2-minute tip Archives - Page 7 of 28

Whisper to your dog

There’s a person on this planet who claims an ability to “whisper” to dogs. Nonsense. This tip has nothing to do with that person’s outdated, cruel, made-for-video dog harassment. We’re sorry that a perfectly lovely, onomatopoeic word has been corrupted. Because we do, in fact, want you to whisper to your dog.

Quite serendipitously, we learned this week how useful it can be. In an otherwise horrible, terrible, very bad week (both sisters down-for-the-count with Covid), it was the brightest discovery. We had no voices, no “Mom voice,” no audible authority. So we whispered to our dogs. And they listened.

A wonderful, quiet surprise

Understand that a significant part of dog training, for us, has been about the volume. Public spaces tend to be noisy. Dog training classes always start out noisy. Dog shows are super noisy, especially if a performance event is held in conjunction with a conformation show, which is often the case. Added to the crowd sounds, dogs barking, loudspeaker announcements, catering, are blow-dryers. Not a good place to hear yourself think.

So we’ve always given our dogs short, easy-to-yell names. Our students might argue differently, but we’re not, by nature, loud people. We’ve never been “hushed” by a librarian in our lives. And we’ve spent a lot of time in libraries. It’s taken years for us to shed the polite volume of conversation for the projection teaching demands. But it’s important, so we do it.

Along the way, we may have become louder with our own dogs. Even harsh-sounding at times. Which is odd to listen to, because every time we play training games with our dogs, the overwhelming emotion is joy. This loving, lovable being wants to play with me!

So we whisper to our dogs

We’ve often said that the best part of every day is the time we get to play training games with our dogs. Those couple of minutes when you’re in sync and having fun set the whole day off right. We always say, “Tell your dog everything,” so we weren’t quite sure how it would go the day we woke up with super-low, no-volume voices. We whispered because there was nothing else to do.

So we tried it. And the dogs loved it. They listened harder to make sure they didn’t miss anything. We even got the cutest head tilt from Booker (he’s the only one who actually does it). Their focus was intense. It was wildly successful.

That’s not to say it’s always going to work that way. Just like anything else, if you do it all the time, it’s no longer interestingly different. Then it’s just another routine. But every once in a while, it’s worth trying. Maybe if you’re having a hard time getting your dog’s attention. Or if they seem distracted or a bit “off” that day.

Old memories bring smiles

It actually reminded us of our mother. When we were growing up, she rarely, if ever yelled. Instead, if she wanted us to stop fighting, or pay attention, she whispered. We know of some parents who go so far as to just pretend they’re talking.

Try it! When you whisper to your dog, it’s a pretty effective way to get your dog (or your kids!) to be quiet and listen, instead.

Dog Trainers Talk To Aliens

If aliens ever really show up on Earth, the most in-demand people will be animal trainers. Think about it. Who else makes a regular practice of clearly communicating with another species? Dog trainers talk to aliens all the time. It’s what we do..

Granted, the shoe would be on the other foot. If an alien species gets here, they’ll clearly be far ahead of us in terms of technology, if not intelligence. Although, since they’ve probably cracked faster-than-light travel, and we haven’t, they’ve probably got us there, too.

But assuming we don’t have Star Trek’s Universal Translator by then, who’s most familiar with trying to figure out what non-humans are trying to communicate? It’s animal trainers in general. And maybe dog trainers specifically.

No one else has a better understanding of what it takes to clearly communicate with an alien species. In the thousands of years dogs have thrown in their lot with humans, they still haven’t developed the anatomy to speak our languages.

Communicating clearly

So how can people communicate clearly with dogs? By understanding how dogs learn and making use of that knowledge. Dogs are actually pretty straightforward:

Dogs always do what’s most rewarding to them.
Dogs learn by the timing and placement of rewards.
What gets rewarded gets repeated.
And, for unknown reasons that we’re profoundly grateful for, dogs really do want their people to be happy.

Timing is key

One of the best things you can do to clarify things for your dog is to work on your timing. That’s one of the reasons we advocate using a clicker. If your finger’s on the clicker button while your eyes are on your dog, you’ll hit that button as soon as you see something you like. Taking the time to think about it, travel from your eyes to your brain to your mouth to say “Good Whatever!” may not be as instantaneous. Your message to your dog may get muddied. Especially if your dog, like ours, is extremely active and busy.

