Confessions from a Dog Trainer

When people find out I'm a dog trainer conversations often lead to talk of dogs and owner confessions. Fortunately, I love talking about dogs and helping people better understand why their dogs behave the way they do. It isn't uncommon though for people to look ashamed when they tell me about their dogs and supposed bad behaviors. "I let my dog sleep with me, I know I shouldn't."  "I feed my dog people food". The truth is these behaviors aren't frowned upon by all trainers. In fact, I do a lot of things with my dog that people think leads the dog to be *gasp* dominant. Well here are my confessions.

*I let my dogs sleep on the bed....and the couch.

        Both my dogs know an "off" cue and when given will get off the bed or couch. If they ever growled at me I would not allow them there.

*I feed my dogs from the table.

        I like to reward good behaviors. When my dogs are lying down quietly next to my chair I reward them for it. They are not jumping on the table at any point in a day looking for food. 

*My dogs go out the door before me.

        It is easier for me to send both dogs out the door or down the stairs in front of me. I can make them wait but it doesn't make them dominant to go first. If they were pushing past me and knocking me down we would do training to change that.

*I don't always make my dogs heel.

       I allow my dogs to sniff on walks. On a crowded street they would heel. 

*I play tug with them, there are rules.

      If my dog misses the toy or bites me, they game ends. Tug teaches your dog good self control and impulse control. If your dog continually bites or lunges for the toy I would recommend a different game.

The fact that my dogs get to do these things does not make them dominant. It is how I have trained them. At any point if I don't like how the behavior has developed a new training protocol will take place. If you find your dog doing any of the bad behaviors, growling, stealing food, pulling on leash, then I would recommend training. The training will help you strengthen your relationship with your dog and allow you to still enjoy your dog for who they are. 

Bad Behavior and the Veterinary Practice

As a dog trainer I often work closely with veterinary practices. If I have a house-training case or a problem presented to me that is newly developed I will first ask the client to rule out a medical condition. When a dog has a lapse in house-training and begins having accidents throughout the house I will often ask what is different? If the answer is nothing, I encourage the client to take a urine specimen to their veterinarian to rule out the possible urinary tract infection. If a dog is presented with snapping at children, other dogs, or when you handle him, it might be that the dog is painful. Once the medical avenues have been ventured and the results come back good, then we start trouble shooting and breaking down the scenario in which the incident occurred.

The other way in which I work with veterinarians is helping their clients build a confident puppy or dog. It is less stressful for owner and dog when the dog is comfortable entering the veterinary office. Besides training dogs, I also work as a receptionist at the Windsor Veterinary Clinic. I can attest to the amount of dogs that come into the clinic fearful and shy as well as the ones that couldn't be happier to visit us. So how do you get that dog that wiggles and wags instead of shaking and whining as soon as you walk through the Vet's door?

The answer is start when the puppy is young but these tips can work for an adult dog too!

How do you go from this to a dog happily walking through the vet clinic door?

• From day one always do your best to make your puppy's visit exciting and positive. Always bring tasty, high value treats to feed your puppy for the exam and vaccinations. For every scheduled visit you have you should try and take your dog a handful of times for no reason.

• Bring your puppy or dog in "just for fun". Call ahead to make sure the lobby isn't overflowing (especially if you have a shy dog) and ask if you can bring Fido in to eat a few treats while standing in the lobby.
• The more you do this the more effective it will be, but once a month will still make a difference 

• As your puppy or dog becomes more comfortable in the lobby encourage the Veterinarian (if available), the Technicians and the Receptionists to feed your puppy. 

• Repeat these steps until your dog happily walks into the vet.

Tips for the dog that is shy or fearful. 

• Probably the most important, Go slow! 

• Try and schedule your appointment for a time when there will be less "traffic" at the office. First thing in the morning, after lunch, or end of day so that you can decrease the amount of triggers for your dog.

• If you dog is not taking treats find a point where he will, which might mean in the parking lot or starting in the car.

