Training – Page 2 – Delightful Dogs

Training: Climb

Beginning Steps on training “Climb”

Start by clicking and treating for any interaction with the bed. After 3-4 clicks and treats for looking/sniffing, wait for more (a paw or 2 on the bed). Making small attainable steps for your dog to make. Let your dog try different things (like my dog nudged the bed with his nose) don’t click just be patient.. it’s okay for your dog to guess.

Note: Toss treat away from bed to reset your dog, UNTIL they finally lay down, THEN place a few treats in between their paws.

Note: If your dog doesn’t have a go to your mat behavior, try laying a towel or another blanket on the elevated bed (some dogs are unsure about the above the ground beds).

Training: High Five

High Five

The goal is to have our dogs touch one of our hands with one of their paws. This is a great way for you to learn how to target and how to shape a new behavior.

Steps:

Whenever your dog shows any interaction with the target mat, click and treat (C/T). Repeat this step until he is reliably touching the mat (or a post it note) with his or her paw.
Gradually raise the target mat in small increments until you get it at a height you desire. C/T every time your dog touches his or her paw to the mat.
When the dog is reliably touching the target held in your hand, you will fade the target and continue shaping the dog to touch a hand for the “high five”.

Things to remember:

After the C/T put the target behind your back to reset for the next trial.

Training: Go To Your Mat

Having a dog that will go to a designated place and stay there until released is such a nice tool to have. It’s great for when people come over, or if you are out in public and need your dog to stay in one spot for safety or convenience.

Goal: Have your dog go to the mat, lay down, and stay until released on cue.

Step 1: To start off we are going to C/T (click and treat) every time the dog looks at the mat. When you give the treat, toss it away from the mat. After 3-5 times, move to step 2.

Step 2: We are going to wait for your dog to do something on the mat, sit or lie down. If they sit, just C/T once, we don’t want them to learn its go to your mat and sit. If they lay down, click and then give them a jackpot (a few treats at once). Also, if they lay down, you’ll want to give the treats on the mat in between their feet. Then say “Release” and if they get up, click that, wait for them to return to you to get the treat. Most dogs won’t be able to hold the down for this exercise in the beginning. Do this as many times as you need to make sure your dog knows it’s the going to the mat AND laying down that gets the treat.

Step 3: Put that behavior on a cue! Once your dog is reliably going to the mat and laying down it is time to put it on cue. Start this exercise like step 2, but when they start to lay down, we are going to say “go to your mat”, then C/T when they lay down. Release them. Do this exercise a few times, gradually saying “go to your mat” a little sooner than you did the last time.

Taking this to the NEXT level:

Distance: Now that your dog knows go to your mat you can move your body further from the mat to get him to go from a distance. Don’t make him lay on the mat too long at this point.

Duration: When you can be 5 or more feet away from the mat and he will go lay down on it, start working on how long he lays on the mat. So when he lies down, you delay your click by a second and then treat like normal. Build up to 3-5 seconds and then vary the time he has to lay down (ex: wait 3 sec, then 1, then 5, then 3, then 7, etc). Make sure you always release with “release”.

Dog Training: Name Game

The goal is to have our dogs look at our face when we say their name.

Look at me:

For this lesson, we want to achieve eye contact. Count out 10 treats. Wait for your dog to look in your direction, click/treat (C/T). Each time wait for the dog to look closer towards your face before you C/T. Once your dog starts looking at your eyes, C/T. Once they know looking at your eyes brings them good things, they’ll start doing it more and more, then you know it’s time to move to the next step. Keep a leash on your dog for this training session to keep your dog from wandering off (at least in the beginning).
Test: Count out 10 treats. Wait for eye contact and C/T. Can you get 10 C/T for eye contacts in 40 seconds? Ready to move on.

Give it a name:

Get 10 treats ready. Wait for your dog to look at your face, say his name, THEN C/T. Do NOT keep calling his name, just 1 time will do. If you say his name multiple times “Rover, Rover, Rover” he will learn that his name is “Rover, Rover, Rover” instead of “Rover”. Repeat this several times through out the day.
Test: Count out 10 treats. Say your dogs name FIRST. Does he look at your face? GREAT, C/T. Do this 10 times. If your dog does NOT look at your face, then back up to the previous step.

Moving On:

Goal: Get your dog to STARE at you. Wait for your dog to look at your face. Now delay your Click/Treat (C/T) for a count of A-B-C. Then C/T. Now call his name and he’ll look at your face at this point, wait A-B-C-D-E-F before C/T. Gradually fluctuate between “A” and “A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L”.
From here you can build on it until you can get from A-Z. IF he fails at this point, shorten the length of time the next time you ask. ALWAYS, C/T for successful stares.
Distractions: Try working with your dog in new locations (different rooms in your house, backyard, front yard, parks, etc) and in different body positions. When you change locations or body positions, you’ll want to lower criteria (don’t expect your dog to STARE at you for 10 seconds when another dog is 10 feet away at the park).

Keep in mind: with dogs, you need to start low and work your way up… if you work in a way that your dog always succeeds your dog will have a GREAT attention and FOCUS on you!

Behavior Problem: Jumping

Jumping is a common complaint owners give regarding their dogs.

This is a 2 part process:

Don’t allow the unwanted behavior to pay off.
Reward for behavior that is incompatible with the undesirable behavior.

Pay off may mean something different to you than to your dog. For instance, jumping is a behavior to get your attention, so even looking at your dog is a reward all in itself. Shouting, pushing, and even bringing your knee up into their chest is giving your dog attention.

THE BEST thing you can do is ignore, turn your body and walk away.

