2 Minute Trainer

Training your hyper dog

If you’ve been told your dog is too hyper for training, you’ve been sold a bill of goods and should demand your money back immediately. No dog benefits more. The whole point of training is to have your dog know how to act, in public or private, regardless of how revved up they are.

Nothing about dog training should be boring, calm, tedious, or rigid. It should be fun and fast, noisy and full of laughter. Your dog should know it’s okay, even good, to get excited. Dogs are all about fun. Training games are just another way to play with them. It has the side benefit of turning them into great companions who know their boundaries and listen to their people. Even when their excitement level is through the roof.

Rev ‘em up

If you’ve ever attended or watched an agility competition, you’ve seen handlers playing tug with their dogs as they wait to go in the ring. The objective is to get their dogs excited to run. The most successful dogs are not only excited and fast, but also paying attention to their people. Dogs are capable of listening, even in a high energy state.

Some of the training games (Touch, Throw Your Dog Away) are designed to get your dog excited. When you want your dog’s most intense focus on you – play a fast, fun training game. As long as you’re part of the equation, excitement is exactly what you want.

Don’t calm down

Stop telling your dog to calm down. It doesn’t work and it isn’t going to happen. Replace that mentality with one that works. Teach your dog to channel that excitement into something that makes you both happy. While not every hyper dog is destined to be an agility, obedience, or dog sport competitor, they can all learn to channel their energy so they don’t make you crazy.

We know what we’re talking about. We have Boston Terriers. And while not every Boston is hyper, we’ve been lucky enough to have a couple (okay, all) who are. Booker, at 11 years old, is now retired. He also has multiple Obedience, Rally, and Agility titles. That didn’t happen because we trained him to be calm. He’s not capable of being calm. It happened because he learned how to channel his energy productively.

Listen through the buzz

How do you get your hyper dog to play training games? All dogs, even hyper ones, always do what’s most rewarding to them. It’s up to you to be the most interesting thing around. Up your energy level. Talk in an excited voice. Move suddenly. Run away. Engage your dog. Have incredibly high-value treats.

Getting your hyper dog to pay attention for a 2-Minute Training Game isn’t hard. Two minutes. That’s all. And concentrating hard for those two minutes will probably tire out your hyper dog for quite a while. Thinking can be exhausting. Especially when it’s a new challenge you’re asking your dog to meet.

Set limits

Just as you want your hyper dog to get excited to play with you, they need to understand there are limits. That’s where setting the timer for your 2-Minute Training games comes in. The dog will learn that the game is over when the timer goes off. Dogs like routine. They love knowing what to expect. It won’t take long for them to know that the timer’s ring means the game’s over.

Show your dog what the timer’s ring means. Say something like “That’s all!” when it goes off. And stop playing immediately. Put away the treats and the clicker. Turn off the timer and leave the training space. Even if you’re playing in the kitchen, leaving the area will reinforce the idea that game time is over.

More benefits

Enforcing a limit will also teach your dog to switch gears and reset their emotional state. Since we tend to train each of our dogs individually, in turn, the dogs who are not playing are in their crates. This helps them differentiate between playtime and relaxing time. If you can make the break between “work” time and “relax” time a physical difference, it helps the dog. Move into another room. Take a walk. Make a clear differentiation between the two modes.

Your hyper dog can’t help being that way. Exuberant, energetic dogs can be challenging. They’re also fun, affectionate, and eager to play with you. Take advantage of the traits you love. Teach them control to take care of the others.

2 Keys to good dog training

The two qualities needed for successful dog training are patience and consistency. Good dog training isn’t fun to watch. That’s why lots of the dog trainers with huge numbers of views on social media are really awful trainers. Awful meaning violent, punishment-based, and full of noise and motion.

When one of our videos gets some traction on social media, one of the comments that pops up over and over is “can you do a video showing how to teach this?”

We could. But no one wants to watch somebody standing around looking at their dog. That’s what most of positive reinforcement training is. We’re teaching our dogs to think and make good decisions. We don’t tell them what to do, we present opportunities for them to try things and figure stuff out.

