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1. Positive Training Tips by: Nancy Monica Kelly
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1. POSITIVE, NOT PERMISSIVE
A Primer for Dog Manners by Nancy Monica Kelly
English Springer Rescue America
Special Edition
POSITIVE, NOT PERMISSIVE
A Primer for Dog Manners
by
Nancy Monica Kelly
English Springer Rescue America
Special Edition
© 2009 Nancy Monica Kelly
POSITIVE, NOT PERMISSIVE
The first thing your dog needs to learn is the concept of, "Yes!" Not necessarily the word - dogs don't speak English - but the idea that certain behaviors get recognized with very advantageous consequences for the dog.
How do we let a dog know that what he has just done is great and that he should definitely repeat that behavior - and often? That's an important question, and we must give it serious consideration.
Let the Dog Decide
Science tells us that we must let the dog decide which consequence of a behavior will get her to repeat that behavior more often. We can tell by simply paying attention to whether the dog begins to show us a behavior more often after we provide certain consequences of that behavior.
Reinforcement
Behaviorists and trainers like to throw around terms like reinforcement, meaning that consequence of a behavior which causes the behavior to occur more frequently. Suffice it to say that if you begin to give the dog something she likes every time you see a particular behavior, you'll start seeing the behavior more often. At the same time, if you are seeing a behavior more and more frequently, you can be sure that behavior is producing a positive result for the dog - whether that result is something you consciously provided or something else that gives the dog pleasure.
We can begin to understand how we can and may already be controlling certain behaviors in our dogs. We must also realize
that some behaviors may be producing results our dogs like which are outside of our realm of control. Never fear - we have ways of creating circumstances under which we can control the results, and so teach our dogs what we really want them to do. We'll get into that later.
What results, or consequences, can we use to help our dogs learn the concept of, "Yes?"
Good Dog!
We like to think that saying things like, "Good Dog!" and petting our dogs makes them happy. A dog who has had some time to develop a positive relationship with his owner may certainly respond well to praise. Many dogs are really tuned in to people, and respond well to happy-sounding words from anyone. With a new dog, we must not assume that he cares what we think, and must observe what we can do which makes it worthwhile to that dog to repeat a particular behavior.
Dogs Want Things
As humans, we like to think that all dogs love us and can't wait to do things we like, simply because we want them to. The truth is that dogs have agendas, and each dog is different. Some dogs really enjoy physical affection: petting, stroking, ear scratching, belly rubbing, rump patting, and lots of variations. Some dogs enjoy play above all things: a quick game of chase, some bouncing around, spinning and racing around while you cheer them on, tug-of-war and much more. Some dogs really get excited and silly when you talk to them in a funny voice, telling them how wonderful they are, what a great job they've done, or let's face it - even that they're dogs with four legs. They really don't understand English, after all. (You can train a dog to respond in a particular way to the sound of a particular word - this is called teaching him a cue; but he cannot understand spoken language - only that a certain sound means for him to do a certain thing, because there's something to be gained in it for him.)
Different Times, Different Needs
At different moments in a dog's life, there are particular desires a dog has. At the moment when she really wants you to open a door so she can go outside, either to chase the squirrel she knows is waiting in the yard, or to relieve her full bladder, your opening the door is quite a valuable action! Whatever your dog did just before you opened the door and let her go outside is very likely to occur again and on a more frequent basis from that moment on. This is because in her mind, your dog's behavior: whether she sat, laid down, held a toy in her mouth, looked up at your face, scratched on the door, jumped up on you, or leaped onto the back of the couch to bark at the window, resulted in your opening the door to the opportunity that was foremost in her desires at that moment.
To a Dog, It's Just Another Behavior
Notice that in the previous description, each of the behaviors listed was capable of resulting in your dog's getting what she wanted at that moment. Some of the behaviors, like sitting or lying down, are generally considered desirable by most dog-owning humans. Other behaviors on the list, like jumping up on you or barking at the window, may be considered by humans "bad" behavior; but to a dog, the only difference between behaviors he exhibits is what happens because of his performing that behavior. The dog does not have to clean the noseprints off the window or wash and repair the slacks that now have dirty footprints on them or endure the pain of the scratches he just put on your legs when he jumped up.
Positive Reinforcement
The fact is that dogs learn to do what we want or to perform certain behaviors either to gain something they want or to avoid something they don't want. Providing something the dog wants as a result of a behavior we want to see more often is the basis of positive reinforcement training.
Punishment
For a very long time in the United States, there's been a profusion of books, DVDs, and other resources on dog training that focus on responding to the dog when he does something we don't like in an attempt to stop that behavior and prevent it from ever occurring again. Providing a consequence to a dog's behavior which causes that behavior to stop occurring, occur less frequently, or preferably makes that behavior never occur again is defined as punishment in terms of animal behavior. The problem with using punishment in dog training is that it must be done perfectly, or you risk creating issues you did not intend, many of which can be less desirable than the behavior you attempted to punish. If we use anything short of perfection in the timing of and criteria for selection of punishment methods in dog training, we risk not only the inability to stop the behavior we're trying to stop, but also the very real possibility that we'll create an undue amount of chronic stress, a problematic phobia, or aggressive behavior in our dog.
