DEALING WITH A PUPPY AND AN OLDER DOG

The idea of being at a certain skill level and labeling it isn’t a new concept. We obviously have different grade levels throughout school, different ranks in professional sports, different belt colors in martial arts and different ranks throughout corporate jobs.

This concept as logical and common as it with humans is almost always completely lost when it comes to training our dogs. In general what dog owners do to teach dogs to stop doing something is put them in a scenario they can’t handle or are not ready for and then teach the dog a lesson through corrections in that very moment. This really isn’t fair to the dog. Though most people want to put forth the least amount of effort, money and time in to training their dogs, quality of training should not have to suffer due to human laziness. Instant gratification and the learning process are not easily aligned.

Most people would agree that a human is smarter than a dog- (we are or dogs would be running the world... )Think of how long it takes to truly master things even for us more intelligent humans. We go through 12 years of school just to make it to college and another 2 - 8 years to graduate with a piece of paper that says we are capable to do our chosen professions. It takes many years to become a black belt, high school athletes would get roasted by professional athletes, a kindergartner would fail a college exam.... And by the way we are being taught by other humans which is socially way more normal or us compared to dogs having to learn how to behave in a human world. If we have so much understanding for ourselves why do we have so little for our dogs?  I think that maybe dog owners view things in terms of as right and wrong, good and bad, not necessarily in terms of skill or experience.

When you look at emotional problems it becomes even more challenging and oftentimes a longer process. Kids that are shy for example and uncomfortable in social settings may never become comfortable. They may even develop more issues and less confidence as time goes on. Putting a shy kid in a scenario where a ton of social pressure is put on them and then yelling at them for being quiet won’t help them not be quiet- it’d make them not want to be social

No matter if you are doing behavior modification, obedience or sport the Grade School Model should always apply.

No matter if I’m teaching something as simple as sit or if I’m working on teaching a dog to stop being aggressive the work should start in “kindergarten” not in high school. If you were in martial arts you don’t first fight a black belt to realize you’re a white belt, you don’t start giving calculus exams to a first grader.

This is an article I have been working on for the past few weeks. It points out the flaws of positive only training methods and describes in great detail why you need corrections in dog training. If you enjoyed this article or learned something from it please share. The more people that receive this message the better the world will be for dogs and their owners.

Thank you

First off I want everyone who reads this article to understand my motivation behind writing this, certain tools ( such as prong collars and electronic collars) are being banned across the globe and dogs are being euthanized for behaviors that could easily be fixed. Did you know in America over 1 million dogs that come through animal shelters get euthanized every year? It’s impossible to know the exact reasons why all dogs wind up at the shelter, but it’s safe to assume that dogs are not being given away due to good behavior. That’s not even counting the ones that get sent straight to the vet...

For those of you who do not know me or haven’t seen me train don’t assume by this article that I am a heavy handed, yank and crank, old school trainer, that is gung ho about punishment and thinks every situation is solved with punishment. I simply know when and why to reward and when and why to correct and always aim to correct in the lightest fashion possible. I believe in being open minded to anything that can help me help dogs and in turn help their owners. I believe the more options you have, the more capable you are as a trainer.

I am growing increasingly concerned about the message “pure positive “ training advocates are spreading and how bold and aggressive they can be in their attacks on other styles of training. I understand that a good portion of this following, probably the majority are good hearted people who truly feel they are doing the right thing or at least supporting the right values.

The other portion is drinking the kool-aid, behaving in a cult like fashion and spreading fear and propaganda about tools and training techniques they have no experience with. This fear leads to a generalized uneducated fear from the general public that keeps these myths and wives tails circulating. As you will see later on in this article generalizations and assumptions are not really ever the truth, usually just propaganda skewed in the direction of the person talking. For those of you that fall in that camp I hope this article sheds some light on the other side and how most of us balanced trainers think.

To understand where I’m coming from I feel it’s best you know a bit about me. If you’re a pure positive trainer reading this, I was you... I was determined to train without force or aversives for 5 long years. I started in 2008, went through Animal Behavior College, taught at Petco for a couple of years, got my cpdt-ka certification, met up with other pure positive trainers, shadowed their classes and studied every training dvd I could

possibly get my hands on... I was obsessed with fixing aggression through force free methods. After a while everything I came across was just a reminder of something I already knew, said by a different person. I practiced what I knew for years. I had some success sure, but I realized through early failures that this method of training alone lacked reliability, was too much work on difficult cases to realistically expect clients to be able to do, lacked options when things weren’t working well enough, left options for dogs to not comply with your cue’s and  most importantly can be unsafe.

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of positive trainers talk about how “the science” states punishment will make a dog aggressive, punishment ruins relationships between dog and owner and that positive reinforcement alone is more effective than using punishments, negative reinforcement and positive reinforcement combined... I can tell you first hand that this is the furthest from the truth.

Let’s talk some real stuff here- as I stated earlier, I was a pure positive trainer for 5 years and still study positive reinforcement trainers frequently. I can tell you first hand that this style of training alone with a hyper dog, aggressive dog, reactive dog, very distracted dog etc... is incomplete and can not be completely successful on its own with a majority of dogs. There might be some dogs who are easy and fit the profile for that style of training better, however I’d argue that it doesn’t possess all the answers for the vast majority of dogs. Dogs are like kids in this regard, not every child learns the same way. Classic case of square peg and a round hole.

This is not to say that nothing good comes from positive reinforcement training, many great techniques have come from positive reinforcement training and overall I believe it has benefited the industry by making trainers more thoughtful and gentler in their approach to training. Matter of fact I lean way more towards the positive reinforcement side of things than the traditional style of training ( escape/avoidance training that doesn’t use food). I simply believe there are circumstances that call for more than just positive reinforcement training to fix behavioral problems, to make obedience more reliable and ultimately increase our dogs overall safety.

Some people have claimed to have fixed problems with pure positive methods, but when you ask them about it, there are always certain stipulations to it and it usually takes them months to years to even get there. I am not an advocate for lazy training by any means, it’s just that in some scenarios you’re experience leads you to know better and you can get to the same result skillfully and smoothly without spending months or years. Would you rather ride a bike to work or drive a car? Use a screwdriver or a drill? You learn through your experience and become an expert. No “humane hierarchy” should govern the way that you train. Especially if you follow one that has death before discomfort... I honestly can't even believe people are so extreme that a thing like this exists... you can call yourselves humane all you want, but when you are killing instead of correcting, you need to look in the mirror.

Don’t get me wrong I use positive reinforcement to teach new behaviors all the time as it is the best way to teach new things to dogs. It is even incredibly useful when working with fearful dogs and can help stop reactivity and fear aggression by counter conditioning and making dogs more comfortable around things they are afraid of. The downfalls of pure positive training comes when you are trying to stop a behavior that is not rooted in fear.

Let’s discuss some examples of how positive reinforcement training on its own can come up short. Keep in mind I see a ton of clients after they didn’t get the help they needed through pure positive methods. For every client that I get who has been to 1 or more trainers, I always ask what training has previously been done and to give me examples of the prior trainers methods. Again the more you know, the more options you have to help. Below are just a few common examples that I see;

If you have a puppy that is an extreme play biter- you can teach leave it, condition your touch, remove the dog or yourself as a social punishment, interrupt and redirect the dog to a toy. All of these suggestions are great, but what if you are in an area like on a walk for example or in the backyard where you cannot get away from the dog? What if they choose not to leave it? What if you don’t have a toy or food on you? This is where you need to step in with an appropriate level of correction.

