April 2021 - 2 Minute Trainer

Being good is not a dog goal

Your dog doesn’t care whether he’s “good.” Good is not a dog goal. Dogs have no “higher purpose” or ambition in life. They have no “moral fiber” because it’s just not a dog thing. Right and wrong, good and bad – those are people things. Dogs don’t care.

What dogs really care about

Simon cares about playing. Good is not a dog goal for Simon. His goal is to play more, and get more treats.

Dogs do care about some things: you, food, comfort, toys, playing. All of those are tangibles. We don’t know what dogs actually think about, but we’re pretty sure it’s not good and evil.

It’s also a big stretch to attribute “spiteful” tendencies to dogs. So many people think their dogs act out when alone due to “spite” or “revenge.” Not true. Dogs act out either because they’re suffering from separation anxiety, or because the impulse to act is more rewarding than not. Dogs always do what they find most rewarding.

No difference between good and bad

Let’s say the dog is craving attention. She knows you fuss when she turns over the wastebasket. She’s going to turn over the wastebasket to get your attention. That’s a dog equation. Attention is all good – no difference between positive and negative. The nebulous concept of good is not a dog goal.

“I shouldn’t turn over the wastebasket because Mom told me not to” is a people thought. Dogs don’t really look into the future, or recognize consequences of their actions. A classic example is the dog who’s punished when the owner discovers a “mess” on the floor. Punishing the dog after the fact doesn’t teach the dog not to mess in the house. It teaches the dog that bad things happen when Mom discovers the mess. Therefore: hide the mess. Which is later discovered behind the couch.

Being good is not a reward

For people, knowing you’ve done the “right” thing, even in difficult circumstances, is satisfying and rewarding. For dogs, not so much. We’re constantly reminding people to “Pay Your Dog!” When your dog does make a good decision – let him/her know. Every single time.

The “pay” doesn’t have to be food. Playing with a toy, a vigorous scratch behind the ears, sincere praise all work, depending on the situation. Let your dog know that you like what he’s done – even if all he’s doing is sitting quietly while you’re busy working from home. Take the time to reward “good” behavior.

True dog goals

Your dog doesn’t care about “good.” He cares very much whether you pay attention. If you pay extraordinary attention to the behaviors you like, you’ll see more of them.

It takes conscious thought to praise your dog for doing stuff you like. If your high-alert dog finally lets a leaf blow down the street without comment, it’s easier to just appreciate the quiet than to get up, get a treat, and “mark” the behavior. But if you don’t – how does your dog know it was “good?”

Clearly communicate “good” to your dog and she’ll find it more rewarding every time. It’s not easy to remember, but it’s worth it. (We’ve talked about clarity before, and it’s still important!)

It’s even harder to ignore the stuff you don’t like. It’s upsetting when you realize that, despite what you’ve tried so far, your dog still doesn’t understand. But if you only “mark” the naughty stuff, that’s what you’ll see more of. That’s the way dogs think.

Good is not a dog goal. Being happy is. You’ll both be happier with clearer communication.

Watch your words in dog training

You have to watch your words in dog training. What you say to your dog matters. Dogs are capable of understanding hundreds of words – as long as we’re clear on the meaning of those words.

Think about it. If you say “sit down over here!” it’s a perfectly fine English sentence – if you’re talking to a human being. To a dog, it’s possible you just gave three different commands; sit, down, here. Which one is the dog supposed to obey?

If your dog doesn’t instantly obey, or even looks confused when you tell him/her to do something, replay what you actually said. Were you clear in your instructions, or did you inadvertently say something like “sit down?”

Words in dog training have unique meanings

It’s true that dogs can understand many words. But they’re unable to assign more than one meaning to the same word. Dogs are binary creatures, yes or no, good or bad, this or that.

The example most people are guilty of confusing their dogs with is “down.” When you want your dog to relax on the couch, what word do you use? For most, it’s some version of “lie down.”

That’s fine. It’s the proper use of the word. Traditionally in obedience, “down” means lie flat on the floor.

"Down" or "Off?" These words in dog training mean much different things. — “Down!” or “Off?”

How many times has your dog jumped up on something or someone and you said “down!” Don’t feel guilty. Everybody does it. It takes conscious thought and a decision to change to use the word you really mean – “Off!”

