7 important notes on dog training
The upbringing or the Dog Training should begin on the day the puppy or the dog enters the home.
It is even better if people have thought ahead and visualized their dream dog and how he behaves before the dog enters the home.
Owner walks a young dog
7 important notes on dog training
I have compiled a list of 7 important notes on dog training that you want to memorize. The list is designed to make you a better dog owner and even better dog trainer.
START by thinking of the end result
Dog training should begin on the day the puppy or dog enters the home. It is even better if people have sat down and thought ahead and visualized their dream dog and how he behaves.
How should your dog behave in the future? Before you begin obedience training, imagine how your dog will be in the future after all the training – what kind of dog do you want, what exercises are important to him, what obedience exercises or tricks do you think will be fun to teach him? Set goals before your work begins with clear goals and methods, you are more likely to reach your goals when you´ve done some preparations beforehand.
Dog training is not a constraint, it is not forcing the dog into a mold that he does not want. Dog training is spending time together and developing communication between two species who do not speak the same language and do not have the same protocols. Dog training is fun because through the games and puzzles we teach a dog and human to understand and trust each other. It does not happen in a class room, it happens in the field, on the streets and on the floor in your apartment.
All I want is to learn to communicate with you
2. TRUST
By creating an expression and a common language with our dog through obedience, we create confidence. To create it, obedience or anything we teach them must ALWAYS be fun and without any coercion and corrections. The dog must never feel resentment on our part, he must never grab him or hit him or force him in any way.
Dog and owner should both be relaxed and enjoy the get-together. The dog will feel your interest (and disinterest) and be infected by the messages you give him. If you lose interest during the exercise, stop and continue later. Your dog picks up all your signals, your energy level and interest is affecting his.
Remember therefor to enjoy the exercise, always.
3. STRESS - positive and negative
Stress is normally a negative factor when it comes to obedience training and we want the dogs to be stress free during obedience training.
However, when talking about stress in dog training, it does not always have to be a negative factor. Stress can be seen in the breathing rhythm of dogs, ear position, stance and even eyes. Here I mean stress in the sense of insecurity.
Dog´s that are out of breath, breathing heavily without any physical exercise and agitated are stressed dogs, also dogs that jump from one exercise or trick to another just to try to please their owner, that is a stressed dog asking what do you want? And trying to offer all he knows. Stress is therefor often the result of misunderstanding, communication has not become clear and neither dog nor man has mastered the new common language they are building together as a bridge to communicate.
It is ours responsibility, the owner's responsibility, to minimize the stress in the dog, the best way to do this is to not have unrealistic demands on the dog. A dog that is asked to do exercises or tricks that he does not understand will be stressed. That is why we start with very short exercises and a few repetitions, which then gradually extend through the exercise process. We also try not to mix two or more exercises unless we are sure the dog understands both. The best way to deal with stress is to 1) have a clear exercise goal 2) have a clear message, command, to the dog in the exercises 3) ignore the stress behavior (don't be irritated or annoyed, and don´t scold him) just keep on with your schedule.
The stress behavior described above may also match a cheerful dog looking forward to the project ahead. There is a thing called positive stress: the dog is grinning and smiling and jumping of joy. That means he knows it's fun and that he plans to participate, he´s just struggling with the happiness of exercising. The best thing you do in this case as a dog owner is to pretend you don't see this behavior. It is normal and not at all undesirable, but it would be undesirable to push it or praise it. By ignoring it you reduce it as much as possible and with time this behavior will stop. You can always take control of the situation and asking the dog to do something as a distraction from the unwanted behaviors: sit, wait or do any trick you know he knows and is comfortable with.
If you start talking to him in a provocative and loud tone during this behavior, throwing a toy at him, swinging his leash or doing something that excites the dog, the behavior will escalate and even turn the otherwise positive stress into a negative stress. The dog will then become uncontrollable as the behavior escalates: starts barking, jumping, pulling on clothes and in the long run there is no owner going to want to bother with training it and between the two of you tension and irritation is created. The excited dog should rather be calmed down, his mind needs relaxation and soothing energy. You can always take control of the situation by taking the dog out of the situation if it shows uncontrollable fuss. For example if you are preparing for a trip, take the dog immediately to the car and then get you equipment you need – instead of letting him stand in the room build up stress and anticipation. Seek solutions to reduce the time the dog is running up its own stress.
It is important to teach only one exercise at a time, when we are sure the dog understands it then we will teach the next - this is especially important with puppies and young dogs. We don't mix exercises until much later in the process, we don´t try to make sequences unless they now each link in it 100%. One exercise is taught at a time.
