Training – Delightful Dogs

Changing Behavior: Jumping part 2

Jumping to say HELLO!

Anti-jump training inside your home.

Get your clicker and treats
Spend some time clicking and treating your dog for 4 paws on the floor or for sitting.
Start adding in walking towards your dog, if he sits, click and treat. If he jumps, walk away without saying anything. If he just stands, then ask for a sit after you stop, if he sits after you say “sit”, click and treat. And practice this a few more times. Then see if you can walk up to him and stop and see if he’ll offer a sit on his own.

Start working with your dog that when he wants something, he sits. So if he wants to eat his dinner, ask for a sit before your place the bowl down. If he wants your pets and love, ask for a sit before you pet him. This is like teaching your dog to say “please” so he can ask for things politely before you give him something.

If you have a persistent dog who continues to jump, no matter what and you are turning your back and he is still jumping on you, walk away and put a barrier between you and your dog (this could be a baby gate or a door, walking into another room). If you are consistent with this, dog will learn very quickly that jumping on my owner means they leave me… they stop offering that.

Behavior Change: Jumping Part 1

Why do dogs jump anyway?

Dog’s jump to say hello! And to tell you they are worried about something.

So knowing there are multiple reasons why dogs jump, we will look at the 1st reason today and work on the first steps of how to change the behavior.

Anti-jump training when you arrive at home. Dogs are so excited when their people come home (whether from work or from a grocery store trip… doesn’t matter… you’ve been gone, they’re happy to see you!)

Go outside or behind a door (you can practice with all the doors in your house before working on the front/garage door… OR just jump right in at the main door where you are experiencing the most jumping)
Open the door a teeny bit. If the dog jumps, shut the door.
Repeat until you can step through the door without your dog jumping up.
If he jumps on you, walk back outside and start again.
Whenever your dog keeps 4 paws on the floor, reward him (praise or treats-I find dropping treats on the floor helps drive the point home faster than when I deliver the treat to the mouth of the dog).
Practice this when you are home (not coming home from somewhere at first). Once your dog can do this really well just in a training session, then try to do it when you come home from being gone a short period of the time. Then practice it when you get home from longer trips away.

There is more tips and tricks – come back for more!

Get Everyone Involved

Get the WHOLE family in on the training. This helps your dog listen to every member in the family and it helps generalizes the cues and behaviors. Once everyone is on the same page on how a cue is given and what to reward with, etc. family members can give you a break if you like 🙂

Its good for you, your family and your dog(s).

Wait at a Boundary

Wait at a boundary can be used in many scenarios like having good manners at house doors, stairs, and car doors.

Step 1: Start by shaping your dog to stay on 1 side of the boundary (I use a broom). Every time your dog approaches the boundary, click and treat (C/T) BEFORE he takes a step over the boundary. When the dog is reliably remaining on one side of the boundary you will be ready to introduce the cue, “wait”.

Step 2: When the dog comes to the boundary and stops say, “wait”, C/T.

Repeat this step 10 times until your dog is stopping when you say “wait”.

Step 3: Start using the cue “wait” in different scenarios (house and car doors, etc).

When you WANT them to cross the boundary, you can say “release” and then C/T for when he or she moves forward.

The more you practice the better your dog will be at waiting for you to release him or her to do another activity.

Training: Sit/Stay

Plan your training session

Pick a quiet location
Put your dog on a tie down
Get some of your dogs food, treats, or a toy
Get your clicker

Training the Basics

To help your dog focus on you, keep the treats out of sight (hand behind your back or a treat pouch). Keep your dog on a leash to keep him from wandering off. Wait for your dog to sit, as soon as your dog’s butt touches the ground, click and treat (C/T). Say the release word right away. The release word should be “release” or “free”.

When they learn that sitting gets them a click and a treat, they will be more likely to do the behavior over and over again. Repeat the first step a few times, before moving to putting this behavior on cue.

Give it a Name

When they sit, say “sit” and mark/reward for that behavior. Then release them. Repeat this a few times before moving on.

