Easy training tips Calming signals & SIT, DOWN
Dogs learn by making associations between our words our body language and our reactions to their behavioirs whether these are rewarding or not. Therefore using what motivates our dogs is a much quicker way to get the behaviours we want.
I notice the calming signals in this puppy big tongue over nose and one paw lifted high - more on these later! ) So we all know iving with a dog can and should be a rewarding experience but all too often problems develop so it is up to each of us to put in the work in the early days to prevent common problems developing later on. Mouthing and biting are normal puppy behaviours but it is vital that puppy is taught that it is not acceptable with humans.
Teaching pup at a young age to have a 'soft mouth' with humans is essential to prevent adult dogs that think nothing of biting humans whether children or adults sonwe must do everything we can to teach this as soon as possible. More on teaching 'bite inhibition in next blog) but if during play if pups teeth make contact with you let out a high pitched yip (In puppy language this means ouch) and stop play, withdraw your hand and if puppy stops praise and offer the toy again as reward.
Using time-out is also a good n way of teaching puppy that he/she has done something wrong the game ending is the punishment for out of control behavioir if you cannot redirect to good behaviour.
'Training sessions' should last from 2-5 minutes, and should be repeated several times a day for very young pups although we like to integrate training into our everyday activities so our puppies and dogs are always learning so most of your 'training' can be carried out through play and incorporated into everyday life, most of all it should be fun!
Dogs learn by making associations between our words our body language and hand signals their actions and our reactions. Like we work for money animals love to 'work' for food toys and praise! It is therefore most important during the learning process to only use a word or request command either just as the dog/puppy is going into the required position or just as he/she reaches the position. Remeber they do not know what your words mean at this stage so it will take many repetitions of this before the puppy learns to put the word and the action together. (Remember the dog does not know the meaning of human words — repeating any word or command to a dog that is not doing what it is bemg asked will only teach the puppy/dog that several requests from you are needed before complying or indeed to ignore you altogether).
Incorporating training into everyday life makes the whole process so much easier and enjoyable. This can be done quite easily by watching your puppy as much as possible — if you are preparing his food and he comes over to you repeat the dogs name and the request 'come' or 'come here'. If he sits or lies down on his own say 'sit' or lie down' — 'good dog' - treat reward with toy and/or strokes & do this as often as possible to enforce the good behaviours. Sometimes all too often we give more attention to bad behaviours instead of good ones and the dogs learn to do more bad stuff for attention so distract with a noise a rustling bag a squeaky ball clapping hands etc and direct to a better behaviour and reward - ask for an alternative behaviour and something they know how to do ! Go OTT with joy when they get it right and see their reactions!
The key is consistency; all family members must use the same words and participate in the training process. Be sure of what you are going to teach and how you are going to do it.
It is also important to use the same tone of voice each time. A pleasant higher pitch tone is more likely to make the puppy want to come, sit, etc., than a gruff or ill-tempered command. For example if the puppy does not come when you want him to pat your legs, clap your hands, use a 'squeaky', excitable voice tone to encourage him further.
If he doesn't come to you, is ignoring you simply turn and walk away (obviously when in a safe place) he/she will most likely want to follow you (good pack leader) thus reinforcing leadership and getting puppy to do the behaviour you wanted! Praise and reward when he/she does - dont focus on the mistakes!
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TRAINING
A positive reinforcer is anything the dog considers to be a good thing, any kind of reward i.e. a toy, a piece of food or treat, (praise and affection can also be used although are often less effective if used on their own). It is vital that the puppy is initially rewarded each time it carries out your desire/request, until the behaviour is leamt i.e. when you ask, the dog assumes the position. Once the behaviour has been learnt the food rewards should be phased out and only be given at random intervals.
To train behaviours quicker we give #jackpot' rewards for the best quickest behaviour we are working on and withold for sloppy poor behaviours (This is the only punishment - No reward) Dogs then start to think what we want and try to offer behaviours to get us to treat or reward them! It is also important to ensure the dog does not a) only comply when food is available and b) the behaviour does not stop altogether). Puppy's normal food is fine to use as his reward, in general the smaller the reward the better, one piece at a time, larger treats can be broken into smaller pieces. To avoid overfeeding, it is better to use part of the daily food ration, if treats are used, set a limit per day.
Food lure fraining can be used to entice the dog to follow your hand and into the desired position (a favourite toy may also be used for this). So for example if you want to teach:
SIT — hold the food reward close to the puppy's nose and move your hand slowly away from you Just above the puppies head. As the head follows the food, the bottom should go down. As the puppy begins to go into position say 'sit' and then praise and reward with a treat. Also remeber to work on this when your puppy/dog sits on his/her own repeat the word request and reward this is easy natural training without having to try to manouvre the dog or lure into the required position.
DOWN — hold the food near to the nose again, and move hand quickly straight down to the floor, and then away from the puppy slightly, often this is best achieved from a sit position (if standing the puppy may just walk or run towards the treat). If the puppy does not go into the down position try repeating the process but with variations, i.e. faster, slower, not so far away etc., with the dog in sit and gently holding his collar etc., If all else fails sit on the floor with one leg bent, to make a tunnel, with puppy on one side lure him under your leg with the food / toy held on the other side. Allow him to walk under a few times before lowerlng your leg, eventually he will have to lie down to get under, say 'down' and rewar and praise.