"Good" and "Bad" Behaviors
The better your timing is in providing positive reinforcement for behaviors you like, the fewer repetitions will be required to develop the behavior to a high level. Of course, what we all want is for our dogs to sit when we say, "Sit," one time, every time we say it, in every location in which we say it, and even if other people say it. We may want our dogs to perform from a list of "approved" behaviors, including sitting lying down, chasing a ball, playing quietly with a toy that's been designated as a good one to play with, chasing squirrels within the fenced yard, or perhaps walking nicely on a leash. We probably have a list of behaviors we want our dogs to never perform: things like digging up plants or digging holes in the yard, jumping up on people, chewing on "unapproved" items like shoes or the couch, and of course, biting people. We can develop both of these lists - that of the "do's" and that of the "don'ts" - with even an amazingly clumsy set of skills in reinforcing the behaviors we like in our dogs. If we practice a bit, developing our timing in using reinforcement to let our dogs know which behaviors we like, there's no end to the list of "good" behaviors we can create, which then take the place of any "bad" behaviors we've allowed to develop. Dogs learn very quickly how to get what they want and the behaviors which result in them getting what they want will quickly become those they repeat frequently. If we've been careful in our reinforcement process, those will be the behaviors we like!
How to Begin
The simplest way to begin applying the principle of positive reinforcement to your dog's training is to immediately stop attempting to punish your dog's undesirable behavior if you've been doing so, and begin teaching yourself to notice the tiniest increments of desirable behavior.
Start When You Meet the Dog
If you're starting with a new dog, whether a puppy or an adult dog, simply begin reinforcing desirable behavior from the moment you meet him, continue doing so upon bringing your new dog home, and keep it up throughout your dog's life. You'll see the behaviors you reinforce become more frequent and more deliberate on the part of your dog. The behaviors will be exhibited for longer and longer periods of time. Your dog will begin to confidently and purposefully show you these behaviors in attempts to get what he wants. This is the best part - because you carefully reinforced your dog's sitting and carefully refused to allow his jumping up to be reinforced either by you, by anyone else, or by environmental or self-gratification consequences, your dog who once jumped up on everyone clawing legs painfully now sits at people's feet upon greeting them while waiting patiently to be petted or given a treat. In following sections, we'll learn the details of how to reinforce behaviors you like your dog to do. Simply put, carefully observe your dog's behaviors and reinforce the ones you like.
Food as Reinforcement
Because dogs must eat in order to live, because most dogs enjoy eating, and because dogs who don't seem to care much about eating can be taught to eat more voraciously, the simplest everyday reinforcements are pieces of food, which we'll call treats from here on. As training progresses, you'll use toys and play sessions as reinforcement more often. We've already talked about letting your dog go inside or outside as reinforcement; food is best for teaching a brand new behavior, and it's also handy as a default reinforcement. It's easy to keep a handful of treats handy.
Because we want to reinforce many repetitions of each of the behaviors we're working to develop, it's best to keep the treats tiny - about 1/4 inch in diameter or so. Bigger dogs can handle larger treats but need not do so. Very small dogs can only handle tiny pieces of food as they'll get full more quickly, and as they'll become over weight rather quickly if we're not careful. Tiny treats allow the dog to get the reinforcement immediately, swallow the food quickly, and be ready to do the behavior again. He must like the treat so he'll want another, and he must finish it quickly so he doesn't forget what he did to get it. You don't want him walking off to chew up a big cookie for a while - you want him to stay with you, remain "in the game" and be ready to earn another treat. You can use your dog's normal meal allotment for your daily training; this is especially helpful if your dog is on a special diet, if he is not a big eater and you could both benefit from him learning to eat his meals more ravenously, or if he's rather a "bossy" dog with any issues around guarding food, toys or anything else, or showing any type of aggressive behavior.*
A Note of Caution about Aggression
*Aggressive behavior in dogs ranges from growling, snarling, snapping and biting to the milder end of the continuum, involving stiffening up, staring, eating faster if you reach for his bowl, etc. If your dog is showing any growling, snarling or snapping, please consult a professional trainer who uses positive reinforcement training to modify aggressive behavior; get some help. Any aggressive behavior can be difficult to deal with as well as dangerous, and while I'm not in favor of permanently labeling a dog "aggressive" for showing a mildly aggressive behavior, I am in favor of taking any aggressive behavior seriously and moving quickly to change it via positive reinforcement techniques before it worsens. Any behavior, including aggressive behavior, will progress in the direction it's already moving. If we don't like the direction a behavior is going, we must intervene right away and begin to create an alternate behavior to replace it. It's much easier and safer to change aggressive behavior before a dog ever bites anyone; don't ignore any of the precursors.
Dogs Can Change
We needn't look at dogs just as who they already are. Certainly, a dog has some quality that causes us to connect with him; but he may also have several qualities that we don't particularly care for. Fortunately, dogs are easily manipulated; they can be taught to behave in certain ways, while maintaining those wonderful qualities that make them loveable. Remember that dogs don't want to change; we want them to change, and we must give them good reasons (reinforcement - treats) to do so. Dogs are just dogs and they don't care about our carpet or furniture. They're happy to do things just as they already are, but they're happy to change their ways for the right treats. There are a few basic "manners" that any dog can benefit from knowing, and any owner, or foster parent, can benefit from, too.