Some of our clients/students seem to think we’re being too nit-picky when emphasizing these small differences. But the variations are minor only if you think like a person. If you think like a dog, you get confused.

Confusion gets in the way

If you’re training your dog for competition in any dog sport, from traditional obedience to free-style dance, it’ll be easier and faster if you’re precise in your word use.

Be sure the words you use have only one meaning and that you convey that meaning clearly to your partner. Remember, your dog isn’t a native English speaker – you’re teaching him/her a foreign language. If your dog seems confused in a 2-Minute Training session, that’s probably exactly what’s happening.

If you’re not sure exactly what you said, and there’s no one else around to watch, this is another time it’s valuable to record your sessions. Watch and listen to your sessions, especially ones where your dog exhibited confusion by turning away, disengaging, or getting distracted. Pay special attention to what you said or did immediately before that happened. Did you accidentally confuse your dog?

Some dogs are particularly concerned with getting things “right.” When confusion hits, they disengage rather than make a mistake. This reaction is normal for some dog personalities – just like some people are more willing to make mistakes than others.

Tone matters, too

We used to think that you could say any words when talking to a dog. As long as your tone was kind, you could get away with saying horrible things. Depending on the dog, that’s not true. Dogs actually are capable of understanding the definition of several hundred words. No matter how you say it, they’ll know “no” isn’t a good thing. We’ve talked about clarity before in turns of tone and the word “no.”

In order to keep your dog happily engaged, use a less judgemental word to indicate a “flub.” We use “oops” – you can never sound anything but silly when you say it.

Food is dog training currency

Dog training is a bargain you make with your dog. They get what they want when we get what we want. Food is dog training currency.

There’s a brilliant example of this in Ore Ida’s current advertising campaign. It’s “Potato Pay.” Fundamentally, it’s bribing your kids with french fries to eat their vegetables. If you haven’t checked out the website, it’s great for a few chuckles. We particularly enjoyed the “Frynancial Guide.” We realize it’s only half serious, and so does Ore-Ida: “Is it ethical? No. But it is edible, and a win-win for both fussy eaters and parents.”

But wait! We don’t bribe our dogs!

Fran is using treats to reward good behavior outside: food is dog training currency everywhere.

Of course we do! The difference is that our dogs don’t really understand the “deal” the way people do. That’s why it’s so crucial to establish the relationship between action and reward. The clicker builds in a little delay “that was good, keep going, the reward is coming.” But the reward must always follow the action. Dogs are always rewarded for choosing well. Every single time.

People talk about “fading” out the reward or not using food for training their dogs. How do they motivate their dogs to work for them? And are they, or their dogs, having any fun with training?

In human terms: You have a job you love. You love everything about it – the work, the place, the people. Would you still do that job if you didn’t get paid? Would a hearty “Atta Girl!” really be enough compensation?

It really is just that simple.

Don’t be stingy with dog training currency

People often say they don’t want their dogs to get fat. It’s a legitimate concern. Dog obesity has been on the rise and is a significant factor in dog health. That doesn’t mean you skimp on training rewards. Instead, how about setting aside a portion of your dog’s food to use for training treats? His/her meal may be smaller, but if your dog inhales his/her food in seconds, will he/she notice?

You can even feed your dog 100 percent from your hand. Why not make meal time training time? It would certainly be more fun for both of you. You have to feed your dog anyway. Think about making it a 2-Minute Training session. You can certainly play “Touch!” for a couple minutes in the kitchen. Whatever’s left in the dog bowl, that can be your dog’s meal, if anything. We’ve talked about this before, and offered other strategies for keeping the calorie count down.

Pay your dog

Pre-pandemic, all human cultures shared one particular ritual – bonding over food. It works for all people through time, from the legend of the first Thanksgiving to the “business lunch.” We may not be able to sit at a table with our dogs and share a banquet, but we can certainly bond over food.

Food motivates our dogs to try to understand what we’re saying. The hardest case we’ve known was our own Tango. He adored Fran from the moment he saw her. He hated everyone else – including Hope. It wasn’t simple avoidance and warning, Tango actively tried to bite.

