Teach Archives - Smart Dog University

Teaching a Puppy to Listen in Public

May 30, 2018

Teaching a puppy to listen in public takes time.

It also takes training, patience, and reinforcement.

Rogan is slated to be a service dog when he grows up.

If you’ve ever seen a service dog working with his parter, you may have remarked “He’s so calm!” Or “”Nothing fazes him.” That’s because from puppyhood, that dog has been carefully exposed to public situations, has learned basic “good manners” behaviors, and has had frequent opportunities to practice in public with a trainer before being paired with someone with a disability.

Rogan went with me to do some shopping today.

I had two stops on my agenda: Dick’s Sporting Goods for some running shorts and Wegmans for groceries. I intentionally chose those two stops today because neither was imperative. If things went south in a hurry, I could abandon ship and head back home without any serious consequences. As opposed to, say, bringing Rogan with me to the dentist where it’s a little harder to just get up and leave.

Getting a young dog used to automatic sliding doors, mannequins, public address systems, fitting rooms, carts, strollers, bright lights, shiny floors — the list goes on — is relatively easy if it’s done early enough in the dog’s life and if it’s done at a pace that let’s the dog adjust and settle into each situation. When I take Rogan in public, I always have small, delicious treats (cat treats work great) and Rogan is always my top priority.

For instance, as we went entered Dick’s Sporting Goods today, I was hopeful I could get some shopping done, but I was ready to leave if Rogan couldn’t handle the excitement and the stimulation that a new store (to him) might bring. Rogan was a rock star — his eyes were alert, his tail was waggy, and he was eager to investigate. As he checked-in with me, I’d allow him to sniff the strange looking mannequin (Rogan wagged so hard, I think he was expecting some pets!). This allows the young dog to go at his own pace, to investigate new things, and to be reinforced when he checks back in with his trainer.

Four new pairs of running shorts are now in my dresser, as Rogan found shopping in the athletic store to be somewhat of a breeze.

Our next stop was Wegmans where I needed to get some basics at the grocery store.

Grocery stores can be a nightmare for a trainer and absolute heaven for a dog in training. So much food is so easily accessible. The bread aisle is almost always the worst place — so many delicious smells right at nose level for a dog. It’s hard to compete with 100 loaves of freshly baked bread! Another challenging area is the bulk food aisle. Rogan scored a gummy bear on the floor — he saw it before I did. It’s hard to compete with free food on the floor! He’ll get better at leaving stuff alone (as soon as I get better at noticing it!) as we progress with training in public.

Some of the hardest tasks for a social dog like Rogan, however, is sticking with me instead of walking up to all the people who say “Oh! What a cute dog!” as they pass us.

I’m proactive, but sometimes the struggle for Rogan is real! Most people ask about what Rogan is doing, what he’s training for, and they ask if they can pet him. If he’s under a reasonable degree of control, I usually allow the person to greet Rogan. It gives us a perfect training scenario — Rogan needs to learn how to greet people nicely and then how to disengage and come back to me when asked. Plus, at his stage of development, it’s always good for him to have positive experiences with strangers in public.

yellow Labrador, clicker training, service dog — Relaxing after a big day of shopping.

Much of what I do is preventing problems before they start.

I spend most of my time watching Rogan and very little time socializing with the people in the store. It’s important to be able to predict what Rogan is likely to do when we go past a family with six kids who are taking the whole aisle. How Rogan will behave when passing the luncheon meat counter? These are all questions in my mind as we’re in public. For the most part, our outings right now involve me getting Rogan’s attention before it starts to wander, keeping him occupied throughout stimulating territory (maneuvering through the aforementioned six kids + a cart
in the aisle), and reinforcing him for all of his good choices.

All the training pays off, though! And quickly!

If I do this for a month or so with Rogan, I will have developed a habit for Rogan: checking in frequently with me. Which means I’m not fighting for his attention. That’ll just be what he does “naturally.” From there, we can progress into more complex and distracting situations more quickly because the basics are installed and working smoothly.

Rogan’s still a puppy and his training is still in the early stages. We’ve got a lot more left to accomplish. Check back frequently — we’ll have more adventures to share!

Is There A Difference Between Heeling and Loose Leash Walking? – Guest Post

November 22, 2017

Is There A Difference Between Heeling and Loose Leash Walking?

Guest Post by Hannah Branigan of WonderPups Training.