Rather than specific behaviors which are preceded by cue words (our kinder, gentler way of describing what were once known as "commands,") the manners I'm talking about are more like household rules that both the humans and the dog are familiar with and respect.
Dog Manners
(1) Dogs don't own anything.
Humans own food, toys, couches, beds, houses, yards, crates, other pets, etc. Humans really want dogs to eat the food, play with the toys, sleep on the beds and enjoy everything in the home, but dogs must do so only with permission.
Does that sound harsh and overbearing? It's not. It's fair, and it helps prevent dogs from expressing resource guarding behavior, which often leads to aggression and the dog losing his home, or worse. Dogs understand clearly marked boundaries. All this rule means is that the dog must not demand anything he wants; he must do something that we may define as "asking permission" before partaking of his food or getting on the bed.
Default Behavior
When a new dog comes into the household, one of the first things we want to do is to begin reinforcing any behavior we like. Often, one of the most common behaviors we'll see and reinforce a lot is the dog sitting. That's a perfect one to become the dog's "default" behavior; and it will, if we simply reinforce every time we catch the dog in a sitting position. We don't have to say a word - let the reinforcement process (the treat in the dog's mouth) do the talking. What will happen is that the dog will learn how much fun it is to sit, and begin doing so more and more often. When he doesn't really know what else to do in a particular situation, he'll try sitting. Now you have the beginnings of your dog automatically sitting when you stop at a curb while walking the dog, but there's so much more.
Sitting as Default
It's very nice for a dog to sit when we say, "Sit." It's also nice when a dog sits and patiently waits near his owner, who is putting dinner together on the kitchen counter - hoping he'll get something. Remember - some dogs have their front paws up on the counter, rather demanding they get a piece! It's nice when a dog really needs to go outside to relieve himself, or just really wants to go outside to chase a squirrel, and he sits at the back door. Perhaps he's looking first out the door or window and then looking expectantly at you; perhaps he's bouncing his front paws a bit in excitement, but keeping his butt on the floor. Remember - some dogs would be scratching grooves in the wood of the door, jumping up and down and pawing any curtains or blinds you have on the door, or otherwise working frantically to get the door to open on their own rather than looking to their owners and seemingly "asking" someone to come and let them out. And then there's the all-important "sit" when you're sitting on the couch watching TV, as though to ask, "May I come up and sit with you?" The answer is up to you, as the owner.
What are the Rules?
Exactly what the rules of your household are does not matter a bit. What does matter is that it's clear to both dogs and humans what those rules are, and that the humans have made and continue to make the rules. You don't have a healthy relationship with your dog if the dog is making the rules. All rules should be taught to the dog via positive reinforcement, but that does not mean there's any permissiveness going on.
Dogs on the Furniture and Aggression
Does allowing your dog on the furniture make her aggressive? No. Does allowing your dog to make the decision whether to get on the furniture make her aggressive? Not necessarily, but we're getting closer. Does allowing your dog to continue getting on the furniture whenever she wants to, once it's clear that she owns the furniture and is making the choice whether to allow you on the furniture, make her aggressive? No, she's already behaving aggressively at that point.
Why are Rules Important?
Aggressive behavior in dogs often begins with a stiffening of the body. It follows a continuum which, although unique to each dog expressing it, contains at least some of the following behaviors: stiffening of the body or "freezing" in place, staring, widening the eyes or dilating the pupils, growling, lifting the lips in a quivering fashion, showing teeth, snapping at the air, and then the various levels of biting. Many of these are difficult to see, but it's a good idea to be aware of them in order to notice them objectively if they should occur in your own dog or in a foster dog you're keeping. Better yet, we can prevent these behaviors from ever occurring. It's best they never occur because as we've seen, the behaviors a dog practices are the ones the dog becomes better at. For this reason, it's a great idea for owners to direct the dog's development to a great extent at first, and then to a lesser extent, allowing more freedom for the dog to make choices, as the dog is ready for that. When is he ready for more freedom? When he can exhibit some self control by being able to wait for things he wants, preferably "asking" for them with a sit or some other behavior; when he has demonstrated to his owner that he does not harbor any need to "own" or guard the furniture or any other of his owner's belongings, when he doesn't exhibit any undesirable behaviors after being given a particular privilege; i.e., leave him alone and loose in the house when you can do so and be reasonably sure he's not going to eat the couch, get into the cabinets, or relieve his bowels on the carpet. When must you change the rules? When your dog is exhibiting any level of aggressive behavior in order to get or keep something he wants. If your physically and mentally sound dog is not getting off the couch when you ask, or if she's stiffening or staring when you sit down next to her on the couch, she must not be allowed on the couch until she learns to earn that privilege. A bed on the floor accompanied by a leash on the dog will give her a nice place to sit and a means for you to get her there while you train a default behavior and remind her that you bought the couch. All new dogs should be taught this before they're ever allowed on the couch, in order to prevent this type of behavior from occurring.
Creating the Default Behavior
As you are reinforcing your dog for every desirable behavior he performs, keep in mind which one you'd like to be his default behavior. Sitting works well, although lying down is really good, too; it's always your choice what you'd like your dog to do. For most dogs, it takes a little longer to get all the way on the floor and to get back up than it does to "sit" and get up. We'll use sitting as our default in the example below, but you can choose any behavior that makes sense to you and that your dog is physically capable of performing.
