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Chapter 4: Accentuate the Positive!

Positive training based in science is powerfully successful. It works with all types of dogs, even those considered “stubborn” or “challenging.” It works great with fearful and shy dogs. It also works with big dogs, little dogs, puppies, seniors, bouncy dogs, and couch potatoes—this is because it follows the fundamental laws of learning. You can train any species using positive training. Many wild animal trainers use positive training to get large, potentially dangerous animals to perform behaviors. If they can train elephants to willingly offer their feet for care, or if they can train tigers to sit patiently for blood draws, then you can train your dog without using force or intimidation.

Here are some benefits to using positive training:

•You don’t have to rely on physical strength to train your dog. It doesn’t require you to muscle your dog into position or push or pull him to do what you want. It opens up training to a much broader range of people with different physical capabilities and enables them to train bigger dogs, too. It also means that your kids can train your dog (with supervision).

•It’s efficient. With positive training, sessions are very short. A couple of minutes are all you need for one session. Short sessions work best for dogs, especially young puppies with short attention spans! It’s also great for anyone with a busy schedule. You can always squeeze a couple of minutes in, and if you do that a few times a day, you’ll see great progress.

•It gets fast results. Your dog will look forward to your training sessions and be more engaged with you, so you’ll be able to teach him faster.

•You’ll get your dog to want to work for you, rather than be afraid to disobey you. This forges a strong relationship.

•It’s fun! Training your dog doesn’t have to be a chore. By using positive methods, you and your dog will both enjoy the learning experience.

Just because you use positive methods to train does not mean that you let your dog get away with whatever he wants. “Positive” does not mean “permissive.” You should establish rules and boundaries for your dog. You should have realistic expectations for his behavior and train him to work within those guidelines. You can absolutely do this and still train positively. You don’t have to be mean to your dog to teach him what you want him to learn.

Did You Know? The Penalties of Punishment

The laws of learning state that a behavior that is punished reduces in frequency. Punishment in training can work. The catch is, it can come with a lot of baggage. By using harsh, physical techniques to train your dog, you could create more problems than you’re trying to solve. For example, if you spank your dog for chewing on your shoe, he could start taking your shoes and hiding from you to chew them. You still end up with chewed shoes, except now it’s harder to catch your dog in the act. Or, he could get really frightened and start growling at you. Now you have an aggression problem, which is much worse—and harder to fix—than a chewed shoe.

Another problem with punishment is that it doesn’t teach your dog what you want him to do—only that you don’t like what he’s doing. For example, spanking your dog for chewing on your shoe doesn’t teach him that you want him to chew on his chew toys. So how is he supposed to learn what to do? You have to train him. It would be more effective to use a Leave It cue to get him to drop the shoe, and then give him one of his toys and praise him for chewing on that instead. You still get him to do what you want, and you avoid the potential negative side effects!

Understanding the Scientific Principles of Training

The positive training methods in this guide are based in science. They are based on learning theory from the works of psychologists, behaviorists, and more. If you’ve ever taken a psychology class, these principles may be familiar to you. Because these methods are based in science, they have held up time and time again to scientific scrutiny. They work. They work on any animal with a nervous system.

Scientists have used these training methods with laboratory animals—if an animal performs a task correctly, he gets a piece of food. The animal begins to perform the task correctly more frequently.

Wild animal and marine mammal trainers use these techniques. They teach performance behaviors, but, more and more, they are also training animals to perform husbandry behaviors that make it easier to care for the animals and attend to their medical care. Examples include teaching a whale to roll to an upside-down position so a technician can perform an ultrasound, teaching a wolf to hold still to receive treatment on an infected ear, and teaching a gorilla to willingly hold out an arm for an insulin shot.

Pet owners use these techniques as well. They work on birds, horses, dogs … and even cats. While there is a lot of science related to canine behavior, you primarily need to understand classical and operant conditioning to train your dog.

Many marine-animal trainers use positive training methods.

Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is the process of associating a neutral stimulus with an involuntary response until the stimulus triggers the response. A neutral stimulus is something that doesn’t mean anything. The dog does not associate anything with it. An involuntary response is something that an animal does naturally, without thinking. For example, if a dog sees food, he will start to salivate. This is an involuntary response. The dog doesn’t think about salivating, he just does it.

Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, was the first to note the phenomenon of classical conditioning. He was studying digestion in dogs when he discovered that the dogs would start to salivate when his assistant entered the room. The dogs hadn’t been given food at that point, but they were still salivating. He theorized that salivation had become a learned response rather than an involuntary one. The dogs were salivating when they saw the assistant, with whom they had come to be associate food.

Pavlov then experimented with other neutral stimuli. He would activate a metronome right before presenting food to the dogs. The metronome meant nothing to the dogs, but after several repetitions of sounding the metronome right before the dogs received food, the dogs began to salivate at the sound of the metronome. The dogs had learned that the sound of the metronome meant that food was coming. The stimulus was no longer neutral; it became what’s called a “conditioned stimulus.” The conditioned stimulus now produced a “conditioned response”—the salivation.