Spraying the dog with a squirt bottle when they bite and then immediately rewarding once they stop works well, leash pressure when they bite then releasing and rewarding once they stop works well too. If it comes down to it an appropriate level on an e collar works wonders too. Keep in mind I work with dogs that have done this for months or even years, not just puppies.  I work with dogs that even though they are not “aggressive “ are grabbing their owners arms, ripping their clothes, scratching and puncturing their skin etc.. Do you think this owner wants to hear “ take your time and teach leave it” or “ignore” it it will go away? Sometimes you have to have the common sense to be more concerned about the owner than the dog. Redirect with a toy or teach leave it are not good answers here and the owner will be frustrated with you and your advice that won’t work here. At the end of the day a dog has to know there is some type of consequence that they want to avoid. Again all of those initial suggestions have their place, but tell that to the 120 lb German Shepherd that played tug with my shirt and  terrorized his owners and you will realize some behaviors have to be stopped.

What about the dog who is running on leash as you are trying to walk? You can feed your dog next to you, stop when they pull, turn them around etc. Dogs are faster than us obviously, they become easily distracted by many things out on walks and most of them only view us as an anchor holding them back from fun. Walking is a struggle for pure positive trainers. Matter of fact I always see dogs way in front of positive trainers and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a client of theirs successfully heeling their dog. Bottom line here, you must be able to use spacial pressure, leash pressure, possibly corrections, positive reinforcement and patience. Pulling into a harness is not a solution either... I don’t care if your dog has a trachea issue, that’s not from using a prong correctly btw, that’s from allowing your dog to pull you on a flat collar.

Anybody have a dog that won’t come when called? This one right here has to be 100% reliable for your dogs safety. Pure positive training is honestly dangerous here. Yes, you can get a ton of reps in, make the reward super enjoyable, practice in controlled environments. But what would happen if your child accidentally lets the dog out, the dog sees a rabbit and starts booking it towards a busy street? There is a big difference training with no distractions vs training in the real world. Bottom line here is that you need a way to stop them.

Below is a list of things that I find problematic and will be addressing about pure positive training;

.Value of distraction/behavior compared to rewards

. Lack of control over variable/ distractions

. Risk analysis of time the owner is left frustrated

. Risk analysis of the dogs safety and survival

. Cognitive abilities of dogs compared to people

. Fair punishment vs abuse

. Continuous vs variable punishment

. Studies vs experience

. Parent vs friend/ respect/love

. “Replacement” behaviors

. Don’t be duped by marketing

. Dominance? Alpha? Pack theory?

Value of distraction/behavior compared to rewards.

We have basically 4 things we can reward a dog with- food, play, praise/touch and space. If distractions such as wild animals, cars people coming into your home etc. self reinforcing behaviors such as biting, chewing, jumping and barking have more value to our dogs than what we can offer, we have to have a way to say no.

View it like this ( chart created by Ted from  Mango dogs)

P = positive motivator

D = distraction

N = negative motivator

Let’s say we are using food as a positive motivator. Food to this dog has a value of 6 on a 1-10 scale.

P = 6

Let’s say this is a Cattle dog that has a high prey drive and wants to chase cars. The value of chasing a car is a 9

D = 9

Let’s say we have conditioned this dog to an electronic collar and the dogs corrective number is a 30. If 30 on an ecollar is just enough to stop the chasing behavior it is a 10 on our scale of 1-10.

N = 10

In this scenario you can successfully stop this dangerous car chasing behavior. If you didn’t have a negative motivator you would be stuck managing this behavior. You could try to match value of prey drive with toys which can be effective practice, but still when a dog gets distracted and decides to take off is not enough. I would not trust this method with my dogs life at stake. You will always be stuck having to manage this and hope no accidents happen.

In my opinion constant management = a less fulfilling life to the dog. I would gladly create an aversion to chasing cars if it means my dog won’t chase them and therefore will not be ran over. Death is the ultimate price to pay and I’ve sadly had to be a part of a story just like the one above.

Lack of control over variables

This is something that routinely gets glossed over. We have limited control over some distractions in our dogs lives. We can’t control wild animals whatsoever and have limited control over what the general public does. Sure we can make rules with our dogs, however most dog owners fail to clearly communicate their rules to others. We can’t control how people drive, ride their bikes, control their kids or pets either. You see for pure positive training to be successful you have to manage everything carefully and not put the dog in positions where they may fail, though I agree with that statement it again looks great on paper, but isn’t very applicable in daily life. Even if you try very hard to work at the dogs level, real life will occur and there will be setbacks. If we as dog trainers can’t achieve this unrealistic goal what makes you think your clients will be able to? Clients will not be that diligent. There will come a time when the best decision is to stop a behavior through a correction, move a dog out of a bad situation using some form of pressure (spacial, leash, ecollar). Being ready for the unexpected is a part of life- think of how often you’ve had to slam on your brakes because of someone else’s mistake.

Risk analysis of time the owner is left frustrated

Many dogs are given up every year for simple problems such as jumping, play biting or pulling. With shelters and rescues being overfilled with dogs, what do you think happens to them if they don’t get re-homed quickly? I have heard pure positive trainers talk about how they have trained their dogs for literally years on simple issues like greeting guests at the door, pulling on leash and leash reactivity. Again if it takes you months to years as a professional trainer to make a difference in your dogs behavior, what makes you think your clients will commit to doing this. Most people are too stressed and don’t have enough time in their busy schedules to put that much time into training their dogs. Sad, but true. If you leave these owners frustrated without solutions to their problems they are more likely to correct their dogs incorrectly or give them up. You have to weigh out the pros and cons, what’s worse teaching your clients how to give proper fair corrections or years of frustration and poor relationships between dog and owner?

Risk analysis of safety and survival

Unfortunately many things in life can harm or even kill our dogs. Getting into the garbage, chasing wild animals, chasing cars etc can obviously cause harm or death to our dogs. Pure positive trainers act like causing fear is the worst thing you can do to a dog... can you imagine a humans life without fear? We wouldn’t last very long. I’m afraid of bears, jumping out of high windows, driving straight into oncoming traffic, doing hard drugs etc... my point is that it is our job to teach our dogs what needs to be avoided and how to stay safe. There are safe rational ways to create avoidance without ruining your dog. Some fear is good fear and can save your dogs life

Cognitive abilities of dogs vs humans

So why do some forms of punishment have to be physical? Well, there are two forms of punishment negative punishment (removal of something the dog wants) and positive punishment ( adding something the dog finds unpleasant). If you are in a scenario where you can’t give a time out or the dog doesn’t care about your positive motivator you are in a bad position. Example- if your dog is pulling on leash to get to another dog and finds the dog more valuable than the food you’ve trained them off of you can not punish the dog by removing food, you have no way to give the dog a time-out and a dog will not understand removing something they value long term. Removing food your dog does not care about in the moment is the equivalent of this- let’s say you like saltine crackers, but you like a nice medium rare ribeye much more. If someone said if you eat that ribeye I’ll take your cracker, would you care? I know I wouldn’t... also a dog does not have the cognitive ability to understand a long term negative punishment consequence. You can tell a child “if you keep failing math class I will take away your Xbox and cell phone until you have a passing grade” and they will find that to be immensely punishing because those two things have such value to them and most importantly they understand the English language! Well on the other hand you can not tell a dog “if you keep jumping on grandma I’m taking your bones away and no walks for a month” a dog will not in a million years understand that. What they will understand is something unpleasant occurring every time they jump. Ex your dog jumps and you spray them with water from a squirt bottle.