Patience and consistency

Say you want to teach your dog to pick up an object – anything from the required-in-obedience dumbbell to a can of beer. Training starts with you putting the object in front of your dog and standing there staring at it. You wait for any interaction with the object (look, sniff, poke, move, lick) and when it happens, mark it (either with a click or a “Yes!”) and reward close to the object.

A couple of interactions with the object could be all you get the first time you show it to your dog. It takes time for your dog to realize the object has value. So that video is you standing there looking at your dog maybe looking at a thing. Not great video, but a good first step.

Short attention span

In this age of instant everything, advocating slow and steady is, at best, an outlier. That’s why your training sessions should be short. Hence, 2-Minute-Trainer. Staring at an object for two minutes while your dog thinks is okay. Longer than that? Deadly dull. And unproductive.

Even active behaviors, like loose-leash walking, start with “nothing to see here.” First you teach your dog the basics of the game. Lots of treats for not much motion. Thinking is active, difficult, and intense. But not exciting to watch.

That’s why we write detailed descriptions of our dog training games. It only takes a second to read “Choose a three-word phrase. Say the third word five times, giving your dog a treat as you say the word.” Doing it, and having your dog love hearing the word, takes a bit of time. Doing it with your dog is fun. Watching someone else do it isn’t.

Patience pays

You and your dog can do any of the behaviors and tricks we show in our videos. Some tricks only take moments for dogs to learn, especially if it’s based on something they already know. Some of the tricks take weeks, or even months. The total time working on it may be less than half an hour, but that’s two minutes at a time, maybe once a week.

If a dog trainer promises fast results, it’s almost guaranteed to be punishment-based training. Yes, it’s faster. Yes, it works, sort of. Punishment-based training doesn’t change the dog’s behavior, it suppresses it. The classic example is the housebreaking scenario where the dog is punished for pooping when you find the poop. So they hide where they do it. They didn’t learn what you meant to teach. They learned to avoid punishment.

Great results

Patience and consistency will get you and your dog wherever you want to go. Sometimes the goal changes based on what you learn about your dog with your training games. You’ll probably lean into the things your dog really enjoys and learns quickly. The stuff neither of you truly cares about will be shuffled off to the side.

You’ll know your dog better and you’ll have a bigger, happier life together when you play training games. And we hope you’ll send us the links to your end-product videos. Those are lots of fun to watch.

Play “Throw Your Dog Away!”

We get puzzled looks when we ask people how they play with their dogs. Or if they play “Throw Your Dog Away.”

It’s odd how many people don’t really know how to play with their dogs. We’re not talking about “Fetch!” games. For the most part, you being there isn’t even necessary. The person part of “Fetch!” could be easily replaced by an automatic ball launcher. It’s not you the dog is engaging with. It’s the ball. Or whatever toy they’re fetching.

There’s no doubt the dog is having fun. The person’s “fun” is more about finding joy in seeing your dog getting some exercise, having a good time, and probably even smiling at you. There’s also the dealing with the slimy toy part. And the clean-up that follows, especially on rainy days.

Strive for engagement

The good part about playing “Fetch!” with your dog is that you’re there. When we ask students if they play with their dogs, one of the answers we always hear is “My dog has a ton of toys. But he/she doesn’t play with them.” That’s because, past puppy stage, dog toys that just lie around aren’t very interesting.

When dog puzzle toys started appearing, they were marketed as “interactive” toys. We’re still trying to figure that out. Once you fill the compartments with treats, your part is over. The dog interacts with the toy, not with you. And that relationship ends as soon as the treats are uncovered and consumed.

Bond by playing together

If the whole substance of your time spent together is you either telling your dog what to do, or watching while they do stuff, it’s a pale reflection of what your bond could be. Some of the most satisfying moments with your dog are when you’re so in sync that it’s like you read each other’s thoughts. Whether that’s heading to the kitchen at the same time to get a drink, moving as a unit around a Rally Obedience Course, or even just yawning together and heading for bed, it’s a pretty great feeling.

