Dogs like males, are black and white when it comes down to it. – that is what makes males very effective dog trainers as the dogs respond well to the way males operate and think, whereas females tend to dwell more on the emotional side of things, which can present some problems during training, as females can find themselves thinking “Fluffy won’t do it, so she mustn’t love me anymore” whereas Fluffy has learnt that for the female ‘she can do it if she wants’ therefore teaching herself that she doesn’t have to comply each time, as for the male he would expect the request to be fulfilled, without question from Fluffy.

We need to be Black and White after the dog has done something “wrong” – remember that we, humans set the rules, the dogs don’t ‘know’ them yet. Rather than holding a grudge, we can return to being our happy normal selves, dogs do not understand grudges, therefore it is unfair on the dog to be in a strop with the dog, - was it actually your fault anyway? Could you have put the freshly baked biscuits further away from the edge of the bench? Could you have checked on the, suspiciously quiet puppy, to check that he was chewing his toy instead of your shoes?

Remember it is all about perspective and dogs are learning to be a part of our world, how much ‘a part’ is up to you, and how much time you put into your dogs training. Do not hinder your dog by neglecting his training.

Flex had a blast at the Hamilton jumpers show

Some agility photos from the weekend, we won the team tunnellers event, Flex had a ball, was super hot, lucky we had a stream near by. In Kawerau

The family wants to go somewhere, kids; four legged and the fur-less kind, in goes the baby, and all of the associated gear, in bounds the over excited pup. And off we go, wait a minute, does anyone else see a problem here? 

Ok let’s take a step back, before the pup starts jumping all over the baby. We have taken the time to make sure that baby is safe in the car seat, but not the dog. If we make sure that the pup is safely contained, then that’s a win for the baby, and a win for the dog, and peace of mind for you. 

So this is not; tying the dog into the back of the car or having the dog in a harness on the back seat.

What does confined entail?

At the very least having a barrier for behind the back seats, between the dog and the baby, has to be securely attached – I have heard of cases of them falling over during travel. Even better is having the dog crated in the back (of a station wagon, or SUV) but if your lifestyle does not require a vehicle of this kind, then having your dog crated on the back seat, with a blanket or something that the dog is unable to see the child between them.

Having a physical barrier between the dog and the child will eliminate the risk of the dog interacting with the baby whilst you are concentrating on the road, therefore increasing the safety of the baby and of the dog.

It only takes 2 minutes to go and put the crate up in the car.

Spending a few minutes in preparation, can increase safety immensely, and reduce stress levels.

Your dog needs to be easy, we need to keep the dog in our lives, even though the family has grown and your time has decreased, thoughtful management of the dog will help keep him part of the family.

Bridee Manning
Dog Trainer
Dog Mechanics

I’ve been trying to formulate my own system of training and behaviour modification for a while now from the information I’ve learned from a number of great dog people. I’ve come up with a three level training/behaviour modification system which hopefully is easily to understand and apply.

Level 1. This is the most empowering level for both the dog and the owner. The crux of it is in the following statement which I learned from Dr Susan Friedman - control the environment, not the dog, to allow him to make other choices, and then reinforce those choice to make them more likely to happen in the future. It is hugely empowering for our dogs to be in control of their own decisions. Now this doesn’t mean we allow our dogs to do whatever they want. Through careful control of the environment, we can limit or change the dog’s options so it now becomes easier for them to do something we want them to do (and difficult for them to do something we don’t want them to do) and when they do it, the wise use of reinforcers makes it more likely to re-occur.

If your dog jumps up on people when you stop to talk to them, we can stand on his lead so he can’t jump (give him enough slack that he can still stand or sit comfortably). We have now controlled his access to reinforcement (the person) and we can now reinforce (with food/praise) four feet on the floor. If we do this every time, the dog now has a large reinforcement history of four feet on the floor, and a tiny history of being reinforced for jumping. Not jumping is now much, much more likely.

Level 2. This is less empowering for the dog but the dog still has lots of choice. In this level, we use previously trained behaviours to give the dog instruction about what we want him to do. This is useful if our environmental control, as described in Level 1, gets away from us and the dog isn’t voluntarily able to make a decision which we are able to reinforce. We can now tell the dog what we want him to do.

