2-minute tip Archives - Page 20 of 28

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.

Basic Dog Training Games – Game #1: Boxey

Where do you start with dog training games?

It’s a great question, especially if you don’t have an immediate issue to solve and want to start strengthening your relationship with your dog and build your dog’s understanding.

We’ve talked about training natural behaviors and about training for the whole family, but where do you start?

Start with the basics

This week we started training with a family who just adopted a nice little dog. Huey is a young adult Chihuahua/Terrier mix. He’s a nice little dog. Doesn’t mess in the house. Doesn’t bark in the apartment. He doesn’t have any huge behavioral issues. He also doesn’t know how to do much of anything.

Huey is also a smart little guy. When he gets bored and restless, he finds ways to entertain himself. Like stealing a roll of toilet paper and strewing it all over the house.

Tired dogs don’t look for ways to cause mischief. Occupying a dog’s mind, even for two or three 2-Minute dog training games a day, will make sure you have a tired dog. And a tired dog is a good dog. Remember how tired you were after school tests? That’s what 2-Minute dog training sessions are for your dog. But a lot more fun.

Game 1: Here’s a box

The first step is to teach your dog how to learn. And, as part of that learning, trying stuff is okay. As a matter of fact, trying new stuff is fantastic! No matter what your dog does during this game, you’re not allowed to say “No!” You’re also not allowed to make negative noises. You are allowed to re-set.

The stuff you need for this game is a bowl full of treats, your clicker if you use one, and an open box large enough for your dog to sit and/or lie down in, short enough he/she can step into. It can be cardboard or plastic, whatever you have around.

Get your treats, clicker, and box and call your dog. Put the box on the floor between you and your dog. Don’t point at the box, move it, or call it anything at this point. You can stare at the box, and talk to your dog. “What is that thing? What are you going to do about it?” It doesn’t matter if you’re standing, sitting on the floor, or in a chair.

Anything your dog does to interact with the box gets a “click & reward!” Looks at it, sniffs it, nudges it, puts a paw in it – all count. The only thing we wouldn’t reward would be chewing or biting it.

This week you could almost see Huey thinking “What the heck is that? Why should I care?” He ignored the box at first. His mom was patient and just stared at the box. When Huey finally glanced at it, he got a click and a treat, tossed into the box.

Deliver the reward by tossing it in the box. We’re showing the dog that the box has value. Huey was consistently staring at the box after only three or four clicks.

Next on the agenda

Dog training games - starting with Boxey. — Booker’s an old hand at “Boxey.” Here, he was rewarded for having 2 feet in the box.

Very soon, hopefully within just a few treats, your dog will fall in love with his/her new “goodie box.” That’s when you ask for more.

“That was good! What else can you do?” If your dog just looked at the box, wait for him/her to move it. Or put a paw in. Anything that “ups the ante” with box interaction.

It’s important to keep progress moving. It encourages your dog to try something different, something new. He/she is trying to figure out what will get the treats. Don’t be stingy, but keep moving along.

This sequencing will teach your dog to keep trying new things, using his/her brain and body to push the limits of what he/she knows further. And you’ll both be amazed what your dog can accomplish. If you’ve never seen a dog smile, we can almost guarantee it will happen.

Next week’s tip will continue “Fun With A Box,” expanding the behaviors that your dog may come up with and how you’re both learning that it’s a team game – your dog gets what he wants when you get what you want.

Everybody play dog training games

Everybody who lives with your dog should play dog training games. It’s the only way to make sure the dog listens to everybody.

“Board and train” programs are popular now, especially with the many inexperienced people who have acquired dogs in the last year. It sounds like a great idea – send your unruly dog away for a couple of weeks and you’ll have a model citizen canine back.

It doesn’t work that way. The dog may behave wonderfully well for the trainer, but unless you’re familiar and comfortable with the methods, gestures, and words used to get the dog to “be good,” the dog obeys the trainer, not you.

Dogs are wonderful at keeping things in context. “Mom” always insists they sit and stay before she’ll put their food bowls down. She gives them a “release” word, and they’re free to eat. On the other hand, “Dad” is a soft touch and never makes them wait. They swarm as soon as the food bowls leave the kitchen counter.

Have your own games

Every member of the family can play their own games with the dog. Or you can share. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that the dog has a relationship with each member of the family. Even children can play training games.

Oftentimes, they’re better dog trainers than adults, because they don’t have the built-in inhibitions that many adults do. Children often feel more free to talk to dogs, get down on the floor, and play games.

