Month: May 2019

Removal of Rewards  

Removing the things your dog likes best is an extremely effective way to respond to inappropriate behavior. For example, if your dog is not giving you her full attention, show her the reward she could have won, whether it is a piece of food, a tennis ball, or a toy, and tell her, “Silly dog, you could have won this, but now you can’t have it.” Put it away, sit down, and read a book. After a few minutes, try again, and you will probably find that your dog has better focus and an improved attitude. She will see the value in paying attention to you. This is a great opportunity to remind her that you hold the key to her “resource treasure chest.”

When you begin training your dog, keeping her on leash where you can super- vise her, whether indoors or out, is the best way to get the maximum value from re- wards (and their removal). This way, your dog can’t just go off to look for fun else- where. Essentially, by controlling her access to resources and the environment, you make yourself more valuable. The leash can be tethered to a stable object (such as the couch you are sitting on), or you can step on the end of it or hold it in your hand to keep your dog from wandering about. Be sure she has at least two food-stuffed toys to keep her busy.

Because training soon becomes one of a reward-trained dog’s favorite activities, time out from training is the ultimate punishment. Time out means no more training, no more rewards, and no more trainer (the person your dog most wants to be with!). After a short break, your dog comes back refocused on spending time with you and on the wonderful benefits of interacting with you — play, treats, and toys. During the initial stages of training, having your dog on leash while you supervise her gives you a calm way of giving a time-out by holding the leash gently at arm’s length, stepping on the leash to keep your dog in one spot, using it to walk her calmly to her crate or long-term confinement area, or tethering the leash to a stable object. 

When a time-out is your best punishment, you know that you have a great relationship with your dog and you are training the right way.  

During the early stages of training, you can simply ignore your dog for a minute or two when she is tethered to a stable object a few feet away from you, put her in her long-term or short-term confinement area (discussed in Chapter 3), or actually leave the room. Note that when you begin training a very young pup, you should make a point of playing with and training your dog in her long-term confinement area so that it is safe for you to leave your dog alone immediately. Better yet, have your dog on leash so that all you have to do is stand up, step on the leash or hold it at arm’s length, and ignore her.

If you have two dogs, you can ignore the inattentive dog and offer your other dog numerous rewards. Not only does this approach relieve your frustration, but it is also the best way to get your inattentive dog’s attention.

Remember, after a time-out, instruct your dog to do something, such as come and sit, to reestablish your control and give her the opportunity to get back to playing the training game with you.  

Become a Great Reward Manipulator 

Focus on reinforcing your dog’s behavior by manipulating rewards. This is without a doubt the best way to train. You show the dog what you want her to do and then reward her when she does it. The best way to inhibit and eliminate unwanted behavior is to train your dog to want to do what you want. For example, teach your dog to sit and ask her to do so when she greets you. If she is sitting, she can’t be jumping on you! If your dog doesn’t comply, the best “punishment” is a temporary time-out from you, training, and rewards.

Instructive Redirection   

Many punishments do not have the desired effect because they are not instructive. They often simply confuse the dog and, in some cases, make her shut down out of frustration or fear, which is not a good state of mind when you are trying to teach her. Letting your dog know that she has made a mistake is not sufficient. Sure, your dog knows that you are upset, but what should she do to make things right? If you want your dog to learn what she should be doing, you must be instructive. “Get your toy!” is far more effective than “NO! Bad dog!” If your dog is about to eliminate indoors, the exclamation “Let’s go outside!” informs your dog where it is appropriate to go rather than scaring her with a “NO! Bad dog!”

Similarly, if you think your dog might jump up on visitors, simply instruct your dog to “Sit” rather than scream “No!” or “Aaargh!” or “Off!” once she has. Take this incident as a reminder that your dog is not yet ready to greet visitors off leash. So put the leash on when you bring her to the door to say hello and step on it so it is short enough that she can’t jump. 

Although screaming “No!” may startle the dog into non-activity for a moment, the dog is still not doing what you want, and she is likely to become more frantic (due partly to the stress of having been yelled at) and may go right back to doing what you don’t like again. Anyway, telling the dog what you want her to do is much easier on the dog and much more effective. This way, you are truly correcting in that you are helping your dog to be correct. 

It’s also important to teach your dog that tone and volume signal urgency, not the prospect of pain or punishment. Think of how you would want your dog to react in an emergency. If she gets off leash and starts to run across a busy street, you will probably panic and yell at her. If she thinks this means she’s in trouble, she may run away from you and get hurt.  

