Positive Dog Training Secrets
*How to Train Your Dog With Food Rewards * How to Change your Dog’s Problem Behavior Without Punishment * How To Teach Your Puppy to Lie Down on Command * How to Teach Any Dog to Stay
Marilyn Mele
ONEHow to Train Your Dog with Food Rewards
Marilyn Mele
Training the family pet with food rewards can be fun and exciting for everybody. Knowing WHEN and HOW to give food rewards to your dog is the key to success. Don’t worry that your dog might only respond to you when you have food or that he will become overweight. When you understand HOW to use food rewards effectively, that won’t happen. You will need the following:
1. A hungry dog,2. A plain, flat collar and leash made of fabric or leather,3. At least 3 different kinds of special, soft, non-commercial treats such as string cheese, chicken or
steak.
STEP 1
Prepare your treats by cutting them into very tiny pieces. Chicken, steak, hard cheese, string cheese, hot dogs all work well. These special treats are used ONLY when training. They have to be tasty and tiny so you can give many treats from a small quantity of food.
STEP 2
Put the leash on your dog. You will hold the leash during training sessions just to assure that your dog does not wander off, and to keep him within your “circle of influence”. It will not be used to force or correct any behavior.
STEP 3
Place a treat in one hand and close your hand so food is not visible to your dog. (He’ll probably know you are holding food, but that’s OK. We’re not trying to fool him, just make the rules clear.) Ask your dog to do something he already knows, such as “Sit”. Keep your voice and facial expression calm and friendly. Ignore any behavior that is not a sit. Repeat the sit command (CALMLY) if you need to but don’t say anything else. Don’t give your attention, e.g. reward, to anything except what you asked for: sit.
STEP 4
When he sits, immediately (1) smile, (2) praise with sincere enthusiasm and THEN (3) give him the treat, making sure he is still sitting when you give him his treat. Do this quickly and in that order. This establishes the foundation for decreasing food rewards later on.
STEP 5
Release your dog from sit, by saying “OK” and giving him a big pat on the chest. Make sure he gets up when you say OK. The release is a command too.
STEP 6
Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 in sets of 5 – 10 repetitions each with breaks for you and your dog between sets. Breaks can be just a few minutes of play with a favorite toy or just hanging out. If playing with a toy, make sure he is playing with YOU (tug, retrieve, etc.) not just with the toy. If hanging out, just ignore him and give him some space. Do what works best with your dog to reduce stress.
STEP 7
When your dog is sitting automatically as soon as you give the command, or even anticipating the command, you can begin to adjust the frequency of food rewards. It is critical to do this gradually; withdrawing food abruptly will undo all your hard work up to that point. Remember learning is a process so don’t rush things. At first, withhold food ¼ of the time, then 1/3 of the time. ALWAYS smile and praise for a correct response whether or not you give food. Don’t get into a predictable pattern. Be creative and keep your dog interested. Take frequent breaks.
STEP 8
The final step is to use Random Reinforcement. This kind of reinforcement is very powerful and will maintain a behavior at a very high level of reliability for an indefinite time. This is where you want to be with your food rewards. You will give them randomly, so that each time your dog is praised for obeying you, he knows he might also get a food treat. If not this time, then maybe next time. So he keeps on trying his best.
A great example of how powerful random reinforcement can be is a slot machine. When people go to Las Vegas to gamble, they often play the slots. They will make many futile attempts before finally winning a jackpot. Why do people keep trying when they fail more often than they succeed? Because they can’t predict when they will receive their reward, they are driven to continue the behavior (depositing quarters) knowing that the reward could come at any time.
Tips
1. Give extra praise when you withhold a food reward.2. If you show the food to the dog before you give the verbal command, you will be using the
food as a “bribe”. Not good. Conceal the food in your hand. Position your hand in front of you close to your body, near your belly button.
3. If your dog’s response starts to deteriorate, go BACK to a previous step and work forward again.
4. Don’t take yourself too seriously – HAVE FUN!5. Do NOT rush through this process. Like people, dogs have different learning styles. Go
slowly and be patient.
6. Never punish. A mistake is a chance to learn more. 7. Because you think your dog knows something, does NOT mean that he actually knows it. If
he does not obey right away, it might be that he does not yet know as much as YOU THINK he does.