Family dynamics

Dogs understand that they can have different relationships with each member of the family. The crucial point is that each person establishes, and maintains, a relationship with the dog.

We kind of fell down on the job, here. We are sisters who share a house. But we don’t “share” dogs. Because we compete with our dogs in various dog sports, including Obedience, Rally, and Agility, we have specific goals for many of our training games.

Establishing a strong teamwork relationship with our individual dogs is essential. So the other sister, especially when the dog is young, has a tendency to back off.

Get in there and train

The consequence of this was brought home this week. Fran’s 2-year-old Boston Terrier Simon has no training relationship with Hope. He doesn’t pay any attention to her. None.

Simon is a smart and good little guy. But there are things he does that are, not “bad,” but really annoying. And he hasn’t listened to Hope at all when she’s told him to knock it off. Here’s a post about another aspect of dogs being annoying.

Play dog training games

That changes today. Hope will take over at least one game session a day with Simon for at least a week. Then we’ll maintain the connection with at least one or two sessions per week.

It’s opened our eyes to the possibilities we’ve been missing by training our own dogs exclusively. Swapping dogs will not only help us live peaceful lives, it will build a better relationship with each dog in the house. We’ll also learn to be better trainers as we get to know how each dog plays.

Use what’s natural for your dog

All dogs have better scenting ability than people. And all dogs are faster than humans. All dogs have the ability to learn new things throughout their lives. But some dogs are better than others at some things. What’s natural for your dog?

When people domesticated dogs and developed different breeds, dogs became specialists. Certain breeds of dogs became adept at specific tasks. Terriers are independent hunters who “go to ground” (dig) to find their prey. Scent hounds follow a trail. Retrievers get stuff. Herding dogs herd. It’s what they do.

That doesn’t mean that your Chihuahua isn’t capable of tracking a scent. It means that it’s not as natural a behavior for her as it is for a Bloodhound.

Training games take advantage of what your dog does naturally

The most successful training games take advantage of your dog’s instincts. Use what’s natural to play games your dog will understand, enjoy, and succeed with.

Like what?

We know that Boston Terriers, like Boxers, use their paws a lot. It’s how the breed “Boxer” got its name, from the breed’s tendency to stand on their hind legs and “box” with their paws. Even if your dog isn’t one of these breeds, if he uses his paws a lot, turn it into a game. There are a bunch of tricks for this, including the classic “Shake,” and/or “High Five.” If you teach both of these, be sure your hand signals are very different so you don’t confuse your dog.

It's natural for some dogs to use their paws. Torque is playing a paw game, tapping Hope on the leg.

Paw games work well for little games when you’re waiting around with your dog. If you’re in the waiting room at the vet’s office, you can play a paw game. Torque (Hope’s French Bulldog) uses his paws to tap her legs, alternating right and left. It’s another variation that works in tight spaces.

What else?

Some dogs are definitely more vocal than others. If your dog is chatty, why not build it into a behavior that you can signal? You can even make a game turning on and off the sounds with different hand signals or verbal cues.

Some behaviors can even turn into little skits – you can develop a dialogue, incorporating your verbal and hand signals. Perfect it, record it, and it may be the next TikTok sensation. What’s cuter than a dog seeming to understand and talk back?

They do understand

The part that you understand and many people don’t realize, is that your trained dog really does understand. She may not be able to “talk,” but dogs are capable of understanding hundreds of words, if we bother to teach them.

There’s a new product that teaches dogs to “talk” by stepping on programmable buttons. We’re not sure we want to hear what our dogs have to say all the time, but we know we want them to understand us.

If your dog does something interesting, mark it, either with a clicker or a “good!” Chances are your dog will do it again. If you reward the behavior, then name it, it will become part of your dog’s repertoire and fun for both of you. Even when we’ve seen a “trick” a million times, it still makes us smile. See our tip on Trick Training – tricks are not stupid!

Follow your dog’s lead

It’s okay to follow your dog’s lead. You don’t always have to be in charge.

Back in the olden days when we started fairly serious dog training, our first instructor intoned: “Never let a dog make a decision. He’ll always make the wrong one.”

When you know better, you do better. We know better now. We know how to guide our dogs to making good decisions. The dogs love learning and love playing training games, because they get to figure things out and have fun doing it.

Tango changed the game

Tango has been learning to bowl. We've learned to follow our dog's lead.

