November 2024 - 2 Minute Trainer

Every Stop Needs a Go

A “Stay!” Is your dog’s stop sign. Whatever position they’re in. Wherever they are. The release word you choose is the dog’s signal to move. Every stop needs a go.

Let’s say you’re driving around the city in fairly heavy traffic. You come to an intersection and the light turns red as you approach. Theoretically, you passed your driver’s license test, so you know you have to stop. And you also know you’re not going anywhere until the light turns green. Until you get your release signal.

Picture what would happen if nobody knew those signals. If every car just went on its merry way whenever the driver felt like it. The traffic wouldn’t be heavy. It would be chaotic.

Dog traffic signals

Teaching your dog the “Stay!” won’t work until you pair it with a release word. If dogs are allowed to self-release from a stay, then “Stay!” means nothing.

You know you want your dog to stay while you’re accepting a delivery and the door’s open. You want them to stay put until the door is safely shut again. But your dog doesn’t know that. They don’t understand “Stay until I close the door.” Dogs can understand “Stay until you hear your release word.” Your “Place” game will help with this, too.

Motion triggers

Most dogs will move when you move. They try to keep you in sight. When our students are teaching their dogs “Stay!” most pair a step and/or arm motion when giving their release word. Dogs are really good at absorbing the whole picture. If you stand stock still while your dog is holding a “Stay!” and move when you release them, that’s what they learn. They stay when you stay, they move when you move.

That’s why you have to disconnect your motion from both the “Stay!” and “Free!” commands. You have to be able to move when your dog is staying. And you must not move when releasing your dog from a “Stay!”

Make it easy for your dog

The best way to confuse your dog is being okay with them getting it wrong. If they move before you release them, they don’t understand either stop or go. Trying to fix something just confuses them even more. If they break the “Stay!” just move to a new position and start again.

Dogs trained with positive reinforcement know there are no horrible consequences for getting stuff wrong. They’re not afraid to try again. And most dogs really want to get it right, so they work with you. Because they also know there’s a celebration jackpot when they get it right. Every stop needs a go. Make it easy for your dog to get that jackpot.

Training Game: Target Training

Target training is one of those dog skills that gets more useful the longer you know it. When your dog will reliably go to a target and touch it, the possibilities are endless. You can bring your dog in close, or send them far away. If you play dog sports, like agility, it can even help your dog understand what bits of the obstacles they must touch.

If your dog already knows “Touch!” you’re a good chunk of the way to target training. Instead of your hand, the target is an object, like the lid of a plastic container, that can be easily moved. That way you can even teach your dog to go away from you. Achieving training at a distance is something many trainers aspire to. Target training your dog will help you get there.

Possibly the most useful part of target training is giving your dog something to do in a stressful situation. Let’s imagine you have to walk through a crowded area with your dog. If your dog will, reliably, stay focused on touching the target, you can sail through without problems. It sure beats having to worry about all the little things that might distract or upset your dog and cause them to react poorly.

Calming their nerves

All of the little focus games we play are meant to make life easier. Teaching your dog how to deal with stress, especially if you have an anxious dog, is important. Giving your dog something familiar, repetitive, and enjoyable to do helps with stress. Target training can also include an element of “find it,” and expands on the possibilities of “Touch!” where you’re always in reach.

The first thing to do is decide on a target object. It can be anything you choose, so think about where and when you might use it. We generally use plastic lids from assorted food products – cottage cheese, butter, sour cream. Ice cream lids work well, too. And provide a reason to buy ice cream.

While you’re choosing, think about the color of the item. It should be highly visible on whatever surface you tend to practice on. We have blue matting on the floor, so the white lids are a bright contrast.

First step

If you’ve been following 2-Minute-Trainer for any time, you’ll recognize the first part of the process. All you have to do is put the target on the floor, stare at it, and wait for your dog to do something. If your dog looks at it, or sniffs it, or licks it, put a treat on the target. Don’t feed the dog from your hand. Put it on the target. We want the dog to understand that good things happen on the target when they interact with it. If your aim is a nose touch, don’t reward the dog for pawing at the target. Likewise, if they pick it up in their mouth, no reward. Be specific about what you want. Reward only when you get it.

If you’re not in a position to reward (you have to go get more treats), be sure to pick up the target so the dog doesn’t have access. If they perform the behavior you want and don’t get rewarded (you weren’t there), the learning flow will be disrupted. The value of touching the target will diminish for every touch that doesn’t get rewarded.