So what game can you play, just the two of you, to build that relationship? There are lots of little “kitchen games” that help. Touch, Watch, Puppy Push Ups all work. All of those are great for attention and focus. But what if you just want to have some fun with your dog? No pressure to achieve anything. Just playing around? It’s time for “Throw Your Dog Away!”

How to play

First off, know that this is a vigorous game and can get quite loud. Also painful. One of our puppy class people loved the game – until those sharp puppy teeth put a gouge in his arm. Puppy teeth are razor sharp. Exercise a bit of caution if your puppy doesn’t have excellent bite inhibition.

All you need for this game is you and your dog. That’s it. Not even any rewards. Your dog should love playing this game all by itself. And it’s easy. You’re probably already doing parts of it.

Get down to your dog’s level, whether that’s sitting on the floor, bending over, or kneeling. Start ruffling up their fur and talking excitedly. You want to build up your dog’s excitement to play with you.

Then, when your dog’s engaged with you, put a hand on their chest and push them away – “throw” your dog away. At first your dog may be a little confused, but they’ll come around quickly and rebound right back for more.

Silly dialogue

When we play this game with our dogs we keep up a constant dialogue. As the dog’s coming back for more, we say ridiculous things like “What are you coming back for? Do you think I want you? I’m going to throw you away again!”

Most dogs, once they figure out you’re playing, do an adorable little lift onto their haunches and bounce back at you. Dogs love the direct engagement and contact.
That’s all there is to the game. Your dog bounces at you and you bounce them right back. As mentioned, this game can be very stimulating, especially for puppies. Keep an eye on your dog and if the arousal level is too high, it’s time to lower the temperature. A quick game of “Watch!” or “Touch!” should do the trick.

Pay your dog

“Pay your dog!” is a phrase we use in every single class we teach. It seems that most people are worried their dogs will gain weight if they’re trained with treats.

We hear it all the time. “That’s a lot of treats!” “When can I stop rewarding with food?” The constant objection is that dogs will get fat with reward-based training. A more thoughtful use of food would benefit the dogs. Rather than worry about the dogs gaining weight, see the advantage of using the dog’s most valuable currency to teach them.

Dogs will, absolutely reliably, do whatever’s most rewarding for them. Why not have a meeting of the minds and make what you want the most rewarding thing? Why would you refuse to use the tool that works best?

For instance

This week one of our training game videos went a little viral. It’s Torque’s trick “Troll Under The Bridge.” Lots of people commented, more than we’ve ever seen. People seemed impressed, but “But will he do it without food?” was a pretty common question. Our reply is “Probably. But why should he?”

Let’s try a little perspective on the issue. Would you want to work without pay? Even if you love your job, your office, your colleagues. Would you still do the job for nothing? Most people will give a hard “No!” So why does anyone expect their dog to do their job without payment?

For your love

The answer we hear a lot is “But I pet him and tell him he’s a good dog! Isn’t that reward enough?” Again, put yourself in that position. A hearty pat on the back and “Good job!” is nice to get from your boss. But a bonus is better, more memorable, and means more to most of us.

If you’re worried about your dog gaining weight, remember it’s you who controls your dog’s calorie intake. There’s absolutely no reason you can’t make your dog’s regular food part of the “trail mix” of treats for training. When you measure out your dog’s food for the day, just put a scoop of it in a separate bowl. Mix in some higher-value, shelf-stable treats, and you have your training treats for the day.

Not a lifetime commitment

When your dog is learning something new, is having trouble with something, or is particularly distracted, it’s a good idea to reward often and for smaller steps in training. The rate of reinforcement should be higher for new or more difficult games.

Once a word is cemented in your dog’s vocabulary, you probably don’t have to reward them every time they do it. When dogs are learning our warm-up Puppy Pushups game, they get rewarded for every change of position. Once they’ve been playing a while and enjoy the game, the treats may come after several position changes. Randomizing rewards even becomes part of the interaction. Dogs trained with positive reinforcement will try all kinds of different things to get you to cough up the goodies.