To give you a couple of examples, say we are training our dog to remain within a certain radius of us. The dog is almost at the limit if the radius and suddenly a pigeon lands very close to her. The environment now changed and we couldn’t do anything about it. It is unreasonable to expect the dog to return to us without prompting at this stage unless we have trained for it, but what we can do is prompt the recall with a verbal cue which we have previously worked on. The dog now returns to us and we can reinforce this choice.

Another example would be if your dog is reactive to other dogs. At 100 feet, he might be able to willingly look at you, which you can reinforce. At 50 feet, your dog might not be able to look at you without prompting, but if we have taught an emergency U-turn which he knows well, we can ask him to perform the U-turn and reinforce it when he does.

The reason this level is less empowering for the dog is that he has less choice and you are starting to rely on more automatic responses. Although these responses have been taught using reinforcement, the dog is starting to perform them automatically and without conscious thought, so the question we could reasonably ask here is how much choice does the dog actually have?

I don’t think this is too much of an issue as long as we are either practicing the behaviour to maintain it’s reliability or we are using it because the alternative (running off or reacting aggressively in the previous examples) is a far less attractive option for us and potentially far more damaging to the dog.

As part of a society, and I include dogs in this, there are absolutely times when we need to do what we are told.  We do this willingly in many cases but we are still doing it because we are either told to or asked to.

Level 3 - Physically moving our dog out of trouble. At level three, our dog is now unable to offer anything we want to reinforce, either voluntarily or with prompting. This is all about management and keeping the dog safe. At this point the environment has completely got away from us and we need to get our dog out of that situation. We are now controlling the dog. Examples would be if we are training a recall using a long line and the dog is running very quickly towards a busy road (think about how much environmental control we had in the first place!) we would stand on the line to stop the dog moving forward. In the case of the reactive dog, if another dog appeared round a street corner, and our dog reacted, we would physically move our dog away on a short leash to a non reactive distance.

When working on this, we can switch between levels 1 and 2 quite often. I use level 1 when I can, but also use level 2 frequently so we can use the available distractions as practice to keep previously learned behaviour strong and reliable. If we do this often, the ultimate aim is so that we don’t have to use level 3 and all.

The last thing to consider is training your dog to do many different behaviours. This allows the dog to offer previously learned behaviours during level 1 and gives you multiple options during level 2. If your dog doesn't know how to do an emergency U-turn or recall, how can you ask for it? Also, different situations will call for different responses. Sometimes sitting may be more useful (when you are talking to someone in the street), other times having your dog to “leave”, “drop it” or “back up” might be better.

More training means more options. Happy dog training.

Retrieved from: http://glasgowdogtrainer.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/three-stages-of-dog-training/

He’s stubborn. She’s disobedient. He’s aggressive. She doesn’t do as she’s told. He’s an Akita. She’s a Shiba Inu. I have to use a prong collar because he is X Y or Z or because he is a (fill in the blank) breed/type of dog. Postive reinforcement training doesn’t work because his is a dominant breed. I’ve heard loads of these comments from clients and dog people over the years and read more of them online. One of the most memorable was a guy who described his pitbull as a “cunning, conniving cur” which then gave him authority to treat him as such. One of the reasons for his description was that pitbulls are bred to fight, so they have to use “every trick” they can to win. As opposed to the reality of the matter, which is the dog is fighting for his life to entertain sick humans.

I’ve heard arguments or excuses from people on a number of topics –  that bull breeds fight with other dogs because they are bull breeds.  Hounds and Spitz breeds cannot be let off leash because a recall is impossible because their desire to hunt is too high. Mastiff and livestock guardians can’t be trained because they don’t have the brain for it (whatever that means). One of my favourites was a client who owned a border collie who read on an online collie forum that you can’t expect collies not to chase cars, which was the problem she was having. We managed to train her dog not to chase cars in the space of an hour, using a ball, not to mention the hundreds of collies I’ve seen in my lifetime happily walking down the street as cars drive by.

Yes, certain breeds do have tendencies to do things more than other breeds. But they don’t do them because of that. They do these things because they find it reinforcing (a different thing from enjoying something) and because they have been allowed to be reinforced for doing it. I know I am not the best dog trainer in the world. I know I’m pretty good at it and I know that I will never stop trying to be better than I am just now. I say this because I know it’s possible to retrain dog aggressive bull breeds. I know it’s possible to train a husky or a Shiba Inu to recall. I know it’s possible to do these things without resorting to aversive training methods. The reason I know these things is because I’ve done them. I know there are loads of other things you can train a dog to do, without having done them myself because I’ve seen others do it.