On your merry way

Most dogs pick up on target training almost immediately. When you’re pretty sure that your dog understands the idea, move the target around. Will they follow it? If you hold it up, will they reach to touch it? What about if someone else places it across the room? Will they search for it and play hide and seek?

Target training can prove incredibly powerful. Hope’s French Bulldog girl Dax loved her targets. Their first-ever agility competition was held at an indoor soccer arena. Needless to say, there are all kinds of white circles painted in the turf in the venue. Dax had to go and touch each of them, sure there would be treat. It wasted a little time, but they did qualify and Dax was more relaxed, knowing she had a job to do.

If you are involved in any dog sports, you can use the target to teach your dog correct performance of several different exercises and obstacles. For agility, a target at the end of the dog walk teaches the dog to touch the entire down side. Likewise with the A-Frame. In Obedience, placed at the landing side of the Broad Jump, it teaches the dog to jump straight out before coming to “Front!”

Use it wherever

If you’re using the target as a training tool, teaching your dog where you want him to go, be sure it’s pre-baited with a treat or that someone will be nearby to reward immediately. If dogs don’t get rewarded for doing things right, there’s no reason for them to continue doing it. Once the dog learns the behavior, you can randomize and eventually eliminate the target, if you choose. If/when you do, be sure to maintain the rate of reward. The target was a tool to “explain” the behavior to the dog and your good dog deserves to be rewarded for it.

Watch your body language when dog training

Most people in dog training classes don’t realize how carefully dogs watch your body language. They notice everything. Without realizing it, you could be sending your dog a message you don’t intend.

The one we see most often is in heeling exercises. Ideally, your dog’s shoulder should be about even with your left leg. Your dog’s job is to maintain that position whenever you’re heeling.

Many dogs lag a bit behind their people, especially when performing turns or circles with the dog on the outside of the curve.

It’s perfectly natural. The dog has a longer path than yours when they’re on the outside. But it’s not what you want. Your dog should adjust their pace to maintain proper heel position.

But when the dog starts to lag, the person almost always glances back, over their shoulder, to see where the dog is. Their left shoulder moves back, and the dog notices that and lags even more.

Fix it

The cure for this is easy. Keep your shoulders straight and the dog will hustle to get up into the correct position. But remembering to do that takes some effort. That’s one of the reasons we encourage all our students to take video of their practice. Pay careful attention to the message your posture is communicating.

Another common body language cue also tells the dog “back up.” You can demonstrate this for yourself with any dog – even one who’s never done any obedient thing in their life. Call your dog to you. If they come nice and close in front of you, lean forward, just a little bit. Chances are they’ll back up immediately. That’s how sensitive your dog is to your body language. Even a slight lean is enough to make many dogs move.

Stay woes

Dogs’ responsiveness to our physical cues has caused many problems for people teaching their dogs to stay. At first, while the dog is learning, any motion on your part is enough to ruin your dog’s stay. Dogs have to be actively taught to ignore our motion when asked.

When you start to teach your dog “Stay!,” don’t move. Just the hand rewarding the dog should be your only motion. Any twitch, glance, or lean can cue an untrained dog to move. Introduce motion gradually, after your dog has some inkling of what stay is about. If your dog is in front of you, just lean to one side or the other. When they can “Stay!” through your lean, take a baby step to either side. Then a real step. It really is a step-by-step process to be able to walk around your dog.

Notice your motion

Smart dog owners will be able to take advantage of their dog’s body language perception. We use very subtle cues to let our dogs know their positioning isn’t quite right. If the dog is coming to “Heel!” and stops a bit too far back, a little shoulder twitch tells them to move up. A weight-shift from one side to the other corrects their course on a Recall.

For many of the training games, your first cue to your dog is looking at the object, whether it’s a dog bed for “Place!” or your own hand for “Touch!” Your attention to that thing will draw your dog’s. Another easy experiment: Stare at the ceiling. It won’t take long before your dog is looking up, too!

Dog Training’s Hardest Part

Waiting is dog training’s hardest part.

It’s also the most important part. If you can’t resist temptation and tell your dog what to do, the dog will never figure it out on their own. You’ll spend the dog’s entire life telling them.

That gets old after a while. You start to think to yourself “Why doesn’t my dog know this by now? We’ve been doing it the same way for years!” It’s because you never gave your dog the gift of letting them think it through.