• If your dog is really fearful you may have a long road ahead of you and your conditioning may have to start in the parking lot with high value treats. Unfortunately the employees will be less likely to partake in the treat giving in the parking lot. You could even go as far as coming before or after hours and feeding your dog his meal outside. 

• A dog that is shaking in the car in the parking lot may not be ready to enter the building the first few sessions. Rehearse pulling into the parking lot, waiting for some signs of calm behavior, such as sighing, sitting, or a shake off, and reward with a treat and leaving. 

• Bring your dogs favorite toy and engage in a game in the parking lot, on leash of course, and then leave. 

• Practice walking to the lobby door, treating, entering and treating and then turning around and leaving. Do Not treat your dog for leaving the vet clinic. Leaving is a reward in itself and we want the dog to want to enter the clinic so that he can get his high value treats

When you have no choice and need to get your dog to the vet for an unforseen visit always try and leave on a positive note. Don't rush your dog right out the door from the exam room. Wait again until you see the slightest means of relaxing behavior, even if that means your dog offers or responds to a behavior cue like sit and then exit the building. And then go through the above steps as often as possible to ensure that your dog has more positive visits than negative! Remember this is a PROCESS you are not going to get overnight results.

Coming When Called - Part 2

Studies have been done that have shown dogs perform better and have lower stress levels when taught with positive reinforcement. I like to explain things in the dogs perspective to clients  to give a good idea of why our dog is doing what he does...here's a hint, it isn't that they are being stubborn.

In Part 1, I gave an example of a dog off in the field sniffing where geese had been. The owner calls and calls but is getting no response. The best thing to do at that point is to go get your dog and bring them back. How many times have you used the word "Come" and your dog doesn't come? If you believe you have soured the word, your first step will be to create a new recall word. I have had clients use "Here", "Cookies",  "Free Dinner", "Rover" etc. Remember, our dogs don't know English, so if we teach them that "Pepsi" means leave whatever you are doing and come to me, they will be none the wiser that it is actually a soda.

Practice teaching your dog "Come" or whatever word you want to use in very short distances. Always use high value treats. High value is something that makes your dog open his eyes wide and say "I want more!" Hot dogs, cheese, chicken, freeze dried liver etc. are all good high value treats. Start with a low level distraction, work within your home, and move backwards several steps. As you do say "Come" and as your dog follows, stop, then reward with a treat when he reaches you. Repeat again and again and again. This is how you can begin to teach your dog the association that good things happen with the word come. Be certain to not try and use this word too early with bigger distractions because you will quickly teach your dog that "Come" only means come when you want.

You can also teach your dog to voluntarily check in with you. When you are in the house or outside in your yard start rewarding your dog for checking in voluntarily. Your only goal here is to recognize that your dog just came to you instead of going away. The added bonus is your dog is allowed to go back to what he was doing before he checked in. You can also just observe your dog outside and when you see a break in your dog's behavior where he isn't really doing anything, call him. Say his name, and then be really excitable, if your dog likes that, and move backwards away from your dog. Once he follows and reaches you, reward with the high value treat and some positive talk and as an added bonus, he is free to do what he wants again. If 9 times out of 10 your dog always gets to go back to what he was doing you are strengthening his recall.

Start young and always use high value treats

One of the biggest mistakes that we make when teaching our dogs to come when called is not keeping it positive. Our dogs recall starts out good and then over time gets worse. That is likely due to the fact that we call our dog and then bring them in the house and ignore them or put them in the crate and leave for work. What the dog learns is that coming when called results in bad things and boredom, so he then chooses to stay where he is because it is more entertaining.

Here are some things that will quickly ruin a recall:
1. Not using high value treats - Sure your dog comes , most of the time, but will a piece of kibble compare to the turkey poop on the lawn? We want our dogs to know that coming is in their best interest and the only time they will get their piece of sirloin steak.
          Henry, my youngest lab, and I were really struggling with recalls. He truly was a dog who would eat anything! Food or not, it was hard to distinguish what he considered high value. I can't stress enough how creativity comes into play but also using the higher value treats. You know something like steak has got to be more enticing than kibble so stick with it until you really find something he can't pass up. I discovered that 5 minutes of chewing a bully stick has substantially strengthened Henry's recall.