It’s our lucky day, folks. One of my very good friends, Hannah, has written a piece for Smart Dog U’s blog. Hannah’s a self-professed dog nerd, a brilliant trainer, and a wickedly funny person. If you haven’t caught her podcast, Drinking from the Toilet, make sure you head there after you read this. You can thank me later. Without further adieu, heeeeeere’s Hannah!

Is There A Difference Between Heeling and Loose Leash Walking?

Surely, there can’t be much.

Potato-potahto, right?

Not necessarily.

Depending on your goals and needs with your dog, heeling and loose leash walking can be two totally different behaviors with different functions.

Both are potentially useful in everyday situations and also in competition. And here’s the cool part… with training, ANY dog can learn to do both versions. It’s just behavior!

These two behaviors have a lot of things in common.

With both heeling and loose leash walking, the dog should stay (more or less) beside the handler, matching the handler’s direction and speed. You stop when I stop, you go when I go. In both cases, that requires a certain amount of the dog’s attention to stay with the handler, so that he can adjust his behavior based on the handler’s movement.

So in both cases, the handler’s body movements act as cues to the dog. The way you move your body, shifting your weight, turning your head and such, predict which direction you are about to go. And that acts as information, aka a “cue,” to tell the dog what he needs to do to stay close to you. You’ve already experienced this at home anytime you start walking toward the kitchen. Your dog can read the very smallest of movements that indicate you are about to head toward the refrigerator, and that is VERY important information for dogs to have.

The primary difference between heeling and loose leash walking lies in the level of precision, and thus how closely and quickly the dog must respond to those movement cues and adjust his behavior. The relative intensity of these two different behaviors is reflected in the mechanics of how the behaviors are performed (how the dog uses his body to meet criteria). The “heeling” dog is tightly coiled, ready to respond instantly, and so he carries his body differently and changes the way he moves in order to be able to quickly change direction.

As sort of a side note, this means there are also significant differences in the duration of performance… how long the dog is expected/able to maintain the behavior. Typically, loose leash walking is performed for a MUCH longer period of time… 30 minutes or an hour, easily, where heeling is usually performed in shorter, intense bursts of 30 seconds to a minute, maybe 2 minutes, at a time.

heeling, loose leash walking, walking dog, dog walk, loose leash walking, clicker training, Smart Dog University, Smart Dog, Frederick When we take the dog for a walk (you know, just a normal dog walk) around the neighborhood, we mainly want to relax and get a little exercise and enrichment for ourselves and our pups. So functionally, we need a behavior that keeps the dog within a 6ft radius of us as we go along, and keeps the dog from tripping us as we walk.

Generally, staying to one side, and responding to turns or stops within a couple steps, is plenty to meet our needs. So the dog needs to have enough awareness of the handler to register a change of direction within a second or so, but the rest of the brain can be in chill-out mode. Since the human is usually in chill-out mode at the same time, this usually works pretty well. We aren’t making any sudden changes that would require the dog to stay particularly vigilant.

heeling, dog training, clicker training, Smart Dog University, Smart Dog, dog training, Frederick Heeling is a lot more “expensive” for the dog because he has to really focus tightly on the handler to maintain a precise position and change direction and speed almost simultaneously. With heeling, we want the dog to stay within a SINGLE INCH of the same position relative to the handler. So if the dog’s collar is level with the handler’s kneecap, that collar should never drift more than an inch ahead or behind, or closer or further away. It should be as if there is an invisible, 1-inch long bungee cord, tethering the dog to the handler at all times.

In order to maintain this high level of precision, the dog has to REALLY be paying close attention to what the handler is doing, and be physically prepared to change speed or direction at any moment. Visualize an athlete on the balls of her feet, ready to explode when the starter pistol fires. Perfectly balanced, every neuron focused on what’s coming next. It’s intense! You can’t maintain that kind of intensity for long.

My favorite analog for comparison is the trail horse versus the dressage horse. (Remember that time Laurie went to a dude ranch?)

When on a relaxed trail ride, the horse still pays attention to cues from the rider, but his head is down, and he focuses on putting one foot in front of the other. There’s no urgency (I mean, assuming there isn’t a bear or something) and most of the horse’s attention is on the world around him (and under his feet). He may still walk, trot or gallop, but the transitions are more gentle (unless there’s a bear).

When performing in the dressage ring, the horse shifts his weight much further back, so that more of his weight is balanced on his hind legs (this is called “collection”). This allows even a big horse to perform delicate maneuvers on a dime because his body is prepped to move in any direction. He carries his head much higher by comparison, and his responses to his rider are almost instantaneous.

