to wait for him to lie down. Again, no talking, just wait and then click and treat when it happens.
It’s that easy to teach your dog to go settle on a mat.
Things we need to add to make this useful in real life: a name (settle), distractions (doorbell ringing, for instance), distance (so you don’t have to go to the mat with the dog), duration (how long can he stay there?), and direction (so you don’t have to always face the mat in order for this to work).
Reunited with Schooner
“Service Dog Fridays” are long days for Levi and I, with six hours of driving, three hours of training, and they’re exhausting.
Last Friday, however, I was out of bed before the alarm. This long trek wasn’t really a trek at all — I was three hours from seeing Schooner, the big Great Dane I’d turned in a month earlier.
It had been a long month, full of mixed feelings and transitions.
I didn’t miss the trail of slime and slobber he left wherever he went. I didn’t miss his bed-hogging ways or his snoring. But man, did I miss his silly, sweet, goofy self. I missed his singing, his groaning, his laid-backness. I missed him a bunch.
Thankfully, I had a new service pup in-training, Levi, to occupy my time and to fill my days with ridiculously cute moments that lifted me out of the doldrums from missing Schoons.
It was all I could do to walk calmly into the training center, focusing on Levi and his people-greeting skills, and not running directly to Schooner. I could hear him singing his “woo-woos” and my insides felt like they were vibrating from the excitement of seeing him again.
The reunion was splendid.
Everything a girl could hope for. I may have cried. He was as excited as I was, as you can see from the video. I was so very happy to see him, but I was also a little sad because seeing him again reminded me of just how much I missed him…
I’m counting the days until I can see him again.
Talk to me: have you been reunited with a dog you fostered? What was the reunion like? Please share in the comments below, I’d love to hear your story.