Fair punishment vs Abuse

This is all about how certain tools are used. The assumption by trainers or activists for pure positive/force free training is that balanced trainers are hanging dogs with slip leads, stabbing dogs with prong collars and electrocuting them with “shock” collars... they just refuse to open their eyes and minds to see how they are properly used and how gentle you can be with them. This a not the article to go in depth n how they are properly used- I recently wrote a detailed article on e collars and have dozens of videos for you to see me training. When I show my clients any of these tools and start using them almost all of them are in disbelief that people have such a big issue with their use. To sum up uses of these tools start light and only get harder if necessary. To make a good comparison they are all like driving a car- you can go 10mph, 20mph or 110mph... it’s kinda stupid to assume everyone drives 110mph right? Then don’t assume the worst with these tools especially if you have no experience using them properly.

Continuous vs variable punishment

I recently joined a pure positive dog training Facebook group because I like to have as much knowledge as possible and I believe many good things do come out of positive training. I just believe that in order to help dogs and people as much as possible you have to be open to anything that can help. The post read something like this “ in order for punishment to be effective you should only have to apply it once and the behavior should never come back, so because this isn’t the case positive punishment is ineffective”... come on seriously? I guess food training is the least effective thing in dog training then, that sure as hell doesn’t work on the first try... I went on to detail my experience working with dogs and instead of being open minded they just removed me from their group. This again confirms the fact that they think certain tools have to be used to their full potential and that no one using them has common sense or the skill to read dogs whatsoever. Again is everyone driving 110mph? Just because something has potential to be dangerous does not mean that it can’t be used with common sense and skill. Continuous punishment to me means punishing the same behavior every time it occurs at an effective enough level to make a behavior change in the right direction.

After teaching my dog to heel using food, I layered over leash pressure and spacial pressure. At this juncture in training he has a really good understanding that he should be at my heel on my left side. I’d say he was good about 75% of the time. From there he needed to learn not to step in front of me. Long story short he eventually got corrected with an e collar at .25 percent of its power and he did not pull the rest of the walk. I found this level by reading the dog and seeing where he made a positive behavioral change. 10 underwhelmed him, 15 and 20 underwhelmed him, but 25 made a difference. The next day he pulled and I repeated the process, now about once every 10 walks he needs a reminder. I was incredibly consistent in my approach and never let him pull or accidentally rewarded pulling by allowing him to drag me to anything he was interested in.

People make huge errors by correcting dogs sometimes and not others. If sometimes the behavior works or pays off than they will continue to gamble and try to do whatever you want to stop. And as we all know gambling (random reinforcement) can be very addicting. Compare a dog pulling on a leash to sniff, greet other dogs/people etc to a child misbehaving at toys r us... too soon, I guess we’ll say the toy aisle at target then. If your child throws a tantrum because they want a toy and you tell them no it’s too expensive and 50% of the time you cave and give in, guess what, you just reinforced the tantrum and also taught your kid to try that behavior. Now if right from the start you gave a meaningful punishment like grounded them for a week  thy may try you a couple more times to see that you’re serious, but the behavior will not continue long term. You may also see the intensity of the behavior lower throughout the process, showing that it is working, but is not a miracle overnight cure. To sum this up read the dog, start small, find an appropriate level of punishment, be consistent and do not give in ever.

Studies vs experience

If what pure positive trainers say about positive punishment or negative reinforcement is true, then why am I and thousands of other balanced trainers out there not seeing it? They say it damages the relationship, causes aggression, causes long term fear... why are so many people not seeing this? Could it be that pure positive trainers have never learned how to use these tools correctly? Could it be that their “studies” don’t use the tools in the same way a skilled experienced dog trainer would use them? Could it be that they adjust the “studies” to favor their point of view? Are they ignoring other studies that prove them wrong? I am not a scientist, but I can tell you scientists are not out in the real world training dogs. Also half of these studies were done with rats in a controlled environment called a Skinner box... some draw parallels to training dolphins and seals etc at Disney world and zoos, again different species in a controlled environment. For example you don’t walk down the street with your dolphin and have to deal with some idiot who wants to pet your dolphin and your dolphin biting them..or grandma coming over and your walrus deciding to jump on her... see what I mean?

A great example of a study that was used as propaganda-

A few years ago there were a bunch of studies coming out about electronic cigarettes funded by big tobacco and pharmaceutical companies. These studies cranked the e-cig up so high ( beyond a level anyone would use it at) that it burnt out the coil and released carcinogens and other harmful chemicals... no kidding! They released this study and scared a lot of people, which in turn made the news and still to this day people quote the stupidity they heard on the news, whether they watched it directly or heard it through the grapevine- by the way when a study was conducted in an intelligent manner e - cigs proved to be about 97% less harmful than a cigarette.. This sounds eerily familiar right? If you just nonchalantly toss on an e collar, dial it up high and just start pressing buttons you will cause problems. If you just toss on a prong collar and start cranking on it like your chopping wood you will have a problem... couldn’t you use a harness in a real stupid way though too? How about I swing my dog around on it’s harness and let it going like I’m competing in shot put- should we ban harnesses now?

Anyways one could argue training on a daily basis is your own personal “study” and interestingly enough when done in an intelligent manner I see the exact opposite of what they are telling me. Would you believe that having rules and boundaries that can actually be enforced when necessary leads to a dog that respects you and listens to you? Hmm kinda like kids right?

Friend vs parent/ love vs respect

Are you your dogs friend or parent? Serious question, far too often people just become their dogs friends or try to gain their dogs affection. This type of mentality is what gets people in trouble. Have you ever seen a truly spoiled child whose parents just want them to shut up so they do whatever they want. I had a friend like this growing up, his parents gave him everything you could imagine to try to make him happy, but always wound up with a rude, aggressive unappreciative child... The same thing often happens in our relationships with dogs. A dog can enjoy your company and still not respect you, a dog can want what you have and still not respect you

Replacement behaviors

I think this is a great idea and I often use the concept, however I believe it is incomplete on its own. For example, I see many trainers teaching sit to replace the act of jumping. I think this may work in some cases, but not all and I also think the dog gets the message much more clearly when you make jumping even just a little unpleasant. For most dogs replacement behaviors work like this- “ I’ll sit most of the time and still jump here and there” to me that is just not good enough. This would also require heavy management and full cooperation from guests. Also in highly adrenalized moments dogs are not in a “thinking” state of mind, quite the opposite in fact, they are processing things in a completely different side of their brains and often need a way to be redirected back to the thinking side. Ex have you ever had guests over and tried cueing your dog to sit or lay down and it was as if they didn’t hear you til the 10th time you asked? Ever had your dog get loose and have them not respond to your recall til the 10th time you asked?

I also believe that just because you can sit does not mean you won’t jump... Just because I know how to speak Spanish does not mean I won’t speak English. I believe you can see a ton of improvements doing this in a positive only style, but you will get a much quicker more reliable response adding some consequences to jumping.

Don’t be duped by marketing

As I stated previously in this article, many good things have come from positive training and if it were truly as effective as “balanced” training, I think every trainer would be using it and you would seem lazy and careless if you continued to use any aversives in your training. That being said, it isn’t as effective and should not be marketed as such. If the majority of people were getting amazing results with pure positive training, I would have no problems with what those trainers claim and how they sell their programs.. But, most people are not getting those results and the trainers are still claiming their methods are superior. If you can’t back up what your selling that is a problem in any industry.

