Holiday Special
Group Class
In this class we focused on learning essential skills like walking gently on a leash and how to greet guests appropriately, helping your dog shine with perfect manners this festive season!
Below are the breakdowns of each lesson taught in class along with complimentary videos. Further down the page is more advice to help your pup stay on Santa’s Nice List!
Set up for success!
Step one to a better behaved dog = MANAGEMENT
By setting up the environment to aid our dogs in doing what we’d like them to do while ensuring that they cannot perform the behaviors we would NOT want them to do, we will already be halfway to success!
For example, the management steps for having a dog be successful when greeting guests would include:
Relocate Fido to a secure room or crate when guests arrive. And have Fido remain there until they have calmed down enough from the initial excitement of “OMG, someone is here!”
Have Fido on a leash to prevent unwanted behaviors such as jumping.
Meet your dog’s needs first! Ensure Fido has gotten an energy release before guests arrive; such as a long walk, sniff games, or playtime.
Dogs are not robots that can be programmed once on how to function. Like humans, dogs require practice, repetition, and consistency to change behavior.
In other words, no training techniques will improve your dog’s behavior IF you do not use management to block unwanted behaviors and practice consistently!
Note: ANY BEHAVIOR THAT GETS REWARDED GETS REPEATED!
Marker
A marker or marker word is useful for all training. A marker word is any sound you will use to tell your dog when he/she did something right. It can be a powerful tool (if trained and used correctly) because it can speed up communication between you and your pup. Once you teach your dog this special word, which by the way, is the equivalent of using a clicker, you need to apply it timely. The key: use it the exact moment your pup does something correctly. Timing is the difference between making it better or making it worse.
1. To begin, simply say your marker word (“Yes”) to your dog and then give them a treat. Remember, it is “Yes” THEN treat, not treat then “Yes” or “Yes” and treat at the same time.
2. After your dog has associated that this word means a they are getting a treat, start using it with skills your dog knows like ‘sit’. In practice: Say “Sit” and right when they do say “Yes” then give a treat.
3. Start using this marker for any behavior your pup is doing that you like. Make sure to reward it in some way by treats, play, attention, etc.
Creating Light Bulb Moments!
Skills For Leash Walking On Ice
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Winter tools to help avoid slippery dissasters include:
Fitted harness with the leash clipped to the chest.
Hands-free treat pouch with a variety of treats. Or squeezeable treats.
Ice fishing gloves to make handling easier and fingers safer.
Shoe spikes like eco/nano spikes for traction.
Musher’s Secret or doggie booties.
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The lure-and-reward method uses a treat to lure your dog into different directions, behaviors, or positions. Simply hold a delicious and motivating treat near your dog's nose, then slowly move it around while your dog follows it. The treat acts like a magnet for your dog's nose, and where the nose moves, their body will follow.
Using luring, you can begin to practice having your dog walk next to you in a heel, occasionally giving them treats from your lure hand.
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This is a word or sound taught to get your dog’s attention. In class and school, I use “Yoohoo”. With your dog in front of you, say the cue “Yoohoo” and immediately follow up with a treat. Do not ask your pup to do anything. You are just making a strong positive association with the sound (or word). Sound/word = treat. Repeat 8-10 times in a row.
In the next session, at the first moment when your dog is not paying attention to you (but not overly distracted), make the sound or “Yoohoo” and see if your dog quickly turns their attention to you. If they don’t look at you, do NOT repeat the cue, wait till they choose to look toward you or use your lure to turn them back to face you and try again. Repeat a few times, with different not-very-exciting distractions. As always, don’t try this in the most challenging situation until you’ve done this intermediate step.
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Step 1) Show your dog you’ve placed a treat at your heel on the ground. Let your dog eat the treat and take a step forward. Repeat 5 times.
Step 2) Start adding more steps between placing treats. Your dog will start to follow slightly behind you.
Step 3) When you can get four steps with your dog choosing to follow at your side, mark “Yes” and place the reward/treat at your heel.
Step 4) When your dog is consistently walking at your side, start to say the cue “Heel” or “With Me” (With Me is the heel cue they learn in school), Mark “Yes” and reward.
To advance) Keep adding steps between heel treats very slowly. If your dog starts to wonder, place treats down more frequently. Play this randomly during your walk and for a short duration -- not for the entire duration of your walk. Always choose to stop the game before your dog starts to get bored.
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When your pup is pulling on the leash, stand still and wait for them to relieve the tension. When they do, say “Yes” and have them turn back toward you for a treat. Then say “Let’s go” and walk another direction or forward again. After practicing this you can say "let's go" and turn and walk in the opposite or a different direction before your pup starts to pull. This will have your pup engaging and focusing on you during a walk more often.
Remember to reward your pup when they start to go with you and especially when they walk beside you. Use higher value treats when it is extra difficult for them to pay attention to you. Provide sniff breaks as a reward for good behavior.
TIME TO PARTY! Or settle?
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Place Cue: Having your dog go to and stay on a target/mat/place.
Step 1) Start off by standing close to the bed or mat that will serve as your dog's place. Give the command "place," and then use a treat to lure the dog onto its spot. As soon as all four feet are on the mat, say “yes” and give your dog a treat.
Step 2) After you have reward your dog for doing to their place, say “Free” to release your dog off of the place. You may have to lure them off for the first few times.