After the Basics

Repeat the above training session in every room of your house, in the backyard, in the front yard and at the park. Still using a tie down at each place and matching the word, “sit” when they actually sit. At the end of each training session, ask the dog to sit and see if they know the cue. Click and treat every time they sit when you say “sit”.

Now, remove the tie down and hold the leash. Now ask for a sit and reward with a pet or belly rub. Practice sits with a brief tug of a toy or fetch of a ball. Practice sits for real life rewards: putting on the leash, before allowing your friends to pet your dog, before they get their food bowl and anything and everything your dog values, use as a reward for your dog.

Adding the “stay” or duration

Ask your dog for a “sit”
If your dog responds correctly, pause for 1 second and then C/T. If 1 second is too long for your dog, reduce the amount of time to ½ a second.
When the dog is doing well holding the sit for 1 second, gradually increase the duration, one second at a time.
Once your dog can hold the sit for 5 seconds, you’ll know he’s learning the concept of patiently sustaining a behavior until you click.
Once your dog can hold a sit for 5 min, you can start varying the duration. You’re going to continue to gradually increase the time they are sitting. One time you’ll do 5 sec, then 3, then 7, then 5, then 9, etc.
Every once in a while throw in a “Jack-Pot”, where you give a few treats instead of 1.

Walking on Leash

We want to make sure that anytime the leash is loose the dog gets paid and when there’s a tight leash, they don’t.

The following method requires first, that all or most reinforcement will come from behind you and second, that you toss the food to the ground- not far- just so the dog has to look for it.

Lets play!

Loose leash walking is going to start off as a game. Here are a few steps that you will need to train BEFORE you do any walking with your dog.

Put the leash on your dog and stand still. When your dog releases the tension on the leash, click and show him the treat n your hand. While he watches you, place the treat on the outside of your left foot. Once he’s eaten the treat, move to the end of the leash so it’s stretched and stand quietly. When he moves to release the tension, click and then place the treat on the outside of your left foot. Don’t worry about eye contact just yet. What we’re clicking and rewarding for is the releasing of the tension on the leash. Do this a number of times. We want the dog to regularly want to get closer to us/release tension on the leash.
Continue step 1 but add the eye contact. So move to the end of the leash and when your dog comes closer and maybe offers a glance at your face, click and treat. Click and treat 3 times for looking at you while on a loose leash.
Again, just standing with your dog on a loose leash, looking at you, toss your treats right past your dogs nose about 3 feet away. When dog eats the treats and comes back to you looking for more, click and treat by placing the food one the outside of your left foot. Move and repeat.
Again toss the treat right past your dog’s nose. When your dog finishes eating it and turns around to come back to you, you turn your back and start walking. Just take a few steps in the beginning. When your dog catches up with you , but before he gets past your pant leg, click and treat. Repeat.

NOTE: Make sure when you toss the food it goes right past your dogs nose. Now that you have the dog following you for a few steps it is time to start walking and reinforcing behind or next to you.

Training on the move

While your dog is on leash, turn away from him and start walking. As your dog catches up to you (maybe makes eye contact)- click and treat, dropping the treat next to your left foot. Wait for him to finish the treat and then start walking away , as he catches up, drop the treat next to your left foot, or a little behind you. Make sure to stop and wait for him to finish eating before you move away from him.

NOTE: Dropping food next to your side or a little behind helps the dog to stay close to you. It prevents the dog from anticipating and forging ahead. So drop the food behind you or you can even let the dog take it out of your hand behind your back. Don’t drop the food so far away that the dog has to drag you to get it.

Continue practicing

Don’t let the dog get in front of you. If he does, pivot away, wait till he catches up BUT is next to you or slightly behind you (or his nose is at your pant seam) and drop the food.

Now you’ll need to increase the number of steps you take before rewarding your dog. You can vary the steps as you practice (ex: 3 steps, C/T. 5 steps, C/T. 2 steps, C/T. 7 steps, C/T. etc.). You can now treat your dog at your pant left leg or continue dropping the treats behind you.

As you get better at walking longer and longer distances without your dog going ahead of you, don’t forget to reward intermittently. You want your dog to believe that it’s better for him to stay close to you rather than attempting to pull since you haven’t paid in a while.

