Many people like to choose a dog to fit a “look” or an image, which is never a good idea (whether it’s a dog or a human partner!) In the end, it’s not going to be about your dog’s breed or looks, or the number of compliments and prizes his ancestors won at the beauty show. It’s going to be about the quality of the relationship you develop with your dog. The best advice might come from the dating world: choose a partner you want to hang out with, can communicate with, and who likes to do the same things that you like to do.
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“Sit” is the first of three behaviors–along with “come” and “leave it”–that I consider to be the core behaviors that nearly every dog should master. “Sit” is the foundation of nearly every other behavior you’ll teach your dog. It’s the equivalent of teaching a toddler to say “please.” Almost all the other behaviors we’ll teach your dog will require him to sit first.
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Although you have to win the game about 90% of the time, during the early coaching phase it’s essential to let your dog win most of the time. Why? You’re trying to show your dog that you’re a fun person to play with. Dogs, like kids, will quickly become frustrated or bored by a game that they feel they can’t win.
Eventually, you’re going to want to win most of the time, giving you a pleasurable way to establish your benevolent leadership without rubbing your dog’s nose in it. Even then, however, you must let your dog win about 10% of the time. No one likes to play a game he or she can never win. Lose just enough to keep him happy and interested, but not enough to challenge your supremacy as the coach of the team.
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Check out my interview with Tails, Inc. celebrity column, Tattle Tails, written by Laura Drucker. CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE
“Tailsinc.com is an interactive website and online community committed to connecting the animal welfare community with the general pet-loving population. Tails Inc. features expert knowledge, advice, pet product reviews, local resource guides, community event news and monthly contests, in order to promote and encourage people to live responsibly with their pets.” – Tailsinc.com
Back when I worked as an intelligence officer in the Israeli Army, I learned an important lesson. Most days, things didn’t go to plan. That’s not to say we hadn’t put in the preparation legwork. Rather, even though we’d made our plans, unexpected things happened.
When things changed suddenly like that, we had to change plans. Sticking to the original plan could lead to disaster. Training your dog is a similar process. You must pay attention to what’s happening, and adjust your plans accordingly.
Here are my six steps to teach your dog pretty much anything, contingency plans included.
1. Decide What You Want Your Dog To
Create a clear definition of what you want your dog to do. Be realistic here.I said you can teach your dog pretty much anything, not absolutely anything. If you’ve got a pocket-sized pooch, she won’t be learning to jump a six foot fence. Nor is any dog likely to learn how to fly a plane.Even so, I’ve worked with clients who have taught their dogs to bring the morning newspaper, slam dunk a doggy basketball, fetch a beer from the refrigerator, and dance with them to their favorite music track.
Be specific, too. Wanting your dog to “be well mannered” is too general. Break it down into specific behaviors. You can teach your dog to come when he’s called. You can teach him to put away his toys. You can teach him to wait politely while you prepare his dinner. The more specific you are about what you want to teach, the quicker you’ll see the results you want.
2. Notice What Your Dog is Doing
Dogs respond best to positive reinforcement. That means noticing and acknowledging every step they’re taking towards what you want them to learn.Praise and reward your dog for every teensy bit of progress, no matter how small.
By paying attention to what’s going right, you create a positive environment where success is a natural outcome.
Punish your dog for what he does wrong, and he’ll live in fear of making mistakes. Praise him for what he does right, and he’ll give the best he can. It’s simple psychology, and it works with humans too!
3. Use What Your Dog
Break down the desired behavior into a series of steps, and make as many of the steps about something your dog already knows or does well.For example, one of my clients taught her dog how to get ready for bed by rolling himself up in a blanket. It looked as cute as it sounds!The trick was made up of a series of things the dog already knew – “down”, “take it”, “roll over” and “head down”. When you work with what your dog already knows, you’ll reach your destination faster.
4. Keep Working
The secret to training a dog sounds really boring: consistency. But I promise you, it’s the only path to success. No dog, no matter how intelligent, learns a new behavior instantly. It always, always takes time, effort and input from the dog’s owner.
Teaching your dog a new behavior is a process you must commit to. And by commit, I mean pouring your heart and soul into it. Believe your dog can do it. Don’t do it half-heartedly. Dogs sense emotion, and they can tell when you’re faking interest in them. Switch off the TV, power down your computer, set your phone to silent, and give your dog your full attention during the training session.
Work with your dog every day, and eventually it will come.
5. Rinse & Repeat
When Thomas Edison first created a lightbulb, he failed. The second lightbulb he created broke too. In fact, it took him over 1,000 attempts before he created a working prototype. “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” he was asked. Edison replied: “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.” The only path to success is failure. You might have to step across failure hundreds or thousands of times before you reach your destination. If your training regime isn’t working, try something different. Mix it up. Try your training at a different time of day. Just like humans, dogs have peaks and troughs of energy. Even if you’re sure your dog has learned a new behavior, keep going. Most dogs have to repeat a behavior many times in lots of different environments before they’ve truly mastered it.