8. You are the teacher – so teach!
Marilyn Mele
TwoHow to Change Your Dog’s Problem Behavior
Without PunishmentMarilyn Mele
We love our dogs to pieces but sometimes their behavior can annoy or upset us. But you do not have to let emotions dictate your reactions. There are common sense solutions that are simple and easy to apply. I’m going to show you how to use some simple psychology to change things for the better.
You’ll need a plain collar and leash, some soft tasty treats and some toys your dog enjoys.
First, understand that dogs don’t annoy us on purpose! Whether you are aware of it or not, you have rewarded your dog’s misbehavior with your attention. Remember that behaviors that are reinforced (rewarded) will increase. Even negative attention is rewarding to most dogs because they value any interaction with you. That’s why the behavior continues. They have figured out how to get you to stop ignoring them!! Don’t feel bad – we all do this!
The best way to handle an undesirable behavior is to redirect the dog to another behavior that is desirable. Scolding does not get positive results but redirection does.
Decide that you will not so easily give away the reward of your attention when your dog misbehaves. This does not mean, however, that you just ignore it and allow it to continue. You can interrupt problem behavior without rewarding it and, even better, you can be proactive and redirect your dog toward desirable behaviors that replace the problem behaviors.
Let’s choose a specific behavior problem as an example. Let’s say we have a dog that will bark when inside the house at something outside, such as another dog, a person passing by or a bike rider. Scolding, punishing, etc. has not worked so far, so let’s try something different and see if we can get a different result. The familiar saying is true: “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you always got.”
You can resolve this problem by training an incompatible behavior. An example of an incompatible behavior is telling your dog to sit to prevent him from jumping up on you. Sitting and jumping up cannot be done at the same time. They are incompatible. So by giving your dog the command to sit before he jumps on you, you are extinguishing jumping by replacing it with sit. Timing is important. You need to signal or command the new behavior before the old behavior starts. Be proactive and you will be calm and in control.
Getting back to our barking dog example, when a dog barks at a thing he can see, he will probably quit barking when he can no longer see it. The incompatible behavior solution to barking is to first create distance between the dog and the distraction. Move him away from the distraction so that you can get his attention. Teaching your dog to focus his attention on you, making eye contact on
command, is a more advanced solution and requires teaching a skill called Focused Attention. It requires the dog to not only sit and look at you, but to give you his full, undivided attention. You can then engage him in another activity such as obeying a specific obedience command like down/stay, or playing an interactive game like tug or fetch. The ideal time to ask for focused attention is before the barking starts, but once you train it, you can ask for it at any time. Focused Attention can also help eliminate pulling on the leash and some reactive behaviors.
When your dog is paying attention to you and ignoring whatever he was barking at, reward his efforts with lots of praise, a favorite toy, a treat or a game he enjoys. Keep your dog’s attention engaged until you can persuade him that being with you is more exciting than barking at the cat next door. Your goal is to become more interesting to your dog than the distraction. This is, of course, is easier said than done! Enliven your training with play and games and unpredictable fun so your dog chooses you first.
Remember: To solve a behavior problem ask what positive behavior is incompatible with it and train that.
Tips
1. Be alert to times when undesirable behavior is likely to occur and be prepared to act proactively.
2. Always deal positively with your dog. Nothing good or useful is achieved by negativity.
3. An effective punishment can be merely withholding a reward the dog desires.
4. Always try to create an environment where your dog has the opportunity to succeed.
Marilyn Mele
Three
How to Teach Your Puppy or Adult Dog to Lie Down on Command
Marilyn Mele
A puppy or dog of any age can be taught to lie down on command, but some dogs resist this position at first. There could be many reasons for a dog’s reluctance to lie down when asked, but the reason is not very important when you start to teach the down command, because the method is the same regardless of the reason.
Physically forcing a dog into position is not appropriate and may cause the dog to resist even more. This is because dogs have what is called an opposition reflex. They move into pressure and not away from it. So if you push they push back. For this reason we will use food lures to urge the dog to lie down on his own.