Establish a pattern

One of our students has a large, young dog in a house full of young children. To keep everyone safer, they decided early on that “Down!” was a very valuable behavior for their dog. If she was lying down, they didn’t have to worry about her jumping on the children or their friends. Every time the dog obeyed “Down!” she was rewarded.

Fast forward several months and “Down!” is the dog’s default behavior. It’s so firmly established in her mind that she’s “good” when she’s “Down!” that when she’s confused, or unsure what she’s supposed to do, she lies down. She’ll do it even when she doesn’t get a reward. Because she knows it’s a good thing to do and she values being good.

Dogs just want to be good

Given a choice, dogs want to do the right thing. They may not always know what that is. It’s our responsibility to teach them. Since dogs learn best through the timing and placement of rewards, it’s a no-brainer to use rewards to teach.

If you’ve been stingy with the treats, think about why that’s so. Concern about weight is valid, but just one of the factors to consider. Find low calorie treats your dog likes (Popcorn? Carrots? Celery? Green Beans?). Use higher-calorie options sparingly, and use a portion of your dog’s regular food for training.

There are certainly other rewards dogs find worthwhile, including toys and praise. But if your dog’s number one motivation is food, use it to accomplish your training goals. Pay your dog for work well done.

Being nice isn’t dog training

What do you do when society’s dictates conflict with your goals? If you’re out trying to train your dog and somebody wants to “say Hello!” to your dog? You want to be nice. But being nice isn’t dog training.

A longtime friend who’s also a very experienced dog trainer is a student in our Puppy Obedience class this session. While it’s always great to see friends, most people would wonder why she’s there. After all, she’s been training dogs for many years. And even though she does have a new puppy, she pretty much knows all the ins and outs of household obedience training.

She’s there for the same reasons we take our own dogs to someone else’s puppy classes. One is because we want our puppies to go to new places, experience new things, and learn how to act in public. That’s the socialization part.

The other part is that most people, from family and friends to complete strangers, won’t pay attention when you ask them to help further your training.They won’t follow your instructions on how you want puppy interactions to go. And a good proportion of those people will undermine what you’re doing. If not deliberately, then accidentally.

Hop on Pop

The easiest example most people can identify with is when your puppy (or dog) jumps on people to say hello. Almost every single person will give the puppy the attention he’s asking for. Which is rewarding the dog for misbehaving, guaranteeing that it will happen again. And again.

It’s hard to find people who will stand like statues and stare at the ceiling while an adorable little puppy is jumping on them, pawing them, nudging them, and begging for their attention. It’s almost as hard for the owner of the puppy to let it happen. Your first instinct is to make it stop, even if you have to grab the puppy by the collar and haul it away. Again, that gives the puppy exactly what it’s looking for – attention.

Good or bad doesn’t matter

Dogs want attention. They make absolutely no distinction between positive and negative attention. If you’re focusing on them, they don’t care whether you’re yelling or praising. Dogs seem to be hard-wired to accept all attention from humans as rewarding. And dogs always do the thing that’s most rewarding to them.

The result is that our job as a puppy instructor rarely allows us to interact with the puppies. That’s painful because we love playing with puppies. We love it even more when they’re not our puppies to clean up after and we get to send them home with someone else.

But we don’t get to do that. We get to stand there with our arms folded, staring at the ceiling, until the instant the puppy has “four on the floor.” At first, that “Good Off!” moment only lasts an instant, and then we’re staring at the ceiling again. By the third week of class, most puppies are sitting politely when we come to say “Hello!” And the bargain is sealed. The dog gets what it wants (attention) when we get what we want (polite greetings).

Be rude if you must

So what can you do when people don’t cooperate? Advocate for yourself and for your dog. If you’re walking your puppy (or dog) and a stranger asks if they can say “Hello!” or pet your dog, you set the rules. Most people will get it if you say “Only if he sits by you.” They probably won’t notice or pay attention when the puppy pops out of position with the first touch. Then you have to step in and ask them to stop until the dog behaves again.

