5 Helpuful Uses For Teaching Your Dog Place

I wrote a Bubblews post the other day on 5 Helpful Uses for Teaching Your Dog Place. I wanted to share it with you guys! Place can be an extremely handy thing for your dog to know and is so easy to teach. In the picture, you see our dogs; Crash (Weimaraner) and Blackjack (Black Dog) on place at the lake! A nice way to keep your dog out of trouble.

Take a look at our Bubblews post; 5 Helpful Uses for Teaching Your Dog Place

Amy @ Talented K9 Dog Training
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Teaching Good Walking Skills

One of the biggest complaints I hear from dog owners is that their dog pulls on the leash.  Sometimes this can be so extreme that their dog is actually pulling them down, or even pulling so hard that the owner drops the dogs leash, and now the dog is running around the neighborhood.  Eh gads.  That can be scary, not to mention very dangerous.  Before I get started on teaching you some effective skills on teaching your dog not to pull on his leash, I recommend reading my post, WHY I DONT LIKE DOG COLLARS, first.

Ruffwear Harness On Right, General Harness On Left

So what kind of options do I prefer? Harnesses and headcollars are my personal preference. I lean toward harness more than headcollars, and more specifically, I like front clipping harness where the leash attaches to a D-ring on the dogs chest. These types of harnesses aid in teaching your dog how to walk politely on a leash, because when your dog starts to pull on his leash, his chest turns around toward you, allowing you to refocus your dog.

That said, they need to be used and fitted as directed to keep your dog safe. A headcollar that is tight is not safe if you allow your dog to keep pulling and it keeps his head at an unusual angle. A front-clipping harness that is tight and again pulled to the side is not the correct way to use the tool.

Every dog should learn how to walk politely on a leash. But before you set out to tackle this challenging behavior, be prepared to practice every time your dog is leashed and remember to have a lot of patience. This is not a behavior that happens quickly, and it is important to practice walking skills daily if you want to master this behavior. Here are some techniques to use when teaching leash manners.

Follow Me Off Leash (inside the house, or in a fenced in area) You must create the association that you are the best thing in the world, engaging and exciting. If your dog realizes how much fun you are, he is much more likely to be attentive to you. While your dog is close to you and not too distracted, make a high-pitched smooching sound and back away a few steps while you are still smooching. As your dog follows, praise and encourage him. Allow him to “catch” you and give him a pet, treat, or play with a toy. Repeat this exercise changing direction, skipping and have a good time allowing your dog to catch you. Remember, this is supposed to be fun for both you and your dog, so get silly and creative and change directions.

Walking Next To Your Side Off Leash (inside the house, or in a fenced in area) Grab a handful of treats or food kibbles and lure your dog with a treat to your left or right side. Give him a treat when he gets into position. With your handful of food, place your hand in front of his nose, say, “OK” and take 3 steps forward with your dog following the treat. After step 3 give him a treat. Repeat this process and vary the number of steps before giving him the food treat.

Whenever your dog is attached to his leash, you need to be prepared to work on his leash manners.

Easywalk Harness

There is no “off time” when he is attached to his leash. Teaching good leash skills can be very challenging. When you set out to practice leash walking start with a training time in mind, such as 15 minutes. Do not start with a walking destination like "around the block" or you are likely to get very frustrated. If it takes you and your dog 15 minutes to walk down the end of the driveway, then so be it. You are setting the foundation to a life-long skill of not pulling on the leash. These early stages are vital if you want to have a great walking partner in the future.

Your walk clock starts the time you pull out your dogs leash. If he is jumping around acting like a silly puppy, just stand there and wait for him to settle down. Once he has settled down, bend down and attach his leash. If he spins out of control and runs off, stand back up and wait for him to come back and wait again for him to settle down. Repeat until you can calmly attach his leash. This may take 5 minutes or more at first, but over time he will learn that running and jumping around will not get you to attach his leash.