If you think you can’t train your beagle to come back to you because she’s a beagle, you won’t do it and you’ll never let her off leash. If you think your Akita is unfriendly to people because he’s an Akita, it gives you the excuse not to do anything about it (although with any work with dogs who react aggressively we need to always be aware of safety issues).

Rather than attaching a label to your dog, think in terms of “If (a certain sequence of events or situation occurs) then (my dog reacts in a certain way)”. If my dog is off leash and catches an interesting smell then she won’t come back when I call her (prudent use of a long line and reinforcers is how I would go about changing this). If my dog is on leash and there is another dog within 15 feet, he will react aggressively (here you could alter the  distance and use classical conditioning). If you need to label anything, label behaviours, which we can change.

If you believe that you need to use aversive training methods (prong or shock collars, rattle cans, ear pinches, leash corrections, spray bottles), than you will be closed to other possibilities and you will never learn them. I don’t think that every dog issue can be solved but most of them can and the rest of them can be managed. I know that not every dog issue can be solved with force free techniques but that shouldn’t stop us from constantly trying to find behaviour modification solutions which are the least aversive. When we have exhaustedall of these options we have a decision to make. How we make that decision will depend on our own ethics. A more aversive approach might work, but do we really need to use it? Is it worth inflicting pain in order to achieve our goal? If the answer is yes, then it’s a matter for your own conscience. Having tried all available force free alternatives to get your reactive dog safe around strange dogs or people, can we justify using a shock collar rather than getting up earlier in the morning and taking him out when it’s quiet and not exposing him to situations which will make him react. Is the reason for you wanting to take him out where there are other dogs or people around for him or for you?

I believe that force free methods can impact the vast majority of cases. Of all the dogs I’ve worked with, there is only one which I didn’t know how to help. Aversive techniques may have changed her behaviour, but there is always a high risk of fallout and I don’t use those techniques in any case. I haven’t stopped thinking of a solution for this dog and still ask other trainers their opinions. So in my own experience, I don’t know of a force free technique which hasn’t worked in 0.002% of cases and I work with dogs other trainers have tried to help and haven’t been able to or that other trainers won’t work with so it’s not as if I’m handpicking my clients.

“Let’s push beyond old limitations and see what’s truly possible for dogs, and their trainers” – Eric Brad, Canine Nation

Food treats are an easy and effective reward for a dog when training. But food rewards are only one way to build strong Behaviour. There may be times when you do not want to or cannot use food, and there may be times when the best reinforcement is something other than a hot dog! Here are five great ways to reward your dog when you don't want to reach for the treat pouch.

1) Play with your dog! Anyone who has trained for an active sport like agility or flyball knows the value of using toys, games, and play in training. But toys, games, and play don’t apply only to the sports-minded. Playing with your dog can be a powerful relationship-building tool, as well as a potent reward. Tugging and retrieving may be the most obvious play rewards, but playing games with your dog is limited only by your (and your dog’s) imagination.
 
2) Use “life rewards.” These are things that your dog enjoys in his daily life,  such as going for a walk, running in the backyard, or splashing in a sprinkler – and they can be harnessed by using the Premack Principle.

This principle says a “low-probability Behaviour” (one that the dog or other subject is less likely to perform, such as waiting calmly at the door) can be reinforced by a “higher probability behaviour” (one that the dog prefers, such as getting to race happily around the yard). For example, to strengthen your dog’s sit, ask him to sit before giving him access to any of the things he really enjoys – running with his pals, swimming in the pond, or cuddling next to you on the couch. This type of reward is easy to integrate into your daily life, and can be especially helpful for dogs who need assistance with self-control.

3) Offer a warm word. Praise, “happy talk,” or a simple “Good dog!” may be the most common type of reward there is! Some dogs naturally find praise rewarding, but even dogs who don't seem to can become praise seekers if you frequently pair your praise with other great things. For example, if you teach your dog to “down” with a click, followed by a treat or tug, you can add in “Good dog!” as you deliver the treat or play the game of tug. Soon, your dog will learn to associate that happy praise with the treat or tug, and “Good dog!” will become its own reward.