Training: Leave It

The meaning of “Leave it” is if you want anything in life, you back away from it to get it. By doing this you are instilling self-control and calm behavior.

Foundation:

Start with a piece of treat in closed hand, put your hand in front of their nose and when they look at you, Click and Treat them, then do it again.
- After a few time of this and they are responding very quickly to you putting your hand out there, name it, “Leave It”.

2^ndstep is have a treat in your opened hand and put that in front of their nose (Don’t say anything, it’s like teaching a new behavior all over again), if they try to take the treat, then close your hand, only c/t for looking away while your hand is open.
- After a few C/T for looking away, start looking for them to look at your face, they don’t have to look at your face right away, but make sure you don’t stay on one part for too long, or you might stump your dog on that one spot, making them think this is the end product.
- Make sure you can get a good 2-3 sec eye contact, before you name it.

- Start with something your dog loves… a toy, bone, etc. Have your dog on a leash while doing this exercise.
- Put the toy or jar of peanut butter a good distance away (say 15-20 feet)
- Say “Leave It”
- If they can’t stop focusing on the object, say their name, then move further away
- If they don’t look at you start backing up and call their name
- C/T them whenever they look at you
- Then repeat. When it is easier for the dog to look at you, move closer and closer until you are right by the object.

4) Leave It GAME

You need to have 2 toys
- One toy they love and the other they like, but not as exciting at the other toy.
- Throw the toy that is least excitable to them to the side
- Tell them “Leave It”
- When they look at you, reward with play with the more excitable toy.
- ONLY do this game after the dog responds to “Leave It” in the hand within 2-3 sec.

How To Teach A New Behavior

Knowing how to teach a new behavior is a great skill to have, because it gives you the ability to teach your dog ANY behavior you want (that your dog is physically capable of doing).

If the behavior you desire him or her to know is something he or she already knows then its super easy to capture the behavior. When your dog does the behavior click and treat, C/T. Do this multiple times and once your dog is reliably doing the behavior, you can start putting it on cue.

If its something your dog doesn’t do on his or her own, then you’ll need to shape it. Shaping is breaking the behavior down in small steps. The important thing to remember is that the steps have to be small and attainable to your dog. Break down step as small as possible. You’ll want your dog to know the whole behavior before adding the cue AND do it reliably.

Remember when adding the cue, start at the time the behavior begins and work your way to before your dog does the behavior.

Training: Follow a Target

We are going to teach our dogs how to follow our hand. This behavior is helpful in leading our dogs. This is great for crate training, walking past something that scares or overexcites your dog and is good for agility or freestyle dance training.

You will need to use some sort of obstacle (ex: your leg, a chair, a cone, etc).

Step 1: In this step your dog should know “touch” (see the “touch” pamphlet).

Step 2:

We are going to expand on “touch” in step 2. We are going to present our hand like we are going to do “touch”. When they go to touch your hand, pull your hand away just an inch or so, then click and treat, C/T. Repeat this step gradually increasing the distance your dog has to go, so it looks more like your dog is following your hand.
- The best way to increase the amount of time between starting the behavior and the C/T: first get to 3-4 inches of following. Then go back to 1-2, then 3 in, then 1, then 4, then 5, then 7, then 4, then 6, then 8, then 2, then 5, then 10, then 7, mixing it up like this helps keep our dogs on their toes and they are more likely to follow your hand because they wont assume the next step.

Step 3: The next step is putting a cue to the behavior of following the target. So as your dog is doing the behavior say, “this way”. Repeat this step 3-5 times. Then test it out on your dog. Say “this way” and move your hand. Make sure to click and treat for the dog doing the behavior. If they don’t follow then, Go back to adding the cue to the behavior.

On the road: Once your dog knows the cue at home, make sure to practice anywhere and everywhere you take your dog (work, home depot, the park, etc).

*IMPORTANT- if your dog has a hard time doing the behavior in a new environment, move away from any and all distractions. Lower your expectations, some dogs may need to go back to the beginning so to speak.

Tag: Training