1
Find a food treat that is very appealing to the puppy. It must be soft and easily handled like string cheese or jerky. Cut the treats into narrow strips about 2
inches long. Hold the treat between your thumb and fingers so that the puppy can lick and eat tiny bits without taking the entire strip at once.
Kneel on the floor and face the puppy. With the puppy standing up, place one hand, holding a piece of string cheese in front of the puppy’s nose and slowly move your hand straight down toward the floor. Aim for the spot just between the puppy’s front paws. Allow the puppy to lick the treat as he moves his head down, and when his nose is close to the floor, let him eat a piece of the treat.
2
Repeat step 1 until the puppy is readily moving his head down to the floor to get his treat. Remember to praise each rep, but do not use any verbal commands yet. We will not add the verbal down command until we have the puppy reliably performing a correct down. That way the word will be connected to the correct behavior.
3
Next, start to move your hand that is holding the treat across the floor away from you and toward the dog’s back feet. Give the treat when the dog’s nose touches the floor just behind his front paws. It is very important that you do not move the treat away from the dog across the floor. If you do this, the dog will walk forward to follow the movement of the treat away from him. We are aiming to get the dog to fold himself backward into a down without walking forward.
As you are working on step 3, you’ll see the dog’s shoulders moving toward the floor. Now wait until his elbows are on the floor before giving the treat.
4
Last, just wait for him to lower his rear to the floor and the dog will be lying down. Now you can add your verbal command, “Down”, just as he completes the down. If you give your command too early, he may have trouble connecting the word to the behavior. Dogs learn by associating things that
happen together in time. The timing of your verbal command is therefore very important to your success in teaching your puppy what the word means. Gradually give the command earlier, but make sure the dog is reliably going into the down position before you say “Down”. Be consistent about connecting the performance with the command. Once he starts to recognize the command, you can use it to get the behavior.
5
Wean away from treats for every rep, but do it very, very gradually. This is just the very early stage of teaching this exercise and it needs to be generously reinforced.
You will need to fade the hand motion as well as the use of treats. Your goal is to get the dog to respond to the verbal command alone, without using hand motion or food lures.
When you reward the down with food, do so randomly. Praise every time but give treats randomly. In other words, the dog should not be able to predict when he will get a treat. Make sure that when you reward with food, you do so while the dog is still in position. Place the treat near the floor directly between the dog’s front paws. Do so quickly so that the dog does not reach up for the food and break out of the down position.
6
Use a release word to give your puppy permission to break out of his down position. Choose a word that you will easily remember and always use the same word to release your dog from any stationary command. Some words frequently used are: OK, Break, and Free. Use a unique tone of voice with your release word. Put some enthusiasm and energy into it. Higher pitched tones sound friendlier to dogs so that may help to make your release word sound like encouragement.
7
When you practice by doing several reps in a row, here are a few points to remember.
Release your dog from the down between reps by using your release word to give permission to break out of the down position and then use your down command to get the dog into the down position again.
Before asking for another down, move slightly from your first location so that your dog does not learn to down in only one place.
A release word is not the same as praise. Always praise and reward the puppy while he is still holding the down position. Then release.
Do not praise immediately after releasing because you want your dog to remember that he was rewarded for being down and not for getting up!
Vary the length of time that you wait before releasing your dog from the down position. You want him to learn to wait for permission.
Keep calm and be consistent.
BONUS LESSON
Troubleshooting
Some dogs will resist going into a down position even with food lures. As I said earlier, forcing will not produce a good outcome. It will just produce stronger resistance. But you can still coax your dog to lie down and let him discover that it is safe for him to do so. One technique that I have used with reluctant dogs takes advantage of their instinct to be in a den. To use this technique, you will need some very high value treats, something your dog just can’t resist. This kind of treat is reserved only for very specific circumstances and the fact that the dog rarely gets such a great treat makes it a good choice for this exercise.
First sit on the floor with your legs stretched straight out in front of you, and brace your back against a wall or furniture. Have your hungry dog beside you and place a tiny piece of your super treat on your knee and let your dog eat it. Do this a few times until you can see that your dog is
relaxed and just waiting for his next treat. Now we will ask him to work just a little harder to get his treat.