Default "Sit"
You can continue to reinforce all desirable behaviors, but focus on sitting at times when your dog obviously wants something: dinnertime, when she wants to go outside or come in, when you're making your own dinner and she's with you in the kitchen, etc. Remember, it's not necessary to say, "Sit;" we're looking for the dog to choose to sit rather than do some other behavior.
When you're making the dog's dinner or your own and your dog chooses to sit, give her a treat; if she gets up, simply focus on your own task, or pretend to focus on anything other than your dog. It's really easy to do this when you're working with food anyway - just give the dog a piece of the food you're putting in her bowl, or a piece of whatever food you're working with, if she likes it. It's a repetitive process. Dog sits, you give a piece of food; dog gets up, you turn back to what you're doing; dog sits again, you give food; dog remains sitting, you give another piece; give a third if she remains sitting. Dogs gets up, ignore. Continue until the food is ready, and if it's the dog's food, put it down only while she's sitting - she should have a good handle on what the desired behavior is by now. Begin to put the bowl down while she's sitting; if she begins to get up, pull the bowl back up. Move it downward again when she sits again. Continue until you get the bowl all the way to the floor. This process is of course just an example, but you get the idea. As long as you know what the "rules" are; i.e., you will only put the bowl down when the dog is sitting - that means her butt is all the way on the floor - and you communicate that to your dog by consistently following the rules; your dog will understand quickly that it's a really good thing to sit when she wants something. Yes, it will take a little longer to fix your dog's food the first few times. But you will have achieved so many things with these training sessions: your dog is learning to "ask" for what she wants, rather than demand it; she's learning to remain calm and composed and allow you to work with food in peace; less obviously, she's learning self control which you'll begin to see her exhibit in other areas of her life. She's also learning to sit as a default behavior. Before you know it, you'll be able to ask her to give you a series of tricks in order to earn her bowl of food. It's also just a fun game for you and your dog to play every time you feed her, allowing some great bonding.
When your dog obviously wants to go out, walk over to the door, but don't open it until she's sitting. When she sits, reach for the door knob. If she gets up, drop your hand to your side. Tell yourself that the door can only open when your dog's butt is on the floor. Don't worry - she'll sit again; reach for the door handle immediately when she does. Ideally, she'll remain sitting a second or two longer this time - turn the knob and begin to pull the door open; but watch the dog - if she gets up, close the door. She'll sit again - this is communication. She's watching the door, because she wants it to open; she's becoming more and more aware of what she can do to get you to open the door. Does this mean the dog is making the decision? No, not at all; you have the power to turn the doorknob, although she gets to play a role in the process. You're just letting her know what she can do for you in order to influence you to do what she wants. It's very much like passing your child the butter at the dinner table, only when the child says, "Please."
The more locations and the more varied situations in which your dog is required to sit to get what she wants, the faster she'll sit and the longer she'll remain sitting each time. Will she do it perfectly every time? Not at all! You must always follow the rules yourself; if you begin letting your dog have what she wants without requiring her to sit first, she'll be happy to just blow off that behavior. So you'll be maintaining the training on this behavior throughout your dog's life. What's interesting is that you'll notice her sit very quickly if you simply pause for a half-second with your hand on the doorknob and glance at her. You'll see her sit when she wants something new, that you haven't even used as reinforcement while working on the sit. You'll see one or more undesirable behaviors begin to disappear as your dog begins to sit more and more frequently when she wants something. You'll notice that your dog stops jumping up on people; she sits instead in an attempt to get attention from people. Pay attention, because you'll see improvement in an array of areas of your dog's manners, just from reinforcing one behavior at various times.
(2) Dogs should be able to wait wherever their owners leave them.
This includes staying in crates or kennels until their owners come to get them out. This behavior, or skill, is important because when you leave your dog at a vet's office or a boarding facility he has to stay in a crate or a run, and it's best for him if he's able to do so with a minimum of stress. If your dog happens to be staying at the vet's because he's ill or having surgery, he's already experiencing some stress; you don't want him to have even more stress because he's terrified of being in a crate, kennel or run.
If you ever want to take your dog along with you on a trip and stay in a hotel, it will be infinitely helpful if he's able to stay in a
crate at times. If you're ever thinking of showing your dog, competing in obedience or agility, or participating in some other dog sport, he really needs to be able to stay in a crate until it's his turn. Dogs are often more welcome at the homes of relatives or friends if they can stay in crates from time to time while visiting. Having the option of crating your dog also helps with many of the other "manners" you want her to learn. Housetraining is much easier when you can confine your dog to a crate while you're unable to watch him for the moment.
Of course, as with any other behavior, you shouldn't just stick your dog in a crate and expect everything to turn out OK. If he goes right in when you coax him, reinforce that with a treat. Lure him in with the treat at first if necessary. Do not push him in or pull him in with a leash; let him make the choice to go in. If he's very afraid of the crate, try sitting on the floor with him, and give him a treat if he reaches his head out to sniff the crate, or even to look over at it. We have to begin wherever the dog is able to begin, and we should always be reinforcing behaviors we like - not ignoring them.