Step 3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 several times. Most dogs will go to the bed or mat on command after a few short training sessions.
Step 4) Ask your dog to go to their place from a step further away. Lure them if they need a little help. Slowly add distance from where you and your pup start to where the place is so that your dog starts moving to it from different directions and distances.
Step 5) Slowly start fading out your walking with them to the place and start asking for them to go there without you. To do this, at a short distance when you walk to their place with them, start pausing before you reach the place. You can point to the place to help encourage your pup to keep going there without you for the last step. Slowly start pausing further and further from their place until you can simply say the cue and point to their place without having to walk/guide them there.
Step 6) After having your dog go to their place, start asking for a short stay before rewarding and releasing your pup from their place.
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A release cue is a word you use to tell your dog they are free to move or to signal the end of a behavior. Common release words are “Okay,” “Free,” and “Release.” Just be aware that “Okay” is a word we use often in day-to-day speech. So be careful you don’t accidentally release your dog at the wrong time like if you have your dog in a sit-stay at a street corner and say to your friend, “Okay, see you later!” your dog may move when it was not safe to do so. In class and school we use the word “Free” (jazz hands is the silent cue).
Step 1) Ask your dog to sit or lie down.
Step 2) After one second, calmly offer your dog a treat and immediately say your release word. Encourage your dog to get up after you’ve given the release. You can walk away, pat your legs, clap your hands, etc. to get your dog up and moving. Praise your dog when they move.
Step 3) Repeat the above steps until your dog understands they can move after they hear the release word, “Free.”
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While your dog is on their bed/place, have your dog lie down and reward them. Then reward them again…. and again. Start rewarding randomly and with different time durations between treats. If your dog gets up, simply ask for a down again and repeat the game. When you are ready for them to be done settling, say your release word “free.” and let them go do whatever.
Whenever your dog chooses to go to their place and settle on their own, reward them. Remember, any behavior that gets rewarded gets repeated!
Tips:
You can also give your dog a chew on their place/bed to help them learn to settle down there as well.
Having your dog on leash can help you keep them from getting distracted and wondering away.
In school we play calming piano music and the cue “Time To Settle” which indicates that it is naptime and playtime is done for now.
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Stay cue:
Step 1) After asking your dog to go onto their place, ask your dog to sit or lay down. The sit or down is what I call an anchor position because it takes more effort and time for your pup to move out of. Also note: having your dog go onto a place is not necessary but does help your dog learn the stay cue a little easier.
Step 2) As soon as they sit/lie down, hold your hand straight out in front of you like you’re making a stop sign and say the word “Stay.” Wait just a second or two, then calmly say “yes” and then give your dog a treat.
Step 3) Release your dog from the stay using your release word “Free” and praise them when they move. Note, your Stay cue should be more highly rewarded than your release cue so that your dog starts to find it’s more rewarding to stay than to move. I often take out the reward for the release cue since the release is a reward on its own.
Step 4) Repeat steps 1-3 a few times and then begin to wait a few more seconds before treating then releasing your dog. Build the duration a few seconds at a time.
Step 5) Once you’ve built to 10 seconds or more, you can begin to treat your dog multiple times during the stay. Calmly offer treats every so often and repeat your stay cue and hand signal to remind your dog they aren’t yet finished. If they break their stay before you release them just calmly restart and ask for a shorter stay that they can be successful with. You don’t want your dog to ever realize the fun of releasing themselves. That’s why it’s better to take baby steps than try to push the limits. Set your dog up for success and don’t ask for too much too soon.
Note: When you’re teaching your dog to stay, it’s important to watch your body language. Movement may lure the dog towards you, and they will consequently break position. Your dog is used to being in front of you for training, so anytime you move backward, they will want to follow.
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S.M.A.R.T. Game: Stands for See Mark And Reward Training. This simple and easy game increases and encourages your dog’s good behaviors as well as works on your timing with both your marker word and your treat delivery. This game also helps you notice the good things your dog does and over whatever gets more notice will be increased 😉
Step 1) In a quiet (low distraction environment), simply watch your dog and don’t cue them to do anything. At any time, mark “yes” and reward when you notice your dog choose to do ANYTHING you like without you telling them to, like if they look away from a distraction, look at you, move closer to you, sit, grab a toy, etc. You can mark and reward different things.
Step 2) Start to add more distractions and keep marking and rewarding anything you like. Don’t be too picky at first!
CLOSING NOTES:
Practice in short sessions (even just 5 minutes) to make sure neither of you get bored or burnt out. And always end on a good note. Studies have shown that ending training sessions with a bit of play helps dogs retain the information they just learned.
Try to meet your dog’s needs BEFORE asking for perfect behavior. You can’t expect your dog to walk or behave calmly if they haven’t done anything to get a little of their mental or physical energy out first. You can play a quick fetch game in the yard, play Find-It by scattering treats around the floor of the room for your dog to sniff out and find, play a tug game, or even just do some warm-up training in the house (sits, downs, leash walking around the room, etc) before going out the door. Even just letting them smell for the first block of the walk will do wonders for being successful at manners for the rest of your outing.
Practice means improvement! If you want your pup’s behavior to improve you MUST practice these trainings with them. Just 10 minutes a day will leave your tail wagging with success!