ALSO, you will need to reward for behavior that you want instead. Reward for 4 paws on the floor. Practice (with another person holding the leash, or your dog on a tie down) when you approach, click and treat (C/T) BEFORE your dog attempts to jump on you. Practice this a few times at home for a week or so.

Then take him to the park and practice there. If you have family or friends who are willing to help you, it would be great to get it generalized with as many people as you can because if you are the only one practicing with your dog, he will learn not to jump on you, but other people may be fair game.

We hope this helps you with curbing your dog’s bad habit of jumping 🙂

Getting Your Pups Attention

Getting your dogs attention is one of the most important things you can teach him.A

Keep a leash on your dog for this training session to keep your dog from wandering off (at least in the beginning).

Look at me:

For this lesson, we want to achieve eye contact. Count out 10 treats. Wait for your dog to look in your direction, click/treat (C/T). Each time wait for the dog to look closer towards your face before you C/T. Once your dog starts looking at your eyes, C/T. Once they know looking at your eyes brings them good things, they’ll start doing it more and more, then you know it’s time to move to the next step.
Test: Count out 10 treats. Wait for eye contact and C/T. Can you get 10 C/T for eye contacts in 40 seconds? Ready to move on.

Give it a name:

Get 10 treats ready. Wait for your dog to look at your face, say his name, THEN C/T. Do NOT keep calling his name, just 1 time will do. If you say his name multiple times “Rover, Rover, Rover” he will learn that his name is “Rover, Rover, Rover” instead of “Rover”. Repeat this several times through out the day.
Test: Count out 10 treats. Say your dogs name FIRST. Does he look at your face? GREAT, C/T. Do this 10 times. If your dog does NOT look at your face, then back up to the previous step.

Moving On:

Goal: Get your dog to STARE at you. Wait for your dog to look at your face. Now delay your Click/Treat (C/T) for a count of A-B-C. Then C/T. Now call his name and he’ll look at your face at this point, wait A-B-C-D-E-F before C/T. Gradually fluctuate between “A” and “A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L”.
From here you can build on it until you can get from A-Z. IF he fails at this point, shorten the length of time the next time you ask. ALWAYS, C/T for successful stares.
Distractions: Try working with your dog in new locations (different rooms in your house, backyard, front yard, parks, etc) and in different body positions. When you change locations or body positions, you’ll want to lower criteria (don’t expect your dog to STARE at you for 10 seconds when another dog is 10 feet away at the park).

Keep in mind: with dogs, you need to start low and work your way up… if you work in a way that your dog always succeeds your dog will have a GREAT attention and FOCUS on you!

Why Clickers?

There are SO many reasons to train using positive reinforcements for training. The clicker is a tool that helps get the precise behavior you are looking for.

Here are 6 benefits of clicker training:

1)Accelerates learning- clicker trained animals learn more quickly (one the animal understands the clicker system) than the more traditional way of learning (using punishment).

2)Strengthens the human-animal bond- the relationship that if formed on positive reinforcement is a very deep bond and it is accomplished very quickly.

3)Encourages creativity and initiative- dogs who are trained with clicker training are more creative in what behaviors they offer, making it SUPER easy to capture behaviors you are looking for.

4)Very forgiving of human mistakes- we all make mistakes when we train, people will click at the wrong time or miss the time to click, the worst thing that happens is the dog either misses a reward or they get a free treat! You can NOT harm your dog with this training.

5) Makes for enthusiastic learners and excited trainers- learning is FUN for both trainer and learner with clicker training.

6) The behaviors will be remembered for a LONG time with this training. When you clicker train a behavior, you build a long history of rewards with that behavior and the dog, they will hold on to those behaviors longer than the ones used with punishment.

* If you have any questions regarding clickers and clicker training, please call or email Ashley at: 661-750-7961 or ashley@delightful-dogs.com

Training: Touch

Touch is an awesome behavior, my dog and I love this cue. He loves it because it’s easy and he has a long history of rewards for it. I love it, because he comes when called and he gets close enough to touch him. I also use it for getting him use to scary objects, so he isnt scared of a specific object anymore.

Touch is when your dog comes to you and touches his nose to your hand. The goal is to say “Touch”, present your open palm, hold it there and enjoy watching your dog bolt toward you.

How to start:

1st session: Get your clicker and 10 treats. Place your hand in front of your dogs nose (super close), when they hit it with their nose, click and treat (C/T). Do this 10 times (until your treats are gone). Give your dog a few min break or come back to it when you have time. Give your dog a few treats tossed on the floor to signify training is done.

2nd session: Get your clicker and 10 treats. Now you hold your hand a few inches away, C/T, when your dog touches his nose to your hand. Move your hand to both sides, a few more inches away, etc. (until your treats are gone).

3rd session: Get your clicker and 10 treats. By now your dog should know what to do when your hand is presented. If your dog touches your hand RIGHT when you put your hand out there, when his nose touches your hand, you say “Touch” or “Nose” or whatever cue you want put on this behavior is up to you, as long as you are consistent. You want to do this a few times, the instant his nose touches your hand, you say your cue (I will go with touch for the remainder of this blog, because that is what I use).

4th session: Get your clicker and 10 treats. Now move a few steps away and test the cue, “touch” THEN present your hand and see if your dog comes to you to touch your hand. If he does, GREAT, continue putting more and more space between you and your dog, eventually taking it in the back yard and then (putting your dog on a long line) front yard and park. IF your dog is not coming to you just yet, go back to sessions 2 or 3, depending where your dog is at.

No matter where your dog is at by session 4, whether you can move forward or you have to take a step back, don’t worry about it. Dogs learn at different paces, it’s our job to be consistent and patient and reward greatly for the correct behaviors and IGNORE any wrong behavior.