Learning Training Fundamentals
September 20, 2009 by Paris and John
Filed under Tips, Training
Getting your dog to come when called or stay when asked is no easy task. At a recent dog event we attended, these fundamentals were the most common problems visitors requested more information about in sessions with trainers.
If you’re having difficulties with your dog, it may be time to take a step back and return to the fundamentals of training. Today’s tip is advice from Bill Allen at Outwest Canine Consulting and Pipeline Leak Detection. Bill trains at all levels and offers this advice on getting back to the basics of training with your dog:
Training Fundamentals
by Bill Allen, Outwest Canine Consulting
I am asked why won’t my dog come when it’s called or why does my dog pull on the lead. Most of the time I answer, because it doesn’t have a reason to come and you let it pull the lead.
Training, I have found, starts way before the command to sit or down. Leadership is the first stage of training. Being a leader means taking all the responsibility and pressure that comes with the title. Followers have no pressure and the only responsibility they have is to react to commands and signals.
Next is focus. If you are trying to train a dog to sit and all the dog wants to do is chase butterflies you won’t have much success. So you need to make yourself more interesting than the butterfly. In a sense you want to be your dogs favorite play toy.
Then we need motivation. This comes as a reward at the end of an appropriate response to a command. The dog sits and good things happen.
Many of us don’t have any problem getting our dogs to sit or down. The mechanics of these commands are almost instinctive to trainer and dog. But what happens when you turn your back after you tell your dog to sit? Now we need to teach stay. Then stay at a distance. Then stay while you’re out of sight. I would never expect a dog to sit stay out of sight without first teaching sit stay at a distance. Nor would I expect it to sit stay at a distance without teaching it to sit stay.
Now we need to go back to what it takes to be a dog’s leader. As with any relationship trust is everything. Your dog will not sit stay out of sight if it can’t trust you to come back at some point. So we take small steps to build trust. Stay at two feet, stay at ten feet and so on until we can stay out of sight. Leadership became a little more complicated, didn’t it?
Let’s go back to focus. If I want to be my dog’s favorite play toy, I have a lot of competition. You may be able to get your dog to sit stay in your kitchen but not in your back yard where there are more distractions. Now you may need to blend focus with motivation or focus with discipline. But discipline must never be used to punish. It should only be used to redirect focus back to you. Now, focus became more complicated.
Last but not least, motivation. Food, toy or praise. Motivation is already complicated and we just got started. Ultimately we want our dog to sit because we asked it to. With some dogs that’s all it takes. Others need treats or a toy. Some need steak,others kibble. Once you establish what you need to motivate you need to work on timing. Reward the instant the dog does what you want it to do. Then put two tasks together and reward. Then only reward every third or fourth correct response.
Do you see a pattern to leadership, focus and motivation? It’s all progression. And patience. And some imagination helps as well. There is no easy button when it comes to training. Train in different environments and keep your training sessions short, fun, high energy.
About the Author: Canada-based Bill Allen operates Outwest Canine Consulting, Pipeline Leak Detection and offers Beginner Agility/Puppy Obedience.
For More Information:
- email outwest@eclipsewireless.ca
- visit Outwest Canine Consulting and Pipeline Leak Detection Facebook fan page
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