dog training made fun Archives - Page 14 of 24

Motivating your dog. Are you a bouncy tiger?

Energy is everything. What you show is what you’ll get. When motivating your dog, they read you like a book. If you’re acting like a bouncy tiger, ready to play, that’s what you’ll get. If you act like a melancholy donkey, that’s what your dog reflects.

This is Torque. When you're motivating your dog, your energy can be the key. — Torque

The other night in Rally Obedience class (Fran was teaching, Hope and Torque were students) one of the students was trying to get her dog (Moose, a Golden Retriever) to go into his crate after his run through the Rally course. Dogs are encouraged to relax in their crates when they’re not on the course. It gives them “down time” from a very stimulating, fun environment. Moose is a very young dog and his parents have just graduated from Hope’s Puppy Class.

He wasn’t being naughty, he was just lying there, refusing to go in his crate. And his people were just standing there saying things like “Moose, come on now. Go in your crate.” “It’s time to crate.” His mom even waved a treat, before she caught Hope watching her. “That’s luring, isn’t it?”

Yes, it is. And that’s not the way to get your dog to offer a desired behavior. We want our dogs to charge into their crates because it’s one of the best places on Earth. Because it’s a great game they play with their people. Not because they’re reluctantly following a cookie. And we spoke of this earlier: How’s your dog training energy? The key: your energy rubs off on your dog.

Build the excitement

Seeing they were at a loss, Hope intervened. With absolutely no treats in hand, she went over the Moose and motivated him to move. In an excited voice, she asked “Are you ready? Do you want to play? Whatcha gonna do, Moose?” And then she ran over to his crate and Moose charged into it. He got lots of treats from his mom, and was rewarded for making an excellent choice.

The only difference between what Hope did and what his parents were trying was the level of enthusiasm. One of our classmates, watching the episode, said exactly the right thing: “Fake it ‘til you make it!”

Decide to be upbeat and motivate your dog

There are times when you definitely don’t feel like a bouncy tiger. There are days when the melancholy donkey in all of us is at the forefront. If you’re absolutely not up to playing training games, don’t. It doesn’t help either you or your dog to drag through a session.

But keep in mind that just playing that game with some pep may change your mood. Playing with your dog, even faking enthusiasm, may just turn your day around. If you can’t summon the energy to advance a game, or teach something new, just play an old favorite.

Your dog won’t care. What’s motivating your dog is their desire to be the focus of your attention, to spend time with you. To have fun with you.

Put Your Toys Away Dog Training Game

In last week’s tip we mentioned that Tango’s favorite training game is “Put Your Toys Away.” We were planning to provide a link to the game instructions – but then realized we’d never written about it. We’ve done videos of the game, but never explained how to teach it – until now.

Put Your Toys Away has lots of parts

Put Your Toys Away is a lot of different dog training games all strung together. And, as with all 2-Minute-Dog-Training games, each part is a different game. It’s only when your dog is getting parts “right” a majority of the time that you string them together.

“Toys” don’t have to be toys

Tango and the Put Your Toys Away dog training game — Tango, putting his toys away

You also have to think about the objects you use for the game. It has to be a lower-value (to the dog) object that the dog is willing to give up. If you have a tennis-ball obsessed dog, don’t use tennis balls. If your dog adores plush toys, use vinyl, etc.

Tango is the only one of our dogs who uses actual dog toys for the game. For one reason – he doesn’t care about dog toys. Never has. And the long-neglected toys we got for him before we knew that are too small for the other dogs to play with. They wouldn’t last a minute.

All four of our dogs play “Put your toys away,” but use different objects instead of toys. Booker comes closest with foam building blocks. Torque uses cardboard tubes and toy tambourines from the dollar store. Simon (a.k.a. The Destroyer) has tuna fish cans (with tape around the edge), ring molds, and plastic food containers.

Here’s Booker putting his blocks away.

Breaking it down

Dissect “Put Your Toys Away” into its component parts and treat each one like a separate game:

Pick up a toy (object).
Hold the toy.
Carry the toy someplace.
Go to the bin, (box, washtub).
Drop the toy in the bin.
Leave it.
Return to the toy pile.
Repeat.

If you try to string together the entire list, your dog may get confused about what you’re actually asking for. You don’t have to play the games in this order. Each part can be a separate game, played in any order.