Tango’s been learning to “bowl” for 15 sessions so far. In 2-Minute-Trainer time, that’s just about half an hour. In almost every session, Tango has picked up a bowling pin. And used it to knock into another pin. He obviously enjoys using a “tool” for the game.

It surprised us, because Tango (Fran’s 11-year-old Brussels Griffon) has never played with toys. He doesn’t carry stuff around, and really doesn’t interact with many objects. He’s a short-faced dog, who has limited vision at this point in his life.

Thinking about it, we wondered if he is uncomfortable knocking over the pins with his muzzle/beard. He’ll never be able to answer the question, but we can follow his lead and change the game.

No rules for your training

Remember that you and your dog are the ones who make the rules for your training games. Tango and Fran aren’t bowling for any objective other than to have fun. Hope’s French Bulldog Torque loves bashing into things, including bowling pins. Tango doesn’t. Tango’s game can be different. We can follow our dog’s lead.

Fran decided to incorporate a “tool” for Tango to use to knock down the pins. She found a suitable object (a Mickey swizzle stick she found in the house) and started using it in the sessions with Tango.

Step by step

Like all new games, Fran introduced the Mickey stick by rewarding Tango for looking at it. Then touching it. Then picking it up. Then holding it. Then moving with it in his mouth.

Because Tango loves playing training games, he’s proving a quick study. In the first session he was already walking around with it.

As you and your dog gain familiarity with step-by-step training games, you’ll find your dog “skipping ahead,” too. It’s proof that your dog gets it, loves it, and will always have fun playing training games with you.

Follow your dog’s lead

Unless you’re aiming for a particular dog sport competition which has its own rules – you’re the one who decides the shape of your dog’s training games. If your dog likes doing things a certain way – why not follow your dog’s lead?

Tango did compete in dog sports. When he was competing in Agility and Rally Obedience, he learned how to perform according to the rules. He’s retired now. And he’s got opinions about how things should be done. It’s okay to do things his way. He’s a very good boy.

You can follow the progress of Tango’s bowling in our weekly newsletter, where we post the videos, as well links to our weekly 2-Minute-Training tips and general dog news.

How to help dogs afraid of loud noises

We helped Peanut the Mastiff, afraid of loud noises.

This week we were called upon to help a dog afraid of loud noises. It’s not your typical case. Peanut is a Mastiff. Not a toy dog, not a “lap dog.” Peanut weighs more than we do.

Peanut is about three years old now. We met him when he was a puppy, just twice as big as Hope’s French Bulldog, Torque. Peanut’s always been timid, but puppy class helped and he was doing well with consistent exposure to different situations.

Pandemic shut-down

And then the pandemic struck. Peanut and his family have had limited contact with the outside world for almost a year. For easy-going dogs, it’s probably not as critical an issue. For Peanut, it stopped his progress in its tracks.

His owners are a lovely, active couple who make sure their dog gets plenty of exercise and goes for long walks daily. They even made sure he got out in the worst weather. On truly bad days, the husband would take Peanut out for a walk and, if they got too cold or it was too sloppy, they’d call for a ride to get home.

Which is where the issue with noises arises.

Two facets of a single problem

Peanut needs a ramp to get up into their car. They can’t lift him – he’s over 100 pounds. One day last week the ramp dropped away from the car and made a loud noise on the garage floor. Peanut was terrified. He wouldn’t go near the ramp again. It took them hours to convince him out of the car.

They just didn’t know how to help their dog. They replaced the ramp with a different one, but Peanut wouldn’t go anywhere near it.

Wisely, they called for help. A single issue, the dog’s fear of loud noises, has two different training solutions. One to address the ramp issue. The second is changing Peanut’s noise phobia.

To get Peanut to use a car ramp again, Peanut has to love the ramp. Now it’s a fear object, with all the terror of the noise itself attached to the ramp.

To get Peanut over being afraid of loud noises, he has to learn to ignore them.

Learning to love again

Peanut the Mastiff is afraid of loud noises and must learn to love his ramp. — This ramp is free-standing – you can read more about it at GollyGear.com.

The ramp aversion is the more immediate problem, since Peanut won’t be able to go anywhere if he won’t use the ramp. An added complication for them – Peanut has severe food sensitivities and is a lackluster eater at the best of times. Fortunately, he is toy-motivated and loves to play with his toys.

Since this is an intense situation, we’ve set some rules for Peanut. All of his toys, every single one, has been removed from the household and hidden in a bin only the people have access to. Several times a day, they take a toy and stand by the ramp. When Peanut puts a paw on the ramp, he gets to play tug with the toy and person. Only if he puts a paw on the ramp.