Here is a little story that helps explain this point. Throughout the past 3 years I constantly get calls from yelp trying to get me to pay for yelp advertising. I asked other trainers I know personally and hundreds on Facebook groups and only a handful of people thought yelp ads were worthwhile. Yelp is on the phone telling me how awesome their service is yet barely anyone I talked to thinks it’s worthwhile. Obviously if the majority of people were telling me yelp will help me and increase my income I’d gladly pay for advertisements, but that was not what I was hearing from their consumers. Point is anyone can say their methods are superior, but if others don’t see the results they claim and often seek out more help from balanced trainers it’s fair to say their methods aren’t as great as they think they are

Their sales pitch has us all duped. When the average consumer hears the term positive, they tend to think of it in an emotional context, when really it just means to add. I know this because I’ve asked many people this, I’ve gotten responses back to the question “what do you think positive training means?” That include, good, friendly, nice, fun etc... Did you know the term positive as in positive reinforcement is derived from operant conditioning and just means to add? That’s the truth, in positive reinforcement training we are “adding” things dogs inherently like to behaviors we want to see more of. There is also positive punishment which means to add something the dog inherently finds aversive when they are doing something we want to see less of... the term positive isn’t so warm and fuzzy now is it.

Conversely, negative just means to remove something or subtract something. It can mean remove pressure as in negative reinforcement or remove something the dog likes as in negative punishment. Again, negative is not good or bad. It just means to remove or subtract.

Dominance? Alpha? Pack theory?

While I don’t believe in a definitive hierarchy or that domesticated dogs are truly pack animals, I do believe that dominance definitely exists. Based off my experience and studies I see dominance in moments, but not perpetual dominance. For example, one dog could guard a toy from another dog, yet still let that other dog go out the door first or lead on walks. Some of this comes down to breed tendencies as well. Ex,

A German Shepherd will generally care a lot more about people  on its property than a golden retriever, but that doesn’t mean it is dominant over the Golden.

The dog that jumps up on you, grabs your clothes, starts ripping them, bites you, bites the leash and plays tug with it... that dog is being dominant and needs to learn some respect. You can’t just ignore that and hope it goes away btw, if the dog likes doing that ( and they do) it is a self reinforcing behavior and will continue.

I think the thing to focus on here is that by being a balanced trainer who rewards and corrects does not mean you believe in “pack theory”, always being “alpha” or anything like that. It means you believe in right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable. My point is the two ideas do not have to always be combined and not all balanced trainers are looking at training through that lens.

As I mentioned previously in this article it is important that your dog does respect you though. If your dog does not respect you than why would they listen to you? Some will say “ you have something they want... believe me you won’t always have something they want. Respect is created through creating trust, keeping them safe, having rules no matter where you go, bonding with them through play and training and staying consistent in your approach. If there are no consequences for not listening to known behaviors then what makes them reliable? You can’t always say “go back to kindergarten “ every time your dog blows you off. It is important to add that there is a difference between learning a behavior and asking for a known behavior. I never correct while learning a behavior, that would be completely unfair.

Last month my dog decided he did not for the life of him want to do a behavior we call “be shy” it’s a simple trick he has been doing for a year and a half where he cover 1 eye with his left paw. There was no doubt in my mind he just felt like being stubborn and he knew what I was asking for 1000%. So I said “no” gave him a chance to respond, even gave him the benefit of the doubt by repeating the cue, said “no” one more time and then corrected him... guess what, he doesn’t hate me, he didn’t turn on me, can you guess what he did?... he gave me the behavior I asked for and hasn’t failed at it since.

I know this turned into an incredibly long read. All I wanted to do here is to provide a voice for balanced trainers who have skill and use all tools wisely. I am not in support of anyone using any tool in a careless, reckless manner. I am for common sense not unrealistic ideologies that govern how people train and can ultimately cause them to make terrible decisions when their solutions don’t work.

Hopefully some of you who read this will spread the message and help keep tools from being banned and keep more dogs well trained and alive.

Are you your dog's friend/playmate or parent/ boss? This is something I ask all of my clients and a very large percentage starts to realize the root of many issues right there.

Do you take orders from friends? Do you listen to everything they say? Didn’t think so... dogs need direction and dogs need “jobs”. Friends are there to have fun with, to enjoy, but at the end of the day they do not have any control over what we do. Point blank we will not do anything we don’t want to just because a friend told us to do so.

On the other hand, think of how many things you’ve had to do even if you didn’t want to for your boss or your parents. This is not to say that you can’t be the “cool” boss or the “fun” mom or dad, but at the end of the day your dog has to no that you have authority and that you are to be respected.

I think part of our Job as a dog “parent” is to make sure our dogs are fulfilled in life and control goes hand in hand with this. The more capable a dog is, the better they will listen to you, the more you can do with them and the more enjoyable their lives become. Having fare rules is a huge part of providing a fun fulfilling life for our dogs.

If you baby a dog and never hold them accountable for their behavior, you will wind up with a dog who doesn’t take you seriously or respect you.

How can you change your relationship?

It won’t happen overnight, but it starts by making your dog earn everything, utilizing management techniques until your dog has shown you they are capable without them, motivating them and teaching them how to behave like you want them to.

If you are struggling with your dog and looking for answers, contact me at 847-682-2116

On a weekly basis I hear about someone’s previous trainer or a friend who went to another trainer and how all their problems were fixed in two weeks from this “amazing” board and train, boot camp or whatever people want to call sending their dog off to a trainer. I also hear of an even bigger amount of people talk about how their problems weren’t fixed. I am not opposed to trainers that offer them and do them correctly by giving the owner rules to follow at home, but I am getting frustrated with the message that most people are receiving from the idea of a board and train.

Most people think the board and train is the equivalent to having a magic wand. “ I just give my dog to a trainer and they come back perfect.” This honestly feels like a lazy cop out to me. There is no magic. Some trainer out there doesn’t do some unknown secret trick that miraculously transforms your dog. It is simply behavior science, reinforcement, punishment and classical conditioning. There is nothing new or unknown out there, different spins on known things for sure, but the concepts are all already out there.

I understand that people have busy lives and don’t always have time to train their dogs from the ground up and that a board and train can be a great answer for that. There is definitely a place for that, but understand that you have to go home and be able to replicate what that trainer did in order for the training to stick around.

If you go home and do nothing, the training that your dog received will deteriorate for a few reasons.

Training is relationship based. Dogs are not computers that get sent away to be programmed, they are intelligent social beings that develop relationships. They need a reason to want to work with you, there has to be some value. Building trust, report, dialogue, having structure, boundaries and being a strong leader are just a few things.

Dogs and people are both mammals so I am going to make a comparison. Children generally listen to people they know and respect, for example the first few days with a new babysitter are usually challenging to some degree as all parties try to figure out this new relationship. The child may test the new babysitter to see what they can and cannot get away with, where as with a parent a child will know what they can get away with. The same way a human relationship doesn’t just transfer from person to person, neither does the relationship between dog and human.

Learning takes place in phases. The phases of learning are; the acquisition/learning phase, the fluency phase, the generalization phase and finally the maintenance phase. Just like a car that needs maintenance so does behavior, behavior needs some type of variable reinforcement in order to continue. Think of it like this, if the slots in Vegas never paid you, would you still travel to Vegas to play them? If your job decided not to pay you anymore, are you still working everyday? That’s a big fat no! When people get dogs back from a board and train and do not continue to reinforce good behavior or punish bad behavior the behaviors that you don’t like will resurface.                                                  

It is a known fact that our dogs natural instincts are always working against things that we’ve taught them. This is known as instinctual drift.  If your dog is naturally wild and hyper and you stop training them, they go back to what is natural... being wild and hyper. Think of it like this, if you like to over eat and are a sedentary type of person you will gain weight. Now let’s say you decide to start dieting and working out as your New Years resolution. If you eat healthy and exercise the weight will come off, but let’s say you’ve had a long week and skip going to the gym and over the next month you completely stop going and go back to your previous lifestyle. The weight will come back on, you will lose any progress you’ve made and you also just provided a perfect example of instinctual drift. You naturally want to be lazy and working out and dieting were difficult for you so over time you drifted back to your natural state... on the couch with Doritos lol.