Pick either the follow me game or walking next to your side lesson. You can either practice inside the house, outside in your yard or working toward the neighborhood. Remember your time (15 minutes etc.), not a destination. The other option is the treat bag method. This is when you decide how many treats or dog food kibbles you want to give your dog during his walking exercise. When you are half through his stash, turn around and come back. Because walking outside will be very distracting, you will likely need a high motivator such as cooked meat, or 100% meat dog treats.

Once his leash is attached, stand very still holding the leash on your hip. Only if the leash is slack will you move. Don’t ask him for anything; let him figure it out himself. Be patient, eventually he will slacken the leash. Once he does, tell him how smart he is and start to walk. If the leash gets tight, immediately stop and plant yourself as before. You will probably only get one step at first. Repeat as before, waiting for a loose leash again.

Opposite Direction or Penalty Yards On Leash Another technique is to go the opposite direction when your dog pulls on the leash. When your dog pulls on the leash, make a smooching sound and turn the opposite way or just take steps backward until your dog catches up with you and has a loose leash. Once he has caught up with you, start walking again. You will be teaching your dog every time he pulls forward, you are not going to allow him to go in that direction.

Become A Statute On Leash I only recommend this technique if your dog is on a harness. When your dogs leash is tight, just stop. After you stop, make a smooching sound and as soon as your dog returns to you praise and continue to walk.

Combinations You can choose a combination of the above methods, even during one walking exercise. The important thing to remember is that you are teaching your dog that when his leash is tight he will not be moving forward. I will say it again, have patience. Teaching your dog to walk politely on a leash around so many fun smells and distractions is very challenging and takes lots of practice and experiences, but is absolutely worth it in the end.  It may take a good year of actively working with your dog, but then you have 10+ years of a great walking partner!  Have fun, and get moving.

Need extra help?  I offer in-person, phone consultations, weekend retreats and public seminars.  Contact me for details.

Tonya Wilhelm-Global Dog Training http://www.globaldogtraining.com

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Teaching A Dog Not To Jump You First

Dogs are very social creatures, and a friendly dogs initial greeting reaction is to sniff and lick our faces.  Since we are taller than the average dog, this means they jump up to say hello. Not something us humans particularly appreciate, or at least not all the time.  And if you are the "not all the time" kind of person, I urge you to make that a never.  Dogs really have a hard time knowing when we think its ok, and when we would rather them not.  They dont know the difference between your Sunday best, or your grubby weekend attire.

Teaching your dog not to jump up during greeting isnt about teaching your dog what not to do, but rather teaching your dog what TO DO.  You can teach your dog to go find his toy, go to his crate, keep four on the floor, or butt on the ground.  I tend to teach butt on the ground behaviors first. 

I love teaching dogs and coaching dog parents how to teach their dogs to ask politely ie. butt on the ground when they want something.  If a dog wants petting, wants you to toss the dog toy, eat dinner, go outside....butt on the ground first.  And I dont want you to have to tell your dog to put his butt on the ground / SIT, I want him to do it automatically.  I think by teaching our dogs to think for themselves, they understand a concept much better, and it sticks.

First, you must teach your dog at least an idea of the SIT behavior before you can expect him to offer it on his own. Put a healthy dog treat right to your dog’s nose, and move your hand slowly in an arc above your dogs head and back. As soon as his rump hits the floor say "YES!" and follow quickly with a treat. Repeat this process until he is easily putting his butt on the ground.  Tip:  If your dog is leaping to get the treat, your treat lure is too high.  Place your hand with the treat right ON his nose, so there isnt any jumping to follow your lure, or to eat the treat.

Now that your dog has a basic understanding of putting his butt on the ground, its time to incorporate that to offering this behavior when he wants something.  Again, this will lead to an offered sit for your attention instead of jumping.

Grab a handful of high-value treats, or healthy dog food and do a quick round of SIT sessions. After, say, 3 sets, just smile at your dog, do not provide any luring or words. As soon as his butt hits the floor say "YES!" and give him a jackpot of treats. Quickly take a few playful steps away from your dog and stop and smile at him again. As soon as his butt hits the floor again, say "YES!" and treat. Repeat this game running around the house or yard.