Never assume

Even if your dog knows how to “take” something from you, it’s a good idea to start from the beginning. Taking an object from your hand is different from picking it up off the floor. If you want to hand your dog individual objects and build the behavior that way – that’s perfectly fine. It’s a game for you and your dog to play together and you can make up the rules. Keep the rules of the game consistent for your dog, but play however you want!

One variation we’ve tried in the last couple of weeks, just to refresh the game, is to actually toss the object and have the dog chase it, then put it away. It’s a variation on the theme that lends more energy than picking up toys from a static pile.

Let us know!

When you’re familiar with the 2-Minute-Trainer method, turning each step into a game should be fairly simple. If there are bits you’re not sure of, be sure to let us know! If we hear that a particular segment is proving more difficult for dogs and/or people, we’ll provide step-by-step guidance.

This is a game that every dog/person team can play to suit themselves. Whatever objects, receptacles, distances, motions you use, it’s fine. And we’d love to see video of you and your dogs in action! Please post anytime on our Facebook page!

Training Games help dog fitness

It’s always great when you have proof. This week we got expert confirmation that training games help dog fitness.

Tango's training games help his fitness. — Tango’s training games help his fitness.

Fran’s almost-13-year-old Brussels Griffon Tango was sick. Really sick. Spewing out both ends sick. He’s recovering now, so the worry part is over. But while at the veterinarian’s office, the vet said she wasn’t worried about Tango not eating for two days, or a health crisis. Because he’s so fit, his body could cope and recover quickly.

That made an impact. Two sleepless nights and 36 hours of gastrointestinal distress may leave no long-lasting effects because this senior dog is in good shape. Fitness matters, for dogs, too.

Dog fitness plan

It makes sense. Both the body and mind for both dogs and people are “use it or lose it.” Dogs’ bodies are subject to many similar age-related problems as people are. Arthritis, loss of vision, loss of hearing, lessening of balance, etc. But staying active and asking our dogs to do the same can delay or prevent some issues.

Tango’s fitness routine is simple. It takes less than 10 minutes a day. He has a good time, gets treats (when he’s not sick), and even runs over to play his dog training games. If you didn’t know he was almost a teenager, you’d never guess it.

The balance disc “workout” is first every day. You’ll find the details and video in this post: Wellbeing of Dogs. Some days it goes better than others. We didn’t ask Tango to do it when he was sick. And he was a bit wobbly when he got back to it. But he did it happily. He missed the attention, if not the exercise.

Favorite training game

Tango’s favorite dog-training game is “Put your toys away.”

You dump a bunch of dog toys in a pile. The dog’s task is to get each one, pick it up, carry it across the room, and place it in a box.

Tango’s never played with toys, but he loves putting them away. And, because Fran puts the box as far away as the space allows, he gets lots of back-and-forth steps in. The first day he was feeling better, he actually trotted back and forth, so happy to be playing his game again.

Mind and body dog fitness

All dog training games work to help your dog’s fitness. Working your brain is just as important as working your body. Tango may not be able to see very well, but he can think just fine. And, while “Put your toys away” may be an old favorite, it’s also important to introduce new games. Challenging your dog’s mind can help keep it sharp.

It’s easy to take old dogs for granted, assuming they’ll be happy just napping away in the sunshine. But to keep them in the best shape, let them nap after they’ve played their training games.

Dogs care what we think

No one seems to know exactly why, or how, dogs threw their lot in with humanity in ancient days. But they did, and dogs actually care what we think. That’s the point all 2-Minute Training pivots on. Dogs care what we think.

Behavior that gets attention gets repeated

Taking it a step further, behavior that gets attention gets repeated. Think about that for a minute. Things that you give focus on happen again.

That’s why it’s crucial to “pay” your dog for the good stuff. And ignore the naughty. If a dog is constantly jumping on people and those people yell, kick, brush away the dog – that’s all attention being given to that naughty behavior.

Any attention to your dog is cherished. So just pay attention to the good stuff. — Looking for attention …

Some would argue that because the attention is negative, it’s giving the proper message. But dogs don’t care. They don’t understand the difference between good and bad attention. They only understand that a person they love focuses on them. It’s all good to dogs. That’s why, sadly, most abused dogs never turn on their owners. Any attention from their person is cherished.

Counter-conditioning yourself

It’s absolutely normal to concentrate on the things that are “wrong.” It goes against every instinct to ignore bad behavior. Standing still and staring at the ceiling when a dog is jumping on you is hard. But it’s the best way to convey information to the dog.

