I got my very first dog when I was 12. And like most human beings with no knowledge of animals I never really spent any time training her. The goal with most people, as it was with me at the time, was to get the dog to just understand me. And I think this is what makes dogs so appealing to people. They have the ability to “understand you” almost on an emotional level. And so most dogs are great companions to their immediate owners or even their immediate families (their pack). And that is how we usually meet and interact with most dogs. They are working hard to meet their owners needs and trying to figure out if the other people are threats or not. You will have a far better dog, less stress on him and you, and far better mannered in all situations, if you take the burden of determining what’s needed in any situation off of the dog, and accepting that you should be telling him what needs to be done. Dog trainers often call this “focus” between the dog and the handler, but in simpler terms it’s really the dog asking the handler “what do I do next”.  Recognizing when your dog needs your direction is a big jump in learning to be a good trainer.

So my philosophy and technique on training a dog is to go beyond letting the dog understand you and figuring out what needs to be done, and training them on commands that tells them what needs to be done and what’s to be expected. I follow just a few simple rules and it seems to work very well for me.

Disclaimer: there are many philosophies on dog training. If you get 3 different dog trainers in a room together, about the only thing 2 of them will agree on, is that the other guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. There are many trainers that will be glad to take your money and train your dog for weeks, months, years. I am not a professional trainer, nor do I want to be. Dog training in most cases is more about training the handler than it is about training the dog. So your mileage may vary.

So my first rule is: Be consistent !  So before you even start training there are some things you need to prepare in order to maintain consistency. First of all, determine the list of commands you want to train your dog on.  Post them somewhere you will see them every day, and memorize them.  My list of commands is 27 different commands that we use to get roughly 35 different actions from the dog. Choose the list carefully, considering when in normal everyday conversation those words might be used. But also remember your dog does have a great deal of intelligence, and can often determine what you mean based on your tone, loudness, and prior experience. My basic list includes: NO, COME, SIT, DOWN, OFF, STAY, BRING, LEAVE IT, AND FREE.

The most critical of these commands, and the most subject to abuse, are the  NO and COME commands. We tend to use the word “NO” all the time for simple things. And this can be very confusing for a puppy or even an adult dog. You can try to change your habits and use of some other phrase in your daily life like Na-NA, or Ah-ha, or some other grunt. But I also find that if the NO “command” is said in a particularly strong tone and deeper voice it becomes pretty easily recognized and followed. Now of course the trick to this is to remember exactly how the “NO” command should be said while grabbing the puppy by the scruff of the neck and giving him a little shake  for chewing your shoes or rolling in poop in the backyard. I know quite frequently I tend to repeat my “NO” command in a long string of varying tones and inflections such as “NO!, Nooo!, no! nO!! OH GOD NO! To get the message across. And along with the frenzied corrections and activities accompanying the commands, my dog seems to always get the idea. “COME” similarity may be overused in common language, but again using a stern command tone often gets the message across. Another slight deviation I do with my boys is that when I have treats to give them I use the command “HERE” and have them come and sit in front of me. Since that command almost always has good treats (left over Cheeseburger, eggs, French Fries, dog treats), they rarely ever ignore that command from afar.

I guess perhaps we should talk about treats and rewarding your dog for training purposes. Any training must be extremely positive if you want the behavior to be ingrained and repeatable. I’m not a huge fan of food treats in training. Mostly because I can’t seem to find myself carrying around food all the time to give the dog. I train every minute my dog and I are together to a certain degree.   Every time I give a command, its training to make sure that the command is responded to as expected.  Much like any athlete must train continuously as long as he wants to stay in shape for his activity.  Also I see a lot of dogs that get a bit heavy from treat training. I would much rather have an emotional, social interaction with my dog that strengthens the bond between me and him, versus one that strengthens his bond between him and food. Very young puppies, under 15 weeks, do very well with food training. Their brain is wired to focus on food for survival reasons. But after 9 months food treat training really should be a very special occasion, possibly for new things to learn.  You don’t want your dog deciding if the food reward is more appealing than the “chase squirrel” reward. Also,  I much rather throw a stick, a ball, a Frisbee, or play a quick game of tug-of-war on a toy, and build that relationship with my dog,  than reach my hand into a pocket of soggy hotdogs and flip one to my companion. Another thing I see today is a lot of “pro” trainers training in groups trying to subdue the dogs excitement in training to keep it from disrupting the training class. I think this is so wrong! The whole idea of a good training class is for the dog to be excited to work and please his master. And training should not be a chore for you or the dog. It should be the highlight of your day with your dog. Your dog will reward you with good training techniques as much as you reward the dog with following commands.

The second rule is: Determine where you will be able to train, and then train EVERY DAY for at least 15 minutes of training and 15 minutes of fun/play. It can be 3 minutes of training, 2 minutes of play, i minute of training, then 2 minutes of play.  Which ever is least frustrating for you.  But don’t teach your dog that training is misery that must be avoided so you can get to play.  Make training seem like its part of the play.  Fetch a ball, but when you get the ball back, run away yelling “COME”, it might seem like great play to your dog, but its wonderful training too. If your training something and your dog isn’t really getting it.  Take a breath break, just a 1 minute time out and do nothing. Let you dog rest and think about it. And then try something different to get what you wanted.  If it happens celebrate with more play !  If it doesn’t happen, move on to something else.  And where ever you train, don’t fault your dog for distractions. Don’t get frustrated. A distraction is an opportunity to build a steady dog.  Just wait them out and restrain them on leash until the distraction goes away, and when they return their attention to you, show them that its good to focus on you with play and praise.  Never give them any attention with a distraction except maybe a “NO” or a swat on the rump.

So I guess its time to talk about “Bad Behavior”.  My third Rule is reward good behavior, punish bad behavior.  And by punish I don’t mean spankings, or hitting, or anything  hurtful or punitive. But if you’re trying to teach your dog not to do something, it must be accompanied with a “negative consequences” or  a “Negative Reward” to instill it into their memory and behavior so they remember to not do it again. Negative consequences in some dogs can be a stern look and a scolding. My Caesar would go to pieces if I scolded him during training.  My niece has a German Shepherd named Bonnie who was was almost totally unaffected by “negative consequences”.  My standard correction for a serious behavior problem (aggression, biting, running away, destruction) is to pick the dog up by the scruff of the neck and give it a shake, just like the mother would do to a puppy being bad.  And repeat “NO”.  It had no effect on Bonnie, she thought it was just more game time and great attention.  We finally determined that using a prong collar fairly lightly without giving her attention suddenly turn her to focus on us and our commands. So it takes some trial and error to find out what can be the “Correction” for your dog.  But I assure you there are a few correction techniques that will not effect your relationship with your dog, and will get the message across.

Just Lastly,  an example of early mistakes in training,  when Bonnie was little they would play  “try to catch me” with my niece running after Bonnie. When I  first met them, Bonnie was 2yrs old and would never come on command,  she would just dance away in play mode and run around the neighborhood trying to get anyone to chase her. Barking and snarling at people who did not know her.  I corrected that behavior about 90% in the 6 months they livind with me. But for Bonnie, my niece was still someone to have chase you.  The answer was for my niece to turn her back and walk away and then Bonnie would chase her.  But early mistakes can cause bad habits that are hard to reverse.

Train carefully, remember it should always be fun. and life will be good.  Oh, and the videos I did on “Puppy Training Made easy” are Here

Rick, Akela, Dakota!