One of the most common answers you will hear me give dog owners is, "It depends". Of course this is usually followed by a lengthy explanation as to WHY and WHAT "it depends" on but unfortunately there are no set in stone answers with dog training. A method that works with one dog, may not work with another, a method that works with one behavior may not work for another behavior (with the same dog!), heck, a method may work with a behavior and then suddenly stop working because the dog has figured out how to make it work for them! Many owners will ask, " Is my dog really smart enough to figure that out?" Absolutely! That is why we must always be aware of the strategies we are using with our dogs and realizing when our program needs to be changed or modified to continue to see progress. Below are some of the most common scenarios where we may need to make a change in our training.
Unwanted behaviors- When we first begin addressing Unwanted behaviors such as barking, jumping or play biting, our first obstacle is teaching the puppy what behaviors we like and dislike. We do this in a series of 3 steps: 1. Address the Unwanted behavior, 2. Teach a better behavior to replace it, and 3. Reward the Good behavior. We are literally telling our puppies, "Don't do that, do this, I like it better". This works VERY well for the first few weeks of training. Once your pup has figured out what you like and what you don't, we should change our strategy a bit. Our method needs to be adjusted for two reasons: dogs are good at manipulating a situation to their advantage and humans tend to "grease the squeaky wheel". Once your puppy knows what behaviors you like and which you don't, you should then focus on catching your puppy BEFORE they exhibit the unwanted behavior. Otherwise, you run the risk of your puppy learning that the bad behavior is a necessary part of the sequence. For example, let's say you have been working VERY diligently on not allowing your puppy to jump up on you for attention. Every time he does jump, you address the bad behavior, give him a better behavior (sit) and reward him with your attention when he sits. Now imagine your puppy coming up to you while you are on the computer. He sits politely, proud how good he is being! Unfortunately, you fail to notice because you are engrossed in the glow of your computer screen. Frustrated and annoyed that his "correct" behavior didn't work, your puppy jumps in the middle of your work. You yell "No!" and then ask him to "Sit". Once he sits, you give him a pat on the head and say "Good, dog". Uh-oh! You just taught your pup that the bad behavior is necessary in order to get rewarded for the good behavior. He says to himself: "It doesn’t work if I simply choose to be good, I must be bad, then be good, to get rewarded".
Same behavior, different motive?- The reason behind our dog's behavior is the key to addressing it. Another area dog owners tend to get confused on is when the (seemingly)same behavior needs to be addressed two different ways based on the situation. Excessive barking is a perfect example of this. Sometimes dogs choose to bark at external stimuli (i.e. a squirrel), if this is the case, usually my advice is the three steps above, address the behavior (negative word), ask for a better behavior (in this case a "Watch me" command works great), then reward for the good behavior. However, there is another type of excessive barking called "Attention seeking" and it should be handled quite differently. If your dog tends to stand and bark at you so you will pay attention to them they are attention seekers. In this particular case, a Watch me command would be a poor choice, it gives them exactly what they want, our attention. In this instance, it is actually better to ignore the barking ( I know that is difficult!) and try to focus on giving them attention when they are sitting quietly. So even though it seems to be the same behavior (barking) the motive behind the behavior may alter how we address it (Watch Me command vs. Ignoring the barking)
Perfect Puppy Syndrome- When puppies are weaned from their mother and placed in their new homes, they tend to be pretty dependant on their owners at first. At this young age, they rarely leave our side and may not even exhibit any unwanted behaviors. Many naïve dog owners think they have happened upon the perfect puppy! Unfortunately, this isn't usually the case. As the puppy gets older, it will become more sure of itself and is likely to start exhibiting unwanted behaviors much to the chagrin of their owner. When I teach a class, I always forewarn my puppy parents that most puppies do not reach their peak of independence until around 7 months old. Until this time (and even beyond this age) owners should not be at all surprised at new behaviors cropping up seemingly out of nowhere. In one of my puppy classes, I had an owner who failed to listen to my speech about how to address excessive barking because, in her words, her dog did not know how to bark. Well about half way through the class she took me aside frantically asking my advice on how to stop her puppy's new habit…barking! Her training program did not initially include a chapter on barking but as her puppy evolved, so did her training program!