Always try to end on a good note and if things aren't going right dont worry end the session rather than getting frustrated and try again later on. Training above all shoukd be fun for bith owners and dogs so making it into a game and thinking of new thinhs to teach is the key to keeping training fun and enjoyable.
Teaching pup at a young age to have a 'soft mouth' with humans is essential to prevent adult dogs that think nothing of biting humans whether children or adults sonwe must do everything we can to teach this as soon as possible. More on teaching 'bite inhibition in next blog) but if during play if pups teeth make contact with you let out a high pitched yip (In puppy language this means ouch) and stop play, withdraw your hand and if puppy stops praise and offer the toy again as reward.
Using time-out is also a good n way of teaching puppy that he/she has done something wrong the game ending is the punishment for out of control behavioir if you cannot redirect to good behaviour.
Dogs learn by making associations between our words our body language and hand signals their actions and our reactions. Like we work for money animals love to 'work' for food toys and praise! It is therefore most important during the learning process to only use a word or request command either just as the dog/puppy is going into the required position or just as he/she reaches the position. Remeber they do not know what your words mean at this stage so it will take many repetitions of this before the puppy learns to put the word and the action together. (Remember the dog does not know the meaning of human words — repeating any word or command to a dog that is not doing what it is bemg asked will only teach the puppy/dog that several requests from you are needed before complying or indeed to ignore you altogether).
Incorporating training into everyday life makes the whole process so much easier and enjoyable. This can be done quite easily by watching your puppy as much as possible — if you are preparing his food and he comes over to you repeat the dogs name and the request 'come' or 'come here'. If he sits or lies down on his own say 'sit' or lie down' — 'good dog' - treat reward with toy and/or strokes & do this as often as possible to enforce the good behaviours. Sometimes all too often we give more attention to bad behaviours instead of good ones and the dogs learn to do more bad stuff for attention so distract with a noise a rustling bag a squeaky ball clapping hands etc and direct to a better behaviour and reward - ask for an alternative behaviour and something they know how to do ! Go OTT with joy when they get it right and see their reactions!
The key is consistency; all family members must use the same words and participate in the training process. Be sure of what you are going to teach and how you are going to do it.
It is also important to use the same tone of voice each time. A pleasant higher pitch tone is more likely to make the puppy want to come, sit, etc., than a gruff or ill-tempered command. For example if the puppy does not come when you want him to pat your legs, clap your hands, use a 'squeaky', excitable voice tone to encourage him further.
If he doesn't come to you, is ignoring you simply turn and walk away (obviously when in a safe place) he/she will most likely want to follow you (good pack leader) thus reinforcing leadership and getting puppy to do the behaviour you wanted! Praise and reward when he/she does - dont focus on the mistakes!
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TRAINING
A positive reinforcer is anything the dog considers to be a good thing, any kind of reward i.e. a toy, a piece of food or treat, (praise and affection can also be used although are often less effective if used on their own). It is vital that the puppy is initially rewarded each time it carries out your desire/request, until the behaviour is leamt i.e. when you ask, the dog assumes the position. Once the behaviour has been learnt the food rewards should be phased out and only be given at random intervals.
To train behaviours quicker we give #jackpot' rewards for the best quickest behaviour we are working on and withold for sloppy poor behaviours (This is the only punishment - No reward) Dogs then start to think what we want and try to offer behaviours to get us to treat or reward them! It is also important to ensure the dog does not a) only comply when food is available and b) the behaviour does not stop altogether). Puppy's normal food is fine to use as his reward, in general the smaller the reward the better, one piece at a time, larger treats can be broken into smaller pieces. To avoid overfeeding, it is better to use part of the daily food ration, if treats are used, set a limit per day.
Food lure fraining can be used to entice the dog to follow your hand and into the desired position (a favourite toy may also be used for this). So for example if you want to teach:
SIT — hold the food reward close to the puppy's nose and move your hand slowly away from you Just above the puppies head. As the head follows the food, the bottom should go down. As the puppy begins to go into position say 'sit' and then praise and reward with a treat. Also remeber to work on this when your puppy/dog sits on his/her own repeat the word request and reward this is easy natural training without having to try to manouvre the dog or lure into the required position.
DOWN — hold the food near to the nose again, and move hand quickly straight down to the floor, and then away from the puppy slightly, often this is best achieved from a sit position (if standing the puppy may just walk or run towards the treat). If the puppy does not go into the down position try repeating the process but with variations, i.e. faster, slower, not so far away etc., with the dog in sit and gently holding his collar etc., If all else fails sit on the floor with one leg bent, to make a tunnel, with puppy on one side lure him under your leg with the food / toy held on the other side. Allow him to walk under a few times before lowerlng your leg, eventually he will have to lie down to get under, say 'down' and rewar and praise.
Always try to end on a good note and if things aren't going right dont worry end the session rather than getting frustrated and try again later on. Training above all shoukd be fun for bith owners and dogs so making it into a game and thinking of new thinhs to teach is the key to keeping training fun and enjoyable.
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