Remember that this dog may not have ever seen a crate. He may have a bad experience under his belt, involving a crate. He may not be a very confident dog when it comes to trying new things. Each dog is an individual. The good news is that when we offer enough advantages for doing what we want, and when we do so in small doses, or "baby steps," we can change dogs' minds about things that frighten, worry or confuse them.
Even if your dog goes right into the crate, first thing, and you reinforce that behavior with a treat, it's not a good idea to immediately assume he'll be fine and leave him in there for eight hours. It's best to first do this as a training exercise, and have him go in and out a few times, varying the amount of time he stays in the crate. You may do something like the following:
• Put him in, give a treat, close the door; open the door and let him out.
• Put him in, give a treat, close the door, leave the room; return immediately and let him out.
• Put him in, give a treat, close the door, and then let him immediately out again.
• Put him in, give a treat, close the door, leave the room; come back in 5 or 10 minutes, let him out.
• (Note that for this exercise, treats are given for being inside the crate - not for being outside it.)
There's no magic to the above example series of exercises; the idea is to vary the process so that it's like a game to the dog. He never knows how long he'll be in the crate, and he always gets treats in the crate. If you do this with him two or three times a day for a few days, he'll begin to perceive his crate as a wonderful place to be, and he'll go in happily. Work up to the longer periods you'll need to leave him in the crate. At night, when he's tired, it may be very easy for him to go into the crate and lie down to sleep; give him a treat anyway. Those treats given at moments clearly associated with behaviors you like are akin to money in the bank - you'll be able to get those particular behaviors from your dog more and more reliably as your training progresses.
If your dog has any anxiety about being in the crate, slow the process down; don't try to leave him in the crate until he's over the anxiety. You may need to consult a professional trainer if your dog has problems with the crate that you can't seem to conquer; but often you can conquer these issues if you just follow the above process and slow it down so that each time you're working with your dog on accepting the crate, he's in a happy mood. Stop short of the point where you can predict that he'll begin getting anxious, and simply keep working with him at that level until you can "push the envelope" a little more.
(3) Dogs should eliminate - relieve their bladders and bowels - in appropriate places.
"Appropriate" is determined by you. Grass? Indoor potty pads? Newspaper? Maybe you have a pebbled patio area with no grass, and you need your dog to go on pebbles. But guess what? Dogs don't automatically know this. To a dog, your carpet is as good a place to pee or poop as the grass; so just teach him. It's always a good idea to assume that a new dog has no idea where you want him to eliminate. Spend a few days teaching him, and if you find out he understands very quickly, great! It's much better than assuming he knows just where you want him to go, taking that for granted, and then getting upset when he pees on the carpet. Remember that the more often a dog practices a particular behavior, the better he gets at that behavior; you don't want him getting good at peeing in the house. Even if you're taking in a dog who has been living in a foster home where she's done very well at eliminating only in the yard, remember that your house is set up differently than theirs. Your back door is in a different place. Maybe your daily routine is a little different, and the dog is required to wait a little longer to eliminate than she's been accustomed. Maybe the previous home had a dog door and you don't - the dog was able to eliminate immediately when she felt the urge; now she has to wait a few minutes. Don't expect your dog to be able to change her habits immediately; these are things that take some getting used to. Puppies, of course, need some time not only to learn what you want, but also for the physiological mechanisms that control their bladder and bowel systems to develop. Take it slowly, reinforce all efforts to go potty in the appropriate place, and help them to succeed. This is good advice whether you're dealing with a puppy or an adult dog.
Process
The basic process for housetraining is to prevent the dog from peeing or pooping where you don't want him to, and to reinforce heavily for eliminating where you do want him to. It's really that simple. Keep the dog in a crate when you're away or when you can't watch him closely. When you're home, keep the dog on a leash and with you wherever you go around the house. This keeps your eyes on your dog, so there's no way he can wander off and pee without you realizing it. It keeps you focused on housetraining, and more likely to remember to take him outside every hour or so at first, so you can reinforce every time he eliminates. It helps you get to know his current elimination schedule, so you can keep him satisfied and successful while you tweak his schedule a little at a time if you need to. It serves an additional purpose of allowing more bonding time for you and your dog, because it's very easy for you to be the most important focus for your dog if he gets used to being with you at all times, and you're able to work with him in many one to three minute training sessions throughout the day, reinforcing all the behaviors you like, getting to know your dog and what types of play he enjoys and what types of treats he likes.