Now, this isn’t entirely fair labeling, because (just like with our behaviors above) both types of horses have to perform both types of tasks as they go through life. But generally, a dressage horse performing at high levels has a much higher degree of precision (requiring focus and physical skill) for short bursts, compared to the trail horse who is expected to walk much more casually, and for longer periods of time. Of course, a good trail horse also needs to be able to move with focus and precision from time to time, as anyone who has tried to open and close a gate without dismounting can tell you… inches matter! And the dressage horse isn’t in performance mode all the time, just for short bursts.

The same is true for our dogs.

When is heeling helpful?

Tightly focused, attention heeling is of course part of performing in obedience or rally. But it’s also really handy when navigating tight spaces or distracting environments. Trying to squeeze between parked cars to pass another dog on a walk? Calling your dog to a close, focused heel is really helpful for the few seconds it takes to get by.

Loose leash walking?

Of course, this is the behavior we want most of the time with our dogs. When going out around the neighborhood, we don’t need (or want) to try to maintain focused heeling. Here, more casual “walk with me and be cool” is a perfect fit.

Settle on a Mat: Making It Useful Everyday

March 17, 2017

Settle on a Mat: Making It Useful Everyday

Teaching your dog to settle on a mat is super useful.

When your dog settles on a mat, he lies down on that mat, wherever it is, and pretty much chills out. In last month’s newsletter, I introduced the concept of settle and gave you everything you needed to teach the basic “settle on a mat” behavior. After a month to “install” the behavior, now you’re ready to make it “everyday useful.” Here’s how we’re going to go from “installation” to “useful.”

settle, teach your dog to settle. Great Dane, clicker training, Smart Dog University — Schooner settles on his mat.

Put a label on it.

The first thing we’ve got to do is put a label on what the dog is doing. Dog trainers call this a “cue.” The old fashioned word is “command,” but most modern-day trainers have left that word behind because we’re not really commanding our dogs to do anything. That’s another whole article, though, so I’ll leave that for another day.

We label a behavior so we can ask for it whenever we want. The cue is a common language that you and the dog share. Ideally, you ask for the behavior once — only once — and the dog does the behavior. You can use a word (a verbal cue) or a hand signal (a visual cue). There are other types of cues you can use, but for the purpose of this article, we’ll stick with two most obvious cues.

When to add the cue.

If you’re practiced the steps in last month’s article, your dog is probably going to that mat pretty darn predictably now. That’s exactly what we need before we add the cue to any behavior — predicability. I tell people “You’re ready to add the cue when you’ll be me $100 that the dog will do the behavior.”

So, when you’re that certain, you’ll start adding the word (or the hand signal) to the process. Here’s how it goes: (1) dog is walking toward the mat; (2) say “settle” or whatever word you choose just as the dog is getting ready to step his paw on the mat; (3) click when your dog goes to the mat and lies down; (4) toss the treat off the mat to reset your dog for the next repetition.

As the dog gets better and faster at returning to the mat, say the word just a little earlier — maybe when the dog is one step away from the mat. Follow all the steps in the previous paragraph. As your dog gets more practice, begin to say the cue even earlier. Remember to say (or give) the cue just one time — don’t repeat the cue. If the dog doesn’t do the behavior, just wait. Resist the urge to repeat the cue. Say it and wait.

Add the “stay.”

A settle is useful if you don’t need to be facing the mat — in other words, wouldn’t it be great if you could be in the kitchen prepping dinner and direct your dog to settle on his mat which is across the room. If you teach the three D’s (plus Direction) that will be a piece of cake for your dog! A stay is made up of three components: duration (how long the dog can do the behavior), distraction (what else is going on when the dog is doing the behavior), and distance (how far away from you can the dog do the behavior. In this case, we need to add one more “D:” Direction.

Duration

This is the easiest part. All you have to do is delay your click by a second or two. Here’s how it goes, in detail. Cue “settle.” After your dog gets to the mat and lies down, count to two seconds in your head. If your dog is still lying on the mat, click and treat. It’s that easy! You’ll gradually increase the time the dog stays on the mat before you click and treat. Goal: at least 20 seconds on the mat. Training tip: vary the difficulty — don’t always make it harder for your dog.