You’ve probably done a lot of classical conditioning without even realizing it. The first time your dog saw a leash, it didn’t mean anything to him. He may have sniffed it or been curious about it, but he was just investigating it. It was a neutral stimulus. Separately, your dog would get excited when you took him outside for a walk. His excitement was an involuntary response.

After you took him out on his leash several times, the association with that leash changed. After time, when he saw the leash, he may have bounced with excitement or started barking. He came to associate the leash with walks. The leash was now a conditioned stimulus, and his excitement was now a conditioned response to seeing the leash. The leash meant walks!

Did You Know?

Behaviorist B.F. Skinner created the term “operant conditioning.” That’s why you sometimes hear it called “Skinnerian conditioning.”

Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is the process of changing an animal’s response to a certain stimulus by manipulating the consequences that follow right after the response. Behavior is either rewarded or punished. Behavior that is rewarded increases in frequency. Behavior that is punished decreases in frequency.

There are four main quadrants of operant conditioning: positive reinforcement, positive punishment, negative reinforcement, and negative punishment. As these are scientific terms, there are specific meanings to the words “positive” and “negative.” In this case, they don’t mean “good” and “bad.” Instead, “positive” means “to add” and “negative” means “to take away.”

•Positive Reinforcement—Something favorable is added after a behavior, which causes the behavior to increase. If you call your dog to come to you, and you give him a treat when he does, he’s likely to come to you again when you call him. An example with people would be that if you finish a project at work, and your boss gives you a bonus, you’re likely to finish more projects.

•Positive Punishment—Something unpleasant is added after a behavior, which causes the behavior to decrease. If you call your dog to you and, when he comes, you yell at him or plunk him in the bathtub when he hates baths, he is less likely to come to you when you call again. Likewise, if you stay late to finish a project at work, and your boss yells at you for incurring overtime, you are less likely to stay late to work on projects in the future.

•Negative Reinforcement—Something unpleasant is removed after a behavior, which makes the behavior increase. If your dog has a thorn in his paw, and you call him to come to you and then remove the thorn, making his paw less painful, he is more likely to come to you when you call again. If your boss constantly yells at you until you finish a project, you are more likely to finish projects quickly in the future.

•Negative Punishment—Something pleasant is removed after a behavior, and the behavior decreases. If your dog is happily chewing on a bone, and you call him to come to you and then take the bone away, he is less likely to come to you when you call again. If you are late turning in a project at work, and your boss docks your pay, you are less likely to be late with your project next time.

Reinforcement, whether it’s added or taken away (positive or negative), always increases behavior. Punishment, whether it’s added or taken away (positive or negative), always decreases behavior.

Positive training generally makes the most use of two of these four quadrants—positive reinforcement and negative punishment. If a dog performs a behavior you like, and you want it to increase in frequency, you reward it—positive reinforcement. For example, every time your dog sits, you pet him, so he starts to sit more often. You’ve given him attention for sitting, which is rewarding to him.

If the dog does something you don’t like, and you want it decrease in frequency, you can take away a reward and the behavior will decrease—negative punishment. For example, if your dog jumps on you and you ignore him completely, giving him absolutely no attention, he stops jumping on you. You’ve taken away your attention, so the behavior is no longer rewarding to him.

You can use a treat in your hand to lure a dog to lie down.

Training Behaviors Step-by-Step

A cue is the word or physical signal you will use in order to ask the dog to perform the behavior. To get a dog to perform a behavior when you cue him, you first have to teach the behavior. There are certain general steps to follow when getting a dog to perform a behavior reliably.

Step 1: Get the Behavior

There are many positive ways to get a dog to perform a behavior, including luring/targeting, shaping, capturing, and modeling.

Luring/Targeting

Luring and targeting are hands-off methods of guiding a dog through a behavior. For example, you may use a treat in your hand to lure a dog to lie down. As you lower the treat, he lowers his nose to follow it, and then his body follows. Or, you may teach a dog to touch his nose to your hand, making your hand a target. You can then teach your dog to come to you, get on and off the furniture, and get in and out of the car by following your hand target.

Luring and targeting are probably the most frequently used techniques to get behavior. They can also be the fastest, depending on the behavior and the dog. They work very well for most dogs.

In order for luring to work, the lure has to be very interesting to the dog. If you use a boring lure, the dog won’t follow it. So if you try luring your dog during a training session, and he keeps giving up after a few sniffs or ignores you altogether, it’s time to find a more tempting lure.

In lure training, it’s important to lose the lure very quickly, or you and your dog can become dependent on the lure. For example, after you successfully lure your dog with a treat to lie down three times, you will try it without holding a treat in your hand. You’ll hold your hand in the same manner as you did before, as if you were still holding a treat. Pretend that you still have the treat in your hand and use your empty hand to lure the dog the same way you did before. Your dog should follow your empty hand into the down position. Once the dog lies down, you will “mark” the behavior (with a click or verbal marker, which are discussed later in this chapter) and then give him a treat. This treat is his reward for performing the behavior. You’ll lose the lure long before you wean your dog off of rewards.