We have to realize that dog training is, in essence, trying to communicate with aliens. They don’t speak our language, they don’t see the world the way we do, and they don’t think like we do.

Our best advantage is that dogs do love us, and dogs care what we think. They’re happiest when we’re happy. That’s a blessing we’re thankful for every day. And it means we have to work really hard at remembering to reward the stuff we like.

Pay your dog

Dogs learn through the timing and placement of rewards. “That was good!” is the message every treat morsel conveys to your dog. A scratch behind the ear and a hearty “Good Dog!” is almost as good. How many times have you said “Are you a good dog?” just to get your dog’s tail to wag? They love playing that game!

And every time you smile, laugh, or sound delighted, you’re paying your dog with praise. It’s hard for many people to open up in public places and give their dogs the feedback they thrive on. What we tell our dog training students and clients is: No one’s looking at you. (We talked about this in our article, “Dogs Don’t Judge.”) Anyone who’s watching is looking at your dog. Dogs are eye magnets. Just go ahead and keep playing your training games. If somebody’s watching, maybe they’ll learn something by seeing what a good time you’re both having.

What gets attention gets repeated

Dogs are smart. And dogs care what we think. The things we pay attention to are the things dogs will try again and again. If your focus has been on the negative: barking, jumping, humping, counter-surfing; those are the things your dog thinks are important. He/she has no way of knowing that sitting, cuddling, retrieving, lying down, are better choices.

It takes time to change your awareness to the positive. It’s natural for people to ignore things that are unremarkable. If your dog is calmly watching the world go by at the front window, that deserves payment. That’s exactly the behavior you want. But because it’s “normal” you might forget to reward it.

Take note of the good things your dog does every single day. Let him/her know that you appreciate them being good. That they’re doing something you’d like to see again.

Good dog training is bad for ratings

There’s absolutely nothing exciting about good dog training. You’re probably never going to see a TV show that features a positive reinforcement trainer. There’s no yelling, no drama, no lunging, growling, or biting. There’s patience, treats, and wonderful moments. Good dog training is bad for ratings – absolutely no suspense.

Good dog training = bad television

Those wonderful moments happen all the time when you’re a positive reinforcement trainer.

One of our students has been having a hard time battling her habit of yanking on her dog’s collar. Especially when her 18-month old, active Miniature Poodle does something she considers naughty. Then, after class, when she was talking to us, her dog started jumping on Hope. And she dropped his leash! It was a wonderful breakthrough for her. She knows herself well enough to know, with leash in hand, she’d pull on her dog. Instead, she dropped it and trusted the training. And it worked! With no response to his jumping, the dog stopped, sat, and was quickly praised and rewarded. It was a two-fer! Both the student and the dog got it right.

But that light-bulb moment, huge though it may have been for the people and dog involved, made for dull watching. Only the people involved knew how huge it was, because it looked like a woman choosing not to control her jumping dog. Just two women standing there, and a jumping dog. No yelling, no motion, nothing dramatic. That’s the way it should be.

Not easy, but worth it

Of course our students have an advantage. We’re there. And while we never administer a correction on a dog, we’re famous for “yelling” at our students. We notice when their past experience and habit has them popping a dog’s collar. We see when they fail to maintain connection with their dogs. And we yell when they miss an opportunity to praise and reward their dogs.

Remember that dogs learn through the timing and placement of rewards. (“Careful where you put it!“) Behavior that gets attention is more likely to be repeated. So the one phrase our students hear over and over again is: “Doing it right has to look different than getting it wrong.” Give your dog the information he/she needs. Yes, that was good! That’s what I want! Good dog! Here’s a cookie!

Only happy sounds

Oftentimes there’s a lot of chatter with our own dog training games. But it’s never, ever yelling at the dog. While commands are given only once (Sit, Stand, Down, Front), it’s not the only thing the dogs hear. But all of the conversation is upbeat and encouraging; Go get it! Such a smart puppy! Whatcha Gonna Do? Who’s a good boy? Are you the cleverest fellow?

The worst dogs should hear is either a non-reward marker like “Oops!” or a simple phrase like “that’s not it, try again.” As long as your 2-Minute-Dog Training Games are focused and fun, you don’t have to worry about your dog disengaging. They will persist, because they’re having fun, too.

