5 Ways to Train Like a Pro

Brought to you from our friends at Success Clicks!

A while back I posted 5 tips to help you train more effectively– 5 Ways To Train Like a Pro. I talked about timing, rate of reinforcement, quiet hands, not repeating cues, and precision placement of rewards. These are definitely things I’m regularly mentioning to my students to help them improve their mechanics. 

Let’s take a look at 5 more tips to help you improve the effectiveness of your training. Like many things in life, the more effective you train the better results you will see. It’s totally possible to have an ineffective method and not see many results at all. So, let’s look at those tips.... read more

Real Life

Can I confess something to you guys?

Sometimes my dogs get on my nerves. 


Like, what's the nearest shelter's number, get-on-my-nerves. 

Whew. Load offa my chest there.

I have a not only a  teen-aged dog, but one that requires training and work, then over-time work, a reactive dog and an old gal, my job, school and other events and situations I'm required to attend. Pressure? Yeah. A little. There are weeks where I just don't.stop.going.

I've been asked on multiple occasions how I manage it all, and I can honestly say this: Sometimes I don't know. 
To be honest, I've been in this type of situation before, so we're flying by the seat of our pants. 

Sometimes I have to put my focus on one specific thing and let everything else fall to the way side.

Sometimes I'll have to split my focus between two things and let everything else drop off.

<cough>MyHouse</cough>

There are times when I feel as if I'm just rushing from one thing to another, gotta get home, get the dogs out, gotta exercise them..push come on guys, lets pump those legs.. are we tired yet? Surely you're tired.. lets move move move!

During times like this, little things become big annoyances.

It hit me the other day, as I reacted in frustration to the incessant barking of one of my dachshund's... "FOR THE LOVE OF BONES AND ALL THINGS GOOD STOPITSTOPITSTOPITSTOPIT!

She didn't stop.

All the while a little voice inside my head is going: "This isn't exactly teaching her what you would like instead Erin!"

I hate my brain at times. 

So whaaaat? What am I supposed to do? #whineyvoice

Stop reacting to the situation and start being proactive about it. 

You would think, after owning and working with a reactive dog for the last three years, the last thing I would want to do is act just like him. *grins*

After a deep annoyance-cleansing breath. I called her to me, and gave her something else to focus on.

The next time she started barking, instead of ignoring it until I was way past my annoyance level, I told her "Thank You", called her into another room, away from the "sound" (that I couldn't hear) and rewarded her for coming. This way, she still alerts me to things outside, I acknowledge that she' done her duty.. and hopefully can move on.

All without an ounce of frustration. 


What situations do you normally "react" too that perhaps need another perspective on? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Habits of an Effective Dog Trainer

Guess what? If you own a dog, you are your dog's trainer! It's sort of like being a parent, when you have a child you automatically get that title whether you want it or know what to do with it! 


Eventually as you have more, you learn the "tricks of the trade' shall we say, and the same rings true with dog training. 


Today's article is brought to you by 3LostDogs. - These tips are geared to those who may not be "naturals" when it comes to communicating or training their dogs and I found, extremely helpful! 

"Some people are just really good at dog training. They get results and seem like naturals. Does this mean that the rest of us mere mortals cannot hope to be as good as they are? Nope.

Ask any one of these “naturals” how they got so good and they’ll probably tell you “with lots of practice.” And whether they are pros with hundreds of clients, agility handlers, or 12 year old kids training their pet in the backyard, they all tend to possess the following seven habits. I could probably turn each one of these into a blog post by themselves, but for now, here’s an overview......7 Habits of Highly Effective Dog Trainers" 

Angry Birds + Dog Training?

While I had a different topic I wanted to write about today, I could not, pass up the oppurtunity to share this post with you. I'm pretty sure if you haven't played the game Angry Birds, you've at least seen or heard it.
I'm positive though, you never thought of it in the context of dog training...!

Check this out:  How to train your pet like an addictive causal video game. 

Why can't I come up with stuff like this?

Puppy Training

Puppies learn "Sit" 

Fido COME!

If there was one thing I feel that every pet our NEEDS to do, is teach their dog a solid recall. Big, Small, Old, Young, this is command is nessecary for your dog's survival, in our world fraught with danger. 

I unfortunately, have learned first hand, that having a dog with no/bad recall, is extremely stressful. Meet R--, a female black lab, I was raising to one day be a service dog. She was the second puppy I'd raised every, and we were bound and determined to do "everything" right with her. However, despite our good intentions, we didn't quite grasp the concept of what teach a good recall meant. And thus we had a dog, who, when she ran (which happened all too frenqunetly. In a house with six children, someone was ALWAYS leaving the door open) she didn't come back. 

R** - Puppy #2 - 2006

Why? She knew it in the house! She's just being stubborn! 

No.. she ran without looking back, because she knew, that coming back would  = grumpy owner, having her freedom restricted, and more than likely winding up in a crate. None of which sounds good for a rambunctious lab puppy on the lamb. 

