Happy Dog Happy You

The leash is a great tool for distance training. It allows freedom to explore while still leaving you in complete control. As a training tool, you can use it informally during walks to reinforce the following commands:

Name: Call out your puppy’s name enthusiastically: If he looks at you, praise him. If he ignores you, gently snap the leash, say “No,” and then praise him once you have his attention.

Wait: Begin to command your puppy to stop 3 feet in front of you with this command. If your dog continues forward, gently snap the leash and say “No, Wait.” Increase your distance to 6 feet, 8 feet, 12 feet, 16 feet, and 26 feet in front of you.

Sit-Stay: Use the Flexi-Lead to increase your distance control. Increase your distance incrementally.

Heel: Use this command to call your puppy back to your side. Call out his name and then command “Heel” as you slap your leg. Praise your puppy as he responds; then walk a short distance before you stop to release him.

No: Whenever he is  focusing on something he should not be, gently  snap the leash and say “No!” Immediately refocus his attention with a toy, stick, or command.

1. Use it sparingly. When you overuse “Come”, puppies stop paying attention. When your puppy understands the command, avoid using it all the time. Say it infrequently and make it extremely rewarding.

2. Do not chase your puppy if he does not respond. Practice on-lead for now.

3. Never call for negatives. If you have to groom, bathe, or isolate your puppy, do not use “Come.” Also avoid using it when you are angry. You will only scare your puppy out.

4. If your puppy runs away from you, do not repeatedly call or correct him.

5. Use a different command to bring your puppy inside. Coming in from outdoors is a big drag, no more fun than being left alone or ignored. Using the “Come” command when you want to bring him in makes it a negative command. Instead, pick a command like “Inside.” Start using it on-lead when bringing your puppy into the house. Quickly offer a treat or ball toss.

Never allow your puppy to bite. This sort of thing will become a bad habit and be hard to break later on.

If he bites your hands, give him a tap on his nose or under his chin. He will probably yelp, but he needs this lesson as early in life as you can give it to him.

A puppy that is allowed to nip and bite becomes very bold and aggressive as he grows older. Then when he gets to be over a year old, the harassed owner takes him to a professional trainer to be tamed down.

Such dogs present a problem to both their owners and society in general.  It takes a firm, experienced trainer to get them under control.

Many owners are so upset by their dog’s uncontrolled behavior and aggressiveness that they decide to give him away. Unfortunately, what they do not realize is that the next person does not want a problem dog either.

So take my advice and control your puppy while he is young and trainable.

Should your dog be only so-so in any elements of basic obstacle or retrieving training, shore up weak areas prior to initiating the “Retrieve Over High Jump.”

Otherwise, the animal may extend previous problem behaviors into the new activity.

When starting the Retrieve Over High Jump, begin that day’s session with a Retrieve followed by a recall over the jump.

If your dog doesn’t perform each exercise well, work on problem areas until you’re satisfied. Initiate formal High Jump retrieving by having your dog Sit in front of and facing the jump from a distance of ten feet.

Set the height even with the animal’s elbows. Have him take and hold a dumbbell.

Command, “Stay,” verbally and via the hand signal.

Walk to the jump’s opposite side, preferably by stepping over it (to suggest the correct route). Position yourself within touching distance of the obstacle.

As one flowing action, slap the top board’s edge, command, “Bring - Hup!,” and back away to create landing room. Repeat the sequence three times, and end today’s training.

The next day, with pooch at heel, throw a light dumbbell over the jump, sending him as it lands by sequentially commanding “Hup,” “Bring” and “Hup.”

The first “Hup” sends the animal, and “Bring” should be timed while he’s airborne, going for the object.

Command the second “Hup” immediately after the dog picks up the dumbbell.

Now the task becomes phasing out the commands used only for teaching, waiting several seconds before sending the dog after the dumbbell, and gradually raising the jump to the desired height.

We do not need to develop the virtue of patience for its own sake. There is nothing to be gained by being patient with a dog who is obviously headed in the wrong direction.

On the other hand, when the dog owner is guided by knowledge and understanding, it is so easy to be patient that he can’t even call it a virtue. The dog owner only has to see that his dog’s drive is flowing; with such evidence plainly before him, he is confident of his inevitable success in training his pet.

Therefore, the real virtue in dog training is not patience, but faith. It is faith in your dog, a perfect animal that is genetically programmed to be in harmony with you. No matter how botched up his training may have been until now, you are confident that you can fix it.

That is the message that dogs bring to us.

Puppies and dogs that jump up on you are only looking for attention, and it is your duty to give it to them.

If, when you enter a room, your puppy dashes over to greet you, bend over to pet him. If you simply stand where you are, he will probably want more of a greeting from you and speaking to him is not enough.