You can see a clear demonstration of this in our video “Booker learning to “Push!” Like all the Boston Terriers we’ve known, Booker uses his paws a lot. For this game, the objective was to have him use his nose or muzzle to “Push!” the bowl. It’s the beginning of an idea we have for a “hockey” game for our dogs.

In the video, Fran’s eyes are glued on Booker’s interaction with the bowl. The clicker is in her hand, ready to go. As soon as he swaps using his paws for his nose, he hears the click and gets a reward. Because we’re human and we tend to talk to our dogs, Fran also says “Yes!” when she sees it. That’s okay. He knows he’s good and he repeats the action that got him the “click” and reward.

Crystal clear

Also notice where Fran rewards Booker in this sequence. She doesn’t pull him away from the game. She brings the reward to the “thing” he’s supposed to be focusing on. And it works. Booker knows that the bowl is the object of the game. He doesn’t really know what he’s supposed to do with it yet, but that’s okay. It’s a process.

Good timing and reward placement are key to bridging the communications gap between you and your dog. You’re never going to be able to speak “dog.” And your dog will never speak English. But you can still understand each other. Let’s hope the aliens are patient with us, as we are with our dogs.

Teach, don’t tell, your dog

Your dog learns nothing if you’re always telling them what to do. You need to turn that around and teach, don’t tell, your dog.

As an example, the most common dog issue we address every single class is dogs jumping up on people. Every time a dog jumps on someone, the dog’s owner tells the dog “off” or “down” and pulls on the dog to make that happen. If the dog’s on leash, they pull on the leash. Wearing a collar? They pull on the collar. If the dog’s naked, they grab the dog’s legs or shoulders to make it happen.

Stop doing that. For two reasons:

It doesn’t work. Witness the fact that you have to keep doing it.
It teaches your dog nothing. Evidenced by the fact that your dog’s still doing it.

If you need more convincing that your current practice isn’t helping, try looking up Einstein’s definition of insanity. If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got.

Do this instead

It’s hard to teach any dog what “not” to do. Instead, give your dog an alternate greeting behavior that everyone will enjoy. How about you teach your dog to “Sit!” to say hello?

Set up the situation by enlisting the help of a friend who won’t mind, and won’t get hurt, if your dog does jump on them. Arrange a time and place that your friend will come to your house or meet you. Have your dog on leash and as your friend arrives, tell your dog to “Sit!” Your friend comes over to you and your sitting dog. Both of you give treats, praise, and pets to your dog as long as they’re sitting. If the dog gets up or jumps on the friend, both of you immediately disengage with the dog, stay quiet, fold your arms across your chest, and stare at the ceiling.

Your dog won’t know what’s happening at first. They may keep jumping, or nudging at either or both of you. Ignore it. Don’t say anything. Your dog may act a fool for a bit. That’s okay. Just wait. Sooner or later, your dog will figure out what was working and try it again. As soon as the dog is sitting, both of you praise, pet, and reward the dog. Make a big fuss for good behavior. Repeat as needed.

Hold up your end of the bargain

Depending on the dog and the people, and how long the behavior’s been entrenched, it may take a few sessions to get the message across. Letting your dog think it through is the way to teach them, rather than tell them, how to act.

All dog training is negotiating with your dog. They get what they want (attention) when you get what you want (polite behavior). Dogs aren’t picky about the kind of attention they get. Dogs don’t distinguish between positive attention (praise, rewards, pets) and negative attention (shouting, corrections, punishment). As long as you’re paying attention to them, they’re happy. Pulling on them, yelling at them, kneeing them in the chest is all attention. That stops the behavior for the moment. But it’s a very temporary fix.

Take it out for a ride

It won’t really take long for your dog to get in the habit of “Sit To Greet!” for you and your friend. When your dog is successful most of the time, change the friend you practice with. Or change the place you’re practicing. Go to the friend’s house, or a different friend’s house. Let your dog know that the same behavior is good wherever you are, whoever you’re meeting.