You can vary the offered sit by doing the same process before other events that your dog wants to participate in. For example, if you are about ready to toss your dogs ball during a game of fetch, hold the ball close to your chest, smile at your dog and wait. As soon as his butt hits the floor, toss the ball. If your dog jumps up at you and the ball, do not say anything, just wait for the correct behavior. This is part of the learning process. He will be learning that the “jumping up” behavior does NOT get him access to things he wants, but the “butt on the ground” behavior does - a very good life lesson for your dog to learn. Tip: Do not tell your dog to sit during these lessons; the point of the offered sit is that your dog is thinking through the process and realizing on his own that sit makes good things happen and jumping up does not.

Now that you have incorporated various offered SIT behaviors with your dog for a variety of days and sessions, start to wait for your dog to SIT before you greet him.  He doesnt have to SIT/STAY, but if he jumps up, stop his attention and wait for the SIT again, and immediately pet and/or treat.  You will be amazed at how quickly your dog can learn to offer a SIT instead of jumping.  But, you must be consistent.  No, its ok one day and not the other. 

For more tips, visit my previous post- Polite Dog & Human Greeting Pt. 1.

Do you need extra dog training help?  I offer in-person,  phone consultations, weekend dog retreats and public seminars.  Contact me today for details.

   

Tonya Wilhelm-Global Dog Training http://www.globaldogtraining.com

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Teaching A Dog Not To Jump Your Guests

Jumping, body slamming, mouthing....oh boy!  Having a dog can be challenging at times and a lot of work, when you dont have the proper tools or training to teach them a more appropriate response.  First, its always important to remember that dogs are dogs.  Meaning, they are not humans, and they do not know what we consider right, or wrong, unless we teach them.  Yes, we actually have to spend time and teach them what we prefer, and these lessons take time and patience.

If  you havent read my previous posts Teaching A Dog Not To Jump-You First and Polite Dog & Human Greeting Pt. 1 I highly suggest reading those first, then coming back to this post. Now that you are caught up, lets continue our talk about teaching your dog to keep four on the floor while greeting one of your houseguests. 

 

YOUR GUESTS Some challenges with polite greeting with your guests are that they dont listen (or care), their timing is off, you feel insecure about following through with a plan. How you manage and work through this situation will determine your dogs success.  If you truly want a polite greeter at the end, you must remember that your dog is learning all the time, so make sure he his learning what YOU want him to learn.  You live with him, not your guests or in-laws.

MANAGEMENT Management, management, management is always the best way to start a successful dog training program.  Have you ever wondered why dog trainers can teach a dog a reliable behavior effortlessly?  Its because we start all our training programs with a high management protocol.  If you are able to prevent your dog from running and jumping on your guest, you will then be able to teach him a better greeting behavior.  If, on the other hand, he performs this act over and over again he will get quite good at jumping, and this will become his ritual.  Planning ahead when you know guests are going to arrive and having a plan of action for when they surprise you are the best tools.  A prepared frozen treat toy is always a good backup for surprises.

Chew toy, should be on leash too.

TETHER, HARNESS AND STUFFED TREAT TOYS When you are expecting guests, put your dogs harness on and prepare a filled hollow treat toy.  Decide which room you and your guests are going to reside in and place a tether (leash) around a heavy piece of furniture such as a sofa leg.  When the doorbell rings, collect your dog and attach him to the tether by his harness and provide him with his filled hollow toy.

Go to the door and greet your guests.  Take off their coats, say hello and ask them to ignore your dog.  When you walk into the main room where your dog is chewing on his very delicious stuffed treat toy, sit next to your dog.  Occasionally add a bonus dog treat while he continues with his chew toy.  Once he is finished with his chew toy, attach his leash to his harness, then unclip him from the sofa, but do not leave.  Work on some of his obedience behaviors (sit, hand target, down etc.). Reward him for paying attention to you.  When  your dog can easily focus on you, proceed to the next step.  This may NOT happen in one session.