4) Touch him where he likes it. Touch can be a wonderful reward for some dogs, but it is also a tricky reward to use. Before using petting, rubs, or massage as a reward, first consider two things: What types of touch does my dog enjoy? And, when does he enjoy being touched? For example, your dog might enjoy a chest scratch, but may shy away from a head pat. Long, slow strokes may feel good and be rewarding when he is settled next to you, but irritating if he is waiting for a run in the backyard. Pay attention to what your dog does when you touch him; if he ducks away or does not engage with you, it probably is not rewarding. If he engages, comes toward you, or asks for more, then it probably is rewarding.

5) Create space. You can use space as a reward by increasing distance or by removing social pressure. In the right situation, space can be very powerful reinforcement. For example, a dog can be rewarded for an appropriate Behaviour (such as looking away) in the face of an anxiety-producing trigger (such as a scary person) when you increase distance by moving the dog away from the trigger.

In your day-to-day interactions with your dog, you can also use space in smaller or subtler ways by removing social pressure. If you are teaching your dog to stay out of the kitchen by using gentle body blocks, for example, you can reward your dog’s acceptance of the kitchen door boundary by simply backing up a little bit – or removing the social pressure of the body block.

These are just some of the many ways you can reward your dog when you don’t want to use food or treats. Remember, when you are thinking about rewards, you can consider anything your dog finds valuable

Puppies and dogs naturally jump up on people when they say hello. Why? Because we're taller than they are! When dogs meet, they sniff each other’s faces. They like to do the same thing when greeting us, so it’s perfectly natural for dogs to jump up on us to try to reach our faces and get our attention.

What to Do About the Problem

The key to teaching your dog not to jump on you when he greets you is to teaching him that you only greet dogs who keep their front paws on the floor. Although you can't tell him with words, you can tell him with actions. When your dog greets you, his goal is to get your attention and to get you to pet him. Knowing this, you can show your dog what he must do to earn your attention and touch. Try to remember two things each time you greet your dog:

1.   Keep your attention and your hands away from your dog unless his front feet are on the floor.

2.   Immediately give your dog attention and petting the instant his front feet land on the floor.

Strategy Number One: Ignore the jumping. Unless your dog weighs more than 60 lbs. or is using his mouth when he jumps, ignoring jumping up is the fastest way to permanently make it go away. Dogs jump up to get your attention — so stop giving it to them! Pushing your dog down, yelling “No!”, kneeing him in the chest, stepping on his back toes, bopping him on the head or any other interaction you can think of are a “score” in the needy dog’s book, and make him even more likely to jump next time. (After all, if a dog wants something, what’s the first thing he has to get? Your attention.) To instruct others on how to completely ignore your jumping dog, ask them to turn their backs, cross their arms and look up at the ceiling until all four of your dog’s feet are on the floor.

Strategy Number Two: Manage the behaviour (of both people AND dogs). The doorbell rings — where is your dog? Rushing, barking, to the door, waiting to pounce the minute it’s opened? Before you answer the door, grab a leash and put it on your dog. Then use the leash to keep the dog out of jumping up range, even tethering your dog in a secure location if necessary. This strategy is a must if your dog is big, your guests don’t like dogs, or your dog mouths and bites when he or she jumps. On the street, keep enough distance between your dog and anyone unlikely to follow your rules so the jumping isn’t reinforced (and follow Strategy Number Three).

Strategy Number Three: Teach your dog an incompatible behaviour. A sitting dog isn’t jumping up — simple as that. Work on improving your dog’s sit or down at the door while no guests are there, and on walks while no one’s around. Then you can ask for and reward a sit or down during progressively more difficult trials: You ring the doorbell, you pretend to greet a guest, enlist a friend or family member to play the guest’s part, etc. When the time comes, have really great treats handy and either you or your guest can ask your dog to sit or down BEFORE the dog jumps. Ask people not to pet your dog unless he is sitting or lying down.

Like everything else in dog training, consistency is key. Teach everyone in your family these strategies, and soon your pup will have one more feather in his good manners cap.

Even if you can teach an old dog new tricks, it is easier to teach a young dog how to behave. During the first few months of your dog's life, its aversion to new things is low, allowing the puppy to adjust to an environment outside the womb. As a dog ages, it becomes more afraid of unknown things, a response that often prevents an older dog from being hurt. Take advantage of the first five months' of your puppy's life to teach your pet some basic skills and reap the benefits of a better relationship with your dog.