Booby Traps 

Booby traps may be effective occasionally, but they are still unpleasant (by definition), and most store-bought booby traps and alarm systems are very expensive. It is much easier and more effective to prevent your dog from misbehaving (confinement and supervision) and teach her an acceptable alternative behavior. For example, providing a little occupational therapy, such as a stuffed toy in your dog’s crate, will work better than booby traps all over your house to stop her from chew- ing inappropriate objects. 

Yelling at your dog really only teaches her that you are enjoying training as little as she is. Why not just calmly show her what you would like her to do and reward her for doing so? 

Non-Instructive Reprimands (Not Advised) 

Continually harping after your dog “No! Bad dog!” with high volume, a nasty tone, and an ugly face just tells your dog that you don’t like her. But you do like your dog; it is merely her behavior that you consider to be unacceptable.

Many owners lose it when reprimanding their dogs and end up yelling emotion- ally. Being yelled at is stressful. Like people, dogs have a hard time learning when under stress, so it’s unlikely that your dog will learn much (other than to be fearful of you) in the midst of your tirade. Why are you yelling? Your dog is not deaf! And if she is deaf, she can’t hear you! So, please, stop yelling. Instead, take a deep breath and look at the situation from the perspective of “What can I do to change this situation and set my dog up to be successful?” If your dog is raiding the kitchen garbage can, for example, get a can with a lid that your dog can’t penetrate, or find a way to prevent your dog from having unsupervised access to the kitchen.  

Negative Reinforcement (Not Advised) 

Negative reinforcement is the negation (or stopping) of punishment to reinforce appropriate behavior. An example would be using a shock collar to cause pain until your dog starts to run in your direction, at which point the shock is stopped. This is, of course, extremely unpleasant for your dog (and you), and it often brings with it very serious negative side effects, such as fear and potentially aggression. This approach puts you on thin ice regarding your dog’s temperament. Indeed, many dogs crack when negative reinforcement is applied.  

It’s Great to Be Good! 

A dog who is trained with dog-friendly methods will make many good decisions because she is counting on the potential reinforcement and because she has a history of being rewarded for those choices. In this case, you have a wonderful dog and should be proud that she got that way because she was rewarded for “good” behaviors instead of being punished for “bad” behaviors. If you train your dog not to do “bad” things because she may get caught and get in trouble, don’t be surprised if she looks for those opportunities when she won’t get caught. Your dog-friendly–trained dog won’t look for opportunities to get away with “bad” behaviors because she will be too busy looking for opportunities to bring about pleasant consequences.  

Physical Punishment (Definitely Not Advised) 

This is definitely not how you want to treat your best friend. Most disturbingly, physical punishment is almost always non-instructive—the dog has no idea why she is being abused and is under serious stress while the punishment is happening. Like us, a dog is not equipped to learn much when overwhelmed with fear. Harsh physical punishment is totally inappropriate, uncalled for, and utterly unacceptable in pet dog training.  

The Side Effects of Punishment 

Harsh physical or verbal punishments are relatively ineffective and may cause a number of serious side effects on the dog’s temperament and on your relationship. Even when punishment training seems to have been effective in resolving simple behavior problems, it invariably shakes the dog’s confidence and undermines the trusting relationship between trainer and dog. Punishments administered by the owner quickly become associated with both the owner and the training process. The result? The dog may learn to comply, grudgingly and perhaps only temporarily, but she also has begun to learn to dislike training — and the trainer.

For example, when a dog has been punished for jumping up, she may not jump up at the moment, but she probably likes the owner and greeting people just a little bit less. The trainer has won the battle but lost the war. The dog may become progressively more fearful with each punishment. If the dog ever expresses dislike for training, the “stubborn” dog will be punished more severely. And if the dog ever decides to correct the trainer for a poor choice in training techniques by growling or biting, the poor dog will most likely be more severely punished and possibly banished from her home.

One of the most common problems associated with punishment-based techniques is that many pet dogs quickly become desensitized to corrections, causing the owner to resort to stronger and stronger corrective actions. Gentle tugs on a buckle collar become firmer jerks on a metal choke collar, which are then replaced with even firmer yanks on a spiked metal “pinch” collar or zaps from an electric shock collar. The poor dog suffers because her owner did not fully understand a technique that at its best is severely flawed. Because dogs are social animals, they are often only too willing to put up with high-level punishment if only to be allowed to remain part of a social group. High-tech pain-delivery equipment is not the solution to the problems we have with our dogs.