Distraction

We are going to work on just one element of the stay at a time. Which means, if we’re working on distractions, we don’t care at all about duration. This means we’re clicking the instant the dog settles in this part. Make a list of all your dog’s distractions and order them from easiest to hardest. We’re going to start with the easiest — this might be you moving your foot, waving your hand, or bending your knees. You want to be sure it’s easy for your dog to earn a click.

Start your distraction (start waving your hand, for example), then ask for settle. Click the instant your dog lies on the mat. Training tip: if the distraction is too difficult, remember — don’t repeat your cue. Simply reduce the distraction (wave your hand less vigorously, maybe), cue your dog, and click and treat when she’s successful.

Distance

Because distance involves both duration and distraction, we save it for last. Again, we don’t care about duration or distraction in this piece. We’re working only on distance.

Start by asking your dog to settle as you’ve always done. Click and treat when she’s successful. As she’s going to get the treat, take a step backward (away from the mat) and then cue “settle” as she’s coming back. Click and treat and take another step backward from the mat. Click and treat when she’s successful and take, you guessed it, another step backward.

At some point, there will be enough room for your dog to lie down between you and the mat. If your dog lies closer to you, but not on the mat, just wait her out. Look at the mat, but don’t say “settle” again. I’ll bet you she’ll adjust her position backward so she’s lying on the mat. Click and treat!

Direction

Just like before, we’re not going to worry about any of the other “Ds” while we’re working on direction. There won’t be any distractions, no duration, and no distance when you introduce the concept of direction to your dog.

Imagine that you’re standing in the very middle of a clock. 12 o’clock is directly in front of you, facing the dog. This is what “settle” has looked like for your dog (until now). We’re going to use each “hour” of the clock as a new direction challenge in this exercise.

Start at 12 o’clock and say “settle.” This should be super easy, click and treat when your dog is successful. Then you’re going to stand so your feet are facing 1 o’clock. Again, cue the settle, click and treat when your dog gets it. Continue around the clock, maybe splitting the clock into 30-minute
segments as you near 3 o’clock. That position (3 o’clock) is the beginning of the “hard stuff.” Because at 4 o’clock, you’re actually facing a little bit in the other direction from the mat and the dog. Training tip: Prepare to split your training requests here. If 3 o’clock proves difficult for your dog, don’t jump to 4 o’clock as the next step. Stay at 3 o’clock a few times, then move to about 3:30.

After you’ve installed all four variables of “stay,” you’re ready to begin putting two pieces together at once. Ask for short duration with small distance, for instance. Or slight directional change with a mild distraction. When your dog is good at two combinations, add a third combination, then the fourth. Before you know it, you’ll have a solid settle behavior that is not only useful, but it’s pretty darn impressive, too!

Where and when will you use your dog’s Settle?

Run With Your Dog: Schooner Runs His First 10K

March 7, 2017

Schooner’s First 10K

I’ve talked about my adventures in running in past articles. How I got started running, how running is a lot like dog training, and how training for a race is exactly like training your dog.

Last year, I was up for an adventure, so I took Schooner, my Great Dane, to a local Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning.

Great Dane, Schooner, running, Turkey Trot, dog training — Schooner runs his first Turkey Trot 5K!

Schooner did a great job running his first race.

So this year we’re going to enter some other dog-friendly races. We’re doing the Turkey Trot again, and looking to find a couple more races we can run with the Schoons.

I’ve been running with Schooner for about a year now and he set a new record for himself: he ran his very first 10K! It was a training run for me (my husband and I have a bunch of races coming up, but I’m training specifically for a 10K in April).

running, Spook Hill race, Frederick, dog training Schooner has done 5.75 miles, but this one was a full 10K (6.2 miles). The weather was nice — not too hot, some cloud cover — and he’d been somewhat stir crazy over the weekend, so I took him with me. He did a great job, I don’t think he even felt the 6 miles — he was ready to race around the backyard when we got home.

Dogs aren’t welcome at a lot of races — and for good reason.

Races are competitive events. Running with a dog can be dangerous if he isn’t trained well, especially if you’re in a large group of runners. There is also dog-etiquette to be aware of if you want to stay on the good side of fellow runners. In addition, I think it’s important to think about health and conditioning issues for your dog, as well. I’m not a veterinarian, so I’ll leave that up to the experts. I strongly encourage you to check with your veterinarian before you start running with your dog to make sure your dog is healthy and can withstand the rigors of running.