Reinforcing Elimination
In order for a treat to reinforce your dog's peeing or pooping activities, you must give it just as the activity is complete. In training, it's often best to reinforce just at the first move toward a behavior, or at the moment of commitment to the behavior; but with peeing and pooping, you don't want to interrupt the behavior to reinforce. The dog squats and begins to go, and you give the treat just as she finishes peeing or pooping and starts to get up. That means you need to be right there with her - another benefit of the leash. It's best to take the dog out on the leash every time at first, to ensure that you get the opportunity to reinforce her potty efforts many times for the first few days she's with you, at least. Of course, you need to continue with the process for just as long as the dog needs you to do so. Check and see how she does without the leash after a few days - if she does well, continue reinforcing but lose the leash next time. If she does not continue to succeed, use the leash for a while again. Another benefit of the leash is that you can easily allow her to only eliminate in one part of the yard if you think you'd like to have her habituate to that routine long-term. Yet another benefit of walking your dog out into your fenced back yard to eliminate is that you have one more reinforcement opportunity available: after the dog finishes and you've given her a treat, you can unsnap the leash and have playtime. Following this process lets your dog know that the first order of business when you take her out to the yard on leash is to go potty - so you behave in a rather boring manner until she eliminates - no baby talk, no petting or playing - just walk to where you want her to eliminate and stand there quietly. But once she finishes, there's immediately a yummy treat in her mouth, you praise her, talk to her, pet her, unsnap the leash, roll her over, let her run around and sniff, or play with her in whatever manner she enjoys. If she happens to eliminate again while you're out there, get over to her and give her a treat as she finishes again. Remember that every treat in her mouth for good behavior is like money in the bank that you have the change to draw on the next time she needs to eliminate, and every time thereafter, because she begins to want to wait to go until she's in the appropriate place to do so. At first, it's so she can get the treat; over time, it simply becomes her habit to go in the same place every time. This is how you end up with a dog begging you to let her out the back door so she can pee in the place where she usually gets a treat for doing so.
What if the Dog Goes in the House?
What should you do if the dog goes in the house? First, scold yourself for not preventing that, and for not making it clear enough to the dog how wonderful it is to pee in the grass or wherever you like for her to go. The only reason a dog pees or poops in the house is that the difference between appropriate and inappropriate elimination areas is not yet clear to him. If a male dog is obviously marking indoors, it's still a housetraining problem and is best treated as that in its solution. When your dog is not giving you a clear indication that he needs to go out, and pees or poops inside, it's time to go back to your housetraining protocol and reinforce proper elimination for a while. Don't wait to do this; go back to Housetraining Kindergarten if even one discrepancy is noted. Remember that the more the dog practices a behavior, the better he becomes at doing it. It's probable you assumed your dog understood before he actually did.
Marking
For your male dog who likes to do a little urine marking, simply do the same thing - reinforce every time he pees. The good news is that you'll probably get the opportunity to reinforce that behavior several times during each outdoor trip. You're simply letting him know that it's a wonderful and rewarding thing to mark out in the yard, on grass or shrubs, so that he's extremely likely to save that activity for when he's outside. Take treats along when you're on a walk with your dog, and reinforce when he eliminates during these outings. If your marking male gets out of hand, peeing on every bush he approaches, simply distract him when approaching a likely target, encourage him to enjoy the walk in other ways, and only reinforce his marking or other urinating when in your own yard. You can control this behavior and let your dog know when and where it's appropriate to eliminate, as long as you are fair and make sure he has appropriate opportunity to empty his bladder. Pay attention to when he really needs to go as opposed to when he just needs to leave a message for a friend.
Putting the Behavior on Cue
You can probably see how it's possible to develop your dog's housetraining to the point where you can allow and encourage the dog to pee on rocks, only on grass, or on potty pads simply by reinforcing the approved activity. You can add a cue phrase like "Go Potty" or "Do Your Business" to the activity by saying the cue to the dog as he's eliminating each time, which will of course be followed by a treat and playtime after he finishes. Resist the urge to repeat the cue phrase relentlessly in an attempt to encourage your dog to hurry up and pee. This will only reduce the effectiveness of the words, as you'll be repeating them ad infinitum while he's sniffing around, then he'll pee, you'll reinforce, and the words will have had no effect other than to provide noise while he's standing around in the back yard. The way a cue works best is to at first say it just once, just as the dog is starting to do the behavior, peeing or pooping in this case, and then reinforce the behavior as usual with a treat and playtime. It's sort of like we're at first simply telling the dog that he'll be hearing this phrase or word when it's time to do that behavior. Later, once he's associated the words with the behavior for enough repetitions, you'll be able to say the words and he'll do the behavior. There's no telling how many repetitions will be required for this to happen; you must experiment along the way. Try it after associating the words with the behavior for about a hundred repetitions; say the word and see what happens. If the dog begins the behavior, but is tentative, it's great - he's attempting the behavior and testing
what will happen, just as you're testing what will happen when you say the words. It'll strengthen each time. Encourage him with the reinforcement - not by saying the words again. Consider those words to be a magic phrase that you can only say one time; don't ever repeat. If the dog does not begin to do the behavior when you say the word, continue helping him to associate the word with the behavior for a while longer and then try again. It will happen when it's the right time; each dog is different in so many ways that it's impossible to predict when any individual will connect the word with the behavior, and each person performs this task in a different way so that we have an infinite number of possibilities. It will happen when it's time. After you've relaxed your routine, you can use your verbal cue to remind your dog to go ahead and get the business taken care of before he sniffs around and plays - but you'll still only say it one time, so make it count. Give puppies a little time to develop before expecting they fully understand.
We Do the Work at First
Most of the manners we want our dogs to learn involve us as the leaders taking the responsibility to do all the work at first until our dogs understand what we want and begin to pick up the slack and do the work themselves. when we realize this and are willing to put in the time and effort to work hard and train our dogs, although we do have to maintain their training for a lifetime, they will follow through and due to their affinity for taking on habits will reinforce our training efforts with lifelong cooperation.
