February 2022 - 2 Minute Trainer

Dog training collars are just another myth

Dog training collars don’t exist. There is no object that can train your dog. You’re the only training gear you and your dog really need.

Traditionally, choke-chain and prong collars were considered training collars. Then came the invention of electronic collars. All of these are threats of punishment, not trainers. You don’t need one to control your dog.

Real training gear

What your dog wears for your training games doesn’t matter. It can be a regular buckle collar, a harness, or nothing at all. Dog training isn’t ever about the “stuff” – although heaven knows we’ve managed to accumulate tons of stuff. It’s about your relationship with your dog. Having fun. Playing games. Building understanding. And growing your bond.

The gear you need is intangible: patience, adaptability, observation, a sense of humor. It’s being willing to pay attention to your dog and the signals he/she gives you. And the ability to try something else when what you’re doing isn’t working.

Collars have their uses

Puppy Booker wears a flat buckle collar with a leash on to begin training. It was not a "dog training collar." — Puppy Booker starting training wearing a flat buckle collar and leash.

When you begin playing training games with your dog, a collar or harness may be useful. You may need to attach a leash to keep your dog in the vicinity at first. We recommend at least a six-foot leash. And all you do is attach it and step on the end to keep the dog relatively close.

Until your dog understands that training games are a fun zone, he/she may attempt to disengage. Remember, depending on what kind of training you’ve experienced in the past, your dog may expect to be corrected or punished for “wrong” answers. To avoid that, your dog may attempt to disengage and leave the area.

In 2-Minute Training games there’s no such thing as punishment. Reward what you like, ignore what you don’t. It will take a while for your dog to understand they can try all kinds of stuff. (We talked about one of Simon’s long-awaited breakthroughs in our article “Stay positive in dog training – results come in time.”) It may not be exactly right, but that’s okay. We just try again.

Naked games

Our dogs, who wear nothing in the house, adore playing training games. When we open the door to the basement where we have our little training area, they all barrel down as fast as they can go. They sometimes try to sneak down if we’ve left the door ajar accidentally.

We love and encourage that enthusiasm. Our morning training games are the best way to start the day – having fun with our dogs. And if a particular game doesn’t go the way we wanted it to, there’s always another opportunity.

Recently, Hope decided to start teaching Torque the Utility Obedience glove retrieve. That exercise has three evenly-spaced work gloves at one end of the room. The judge decides which glove (left, center, or right) the dog must fetch and bring back to the owner. If your dog has a fetch behavior, it seems simple enough.

We learned quickly that it’s more complex than that. Torque was stumped. He had no idea what to do with the gloves – he’d never seen them before. With 2-Minute Training games, we easily adapted and took it back to basics.

Torque’s next game was just getting familiar with work gloves. Hope put them on the floor and sat close by. Torque got a click and reward for any interaction with the gloves. Looking at them. Pawing at them. Moving them. After three clicks at each stage, Hope waited for Torque to do something else. Within just a couple of minutes, when putting a paw on the glove no longer got him a click, he moved on to mouthing them, picking them up, even carrying them a step or two.

Clothes don’t make the dog

Even though he didn’t get it “right” – Torque stayed right with the game because he’s not afraid to try new things. That’s because he’s never been punished with a dog training collar, or anything else.He plays naked, as do all our dogs. He stays and plays because he loves it, not because he’s compelled.

Don’t diminish your dog’s spirit with the constant fear of being wrong. You want your dog engaged, happy, learning new things, and eager to participate in training games. It’s such a joy to see dogs fulfilling their potential, making good choices, engaging with their families. Being the family member you dreamed of when you got your dog.

Teach your dog a release word

Every “stop” in dog training needs to have a paired “go.” Otherwise, how does your dog know to stop doing what you’ve asked? Teaching your dog a release word makes it easy. It’s your dog’s “green light” to stand down from a behavior.

Do what I say

The current trend in dog training is not to actually teach a “stay.” The theory is that if you’ve asked your dog to “Sit!,” they should keep doing that until you tell them to do something else. It’s an interesting idea, but there’s no way it will work unless you also teach your dog a release word.

As long as you’re consistent, it doesn’t matter what word you use: Free, Okay, Go, Cabbage. Remember what it is, and teach your dog to recognize it, your release cue can be any word in any language. Like Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass: “When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.”