The frustration comes when the person doesn’t comply. “Oh, he’s fine, let me say hello.” And you’re considered a meanie if you don’t allow it. Much as you want to be kind to strangers, your dog is more important than that person’s urge to pet the puppy. Your dog, your rules. Just say “I’m sorry, but we have to go.” And do it. Then come to our classes. We’ll ignore the heck out of your puppy.

Mix and Match Your Dog Training

The beauty part of slicing your dog training into small pieces is that you can put them together however you want. If you teach your dog what “hold” means, they’ll know how to hold anything, given an opportunity. You can mix and match your dog training into whatever new tricks or games you like.

One of the AKC Trick Dog behaviors is to open a cabinet or drawer. While simple for some dogs – just tie a cloth to the handle and the dog will pull on it, it’s proven difficult for Hope’s French Bulldog Torque.

But he does know some of the pieces. While he’s not great at tugging, he does know “hold” and “back up.” Put those two things together and, in theory, he should get the “Open It” trick pretty quickly.

Expectation vs. Reality

In fact, it’s taking a while to put it together. The string Hope’s using around the drawer handle isn’t at all familiar to Torque and he’s not sure what to make of it. Puzzling this out, Hope put it in with a bunch of things Torque knows to pick things up, hold, and “put away.”

Figuring out how to communicate with your dog is more than half the battle. Using a familiar “Put Your Stuff Away” game to get him used to picking up and carrying the string was one step. Another section will be getting him to “Hold” and “Back Up!” at the same time. The only time he’s put the two together before was for the dumbbell retrieve.

Listen, don’t assume

The formal dumbbell retrieve works like this:

dog sits at heel
dog stays
handler tosses dumbbell
handler releases dog
dog gets dumbbell
dog comes to handler holding dumbbell
dog sits in front of handler holding dumbbell
dog releases dumbbell into handler’s hand on command
dog returns to heel on command

That’s always the way the dumbbell retrieve happens in competition. Everyone knows that, including the dog. When dogs always know what comes next, they sometimes skip to the end, dropping the dumbbell prematurely, or returning to heel position before they’re told.

To prevent the dog from “assuming,” we mix it up in practice. Sometimes the dog has to hold the dumbbell while returning to heel. Sometimes the dog has to heel while holding the dumbbell. Sometimes we heel with a “back up” thrown in.

That’s where Torque has learned to hold something while backing up. Now we take advantage of what he knows and expand it to hold anything and back up at the same time.

Pieces fit together

If you’ve already taught your dog pieces of any trick you want to teach, you can mix and match however you want. It’s the same “Hold!” chunk for whatever object. Dogs catch on pretty quickly when you put new ideas in a familiar context.

Mix and match your dog training

To create new tricks and behaviors, think about the little pieces your dog already knows. You can grow all the bits by using familiar objects in new places, or with new goals. Or new objects with familiar places and goals. Either one lets you put together a whole new game, just by using a mix and match recipe.

Get your dog’s head in the game

How do you get your dog’s head in the game? When it’s time to play training games, do you have a regular time and place? Do you put your dog’s collar or harness on? How do you let your dog know it’s time to go have some fun?

You already know that dogs love routines and schedules. You can bet that if you follow the same routine every day, your dog will know when it’s time to play. And if it doesn’t happen, they’ll probably let you know they’re not happy about it.

But what if your life’s schedule doesn’t allow for a regular training “date” with your dog? You can still use a routine to get your dog’s head in the game.

Start with a warm-up game

While two minutes is a great, intense training session, it’s more of a guideline than an absolute. There are games, especially those with some set-up and complex behavior chains, that are better if you play a bit longer. Other training games, once you and your dog know them, are great to play for a minute or less – like a warm-up to the main event.

Use those quickie games to start every session and get your dog’s focus on playing with you. Most of our group classes start with a timed minute of Puppy Pushups. Just that fast, random calling of “Sit!” “Stand!” and “Down!” gets your dog’s attention. The faster you play, the more rewards your dog gets, the better engagement you’ll get. It may be just an opener to the main act, but that doesn’t mean it has no value.