When you think your dog’s understanding is pretty solid, go someplace you can recruit a couple dog-friendly strangers to reward your dog for polite behavior. Go to a pet shop, veterinarian’s office, grooming shop, or any dog-friendly place. When you ask people to help, explain what you’re up to and what you expect your dog to do. With our own dogs we’ve even set ourselves up outside a nearby commuter train station. In that situation, look for people not hurrying, who smile at your cute dog. Those are the ones most likely to help.

Just ask one or two people, then call it a day. You don’t want to overload your dog. This kind of exercise, especially with strangers, can be stressful, stimulating, and exhausting for your dog. Having to think and control their impulses is hard work. You can judge how your dog is doing with a small sample. It takes a while for the taught behavior to become your dog’s first response. Give them time to get it right.

It will happen

Most of the dogs in our “Manners” classes jump on people at the start. And we offer ourselves as the “friendly stranger” every week. The first week, all the dogs jump on us and it takes a while. The second week, there’s usually an initial jump followed fairly quickly by a “Sit!” The third week, most dogs sit as soon as we head in their direction.

What actually takes the most practice is getting the people to be quiet and stop physically manipulating their dogs. Common courtesy demands that we don’t let our dogs jump on other people. But in this case, we have to put politeness aside and let them be rude. When rudeness doesn’t work, the dogs engage their brains and try something else. So, we’ve seen that it doesn’t work if we just tell our dogs what to do. Teach, don’t tell, your dog.

Dog Training “D’s” aren’t grades

D is for dog. It’s also for the three things that can torpedo any behavior, trick, or exercise. The three dog training “d’s” are Distance, Duration, and Distraction.

You need all three if you want to be successful in any dog sport or performance event. They matter for household obedience, too. But you can’t “work” on all of them at once. Pick one at a time. There are games you can play for each one, but only one per 2-Minute session.

Distance is hard

If you’re teaching your dog “Stay!” the three “d’s” are crucial components of the behavior. Whether you’re letting the plumber in the house, carrying a pasta pot, or hosting Great Aunt Gertrude for afternoon tea, there are times you’d appreciate it if your dog would just not move. A reliable “Stay!” is worth the effort it takes to achieve.

Don’t ever consider a “Stay!” anything but hard work. The last thing most dogs want is to sit back and observe. They want to be part of the action, in the thick of it. To teach your dog to “Stay!” choose a spot that’s very quiet, away from any commotion. If there’s no such thing, pick a place where the dog can see what’s going on without moving.

You can work on the distance “D” by having your dog sit in the middle of a room so that you can move all the way around them. Tell them to stay and start moving. Picture your dog as the hub of a wheel, and you move back and forth between the hub and the rim – be the spokes. Vary the distance you move every time – sometimes take a single step, middle distance, as far as you can get. Then go directly back to your dog and reward them for staying every time you finish a “spoke.” Move at an even pace, but keep moving all the time.

If your dog gets up, or lies down, don’t fix it. Use your non-reward marker and move your dog to a different position and start over. Out and back to your dog. Make it speedy at first. You can slow down your motion as your dog becomes more familiar with the exercise and starts to understand what’s expected. The faster you move, the more times you get back to your dog, the more rewards your dog gets for staying in place.

Duration is harder

When you work on the duration aspect of the stay, don’t leave your dog. Stand there right next to, or in front of, your dog. The first time you practice “duration” keep the reward rate high and steady. Try not to test the limits of your dog’s patience at first. Watch your dog for signs of movement, as mentioned in teaching the “Stay!,” the only things the dog’s allowed to move are his/her head or tail. Any paw movement isn’t a “Stay!” If you see it, start over again in a different spot. You don’t have to move far, but you should reset and try again.

You may find that your dog thinks they’re finished as soon as they get a treat. This is “one and done” syndrome and it’s fairly common. The fix is to have a second reward ready to pop into your dog’s mouth as soon as they swallow the first one.

Because of the many, many treats dogs can consume for this exercise, it’s a good one for hand-feeding a meal, or a portion of a meal. Another “kitchen game” to play with your dog.