Next, instead of placing the treat on a knee, place it on the floor on the opposite side from your dog. He will have to step over your legs to get his treat. Do this a few times alternating sides so your dog is stepping over your legs to get each treat.
Now we can make things just a little more challenging, but this is where the size of your dog starts to make a difference. This next step works just fine for most dogs but if you have a giant breed, like a Great Dane, you will need to modify the plan. I’ll talk about that later.
For this step, raise your knees to make a little “arch” that your dog can walk or crawl under. (Do you see where we are going with this?) At first make the arch as high as you can so that it is easy for your dog. Place a treat right below your knees and let your dog get it. Repeat a few times to build confidence. Then very gradually start to move the treat away from the dog so he has to reach under your knees to get it. Depending on the size of your dog, start to gradually lower your knees so that your dog must lower his shoulders to reach the treat, sort of like a play bow.
A dog that has been reluctant to lie down for you will need to have his trust and confidence built up, so you may need to stay at this step for a longer time. Sometimes it helps to go back a step to let your dog feel comfortable. If you decide to back up here it will save you time in the long run.
Once you have your dog confidently lowering his shoulders and placing his elbows on the floor to get his treat from under your knees, you can then start to work on getting him into a full down position by also lowering his rear end to the floor if he has not already done so.
Let him know you now want something more by blocking his access to the treat until he does something more for you. Place the treat on the side opposite the dog but place your hand over it instead of allowing the dog to take it immediately. Rest your other hand on your dog’s hindquarters but
do not apply any pressure. The weight of your hand alone is usually enough to let the dog know you are waiting for him to lower his rear. When his hindquarters touch the floor, instantly allow him to take the treat. After a few repetitions he should start to lower his rear without any cues from you.
You can start to add a verbal “Down” command when your dog is reliably going into a down position. See #4 above for details about adding your verbal command. Continue to practice asking your dog to lie down, still using a lure, but without placing it under your knees. Wean him away from treats and the hand motion you’ve been using as I describe in #5 above.
Review steps #6 and #7 above for instructions about using a release word and practicing repetitions of the down command.
If you have a very large dog and asking him to lie down underneath your raised knees just isn’t practical, then you will need to find something around the house that is low enough to lure your dog under and coax him into a down using the same steps. Some of the things I’ve used are a low table, like a cocktail table or a stool that has high enough rungs or even a child’s play tunnel. If the treats are enticing enough, you’ll be able to get your big dog to lie down for you. Remember it’s all about building trust and confidence so be patient and make it fun.
Marilyn Mele
FourTeach Any Dog to Stay In 7 Simple Steps
A dog that has been taught to Stay is under better control and is safer than a dog that has not been trained to understand and obey this command. The goal of our lesson is to have a dog that, when told to stay, will remain in position in the
location where you left him until you return to him and give your permission to end the stay. Giving permission is called a Release.
Before you start working with your dog, you need to have a clear idea of how you are going to execute each detail of your plan. Every time you practice the stay exercise with your dog, keep in mind that it must have 3 parts:
A beginning – You ask your dog for a sit or a down and command “Stay”
A middle – Your dog remains where you left him until you return
An end – You return to your dog and release him from his stay.
All three parts have to be completed each time you practice Stay. The part that is most often overlooked is the most important part – the end. If your dog gets up and leaves without permission, you have taught him that Stay means “Go ahead and leave whenever you feel like it!” You want to teach him to always wait to be released from stay.
Stay is taught in three stages. Each stage builds upon the stage that precedes it. For that reason the dog should be at least 80% proficient at the stage you are working on before you go on to the next stage.
Stage One is Duration.
You first teach the dog to remain in place for a substantial length of time.
Stage Two is Distance.
The next step is to start adding some distance and movement away from the dog. A very common mistake is to add distance before the dog is ready.
Stage Three is Distractions.
When the dog is staying in place while you move a distance away, you can introduce distractions, starting with very easy ones and gradually increasing difficulty.