If your dog is accustomed to performing familiar behaviors quickly, they don’t even have to think about it. When you say “Sit!” your dog’s butt will hit the floor fast. Likewise with “Down!” and “Stand!” If you ever do intend to indulge in dog sports like Obedience and Rally, it’s wonderful if neither of you has to worry about those commands. As soon as you say it, your dog won’t even have to think. They’ll automatically do it, just like when you play your Puppy Pushups game.

Keep them fresh

Using the most useful games as part of your speedy warm-up will keep them front of mind for your dog. You’ll be able to use them when you most need them. “Touch!” can be a warm-up. It’s also the one you want to keep fresh when you spot the squirrel before your dog does. Or the guy comes into the veterinarian’s waiting room with a cat in a carrier. Those little training games are useful, even if you never plan on a dog sport career.

One of the many reasons to play daily training games with your dog is to make life easier. Both of you will react better if you have a fall-back to rely on in stressful situations. If it’s an ingrained habit to play “Touch!” you’re more likely to remember it when you need it. After all, habit is the most powerful force in the universe.

The timing of dog training

This week in her Beginner Obedience class, Hope’s face had an unfortunate encounter with the nails of a seven-month old Labrador Retriever. She’ll be fine. So will her face. But it made us think about the timing of dog training. If this dog’s owner had started training when he was three months old, by now he would know how to greet politely. And if he had jumped on Hope (she’s only five feet tall), he wouldn’t have been able to reach her face. Or do as much damage.

When is the right time to start training your puppy or dog? The simple answer is “as soon as you come in the door.” Dogs are learning all the time. It’s up to you to make that learning purposeful. And fun. Something the two of you can do throughout the dog’s life to enrich your time together.

It’s not a chore

If you hated school, don’t let whatever negative baggage you have color your opinion of dog training. Dogs are for fun. Teaching them is fun. The way they learn best is by playing games. So, essentially, school for dogs is just playing games. You may be the dungeon master, but both of you should have fun playing the game.

First, decide what’s most important for your dog to know. If you’re a hermit who never goes out and never has company, you probably don’t care if your dog jumps on people to say hi. For the rest of us, it should be right at the top of the curriculum.

It’s easy, too. All you have to do is have everybody ignore the puppy (or dog) unless all four feet are on the floor. You don’t have to insist on a “Sit!” If you want it, it comes later. All you have to do is nothing. When the dog’s front feet are off the ground, just have people fold their arms and stare into the sky. As soon as those adorable little paws are all in contact with the ground, make a huge fuss over the puppy – pets, scritches, treats. Even a game of tug if there’s a toy nearby. It’s easy to see that the timing of dog training is not a big deal when it’s fun for everyone.

When a dog jumps on someone, they’re saying “Hi! I’m here! Pay attention to me!” If the dog doesn’t get what they want, they’ll try something else. When that something else gets them what they want, they’re more likely to do that again. What gets rewarded, gets repeated. It may take a few repetitions to work. And we know it’s hard to resist those puppy dog eyes. Do it anyway. That way when your dog is as tall as you, you won’t have to worry about them scratching up your guests’ faces. Or having to hang on to their collar for dear life so they don’t jump.

Class time

You already know that habit is the most powerful force in the universe. Gravity may be a close second, but that’s debatable. It’s easier to form a new habit with a dog than to try to break an established one.

The point is; if you have a new-to-you dog, whether a puppy or an adult, start as you mean to continue. It may be adorable for a 15-pound puppy to jump on you, paw at you, or whine for attention. When the dog weighs 60 pounds, it’s not so cute. When Grandma comes over to visit, or your toddler nephew, there’s nothing cute about it.

You should form a new habit, too. Pick a time for your training. Make a date with your dog every day right after you’ve had your coffee. You can use your dog’s breakfast for training treats. You get to smile at the start of the day. And your dog will be satisfied (food) and tired (had to think!) for the morning.