Remember that this display of affection is one of the ways your puppy will show that he loves you, and your affectionate response will assure him of your devotion.

If your puppy jumps on your friends or strangers when they come to visit you, another
method must be employed.

Have the puppy on a leash when a caller comes to the door and as the puppy starts to jump up, pull him back. Ask your friend to reach down and pet him.

Any time you pull your puppy back off balance, say “No, easy,” to him. It is best to have a collar on your puppy at this time. The collar should not be heavy and it should fit properly.

If you wish to teach your dog later on to stand up against you, try this. Encourage him to stand against you by saying, “Up,” and patting your chest.

If the dog jumps and leans on you too heavily, gently tap him in the chest. Encourage him to try again, and when he leans against you lightly, praise him with your voice and pet him.

Distractions are stimuli that may entice a dog to break from command. “Proofing” is exposing your dog to distractions. The purpose is to teach the dog in a controlled setting that he must obey your commands despite whatever is happening nearby.

Taking every dog through every step isn’t mandatory, but do so with animals whose working environments are highly stressful. Always condition at a dog’s real-world level.

During initial exposures to distractions, begin with familiar basics. Using Stay as an example, start with brief, short-distance, on-leash Stays, not prolonged, Out-of-sight work. As conditioning implies higher-stress situations than those to which your dog is accustomed, start with work in which he’s confident.

Complicated obedience can be added as you progress together.

No distraction should appear threatening.

Your dog was born with a drive to protect himself as well as you, and to contrive a setting intended to counter that drive would be unsettling in the extreme.

Lastly, recognize that during distraction training, you know what’s coming, distraction-wise - as well as what’s expected, but your dog doesn’t.

The following is a list of 6 hand signals that are commonly used in dog obedience training.

1. “Come”: A movement across the body from the side toward the opposite shoulder.

2. “Down”: Can be done in two ways. The first way is with the arm raised to shoulder height in a striking motion if the owner is facing the dog. The second way to carry out the “Down” signal is to with the left arm down with elbow straight, wrist bent, and palm and fingers parallel to the floor if the dog is at heel position.

3. “Heel”: A forward motion of the left hand parallel to the floor to make the dog start walking at heel. It is also a swinging motion of the left hand from in front of the owner to his side to make the dog go to heel.

4. “Sit”: While facing the dog with either hand extended and palm faced upward, flip up the fingers with a quick wrist motion.

5. “Stay”: Can be done by having the arm extended downward, palm back, and held momentarily in front of the dog’s muzzle.

6. “Stand – Stay”: This is done by using the signal similar to “Stay.”

Having a dog that knows how to Heel demonstrates control and is useful under situations where he needs to stay close to you and pay attention to you.

But for many of us, the main reason we take our dogs for a walk is for daily exercise where it does not really matter what he does, so long as he does not pull. Usually the dogs are somewhere ahead of us, checking out who has been there and just sort of following their noses.

For this type of a walk, it makes little sense to have him do a Heel since his main enjoyment is to use his nose and all you want is no pulling. The following is a simple, yet effective way to teach him to remain within the length of your leash without pulling:

Start the walk with “Let’s go,” and as soon as he gets to the end of the leash and starts to pull, stop and say “Easy.” His reaction will be to turn toward you and come back a few steps. Start walking again with “Let’s go,” and when you begin to feel tension on the leash, stop with “Easy.”

You may have to repeat this sequence a few times over the course of several sessions. If you do it consistently, he will quickly learn that pulling causes you to stop, which in turn will stop him from pulling.

The term “etiquette” refers to an acceptable mode of social behavior.

Unlike commands, which are executed only on order, manners color behavior at all times. Unless you and your dog still live in a cave, he will need some manners. Naturally, your pup’s mother began this phase of his education, teaching him to play gently, to wait his turn, to hold still for his bath, to greet her with deference, to stay close to home, etc.

Now you will continue her good work, housebreaking your pup, helping him to accept your absences, teaching him to  walk on a leash, respect your privacy, behave like a gentleman - not a wild animal.

Two aspects of your dog’s nature make it possible for you to teach him manners and train him to obey commands.

First, he is a pack animal. His pack instincts allow him to respect and revere a strong, clear leader. In fact, his mother gave him a wonderful model for how an alpha dog should conduct herself - with supreme confidence, with courage, with fairness, with intelligence, with final authority, with affection.

The second aspect of your dog’s nature that makes him a near perfect pet is that he is a den animal with an instinct to keep his sleeping quarters clean. It is this instinct that will allow you to rapidly housebreak your pup. And housebreaking is the natural place to begin his lessons in etiquette.