Use it all the time

Roc is staying in his crate until he hears his release word. — We taught Roc his release word, so he’s staying in his crate until he hears it.

Start by letting your dog hear his/her release cue for transitions. When you release him/her from the crate, use your release word. If your dog doesn’t move when hearing it, close the crate door and step back. Come back to the crate, open the door and say the release word again. This time your dog should understand that it means “move your butt!”

When you open the door to let your dog out in the yard, use the release word. If you’re practicing a “stay” use it to let your dog know it’s time to move. When you finish a training game, use the release word to tell your dog it’s time to “stand down.” When you’re done practicing polite walking, give the release cue to let your dog know it’s time to sniff and be a dog. (Here’s an article about loose leash walking.)

Perfecting the release

To evaluate your dog’s understanding of his release word, play this stop/go stay game: Set your dog up in a sit, and say “Stay.” Remain with your dog. With a single treat in the hand closest to the dog, raise the treat high over the dog’s head and slowly lower it to him/her. If your dog remains in place, without any movement other than the head, put the treat in your dog’s mouth. If your dog moves, raise the treat up and start over.

After three or four successes, stop lowering the treat at about the halfway point and say your dog’s release word. He/she should jump up and get the treat. Celebrate! Good Dog!

Start the game again, until your 2-Minute session expires. You can vary the position for your dog’s stay – sit, down, or stand are all fine. As a matter of fact, you should practice each of the positions for the stay. Your groomer and veterinarian are always appreciative of dogs who know how to stand still!

Don’t make them think

If you teach your dog a release word, it really helps him. It clarifies behaviors. It sets the boundaries and limits – things dogs really love. If you leave a fuzzy boundary for any behavior, your dog won’t know what you want him/her to do and performance will suffer. Sit really does mean sit. Until you’re released to go about your business.

Many people worry about being “mean” to their dogs by setting strict limits. But dogs appreciate knowing the rules. Remember that dogs are binary creatures: yes or no, black or white, stop or go. They like knowing the right thing to do. Make it easy on your dog. Teach them a release word and let them know.

Build on what your dog knows

Giving your dog a strong training foundation means you don’t have to keep reinventing the wheel. You can build on what your dog knows. You can start with the familiar to grow your dog’s understanding, their repertoire of behaviors and tricks, and build your partnership.

If your dog already knows “Place” (whatever you call it; mat, bed, rug), you can use that as a base for teaching your dog to Stay. (“Place” is an integral part of eCourse 1: Clicker and Place. Clicker optional.) Your dog already knows that going into the place is a good thing – he or she always gets a reward for being there. You can start teaching “Stay” simply by extending the timing between reinforcements.

It’s important to be clear about your criteria for words like “Stay!” For those of us training in dog sports, “Stay” means: “do not move any part of your body except your head!” And that’s the definition we use, whether we’re teaching an Obedience Competition stay, or “the doorbell rang, go place!” stay.

For obvious reasons, a completely non-moving stay can’t be held for too long. We use a different word for a more casual interpretation. In this case, it’s “Wait!” which means stay right about there. If you don’t need the more stringent definition, develop your own criteria for “Stay!” It could mean “okay as long as you’re in your place.” Or it could mean “no paws out of Place!” Whatever you decide, stick to it. Dogs don’t understand “maybe” – it’s either right or wrong, yes or no.

Yellow means stay

We’re always finding new uses for common, inexpensive items. One of our favorites is cheap yoga mats. We use them to cushion hard surfaces and indicate “place.” In the dog sport of Agility, the parts of the obstacles dogs must touch are colored yellow. We use pieces of yellow yoga mats to train our dogs to always touch yellow.

Some people think that dogs don’t see colors. They do, although their perception is different from ours. Yellow is a color that they can see, although it’s not as vivid for them as it is for us. Your dog can, in fact, learn to differentiate among identical objects of different colors. That’s a training game all by itself!

Getting back to using what the dog knows, Fran’s Boston Terrier Simon knows to get on the yellow mat and stay there until released. And, when Simon started to understand he always has to touch yellow, she brought her piece of yoga mat to agility class and put it on the obstacle. In only one class, Simon understood the relationship and consistently touched the yellow.

Extending the reach

We brought back the yellow yoga mat piece recently when Simon was having trouble with the “stay, walk around the dog” as a Rally instruction. He kept pivoting to look at Fran as she circled around him. He’s supposed to stay in the same position she left him in as she circles.