No-No’s 

Rather than yelling “No!” at your dog when she does something you don’t like, why not give her a little constructive criticism? For example, if she is jumping, tell her to sit. If she seems to be looking for something to chew, give her a toy so that she doesn’t try out a table leg.

Finally, using punishment-based techniques is the best way to create behavior problems when you’re not at home. For example, after just one or two punishments for chewing inappropriate objects or eliminating in the wrong spot, the dog would no doubt become a closet chewer or eliminator, reserving her chewing and elimination activities for times when her owner is away. Your dog will wait until you leave to do things because then you, “the punisher,” are not there to punish. Think about when you exceed the speed limit. If you see a police car, you slow down, but you’ll continue to speed if you think you can get away with it. The same philosophy applies to your dog. If you punish her when you are there, she’ll learn to behave in certain ways when you are not there. Your dog is not misbehaving out of spite; she’s simply acting like a dog when she feels that it’s safe to do so—that is, when the big, bad punisher is not around. 

And punishment is time-consuming. You have to be present to punish your dog. Most people cannot and do not want to stay home all day so that they can constantly reprimand their dogs. As a result, punishment is often administered after the dog has already misbehaved, which is not only unpleasant and ineffective, but also means that the dog has been allowed to practice behaviors you don’t like. Why not just train the dog to chew one chew toy instead?

It cannot be overemphasized that the main focus of pet dog training is to teach dogs what you think is right, not to punish them for what you think is wrong. With- out a doubt, this is the easiest, most efficient, most effective, and indeed the most enjoyable way to teach your dog.

Lots of tools can help you train your dog. In fact, there are so many options that making a choice can be quite confusing! Really, though, you need only a few basics to get started. You can add to your toolbox as your training progresses and you have a better idea of what your dog’s favorite rewards and activities are.  

Buckle Collar 

Your dog needs a buckle collar, as it is essential for safety that she wear identification at all times, and ID tags can be most conveniently attached to a buckle collar. Similarly, a buckle collar offers a convenient attachment for your dog’s leash, so you can safely walk your dog and train her in open areas.  

Head Halter 

A head halter is a wonderful, humane alternative to a pain-inducing collar. A halter affords the owner a considerable mechanical advantage to manage the dog. Whether the dog is strong and active or very tiny, a head halter can be a wonderful training aid. 

A head halter is the physical equivalent of luring a dog with a food treat. Lead her by her head and the body will follow.  

Head halters work on the age-old horsey premise that it’s easier to lead an animal by her head than by her neck. There are a variety of halters on the market, each with its own innovations. When used correctly, these halters offer almost instantaneous control of rambunctious or untrained dogs. 

At first, your dog might find that this collar feels a bit strange (much in the same way that puppies react when first fitted with a buckle collar). To make the adjustment as easy as possible, simply spend one or two meals hand-feeding your dog her food as you put the halter on and take it off. Then stand up and entice your dog to walk with you by luring her with a piece of food. Walk smoothly, without jerking on the leash or stopping, and frequently reward your dog for walking with you. Before you know it, your dog will be happy to have the halter on because it signals the beginning of a delightful walk (which you will do more often now that your dog is so much easier to control).  

Looks Can Be Deceiving

Unfortunately, halter-type collars are sometimes mistaken for muzzles, creating an image problem for these handy tools. But don’t let their looks both- er you. They are gentle aids and work like a dream! 

Don’t make your dog blue. Reward your dog for getting it right. 

Leashes 

There are two basic options in the leash department: a standard 3 to 6 foot nylon or leather leash and a retractable leash. I strongly recommend using a standard leash until your dog has learned to walk nicely by your side. A retractable leash is useful for giving a dog a wider area to roam, but nothing encourages a dog to pull more than allowing constant tension in the leash. This is the case with retractable leashes. These leashes may not be as safe as a standard 3- to 6-foot leash, either, as your dog may get so far ahead of or behind you that she turns a corner without you and comes upon another dog or some hazard. Also, the plastic handle of a re- tractable leash can slip out of your hand, and if it falls to the ground it could scare your dog and cause her to run.

Would you ever try to jerk a bear around?  

The greatest benefit of leash training is safety. A leashed dog can safely be trained on the street, which is convenient because you want to be able to take your dog for walks on the street. Leash training also facilitates adult dog-training class- es, which are generally conducted with dogs on leash. The leash offers control and safety, which may be easily incorporated into reward-based training methods.  

