Rewarding your dog for being right is undoubtedly easier, more effective, and more fun than punishing him for being wrong. Moreover, you can speed up the process by responsibly managing your dog’s life to maximize the likelihood that he will be right. This way, much of the training becomes effortless, error less learning, and harsh correction or punishment is simply unnecessary. Simple and smart.
You should be especially concerned with management until the training takes effect. For example, until you have taught your dog to have a chew-toy habit, you should not give him unsupervised access to your home.
There are two parts to management:
- Controlling the resources
- Controlling the environment
Controlling the Resources
Dog resources include anything your dog likes:
- Food (normal meals as well as special treats)
- Praise (verbal and physical)
- Activity-based rewards (going for a walk, playing with other dogs, getting up on the couch, riding in the car)
- Play (games with you or just chewing a toy)
Dogs are masters at training us to do all sorts of things for them. Try to remember that you decide when it’s dinnertime, playtime, and time to go for a walk. Better yet, use those times to reinforce desirable behaviors, such as sitting for his supper or to go for a walk.
Most owners give their dogs free access to just about everything that is valuable to the dog. In fact, dogs are often rewarded with resources when they do things the owner doesn’t like! For example, the dog jumps around like a madman as his food is being prepared, and then the owner puts the bowl down for the dog to eat. Or the dog pulls on the leash, and the owner continues the walk. It’s so much smarter to take control of these resources and use them to teach your dog to be- have appropriately. In these two situations, wait to put the food down until your dog keeps all four feet on the ground, and wait to continue your walk until your dog is at your side.
Convince your dog that you hold the key to his “resource treasure chest” so that he realizes how valuable you are and how important it is to do as you ask.
Learn It to Earn It!
Your dog will benefit in endless ways if you teach him that appropriate behaviors are necessary to earn all the things he wants in life, including food, toys, attention, play with other dogs, and trips to the park. This approach is the best way to become your dog’s guide through a long, happy life with you.
Controlled access to a limited commodity increases its value. It’s all a matter of supply and demand. If something is easily accessible and in great supply, the demand usually isn’t so great. Imagine if you had twenty million dollars. If someone asked you to do something for one dollar, chances are you would not be very motivated to do it. Consequently, make your dog’s resources more valuable by control- ling them. For example, pick up all your dog’s toys and ask him to come, sit, or lie down before you give him one or two to play with. Each time he comes to you for petting, ask him to do something before you comply. When you serve him his dinner, ask him to do something before you put his food-stuffed toy or bowl on the floor. Better yet, every once in a while, sit down and hand-feed him some of his meal and ask him to do something for each piece of food.
Similarly, when walking your dog on leash, regularly stop and wait for him to look at you and to sit before you continue walking. He will quickly learn that watching you and sitting when you stop is the way to ensure that the walk will continue. Let your dog know that you have what he wants, and if he wants it, he just needs to ask politely—in this case, by sitting at your side when you stop walking. Don’t feel bad about asking your dog to do a little something in return for re- sources. Dogs love to have a job to do. Most pet dogs have no job, and in turn they have a very boring existence. You, however, can change all that.
A Working Dog Is a Happy Dog
No matter what your dog’s size or type, he still needs a job to feel fulfilled and to achieve his full potential. Your dog’s jobs can include hunting for his food from food-stuffed toys, responding to your requests, and maybe even fetching your slippers!
Controlling the Environment
By preparing your house in such a way that your dog does not have access to areas By preparing your house in such a way that your dog does not have access to areas where he might make mistakes, you are essentially putting the odds in your dog’s favor that he will be right. Doing so from the outset with a new puppy or dog will prevent predictable behavior problems and the potential need for punishment. This is also the best way to prevent further problems with your current dog. Of course, once your dog reliably understands the house rules, he can enjoy as much freedom indoors as you permit.
Attention, Please
A result of controlling the things your dog wants is that you will get his attention. Attention is crucial if you intend to teach him. When your dog pays attention to you (and then follows your instructions), he has an opportunity to have you unlock the door to all the things he loves.
How can this dog not misbehave? The only options he has to occupy his time are ones that will annoy his owner. Creating a dog-friendly home, one in which he has little opportunity to make mistakes, is one of the kindest things you can do for your dog.
Controlling your dog’s access to areas where he might get into trouble is known in the dog-training trade as the “shut the door” notion. For example, if your dog is getting into the garbage in the kitchen, shut the kitchen door, confine your dog away from the kitchen, or get a garbage can with a lid that locks. If your dog is urinating in your bedroom, shut the bedroom door. Better yet, confine your dog to an exercise pen, a crate, or one room in the house. If you confine your dog, there are a thousand wrong things he can’t do in the other rooms. This is essentially the same way we teach young children to behave at home. You wouldn’t consider allowing a toddler to roam around unsupervised!
When you have time to supervise him, you can also keep your dog on leash at your side with a couple of food-stuffed toys. Doing so prevents so many problems that it would take a whole book to write them down. If you keep your dog on leash until he learns the house rules, he can’t chew inappropriate things, eliminate in the wrong places, and so on. This is, of course, a temporary but necessary aspect of training. Once the dog has learned good habits, a lifetime of freedom in the home awaits.
Set Your Dog Up to Be Right
Stack the deck in your dog’s favor so that he can’t fail to be right. If this is done properly, he should have no alternative but to behave in the way you would like. For example, leave your dog in a crate or a protected room with three food-stuffed chew toys, and you are pretty much assured that your dog will quickly learn to enjoy chewing chew toys rather than a host of inappropriate household articles. He can’t destroy your house or bark incessantly if he is engrossed in his chew toys.