2. Trying to call your dog away from something that is too distracting. If you wouldn't bet money that if you said "Henry Come" he would tear himself away and come, than don't say it and go get your dog. Even when you catch your dog you should reward him. Why? Because if your dog doesn't want to be caught there isn't anything you can do, they are faster than us. Rewarding them prevents our dog from running away when we are only 2-3 feet away and about to take their collar.

3. NEVER punish your dog for coming to you. If it was slower than normal or took 5 minutes your dog did come to you. As much as you may like to roughly grab your dog by the collar and semi drag them to the house and throw them into the crate all the while cussing at them you will only prevent your dog from approaching you any quicker in future. You will most likely teach your dog to stay away from you because you are a dangerous person. Be thankful your dog came to you and no harm has been done.

Be Realistic, how much time have you invested into teaching your dog to have a reliable recall? It can take up to 3 years to get a reliable recall. Until the recall is reliable, manage your dog's situations with 30' nylon leashes or fenced in areas where you can practice in a safe environments.  Practice makes perfect and a good recall can save your dogs life.

Coming When Called - Part 1, A New Perspective

It has happened time and again to many people, they say the word "Come" and expect their dog to arrive at their feet instantly. When this doesn't happen, especially in height of excitement for your dog, can be especially disappointing to you. Let's look at it from the dogs perspective.

A gaggle of goose just perused your yard about 20 minutes ago. Having no idea they had traveled through you venture outside for the second potty break of the day. Your dog goes out the door and nose glued to the ground starts following their wondering path. As your curious pup ventures into the tall grass surrounding your property you start to grow concerned that he is no longer paying attention to your presence. "Wally come!" you protest with hopes your dog turns and comes bounding in your direction. Nothing. "WALLY come!" still nothing but you start heading out in the direction of where you last spotted him disappearing into the tall grass. As a last desperate attempt you muster your scariest, deepest, "WALLY COME!" You are greeted with silence.  You are now frustrated, your dog surely knows what come means but is being "stubborn".

Now let's put this in to perspective of a human. Have you ever tried to converse with someone who is deeply engrossed in a book, movie or video game? You start talking to them, expecting them to hear you and then surprised when you find you are repeating yourself.  "Mom....yadda yadda yadda...Mom! MOM!" Meanwhile, Mom has heard nothing. When one sense is heightened, in this case, say reading, all other senses are not as quick to respond, such as listening. Do you immediately drop what it is you are doing when your parent, spouse or significant other calls you from another room? I think a common response is, "Just a minute" or "Hold on". When our dog's nose is turned on, or they are fixated on something in the distance, or found something interesting, they are less likely to key in on any verbal cues, or come when called.

How then, does one teach a reliable recall? Let's think about it for just one minute, really think about it. What is motivating? If every, single, time, I asked you to come here, and then gave you $5.00, no matter how slow your response was, I bet I would see an increase in response time verses the "just a minute", thus strengthening your coming when called. Overtime, regardless of the distraction, when you heard the words, "Could you come here?" whether playing with friends or video games, you would quickly drop what you are doing to come earn an easy $5.00.

If humans can learn through repetition and rewards, why can't our dogs?

When can I stop using treats?