This post is about what kind of training your dog should have so that you can both run safely (whether in a race, on the road, or on the trail).

Leash manners is an important skill to teach any dog, but especially a dog who’s going to run with you.

You don’t want your dog to pull you — that’s a recipe for disaster. You could be pulled into traffic, you could fall and injure yourself, and you could really tick off other runners. Here are some articles (with video!) to help teach your dog great leash manners. Start here, then go to this step, and finish with this one.

Another running skill your dog should have is attention to you.

It’s crucial that you can get your dog’s attention quickly whenever you need it. For instance, if you’re running the roads and you see something ahead that you’d like to avoid, you can call your dog’s name, safely cross the street, and continue your run uninterrupted. I wrote an article and made a video demonstrating how to teach the basics of attention. Schooner, the Great Dane is also the star of the second article and video in the series working on advanced attention.

You may think that because you run alone or out on lonely trails, that it’s ok that your dog isn’t so friendly to other dogs or to people.

I can confirm that those “empty” trails aren’t always empty. Sometimes I’m on them. I can’t tell you the number of times people have said to me “I never see anyone here!” as they’re frantically begging their off-leash dog (a huge pet-peeve of mine that I’ll get to in the next article…) to come back to them and to leave me alone. Some trails are narrow, sidewalks can be crowded, and running routes can be tight. If your dog isn’t friendly to people, don’t take him running in public. If your dog isn’t so great with other dogs, leave him home. You may go out 99 times and not run across another person or dog. But that one time you do, and your dog bites someone or gets into a dog fight, will be the one that really matters (angry runner, injured dog, potential lawsuit, etc.).

Fellow “runs with dogs” runners, what training tasks have I missed? What other behavior and training concepts should I include?

Stay tuned, my next article will focus on etiquette when you run with your dog.

Settle on a Mat

February 9, 2017

Settle on a mat is a lifesaver.

Settle on a mat, dog training, clicker, Smart Dog University It’s the fix for “He’s too excitable.”

Is your dog easily excited?

A bit “too much?” Is he a maniac when people come to the door? Does he bug you when you’re trying to eat dinner? Would you love to have a place where your dog could just chill out yet still be in the same room with you?

You need SETTLE.

Well, more accurately, your dog needs settle. What is settle? Settle is when your dog goes to his specified mat (wherever you are: your house, the park, hotel room, family’s house for a party, veterinary visit, etc.) and relaxes (and even falls asleep – yep, honest. I’ve seen it happen!).

Settle on a mat is pretty darn easy to teach, you’ll be amazed at how quickly your dog catches on.

What you’ll need to teach settle on a mat.

a mat (think: bathroom mat [the kind with a plastic backing])
clicker
treats

How to teach settle on a mat.

Stand still centered behind the mat.
Have your clicker ready to go (in your hand, thumb on the clicker).
When the dog just happens to put a paw on the mat (totally by chance), CLICK!
Toss the treat off the mat (we need the dog to leave the mat so he can come back onto the mat to get another click).
Wait for the dog to eat the treat and wander back over to where you’re standing, in the process accidentally stepping a paw on the mat again.
Click, treat, toss.
Repeat.

Fairly quickly, you’re going to be clicking and treating like a maniac — your dog might not know [yet!] exactly what’s getting him the click and treat, but you’ll see that he’s hanging out near you and with his paw on that mat a lot more often.

When he’s getting a paw on that mat every single time, hold off on clicking him until he gets two paws on.

Ooh, we’re tricky, aren’t we! You’ll be surprised at how quickly your dog moves both those paws on that mat. Be ready and click the moment that second paw touches the mat. Toss the treat off and wait again.

Pretty soon, two paws will be the norm. Then guess what you’re going to do. You’re going to wait for the dog to have three paws on before you click. Then, you guessed it, when he’s good at getting three paws on the mat, you’re only going to click when the dog has all four paws on the mat. You’re always tossing a treat off after you click, of course.

Ok, now comes the first big leap of faith that I’m going to ask you for.

It’s going to involve your doing nothing. And that’s really hard for people, I’ve learned. We want to help. We want to tell the dog what to do. I’m begging you — remain silent. Remain still. You’re doing nothing except clicking and treating.

Ok, ready: once the dog is good at getting four paws on, I want you to wait (!) until the dog voluntarily (!!) sits on that mat. I PROMISE YOU THE DOG WILL SIT without your asking him. HONEST. I wouldn’t steer you wrong here. Just wait. It’ll be worth it, I promise.