As your dog starts to understand, increase the interval between rewards, and practice the “Stay!” in all positions – Sit, Stand, and Down.

Distraction is hardest of all

When we first started training in Obedience, one of our instructors took distraction to the maximum. With the dogs at one side of the room, and the handlers at the other, she would send a moving toy down the middle, between the dogs and handlers. The radio-controlled car, the toy monkey with cymbals, and the walking elephant toy were favorites. The most difficult for the dogs was the tennis ball she rolled down the center.

Those are all extreme distractions, not to be used until your dog is well-versed in the “Stay!” At first you can ask someone to bang a pot in the other room. Or call your phone. If there’s no one else around, you can turn up your phone’s volume and play any sound you think your dog would find distracting. A doorbell sound is the bane of many a dog owner – whether it’s in real life or on TV.

Put the Ds together

When your dog is doing okay in each of the three “D’s” – put them together. As long as your dog is showing you they know what’s expected of them, gradually increase the difficulty of the exercise. In the Canine Good Citizen test, the most difficult part for the dog is staying with a stranger while their person leaves the room. Technically, the dog doesn’t have to “Stay!” – they just have to be calm and not fuss too much. Teaching your dog the three “D’s” will help.

Think about those “D’s” whenever you’re training your dog. Does your dog “Sit!” from across the room? Can she maintain a “Stand!” for the length of a veterinary visit? Will your dog ignore the bicyclist zooming by on your walk? These are all situations that use those “D’s.”

Dog Bowling Game

The Dog Bowling Game came together from two separate bits of life. The first was another trainer who always called Hope’s French Bulldogs “Bowling Ball.” The other part was Torque’s love of knocking things over. It’s a match made in heaven.

Our game is contrary to the maze videos where pets wind their way through a forest of bottles they’re not supposed to knock down. The objective is to knock them all down, just like a real bowling game.

Where to start

We went all out (on the cheap) and got a toy bowling set. It’s not very expensive, and it’s fun for video. But the “real” thing isn’t necessary. You can certainly start with any empty plastic bottle. There’s a possibility that your dog may put holes in the bottle, so start with an empty.

Before you start playing, decide what your criteria will be for the eventual, complete game. Do you want your dog to knock over the bottles with their nose, paws, or you don’t care? How about the order? Do you want your dog to aim for a showy 7 / 10 split, or you don’t care?

We don’t care: Torque can knock down the pins in any order with any portion of his body. In most of our dog bowling game videos, you’ll see that some of the pins topple when he swipes by with his butt. That’s okay with us, we really don’t care.

After you’ve decided the shape of your Dog Bowling Game, have at it. Be ready with your clicker, your treats, and your empty bottle. Put the bottle down in front of your dog. Stare at the bottle. If your dog is puzzled at first, it’s understandable. Chances are throughout their life, you’ve told them to leave alone any bottles on the floor.

Patience is the key

Just be patient and wait. Any interaction your dog has with the bottle gets a “Click!” and reward. The steps for most dogs will look something like:

Look at the bottle.

Sniff the bottle.

Swipe at the bottle.

For each step your dog achieves, “Click and Reward” three to five times. Then wait for them to try something else. For each training session, you may have to go backwards before you move ahead. It takes a while for behaviors to solidify.

If your dog is like most, they won’t believe how easy and fun this game is. Most dogs love batting stuff around and chasing it. That’s going to be the challenging part. When your dog is running up to that bottle to bash it over, it’s time to add more bottles to the game.

When your dog chases the first rolling bottle around rather than staying with you to continue playing, just ignore it. Turn your back on the dog playing with the bottle and stare at the second bottle. Bend over and admire it up close. Your complete lack of interest in what your dog is doing, and obsession with the other bottle, should motivate your dog to come over and see what you’re so fascinated by. If/when this happens, celebrate! Your dog chose playing with you over getting their jollies by themselves. And remember, what gets rewarded gets repeated. Reward heavily, loudly, and often for decisions you like.

Keep adding on

Keep adding bottles until you’ve reached the number you want to keep in the game. Standard bowling is 10, but you can use as many or as few as you like. Your own patience and the space you have available will determine the answer. Remember that you’re the one who has to reset all those “bowling pins” when you play.