The Leash Gets a Bum Rap 

Leash training has gained a bad reputation because so many people associate leashes with collar corrections and punishments. This is too bad, be- cause some aspects (such as safety) are extremely beneficial. The leash is a wonderful training tool to help your dog settle down and walk calmly on leash. Simply tie the leash to an immovable object and your dog will soon settle down. Even better, tie your dog’s leash and give her a food-stuffed toy. Before you know it, she will learn to settle down quietly and chew her chew toy.

For the leash to be effective, it doesn’t have to be used punitively. Walking your dog on leash is comparable to holding a child’s hand for gentle guidance. When walking a child on a busy city street, you hold his hand for safety. You don’t hold hands to hurt or cause pain. Think of a leash in the same way — a convenient means to hold your dog’s “hand.” Simply focus on using the leash passively (to gently guide and prevent unwanted behaviors) rather than actively (to jerk your dog around). Use the leash, but do not abuse the leash. Use it for safety and for occasional motivational prompting, but don’t use it to cause pain or administer harsh punishment. 

And remember: No matter how well trained you think your dog is, when out- doors keep her on leash unless you are absolutely sure that it is safe for her to be off leash.  

The Four C’s of Leash Safety 

1.Common sense 

2.Control 

3.Courtesy to others 

4.Catastrophe prevention  

Clicker 

A clicker is a small, handheld device that makes a distinct “click” sound when you press it. Repetitive pairing of the clicker sound with a reinforcer such as food makes the sound become what is called a conditioned reinforcer. In simple terms, this means you have taught your dog that the sound of the click means food (or some other reinforcer) is coming. The clicker is a fantastic way of letting your dog know that what she did at the exact moment the click happened is what earned her the reward. Many of my students also like to teach a verbal marker, such as the word “yes,” which, like the clicker, is repetitively paired with a food reward until the dog understands that hearing this word means that what she did at that exact moment earned her a reward. Both markers are useful. While a verbal marker is some- thing you always have with you, many professional trainers prefer a clicker because it makes a distinct and unique sound.

A clicker provides you a way to accurately pinpoint behaviors. 

Crate 

A crate is one of the most useful tools for just about every aspect of training. It is a valuable aid for house training, chew-toy training, and teaching your dog to calmly accept time alone, and it can be a wonderful convenience when you travel with your pet.

There are two basic kinds of crates: plastic and metal. I generally prefer plastic crates because they tend to make less noise (a dog moving about in a metal crate can be quite noisy) and tend to be more calming environments. Plastic crates are generally more appropriate for travel, and this slightly more enclosed structure may help increase your dog’s sense of comfort and safety.

The crate should be sized appropriately for your dog. It should be just large enough for your dog to stand up, turn around, and lie down in. Keep in mind that if you buy a crate for your young puppy, you may need a larger size when she grows up. A cost-efficient solution is to buy a large crate and block off part of it until your puppy grows into it.

Confining a dog to a crate with a stuffed chew toy is like confining a child to his room with a video game or a good book or a baby to her crib with fun toys!  Bear in mind that a crate is a temporary tool. Your dog may have full run of the house once she understands the rules, but you’ll probably find that your dog will still choose to go to her crate when she wants peace and quiet.  

Chew Toys 

Every dog should have at least ten hollow, food stuffable chew toys. Rotate the toys, giving your dog at least two to four freshly stuffed toys each day. When you are home and can supervise your dog, she can chew by your side or in her crate (until she is trained, and then she can chew anywhere in your home she is permitted). If you have to leave, let her settle comfortably in her confinement area with a few good chew toys. 

Most dogs will immediately become engrossed in a food-stuffed toy, especially if you are a creative stuffer. Try lots of different fillings to find which ones your dog likes best. Use just a small bit of filling and make it tough for your dog to get at it. You can also freeze the food-stuffed toy. Your dog will spend her day enjoyably en- grossed in the task of trying to get to the center of her chew toys. 

Creating a chew-toy habit in your dog may save you and your dog more grief and aggravation than you can possibly imagine. The list of “wrong” things your dog can do to keep herself occupied (both when you are home and especially while you are away) is endless. However, the list of “right” things your pet dog can do in your home is pretty short, especially when you aren’t home. Teaching your dog to do one “right” thing is obviously much easier and less time-consuming than teaching her not to do an endless list of wrongs.