Once your dog is coming to that mat and sitting reliably, guess what.

You’re going to wait for the dog to volunteer a down. I KNOW, RIGHT?! Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? It’s not. Again, you have to trust me here. You’ll, of course, click and treat the instant that dog lies down.

Here’s what it looks like. This is little Levi, a sweet 10-ish week old Labrador retriever who was so punky when we shot this video, I laugh every time I watch it.

He had never worked on settle prior to this video shoot. See how fast he gets the idea? Your dog will likely be this quick, too.

Troubleshooting the settle on a mat:

What if my dog doesn’t move? Just be patient. Remember in the beginning of the video, Levi sort of sat still for a bit. I didn’t look at him, didn’t talk to him, just sat and waited. If your dog gets really stuck (lies down, for instance), you can toss a treat (no click, just toss) to get him up and moving.
What if my dog wanders off? Some inexperienced dogs might not understand the process. To help the novice dog, try this. Click and treat 10 times in a row. Click, then toss the treat away a few feet. You’re not clicking for anything in particular, just pairing the sound of the click with the tossed treat. Tossing the treat gets the dog moving and once we have a dog who’s up and moving, it’s a sure bet that he’ll inadvertently walk across or onto that mat (for which you will click and treat).
My dog just stares at me, what do I do? Stand (or sit) still and look at the mat. Keep your eyes on the mat and resist the urge to “help” your dog.

There are still some things we need to do to make this behavior useful. Things like adding the cue word to tell the dog when he should settle, introducing the concept of staying on the mat, and introducing distractions, too. No worries, we’ll cover that in next month’s newsletter.

Take the next few weeks to work on this piece of “settle” and you’ll be ready for the next steps next month!

3 Ways to Make Training Stick: Easy Ways to Get Your Dog to Listen to You

September 7, 2016

What if I told you that YOU had the power to get your dog to listen to you more often? Does it sound too good to be true? It’s not and even better: it’s really easy!

These three things are simple enough for everyone to do with their own dog. Try it for a month and let me know how much better your dog is doing when you ask him to do something for you.

Why do these things?

It may feel like a waste of time to do this extra work. You’ve already taught your dog good manners, why should you have to do more? Because, like people, dogs do better when they get a little more support, attention, and instruction.

Sure, you can go along with a dog that sorta sometimes listens, but why stop halfway? Especially when it’s so easy to take it to the next level where your dog isn’t only listening to you but is happy to do it!

Plus, life is a whole lot easier for you when cooperation is the norm, instead of the exception. Wouldn’t it be nice if your dog came the first time you called (and was wagging his tail the whole way), instead of going out into the yard and chasing him around a bit, resulting in your being late for work?

What are the three things?

These are all pretty easy, dirt cheap, quick, and effective. Let’s dive right in without delay!

Change up the reward. Make a list of the things your dog really likes. No need to spend much time on this — make your list on the back of an envelope or on your phone, even. It doesn’t matter where you write all this stuff down, the purpose of this quick exercise is to show you just how many things your dog enjoys.

Here’s what would be on my dog’s list:

cherry tomatoes, cheese bits, any food leftovers, really
dog treats
pork rawhide
back scratches, tummy rubs
walks
car rides
“squirrel” and then racing to the door to chase the bird feeder pilferer to the fence
squeaky toy
face massage
happy talk
opportunity to be chased by me through the house
opportunity to chase ME through the house
a quick training session
stuffed Kong
meal
game of tug
a round or two of fetch

Look at all those different things I can offer my dog when he’s done something I’ve asked! Switching up rewards keeps your dog interested in what you’re asking, makes it fun to listen to you, and will greatly improve his manners.

Make it unpredictable. If your dog knows that when he comes inside, he gets a boring old dog cookie, you can bet he’s not going to be in much of a rush to do what you’ve asked. Think of it this way: if you knew that when you go back to work after lunch, you’ve got a 4-hour boring teleconference, wouldn’t you want to hang out at the restaurant a little longer? Would you really want to rush back to work? Just to sit in a meeting all afternoon? (If you answer yes to this, you’re an odd character and I don’t understand you.)

