Frederick Archives - Smart Dog University

Cues: How to Ask Your Dog to Do Something – Video

August 7, 2014

Ever wonder why your dog doesn’t do what you ask?

Could be that it’s the way you’re asking. Cues (not commands) are a vital component of solid dog training. Often, understanding just a bit about cues and cueing can take your dog’s behavior from so-so to outstanding.

First, what is a cue, exactly?

Good question! A cue is technically anything the dog can perceive — it can be a word, a noise, a movement, a smell. You name it: if the dog can notice it, it can be a cue.

Anybody have a dog whose dog goes a little bonkers when they see the suitcase come out of the closet? Yep, that’s a cue! The dog has associated an action (your leaving) with the suitcase.

A cue can be a word or a phrase.

In our house “Who wants a biscuit?” means: walk with me to the pantry, you’re about to get a goodie.

Cues are the way we ask a dog to do something.

Cues exist in our own life, too.

A green traffic light is a cue, for example. It means “you can move forward now.” A red light is a cue, too: “stop!”

When dogs don’t listen to us, we sometimes blame the dog.

He’s stubborn. He’s hard headed. He just doesn’t listen. But what if — just maybe — we were part of the problem? <Gasp!>

Maybe you say “C’mere” sometimes, but other times you say “Come!” Or maybe someone else says “C’mon!” And the dog is somehow supposed to know that all those different words mean “move to me as quickly and directly as possible?” No way!

Back to our traffic light example: what if the traffic light showed a green light and a yellow light at the same time? What the heck does that mean?! Who knows! Everyone would probably interpret that a little differently: go, stop, go slowly, go but look both ways, etc. See how confusing that would be?

That’s how easy it is to confuse our own dogs.

We’re just scratching the surface with our Dog Training 101 series.

We just published Dog Training 301, so keep your eyes peeled for more. By the end of our series, you’ll be at the top of the dog training class!

Teach Your Dog to Lie Down

May 8, 2014

“Down” is a foundation behavior.

What Is It?

It’s what I like to call a Building Block behavior that all good dogs need to know. Down is simply when the dog lies on the floor on his belly. We don’t need to teach dogs how to lie down, they already know that. What we do need to teach them is how we ask them to do the behavior.

When and Why to Use Down in Everyday Life

Down is a good still behavior. It’s like a pause button for your dog. If your dog is lying on the floor, he can’t also be lunging at another dog, jumping on you, or counter surfing. In other words, it’s a great alternate behavior for your dog to do instead of all those pesky behaviors he does.

How to Teach Down

To teach your dog to lie on the floor, follow these simple steps.

Ask your dog to sit.
As soon as he sits, put your flat hand (palm down) directly in front of his nose and slowly lower your hand to the floor or ground.
Click and treat when your dog lies down.

Add the Word

When you’re ready to bet me $100 that your dog will lie down when you move your hand to the floor, it’s time to add the word for “down.” Simply say the word “down,” then lower your hand. Adding the word too early means you’re labeling a “halfway” behavior. We wait to add the word until we know the dog is going to do the behavior and do it correctly. That will result in a much cleaner behavior and also a dog that learns to listen for the word.

Trouble Shooting and Tips

If your dog has a hard time following your hand, you can put a small treat in your hand and have him follow the treat to the ground. THE RULES: you can use that treat as a lure only three times, then you’ve got to do it with an empty hand. Remember to click when your dog lies down and then get him the treat to reinforce his great behavior.
Move your hand slowly from your dog’s nose straight down to between his toes.
If your dog gets up from the sit before he lies down, simply ask him to sit again. As soon as he sits, begin the process again.
To make it easy to reset your dog and get him ready to lie down again, toss the treat after you click so the dog has to get up to get the reinforcer.

In the video, notice that I’m crouching down instead of standing up. There’s a reason for that: I want the dog to notice only my hand movement. If I were standing straight, and had to bend at the waist to get my hand to the floor, the dog will notice the largest movement — my bending at the waist.

Down is a useful behavior and won’t take any time to teach. You’ll be pleased with how your dog can focus remain calm when he’s in the down position if you practice in real-life scenarios. Happy training!

Talk back.

Leave a comment with a “down” success stories. When did down save the day for you and your dog?

Or simply ask a question or leave a comment — we’d love to hear from you.

Dog Treat DIY: Easy, Healthy Homemade Dog Biscuits – Video

December 12, 2013

I’m not a chef, but I do like to make yummy dog treats for my dogs!

The easier the dog biscuits are to make, the better the chance that I’ll actually make ’em. Here’s what I like the most about cooking for my dogs: they’ll eat anything! It doesn’t matter what it looks like — or really, what it tastes like — they love everything!

For Schoon’s birthday — the big lug is one already — he got some homemade cheesy dog biscuits.

Handmade by moi! They’re so easy, they’d actually be a great project for the kids to get involved with, too.

Here’s how easy they are.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup water
1/3 cup cheddar cheese
1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°.
Combine flour and oats in medium bowl.
Add water, cheeses, and applesauce to flour mixture.
Knead the ingredients until thoroughly mixed.
Turn out onto a floured surface and roll to about 1/4″ thickness.
Cut biscuits with cookie cutters.
Place on a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until browned.
Cool and let your dog enjoy a snack!

Talk Back.

Do you have a favorite snack to make for your dog? Leave a comment and let us know!

Attention! Get Your Dog to Pay Attention [Video]

November 21, 2013

Getting your dog to pay attention can be a challenge. There are so many interesting things out there! Squirrels! Birds! The wind! Joggers! Dogs! Pee! It hurts to know that pee ranks higher on your dog’s list of interesting things than you do, doesn’t it? The good news is that it doesn’t have to stay that way. You can be more interesting than the wind. Or pee.