“Fixing” the behavior was as simple as putting out that old piece of yellow yoga mat. Fran heeled with Simon up to the mat, told him to “Stay!” and walked around. As simple as that. Using something familiar in a new situation let Simon understand what’s expected of him. He got lots of treats!

Stop Your Dog from Jumping on People

It’s really cute when puppies jump up to get attention. It’s not cute anymore when the dog grows up and isn’t a cute, tiny puppy any more. So how do you stop your dog from jumping on people?

Cry for attention

How do you stop a dog from jumping on you? — A dog jumping on you is a plea for attention.

Dogs don’t generally just jump for joy. When they’re so full of energy they just can’t contain themselves, jumping up and down isn’t the usual behavior. Instead, they’ll get the “zoomies” and run like crazy. If your house, like ours, has a circular path, they’ll make it into a race track. And you’d best just stay out of the way until the zoomies run out.

Jumping, especially on people, is a plea for attention. And the best way to get it to stop is by ignoring it. Which, we freely admit, is easier said than done.

In Hope’s Beginning Obedience/Puppy classes, dogs will often jump on her as she approaches. We don’t know if you can tell from our videos, but she’s not a big person. She’s about five-foot-nothing tall, and not incredibly substantial. In one session, there was a lovely, 50+ lb. Lab puppy named Gus who adored jumping on Hope and grabbing the mask off her face. On his hind legs, Gus is about the same height as Hope, so her mask was well within reach. It’s worth noting that he really is a very nice dog – he never snagged anything but the mask.

Be prepared

Knowing when your dog is likely to jump on someone, and what circumstances trigger the behavior, is key in stopping it. Set up the situation and be prepared.

In this case, Hope had Gus’s people keep hold of his leash until she braced herself and was ready for his enthusiasm. Then she told them to release enough slack for Gus to reach her, but not go past. Gus grabbed the mask again, but Hope did nothing. She didn’t move, didn’t play “tug” with the mask, didn’t look at him, didn’t pay any attention to him. She looked past Gus at his people. And had to tell them repeatedly not to react.

And, after a few seconds of acting the fool, Gus got all four feet on the ground. Immediately, Hope told him what a good boy he was and started petting him. Which triggered his jumping.

Hope instantly returned to braced-statue mode. No reaction whatsoever. And Gus got all four feet on the ground. Which earned him the praise and attention he wanted.

Instant gratification

Timing is important in teaching dogs. If the lesson is “don’t jump on people” there has to be a visible difference. Jump = no attention. No jumping = praise, treats, and attention.

We’ve often said that doing nothing is, by far, the hardest part of dog training. (“The hardest part of dog training“) If you pay attention to behaviors you don’t want, you’re encouraging that behavior. If you remove that attention, the dog has no reason to continue the behavior – it’s not working for him.

Dogs always give you more of the behavior you focus on. If you repeatedly say “off, get off, no jump” it’s paying attention to the behavior. It works much better to emphasize when your dog is doing something you want. Instant praise, treats, or a game of tug will tell your dog he’s being “good,” that you like what he’s doing, and he’ll get more attention with this good choice.

Making good choices

Everyone, dogs included, is sufficiently selfish to do what works best. If jumping on people results in attention, even if it’s “No, No, bad dog,” it’s working. Dogs don’t discriminate between negative and positive attention. To your dog, anytime you focus on them, it’s a good thing.

If you ignore the behavior you don’t want, your dog has no reason to continue doing it. The dog’s behavior isn’t working, so they stop doing it.

If your dog is jumping on someone, have them stand like a statue. Fold their arms across their chest and stare at the ceiling. It may take some repetitions, but your dog will learn that jumping gets them nothing they want. Dogs particularly hate it when you don’t look at them. So make a point of looking away.

Flip side

The other side of the coin has to be just as fast and clear. If the dog has all four feet on the ground, meet their eyes, praise them mightily, and give treats, pets, toys. For as long as the good behavior lasts. Be ready to stop in mid-word if the jumping starts.

It may take some time for the lesson to sink in. Each time the dog gets the same message, the “right” choice penetrates deeper into their personality. By the end of the class session, Gus sat whenever Hope came over to see him. Good boy, Gus!