Stage One – Build Duration
Step 1: Have a good supply of soft treats that your dog really likes. Sit or kneel on the floor with your dog on your left side. With your left hand gently take your dog’s collar and ask for a sit or a down. Don’t force, but if necessary calmly place him in a sit. At this stage it doesn’t matter if the dog stands, sits or lies down but it is easier to manage him in a sit or a down. Remember we are teaching stay, not sit or down so don’t get side tracked. Your hand in the collar is for guidance, not correction.
Use your right hand to place one treat on the floor on your right side where your dog can see it, while keeping your left hand on your dog’s collar to prevent him from taking the treat. We expect him to try to take the treat because that is how he will learn what does and does not work to earn the reward. The very instant he pauses in his effort to get to the treat, immediately pick it up with your right hand and place it in his mouth as you enthusiastically say “yes!”. You have to be quick about this. DO NOT allow him to move toward the treat. You are rewarding him for remaining in place and not for moving toward the treat. If you treat him while he is moving, you are rewarding the opposite of stay. Good timing makes all the difference here.
There is no verbal command to stay at this point because we do not yet have a behavior to link the word to. Avoid a lot of chatter because it is confusing to the dog.
Do 5 repetitions and give your dog a break. Then do 5 more repetitions. Work on increasing the length of time that your dog will sit and wait for you to deliver the treat. Make it random. Increase to 2 or 3 seconds, then to 5, back to 1 second then 5 or 6 etc. If your dog moves toward the treat, use the collar to restrain and place your right hand over the treat, covering it until the dog resumes waiting.
When your dog will remain in place for 10 – 15 seconds reliably, proceed to the next step.
Step 2: Put a leash on your dog and ask him to sit to your left. Gather up your leash so that you have about 18 inches between your hand and the collar. (Do not
wrap the leash around your hand.) With your right hand, reach down and place a treat on the floor to your right, using the leash to prevent your dog from taking the treat. Do not use any negative words, like “no” when he tries to move, just calmly restrain him and wait until he settles. By this time the dog should be waiting in place at least 80% of the time. If not, go back and repeat Step 1.
As soon as he settles, immediately pick up the treat and hold it in your hand for a few seconds. If your dog has remained in place, deliver the treat into his mouth as you say “Stay”. It is important to give the verbal command at the same time you reward with the treat for staying. You want to link the verbal to the correct behavior so only say it when you are confident the dog is staying in place. At this time you can also introduce your release word. As soon as you deliver the treat, pause for a second and then say your release word in a cheerful upbeat tone of voice. Words often used are OK, Break, or Free. Do not use praise words like “Good Boy” to release the dog. Praise is not permission to move. A release is a command so the dog is required to move when released. A few pats on his shoulder or side may be needed to get him up. Make sure you always use the same word once you choose one.
Repeat 5 times. Take a break. Repeat 5 times varying the length of time with each repetition.
Step 3: Start to fade the use of the treat. Keep the treat concealed in your hand or a pocket so it is not visible to your dog. His nose will tell him it’s there but that’s OK. Tell your dog to sit. Say Stay. Wait 5 – 15 seconds. Praise. Give a treat. Use your Release word to release your dog from stay. Repeat 3-5 times. Take a break. Repeat 3-5 times.
Stage Two-Build Distance
Building distance means that you are going to start moving, rather than just standing still in front of your dog. But before you move away, you need to have a dog that will stay in position for at least 15 – 20 seconds. Watching you move away from him is very challenging for some dogs so you have to build distance
gradually. Know what your dog’s threshold is and don’t push him beyond it. When you start adding a new element like distance, you have to decrease duration until the dog is competent with distance.
Step 4: Tell your dog to stay as in Step 3. Keep your dog on leash for this part. It will help him feel connected to you as you start to move away. Take a half step to the right. Step back to center. Praise, reward and use your Release word to release your dog from stay. Sit your dog again and tell him to stay. Take a half step to the left. Step back to center. Praise, reward and release your dog.
Repeat these short stay exercises with other minor movements:
Step to right, to left and back
Raise one arm, then both
Walk two steps to the right, then two steps to the left.
Back away two steps
Back away three steps etc.
Always go back to your dog to praise, reward and release him. Never release from a distance. This allows you to control and direct the dog in these early stages of training.