It is common for dogs that know a trick to show it to please us when we are teaching a new trick. Don't be surprised and don´t scold the dog (minimize stress) just leave it as you don't see it, wait quietly and then continue with the exercise. Let him see by you not recognizing it that we are starting something new.
Possible signs of stress: open mouth, panting, ears back, staring eyes, agitated body
4. COMMANDS - REQUESTS
Commands or requests in obedience can be many. You can give a command with words, sounds, whistles, hand movements, body application and more. Choose what you think is the most comfortable to use. Methods can also be mixed. It's worth remembering that in the future, you may want to be able to give the dog a distance command (even through a crowd) without much effort.
Here I come back to emphasize a command is not coercion. Don´t get caught up in my choice of wording! A command can be a request, a command is a request from us to the dog. I have learned to use short words, clear words and try to avoid using too similar words for different activities, sit down and lay down – simply use sit and lay. I use a lot of words and hand gestures together that help with remote control later on. I also use quite strict commands in the beginning, then slowly transfer to lower-level commands and soon I´m using whisper commands.
From a distance, words are less likely to be delivered than manual movement and / or whistling because I don´t like to be loud in crowds, but I still want to have control of my dog. Believe me you don´t want to be the crazy screaming lady in the park. So here hand signals and whistle come very handy. It is therefore very common to use in training working dogs: hunting dogs, narcotics dogs, bomb dogs as well as training deaf dogs and even for deaf/mute dog owners.
Hand signals are very useful in dog training
5. REWARDS
Reward for obedience (and in fact all training) is always based on the dog's interest.
Food / candy is a popular and convenient prize and has proved to me best because with the right candy the training time has shortened – we are quicker to find common grounds in understanding what we are training. That is to say the dog is quicker to understand the project and my message because the food is such a clear message that the right thing has been done. Food praising is a good fit for obedience exercises, the dog needs to stay in the command for a short time while waiting for the prize, e.g. sitting, lying down, waiting, etc.
You can use dog food, dog treats, dried fish, meat, hot dogs and whatever food the dog likes. I have mostly used treats that does not infect my clothes and does not have too much odor. I don´t want the odor to distract a young dog to lose its attention. If the dog loves food, then the reward is ideal but it does not apply to all dogs. With food rewards it is important that the pieces are not too big, so that the dog does not lose its attention to chewing and enjoying the food. In later stages, the treats and stuff can be replaced by touch or verbal compliment.
I have to mention if the dog is highly food driven – so much he can´t focus on the job because he´s too excited about the food. I don´t use food I want him to do the task and understand it, he can have problems if he´s mainly thinking about the treats.
It is increasingly common to train dogs with clicker training. I haven't taken advantage of it yet and only slightly introduced myself to clickers. Clicker is a small device that produces sound. The click is used to confirm the correct behavior and is introduced to the dog with treats. Clicker is used while teaching new behaviors and to signal that the dog is doing right, so its use is reduced or discontinued once the dog has learned what was being taught to him. Those who have embraced the clicker say he helps mark the right behavior sooner than with other methods.
Remember that training is individual and also the choice of rewards. You are a team so the prize chosen needs to suit both parties. Stuffed toys, ropes, balls can be used as a reward but it can be unsuitable in cases when you need the dog to be still such as sitting / lying down. As it is expected of the dog to remain in the command for a little while and swinging a toy around meanwhile is simply unfair for a young dog – we should never set the dog up for mistakes. However a toy is ideal for teaching the dog to learn its name, re-call, jump, directions etc. Toys are a great way to reward a dog for taking its mind of a distraction and back to its owner. Playing is usually a longer prize time wise and therefore a higher value prizes than f.x. treats.
We never really stop to use rewards but we do gradually reduce them - never completely abandoning them. Why do we reduce them because in real life we can´t have treats and toys with us always. Our older dogs don´t need rewards for everything – and they really should not expect to get rewarded for everything. But I do get a lot “He´s not going to do it for me. He knows I don´t have any rewards!” Of course he knows, he´s not stupid. He reads your body language, he can smell what you have in your pockets miles away. So never, ever try to fool him that you have something and then not deliver once he has. I´m sorry, but your training methods are off if the dog only reacts or responds to you through rewards. It is normal for a mature dog to obey a request or a command without needing compliments, the commands have already established themselves in his mind as a pattern of behavior and do not require special recognition all the time. But we never completely abandon them either.