When your dog is ready for the next step, ask one of your seated guests to reach down toward their shin and wiggle their fingers.  As they do, walk your dog up to the guest and tell him to say hello.  As soon as your dog sniffs your friend’s fingers say "YES!" and quickly move your dog a foot away and give him a treat.  Be careful not to jerk your dog, remember hes still on his leash and harness.  This process is teaching your dog to politely sniff your guests fingers (not jumping up), and then by quickly removing your dog, he does not have time to get too excited, and start jumping up.  Remember, you are teaching your dog what to do, so you dont want to give him the opportunity to be wrong. Repeat this process for 5  repetitions.  As your dog gets the hang of this, you can allow a little longer sniffing before calling him off.  By calling your dog away from your guests to collect his reward, he is also learning that you are more exciting.

When you are done practicing, keep your dog leashed to you.  Only when you start to have a reliable behavior, with no jumping, should your dog be allowed to run freely with guests.  Remember, prevention is the key.  It will not do you any good to practice these lessons, then to unleash your dog for him to start jumping around on your guests.  If you do not wish to have him leashed with you, you can use another management tool such as tethering him in sight, baby gated, or put him in his crate. When you start to consider allowing him more roaming freedom, he should respond well to The Name Game.

REMEMBER #1 Management  #2 Practice and certainly #3 Patience

Check out these great toy options!

Do you need extra dog training help?  I offer in-person,  phone consultations, weekend dog retreats and public seminars.  Contact me today for details.

  

Tonya Wilhelm-Global Dog Training http://www.globaldogtraining.com

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Teaching Your Dog To Drop Give Release

Playing fetch or tug with your new puppy or dog is a great cooperative game. However, if your dog does not release the ball or tug toy it wont be much fun for you. DROP IT, GIVE, RELEASE, whatever you decide to call it; is a good behavior to have if your management slipped and he stole an object he shouldnt have. However, I do urge you to increase your management skills so that you are not putting yourself and your dog in a catch-22 of him stealing and you rewarding him for giving it back.  I do, of course, always reward my dog for giving me something back in the early years to ensure resource guarding does not develop.

Drop It Exercise 1

Level 1

• Grab one of your dogs toys, such as a tug rope.
• Tell your dog to "Get It" as you wiggle it around so that your dog grabs onto the toy.
• As your dog has the toy in his mouth, put a high-ranking treat up to his nose. As soon as your dog drops the toy, say "YES!" and immediately give him the treat.
• Repeat this game about 5 times, ensuring a good game before the drop (if he still has the desire for the game)

Level 2

• Set up your game the same way as before. This time say your Drop It cue (Drop, Give, Release etc.) right before placing the treat to his nose. Only say the word one time.
• As soon as your dog drops the toy say "YES!" and give him his treat.
• Repeat 5 times

Level 3

• Set up like level 2, this time say, your Drop It cue without showing your dog the treat. Wait for your dog to drop the toy, as soon as he does say "YES!" and treat.
• Repeat the game 5 times

TIPS 

• If your dog is not being successful, either increase the reward or decrease the value of the toy.
• Every dog has his own motivation level for play.  When practicing your drop cue, make sure you are ending before he wants to end, even if you don’t get your 5 repetitions in.  You want to end the game with him wanting more, not him totally bored with the activity.

Drop It Exercise 2

Level 1

• Have two identical toys, such as tennis balls. You want the toys to be the same so that your dog does not find one toy more valuable than the other.
• Toss the toy about 5’ away in a hallway or with your dog on a long leash (20).
• When your dog comes running back with the toy, wiggle the other toy in front of him.
• Wait for it.  As soon as he drops the first toy, toss the second toy from your hand.
• Repeat 5 times

Level 2

• Set up like before. This time when your dog comes running back with toy say your Drop It cue and wait for your dog to drop the toy. As soon as he drops the toy toss the other toy from your hand.
• Repeat 5 times

So, there you have it.  The beginning stages of teaching a good drop or give behavior. As with any behavior, you will need to actively practice these lessons, and gradually increase the difficulty level until he becomes a master dropper.  Dexter can be in full fledge tugging mode, and will release the toy quickly with one soft "drop." 