Unless, like Hope, you teach your dog to put away the pins when your dog is done with the game. The problem with that – Torque cronches the plastic pins and Hope has to spend just as much time unsquishing them.

Train your dog to stay

Does your dog “Stay!”? Can you walk around your dog? Most people assume they can and don’t expect any problems with it. Most people would be wrong. But you can train your dog to “Stay!” and take it to the next level with the “Walk Around.”

If you tell your dog to “Sit!, Stay!” and try to walk around her, if she’s like most dogs she’ll either get up when you move or swivel on her butt to follow your motion. Few dogs can stand the idea that they can’t see you and what you’re doing.

When we introduce this in our dog training classes, people kind of say “Huh, that’s interesting. I never noticed before.” But they don’t really see the need to teach their dogs to stay in place. Having tripped over numerous dogs over the years, especially in the kitchen, we know it’s a useful skill to have. Especially when you’re trying to carry a pasta pot from the stove to the sink to drain.

“Stay!” with benefits

The foundation for being able to walk around your dog is the “Stay!” And the key to teaching your dog to “Stay!” is setting the rules and sticking to them. Remember that dogs are binary creatures – off/on, yes/no, black/white. There are no shades of gray, no understanding of “maybe.”

To teach your dog to stay, you must decide what “Stay!” looks like. For us, that means only the dog’s head or tail moves. Paws do not move. Not an inch, not an iota. We stay laser-focused looking at their paws and haunches. As you practice “Stay!” you’ll start to recognize the signs that your dog is about to move. Drag out your non-reward marker and prevent it. Or, if you’re too late and your dog’s already in motion, just start over.

Don’t fix anything in dog training. Ever. The “fix” becomes part of the routine that surrounds whatever it is that you’re doing. If you want your dog to “Stay!” for 30 seconds and they get up at 22 seconds, start again, don’t try to continue where you were. It’s busted, start over. Otherwise, your dog will accept that you rushing over, adjusting them, and leaving again is a normal part of “Stay!” And that’s what they’ll do, because it’s just another mystifying thing you play together.

Remember your dog doesn’t care about any of the games, exercises, behaviors, or dog sports. Your dog only cares about playing with you, and being happy together. They do the “stuff” because we ask them to and it’s fun. From a dog’s point of view, they’d just as soon roll around in a trash pile with you as be your obedience competition partner. As long as it’s fun, and they’re with you, they like doing it.

Teaching “Stay!”

With your dog sitting in front of you, hold a treat at about your eye level and slowly and steadily bring it down to your dog’s mouth. If your dog doesn’t move any part of their body other than head or tail, give them the treat when you get there. Immediately start again with another treat at your eye level. If your dog moved, jerk the treat back up to eye level and start over.

If your dog is having a really hard time staying, move the treat towards them faster. You can slow it down as your dog learns the game and what to expect. And always have a second treat ready to go as soon as you deliver the first one. If you don’t, your dog will be “one and done.” We want to sustain the stay.

That’s really all there is to teaching “stay!”. To be able to walk around your staying dog, add motion one step at a time, always rewarding to your dog’s front. Work a gradually increasing arc until your dog is okay with you circling around her. Deliver rewards to the dog’s front so you don’t pull them out of position accidentally. You’ll know when your dog is truly starting to understand the exercise when you see her head flip from one side to the other to watch you as you go around.

Use what your dog knows

Once your dog knows the “Stay!” and you can walk around them, take advantage of it! Remember to say “Stay!” while you’re carrying that pasta pot across the kitchen. Or when you’re opening the hot oven to turn the batch of cookies. Invariably, when we trip over our dogs, it’s because we’ve neglected to tell them what we want them to do. And if your dog is anything like ours, they always have to be where the action is in the house.

Stay / Walk around your dog is behavior that’s absolutely counter to every instinct your dog has. Their natural inclination is always to be in the middle of the action. Always watching everything that’s going on. Many people don’t understand that “Stay!” is difficult work for a dog. A “Stay!” is never “doing nothing.” It’s active work for your dog, so be sure to appreciate and reward the effort.