Crate Training

Crating your dog can be an excellent tool for teaching housetraining and travelling. A dog will respond positively to a crate if it is carefully introduced and it is not locked in for hours at a time. By putting a puppy in the kennel while you are at home, you can restrict any damage your dog can do when you are unable to give it your full attention. Make sure that you put the crate in an often used area, such as a family room, so your dog does not feel lonely or punished.

With crating, start slowly. Use treats to encourage a puppy to go into the crate, but do not close the door. After the puppy will go completely into the cage for a treat, start placing the food dish in the kennel. Try closing the door while the puppy is inside eating, but open the door when the puppy is finished. Over the course of a few weeks, wait a few minutes after the puppy has finished eating to open the door. Next, try putting a treat in the crate and having the puppy enter. Close the door and leave the puppy in for 5 minutes as long as it is not agitated. Slowly increase the time. Do not leave the room until your puppy is comfortable with the crate.

Hand Signals

Whether you decide to take an obedience class or do it yourself, remember to include hand signals while training your dog. Many dogs live for 12 or 15 years, making it likely that they could lose their hearing. Once a dog has lost its hearing, it is even more difficult to train it to obey non-verbal cues. By teaching your dog the sign that goes along with the verbal command, you eliminate that problem.

When training your dog, start with both the verbal command and the sign command. After your dog has learned the basic command, try teaching it to obey only the non-verbal command. Eventually the dog will learn to look at you for commands, not just listen for your voice.

Socialization

As soon as you get your puppy, you should make every effort to socialize your dog. This means you must actively expose your dog to as many people, animals, and sounds as possible. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to take your dogs on long walks through different areas. If possible, ask people you meet to give a treat to your dog (that you provide). This will allow the dog to become confident and friendly around all types of people, not just family.

Try to expose your dog to other dogs as well. This will not only encourage your dog to be social, but will allow you to take your dogs more places. A well socialized dog is less likely to get into fights with other dogs. Other things to expose your dog to are household sounds (such as vacuuming, the washing machine and loud music) and varying types of flooring (such as carpet, gravel, concrete, etc).

Clipping Nails

Your dog may not like people touching its paws, but trimming nails is very important for its health. Long nails are more likely to get caught on something or splinter. Both conditions can cause bleeding and are painful for your dog. Whether or not you decide to clip your dog's nails or take him to a groomer, it is important to make it comfortable with the process. An adult dog can be so resistant to having its claws cut that it must be restrained or sedated.

To avoid problems while clipping, make a point of touching your puppy's paws regularly. Start by picking up each paw and giving verbal praise or a treat. After the puppy has accustomed itself to you touching the paw, start examining the pad and nails of the paw. Your puppy accepting this process might take several weeks. If you decide to clip the dog's nails yourself, make sure you use special clippers for dogs and do not cut the quick. Otherwise, plan on making a trip to the groomer once a month to have them trimmed.

Obedience training doesn't solve all behaviour problems, but it is the foundation for solving just about any problem. Training opens up a line of communication between you and your dog. Effective communication is necessary to instruct your dog about what you want her to do. You can teach her anything from 'stay' (don't bolt out the door) to 'sit' (don't jump up on the visitors) to 'off' (don't chew the furniture).

Dogs are social animals and without proper training, they will behave like animals. They will soil your house, destroy your belongings, bark excessively, dig holes in your yard, fight other dogs and even bite you. Nearly all behaviour problems are perfectly normal canine activities that occur at the wrong time or place or are directed at the wrong thing. For example, the dog will eliminate on the carpet instead of outside; the dog will bark all night long instead of just when a stranger is prowling around outside; or the dog will chew furniture instead of his own toys. The key to preventing or treating behaviour problems is learning to teach the dog to redirect his natural behaviour to outlets that are acceptable in the domestic setting.

Obedience training should be fun and rewarding for you and your dog. It can enrich your relationship and make living together more enjoyable. A well-trained dog is more confident and can more safely be allowed a greater amount of freedom than an untrained one. A trained dog will come when called.

Some people debate whether or not it is possible to train puppies, and others ask whether it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks. The answer to both questions is an unequivocal YES. Whatever the age of your dog, the right time to begin training is right now! The most important time in your dog's life is right now. Your dog's behaviour is constantly changing. A dog that is well-behaved today will not necessarily remain that way forever. New problems can always develop. Existing problems can always get worse.