Perfect example

Teaching dogs the “Place!” Game is where we see it most often in our classes. No question, it’s hard to just stand there, staring at a mat. Sometimes the dog doesn’t even look at it during class. The people get discouraged and say “Can’t I just tell him?” “Can I point to it?”

No. No you can’t. Because the whole point of the game is for the dog to figure out that their action triggers the jackpot. When they choose to look at the mat, sniff the mat, step on the mat, sit on the mat, lie down on the mat, the treats rain down.

Once they do figure it out for themselves, your life gets easier. When you need the dog out of the way for any reason, whether it’s the pizza delivery guy at the door, or Grandpa halt-stepping through the room, your dog will understand what to do when you say “Place!”

So just wait. Stare at the darn mat for the whole training session. The dog may not get it today. But at some point, they’ll wonder what’s so fascinating about that thing. They’ll start interacting with it. And once the treats start falling from above, the lesson will be well on its way.

Opposite side of the coin

It’s difficult to wait for the dog to do something. It’s just as hard to exercise patience for them to stop doing something. But you can’t teach a dog “don’t.” You can reward the behavior you want.

Let’s use jumping on people as our example. Most people just grab their dog’s collar and haul them away, apologizing to the jumpee all the while. They’ve stopped the current problem, but done nothing to teach the dog what to do.

Instead, if you have a cooperative jumpee, set up the situation. While the dog is being rude and trying to get in the person’s face, what if everybody ignored the behavior and stared at the ceiling. Then, the instant the dog has all four paws on the ground, the dog gets rewarded and lots of attention. Just a few repetitions and most dogs catch on. If the dog gets even more treats and pets for sitting, they’ll probably choose to sit.

Thinking creatures

Think about it this way. If you think your dog is smart, they probably are. They’re also probably lazy. Which means they’ll happily foist off the chore of thinking if you let them. Thinking requires effort. Why should they do the work when you’re right there to do it for them?

The irony here is that once dogs do learn to think and make good choices, it snowballs. Dogs love solving puzzles, playing training games, and figuring stuff out. That first time you just wait them out will be rewarded many times over through your years together.

Dog training’s hardest part, like many things in life, is worth the payout. You can continue to do things the easy way and always tell your dog what to do. But in the long run, it’s easier on both of you if your dog actually knows what to do.

10 Dog Training Tips

Dogs are smart. They’re learning sponges, eager to absorb whatever you want to teach them. Use these 10 dog training tips and the sky’s the limit for you and your dog!

Everyone, dogs included, learns better and retains more when they’re having fun. Training isn’t a chore, it’s a chance to have fun with your dog.

Dog training isn’t tedious or prolonged. Short, fast, fun training games work. Concentrate on training for a few minutes at a time, ideally no more than five.

Dogs need time to process and absorb what they learn. Just because your dog didn’t get it today, doesn’t mean they won’t be brilliant later or tomorrow.

Vary your posture, place, and the dog’s position. If you do the same thing the same way all the time, that’s the only way the dog will know it. The classic example is “Sit!” Most people face their dogs, hold a treat up, and say “Sit!” If the dog is beside them, they don’t get it.

You don’t get to decide what your dog’s favorite things are. You may not like that your dog hates the expensive treats you got, but you have to accept it. If your dog prefers celery to salmon, use the celery. If they prefer toys to food, use toys as their reward.

Be patient. Whatever behavior you’re trying to modify is probably a habit. Changing a habit is hard and takes lots of determination. See last week’s 2-Minute Tip for more about patience!

Dogs don’t understand “sometimes” or “close enough.” If the dog sits when you ask for a “Down!” and you accept it, your dog will never understand either one. Set clear criteria and stick to them. That’s not being mean, it’s helping the dog understand.

Be honest with your dog. If you’re planning to give them a bath, don’t call them to get a cookie. If you’re leaving the house, don’t sneak out. Dog’s trust is easily broken.

Relax and enjoy. Training your dog is an ongoing and life-long process. You’re not trying to achieve anything except having the biggest, best life with your best friend.

Your dog wants to learn. Giving them the chance to live up to their potential is a gift to them. Dogs like knowing stuff. It helps them understand and cope with our human world.

Whether you’re aiming for relaxing walks around the neighborhood or the highest level of dog sports competition, these 10 dog training tips will come in handy. Nobody has to have a dog. You decided to get a dog for fun and company. They’re great at that. They’re also happier when you teach them the skills they need to be good dogs.