POSITIVE ONLY TRAINING FLAWS

The new puppy and the older dog. The new dog and the established dog. These are tricky waters to navigate for dog owners. As with many scenarios in dog training the best of intentions can turn into a big problem in a hurry. Dog owners can just be trying to give their dog a friend or be trying to give their kids a younger more energetic dog as their current dog ages.

The first mistake people make is assuming that their older dog is “nice” so there shouldn’t be any issues. The second mistake is assuming it’s the older dog’s responsibility to deal with the new dog.

As with any interaction whether it’s between two or more humans or two or more dogs the “nice” one can still be targeted. You can be the nicest person in the world and get stuck around a bully twice your size and have lots of problems. Or just be around someone who is very annoying to you and you just lose your patience. It always takes at least two to tango.

Now your new dog or puppy may not be trying to be mean, they could simply be over excited, have no off switch, not understand how to appropriately play yet etc. Your older dog can simply be telling your new dog to stop or to go away from them.

Learn to read your dogs and learn when to step in. The vast majority of older dogs are not trying to seriously injure your new dog. Dogs use body language and different vocalizations to communicate with us and each other. Most of the stuff that looks bad to the untrained eye in these situations are actually called agonistic behaviors which means behaviors used to create space between dogs that are annoying or potentially threatening.

We should be seeing the signs before it gets to the point of air snapping, growling, showing teeth or biting though. We should step in and advocate for our older dog from day 1.

When you see your new dog demand barking at your older dog to play, jumping on your older dog, acting obsessed with your older dog, getting to close when your older dog is eating or chewing a bone etc you should be intervening before your older dog feels like they have to. I personally use spacial pressure, squirt bottles and dressage whips ( used as an extension of my arm, not as a whip) to separate dogs and provide space for my older dog. It is also our job not our older dog’s job to teach our new dog how to behave.

Until you know your dogs are safe together I never suggest leaving them alone together. Always use crates, gates or exercise pens to keep them separated when they are unsupervised. Having both dogs obedience trained is crucial, but until they both respond well they need to be managed. Cues that are helpful in these situations are the place command, come when called, wait, boundaries and relaxation.

Most often we have to start with teaching our dogs to just learn how to exist around each other before they can learn to accept and like each other. Management is crucial in the beginning as well as having good things like small training sessions occur near each other and going on walks together. I also recommend picking up all toys and food dishes at least until the dogs become more comfortable with each other.

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.

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.