With the list you created above, you’re now ready for huge variability in how you reward your dog for doing what you like. You’re the gatekeeper to all the things your dog loves. Open that gate to those things when your dog does what you like! Be generous! No one appreciates a stingy gift. If your dog comes to you — no matter how long it took him — reward generously with one (or two or three!) of those things on the list above. I’ll bet you he comes even faster the next time you call him. And even faster the time after that! It’s a beautiful cycle — you reward generously and unpredictably and your dog responds faster and with more enthusiasm. It’s a cool thing to see when your dog recognizes that listening to you opens up the door for him to have fun, get a goodie, or play a game with you.

Practice. How many days a week do your kids spend practicing with their school sports teams? How many practice days do professional athletes put in before every game? A LOT in both cases. We completely expect athletes to put in the practice time if they’re going to be star players, right? The same thing goes for your dog. Your dog will be as good as his practice. If he’s going to be a star, he needs practice time.

What does this mean for you? It means that right before you’re going to give your dog something from that list you created (above), you’re going to ask him to do something for you. If we look at the coming when called example again, it means maybe you call your dog three times before you really need him to come in. Let’s say you’re getting ready for work and you know that you have to leave the house at 7:30a to get to work on time. Instead of calling your dog to come in at 7:25a (where he’ll be “rewarded” by being crated and your leaving , call him at 7:10a. When he comes to you, give him a tasty treat and send him back outside to play in the fenced yard. Call him again at 7:15a. Maybe you throw a squeaky toy for him and let him continue to play and explore the yard. At 7:20 call him again, this time you chase him for 15 seconds around the yard (if he loves to be chased, of course). Then at 7:25, the for real, I need you to come right away call, he gets a stuffed Kong inside the house (in his crate if you crate him during the day) as you leave.

This doesn’t take much extra time, but boy does it make a big impression on your dog! If you stick to this practice regimen (calling your dog when you can reward him and send him back out to play [another reward!]), before you know it, your dog’s recall will be stellar! He’ll come to you the first time, every time!

These three things work independently of the other. They work even better if you implement all three strategies together. This stuff is easy — anyone can work it into their schedule. It’s cheap, it’s easy — and it’s effective. Start by making the list of the things your dog loves, then start the program. You’ll be amazed at the difference you can make!

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Teach

Teaching a puppy to listen in public takes time.

Rogan is slated to be a service dog when he grows up.

Rogan went with me to do some shopping today.

Our next stop was Wegmans where I needed to get some basics at the grocery store.

Some of the hardest tasks for a social dog like Rogan, however, is sticking with me instead of walking up to all the people who say “Oh! What a cute dog!” as they pass us.

Much of what I do is preventing problems before they start.

All the training pays off, though! And quickly!

Is There A Difference Between Heeling and Loose Leash Walking?

Is There A Difference Between Heeling and Loose Leash Walking?

Depending on your goals and needs with your dog, heeling and loose leash walking can be two totally different behaviors with different functions.

These two behaviors have a lot of things in common.

When is heeling helpful?

Loose leash walking?

Settle on a Mat: Making It Useful Everyday

Teaching your dog to settle on a mat is super useful.

Put a label on it.

Add the “stay.”

Where and when will you use your dog’s Settle?

Schooner’s First 10K

Last year, I was up for an adventure, so I took Schooner, my Great Dane, to a local Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning.

Schooner did a great job running his first race.

Dogs aren’t welcome at a lot of races — and for good reason.

This post is about what kind of training your dog should have so that you can both run safely (whether in a race, on the road, or on the trail).

Leash manners is an important skill to teach any dog, but especially a dog who’s going to run with you.

Another running skill your dog should have is attention to you.

You may think that because you run alone or out on lonely trails, that it’s ok that your dog isn’t so friendly to other dogs or to people.

Fellow “runs with dogs” runners, what training tasks have I missed? What other behavior and training concepts should I include?

Settle on a mat is a lifesaver.

Is your dog easily excited?

You need SETTLE.

Settle on a mat is pretty darn easy to teach, you’ll be amazed at how quickly your dog catches on.

What you’ll need to teach settle on a mat.

How to teach settle on a mat.

When he’s getting a paw on that mat every single time, hold off on clicking him until he gets two paws on.

Ok, now comes the first big leap of faith that I’m going to ask you for.

Once your dog is coming to that mat and sitting reliably, guess what.

Troubleshooting the settle on a mat:

Take the next few weeks to work on this piece of “settle” and you’ll be ready for the next steps next month!

What if I told you that YOU had the power to get your dog to listen to you more often? Does it sound too good to be true? It’s not and even better: it’s really easy!

Why do these things?

What are the three things?

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