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Teach Your Dog: How to Train

January 14, 2014

Our first three blog posts offered up what Train Your Dog Month (TYDM) is, what you’ll need and how to get organized, and what you might want to teach your dog.

Let’s get into the HOW to teach your dog!

The how is the fun part. There isn’t any required equipment. At Smart Dog University, we like to use a little dohickey called a clicker. But it’s not imperative that you have one. You’ll get much faster results and your dog will understand you much more quickly by using one, but dogs can learn without it. (You just have to be full up on patience without the clicker.)

The internet will make your head spin when it comes to the “how to’s” of anything. Here’s the straight skinny on dog training:

There isn’t good behavior. There isn’t bad behavior. It’s all just behavior.

Here’s an example:

Your dog hears someone come through the door. He greets the person with woofs and barks, jumps right up on them planting his paws on their chest, and grabs their hand in his mouth. Is that good behavior or bad behavior?

That kind of depends, doesn’t it?

If it’s your mother in-law, you’ll probably tell me that it’s bad behavior.

If it’s an intruder bent on doing you harm, you’ll tell me your dog’s the best dog in the whole wide world.

Behavior is just behavior.

Most dog owners hate that statement. That statement doesn’t help them fix their dog.

Ah, but it does!

Because behavior is just behavior, there’s not a whole lot we can’t fix about your dog! Your dog jumps on mother in-law? Not a problem: we’ll teach your dog a new and different behavior. We’ll teach him to sit. And not only to sit. But to sit when people come to your house. Problem solved. Just like that.

It’s that easy.

Let’s get started.

Pull out your worksheet where you wrote what you’d like to teach your dog. You should have written something for your dog to do. See the previous post if you wrote something like “I want my dog to stop doing whatever.” We need a solid, easy to define behavior to teach.

Let’s say you wanted to teach your dog to greet guests politely, instead of jumping on your friends when they walk into your house. We’re going to focus on the behavior of SIT. For this exercise, and every exercise, really, I want you to get your dog to the point where you only need to ask him once to sit and he puts his rump right on the ground.

Here’s the bottom line: if you have to ask your dog more than once to do something, it’s not really trained.

There’s no way we can add real life elements like distractions (people knocking on the door, for instance), distance (how far away your dog can be from you), and duration (how long can he stay seated). Without distractions, distance, and duration, that sit won’t do you (or your guests) any good.

So, if you’ve never taught your dog to sit — or — if your dog can’t sit the first time you say it, you’re going to start right here.

I like to use a clicker when teaching my dog because it makes the process very clear for the dog and speeds up training. However, you don’t have to use a clicker, it’ll just take you a little longer to get the reliable behavior we need for your dog to remain sitting when guests come in.

Ok, ready?

There are two ways to teach your dog to sit.

One is to just pay him whenever he sits all on his own. This is the easiest way to train, but sometimes not the most efficient. Just click whenever your dog sits, all on his own. When you click, follow through with a treat. Here’s a short introductory article and video explaining how to use the clicker.

The other way to teach your dog that you love it when he sits is to set him up to sit, then click and pay him. To do this, hold a small treat in your hand, palm up. Use your thumb to hold the treat so it doesn’t roll off your upturned palm. Put that treat right in front of your dog’s nose and slowly move the treat up and slightly backward, just over your dog’s head. If he jumps up, your treat hand is too high. You’re not saying anything to your dog, just let him follow the treat.

The instant your dog’s rump hits the floor, click and treat! Repeat this with the treat in your hand two more times, always silently, and always clicking and treating when your dog gets it right.

Now, we have to get rid of the food in the hand.

On the fourth try, you’re going to pretend that you have food, putting your hand in the same position as the last three tries. This time, when your dog sits and you click, reach quickly for the food (because it’s not in your hand) and give your dog a treat.

Continue doing this until you’re ready to bet me $100 that your dog will sit as soon as you begin to move your hand upward and backward slightly. Now, and only now, are you ready to add the word into the process.

To add the word sit, follow these steps.

Say “Sit,” in a pleasant voice, then move your hand up and backward slightly. As soon as the dog sits, click and treat! Continue working on that until your dog begins to sit immediately after you’re saying the word.

Now you have two ways to ask your dog to sit: a word and a hand signal. Cool!

Next time, we’ll talk about how to add in those real life elements like distractions, distance, and duration so that your dog can sit like a champ when people come into your house!

Remember, this method works no matter what you’re teaching your dog. So if what you want to teach is different than the sit, no matter. Simply follow the guidelines above with the behavior you’re interested in teaching, and let me know how it’s going!

Your turn: what are you going to teach? Leave a comment and let me know. Also, leave a comment if you’re not sure what to train (or how to get started).

Teach Your Dog: Solving Your Dog Training Problems

January 9, 2014

January is Train Your Dog Month (TYDM).