Let me tell you, it was NOT fun, looking for a black dog, at 11:00PM, who also happened to be in heat. 

Since that time, I've made the "recall cue" one of the first things we teach the dogs as soon as they set foot in my house. Especially since I live beside a busy road, and don't have a completely fenced yard. 

So here's what I do. I teach my dogs at least two recall cues. I have my attention getter recalls, which are the dogs name, my cars horn, a whistle, or me whistling. Then I have the actually cue word for come which in my case is "come". The attention getter is when the dog is at a distance, or out of sight of me, this way I know I'll have a better chance of the dog coming to me, because he will (hopefully) have un-focused on whatever long enough to listen to me. Then the actual word when I see the dog is looking, or already coming to me.


Here are some Tips I've gathered: 

1. DO: Pick a recall word: If your dog is older and has learned that the word "come" could mean something unpleasant (in the dog's mind of course, for example, baths, going into the house etc..) than pick another word, that he has no association with. For example "Here" or "Back" or "Let's Go". 
2. DO: Always start teaching your dog in a low distraction room. I start with a pocket full of "fun" treats (nothing boring like kibble, and yes dogs do have food preferences..;) running backwards saying your dogs name, once they come to you, stop and reward.
   "Puppy Come! YES! GOOD PUPPY! WHAT A GREAT DOG!" Throw a party for you dog. After all, coming is a the best thing they could do. Keep your voice tones "happy" regardless! 
3. DO: Practice this daily, in different rooms of your house. Reward every-time you use the word come! This is not a cue you want to fade rewards from. 
4. DO: practice recalls in fenced areas or with Spot on a long leash until Spot’s recall is reliable.Safety first. (via Boulder Dog)
5. DO: play ‘catch and release’. Call out your recall word, run away, have a party when Spot catches up to you and then “release” Spot to go play again. This teaches Spot that ‘coming’ is really cool. He gets to have goodies and to go back to playing. We don’t want Spot to associate ‘coming’ with the ‘fun ending’. (via Boulder Dog)
6. DO: Play games such as Tug-Of-War or Fetch when your dog arrives! Remember the word Reward does not have to mean treat. If your dog is a ball addict, than THROW THAT BALL! 
7. DO:  ALWAYS praise the dog for coming to you and reward them with a happy voice or a treat or a pet or something, no matter what they were doing before then. Remember they are DOGS they have no evil intent towards us as humans, no matter what you think. Promise. Its an animal. :)
8. DON'T: Use your recall word have your dog do something HE deems as unpleasant. For instance, I don't "Call" my dog Texas to come and be picked up. Great way to poison the cue as we say. 
9. DON'T: Chase your dog 
10. DON'T: Call your dog unless you are certain they will respond to you, see my paragraph about attention getters. You don't want your dog to learn to ignore your cue until you've screamed it five times, or you sound mad. 
11. DON'T: Ever call your dog for something bad, such as baths, crating, going inside, or punishment.

Whew! What a lot of information, but it seems that the dog training community agrees that recall is important. Now I do want to note, that each dog learns differently (just like humans) and are "rewarded" by different thing. Check out this post on what classifies as a "reward".


Another thing I do, is make going home, just as fun as leaving, so as soon as I open the door, I scatter the remaining treats in the door way and let the dogs gather them up. So not only do they want to come to me, going inside is not a "bad" thing either.


Still feel that you needs something else? Check out these resources for more information.


Remember, great recall is not going to happen in a night, or three, it may take a couple of weeks. However, if you are consistent, one day you too can have a dog like this. 

Or... this :)

Stressed!

I recently, got into a lively discussion with friends of mine, about the use of stress and intimidation as a way to communicate, or train dogs. Those of you who know me personally, know that I was heavily advocating on the side of kindness, but we weren't half way through the conversation, that I realized that they really didn't know what a stressed dog looks like.


To be honest, before I got my miniature dachshund Texas I probably wouldn't have recognized much either. Having a reactive dog, has taught me to monitor my dogs body language a lot closer, than perhaps your average dog owner, as I have to anticipate and (hopefully) re-direct a reaction before it occurs.

I think I've gotten to the point where I don't monitor my puppy's every move, as I would Texas' but I still keep a very close eye one what his body is communicating as we're out and about.


As I was perusing YouTube, looking at dog training videos (my favorite activity...it inspires me. :)) I came across a video of a beagle being trained, which unfortunately gave me a lot to work with when speaking of stressed dogs. (Note: If you're dog is exhibiting behavior like this while training, you need to stop training and take a step back) 





This video gives many examples of "dog stress" or how dogs attempt to communicate stress to humans.


I've debated whether or not to point out the stress signals, or just ask you guys to point them out, but realizing I have blind readers, I've decided to describe the video, from my biased point of view. The purpose of this is not to "bash" the training style  but simply to observe the dogs body language.