The next thing to factor in here is the effect practice has on any behavior or skill. If a trainer trains your dog and then hands it off to you after a few weeks and you do nothing with the dog except try to control it in high stakes situations this is a recipe for disaster. Think of it like this, Michael Jordan wasn’t just magically ready to hit clutch shots... that took hrs of dedication and practice to be able to do that. Same goes for your dog, impulse control has to be practiced in order for the dog to be good under heavy distractions. No magic spell can achieve this, just practice. When Michael Jordan left to play baseball for a year and a half and then returned halfway through the 94-95 season he wasn’t nearly as good as he was before he left... because he was rusty because he didn’t practice. If even the greatest of all time Michael Jordan needs practice to remain good, why in the hell do we as the general public think our dogs do not apply to the same set of rules? Are they better at behaving than MJ was at basketball? I don’t think so.

Another gripe I have about how people think of a board and train and really training in general is that they play the blame game. People in general never look in the mirror and think the problem has anything to do with them, instead they pass the blame off to a trainer, the dog, the breeder etc. The concept of the board and train further influences this incorrect and unfair stigma.

For example, I have had countless people over the years purchase puppies and call me with an absolute laundry list of complaints... he barks, he jumps, he pees in the house, he poops in the house, he chews my kids toys, he bites, he pulls... guess what folks that’s what they do... did you think you were purchasing a stuffed animal that you just sit around and cuddle? You have to get their energy out( that means get off the dorito couch and exercise, you signed up to provide for them, hold up your end of the bargain), you have to teach them behaviors you want( hire a good balanced trainer), you have to manage them until they have developed the skill to be trusted in your house, you have to be prepared to reward what you like and correct what you don’t.... you! If you can’t handle that then maybe you should have researched having a puppy more than you did, maybe you shouldn’t have got the puppy in the first place if you only have the energy and patience to care for a pet rock... sad but true

Far too often board and train trainers have to live up to their ego or their shotty marketing scheme that “guarantees” results... you cannot guarantee behavior of anything, you can only provide support as long as the owners are following your advice. Not every dog can be fixed and that’s ok, that’s life. Not every car that has been in an accident can be fixed, doesn’t mean you have a bad mechanic it means your car was pretty messed up.

Another issue I have with the board and train programs is that you the owner have no idea what is actually going on with your dog... I have seen several trainers working dogs in a way I know the dogs owners would not approve of. Most of the time if the trainer is offering a “boot camp” or has the term “k9” in their business name this is the type of trainer that is going to be too rough for most dogs and too heavy into punishment. I have also seen trainers crazily overbook themselves and not have time to actually train all the dogs they take on. The owners perceive the board and train service as someone working with there dog all day, but when some trainers have 15 dogs at a time that would actually mean your dog is getting less than an hr of individual training time each day. This trainer still has to feed them and give them bathroom breaks. For 15 dogs that alone takes up a good portion of the day. That being said there are trainers out there that have a better trainer philosophy and that don’t overbook themselves. It is up to you to do the research.

E collar 101

Electronic collars are one of the most misunderstood tools in dog training. I commonly hear people say that they electrocute, shock or burn dogs… these are all untrue statements pertaining to modern electronic collars with a quality brand name. Any “burns” can be attributes to a metal allergy or a pressure sore from leaving a collar on too tight in the same spot. Again is that the tools fault or the users fault? Just because it is electronic doesn’t mean it electrocutes, our phones, tv’s and iPads are all electronic and I don’t see people being “zapped” when they use those. People do these types of things and confuse themselves quite a bit, especially when it comes to dogs for some reason. Another great example is the term “bully breed”, people are now assuming that pit bulls, American bulldogs, boxers, bull mastiffs, olde English bulldogges, etc are all k9 equivalents of school yard bullies when what is really meant by the term “bully” is that they are all descendants of bulldogs…

Just like anything else we purchase in this world, quality matters. Getting an e collar from the clearance bin at Menard’s ( true example from a client) is not the same as buying a high quality name brand collar. This is like saying all cars suck because you own a 92 Chrysler lebaron, the guy driving the 2018 corvette might disagree with your statement that cars suck…The 2 best manufactures of e collars that I have experienced are ecollar technologies and dogtra.

Let’s start with why electronic collars have a bad rep in the first place. Early electronic collars were harsh and primarily used to punish not to teach. They had a very limited amount of levels, initially having 3 levels and then depending on the brand, it was common to see 10 levels. Every level for most dogs would be too high and could cause major fear issues, make a dog go into complete avoidance, panic and also completely mess up the drive of a dog. However, just like every invention since the dawn of time, the e collar has evolved. Think of how different an iPhone X is compared to a cellphone from the 90’s. Think of how different things were 20 even 10 years ago.

The stimulation from a good e collar feels almost identical to stim from a tens unit ( a medical device commonly used by physical therapists and chiropractors to relieve pain by pulsating muscles). Yes the stim can be uncomfortable and temporarily painful, I would be a liar if I told you otherwise, however there is a whole process to get dogs used to the collar and to understand the use of the collar before we would ever use it at an uncomfortable level. Just like every other tool out there, there are correct and incorrect uses for an e collar. Modern e collars have 100+ levels and go up by one’s, that is a very important feature when correctly using an electronic collar. You want to find a level that is just relevant enough to get the result you want. No need to kill a bug with a bazooka right?

In my opinion the wrong way to use an e collar is to slap it on the dog without any a conditioning and just get trigger happy when the dog is doing something that bothers you. This is what most people think e collar training is. The angry owner who is fed up and is going to get a quick fix. This is wrong and is misuse of a tool. I see this all too often and it gives a horrible name to the tool and trainers who use them wisely.

Another example of poor use of an e collar is when people hit a vibrate or tone button first as a warning and then follow with a higher level correction for non compliance. This teaches through fear association and creates a dependency on the tool. You wouldn’t believe how often I hear “ well he won’t listen unless his e collar is on” or “ all I have to do is show him the remote “. Again this is using the e collar as a threat and as something to be avoided. It also creates a situation where your dog will only listen while the e collar is on or around you.

So now that you have seen what not to do and have learned a little history, let’s learn how to use the e collar the right way. Now it is important to remind you here, that before going into e collar training, dogs that I train with already know the behaviors through positive reinforcement. I am using the e collar like an electronic leash to be able to increase the dogs freedom, reliability from further distances and as the lightest, most controllable, least personal form of a correction.

We start by finding the dogs working number. The working number is the lowest level the dog feels the stimulation at. At these low levels the stim is just merely noticeable, it’s honestly like the equivalent of being tapped on the shoulder or having a fly land on you. The idea is to be noticeable, not painful. The average range for a working number I see on the electronic collars I prefer ( e collar technologies mini educator) is between 5 and 15. There are definitely some anomalies out there, but 99% of the time, the working number falls in this range.

A dog will usually give you some physical response when finding the working level. Most dogs look down at the collar, a good portion of dogs will scratch at the collar, some will shake, flick their ears or even blink their eyes kinda hard. For ear flicking and blinking, you want to test the collar several times to see a consistent result as all dogs randomly blink and flick their ears. Most of the time I can tell when a dog just starts acting a little fidgety, without having to see any major signs through body language

After the “working” number is found I pair the stim of the collar to something the dog values (food, play, affection), food is the easiest and quickest. I do this by clicking the stim button, saying “yes “ and then rewarding the dog. I do this over and over and over so the dog understands that the collar predicts good things.