Step 5: After your dog is comfortable with the exercises in Step 4 you can start to extend the duration of the stay. Do not increase time and distance at the same time. Work on them one at a time. If you are increasing distance, keep the time short. If you are working on extending duration, do not increase distance at the same time. Always be aware of how your dog is responding and do not push him past his limits. If he makes a “mistake” use that information to plan your next steps in training. If he is having trouble, go back to the previous step and review.
Increase your distance gradually and make the distances random, varying long and short distances so that you create interest for your dog. If your dog breaks his stay, it means you have increased distance too quickly. At this stage you probably should not be more than 3 feet away from your dog. Once you start to move
away, do not keep repeating the command! Say it once and avoid hesitant or unnatural movements as you walk away. Keep everything natural and relaxed. Remember: If your dog breaks his stay, make the next repetition easier so he will be successful.
Stage Three-Add Distractions
Distractions are ordinary things that could draw your dog’s attention and cause him to forget that he is supposed to stay. Distraction training prepares your dog for these events and teaches him what he is supposed to do when there are distractions around him. When you start distraction training, make your duration and distance very short so that you can better communicate with your dog. Start with very easy distractions and add more difficult ones as your dog gains confidence.
Remember that the goal of distraction training is NOT to trick your dog into failing so you can punish him. That would be very unfair to the dog. The goal is to gradually expose him to situations that challenge him to make the choice to stay. If he chooses to break his stay, use that information to adjust your training plan.
You can do one or more of the following:
Make the distraction easier by moving it farther away or by making it smaller.
Shorten the duration. Reduce the distance.
Step 6: Tell your dog to stay as in Step 3. Do not add distance. Keep duration short. Add a minor distraction. See the list below for ideas. Praise and reward your dog for staying. Use your release word to release your dog from the stay.
Step 7: Determine what distractions are easy and which are difficult for your dog.
Examples of distractions:
Noises-dropping something on the floor
Sitting down in a chair
Sitting on the floor
Opening a door
Eating
Talking on the phone
Knocking on the door
Doorbell
Petting another dog
Kids running
Tossing balls and toys
Having a conversation
Make a list of possible distractions for your dog and rank them from easy to difficult. Do not ask your dog to stay for a difficult distraction until he is comfortable with the easier ones.
Always – if the dog makes the same mistake two times in a row, go back and review an easier step in the training plan before asking for the difficult one again.
An often misunderstood fact about dogs is that just because they are doing what you are teaching them, it doesn’t mean that they understand it. Be careful not to make assumptions about what you think your dog knows.
Be patient. Be consistent. Be kind. Keep it fun. It’s what your good dog deserves!
Sit. Stay. Good Dog!
FIVEHow to Teach a Dog to Pay Attention
Focused attention is a learned skill. It does not come naturally. So if your dog is not paying attention to you, it means that you have not yet taught him that skill. But he is paying attention to something. The world is filled with sounds, sights and, most important, smells that fascinate and stimulate any dog. To compete with all that we need to have something mighty valuable to offer.
What do dogs value? They value anything that triggers an instinctive response. They love to chase and be chased, to hunt and “kill” their prey, to search for things by scent, to take possession of what they find and to be part of a family or pack. You can offer your dog what he values by taking advantage of these instinctive behaviors.
Dogs value food. Some old time trainers still advise against using food in training, but I don’t know of a single top level professional trainer today who does not understand why food is a valuable training tool. Like any tool, if it is used incorrectly, it will not produce good results. I explain how to use food in Part One.
Dogs value human attention. Dogs are unquestionably family members and will seek your attention and approval. As dog owners, we often give more attention to the things we don’t like than to the things we want repeated. As a result our dogs repeat the things that get the most attention. Learn how to give and withhold attention to reward only the behaviors you desire.
Dogs value their toys. Many dogs have a favorite toy that they carry around with them. Some prefer toys they can chew. Others like to chase and fetch a ball, a disc, or a stick. Some dogs retrieve, some don’t. Some dogs bury or hide their toys, and some want to play tug with them.
Dogs value space and freedom. Excessive confinement and lack of exercise is not natural or healthy for dogs. Responsible owners make appropriate and safe use of leashes, fences, and crates. They also give their dogs the space and freedom to run and play. When we teach our dogs to wait for permission, that is, for a release word, before breaking from a command, we are rewarding them with freedom.