What we’re doing is attempting to transfer the value of something Peanut loves (his toy) to something he avoids (the ramp). Everybody’s going to have to be patient. Overcoming fear isn’t fast. And Peanut’s fear may be more powerful than his love for his toy at first. Ultimately Peanut will learn to love the ramp – he’ll associate the best rewards with it. (Read more on this: https://2-minute-trainer.com/2020/05/01/all-behaviors-are-equal/)

When Peanut is stepping on the ramp with a single paw fairly consistently, the next step will be to wait for two paws. And reward with play. Then three, and four. Then walking consistently.

Small steps

Peanut’s owners may also face a problem when they move the ramp. Right now it’s in their family room while they address their dog’s fear of loud noises. When they make progress, it will have to move to the garage. And the process may have to start all over again.

We’ve talked before about dogs not being able to generalize. Once people learn to use a spoon, all spoons “work” the same way, regardless of what they look like or where they are. That’s generalizing. Dogs don’t make the same mental leap. A ramp in the family room may not be the same as a ramp in the garage.

Fear of loud noises

The other part of the issue Peanut’s owners need to address is their dog’s fear of loud noises. Contrarily, we don’t want Peanut to love noise. Instead, he needs to learn to ignore it.

In separate training sessions from his ramp game, his owners are going to make their household much louder. One of them will bang pots while the other plays tug with Peanut. Or yell across the house at each other. Or play loud music, or explosion recordings, or fireworks or thunder. If Peanut learns that noise is just a part of life, his life will be less fearful, more fun, and improve immensely.

Get loud

If your dog is afraid of loud noises, try pairing noise with things your dog enjoys. If your dog is food motivated, it’s a little easier for you. Just play those loud recordings during your dog’s mealtimes. Even better if you feed by hand and ask your dog to do “stuff” during meals.

Trying to turn around an established pattern may be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Take it step by step and change the fear into a trigger for something good and/or fun to happen. You and your dog will both be happier if you can overcome the fear of loud noises.

Get your dog to come dashing to you every time

Booker is playing "keep away." He had not learned to come. — Booker playing “keep away.”

Do you have a dog who likes to play “keep away?” It’s frustrating and can be scary – especially if you’re in a heavy-traffic area.

You can get your dog to come running to you whenever you call. One of the best games for recalls (“come”) just turns “Keep Away” around! What do you think would happen if YOU were the instigator of this version of “Keep Away?”

Catch Me If You Can

This game asks that you act against every instinct you have. When your dog takes off running away from you, or dances just out of reach, everyone’s first impulse is to run after the dog, or try and grab him. It’s natural. And it’s wrong.

Instead, you’re going to work with the fact that your dog has exactly the same instinct. After all, both humans and dogs are predators. We share the “chase” reaction. So we’re going to use it.

Playing the game

In a controlled environment, where you know your dog can’t get away from you (indoors, or a fenced area), bring your leashed dog and have a pouch of really top-notch treats ready to use. If your dog is more toy than food motivated, bring the best tug toy your dog loves. If you can hide the toy so your dog doesn’t realize you have it, even better. We’ve been known to stuff toys up under our shirts if they don’t fit in a pocket.

When you get to the safe spot, without saying anything to your dog, drop the leash and take off running away from him/her. If your dog isn’t paying attention, you can yell his/her name while you run away.

Really run. No half-baked pretend running, or sideways running to keep an eye on your dog. You’ve made sure Fido can’t get away. All dogs are faster than we are. Get into the spirit of the game. Run!

As soon as your dog catches up with you, grab the dog’s collar with one hand and start shoveling treats into his mouth with the other. Or if you have that toy, whip it out and play tug. Celebrate!

A note about using toys as rewards: The reward is playing tug with you. It’s not getting the toy and playing by himself. Don’t drop or throw the toy. Keep hold of it and offer it to your dog for a game of tug. If you let your dog play by herself, you’ve undone all the good you just achieved. We’re establishing that you are a component of the reward. Without you, there’s no fun game.

Do it again

After a half-dozen treats (or so), or a minute of tugging, start the whole thing again. Take off running, away from your dog. When she catches you, reward with a jackpot of treats, or a game of tug.

Rinse and repeat

That’s all there is to it. Playing this game will teach your dog that coming to you is always a good thing. There will be treats, toys, and you!

You’ll find more fun games that will convince your dog that the only place he wants to be is with you in Book 2: Come!