Auto Pilot Dogs- When training your dog, another aspect that dog owners need to be aware of is the importance of varying OUR behavior during training exercises to make certain that our dog is learning concepts and developing habits, not just picking up on patterns that won't be a part of real life scenarios. For example, one exercise my clients do in class is set out a variety of items on the ground, walk past the items, and instruct the dog to either take the item or leave the item alone. I stress the importance of varying the exercise in a few different ways: vary which items are leave its (do not always make the toys "leave its" and the treats "take it" or they will eventually ignore the toys and scoop up all the treats), vary what order you put the items (if you walk past the items and always say "leave", "leave", "take" they will begin running past the first two items and taking the last before you are able to say anything), finally, vary what types of items you use (toys, treats, shoes, tissues, sticks,etc.). If you do not vary your behavior in the exercise, your dog will simply be learning the pattern of this "game" and not be listening to your commands. When you attempt to use the command in real life scenarios, they will not have the rules of the "game" to fall back on and will likely fail. Just be sure that no matter what command you are practicing, that you have varied YOUR behavior enough that they are learning the concept well enough to be able to apply it to any situation Otherwise you have a dog who is on auto pilot and not really listening and responding to commands but figuring out patterns.
Same breed, same personality?- I hear this one A LOT! "I just don't understand! The last dog we had was a (insert any breed here) and we NEVER had these issues with them. What's wrong with this dog?!" While it is true that most breeds have been selectively bred for certain personality characteristics, every dog is individual. I have one client who brings EVERY new dog she gets through my classes (even though she herself has been through the class several times already) and swears she learns something new every time. This actually is not surprising, there are certain underlying themes to dog training but understanding each dog is an individual experience. One of my biggest pet peeves (no pun intended!) is when a dog trainer has only one answer for an owner and if that doesn’t work, the dog is "defective" or "un-trainable". If one method does not work, you need to find a fresh way to look at the problem, even if your original method worked for your last (insert any breed here).
Because dog training is an activity that involves another living,breathing,thinking, and learning animal: As soon as you think you have it figured out, think again! I have been working with dogs for over 20 years and I still learn new things from every new dog that walks into one of my lessons. A good dog trainer (or dog owner) is constantly evolving their training regimen to accommodate how your training partner (your pup!) has changed or evolved.
Unwanted behaviors- When we first begin addressing Unwanted behaviors such as barking, jumping or play biting, our first obstacle is teaching the puppy what behaviors we like and dislike. We do this in a series of 3 steps: 1. Address the Unwanted behavior, 2. Teach a better behavior to replace it, and 3. Reward the Good behavior. We are literally telling our puppies, "Don't do that, do this, I like it better". This works VERY well for the first few weeks of training. Once your pup has figured out what you like and what you don't, we should change our strategy a bit. Our method needs to be adjusted for two reasons: dogs are good at manipulating a situation to their advantage and humans tend to "grease the squeaky wheel". Once your puppy knows what behaviors you like and which you don't, you should then focus on catching your puppy BEFORE they exhibit the unwanted behavior. Otherwise, you run the risk of your puppy learning that the bad behavior is a necessary part of the sequence. For example, let's say you have been working VERY diligently on not allowing your puppy to jump up on you for attention. Every time he does jump, you address the bad behavior, give him a better behavior (sit) and reward him with your attention when he sits. Now imagine your puppy coming up to you while you are on the computer. He sits politely, proud how good he is being! Unfortunately, you fail to notice because you are engrossed in the glow of your computer screen. Frustrated and annoyed that his "correct" behavior didn't work, your puppy jumps in the middle of your work. You yell "No!" and then ask him to "Sit". Once he sits, you give him a pat on the head and say "Good, dog". Uh-oh! You just taught your pup that the bad behavior is necessary in order to get rewarded for the good behavior. He says to himself: "It doesn’t work if I simply choose to be good, I must be bad, then be good, to get rewarded".