The second conditioning exercise I do is pairing the e collar to giving me attention. I start by clicking the stim button, giving a verbal prompt (kissy noise, whistle) and when they look towards me I say “yes” and then reward. Then I hold the stim button, give a verbal prompt, say “yes”, let go of the button and reward. The dog is learning that their behavior controls the stim and also learning that the sensation of stim means to give me their attention.

The next thing I do in my process is long line training. I start by walking the dog on a 15ft long line. Right before the dog reaches the end of the leash I hold the continuous button and make a right hand turn, once the dog turns with me, I release the button and continue walking. Through this process dogs learn when they are getting too far away from their handler and that the stim from the e collar means to find and follow their handler again. They are learning a concept called spacial awareness and that the stim of the e collar also predicts leash pressure and movement.

Next I pair the electronic collar to leash pressure. Leash pressure is a prerequisite of mine for any obedience training and it is absolutely crucial for successful e collar training. Leash pressure is when dogs learn to yield to the leash instead of opposing it. I start by letting the dog walk in front of me, I then hold the continuous stim button and make a right hand turn simultaneously applying pressure to the leash to stear the dog in the direction I am going, once they turn with me I release the continuous button. The dog is learning that following me releases the stim, paying attention to me releases the stim and that their behaviors are controlling the stim.

All that I discussed above is simply the conditioning process. To layer the e collar over known obedience cue’s the formula is as follows:

Phase 1
Hold= press and hold the continuous button
Cue= give your verbal cue
Guide= guide them into the position you are looking for using leash pressure or sometimes a hand signal

Ex, hold the continuous button, a split second after you start holding the button say “sit”, move upwards on the leash to encourage the dogs back end to touch the ground if necessary, release the button and leash pressure, say “yes” and reward the dog

Phase 2
Hold and cue.
Hold the continuous button, a split second later say sit, when the dogs back end touches the ground release the continuous button, say “yes” and reward

Phase 3
1 free cue
Say sit, if the dog sits say “yes” and reward.
If the dog does not sit, repeat phase 1 or 2 to help them figure it out.

Adding duration
If your dog gets up before you have released them, hold the continuous button and say “no” simultaneously, help them back into position with leash pressure as necessary.

What if my dog keeps breaking the cue?
If a dog keeps breaking a cue like sit for example and I know the dog knows exactly what it is supposed to be doing, I will raise the level of the e collar to the lowest effective level. I also keep the leash on at this phase so I can help them if necessary.

Corrections
Once the e collar is conditioned and accepted by the dog, you can use the e collar to correct behaviors you want the dog to stop doing. Things like jumping, counter surfing, play biting, digging, going on furniture, not honoring doorway thresholds etc. For something quick like jumping, I will press the momentary button at the lowest effective level for that behavior, once the dog stops jumping and all four paws are on the floor, I say “yes” and reward them generously. For a behavior like going on a couch they are not supposed to, I will have the dog drag a leash around so I can help get off the couch. Once they are on the couch I find the lowest effective level on the remote and press the continuous button simultaneously applying leash pressure in the direction away from the couch, once all four paws are on the floor, I say “yes” and reward generously.

In conclusion, I could add a lot more to this article and thought of doing so, but I will save those topics for another time. I have already discussed why punishment is necessary in dog training and have tons of videos of using an electronic collar. Eventually I will make an article comparing different tools and about more common behavior problems and solutions.
Thanks for reading,
Tim – Wagging Rights Dog Training

South Elgin dog training, Bartlett dog training, St. Charles, Geneva, West Chicago, Carol Stream, Batavia, Campton Hills, Streamwood, Schaumburg, Bloomingdale, Barrington, Hampshire, Elburn, Burlington, Sleepy hollow, Dundee

High value food rewards,
I suggest Sojos freeze dried meats. I break these up into small pieces. They contain just 1 ingredient and have a wide variety of meats to keep your dog interested and avoid food allergies. Freeze dried treats immediately soften when they touch dogs saliva. www.sojos.com/freeze-dried-meat-treats

Happy Howie’s food rolls are a very high quality reward. I cut these into little cubes, it has a firm non mushy or greasy texture that make it very easy to work with. www.happyhowies.com/product-category/premium-meat-rolls/. High value food rewards create a high level of motivation, motivation is needed to teach new behaviors and provide greater reinforcement for all behaviors. Treats that are soft, small and smelly are always good. I suggest treats with a minimal amount of ingredients and high meat content.

High quality dog food, whether you feed raw food or kibble make sure you choose a good brand. Meat should always be the first ingredient on the ingredients list. Some very good brands have meat as the first few ingredients, followed by a meat meal and usually vegetable proteins. Some great brands of food are Acana, Orijen, Solid Gold, Wellness and Fromm. I recommend training your dog for his daily meals, this makes us accountable for training our dogs and makes us practice. Dogs have to eat right? Dogs sometimes get bored of their daily meals, I suggest sticking to the same brand and rotating proteins to keep them interested. I use daily meals to practice basic obedience and to reinforce known cue’s. For training more complex behaviors use high value food rewards.

Toys, I suggest using interactive toys for training. Toys such as fire hose tugs, shammy style tugs, chuck it, tennis balls. For a lot of dogs out there toys are more valuable than food and can add speed and precision to obedience behaviors. I suggest checking out leerburg.com for a good selection of toys.

Chews and time management toys, I suggest using bully sticks, horns, kongs and nylabones for your dogs alone time. These products help your dog stay stimulated during times when you are not around or paying attention to them.

4 or 6 ft leash, I prefer leather leashes, but this is all personal preference.

Herm Sprenger prong collar, I suggest Herm Sprenger prong collars due to their high quality manufacturing. Pawmark makes a version that snaps together like a seat belt for easier use. Search pawmark herm sprenger prong collar on amazon

Mendota slip lead, for dog’s that are too sensitive for a prong collar, I suggest a Mendota slip lead. 6ft length, diameter depends on the size of the dog.

Electronic collar, I suggest e-collar technologies et mini 300. You can find these on amazon or ecollar.com. Not all electronic collars are created equal. Do not buy a cheap electronic collar, they will do more harm than good. E-collar technologies uses electronic muscle pulse technology, this is the same stim used by physical therapists. They have 100 levels that go up by increments of 1, this allows us to find the perfect levels for our dog without being too harsh.

Treat pouch, I suggest the Petsafe large treat pouch. Treat pouches help us be quick with food delivery and to be proactive and prepared.

Dog crate, I suggest using a wire dog crate. Wire dog crates are sturdier and harder to destroy than plastic or canvas. Crates help with potty training, destructive behaviors and are a great management tool for when you can not pay attention to your dog.

Dog bed, I like a variety of beds. Cots, plush and orthopedic beds are all great. I do not like beds with 1 entry way and big ridges on the other 3 sides, dogs have a harder time getting into them.

Corrective tools, depending on the dog and it’s temperament, I suggest using a bonker ( a rolled up hand towel with rubber bands on each end) or compressed air ( I suggest the pet corrector brand)

Barking is A very common and natural behavior for dogs. Most people recognize this and will tolerate a little barking, but don’t know how to stop it when enough is enough. To solve the issue of barking we must understand why our dog is barking in the first place. Let’s take a look at the different types of barking and the solutions for each type.

The different types of barking are;
. Fear barking
. Demand barking
. Frustration barking
. Alert barking
. Excitement barking
. Stress barking
. Boredom barking
. Play barking
. Learned barking

A Common question I hear from new training clients is “how often should I train my dog?” My answer for this is training never stops. I don’t mean this to be taken as, you need to be teaching new behaviors endlessly without any personal time. What I mean by this is, everything you do or don’t do with your dog is creating habits that either work for or against you. For example; if a person trains their dog 30 minutes a day and then completely stop having any structure to their dogs life and allows the dog to do whatever they want, what do you think will stick? The 30 minutes of training, or the other 15 and a half hours they are awake left to be wild and unattended?