Being a good dog boss

In all the ways that count, you actually are the boss of your dog. You decide pretty much everything about your dog’s life – when they eat, sleep, go out; where they go, who they see. Doesn’t it just make sense to want to be a good dog boss?

Think about all the jobs you’ve had and the bosses you enjoyed working for. We’d bet big bucks your favorites weren’t the micro-managers who hovered over your shoulder. It was probably the ones who respected your abilities, left you alone to do your job, while being there for support, clarification, and feedback. Those were the good bosses. Follow their lead and be a good dog boss.

Decisions, decisions

It’s really hard to let go and trust your dog to make good decisions. But the alternative is having to be there every moment. Telling your dog what to do all the time. That works for some people. One Obedience person we know simply can’t find the patience. She’s been competing for decades, and for all those years she’s pretty much told her dog how to spend every moment of every day. She’s used to it, and doesn’t really want to change. We think it sounds exhausting.

Once your dog knows the rules of the house, does it mean they never misbehave? No, of course not. But when you yell “knock it off!” at whoever’s hooliganizing at the moment, it has more effect.

Firm foundation

Your dog craves your attention and approval. Once they know that being “good” comes with approval and treats, that’s what happens. They’re good dogs. Because what gets rewarded, gets repeated. Your dog will become a better-thinking companion when they know you encourage them to use their brains.

Having a well-trained dog leads to a more balanced life for everyone. We know several people whose lives with their dogs are completely off-balance. They can’t have people over, they can’t get deliveries, they can’t take their dogs anywhere, and their rooms have a strict system of gates and doors. These people have let their dogs dictate the rules of the house and have let the dog become boss. As a result, no one’s happy.

At the other extreme, we’ve met a few people who treat their dogs like possessions. These dogs are kept in “storage” away from people, and are allowed limited access to family life. They may not have started out there, but the people may have become overwhelmed by the demands of having a dog. No one’s happy here, either.

We’re not sure why these people have dogs at all.

Big, beautiful life

Every moment you spend training your dog, every training game, pays off in the quality of your life together. The cost / benefit ratio is overwhelmingly in your favor. Just a couple minutes at a time, a couple of times a day, can make a huge impact.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could carry the heavy, hot pan to the table from the oven without worrying about where you step? Answering the doorbell, knowing your dog is safely in their “Place!” is priceless. (Ebook / course #1: Clicker and Place) These little things are quality-of-life moments you can achieve. Taking your dog’s good behavior for granted is the ultimate goal.

The best dog training advice ever

The absolute best dog training advice sounds simple. Only two parts to it. And you don’t need any special tools, no particular gear. To really elevate your dog’s understanding, grow your relationship, and open up your dog’s best life, there are two things you need to do:

1: Wait
2: Shut up

We know that sounds rude. But it’s really hard to get people’s attention. And adhering to the best dog training advice isn’t easy. Just this morning, Hope was practicing some heeling with Torque and came to a stop. He sat, as he should. And then he flopped into a “Down.” He was trying to push Hope into whatever “next” would be. It didn’t work. She just looked at him and asked “What were you doing?” He stared back at her for at least 15 or 20 seconds before he got back up into a “Sit.” Hope said “Thank you!,” rewarded her dog for a good decision, and got back to her training game.

How long is a minute

We know how hard it is to just wait and say nothing. The temptation to repeat a command, or give a new one, is sometimes overwhelming. Resistance is not futile. It pays big dividends if you try it.

Think about having a two-legged teenager in the house. Mom says “Junior, please take out the trash.” Junior either ignores Mom or grunts some kind of acknowledgement. 15 minutes later, Mom repeats herself. And Junior grunts and/or waves again. After another 10 minutes, Mom’s lost her cool, and says decisively, “JUNIOR TIBERIUS TEENAGER – TAKE OUT THE TRASH!” And Junior finally does it.

Your training space does not have to be large.

If you keep repeating the same thing to your dog in the same way, that’s the pattern you’re training your dog to know. Say it once, clearly. Then shut up and give your dog time to think. For as long as it takes, if they’re still with you. If they’re not disengaging, they’re thinking, processing, and coming to a decision. It may seem like the time between word and action is forever – you could have said “Sit!” hundreds of times while you were waiting. That’s the point. You don’t want to have to say it a hundred times.