Video Description: The video shows an older man, working a 30lbs beagle in his living room, the dog is on a 15ft leash, and being walked in a circle. There is no sound to the video (which is very suspect to me) the man cues (or gives the dog a command) the dog to sit, stay, sit, lay down and puts the dog on a mat etc.. The End.


Things I observed from the dog:

• Lip Licking
• Panting
• Flinching
• Ears Flicking, and held back against the head
• Dog pulling away slightly when jerked
• Ducking head
• Avoidance of eye contact 
• Raising one paw as if bracing... 

Honestly, if I were the average dog owner, this video would look like a great success. After only two days of training the dog is behaving how the man is instructing him? Amazing. Until you start reading the dog's bod language. All those things I mentioned, signal the dog is under a lot of stress, especially since he repeats them multiple times during the session.


However there are other things, that dogs do to exhibit they are stressed by a situation/person..etc.. 


(Note: These behaviors, by themselves does not signify a dog is stressed, but multiple behaviors offered in a short period of time, will definitely indicate your dog is feeling a bit anxious.) 

• Shaking, yawning and scratching
• Refusing food and treats or refusal to open mouth
• Hiding and disobeying orders
• Licking lips, drooling and sneezing
• Improper bowel movements and vomiting
• Avoiding eye contact, keeping tail between legs or acting shy
• Exhibiting over activeness or under activity
• Biting, growling or snarling

If you see your dog exhibiting this behaviors, repeatedly then probably is a good time, to remove the dog away from the situation.  

My miniature dachshund Texas, has an aversion to being petted, which, after working with labs, retrievers, and other very "touchy-feely" dogs, it took me a while to recognize, his constant yawning, lip licking, and avoiding of eye contact while being petted, was a signal that he was VERY uncomfortable. 

Since I believe he does want to be petted, but doesn't really know how to handle it, we've been working slowly on teaching him that humans touching him is a good thing.   

As dog owners it is our job to be able to read our dogs body language and learn what they are trying to tell us.  Know what things will stress your dogs out and either consult with a trainer to help them become more comfortable with that situation, or simply move them back into their "safe zone. 

I Give Up

9-month-old, Trump a Male Black Labrador, sleeping with his stuffed toy, during one of my college classes. 

After five attempts to finish posts, I started long ago.. I have officially given up.

Did everyone have a nice weekend?

Top Tuesday Linke

This week we have .. 

• 10 Unique Tips to Help get Nipping Under Control (Life with Dogs) by Nancy Freedman-Smith  Great ways to teach your dog/puppy not to nip, without using force!  (btw, Nancy actually called me at 12AM one night, to help me with a behavioral problem I was having with one of my dogs...so we kinda think she's an awesome lady!!) 
• Gotta Buy Into Training  (Success Just Clicks)  Great reality check article for me, pick a method to go with, and stick with it for weeks, before making major adjustments. 
• Blind Runner and Guide Dog Making History (Life with Dogs) 
• Splash's Renvege (YouTube) Seriously Cute.

Trainers offer basic commands that will help dogs be safe, become better pets

Trainers offer basic commands that will help dogs be safe, become better pets

A great Article on the basic things your dog should know.

Can You Train My Dog?

" I wish my dog would act like this" 

" My dog could NEVER do this" 

If I had a nickle for every-time I heard that comment, I would be a rich girl. 

As a volunteer puppy raiser, I get this question more often because I am in public with a dog that is, for the most part well behaved and under control. Something I didn't realize wasn't the norm, until I started working in the animal field, in dog daycare, shelters and etc.. 

So I'm going to say this, as clearly as I can.

NO. I cannot train your dog FOR YOU. 

If you want a well behaved, well trained dog, than YOU are going to have to put in the WORK, and TIME, and COMMITMENT it takes to get YOUR dog this way. Do I believe training is vital to you and your dog's success? YES! ABSOLUTELY. And here's why: 

Training is not about having a dog that performs a 'cute trick' on command, at your whim, but about communication, with a different species. 

This may come as a shock to some of you, but dog's aren't humans, they don't speak English;  It never fails to surprise me, though, when people feel their puppies should know inherently what they mean when they say "NO".

The fact is, if we want our dogs to "live peaceably with all men" shall we say, than we're going to have to buckle down, and not only teach our dogs how WE want them to behave, but to learn dog language ourselves. 

My Challenge to you is this: 
Do you know what your dog is telling you..without using terms such as: Stubborn,dominate, he just wants to be, he thinks he is, etc..? 

Welcome

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to yet another edition of Blogs by Erin! On this blog you will find information about a specific topic that I haven't yet decided yet. In the meantime feel free to check out my blogs about college life: [I Should Be Studying], life as a volunteer puppy raiser [Raising Rob] and coming soon, the adventures of my two dachshunds : [Two Dachshunds & Co.]

Back Story: This blog was created at the behest of my college instructor...the exact reason I couldn't tell you, and he didn't want us to use an existing blog, thus "Taming the Canine" was born. I can't promise to update frequently, as I normally blog when I see a good article, or when something strikes me.. so stay tuned!