To teach your dog to give you focused attention you must become the source of these valuable rewards.
Start with a handful of high value treats. Put a leash on your dog and hold the end of it. The purpose of the leash is simply to keep your dog from wandering away from you. You will not use it to teach the exercise. Stand still and wait for your dog to look in your direction. The instant he does, say “YES” and give a treat. Now keep quiet and wait. When he looks at you, repeat, “YES” and treat. Now raise your criteria. Reward for eye contact instead of just a look in your direction. Start to turn away from your dog and see if he moves to where he can look for your
eyes. Give verbal praise, while you delay giving the treat. Sometimes, give a jackpot of several treats at once.
Next, be sure to acknowledge your dog with very enthusiastic attention when he offers eye contact throughout your normal daily activities with him. Quietly whisper his name and when he looks at you have a big celebration with cheers and hugs. Walk across the room or yard with him, holding eye contact and chattering happily to him. “What a GOOD dog!!” After several steps, reward with celebrations. Step partially out of sight or partly hidden and gently call his name. Have a party for two when he finds you!
Use his favorite toys to engage him in exciting interaction with you. If he likes to fetch, you can whisper his name, and reward with tossing the toy when he gives you his attention. If tugging is his game, make sure you use a toy that is long enough so your hand is far from his teeth. You must be able to turn the tugging on and off on command. You can reward his attention by telling him to tug on his toy, but he must also release the toy when you tell him to.
When you are able to exchange all these valuable currencies for your dog’s attention, you will have graduated to a more finely tuned relationship with your dog. Use release words to reward him with freedom to play and sniff in his environment and then ask him for focused attention again and reward with food, toy or your attention. You can use his name or introduce another command word and link it to the behavior once it is reliable.
SIXGames to Teach Your Dog to Come When You Call
CHASE ME. Encourage your dog to chase you by gently pushing him away and then running a few steps. Let him catch you and reward with very enthusiastic praise and petting and hugging. The physical contact is very important to prevent “keep away” behavior later on. Have him chase you for longer distances before
you let him catch you. NEVER turn this into a game where you chase the dog. You would be teaching him to run away from you!!
THE NAME GAME. Start with a handful of small soft treats. Play this game indoors on a hard floor or outside on a smooth flat surface, not sand or grass. You will need 8 to 10 feet of open space on both sides of you. Position the dog in front of or next to you. Toss one small treat about 3 feet to your left as you tell your dog to “Get it!” Just as the dog picks up the treat, back up a few steps, clapping hands and enthusiastically calling your dog’s name. Just say his name. Don’t attach any command words to it. When he gets to you, praise and treat him. Now toss a treat to your right and repeat the step. As the dog catches on to the game, start to turn your back on your dog as you call him back. Then run away as you call him. All of this should increase your dog’s drive to get back to you even when distracted by food!
HIDE AND SEEK. You can play Hide and Seek with just you and your dog or you can involve several people.
If it’s just the two of you, walk into another room or duck behind a door or piece of furniture. Wait a few seconds and then start to call your dog in a happy and playful voice. Keep talking and calling while he looks for you to increase the urgency to find you. When he finds you, celebrate with him. Give him some special treats and play fetch or tug with a favorite toy.
When he is skilled at the game indoors, go outside where there are more intense distractions. Play in a safe fenced area.
To include others in the game, start by calling the dog back and forth between the participants. If the dog goes to anyone other than the one calling him, he is ignored until he goes to the correct person. Then he gets lots of praise.
Gradually the participants move farther away from each other and continue to call the dog back and forth. Some critical guidelines have to be followed to make this exercise successful. The first person restrains the dog with the collar or with a leash until the second person begins to call. The first person then immediately releases the dog and ignores any effort the dog makes to get his attention. When
the dog reaches the second person, he is rewarded with lots of praise. If there is a third person the process is repeated between person two and person three. Then between person three and person one again.
The dog is rewarded only for going to the person who is calling. Everyone else keeps quiet and does not interfere with the dog while he is solving the problem of how to find the person calling him. Help from anyone other than the person calling him will create confusion and not clarity.