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Good dog training in my opinion consists of having clear rules and boundaries, meeting the dog’s energy requirements through structured play, walking and training, being proactive and prepared, giving your dog a job by making them earn everything, having good management and setting your dog up to succeed. I believe every dog should be trained using balanced dog training ( my definition is teaching your dog first by using good management techniques, then once behaviors are well known holding your dog accountable for their actions.) Compare this to a child learning to ride a bike, first they have to want to know how to ride a bike (motivation), then we help steady them and also use training wheels, (management) then as they improve we stop holding on and take off the training wheels ( behavior is learned and now they are accountable.) The same is true when it comes to training a dog, you should motivate your dog to learn, use management techniques until the behavior is acquired, then hold your dog accountable for their actions.

During my initial consultations I frequently hear the following complaints; My dog jumps on people when they come over, my dog begs whenever we are eating, my dog jumps on the counter, my dog barks at everything outside, my dog pulls on walks and barks and lunges at other dogs, my dog won’t come back when I call, my dog is wild in the house, my dog gets on the furniture and overall complaints of dogs that won’t listen. How did we let it get this way?

There are many answers to that question; lack of management, ( using leashes and dog crates in the house) lack of good training technique, lack of exercise, lack of leadership (not having the dog earn everything). In short we as owners are failing our dogs. The troubling aspect of this to me as a trainer is the fact that many people expect their dogs to be well behaved without putting in the time or effort. I say this to every client and have written this before, DOGS DO NOT COME TO US WITH THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND HUMAN LANGUAGE, it is our job as pet owners to teach them what we want.

When I discuss my philosophy of management and being prepared, many owners completely understand why this needs to occur, but feel like it is too much effort to put in. I don’t bend on this topic, so many unwanted behaviors can be prevented before they ever occur this way. In my opinion it is much easier to prevent unwanted behavior from occurring than it is too stop them once they are already there. The analogy I make here is like trying to lose weight. For anyone who’s ever tried to lose weight (which i believe is the majority of us) have you ever thought to yourself “man I wish I wouldn’t have let myself get so out of shape, it would have been easier if I took care of myself better beforehand?” Now instead of watching what you eat and being a little more active you have to overhaul your life to stick to a diet and exercise. The point I’m driving at here is that it is much easier to start on the right path than it is to get lost and find your way back. You will spend more time, effort and money if you don’t do it right the first time anyway.
The beautiful thing about dogs in this scenario that helps us, is that they are highly intelligent creatures. Because of that, a strict management routine doesn’t need to last a lifetime. Dogs are creatures of habit much like us, which goes to show we can create both good and bad habits in them.

I’d like to share the story of my own dog and the power of following the management until trained protocol. Before I get to what I did as far as training goes, it is important to know his background and the situation he was brought into. This story starts in March of 2016, my wife and I had just moved into a condo in South Elgin and it was our first place alone together. My wife and I used to do some pet-sitting for a great local company ( Wild Things Pet Services) and one of her former clients had just brought home a Saint Bernard puppy and also owned a hairless cat named Monty. The new puppy was very predatory towards Monty and was trying to hunt him every chance she got. I offered my training services to this client, but she went in another direction and long story short she decided to give up the cat. My wife jumped on this opportunity because she had become very close to Monty after caring for him for several years. So low and behold my first pet on my own was not the Doberman I had wanted since I was 12 it was a 14 yr old hairless cat lol. Funny how life works out sometimes… On a side note, Monty is the coolest cat I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing and we love him dearly.

Fast forward to October of 2016 and I finally had enough of not having a dog, I always wanted a European bred Doberman puppy, but I didn’t have the time for a puppy at this point in my life so I decided to rescue a dog that was just a little older and had some of the more time consuming issues puppies have behind them. I searched all across the united states for a good fit and finally found Dalton a fawn 1 year old male Doberman at the Southwest Ohio Doberman rescue. We took a road trip out to meet him and because he was heart-worm positive we had to foster first and then adopt.

When we got back home I immediately started my management until trained protocol. I kept Dalton on a leash and flat collar to begin with until I could condition him to a prong collar, the leash didn’t leave my hand for several days unless he was crated. I walked Dalton around his new home while Monty was gated off in our workout room. It is important to try get a dog comfortable in a new place first before immediately trying to get new pets to interact. Monty eventually came out from hiding to see his new brother, he was still behind the gate, but they started making eye contact from a distance. Right off the bat I never let Dalton fixate, I made kissy noises, tapped his flank and moved him away from the cat. Quick tip aggression or reactivity starts with fixation, if you stop it there it won’t escalate.

Next I did role reversal, I put Dalton behind the gate and let Monty roam the house. I chose to use the gate because Dalton wasn’t crate trained yet. Dalton fixated and barked a couple of times, but I was able to break his fixation by kicking the gate. That was all for the first night, I would have done a bit more but I spent 12 hours driving that day to get Dalton and it was already time for bed by the time we got back.

The next day with Monty gated in the workout room I started formally training Dalton, first teaching him our marker system. I use “yes” as a mark/release, “good” as a duration marker, “eh eh” as my try again/no reward marker and “no” as my correction marker. I first taught “yes” and “good” through using food rewards and then started working on engagement training. I worked on this in 2 different ways and like both ways of doing it for various reasons. The first style of engagement training I borrowed from Michael Ellis. I began this process by saying “you ready” and proceeded to mark and reward any shred of attention Dalton was giving me. I started far away from Monty and worked my way towards Dalton’s threshold which at the time was about 5 ft. Any time i’d lose his attention i’d quickly move or verbally get his attention by making kiss and whistling noises. The second form of engagement training I borrowed from Chad Mackin, who is a very versatile trainer and incredibly knowledgeable about training in general. This method uses a no reward marker (eh eh) coupled with pressure from an active collar when a dog is doing something wrong. It is essentially a dog training version of hot and cold, “yes” is hot, “good” you’re getting warmer and “eh eh” is cold. Using this method I was able to say no, let’s not pay attention to Monty and yes pay attention to me. Now I had all of my markers established besides the “no” marker

The behaviors I started training in the background of my management protocol were Heel (walk next to me without pulling), Place (go to your bed and stay there until released), Recall (come when called), Watch (making sustained eye contact), Sit with duration and down with duration. All of these behaviors serve a specific purpose, they all work on impulse control and are incompatible with chasing a cat. Think about it this way, if my dog has to be sitting he can’t chase a cat, if my dog has to be in place he can’t be chasing a cat…. without repeating all of them, you get my point. The recall also serves the purpose of calling him back to me if I feel a situation turning into a problem.

Without getting too detailed into how I trained each individual behavior, I want to point out a general rule about my style of training. I always teach a new behavior using positive reinforcement, then layer over pressure ( negative reinforcement) and finally corrections (positive punishment) if necessary. The reason I do this in this order is so my dog can first know what he’s supposed to be doing before he is just forced to do it. This order keeps the learning process having the lowest stress level possible as well. The first part (teaching with positive reinforcement) is about establishing a good relationship and creating motivation. The second part ( adding pressure) is to make the behavior more reliable and to help your dog gain a greater understanding of what you want from him. The third part (adding corrections) is to make your dog want to avoid doing the wrong thing. To me this can be summed up by creating a value system. For example, Dalton’s food drive 7/10, Dalton’s desire to chase the cat 9/10, Dalton’s desire to avoid pressure or a correction 10/10. Some things dogs encounter in their lives just simply have more value or novelty than what we as humans can offer as far as positive reinforcement goes.