Dog games: Ring stacking game for dogs

Yes, your dog is smarter than a two-year-old!

And you can easily teach your dog the ring stacking game, one of baby’s favorite toy games!

All you need is a post, rings that easily fit on it, some treats, and your dog. We recommend a clicker, too, but it’s not essential. As long as you consistently “mark” good decisions, a word (good!) is fine.

Step by step

When you start teaching your dog something new, break the behavior down into little nuggets that can be assembled into the whole behavior.

With the ring stacking game, start with just one ring. Put it on the floor near your dog. The goal is to get your dog to pick it up, but she doesn’t understand that, yet. Watch carefully. When she looks at the ring, mark it! If she gets close to the ring, mark it! If she sniffs it, mark it! If she picks it up, celebrate! Good dog! Lots of treats!

What if your dog moves the ring with a paw, instead of her mouth? Ignore it. It’s not what you want, and it may cause confusion if you change the criteria later. Mouth? Yes! Paw? Try again, that’s not what we want.

Next on the agenda

The next step is to have your dog move while holding the ring. The easiest way to do this is for you to start moving as soon as the dog has the ring in his mouth. If he drops it, stop. Wait for him to pick it up again and start moving.

At this point, you can place the post you’ll be using to stack the rings. When your dog has the ring in his mouth, move toward the post and wait. At first, if your dog drops it anywhere touching the post, reward. We want to let the dog know that the ring has to touch the post. When he has that idea, we’ll get pickier and expect him to place the ring over the post.

Onward!

We have a total of six rings. We use diving rings because the rings that came with our post were too chubby for our dogs to hold and manipulate easily. Now we toss all six rings down and our dogs, knowing the game, get each one, carry it across, and place it on the post.

If the ring doesn’t go over the post, just wait. The lack of reinforcement (praise and/or treat) will let your dog know it’s not quite right and, hopefully, he will try again.

Here’s a successful session in which Torque completed the game in about a minute with all 6 rings:

Torque plays the ring stacking game

Hints for success

Reward for the “same thing” only about three times per session. Looking at the ring is great, but we want to move on after the third time. Picking up the ring is terrific – three times. Then we need more. If you expect your dog to do more, he will!

Keep each session short – that’s why we call it 2-Minute training. Dogs think and process what they’ve learned. The next session, either later or the next day, start with a brief “refresher.” If your dog is stumped, take a step back to the point he/she was successful.

Dogs learn what’s “good” by associating the “thing” with the reward. Try to place your reward (treat) near the post, so your dog knows the post is a good thing. She may not know what to do with it right away, but she’ll be happy to be around it.

This may sound odd, but “show” your dog how the game works. You pick up a ring (you don’t have to use your mouth – you have thumbs!), carry it over, and put it on the post. Dogs do learn by watching.

Try not to be frustrated or lose patience with your dog. If it’s all brand new, it may take some time to catch on to the ring stacking game. Keep in mind that playing only two minutes at a time, a dozen sessions is less than half an hour. Read about a session a while ago when Torque completely forgot how to play the game.

Remember how dogs learn

Just by watching how your dog relates to the game, you’ll be able to see how he/she learns. Some dogs will get it right away. Others will learn one step easily and have difficulty with another. Just like us, all dogs have unique learning styles.

Part of learning is processing. You may have one completely awful game session. The next time, your dog may be brilliant. Giving your dog time to “think” about it helps them achieve success.

If you do have a session that falls off the rails, just stop and regroup. Your dog is doing the best he/she can, willing to play with you. Be grateful for the wonderful companion you have and try again later.

It’s all about choice in dog training

Dog training is up close and personal. You can’t do it remotely. And you shouldn’t let someone else train your dog. There are gadgets that are supposed to work – but those are tools you can use. Not people replacements.

Dealing with a bad dog owner

We got a call this week from a person looking for a “thing” that would stop her dog from jumping over her fence. She had no idea what she wanted, she just wanted something that would do the “job” of keeping her dog in her yard. Her choice in dog training was not to do it.

She has two options:

A taller fence (her current one is four feet)
A leash, with her attached to the other end

She didn’t much like the options we offered. And highly resented the fact that tethering her dog in the yard is illegal. Not to mention highly dangerous for the dog, which is why it’s illegal. This person shouldn’t own a dog.

Teaching takes time

If you want your dog to understand the boundaries of your territory, you have to teach your dog where the boundaries are. If you want your dog to stop jumping over the fence, you have to teach your dog it’s not a good choice. And you have to offer your dog a more rewarding option.

