| Toby's Training Tips |
| |
| 1) |
Be a confident leader
When living in a group situation, someone needs to be in charge. Humans can think logically and thus usually make better decisions than dogs.
Do not concern yourself with being a ‘pack leader’. Just make fair decisions and follow through with them.
|
 |
| |
|
| 2) |
Be consistent.
If one family member makes your dog sit before receiving meals and another family member doesn't, this confuses your dog.
It also makes him less reliable when it comes time to sit before a meal. Everybody training your dog must practice the commands the same way every time.
If you are not consistent with your commands, your dog won't be either.
|
| |
| 3) |
Use different voice tones with your dog.
Dogs do not understand all of our words, but they do understand our different tones. Use a high-pitched voice for praising, a firm voice for commands,
and a disappointed voice for reprimands. Use facial expressions and body language as well. Make it easy for your dog to see what you’re trying to communicate.
|
| |
| 4) |
Give your dog feedback about his behavior.
Use a Reward Mark (Yes! Good! or a clicker) to mark a correct behavior and pair it with a reinforcer (toy, treat, praise). Use a No Reward Mark
(eh-eh, Again, No) when your dog does the wrong behavior for the given command. Pair this word with the absence of a reinforcer, and it will communicate
to your dog that his action was incorrect. The NRM teaches your dog to think on his own by telling him to try a different behavior so he can succeed and
get reinforced. The RM marks the correct behavior that you want to reinforce and have him repeat in the future.
|
| |
| 5) |
Use a Release word.
After your dog performs a behavior and you’ve given him praise and a reinforcer, release him with a word such as "Okay! Or All Done!" This word tells your
dog the behavior is over and he is free to move around. After every command either give your dog a new command or give him your Release Word. If you do not
do this consistently, your dog will think he can break out of the position whenever he wants.
|
| |
| 6) |
Timing is important. Praise your dog the moment he does something right.
Reinforce your dog while he is doing something right. If you give treats to your dog, give him a treat while he’s in the position. If you wait till your
dog moves out of the position to praise and reinforce him, then he may associate the reinforcer with the wrong behavior. For example, if you tell your dog
to sit and as you’re giving him a treat he stands up, what are you rewarding him for? Standing up to get the treat and not for sitting. He needs to be in
the position you asked him to be in as he gets reinforced.
|
| |
| 7) |
7) Focus more on praise than punishment.
Spend more time praising your dog for the good things he does rather than always correcting him for the wrong ones. For instance, if you are
training your dog to stop barking with guests come over, correcting him alone may not work completely. You also need to reinforce your dog when he’s quiet.
Show your dog what you want him to do instead of telling him what not to do.
|
| |
| 8) |
Use both verbal commands and hand signals.
Many dogs only learn the hand signals because they are masters at reading body language and novices at understanding English. Use the verbal command and
the hand signal close in time so they are paired together, but do not give them at the same time. That runs the risk that your dog will focus only on
the hand signal.
|
| |
| 9) |
Time your treat-giving correctly to gain the best results.
At first, give rewards out for every correct behavior to gain consistency and build memory. This is called a fixed schedule. One correct behavior equals
one reward. Later, once your dog understands the command and behavior, switch to a variable schedule to build stronger and more reliable behaviors. Only
give rewards for the best behaviors like the straighter sits or the faster recalls. Your dog will perform the behavior, never knowing whether a reward
is coming or not, but not willing to risk it. You can also give more and better rewards for the best behaviors, and give fewer and less desirable rewards
for the average behaviors. You must, however, give praise or your Reward Mark after every correct behavior so your dog knows that he behaved correctly.
|
| |
| 10) |
Take your time with training.
For some dogs it takes a while for them to understand what it is you want. Train a new command in small steps, and don’t be discouraged if you have to back
up a step or two. Make it real simple and easy for your dog. Also, it’s not uncommon for dogs to regress in their training or to forget what you taught them.
It’s tough to learn a new language, so if your dog is having trouble then make it as simple as possible and build from there.
|
| |
| 11) |
Training sessions should be short and fun.
Make learning and practicing commands a fun game with your dog so both you and your dog look forward to training sessions. Sessions should last 5 and 15
minutes, but can go longer or shorter depending on your dog's attention span. Have one to five training sessions every day. Always end on a good note so
your dog leaves feeling happy, confident, and awaiting the next training session.
|
| |
| 12) |
Give your dog plenty of exercise.
Your dog needs an outlet for all his energy. Take him on a walk or run every day, and make sure to play games with him at home. A dog with built-up energy
will find a way to let it out, and it's usually a way that is unpleasant to humans such as chewing, digging, or barking. Give your dog items to chew on.
Dogs love to chew so provide different bones, rawhides, or tough toys for your dog. Don’t leave them lie around your house because your dog will get bored
with them fast. Keep them at your level and give him one every so often. If he hasn’t seen the toy or bone in a while, then he’ll get real excited for it
and play for a longer period of time.
|
| |
| 13) |
Prevent rehearsal of unwanted behaviors.
Every time your dog performs a behavior that pays off for him, he is reinforcing himself to perform it again the next time. For example, if your dog barks
at the mailman everyday, and then the mailman drives off to the next house, your dog may think his barking made the mailman leave. Prevent your dog from
barking at the mailman and let him see that whether he barks or not, the truck is still going to leave. Give your dog a treat for not barking at the mailman
or call your dog come whenever the mailman drives up. If your dog’s barking stops getting reinforced, and staying quiet gets reinforced by you, then he’ll
start looking at you whenever the mailman drives up.
|
| |
| 14) |
Set your dog up for success.
Don’t give your dog a command you know he can’t perform at that given moment. For example, if your dog is jumping around greeting people and acting
extremely excited, don’t give your dog the sit command. He’s probably too excited to think about what sit means, let alone calm down enough to perform it.
If you shout out numerous commands at your dog and he continues to ignore them, then he is learning that he doesn’t have to listen to you if he doesn’t want to.
Every command you repeat is reinforcing your dog to ignore it the next time. With enough practice around distractions, you can teach your dog to listen to you
even when he’s excited. That will take some work, and you’re not going to get it by repeating commands and getting frustrated when your dog doesn’t listen
to you. Give your dog the correct command for the given situation if you know he can follow through with it. If he can’t, then work with him in practice
situations and build him up to listening to you under a variety of situations.
|
| |
| 15) |
What makes a trained dog obey?
If you said the command word you are incorrect. A trained dog obeys because of the history of reinforcement he got whenever he obeyed. Command words are just
cues to your dog that there is now an opportunity for reinforcement, and with enough training history and association of the cue and behavior together,
he will learn what behavior to perform to get reinforcement. Command words do not make your dog perform a behavior, consequences do. If your dog gets praised
every time he sits, he’s going to sit more often, whether you added a cue before the behavior or not. You cannot command a behavior that you have not yet
taught your dog. Show your dog what you want, give him feedback, and name it later. Dogs repeat reinforced behaviors. Reinforce what you want repeated.
Read The Dog Training Tip of the Month from Animal Behavior College
|