Even the smallest dog can do a lot of damage to a home in a very short period. Damage done by chewing alone can be immense. But you can’t expect to stop your dog from chewing altogether. After all, chewing is one of the few pet dog hobbies we deem acceptable. All you have to do is teach your dog what to chew. The quick- est and easiest solution to many potential problems is to make your dog a chew toy– aholic!

Ideally, your dog should eat all of her meals out of these toys. This way, she has an appropriate outlet for her physical and mental energy. An adult dog who eats her food out of a bowl in five minutes is left with a great deal of time with nothing to do for the rest of the day. Instead, you can enrich your dog’s life by having her “hunt” for her food from food-stuffed toys.  

Paws to Consider 

Your dog’s crate and chew toys are most effective when used together. Put a food-stuffed toy in your dog’s crate before you leave and close the crate door with your dog out of the crate. This way, she will become occupied with getting into it, not with your imminent departure. The old saying “You always want what you can’t have” is at play here. When you open the door a minute or two later, chances are she will dive right in. 

Given the lack of “Working Retriever Wanted” ads in the employment section of your local paper, don’t be surprised if your dog ends up carrying any and every item that is not nailed to the wall around in her mouth. Play fetch with appropriate objects (toys). Then your dog will know that only certain things are meant to be played with.  

If you catch your dog in the act of chewing an inappropriate article, do not re- sort to yelling at her. Reprimanding her is the quickest way to develop an owner- absent chewing problem. She will learn to wait until you are gone to chew. Ultimately, you want her to chew only appropriate items regardless of your presence. Think about supervising her when you’re home and confining her to her area (a crate, an exercise pen, or a room that has been puppy-proofed) with some good chew toys when you can’t keep your eye on her. 

Don’t give your puppy or dog any items to chew on that resemble items you don’t want her to chew on. A dog can’t distinguish your worn-out tennis shoes from a brand-new pair. And don’t give your dog real bones that have been cooked. Once cooked, the bones soften and can splinter easily. Bone splinters can injure your dog’s mouth and stomach.  

Special Puppy Chew-Toy Considerations 

Between the ages of 3 and 6 months, your puppy will lose her baby teeth as her adult teeth grow in. During this time, your puppy will experience discomfort, and chewing will help to alleviate it. Make sure that your puppy always has an appropriate chew toy available, especially during this teething period. Some puppies like to chew on ice cubes or food-stuffed chew toys that have been frozen, which may help to numb the discomfort of teething.  

Let Your Dog Act a Little Wild 

In the wild, dogs spend 80 percent of their waking hours searching for food. But we put the same food in the same bowl in the same place every day. Make life a little more fun for your dog! Hide her dinner in a toy or, better yet, in a few different toys, and give your dog a chance to act like a dog again by “hunting” for her food.

Devices designed to cause discomfort and pain exist because people believe that high-tech equipment is the cure-all for our dogs’ problems. But most expensive gadgets don’t offer a magic remedy. In reality, a better understanding of reward training is the answer. Resorting to extreme physical measures to train dogs just advertises that the trainer has neither understood nor applied the much more effective reward-based training techniques. 

Even when used correctly, painful punishment tools have significant side effects. These side effects often have disastrous consequences for the relationship between dog and owner. Work on training your dog in a friendly way instead. 

Understanding how dogs learn provides many useful clues regarding how best to teach them and which tools to use to do so. Dogs’ thought is neither inferior nor superior to ours; it’s just different. Dogs are obviously not capable of solving even a simple math problem, but they excel when it comes to evaluating sensory input. What might fluster humans is second nature to dogs, and vice versa. Because of their superior senses, the dog world is in some ways much more vibrant than ours. And unlike us, dogs live very much in the present. They focus primarily on the here and now. 

Manipulating the rewards in your dog’s life will bring you success in the training game. 

Your dog investigates everything in her universe and assesses the feedback from each stimulus. Behaviors followed by good consequences are much more likely to be repeated in the future. 

Dogs make thoughtful associations between their behavior and environmental cues and consequences. Moreover, dogs learn quickly by making new associations at an amazing rate. Thus, by providing appropriate feedback, owners can quickly and easily teach their dogs what they think is right. By manipulating the things your dog wants (food toys, attention, and life rewards) you can control the consequences of your dog’s actions, and you can teach her to do just about anything you want. By the same token, inappropriate feedback will teach your dog to do things you don’t want her to. For example, responding to your dog when she whines or jumps up on you will teach her that doing so is a good way to get your attention. So simply be sure your dog gets what she wants only when she does what you want.