One of the most common questions asked to trainers who utilize food as reinforcement is, "When can I stop using treats?" as if it devalues the relationship or cheapens it. The truth of the matter is that food actually will strengthen your relationship with your dog as well as strengthen the dogs reliability to do a behavior.
Dogs do what works for them, and if a behavior earns them a reward, be it play or food, they are more likely to perform it again. Dogs, like people, will do things that motivate them. To expect our dog to come when called because we said so is like saying you will go to work and do your job because your boss said so. You go to work because you like the paycheck, dogs come to us to get their paycheck, a high value, tasty treat.
Don't therapists say that families should eat at least 1 meal together? A dog has to eat, no? Why not utilize the food that we so willingly put in our dogs dish for "free" and reward them throughout the day for behaviors we like. It only makes sense to reserve part of their meal and reward for tricks or calm behavior during the day instead expecting our dogs to behave because we said so. I am not saying that your dog needs a treat for every sit, down, stay, or other trick they know. Once your dog knows the behavior you can switch to intermittent rewards. Start rewarding the really good behaviors for a job well done.


Trainers at Sea World utilize food as a reward to train large marine mammals to perform "tricks" which help make vet exams a breeze.
  Photo from Seaworld.org

If your dog only listens to you when food is in your hand, the food has been used incorrectly and you are actually bribing your dog. When utilizing food as a reinforcer you ask for the behavior, get it, and then reward with the piece of food. The food shouldn't be visible or held out in front of your dog in a way of saying, see the food, now do the behavior, that equals bribing. We want our dogs to do the behavior in hopes of getting that really yummy reward.
So to recap,  you can stop using treats for you dog once they know a behavior, but why not periodically use the treats to continue to reinforce and bond with your dog?

A Word on Leashes

Teaching Our Dog ESL

Did you know our dogs aren't born knowing English? Seems pretty obvious right? Though time and again, I hear owners harping on their 8 week old puppies to sit, sit, sit, SIT. We are their teachers and need to teach our dogs what we want when we say "Sit" or "Come here" or whatever may be your primary speaking language. We have the tendency to repeat ourselves and get louder the longer we go without results. If I asked something of you in Spanish, and you only understand English, and I continued to get louder and angrier it isn't going to increase the chance that you are going to do what I am asking. So if I continually tell you to come here in Spanish, and since you dont' understand me you look at me quizzically, I repeat myself, and then a bit louder, I now am no longer a friendly person but a bit scary and you aren't going to come to me


Um...I don't understand you. You want me to do what?

.
Using positive reinforcement, we can grab a yummy treat, lure the dog in to the sit position a few times and then give the treat to him when his hind end hits the floor. In that short span of time, we have taught our dog a general hand signal for sit. Dr. Patricia McConnell did a study that proved dogs are very visual and in tune with body language and hand signals. They do not listen to our voices that well, probably for the fact that we talk at them constantly. Once our dog has a good understanding of the hand signal, we then will tie the verbal cue Sit to it, thus teaching our dogs English as a Second Language (ESL).

What Behavior is Best?

What is the most important behavior to teach a dog? Deciding which one is most important will vary between every person you ask, dog trainer or family member. What matters is what is most important to you! While one person may claim that having a quiet dog is essential another person may want their dog to bark to alert them of company. One person may find a recall is important and the next feels that "Wait" is the best behavior. It is important to acknowledge this when interacting with someone else's dog, especially within their home. While you may find something the dog is doing unexceptable, remember that you do not have to live with the dog and it may okay for the dog to behave that way.
As a dog owner, when you travel with your pet to other people's dog friendly homes it is important to acknowledge that they may not feel it appropriate for your dog to lounge on their furniture. Be prepared to manage such situations so that you and your dog will be welcome back with open arms.

Scout and Henry on the in-laws couch after receiving the pat on the couch cushion indicating this couch is okay for dogs.

One thing that will help is to have certain behaviors on cue. If you are okay with your dog cuddling with you on the couch at home, your dog should ask to get on the couch by waiting for a pat on the seat beside you. If their is no pat on the seat, the dog is not welcome to curl up on the couch and must find an alternative spot. By having your dog wait for the invitation to relax on the sofa will help prevent your dog from surfing friends, in-laws, and other peoples furniture or beds when it is not appropriate. It is still a behavior you can enjoy with your dog but without putting stress on a relationship with friends and family.