Other end of the timeline

That habit will stand you in good stead for your dog’s entire lifetime. When your dog’s caught up on the house rules (house-breaking, jumping, crate training), you can spend every day playing the training games that are more fun; Ring Stacking, Put Your Toys Away, anything you come up with that makes you both happy.

It never has to go away. Tango, Fran’s Brussels Griffon, will celebrate his 15th birthday this month. He decided to retire from the competition ring in Rally and Agility long ago – he wasn’t having fun. But every single day he still plays training games. He plays his Balance and Core Exercises. And he plays “Put Your Toys Away.” The timing of dog training for Tango is “all the time!”

Playing training games with your dog really isn’t about the training. It’s about the growth of your relationship with your dog, the understanding it builds between you, and giving your dog the biggest life you both can share.

“Push Me, Pull You” teaches dogs “Hold it!”

All dogs are really “Push Me, Pull You” dogs. When your dog pulls on leash or tugs on a toy, they’re demonstrating what’s called the “opposition reflex.” While it may not be a real reflex, it is a trait that all dogs (and people!) have. Since it’s there, you may as well take advantage of it.

Simply put, it’s what happens when the dog resists being pushed or pulled. One way we test our dogs “Stay!” performance was to gently pull on the leash. The dogs resist the pressure to move. That uses their opposition reflex to further their understanding of what “Stay!” means.

You can also see it at work if you ever practice a “restrained recall.” That’s when someone holds your dog while you run away from the dog, calling to them. There’s nothing that gets most dogs revved up better. When dogs seem distracted and out of focus in obedience class, we use a restrained, or chase, recall to turn that around. You’ve also seen it at the start of any horse race, with the starting gate as the restraint. The dog sport Fast CAT uses it, too. Somebody holds the dog back at the start line while the lure speeds ahead.

Better, faster, stronger

The best way to teach your dog is to take advantage of their natural instincts. Whether the opposition reflex is a physical fact doesn’t matter. What does matter is that it works and you can use it in your training.

Say you want to teach your dog to hold something. Someone we know taught her dogs to hold a white board. She got a lot of mileage out of that behavior on social media. Think of the smiles you’d get if that’s how you made an announcement – just writing it on a white board and getting your dog to hold it.

Hold it!

So – how do you get your dog to hold onto something? We wrote about one way of teaching this, but here’s another: Make use of the opposition reflex. Teach the concept of hold when you play tug. It goes along with teaching the “Drop it!” command. If you’re putting pressure on the object your dog is holding, their instinct is to hold onto it with everything they’ve got. If you release all the pressure on the object, they’re more likely to drop it.

Start small, with something that has value for your dog, but not their favorite toy. If your dog doesn’t naturally love to play tug, start there. Most people think their dogs will be attracted to toys moving rapidly, flapped around in their faces. That’s not the way to do it. Instead, use your dog’s predator genetics and get them to stalk and pounce on your tug toy. Move it slowly, on the ground, back and forth. If your dog doesn’t respond right away, up the ante by gently touching their front paws as you sway the toy back and forth. Wiggle it, but not quickly.

Hope’s first agility dog was a French Bulldog named Dax. Dax didn’t tug. Had no interest in toys. But tugging is a great way to get your dog amped up and ready to play with you. Also, her agility instructor insisted that dogs must play tug with their people. Hope had to find the irresistible tuggy for Dax.

While she didn’t care about toys, she was highly food motivated. Dax’s push-me pull-you came roaring out when Hope used semi-limp celery for a tug object. Each rib may only have lasted a few minutes, but it got the job done.

Push Me Pull You Dogs

When your dog tugs, they naturally shift their weight back and resist your exertion. Keeping up a gentle pressure encourages your dog to hang on. Easing the pressure, without entirely letting go, turns into a “Hold it!” If your dog drops the object, start again. Try to figure out where your dog is letting go, and try to keep the pressure level just above that at first.

When your dog is hanging on to the toy, encourage them to move with you a little bit at a time. By incrementally decreasing your hold on the toy, while getting your dog to move, you’re building the dog’s hold and carry skills.

