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Levi

Do You Train Your Dog Enough? (Video)

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How often do you train your dog?

I get asked both these questions every week. The answer is pretty simple. I work with my dogs every day. Every time we interact with our dogs, we’re teaching them something, or reinforcing their good behavior.

Don’t worry, I’m not telling you to train your dogs for hours each day in formal training sessions.

What I am saying, though, is training’s gotta be a part of your dog’s everyday routine if you want the training to stick.

I work with our service dog in-training, Levi, in formal training sessions almost every day on various different skills. This month it’s been working on his stays, downs, and some service dog-specific tasks like moving to my right side or my left side when asked. He’s a little different than your dog, though, because Levi’s got a job to do — and the sooner he’s trained, the sooner he can be paired with his partner and improve that person’s life.

Just as important as those formal training sessions, though, is our “everyday” training.

What’s everyday training?

It’s when I ask Levi to sit before he comes out of his crate. Or down before asking him to go into the crate. Here are some other examples of our everyday training. I ask my dogs to do something before I:

  • Clip the leash on
  • Open the door for them to go inside or outside
  • Feed them their meals
  • Throw the ball
  • Tug the toy
  • Invite them onto the furniture (yes, the dogs are allowed on our furniture.
  • Give them a stuffed Kong
  • Give them individual attention
  • Open the car door
  • Give them a treat

You get the picture. There are lots of things you do for your dog everyday that he loves. Those things can be the way you reinforce the good behavior without needing a clicker and food (once the behaviors are learned, of course).

So stop worrying about finding time to train. Everyone’s got time. Especially if you do what I call everyday training.

Talk back! When do you fit training in to your dog’s day?

Advanced Stay: Part 2 (Video)

stay, dog training, dog obedience, dog classes, Frederick, clicker, positive, Smart Dog University, lab training, labrador training, black lab, yellow labMaking your dog’s “Stay” work for you.

Once your dog understands the concept of stay (stay right where you are, I’ll come back to you and release you when it’s ok to come with me), you can start building on the “real-life” value of the behavior.

By now, you’ve already taught your dog each of the three individual components of stay: duration, distraction, and distance.

Now the real fun starts! it’s time to start putting those together. You start, of course, with just two of the elements and making sure your dog has a pretty good chance of getting clicked and reinforced.

Remember, your job as teacher of your dog is to make the exercise challenging, yet ensuring your dog can succeed.

What if you make a mistake?

Ok, so maybe you overestimated your dog’s skills and he went after the toy you tossed or came to you when you said his name — instead of staying planted where you asked him to “stay.” No worries, it’s not a big deal. Simplify the exercise — make it a little easier — so you can get your dog a click and a treat. So if you were tossing a toy (distraction) while you were 5 feet away (distance) from your dog, and he went for the toy, just shorten the distance (maybe stand 2.5 feet away)  and toss the toy away from your dog. If your dog is successful, click and treat, then move maybe 3 feet away and toss away from your dog.

It’s pretty easy to make quick progress when you set your dog up for success.

Kinda makes you wonder why people do it any other way, doesn’t it?

Talk back! Share your success of teaching your dog to stay! Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you.

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

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!

Dog Training Explained in Plain Language

Do you ever feel like you have to be an expert in something if you want to do something yourself?

Smart Dog University is here to bring dog training to you in a simple, easy to understand format so you can do it yourself!

Here’s a quick video on three of the most common dog training terms and their easy to understand definitions. It’s a must-watch if you have a dog and want to train him.

Talk back! What terms give you pause?

What else would you like to learn about through our Smart Dog University video series? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Do This, Not That! Video

It’s impossible to get rid of a behavior.

It can only be replaced with a different, more acceptable behavior.

Dog training really is that simple, I swear.

Focus on what you want your dog to do instead of complaining about all the things he does wrong. Make a list! Have two columns: One with “Good Behavior,” and another with “Get Rid Of.” Go ahead, get your complaints out first — write down everything your dog does that drives you batty. Now, and here’s the important part, write down something that the dog can (should, whatever) do instead of doing the thing that annoys you next to every complaint you wrote.

All that’s left is to simply teach your dog how to do the desired thing, and reward him handsomely for doing it.

Check out our YouTube channel for lots of dog training videos on the basic obedience skills and get to teaching!

Talk back!

Honestly, how many of you didn’t hear a word I said because watching Levi was so much more entertaining? Talk about a ham — he had a bee in his bonnet during that taping, didn’t he?

Quicker, Faster, More Effective Dog Training

There’s more to dog training than just teaching the dog to do what we ask.

If you want to supercharge your dog’s training, use management in addition to teaching your dog to follow your requests.

What’s management? How does it help me?

Management helps your dog to do what you ask. More importantly, management keeps your dog from doing the stuff you don’t want him to do. For example, we use baby gates in our house to prevent our dogs from getting into the kitchen when we’re gone. They aren’t necessarily learning anything, but we’re preventing them from wreaking havoc (and preventing them from learning how much fun it is to wreak that havoc!) while we’re gone.

If we don’t give dogs the chance to get in trouble, they won’t get in trouble.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But it’s so true!

We use management while we’re teaching the dog to do what we ask. It’s what gets us through the situation until we can teach the dog what to do.

Here are some examples of how I use management in a training scenario:

To prevent jumping. Training: teach the dog to sit/stay (with distractions, distance, and duration). Management: Until the dog is fully trained, put the dog behind a gate or put him on a leash so he’s not able to jump on people when you have visitors.

To prevent running off. Training: Teach a reliable come when called (with distractions and distance). Management: Until the dog is fully trained, keep the dog on a leash when you’re outdoors.

To prevent counter surfing: Training: Teach your dog to settle on a mat in the kitchen (with distractions, distance, and duration). Management: Until the dog is fully trained, keep food in the refrigerator OR use a gate to keep the dog out of the kitchen.

Talk back!

Have you used management to help solve a problem behavior for your dog? Tell us about it — leave a comment!

 

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