We introduced you to what TYDM is, and also got you organized and ready to teach your dog. The preliminary work is done, now let’s decide what exactly you’d like to teach your dog.

There are so many things to teach, it’s helpful to narrow your options in the beginning.

Do you want to stop some bad habits?
Would you rather teach your dog a cool trick?
Or is your highest priority teaching your dog good manners?

Smart Dog U has designed a worksheet to help you narrow your choices.

Download the worksheet here.

If you want to stop a bad habit, the first thing you have to decide is this: what do you want your dog to do instead of the bad habit?

For example: let’s say you want your dog to stop jumping on people. Excellent idea! So how do you translate that into something that you can teach? You figure out what to teach your dog. I think a perfect solution to jumping is to teach your dog to sit. A sitting dog can’t also be a jumping dog. Sometimes it helps to describe what “the perfect dog” would look like when guests came over.

If you want to teach a cool trick, pick one (see the worksheet link above) and then break down the trick into tiny, teachable pieces. Don’t worry, we’ll get deeper into how to teach tricks in a future post.

If you want to teach good manners, make a prioritized list of the things you want your dog to learn.

Your homework is to download the worksheet and decide what to teach.

After you decide what to teach your dog, we’ll teach you how to do it! Stay tuned for the next installment of Train Your Dog Month!

Your turn: What are you going to teach your dog? Leave a comment and let me know!

Dog Training: Ways to Use Hand Targeting

January 9, 2014

One of the things I use almost every day with my own dogs, as well as with the service dogs I raise and train, is hand targeting.

What’s hand targeting? Glad you asked! We talked about it here and explained what it was and how to teach it.

Since that article was posted, you’ve had time to teach your dog to target his nose to your hand and now it’s time to talk about how and when you might use hand targeting with your own dog.

Here’s how you might use hand targeting to help you move your dog around without having to resort to dragging him around by the leash.

Imagine for a second someone dragging you around by your hoodie. Without any warning, you just start moving in another direction and you’re not sure why or where you’re being dragged. That’s what I imagine it’s like for our dogs when we tug on the leash to change direction or make them move.

Instead of tugging on the leash, teach your dog how to target your hand. It’s dead simple and has many uses. Use hand targeting instead of leash tugs and your dog will be happy to comply. It’s kind of like someone saying, “Hey, come over this way” as opposed to dragging you around by your hoodie. It’s a lot nicer and you’ll get a lot more cooperation from your dog this way.

Your turn: How do you use targeting with your dog? Has it ever saved the day for you or your dog? Leave a comment and let me know!

How To: Get Your Dog to Pay Attention – Part 2

January 2, 2014

Ever wish you could get your dog’s attention no matter what was going on around you?

In this series of videos, we’re showing you how you can do exactly that! In the first video, we taught you how to teach your dog to look at you without anything else going on. Your dog has to be good at that step before you move on to this one. [If your dog’s not looking at you frequently, there’s no way we can add distractions and expect him to look at you!]

How to Add Distractions

Start with something easy — not your dog’s favorite toy. In the video, I used an old, roughed up yogurt container that the dogs had already pretty much destroyed.
Call your dog’s name, then click and treat when he looks at you.
Get him interested in the object again and repeat step #2.
When the dog gets really good at that, choose an object that’s a little bit more difficult for your dog to disengage. Your dog should still have a really good chance of succeeding.
Call your dog’s name — once! — then wait for him to look at you. Click and treat when he does. Note: in the video, it may be hard to see that Schooner’s eyes are moving from the distraction to me. His head isn’t swiveling away from the object, but his eyes are sliding from the object to me. He gets a click and a treat for any eye contact, it doesn’t have to be a massive head movement.
Continue to ratchet up the distraction gradually, so that your dog is able to look away even when you have food in your hand.

Check out the video to watch Schooner learn how to leave toys and food alone when he hears his name.

Your turn: What’s your dog’s biggest distraction? Is it another dog? A scent? People? Noises? Leave a comment and let me know!

2014 Goal: Train Your Dog

January 1, 2014

What’s your resolution for your dog in 2014?

Smart Dog University wants to help you make — and keep — a resolution with your dog. How about a little more training. It can be do-it-yourself style, a group class, or just teaching new tricks. Whatever, we just want you to spend some good quality time in 2014 with your dog. The Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) developed Train Your Dog Month in 2010 and it’s gotten bigger and better every year. SDU is getting involved this year and will be bringing you weekly updates, challenges, tools, and training tips to get — and keep — you and your dog motivated on this new goal.

WHAT is Train Your Dog Month (TYDM)?

A month dedicated to you and your dog — how much fun (and how helpful) training is for both of you.

Too many dogs are turned in to shelters because of behavior problems. Many of those issues can be easily solved with a little training and information. Smart Dog U’s mission is to make dogs and their people happy together. We want everyone to know that training can be — no should be! — fun for both of you!

WHY now?