Value of video

While good dog training may not make for suspenseful TV, taking video of your own sessions is great. First off, when you’re in the middle of it, you can’t see how incredibly cute your dog is during the session. So it’s great to have it for posterity.

Secondly, you can see how you did as a trainer. Did you miss a chance to praise your dog? Did you give attention to something you shouldn’t have? Was your energy happy and fun? And did you make doing the right thing look different for your dog every single time? Celebrate every little breakthrough, even if it would make bad TV.

Dog Training Game: Back Up!

At first thought, teaching the dog training game “Back Up!” may not seem useful. Trust us, it is.

When your dog knows “Back up!” you’ll look forward to seeing the sign in Rally Obedience competition. And you’ll have a way of getting your dog(s) to move out of doorways, narrow hallways, and generally obstructing your path. It’s particularly fun when you use the command “Beep! Beep! Beep!” to sound like a truck in reverse.

Can you tell we love “Back up!?”

Teaching your dog “Back Up!”

There are actually several different ways to teach “Back Up!” We use all of them, randomly. Different visual “pictures” and games teaching the same concept will further broaden your dog’s understanding. They’ll truly understand the word. It’s also an impressive behavior to show off your dog’s skills. Imagine saying “Beep! Beep! Beep!” and your dog backs up across the room. Showy!

Use a wall

This is about as simple as it gets. Stand at a right angle to the longest wall in the house. The majority of the length should be behind you. Get your dog between you and the wall. If you follow traditional heel position, that should be your left side. Take a small step forward, so your dog is standing. Hold a treat in your left hand just above your dog’s head and take a tiny step back with your left foot, keeping your hand steady above your dog’s nose. They should be looking up at the treat by this time and should move back a tiny bit with you. If he/she does, say “Good Back!” (or Good Beep!) and reward.

Booker is thinking about doing the dog training game "Back up" behavior. — Booker is thinking about doing the “Back up.”

There is a strong possibility that your dog will sit rather than back up. It’s a truism in dog training that “when the butt goes down, the head comes up.” If that happens, lower the cookie to the dog’s eye level and try again. Try not to let your dog have the treat until you get some backward motion.

Chances are you won’t get more than a step or two the first time. Most dogs don’t have a natural backing up behavior, so you’re starting from scratch. Try a little bit every day, and you’ll soon be backing up the entire length of the hall. Then you can start randomizing the reward, stepping away from the dog, and teaching the dog to back up on his/her own.

All by themselves

This game is our favorite way to teach “Back Up!,” although the wall method is much more common. This one is almost like playing “catch the cookie” with your dog.

Sit on the floor with a bowl of treats. Your dog should be sitting or standing facing you. (If your dog is harassing you for the bowl of treats, revisit the game “Whatcha Gonna Do?” in Book 4, Impulse Control) Say “Beep!” and toss a treat between your dog’s front legs. When your dog moves back, even the tiniest bit, to get the treat, say “Good Beep!” and throw another treat a bit further away from you, between your dog’s legs if you can.

Torque backs up when Hope throws a treat between his front legs.

If your aim is terrible, like ours is, don’t worry about it. You’ll get it right often enough that your dog will learn anyway. And they’ll love playing, because of all the extra cookies. When your dog gets the idea and “Beeps!” across the room, get him/her back to play again with a “Touch!” game.

When your dog starts to get it, change your position. Instead of sitting on the floor, kneel or stand up. Move around. If you’re like us, your aim will suffer, but your dog will clean up all your errant tosses.

In their face

Some people teach “Back Up!” by stepping into their dogs and crowding them into backing up. We don’t advocate this method. It can be intimidating for many dogs, instead of a game. If you want to try it, the dog training game version treats it as one of several directions to “dance” with your dog. Facing each other, take a step to the side. If your dog follows you, praise, call it “Good Side!” (or whatever word you want to use). Take a step back (you) and praise and reward if your dog steps with you (his/her Forward!). Take steps to both sides, forward, and back. It will convey to your dog that you’re moving together, not trying to make him/her back down.

Back Up! Everywhere!

As with all new behaviors and games, when you think your dog has a good understanding, play the game in as many different places as you’re able. It helps your dog solidify the behavior.

We’ve found that the Back Up! tends to really impress people unfamiliar with dog training. They can’t believe that dogs will do it on command. And it’s really a show-stopper to use “Beep! Beep!” Have more fun with your dog!

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!