(4) Dogs should tolerate handling, grooming and examination of all their body parts.
If you've just met your dog, you should be respectful as you get to know her and learn whether she is challenged by your handling of her tail or feet; she may not have had the opportunity to get used to this as a young pup. It's a good idea to consider each and every challenge or issue your dogs has as a training opportunity. If your dog seems to enjoy having her feet handled, continue to handle them regularly. Clip and file her toenails, giving her a treat after doing a few toes. Never ignore your dog's good behavior or cooperation; remember that she could be doing all sorts of things to make this job hard for you, and many dogs will do just those things. If your dog is reticent when you hold her tail, condition her to accept that by gently holding her tail while giving her a treat. Do this a lot! If your dog has trouble with having her nails done, begin at whatever level you can and reinforce heavily for every step toward actually trimming the nails. You may have to begin by massaging and gently squeezing her toenails with your fingers; progress to holding the clippers or rotary file near the nail while you hold and squeeze it, then to actually clipping or filing just one nail. It's helpful to have another person popping treats in the dog's mouth while you manipulate her nails, just because it gives you a couple more hands to work with; but you can also do it by yourself.
If your dog has an issue with you looking in her mouth, or holding her collar, begin by simply holding your hand near the mouth or collar while giving a treat with the other hand. Progress to touching her mouth or collar with just your index finger. This makes it clear to both you and your dog that you're not going to grab anything prematurely. Move on to stroking with your index finger, lifting her lip with just a finger, placing a finger under her collar, all while giving treats. Be creative with your progression; do things that do not bother your dog at all, and reinforce her cooperation. She'll cooperate with more and more of your intrusions, and you'll keep reinforcing her cooperation. This is how we can condition dogs to not only tolerate, but enjoy handling. When she's ready, try putting your hand on her collar or gently opening her mouth. You get the idea; if your dog doesn't care for a particular activity, then it's our job to change her mind. Fortunately, dogs' brains just aren't that big or complex and it's usually easy enough to change their minds from, "I hate that!" to, "Please do that again!" Of course, the longer "I hate that!" has been going on, the more difficult it will be to change it. It is possible, though, and every step you take makes things better even though you may not ever get all the way to, "Please do that again!" Every step of the way, you'll be reducing your dog's stress due to that activity and increasing the bond of trust you're always building between yourself and your dog. If you encounter any aggressive behavior while conditioning your dog to accept handling, grooming, or examination, consult a behavior professional who can help you better learn to use positive reinforcement to address the issue.
(5) Your dog should come when you call or when anyone else calls.
This is a lifesaving behavior. If your dog ever escapes your home or yard, or is separated from you while travelling, his life may depend upon his prompt response to you or a helpful stranger calling him. It is terribly tragic to want to help a stray dog by getting him off the street and into safety but for the dog to be so worried or stressed by humans that he won't be caught or worse, runs away from the people trying to catch him into further danger. As you bond with your dog, he'll be more likely to have the desire to be near you, which is the first step. All the exercises described previously will also help, because the treats you'll have given your dog to reinforce various behaviors he's performed have all been given while the dog is right next to you. This reinforces his position close to you while also reinforcing the behavior you gave the treat directly for. You should already be seeing your dog spending more time near you as a result of all that reinforcement and also as a result of keeping him on leash near you while housetraining. If you add to this the process of calling your dog to you from just tiny distances as you're moving throughout your day, giving him a tiny treat when he comes to you, you'll be on the road to having your dog come to you from a long way off when you really need him to. Like the other behaviors we want to see in our dogs, the recall does not just happen - it needs to be trained. There's no need to have a specific cue word like, "Come" to get your dog to you; just get him there. Make kissing noises, whistle or slap your thigh. Say, "Puppy, puppy," or whatever will get him to turn to you and come over - even if it's just a few steps. Every time you reinforce this, you're a step closer to calling your dog back from the edge of a busy street and saving his life. You're also continuing to reinforce his position close to you, so that he's less likely to develop the habit of leaving your side to run away into danger. Increase the distances you call your dog from; vary the locations in which you call him. Call him to you on leash and off leash. Make a game out of it by having someone else hold him in an adjacent room, then calling him - your partner should release him just as you call him. You can also play a game with friends or family by sitting around the room and taking turns calling the dog; everyone has treats, but only the person calling gives the dog a treat when he comes to them. Dogs will really get into this game and will begin trying to predict who's going to call next; they'll also try going to just any person. Help the dog succeed by having everyone fold arms and look away from the dog except the one who is calling the dog.
Is My Dog as Smart as a Police Dog?
By stimulating a dog's brain, we give him the opportunity to exercise self control and solve the problem at hand rather than simply act on his impulses. This process bleeds over into other areas of your dog's life, encouraging him to choose those behaviors that are beneficial to him; these are also the behaviors that are beneficial to you, his owner, because you reinforced the ones you wanted to see more of. As your dog learns that his behavior is directly related to whether or not he gets what he wants, the sky is the limit in terms of what he can learn to do. Competition Obedience, Agility, Flyball, Frisbee or other dog sports; tracking criminals, using his nose to detect explosives, drugs, or almost anything that can be scented; pointing and retrieving birds for hunters; performing service dog work like retrieving dropped items, opening and closing doors, or letting you know when the phone is ringing are all achievable behavior groups for a dog. Being a pleasant companion is just as important as these more difficult behaviors, and your dog will be a better companion when she has manners. Your life can be truly enhanced by your dog's part in it. Pretty is as pretty does, and other people will enjoy your dog as much as you do when she is able to conduct herself in a way that is acceptable to humans.