Back to the story, so now that Dalton knows these behaviors I start using them in my daily life. If i’m sitting in the family room watching tv or am on my computer Dalton is in place, if i’m cooking Dalton is in place. If i’m walking from room to room and want him with me he’s in a heel, if i’m walking to the door to let him out he is in a heel. If I want to call him to me from anywhere in the house I use my recall cue. If we are training or playing and Monty walks by I put him in a sit or down. I’m essentially using my obedience cue’s like a carpenter using the right tools from his toolbox.

I can honestly say only twice did I have to correct Dalton for going after Monty, both times we were walking around the house in heel and Dalton went chasing after him. To my credit and Dalton’s, Monty comes out of nowhere, is very bold and I am no expert in training a cat.. That is a huge variable in this situation. Monty would frequently put himself in harms way. When Dalton took off after Monty I said “no” and gave him a firm prong collar correction both times it occurred. Dalton learned from this, I set up a scenario where we practiced a lot of correct things to do and also said “no you can’t do that”. It is a lot of work to start out with, but it really was pretty simple.

The worst thing people can do in a similar situation whether it is introducing two dogs, or like me a dog and a cat is to just let the animals figure it out. If I had done that I don’t think Monty would be with us today. Overtime as Dalton proved to me I could trust him, Monty and Dalton developed a pretty funny little relationship. They sit on the couch together, enjoy the fireplace together and even share my wife and I’s attention together. Sometimes Dalton will try to play with Monty, but Monty still finds that to be a little much

There are a few reasons why you might not be getting the responses you want from your dog.

Let’s discuss the reasons and solutions in depth to help us communicate more effectively with our dogs.

#1. Your dog doesn’t understand you

As a dog trainer I frequently see dog owners shouting commands at their dogs without any prior training. Dogs do not come to us understanding human language, this should come as no surprise, but since this is such a common occurrence it is worth mentioning. Dogs come to us knowing dog language, this is mostly body language indicating their state of mind. I will go over body language in further detail in a future article. Dogs have to be taught through the use of marker training how to communicate with us. See my how dogs learn article.

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Once communication is established and you have taught some obedience behaviors, you must make sure the behaviors are proofed. Dogs learn in stages, the four stages are; the learning phase ( this is when you are teaching the behavior) fluency ( the dog knows the behavior on verbal cue without any distractions present) generalization ( testing the known behavior in a variety of scenarios and adding the 3 d’s of dog training, distance, duration and distractions) and maintenance ( the dog understands the behavior under every scenario and you continue to practice on a regular basis.
Once your dog understands what you’re asking him to do and is in the generalization phase, then and only then is it fair to correct him for not complying

#2. Your dog isn’t motivated enough

Creating motivation is one of the most important aspects of dog training. I prefer to create motivation by training dogs for things they want, this is called positive reinforcement. If the value of your reinforcer isn’t high enough your dog won’t have enough reason to listen to you, they will also get bored of training quickly and view training as a bad thing.

I like to create motivation for obedience training by using food, chasing games for food, tug and fetch. There are some behaviors dogs naturally like doing, these are called self reinforcing behaviors. Some self reinforcing behaviors include; digging, jumping, barking and mouthing. For other behaviors such as sit, down, come, heel etc we have to make valuable. For example if your dog sits and you then have them chase you and feed them, sitting will be more likely to occur in the future. Depending on what you’re training there are other ways to motivate dogs. Specific things like working with reactivity and fear will be addressed in future articles.

#3. Your dog doesn’t respect you.

I covered this topic in depth in my pack structure and leadership article. For the purposes of this article I will cover the main points again.
Dogs need clearly defined rules to live by and as their owners we need to provide these rules. I personally believe dogs do not try to be “bad”, it’s just that their natural tendencies as a species do not fit in well we the human way of life. If we let a dog make their own decisions we wind up with a whole host of problems. Behaviors like jumping, play biting, food stealing, getting into garbage, pulling, barking out windows, destructive chewing..etc are all normal dog behaviors. I often feel bad for dogs because nearly every behavior that is completely natural for them as a species isn’t accepted in our human way of life. I feel like it’s gotta be tough when everything you inherently want to do is considered wrong.

The first thing we need to do is set our dogs up for success, this involves using our brains and being proactive.

1. Be prepared- Have leashes, bait bags, treats and toys in convenient easily accessible areas. I suggest having multiple crates, put these items on top of the crates so you do not forget them. Use treats to get your dog in the crate, have a bait bag with treats and toys handy to use for training and redirection once your dog is out of the crate and immediately leash your dog once they are out of the crate to better control/manage their household behavior. When you cannot or do not want to pay attention to your dog put them in a crate or playpen with appropriate toys and chews. This gives us full control of the dog’s life and prevents all of those unwanted behaviors from happening. I also use leashes and tethers for this effect. Sometimes when I want my dog with me but I am doing something like studying or am just watching tv I will tether my dog close to me or hold the leash. I do this more once my dog knows down stays and place.

2. Exercise your dog’s body and mind- I view energy like a meter, if that meter is full and you do not provide constructive outlets for it, it will come out in annoying or destructive ways. Your dog will start demanding attention by pawing at you, demand barking, bringing you toys( I have a rule about toys we will get to in a minute) getting into things, barking out windows, digging, chewing… everything you don’t want. Bottom line here is that you need to provide your dog with structured walks, play and training

3. Make your dog earn everything- There are so many opportunities for training to establish this rule throughout a day. Here is an example; releasing the dog from the crate for calm behavior first thing in the morning, making them sit and give you eye contact before letting them out to go to the bathroom, doing 5 obedience cues before you release them to their food bowl, doing the place behavior while you eat, heeling while you walk etc.. The whole idea of this is to create the impression to your dog that everything good comes from listening to you. This will dramatically improve your relationship with your dog and also require them to think before they act. View it like a mental speed bump that slows down impulsive behavior. This also gets our dog’s looking to us for direction and decision making which for right now is what we need. Eventually through habit and repetition dogs start making good decisions on their own.

This next part falls under this category and our first category, clean up toys and no free feeding. You want to control access to toys so your dog knows they are coming from you. This also prevents the novelty of the toy wearing off and object guarding behaviors. Same goes for food, leaving food out can encourage guarding, create picky eaters and will not show your dog that you are providing the food.

#4 You lack consistency
Lack of consistency is a major problem especially with family dogs. One owner lets the dog pull one doesn’t, one owner lets the dog jump one doesn’t, one owner lets the dog on furniture one doesn’t… sound familiar? A dog cannot learn this way. What this does is setup a variable reinforcement schedule for bad behavior. Variable reinforcement is essentially random reinforcement, it makes behavior resilient which is why we use it for obedience training. In obedience training it keeps dog’s motivated by never knowing when reinforcement might come, it’s an addicting guessing game. It can easily be compared to gambling, people mostly lose when they gamble, but the chance of a big reward keeps them gambling, so much so that people develop gambling addiction at times. To eliminate behavior you must never reinforce it period.

#5 Your dog is physically incapable
There are two ways I look at this issue. The first is making sure there is nothing medically wrong with your dog. Not feeling well, diseases or physical handicaps can affect not only how well your dog can listen, but whether they can physically do what you’re asking in the first place. The second is just being realistic. For example I have a Doberman that is around 100lbs, it would be unfair and unrealistic of me to train this dog to hop on his hind legs, he is just too big for that. Another issue worth talking about is the surface you are training on. Asking a dog for a down stay on hardwood or cement surfaces is going to be painful and therefore they may break command.