This is the first video in a series where you’ll teach your dog to pay attention to you. This is pretty powerful stuff – are you ready for it?!

Let’s get started with some of the most common mistakes I see dog owners make when they try to get their dog’s attention:

Nagging. It sounds like this “Fido. Fido! Hey, Fido, look here! C’mon, Fido! Look at me, would you? Hurry up, you stupid dog. FIDO!” It’s almost like begging your dog to look in your direction. Does your husband, wife, child, boss ever get what they want when they nag you? Probably not. And if you do what they want, it’s probably grudgingly. I want your dog to want to look at you!
Bribing. Almost everyone is guilty of this mistake. Your dog won’t look in your direction, so you wave a treat directly in front of his face. Or maybe you say a favorite word like “treat,” or “go for a walk.” Bribes have no place in dog training. Bribes create sloppy and unreliable behavior from your dog. And you always run the risk of not having a good enough bribe.
Demanding. Some people demand that their dog pay attention. You’ve seen it, I’m sure: they’re at the park and they call their dog’s name. The dog is looking at the dog across the way and doesn’t turn around to his owner. The owner yanks on the leash, forcing the dog to turn his head away from the distraction and toward the owner. If there’s something I like less than bribes, it’s demanding something from your dog.
Being stingy. Occasionally, your dog will turn away from something really interesting and instead of having a party and celebrating this huge success, you ignore their success — or worse: you tell them to do something unappealing (like leave the dog park, for instance).

This video shows how you’re going to right those wrongs and get your dog’s attention quickly and easily.

Start in a quiet location — preferably in your house. Have some really delicious treats. Schooner’s eating cubed cheese and summer sausage. Wait for your dog to look at you.

Remain silent. You’re not doing anything to get your dog to look at you. Your job is to click at exactly the same time your dog looks at you or in your direction. That’s it.

Gradually, your dog will realize that looking at you causes you to click and give him a treat. This is where things get really fun! Your dog will start looking at you to get you to click. You saw on the video how I let the clicker do all the “talking,” and I stayed quiet while waiting for Schooner to look at me.

Before long, your dog will spend more time looking at you than at his surroundings. This is good! You’re making progress! It’ll then be time to add in some distractions. That video will be coming shortly. Until then, keep working on the steps in the video and you’ll be ready for the next installment of teaching your dog to pay attention to you!

Bringing Up Baby…With A Dog In the House

November 2, 2013

I don’t remember what was going on in this picture, but I do remember the dog. That’s Penny, the first dog I ever had.

I don’t remember ever living without a dog. My earliest memories involve dogs. And a cat named Spyder Eyes who would hide and then LEAP onto me as I toddled by.

We don’t have kids, but most of the folks I work with do have children. The wise clients ask for advice on when to bring a dog into their family. The other clients call me after there’s a problem and they’re at wit’s end.

I think it’s wise to involve the children in the raising and training of the family dog as soon as they’re able. Supervision, obviously, is required. It’s not “nice to have” supervision, it’s “CRITICAL to have.”

Naturally, responsibility of dog care and training will increase as the children get older. I remember getting into the gigantic galvanized trash can to get our dogs’ their dinner. It seemed gigantic as a kid and I remember loving the smell of the dog food when the lid was opened. Our dogs lived outside back then and I had to carry water to their water bowls, too. I hated that job: the bucket was heavy and I always got soaked by the sloshing water. There was no getting out of it — the dogs needed their water, and it was one of my assigned duties.

If you have a dog and kids, why not let the kids participate in the care of your dog. Pet360 has some great tips on how to divvy out responsibility based on the age of your kids.

Your turn: Did you have a dog growing up? What were your dog-related chores. Do you have kids and a dog? Do your kids have responsibilities around the care, feeding, and training of the family dog? I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment.

This post is sponsored by Pet360. I have the chance to be compensated for spreading the word about Pet360.com, but Smart Dog Blog only shares stuff that WE like! [We don’t share just for money or bling, in other words.]

Great Treats Can Help Your Dog Through A Vet Appointment

October 28, 2013

We’re headed to the veterinarian today for a quick look at a ridiculous wart between Schooner’s toes. It’s been bothering him quite a bit — and bleeding if he gets rambunctious. He’s 10 months old, rambunctious happens on a daily basis. And unfortunately, due to the wart, blood on the floor is now also happening on a daily basis. Ew. Ow.

I fully anticipate Schooner to resist a paw examination at the veterinary hospital. I’ve been worrying him all weekend, checking on the wart, looking at it from every angle, and generally poking him constantly.

For a smooth examination, we’re going to need “the big guns” when it comes to treat choices. Only the best is going to do — he’ll already excited to be in a new place, to meet new people, and then we’ll be poking and prodding. He’ll be raring to go and I’ll need him to stand still — for awhile — so the veterinarian can get a good look at his paw.

I’ve chopped up some leftover ham, have some soft cat food ready, and will even bring some cooked bacon to help Schooner through the visit. The food can act as both a distractor “Ooh! Schooner! Look at this bacon up here!” so the vet can get down and look at the foot without having his slobber into her hair. It can also be used as a reward each time he allows her to touch his foot.

Regular dog food won’t work in this situation. Nor will anything crunchy or hard. These treats need to be delicious — think people-food — and easy to swallow (with minimal chewing). The tastier the better!

Bringing food to every veterinary visit is a good idea. We start all our puppies with delish treats when they go to the veterinarian, even if it’s just for a quick hello to meet the technicians and staff. The more positive associations you can create in your dog’s head that correspond with the veterinary hospital, the easier it’ll be for the veterinarian and her technicians to examine and treat your dog.

Your turn: What’s your dog’s favorite “human food?” Do you give your dog a special treat when you take him (her) to the vet? Share your strategies below in the comments!

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