January is great month to start teaching your dog. It’s a time when new habits are created and when people are looking for change.

WHY train?

Here’s a common dog problem: boredom. Your dog doesn’t have social media. He can’t sit and watch the entire season of Orange is the New Black. He doesn’t have a J O B. While many people dream of hitting the lottery and never working another day, we’d still keep ourselves busy. Unfortunately, our dogs don’t have the luxury of keeping themselves busy. Well, they do. But we tend to throw fits when the dog amuses himself (chewed carpet, destroyed sofa, cat chasing, you get the picture). Let’s do what we can to occupy our dogs’ brains and bodies and I bet both you and your dog be a lot happier at the end of the day.

Another common dog problem: lack of manners. Dogs don’t grow into good manners — manners need to be taught. You are your dog’s teacher. It’s up to you to convey the house rules, the neighborhood rules, and the life rules to your dog. Thankfully, that’s an easy fix by simply teaching your dog a few good manners.

Training your dog solves both issues fast. A dog who’s learning new things doesn’t get bored and look for ways to amuse himself. And a well-mannered dog will likely be able to go more places with you and have more fun. Guess what? A dog who gets to go places is also not bored! See how those two things are connected? A little bit of training not only solves each issue, but it’s got a synergistic effect (that’s fancy words for it works and it works great!).

WHO should train?

You should train your dog. Even better, get your whole family involved. The more people in your dog’s life that “know the rules,” the better.

WHEN should you train?

Train whenever you can fit it in. Train while your coffee is brewing. Train while you’re brushing your teeth. Train while you’re waiting for your kid’s bus. Train while the commercial is on. Train whenever you can!

There’s no hard and fast rule about when to train. The more you do it, the more you’ll like it. The more you like it, the more your dog will like it. The more your dog likes it, the more you’ll train. The more you train, the more you’ll love your dog.

WHERE can you train?

Train at home. Train in a class. Train wherever you can!

WHAT can you teach?

The sky’s the limit. You can teach your dog anything he’s physically able to do. Can you teach your dog to fly an airplane? No. He doesn’t have opposable thumbs. Can you teach him to bring you a soda from the fridge? Yes, indeed! You’re limited only by your own creativity and imagination.

HOW to teach your dog?

The internet will make your head spin when it comes to the “how to’s” of anything. Here’s the straight skinny on dog training:
There isn’t good behavior. There isn’t bad behavior. It’s all just behavior.
Here’s an example:
Your dog hears someone come through the door. He greets the person with woofs and barks, jumps right up on them planting his paws on their chest, and grabs their hand in his mouth. Is that good behavior or bad behavior?

That kind of depends, doesn’t it?
If it’s your mother in-law, you’ll probably tell me that it’s bad behavior.
If it’s an intruder bent on doing you harm, you’ll tell me your dog’s the best dog in the whole wide world.

Behavior is just behavior.

Most dog owners hate that statement. That statement doesn’t help them fix their dog.
Ah, but it does!

Because behavior is just behavior, there’s not a whole lot we can’t fix about your dog! Your dog jumps on mother in-law? Not a problem: we’ll teach your dog a new and different behavior. We’ll teach him to sit. And not only to sit. But to sit when people come to your house. Problem solved. Just like that.

It’s that easy.

We’re spending January teaching you how to teach your dog. We do this every month of the year, yes, but we’re highlighting all the training why’s and wherefore’s this month. All in one place. We’re giving you the tools, schedule, tips, and information you need right now to start teaching your dog.

We’re making it easy to understand, easy to fit into your lifestyle, and even better, easy for your dog.

Ready? Let’s get started!

I’m learning how to run a 5K. In all my 45 years, I’ve never liked running. I’ve not stuck with any running program for more than about a week. Until I met Couch to 5K (C25K), that is. C25K is a program designed for couch potatoes who’d like to get in shape to run a 5K. (A 5K is 3.1 miles.) I’m two weeks away from finishing the program and I’m running without stopping now and I look forward to running. Two things that have never happened to me before!

The key to my success is the way C25K set up their program. They make it really hard to mess it up! And they make each step really easy so I’m rewarded every single time I run.

Smart Dog U is setting up TYDM the same way. We’re going to ease you into training your dog, set up lots of fun rewards for you and your dog, and then sit back and bask in your success!

Stick with Smart Dog University for your dog training needs for the month of January and beyond.

This is just the beginning. Come along with us as we get you geared up to get your dog’s training in shape. Think of all the progress you can make in four short weeks. Think about how impressed your friends and relatives will be by the end of the month.

The next article will get you prepped to start teaching with a (very short) list of training supplies. We’ll also have articles with ideas on what to teach, as well as videos to show you how to teach. We’ll also be dropping in all month with cool ideas and training secrets to help you reach your goal.

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Wondering what to put in your Kongs?

Your turn: Do you have an organization system to help keep things neat and organized? Please share in a comment below, I’d love to hear about it!