Once you and your dog are successfully holding and moving with the toy, it’s time to go back to the start using different objects; other toys, maybe a spoon, a tote bag with handles, and that white board. Whatever you’d like your dog to hold, introduce step by step. And we take advantage of the fact that all dogs are “push me pull you” dogs!

Don’t be quiet!

We’ve noticed that people seem reluctant to talk to their dogs in group classes. But providing feedback to your dog throughout your training game sessions is crucial. Dogs learn words by hearing them in context. Give your dog the words; “Hold it!” “Good Hold!” “That’s Hold it!” Use whatever word works for you. You get to decide what words mean to your dog.

Once your dog is fairly conversant with a new game or behavior doesn’t mean it’s time to stop talking. Keep talking to let them know you’re engaged in the game, too. If your dog drops the object, don’t repeat a command “Hold!” Instead, ask them “What were you doing?” “What’s the game?” And wait. This is the most difficult part for most people. But letting your dog think things through is essential for learning. When they come up with the right answer and pick up the toy, praise and reward.

Knowing is different for dogs

Knowing is different for dogs. You’d think that once your dog knows how to do something, you’re done. But that’s not the case. It never occurred to us that people would think that was true until we got a question at our Loose-Leash Walking Workshop this weekend.

It was in the Q & A as the workshop was winding down. The dogs were exhausted after thinking for 90 minutes and the room was peaceful and quiet. One of the people auditing the workshop asked “Is this how we can introduce new people to our dog? Have them do the 3-Step Pattern Walking with our dog?”

Answer: “Absolutely not!”

Just the fact that she would ask the question made us realize it’s difficult for most to understand how intensely situational dogs are. Dogs don’t generalize. They can be taught to generalize, but it’s not naturally the way they think. So, knowing is different for dogs.

How does that work?

When people encounter a new object or circumstance, we can draw on all our past knowledge and experience to interpret the situation. For example; when babies learn how to walk and are somewhat proficient, they can walk on any surface, in any direction, regardless of slope, material, or shoes.

It’s different for dogs. Have you ever seen a dog encounter a new type of flooring and hesitate to walk on it? We saw it in action up close and personal. Fran’s first obedience dog, Golly, was accustomed to working on rubber mats or bare floors. We went to the Brussels Griffon National Specialty show and Golly was showing in Obedience. The trial was in the “Show Ring” and the flooring was bright blue artificial turf. Golly had never walked on anything like it. And, even though she knew all of the obedience exercises, she couldn’t do them in that situation. She walked as if the surface was hot coals. Needless to say, Fran got some artificial turf and all of our dogs since that day have practiced on it.

But that’s how specific dog training can be. If you are always the one training the dog, you may be the only one the dog obeys. If every member of the household plays training games with the dog, everyone has that relationship with the dog.

Dog introductions

The woman asking the questions was assuming that the dogs’ polite behavior, having learned the basics of 3-Step Pattern Walking, would be useful in a different situation – introducing her rambunctious dog to new people. It’s a perfectly logical way for a person to think. If the dog is calm and well-behaved practicing this training game, why not use the game elsewhere?

That’s too big a leap for dogs. Knowing is different for dogs. Just changing the person holding the leash makes it a completely new scenario. If that person isn’t familiar with that training game, it’s of no use. The person will feel awkward and the dog won’t know what’s going on. Faced with so many variables, the dog will get frustrated and either shut down, disengage, or misbehave.

Play different games everywhere

If you want your dog to understand how to greet people politely, no matter where you are or who you encounter, you have to teach a greeting behavior. You decide what that looks like, then teach it to your dog. And practice it everywhere. At the front door. The back door. And at the gate to the yard. In the hardware store. In the parking lot. You’re giving your dog the information they need to expand “greeting” to wherever they are, whoever you’re meeting.

There’s a saying among Obedience competitors; “We all have Obedience champions in the kitchen.” That’s exactly right. What your dog knows at home they may not know at training class. Or at a competition. Giving your dog varied experiences will grow their understanding. “Sit!” means “Sit!” no matter where you are or who’s there with you.