Various Training

In this video we are teaching 4,5 mo Puppy Peggy the "Look" cue.

Attention: Look/Watch/Eyes 

Take a treat your dog's nose and lure up towards your eyes. Once your dog looks you in the eye mark with “Yes” or a “Click" then Reward.

Add the Cue Look/Watch/Eyes, whatever you choose as long as you are consistent. You can use the Cue to get your dog's attention and redirect it to you, away from food/garbage on the street, another dog or something scary for your dog. Gradually add to the duration he looks at you by increasing the amount of time before you Mark and Reward.

Take a treat your dog's nose and lure up towards your eyes. Once your dog looks you in the eye mark with “Yes” or a “Click" then Reward.

Add the Cue Look/Watch/Eyes, whatever you choose as long as you are consistent. You can use the Cue to get your dog's attention and redirect it to you, away from food/garbage on the street, another dog or something scary for your dog. Gradually add to the duration he looks at you by increasing the amount of time before you Mark and Reward.

OFF Cue: (Couch/Bed)

Until your dog is fluent please keep the leash on to help enforce the rules. To teach your dog to get “Off” the couch or bed, start by inviting your dog onto the couch or bed with either patting on it or tossing treat and using "Up/On" or "Up Up" and mark with a clicker or a verbal cue of “Yes”. Then hold a treat in your closed fist or as I showed you with your thumb over the treat in a flat hand, and allow the dog to sniff, lick, paw it — whatever  your dog wants to do to try to get the treat. Then toss the treat on to the floor and say “OFF” when your dog jumps to get it mark with a clicker or a verbal cue of “Yes”. Repeat this and over time your dog will learn what “OFF” means.

If your dog continues to ignore the “OFF” cue or will only do it when a treat is involved. We can use the leash to guide  your dog off the couch or bed with the “OFF” cue. If your dog is laying down and won’t move keep constant pressure and praise and reward when your dog jumps off. Consistency is key while teaching this, they can not be allowed on sometimes and other times with permission. Once your dog understands you can set your rules in your home as you like but always a non-negotable OFF.

Stop Jumping

One of the issues many people ask me to help with is stopping their dog from jumping up on them. First of all it’s important to remember to not unintentionally reinforce the behavior by petting your dog when they jump on you or others.

Here is a video from my session with 6 mo puppy Pablo Peanut Butter Chompers explaining and demonstrating a few techniques I use to stop him from jumping and teach him what is want we want from him.

Going Up and Down Stairs

Many puppies can be intimidated and scared going up and down the stairs; here I'm helping Puppy Gravy with some tasty Happy Howie's All Natural Dog Treats as motivation to go down one stare at a time.

Sometimes it goes a little slower, but this smart pup picked it up pretty quickly and even got a jackpot at the end.

Touch / Target Cue

Rub some of the soft treats on your hand, place a open hand near your dog's head and as soon as she sniffs or touches your hand with her nose, Mark with a clicker or "Yes" and reward with a tasty treat. Once she is repeatedly touching your hand ad the word "touch". You can gradually increase the distance and even have a game with you two can play by presenting back and forth. When your dog is comfortable with you two, have your friends practice with your dog as well.

Creating Space:

We are using distance/spatial pressure to move your dog into a submissive posture to correct or slow down behaviors, and it can help to stop barking, jumping, and counter-surfing. It’s imperative always to follow through and finish what you start. When the dog moves into a lower posture, we release distance pressure by walking away.

To practice, have someone leave the home and come back a few minutes later, ringing the doorbell and knocking at the door to set up an expected situation of excitement most dogs have. Walk calmly to the door and tell the person at the door,” One minute,” “I’ll be right there,” or something so they know you are coming. Then, walk in front of your dog and, with a frontal body position, calmly walk into the dog and using distance pressure to move the dog into a submissive posture like a “sit" or “down” without any verbal or hand cues, you can snap you fingers to get interrupt the behavior as well, once.

Once your dog is in a calm state, in a submissive posture, walk and open the door. The dog is allowed to get up and move but not rush the door or jump; if there is more excitement, repeat the steps or send the dog to "Place"”

At the end of a great 2nd session with Sir Louie we used his dinner to work on an engagement exercise.

Engagement Game

Use the engagement exercise with your dog to help build focus and create a better relationship. Start with your dogs daily mealtime, grab a handful in each hand and stand in front of your dog with your hands behind your back, while looking down directly at them. You dog will most likely be focused on the food in your hands.

Wait until your dog looks up at you, even if it's just their eyes. When they do mark with a verbal "Yes" and reward with food from one of your hands.

Repeat this until your dog start staying focused on looking at you, then to make it harder by raising your hands to your side. Your dog will most likely look at your hands and or go from one hand to the other, when they do mark with a verbal "Yes" as soon as their eyes pass moving to the other hand then with food from one of your hands. Keep practicing and have your dog have to hold his focus on your eyes longer before you mark and reward. YOu can start with a 5 count, then a 10 count and so on. Later you can generalize this behavior and practice around more distractions.