Prizes can be used alternately. When the dog does not know what to expect as a reward, will it be treats, toys or affection, life becomes more interesting and the dog is more likely to obey you. Routines are great but being very predictable is not very exciting. The same goes for mature dogs when rewards come at irregular times and are varied in volume they are less likely to stop obeying – and the irritating behavior of obeying late is less likely to occur.
I have told you before, your mental state is very important! If you are happy of course the dog wants to obey and be a part of your team. Grumpy, irritated and rude and the dog won´t properly work with you. Your energy is the key to success.
The Tug-of-War is a great reward, if taught & used correctly
6. TIMING
Most importantly, the rewards need to be timed correctly so the dog connects cause and effect. Rewards in the beginning should come in the same second ideally as the command is obeyed. The awards unequivocally show that the behavior was successful.
The timing of a command is also very important. A command should only be given if it is indeed going to be obeyed. A dog with the attention on something other than the human is unlikely to answer the command. Wait until he shows less concentration on what he is doing and use that opportunity to get his attention. Avoid repetitive commands and unnecessary shouts at the dog during concentration. He may not understand what we are saying, but he understands the tone of voice and body expression and may decide to linger in doing what is more fun than that irritated human.
Therefore, a command should not be given unless it can be enforced. If you are teaching / practicing the call-in, you start by making sure that you are in contact with the dog and with his attention, rather than screaming effortlessly at him and being ignored as he´s pre-occupied. Use controlled environment to teach basic commands, to reduce likelihood of being ignored and increase likelihood of success.
If you are not sure the dog understands the exercise, put it in a long leash or cord and make sure it comes to you following each command. He is simply encouraged and reminded lightly through the cord if he does not come on his own initiative. Even better like I mentioned use controlled environment and work off leash as much as possible. Praise is very important to accompany in such exercises, sweet language and open, welcoming body language that awaits the dog for succeeding.
Commands need to be given with a stern tone, a low voice (neither asking, loud nor high pitched). Use your body language to help you and if necessary, use soft control to have the dog obey; treats or lightly tap his butt or shoulder etc. Use verbal praise and treats quite unmistakably with commands to increase the likelihood that the dog understands the task and completes it.
Waiting for the reward
7. BODY LANGUAGE THROUGH POSTURE
Direction matters and the message you send with your body language. One of the most common mistakes I have seen with dog owners is the wrong use of their own body and contradictory messages with body language.
If you want the dog to come to you, do not walk towards him or opposite him - what message are you sending; of course, that you are moving on and what is he likely to do? Either stand still and wait or move on with you, he´ll read your direction and will proceed in that direction. Turn your body the other way, and head in the other direction or make him believe you are going away from him and he will come towards you. The dog wants to follow your direction.
If you have to scold a dog from distance or get loud at him, f.x. because he intentionally is not listening to you or paying attention to you, you need to change your mood in the same second as he turns his attention and looks or turns to you. Then you have to be happier, and more fun than what ever he was busy doing. I´m not telling you to be ridiculous, but show him your happy with your body language.
To bend over or hover over a dog is never a good idea. Anyone who leans over or on another person does not give a good presence and can seem threatening. Therefore, try to avoid such body application, even if you are just fixing it´s collar or harness. Bending down on one knee by the dogs side is always a more convenient approach for the dog.
If your dog is focusing on a new project that requires a lot of concentration e.g. search for treats, stuff or work in Nosework, learning to track or search in general or learn any direction changes and you suddenly start moving or become restless and start shifting your weight it breaks the dogs focus because his instinct is to follow your lead and direction. You can either brake his attention or give him a false indication regarding the task he is solving. The dog is always ready to go with you if you plan to leave, even while he is working or out exploring. In such situations where a dog needs to concentrate and work independently, I recommend that people stay still, express themselves as little if any and if you need to move, do so with certainty and determination (no mixed signals, no confusion) but still no sudden changes in direction.
Reading the dogs body language often helps dog handlers understand how to work with their own posture, both how it can be positive and negative for the dog. With proper body posture during training and daily activities, you are likely to strengthen your dog's confidence in you. Your posture and your energy alone can therefor help build the self confidence in your dog.
I sincerely hope my list of 7 important notes on dog training proves useful on your quest to becoming a better dog trainer. The list is primarily designed to make you build a stronger connection with you new friend so you can become a better dog owner and an even better dog trainer. Enjoy working with your dog through life.
All photos in this blog are from www.pexels.com which is a very useful free stock photo library. My sincere thanks to the artists for allowing me to use their material.