©2009 Nancy Monica Kelly
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2. Housetraining Your Dog - by Nancy M. Kelly
Animal behavior modification principles teach us that, in order for dogs to learn something new, we must isolate the particular behavior we’re trying to modify. Once the behavior is isolated, we strive for many repetitions of success at that behavior. We reward each success so that the animal begins to understand exactly what we want it to do. Once the animal knows what we want, what we will reward it for, it will repeat that behavior consistently. We can then put that behavior on cue.
Housetraining your dog can be just that easy. If you put in the time and effort to:
1. reward him when he eliminates outside (you can even specify the particular spot you prefer), and
2. ensure that he never does the wrong behavior (eliminates inside) by watching or confining him or her at all times, you will be isolating the behavior of elimination, getting many repetitions of success at that behavior, and your dog will be reliably housetrained in a short period of time.
This training routine works with puppies and adult dogs. It even works for dogs who already have a bad habit of eliminating indoors, although it will take longer to break an old habit and develop a new one than it will to just develop a good habit in the first place.
Of course, during the time you are putting in the effort to housetrain you dog, you must also spend time with your dog, teach him good manners and acceptable ways to play, teach him obedience and little tricks and provide chew toys so he’ll have something positive to do. All of these activities will contribute to the bond you’re forming with your dog.
Get a crate and train your dog to love it; use it to confine your dog when you can’t watch him. Keep your dog on a leash when you're with him indoors. Take your dog outside on a leash every time he goes out to eliminate; restrict the area he's allowed to be in until he goes. “We’re out here to go to the bathroom right now – playtime, sniff time, etc. comes later,” you’ll tell him. Reward him with a treat when he goes, and take off the leash so he can play in the yard if he likes that; let him go back inside if that’s what he wants.
Remember, we’re isolating the behavior of elimination; other than completely unacceptable behaviors, we’re not worrying about what else he does. We make sure he eliminates, then he gets a treat, funtime, or whatever it is that he wants. The dog does not have to come to you to get the treat; he eliminates, and you're right there to reinforce that behavior immediately, just as he finishes, with a treat and then funtime.
You’re helping your dog to develop the habits you’d like him to have. If he never eliminates in the house, he won’t develop that habit. Even if he has an accident or two indoors (which are really your accidents, because you should have been watching him, or he should have been confined!) the high frequency with which you take him outside to go will dictate the habit of going outdoors instead.
Suppose you work in an office. Maybe you really do, and this is easy for you!
Suppose there are two restrooms in your building; one is just around the corner from your office, and is nice and clean, roomy, painted a pleasant color (let’s say green,) very convenient and pleasant for you to use. The other restroom is down the hall, a fair distance from your office, not that clean, dimly lit, has peeling paint, and perhaps doesn’t smell very good.
Suppose that, upon coming to work on the very first day of your new job, your boss tells you that you really need to use the less pleasant, down-the-hall restroom when you need to go, and avoid the clean, pleasant, close-by restroom.
“What?!” you say.
“Now, hold on,” says the boss. “Each and every time you use the restroom down the hall, I’ll give you five bucks.”
So your new boss walks you down the hall right then, gives you an encouraging pat on the back, and sure enough, when you come out of the restroom, he gives you a five dollar bill. You’re thinking this is an easy way to pick up a little pocket change! Maybe your boss is kind of weird, but what an easy five bucks. You have to go anyway.
Over the next few days, as you’re getting used to your new job, new duties, and new co-workers, you consistently go to the restroom down the hall when you feel the urge. Due to your compliance, you’re having lunch on your boss every day, you’ve brought flowers home to your wife more than once, and you have a new CD playing in your car! A week later, however, you have a really busy day. You’re working hard at
your computer, check your watch, and find that you have a meeting in just five minutes! You really have to use the restroom, too! You race out your door, run into the nearest restroom, come out fresh and ready to get to your meeting, and . . . . Oh, no! You missed out on your five dollars! Well, at least you’ll make it to the meeting on time.
You make one or two more poor choices over the next few weeks. Each time, you regret missing out on the five bucks, and your free lunch. But, oddly enough, right after each visit to the “wrong” restroom (they seem fairly similar to you!), there are a few restroom visits when your boss comes to your office just when you need to go and escorts you down the hall! The two of you chat on the way, you feel good about having made him happy even though you don’t really get it about why you are forbidden to use the closer, nicer restroom, and you’re assured success – your boss is making sure you get the five bucks!
Pretty soon, when you say, “I’m going to the restroom,” you automatically go to the one down the hall. You never go to the closer restroom, because you’re a creature of habit, and it just feels right to go down the hall. You no longer get the five bucks every time, but you go down the hall anyway. Every so often, your boss says, “Thanks for following my rules” when he sees you coming out of the restroom. And once in a blue moon, he takes you out to lunch.
I love analogies; I hope you do, too.
©2009 Nancy Monica Kelly
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