That’s the key phrase, and one we can’t emphasize enough. Dogs always do what’s most rewarding. They will, absolutely dependably, choose to do what makes them happiest. It’s up to us to teach our dogs that doing what we want is the best, most rewarding, most fun option.

That’s dog training in a nutshell.

Pay your money, make your choice in dog training

Dog trainers often say that people get the dog they need, when they need it. If your dog has a behavior you don’t like, you have to decide whether you’ll become a better trainer or you live with the behavior.

If your dog is a counter-surfer; you’re either right there whenever your dog is in the kitchen teaching better choices, or you leave nothing on the counter, ever.

If your dog jumps the fence; you put a long line on your dog and go out with him every single time teaching boundaries, or you get a higher fence.

Dog’s aren’t convenient

Booker could jump the fence. We made in choice in our dog training to go out with him. — Booker could jump over the fence. That’s why he never goes outside by himself.

We go outside with our dogs every time they leave the house. It’s not convenient. We’d rather stay on the nice cozy couch, trust them to “do their business,” and come home again.

But we don’t have robotic dogs. We have dogs that, without supervision; eat dirt, bark at the neighbors, bark at the neighbors’ dogs, bark at cars, and eat rabbit poop. To prevent all of those things, we’re right there. And when we see our dogs make good decisions, like glancing at the neighbor and looking back to us, we’re right there to reward that good choice to be quiet.

Choices in dog training include the “battles” you choose to fight, and those you’d rather just manage. If your dog goes digging in the bathroom wastebasket all the time, we completely understand moving the wastebasket rather than dealing with the issue. Some things just aren’t worth the effort to train. (Here’s another post about that choice: https://2-minute-trainer.com/2020/03/24/set-up-for-success-no-more-counter-surfing/)

Along with that choice comes the realization that your dog is going to do some stuff that aggravates you and you’ve chosen to live with it. If that’s your decision, it’s also up to you not to get angry or yell when your dog does it.

We have a saying for that: “Train, don’t complain.”

See your dog and adapt to the dog you see

There’s a saying in dog training “train the dog in front of you.” It’s good advice, as long as you see your dog. Like every person, every dog is unique. Our job, as our dog’s world interpreter, is to explain things how that dog needs.

Tango demonstrated it this week

See the dog in front of you and adapt! Fran saw that Tango was having trouble understanding the game when the pins were staggered.

If you’ve been following along in our newsletter, you know that Tango, Fran’s 11-year-old Brussels Griffon has been learning how to “bowl” – knocking over toy bowling pins. Tango loves playing training games, but he’s not the fastest to catch onto things. Fran’s learned over the years that he does eventually get it – as long as it’s explained in bits he understands.

Last week he showed us that he doesn’t understand when the pin layout is staggered. He was okay as long as they were in a straight line, but the small difference was too great a leap for him.

Booker (Fran’s Boston) and Torque (Hope’s French Bulldog) had no problem generalizing from a straight line to a staggered one. But Tango does. Fran has to train Tango where he is.

No comparing to others

Saying (or thinking) “But So-And-So got it right away! Why doesn’t Whatsit understand?” isn’t helpful. Whatsit is a different dog than So-And-So and needs to be taught differently. Even if they’re the same breed. Even if they’re siblings.

Fran and Hope are sisters. They sport a distinct family resemblance and have often been mistaken for one another. But they’re very different people. Hope learns by listening, Fran is a visual learner.

It’s up to you to see your dog and figure out how best to manage the steps of teaching your dog any new behavior – whether it’s a fun trick, not pulling on leash, or greeting guests politely.

Seeing your dog

Dogs always do what’s most rewarding for them. And it could be anything – from food, to toys, to attention from you. Playing training games with you should be the most rewarding of all – they get both your attention and a physical reward as well.

If your dog is loving the games, but just not understanding what you’re teaching, it’s up to you to adapt to the dog in front of you. See your dog. Figure out what works and what’s baffling. Go back to where your dog was successful and take smaller steps forward. (Read more about setting your dog up for success.)

Next time, Tango’s bowling pins will start in a straight line. One in the middle will move slightly for each repetition. When that one is no longer a problem, another one will move slightly each time. Because that’s how Tango has shown us he needs to learn. We want to keep challenging him, with a goal we know he can reach.

Click here to see Tango’s latest bowling session (YouTube will open in a new tab.)

Your dog will show you who he/she is. See your actual dog. And train the dog in front of you.