Hope spent weeks hand-feeding Tango for every dinner. At first she just handed him the food, one piece at a time while she babbled nonsense to him. Then she started asking for simple behaviors; “sit,” “down,” “stand.” It wasn’t fast, but it worked. Tango has become a model citizen and host. Anyone is welcome in his home.

Payment in kind

If, by chance, you don’t have a food-motivated dog or your dog has food sensitivities, your path is a little more difficult, but not impossible. Find the currency that’s most valuable to your dog. It could be tug toys, or a ball. Try different foods and see if his/her taste buds can be tempted. Cheese? Popcorn? Dried shrimp? Can you soak prescription food in some meat broth and then let it dry again? Or dust it with grated parmesan?

Some dogs even find the training games themselves enough of a reward. If that’s the case, your dog is a gem. Play with your dog!

Training “Touch!” Dog Training Game

The “Touch!” dog training game can be a pocket game you pull out and use any time you and your dog are together. It’s great when your dog is stressed, if you’re waiting at the vet’s office. Or if your dog is intently focused on something that’s none of his business, like that other dog on a walk.

To make this a go-to game, you and your dog must play it often. And your dog has to love it. Absolutely adore it. When your dog values playing this game more than any other stimulus, you can play it to keep your dog’s attention where you want it. That’s when it becomes one of the most useful tools in your dog-training toolbox.

Tools of the game

“Touch!” doesn’t require much stuff. Just you, your dog, and some treats. Really prime treats. Leftover steak kind of treats.

This may be a good place to talk about the “hierarchy” of treats. Dogs have preferences, just like people. You may adore fruit. Blueberries may be the fruit you reach for every time. Somebody else (Hope) may be allergic to blueberries and avoid them like the plague. She’d reach for the chocolate, instead.

We’ve talked before about putting together a “trail mix” of treats for dog training games. This should be a mix of high value (cheese), medium value (Cheerios), and low value (kibble) bits. The examples are our dogs’ particular preferences. You’ll know best what your dog’s favorites are and the tidbits she pushes away.

We know one person whose dog’s favorite thing in the world was shrimp. She went out of her way to get dried shrimp to use as training treats. We’ve also talked about Hope’s Dax, who adored celery. Most dogs love popcorn and you can certainly use air-popped popcorn in the mix.

When your dog never knows what the next treat will be, it keeps things fresh and exciting for the training games. Use your dog’s unique trail mix for most training games. Use the favorite for introducing a new game, especially one like “Touch!” that you mean to use often.

Getting started with Touch! Dog Training Game

The mechanics of a dog-training game like “Touch!” are simple, but not intuitive. Doing it this way gets the message across to your dog most clearly. Nobody’s watching – if you want to practice the moves before you try them out on your dog, go ahead.

Remember when you’re playing dog training games that you’re trying to communicate complex ideas to someone who doesn’t speak your language. And doesn’t have a common frame of reference. Your dog wants to play the games and have fun. Be as clear and confident as possible.

Have a bunch of treats in a bowl or small container near at hand, but out of your dog’s reach. If your dog has a tendency to wander away, or disengage when he/she doesn’t understand, put on his/her collar and leash and just let the leash drag on the floor.

Step 1: Put your hand out to the side, palm side facing your dog. Call your dog’s name. If your dog looks at your palm, touches your palm, interacts with your palm at all, take a treat with the other hand and hold it in the middle of your palm for your dog. You are feeding the treat from the open palm with the other hand.

You’re probably asking why you can’t just have a treat in the palm you want your dog to touch. And the answer is: because we’re not luring the dog to touch. We’re teaching the dog to decide to touch.

There may come a day when you need to get your dog’s attention but you don’t happen to have a treat handy. If the only way you’ve played the game is with a visible reward, your dog doesn’t know the right choice to make. He/she loves the lure, not the game.

Another important point: don’t reach out to your dog. Let your dog come to you. If you start reaching out, your dog’s natural instinct will be to back up. You don’t want that. Let your dog come to you.

Give it a name

Simon and Hope playing the Touch Dog Training Game.

When your dog touches your palm, you can start calling the game “Touch!” As you’re giving the reward (with the other hand, all the time!), you can say “Good Touch!” “That’s Touch!” “What a good Touch!” As well as the game, you’re also teaching the name of the game.

Remember to only play for a two-minute session. You can play a couple times a day, but not for long. Since this is such a simple game, your dog should “know” it fairly reliably in a week or so.