Trust us. We’re pretty certain your dog heard you the first time. Now they’re trying to figure out if you meant it, and what they’ll do about it.

Easier isn’t better

We know it’s easier to just say it again. Just don’t. Don’t deprive your dog of the opportunity to make a good decision. Believe in your dog. We’ve said it before: Wait for your dog!

The only way you can really find out if your dog knows something is to trust them to do it. You don’t know if your dog knows “Down!” unless you can say it once, from across the room, and your dog does it. We practice heeling quite a bit in our dog training classes. Randomly, we’ll call out “Down your dogs!” to our students. It’s really kind of impressive to watch a classful of dogs suddenly drop.

They don’t all start out that way. We’ve said “just wait” more times than we want to think about. And when people wait, their dog puzzles it out and does the right thing. Sometimes you can almost see the hamster-wheels in their brain spinning while they think. Some dogs will look around, see what the other dogs are doing, and copy. But given the chance to choose, dogs almost always choose wisely.

What if they don’t get it right?

By testing your dog’s knowledge of any skill, you gain valuable information for future training games. If they’re acing it, it’s time to move on. You can tuck that behavior into the drawer and air it out once in a while, just to keep it fresh. Now you have time to play a different game.

Nobody likes doing the same task over and over, without end. Not people. And not dogs, either. You can have a particular time and place that you play training games. If you do, your dog will learn the schedule and probably dash off to your special training area when it’s time. You’ll both have more fun if you play different training games, rather than just drilling something you’re “working” on. We want our dogs to be letter-perfect in the very specific exercises for competition obedience. That doesn’t mean we’re always hammering away at them. It means we treat them like all the other, silly, fun training games. Playing those maybe once a week. Maybe not. But always keeping it new, fresh, and fun for us and our dogs.

Why dogs can’t use forks everywhere

What an odd thing to say! Of course dogs can’t use forks. Why is that relevant for dog training?

It came up the other day when a new student of ours asked “Why does my dog know this stuff at home and not here?” (Patience, we’re getting to the forks part.)

It’s a good question, and one that addresses a fundamental difference between the way people think and the way dogs think. People generalize. Dogs don’t.

What does that mean? Basically it’s that your dog knows “Sit!” in the kitchen at home with you facing him/her and holding a treat. It’s knowledge in context, with a specific set of conditions. Change the conditions, and the knowledge isn’t there. Try it outside, or at training class, and your dog has no clue what the word “Sit!” means.

For people, it’s different. (Here come the forks!) Once you know how to use a fork, you know how to use every fork in the world, regardless of where you are, what the fork is made of, or what it looks like. A fork with only two tines? No problem. Plastic, bamboo, or metal? Not an issue. Your knowledge of “fork” expands to include all forks, everywhere.

Getting past the problem

The solution is to vary your training so that your dog learns to generalize. Randomly, wherever you are, tell your dog to “Sit!” And be prepared to reward when he/she does. If your dog doesn’t sit – just wait. Give them time to think and process. “We’re not in the kitchen, but the sound she’s making is familiar, and her hand up like that means she has a cookie.” Give the message time to make its way from your dog’s brain to their hindquarters. Be patient. And reward generously for success.

Just because your dog doesn’t, by nature, generalize doesn’t mean they can’t. But creating new ways of thinking takes some time and consistency. And the skill, once it’s attained, has to be practiced. Every command your dog learns has to expand in range.

It sounds like a lot of time and effort, but it’s really not. Once your dog gets with the program, it’s easy and fun to try. Yesterday, while Fran and Simon were waiting around for Novice Obedience class to start, she gave him the “Troll!” command (from “Front!” the dog goes around to your right and goes between your legs, looking up at you). And he did it! Even though he’d never done it in that place before.

Expand their horizons

One of the beauty parts of the 2-Minute Trainer method is that you can always back up. If your dog’s understanding of something is “iffy” in new circumstances, just go back as far as you need to. Whatever steps you took to teach the dog in the first place can be recreated. Your dog will most likely remember quickly: “Oh, I remember that now!”