Same behavior, different motive?- The reason behind our dog's behavior is the key to addressing it. Another area dog owners tend to get confused on is when the (seemingly)same behavior needs to be addressed two different ways based on the situation. Excessive barking is a perfect example of this. Sometimes dogs choose to bark at external stimuli (i.e. a squirrel), if this is the case, usually my advice is the three steps above, address the behavior (negative word), ask for a better behavior (in this case a "Watch me" command works great), then reward for the good behavior. However, there is another type of excessive barking called "Attention seeking" and it should be handled quite differently. If your dog tends to stand and bark at you so you will pay attention to them they are attention seekers. In this particular case, a Watch me command would be a poor choice, it gives them exactly what they want, our attention. In this instance, it is actually better to ignore the barking ( I know that is difficult!) and try to focus on giving them attention when they are sitting quietly. So even though it seems to be the same behavior (barking) the motive behind the behavior may alter how we address it (Watch Me command vs. Ignoring the barking)
Perfect Puppy Syndrome- When puppies are weaned from their mother and placed in their new homes, they tend to be pretty dependant on their owners at first. At this young age, they rarely leave our side and may not even exhibit any unwanted behaviors. Many naïve dog owners think they have happened upon the perfect puppy! Unfortunately, this isn't usually the case. As the puppy gets older, it will become more sure of itself and is likely to start exhibiting unwanted behaviors much to the chagrin of their owner. When I teach a class, I always forewarn my puppy parents that most puppies do not reach their peak of independence until around 7 months old. Until this time (and even beyond this age) owners should not be at all surprised at new behaviors cropping up seemingly out of nowhere. In one of my puppy classes, I had an owner who failed to listen to my speech about how to address excessive barking because, in her words, her dog did not know how to bark. Well about half way through the class she took me aside frantically asking my advice on how to stop her puppy's new habit…barking! Her training program did not initially include a chapter on barking but as her puppy evolved, so did her training program!
Auto Pilot Dogs- When training your dog, another aspect that dog owners need to be aware of is the importance of varying OUR behavior during training exercises to make certain that our dog is learning concepts and developing habits, not just picking up on patterns that won't be a part of real life scenarios. For example, one exercise my clients do in class is set out a variety of items on the ground, walk past the items, and instruct the dog to either take the item or leave the item alone. I stress the importance of varying the exercise in a few different ways: vary which items are leave its (do not always make the toys "leave its" and the treats "take it" or they will eventually ignore the toys and scoop up all the treats), vary what order you put the items (if you walk past the items and always say "leave", "leave", "take" they will begin running past the first two items and taking the last before you are able to say anything), finally, vary what types of items you use (toys, treats, shoes, tissues, sticks,etc.). If you do not vary your behavior in the exercise, your dog will simply be learning the pattern of this "game" and not be listening to your commands. When you attempt to use the command in real life scenarios, they will not have the rules of the "game" to fall back on and will likely fail. Just be sure that no matter what command you are practicing, that you have varied YOUR behavior enough that they are learning the concept well enough to be able to apply it to any situation Otherwise you have a dog who is on auto pilot and not really listening and responding to commands but figuring out patterns.
Same breed, same personality?- I hear this one A LOT! "I just don't understand! The last dog we had was a (insert any breed here) and we NEVER had these issues with them. What's wrong with this dog?!" While it is true that most breeds have been selectively bred for certain personality characteristics, every dog is individual. I have one client who brings EVERY new dog she gets through my classes (even though she herself has been through the class several times already) and swears she learns something new every time. This actually is not surprising, there are certain underlying themes to dog training but understanding each dog is an individual experience. One of my biggest pet peeves (no pun intended!) is when a dog trainer has only one answer for an owner and if that doesn’t work, the dog is "defective" or "un-trainable". If one method does not work, you need to find a fresh way to look at the problem, even if your original method worked for your last (insert any breed here).
Because dog training is an activity that involves another living,breathing,thinking, and learning animal: As soon as you think you have it figured out, think again! I have been working with dogs for over 20 years and I still learn new things from every new dog that walks into one of my lessons. A good dog trainer (or dog owner) is constantly evolving their training regimen to accommodate how your training partner (your pup!) has changed or evolved.
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