Variations on a theme

Once you’ve established your palm as the target to touch for treats, you can change hands, even alternating once your dog understands. Don’t be surprised if your dog doesn’t “get” that it’s the same game when you change. Remember that dogs don’t generalize naturally – it’s a learned behavior. Just because your dog understands “Touch!” with your left palm doesn’t mean she’ll know it with your right, or with your mother’s palm, or anyone else’s.

You can play the Touch dog training game anywhere. Take the game outside, to the park, to the pet store. In particularly difficult environments be sure to reward heavily and not go too far too fast. If your dog is having difficulty at the park, go back to your own yard and practice more there.

Old reliable

The Touch dog training game is what we use to get our dog’s focus, break his attention from someplace it shouldn’t be, and pass time when we’re waiting. You can alternate palms, play sitting, standing, kneeling, running, walking, wherever. It’s also useful when you’re playing another game, like “Boxey” and need to take a break while you reset.

Transitioning from one dog training game to another is easy. The more games you and your dog know, the more fun you’ll have.

Boxey Game Part 2: Your dog can be creative

In last week’s tip we talked about getting started with the Boxey game. Now it’s time to take it further and showcase your dog’s cleverness. Your dog can be creative with the right encouragement.

Remember that you’re never allowed to say “NO!” when you’re playing Boxey with your dog. Aside from biting or chewing the box, whatever your dog does with it is okay. If your dog is wildly creative and starts playing volleyball with the box, reward it, name it, and for pity’s sake get it on video so you can make a fortune.

Stop telling your dog what to do

The nice thing about playing Boxey is that you have no particular objective in mind. Most dog tricks or behaviors have an end goal. Our only goal here is to teach the dog that it’s okay to try different stuff. There are absolutely no negative consequences with this game. The worst that should happen is, if your dog absolutely intent on chewing the box, you call it quits for this session and try again later. Maybe with a different box, if that one’s too attractive for gnawing.

Torque playing Boxey - he's got 3 legs in the box!

The possible actions that your dog may come up with to interact with the box include:

Sniff it
Nudge it
Pawing at it
Put a paw in it
Put two paws in it
Three paws in
All four paws in
Left paws in
Right paws in
Back paws in
Backing into it
Jumping over it
Sitting in it
Lying in it
Turning it over
Turning it on its side
Putting something else in it
Moving it

Hopefully you’re getting the idea that your dog can be creative with the box however it occurs to him.

Getting your dog out of the box

Once your dog figures out the box is his/her “sweet spot,” you may have some difficulty getting your dog to get out of the box. That’s one of the reasons we say to only reward the same behavior three to five times. If you keep delivering treats for your dog sitting in the box, you’ll never get him out.

Speaking of getting him/her out, dogs trained with positive reinforcement can cycle into what we’ve heard called feedback loops. They keep doing the same thing over and over, regardless of whether it’s being rewarded, because they can’t figure out what else to do. There needs to be a way to break the cycle.

One of the behaviors we use to settle our dogs down and get their minds back in the game is the hand touch. It’s a whole other game, which we’ll talk about in next week’s tip. In the meantime, if your dog is becoming box-obsessed, just pick it up and try again another time.

It may take some time

Most dogs spend so much of their lives getting directions from people that it’s hard for them to break away from that and think for themselves.

But thinking creatively is a great way to keep dogs (and people!) of any age interested and engaged. If you’re reading this tip, that means that you’re interested in giving your dog the best life possible – which means encouraging him or her to use every bit of brain power possible. Dogs are smart. Channel that ability into paths that will delight instead of getting into trouble. It’s better to have a dog that bats a box around than one that chews electrical cords out of boredom.

Some dogs are more creative than others. Among our own dogs, it’s the old guy, Tango, who comes up with the most creative ways to use Boxey. Torque is the least.

It’s more challenging to play Boxey with a less-creative dog because it requires you to be more patient and think more creatively yourself. As with Torque, if he can’t come up with anything new, we’ll take the initiative and present him with a new “look” – like putting the box on its end instead of its bottom. Or placing it on top of another box. Or hiding a treat underneath it.

Your dog can be creative. And so can you. Together you’ll come up with your own Boxey variations and your own shared repertoire of games.