Do you need extra dog training help?  I offer in-person,  phone consultations, weekend dog retreats and public seminars.  Contact me today for details.

Tonya Wilhelm-Global Dog Training http://www.globaldogtraining.com

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Teaching A Dog To Hand Target Or Touch

Teach a dog to place his nose on the palm of a hand, is one of my favorite behaviors to teach a dog.  In my humble opinion, I think hand targeting or touch is one of the most useful dog training tools we can have.  There are so many practical ways we can use this simple behavior to our advantage.  I will go over just a few that I actively use, but there are many more uses of a hand target.

Some useful ways to use a hand target or touch behavior include:

• Polite greeting or not jumping 
• Saying "hi" when nervous, confidence building
• Moving your dog from one spot to another
• Distracting your dog from something else
• Using your TOUCH as a lure to teach new behaviors in place of using a food lure
• Once a cue (word) is attached to the touch behavior, you can use it to have your dog touch other things, like a ball, vacuum cleaner, sticky note, etc. to teach new behaviors and tricks
•  Come when called behavior
•  Helping your dog not mouth hands or feel uncomfortable around hand movement
• A lot of dogs LOVE doing it

As with all dog training behaviors, there are a variety of ways to teach your dog what you want.  Of course, in my opinion, and in the eyes of animal behavior scientists, the only way is through positive, gentle methods.  Here are two techniques I often use when teaching a hand target.

GETTING STARTED TEACHING YOUR DOG TO HAND TARGET OR TOUCH

Way 1

•  Present your open palm to your dog, as you slowly move you and your hand away from your dog in a smooth motion to peek your dogs interest to follow.  Allow your dog to catch up to your hand.  He either will touch your palm, or get close to touching it.  This is when you say, "YES!" and toss a food treat away from you so your dog leaves to go eat it.  He will then turn around and start to approach you again.  Once again, use the palm of your hand, and gesture to encourage another touch of the nose.  YES! and toss a treat.  Repeat about 5-10 times.
• Once you are confident that your will actually touch your palm, as he is going in for the touch, say your target word just before.  Touch, Push, Nose, Target, etc.  Its important not to use a word until your dog is reliably doing a behavior. 
• Now that he is becoming increasingly more reliable, you can increase the difficulty level by making your hand higher, or lower, or adding a small distraction.

Way 2

• Get about 5 away from your dog, drop your hand to your dogs nose level and wiggle your fingers.  Allow your dog to sniff your fingers, and when he does say, "YES!" as  you pick them up and toss him a treat away from you.  Remember, tossing a food treat away from you allows you the opportunity to do the behavior again. Repeat this exercise about 5-10 times.
• Once you are confident that your will actually touch your fingers, its time to change  your hand position from fingers to an open palm.  Repeat the above exercise, but with an open palm.
• Now that your dog is actively touching his nose to your palm, just as he is going in for the touch, say your target word just before.  Touch, Push, Nose, Target, etc.  Its important not to use a word until your dog is reliably doing a behavior.
• Now that he is becoming increasingly more reliable, you can increase the difficulty level by making your hand higher, or lower, or adding a small distraction.

When you get to the point that your dog is reliably touching his nose to your palm, you can use it in various applications.  Below  you will see the two ways to get started, along with some dog training students using a hand target for polite greeting.

Do you need extra dog training help?  I offer in-person,  phone consultations, weekend dog retreats and public seminars.  Contact me today for details.

In the last video (black & tan dog) I did not toss the treat away because he was on leash.

Tonya Wilhelm-Global Dog Training http://www.globaldogtraining.com

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