When you build a firm foundation for your dog’s learning, it’s not just easier to teach them to generalize. It also opens the pathways for learning new things and building on known skills. Creating variations of games also helps. For example: if you teach your dog to retrieve an Obedience dumbbell, what happens if you place it on the floor at a distance instead of throwing it? What if the dumbbell is on end, instead of on its side? Or if, instead of dropping it, you ask your dog to carry it while heeling?

Teach dogs to use every fork

Practically speaking, dogs who absolutely know what they’re supposed to be doing will do it when asked, anytime, anywhere. Another example is the “Figure 8” obedience exercise. Most people train the exercise as it’s performed in competition: heel around two cones, crossing in the center, then halt. Then do it again.

Training only the exercise as it’s required in competition means that the dogs are pattern trained. They can do the exercise all by themselves without their person. They don’t understand that it’s about paying attention to their person and heeling together as a team. The goal should be building your teamwork, not the mechanics of the exercise.

Instead of the “real” exercise; put out three cones, or four. Go any which way, asking your dog to stay with you. If they don’t know where you’re going, they have to pay attention. Another variation on the behavior that grows your dog’s understanding.

Generally speaking

The joy and challenge of dog training is to build your dog’s understanding. When you see your dog “get” something you’ve been teaching, the feeling of pride, for both of you, is exhilarating. It may take patience to get there, but it’s worth it.

Did you mess up? Give your dog an “oops cookie”

Give your dog a cookie when you mess up.

If you’ve ever made a mistake and groaned, or muttered “ugh!,” your dog needs an “oops cookie.” It’s not that you’re not allowed to make mistakes. You are. Everybody is. It’s to let your dog know it’s not their fault.

Your dog thinks you are absolutely perfect. Everything you do or say is right in your dog’s eyes. Therefore, it’s inconceivable that you’re ever wrong. Or so your dog thinks.

If you’re human, that’s not true. But your dog doesn’t know that. Let’s keep it that way.

The most tell-tale sign that you’ve made a mistake is when you say “ugh!” or something less g-rated. But when you say something like that out loud, your dog thinks they did something wrong. Because you’re perfect in your dog’s eyes. So it must be their fault, or so they think.

Unless you convince them otherwise, your dog may get confused. They won’t know how to “fix” what happened, because they don’t know what went wrong. Some dogs worry about being right. If your dog’s one of them, they might shut down or disengage.

When you make a mistake in your training games give your dog a treat. As soon as “ugh!” leaves your lips, reach for a treat and stick it in your dog’s mouth. It’s a “goof goodie,” or an “oops cookie.” It’s especially important if you’ve muttered something like “darn!” or something more colorful. Your dog doesn’t understand that you make mistakes, so they might take the blame on themselves.

Nobody’s perfect

Years ago, Hope volunteered as a reading tutor for adults learning to read English. As part of their lessons, Hope and the students took turns reading out loud. It was a complete surprise to the students that everybody (even Hope!) stumbles over words and isn’t perfect. And they were much less shy about their reading aloud when they understood that nobody’s perfect.

Unfortunately, your dog will never understand “it’s not you, it’s me!” So skim over the mistake by giving your dog a treat and moving on. Don’t dwell on whatever you screwed up. Just try not to do it again.

Move along, there

Whether you said the wrong thing, clicked at the wrong time, turned in the wrong direction, it doesn’t matter. Just start over or do it again. It takes a while to stop the inadvertent blurts when you mess up. Don’t dwell, just give your dog a goof goodie and get back to your training game.

The nice thing is that your dog won’t question unexpected jackpots. They may not know why they got the oops cookie, but they also don’t care. If you’re like us, sometimes your dog gets a treat just for breathing. Or looking cute. Dogs are really good at cute. Chalk it up to cute.

Change your habit

It takes a long time and lots of conscious effort to change a habit. If you always say something to mark your mistakes, it’s going to take time to turn that around. You may not even know you do it. It’s another argument for recording your training games – and watching the playback. In the meantime, recognize when you’ve done it and give your good dog an “oops cookie.”