6. Remember to Make it
Dogs learn best through play, so unless you’re having fun teaching your dog a new behavior, you may as well quit.
Being playful and imaginative in your approach increases your chance of success. When you’re willing to try different approaches, you’ll eventually find the right path. Success is a journey, not a destination. Ultimately, coaching your dog to learn a new behavior is about building your relationship with your pet. Whatever he or she picks up from the coaching, you’ll always be learning more about each other. And that’s the most important thing of all. Want help coaching your dog? Why not coach with the Loved Dog? Or if you want to know your dog is having a great time while you’re at work or away, check out Los Angeles Doggie Daycare.
The “Sneezing Game” is one of my all time favorite games that you can teach your dog. It is a huge crowd pleaser! But, it’s also using a fun game to reinforce the STAY behavior!!! How much fun! Once this “trick” is mastered your dog can entertain at parties, and help take care of you when you are sick. You can teach your dog to fetch an individual tissue out of the box, or bring you the entire box!
The prerequisites
While not extremely difficult, the “sneezing game” is not a beginner “trick”. Before you can teach your dog the sneezing game it is important that your pet has first mastered the basics. Your dog should already know how to “fetch” in order to play it. If you are just beginning your coaching start by reading through the coaching materials here.
Bring me a tissue!
The Goal: Every time you say the command or sneeze your dog will run and fetch you a tissue.
Start by taping a box of tissues to the floor. Wiggle one of the tissues for your dog and say “Take it.” Reward him with a treat when he pulls a tissue out of the box. Once he starts to get the hang of it, take the box off of the floor and hold it at different heights. Work with your dog to take the tissue. Remember, be patient and don’t complicate the task too quickly.
Once your dog begins to get the hang of it begin to move the box a few feet away and point toward the tissues, pretending to sneeze (“Achoo!”) and saying, “Fetch.” When your dog brings you the tissue, say “Good achoo!”, and give a jackpot of Gold-level treats. After your dog begins to understand the game, you can start to eliminate the “fetch” and “drop it,” until he’s performing the behavior every time you say “Achoo!” If you’re fake your sneezes well enough, in no time your dog will be bringing you tissues when you sneeze!
Want a more advanced maneuver?
Once you get your dog to bring tissues you can also teach the dog to bring the entire box using the same principle used for the tissue. You can even get creative and teach your dog to find the box, or even throw away the tissue when you are done.
When you first hide the box, you can have someone hold your dog. But as your dog learns to STAY, ask him to Stay, and go and hide the tissue box. I like to fake the dog and pretend like I’m hiding it in a few different places, just to add to the fun of the treasure hunt. Using the Loved Dog coaching method opens the door to your imagination. Stick to the principles, use patients, praise, and of course treats!
Have fun, be creative, and keep loving your dog!!!
Want your dog to tell you when it’s time to go to the bathroom? Over the past several weeks we’ve been examining how to coach your dog. Today we’re going to look at another advanced “trick” that you can teach your dog that can really help you out. Let’s dive in and learn how we can coach your dog to ring a bell for you when he needs to go to the bathroom.
The Tools
To start off with let’s take a look at the tools you need for this behavior, the bell. There are a couple of different options. One option is to buy a specially made “doggy doorbell” from your local pet store. If you don’t want to spend the extra cash you can also make a bell out of virtually anything your dog can ring their paws with – cowbells, jingle bells, wind chimes. All of these work great. Hang the bells next to the door, in a place where your dog can reach with his nose.
The Coaching
Similar our previous post on The Sneezing Game this trick is a more advanced trick. It will work best if you have already taught your dog how to “target.” If you have, great news! Start by having him target the bell. When he hits is say, “Outside,” and as a reward, let him go outside! (Tamar explains Targeting in her book “30 Days to a well-mannered dog”. It’s easy).
Once he’s learned that, you are halfway there. Halfway because your dog will ring the bell when they want to go outside, but not necessarily when they need to potty. Now let’s work on connecting the idea of ringing the bell specifically to potty time. This part is easy! Everytime your dog rings the bell, put a leash on and take him outside. Keep him on a leash until he finishes. You can then release him and let him play, but only after he goes potty. If he doesn’t go within a few minutes, make sure to bring him back into the house and try again later.
After a while, your dog will begin to associate the ringing of the bell with going outside to go potty and will ring it on his own. This is one of the few times you don’t need to make a big deal with treats and praise. In this case, going outside is its own reward (praise and reward after the the Potty takes place).
The final step is to stop using the leash (if you have a fenced outdoors area) and just let your dog outside. Make sure you only do this when you’re sure he really understands the idea that the bell means potty time. If he backslides, ringing the bell every fifteen minutes because he wants to go outside to play, you can reintroduce the leash until he figures it out again.
Having trouble with coaching? Take a look at some of our resources (they go into much more depth) or stop by. We have top notch dog coaches that can work with your dog to quickly move them along Tamar’s own Loved Dog system. This is the same system used For over 25 years by many of Hollywood’s A-list celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Larry King, Ellen DeGeneres, Ben Affleck, Charlize Theron, ryan Seacrest, and others.