This isn’t a tactic to fool your dog. Dogs have an incredible sense of smell. Your dog knows that there’s no treat in your hand. What he is learning is your hand signal. By moving your hand downward, you’re actually teaching your dog a hand signal.

If you keep a treat in your hand every single time you ask your dog to Down, he will learn that he should lie down only when you have a treat in your hand. Some owners stay dependent on luring with treats because they are concerned that their dogs won’t pay attention to them unless they have treats in their hands. If you keep a treat in your hand too long with luring, this concern could come true! Be sure to lose the treat quickly when luring.

Shaping

Shaping involves building behavior by reinforcing progressive parts of the behavior. For example, if you were shaping the cue Settle on your dog’s bed, you would first reinforce the dog for looking at his bed, then for moving toward his bed, then for sniffing his bed, then for putting one paw on the bed, then for putting two paws on the bed, then for putting three or four paws on the bed, and finally for lying down on the bed. The goal behavior is for the dog to move toward the bed and lie down on it. In shaping, you reinforce all of the little parts of that behavior that build up to your goal behavior.

Shaping has many benefits. It teaches a dog to really pay attention to your marker (a click or verbal marker) so he knows what behavior you are rewarding. Dogs also seem to retain shaped behaviors longer, maybe because they have to figure out the process. For example, have you ever had someone drive you somewhere and then expect you to know the way when you drive there yourself? You may hesitate at a couple of turns or get confused on a few streets before you find your destination. But when you drive to places yourself, you remember the way better. You had to do it yourself to really learn how to get there.

Shaping is very good for a dog that may be too fearful to get near you for luring. You could have a delicious meatball in your hand to lure your dog to perform a behavior, but if the dog is terrified of you, that meatball may not be enough. Shaping allows you to work with a dog that doesn’t feel comfortable being near you. In turn, this will help build a strong relationship, as he will get many rewards during your training sessions. Your training sessions will be positive experiences for him.

Shaping is also an excellent training method to teach behaviors that a dog would not normally do. A dog may readily pick up a tennis ball, but what about your car keys? You could shape your dog to bring you your keys, the remote control, laundry items, or other objects.

Shaping is a great technique for teaching service-dog behaviors, such as turning on and off lights, opening and closing doors, and even helping make the bed.

You can use shaping to teach your dog the Settle cue.

Capturing

Capturing is a method of marking and reinforcing behavior that a dog performs on his own, without lures. For example, when your dog lies down, he sometimes crosses his front paws, and you think that it’s adorable and want to put it on cue. You would mark and reward the behavior every time he did it on his own. Behavior that is reinforced increases, so your dog will begin lying down and crossing his paws more frequently. Once the behavior is reliable, you can then put it on cue so that he does it when you cue him. Capturing is a great method for getting unusual, specific behaviors that your dog does and that would be difficult to lure. For example, you could capture a dog shaking himself off after a bath, or tilting his head, or stretching.

Modeling

Modeling is a method that uses physical manipulation to get a dog to perform a behavior. This is a method that we don’t normally use. It isn’t necessary because you can get behaviors using other, easier methods. Why push your dog’s rear down to sit when you can easily get him to do it himself?

Modeling can also be difficult for many people. Imagine a petite woman getting a fully grown Mastiff to sit by pushing his rear down! It also doesn’t engage the dog—you are doing all of the work for him. It is not an ideal training method for shy or fearful dogs because they can be further frightened by your physically manipulating their bodies into position.

Step 2: Mark the Behavior and Reward It

Marker training is an extremely effective method of positive training. You mark the instant that the dog performs the behavior you want, usually with a clicker. A clicker is a box-shaped tool that emits a “click” sound when you press it on one side. The brief sound is distinct and therefore easy for a dog to hear and recognize. You follow every mark with a reward, so a click is a promise of a reward. When your dog learns that every time he hears a marker he gets a reward, he learns to work to “earn” the marker noise.

You can also use a verbal marker, but it has to be a very short word to be precise. It should be a word that you don’t use often in casual conversation, so you don’t confuse your dog.

Something like “good dog” is too long to be an effective marker. Think of all of the behaviors your dog could do by the time you start the “Good” and end with “dog.” A lot!

Also, praise is not the same as a marker. You use a marker to indicate to a dog that he did something that you like. You use praise as a reward after the dog performs the behavior.

There are many good reasons to use a marker.

•The communication is very clear and precise. It marks the exact instant the dog performs the behavior you want.

•Clickers are distinct. They don’t sound the same as other noises, so your dog can easily distinguish when you click.

•It’s consistent. Especially if you use a clicker, the sound is the same every time.

•It’s non-judgmental. It’s a neutral sound.

•It’s transferrable. Once the dog learns the sound of the marker means he did something you like, anyone can use it to tell the dog the same thing. This is extremely convenient if you have more than one person in your family who wants the dog to work for him or her.

In order to effectively use a marker, you need good timing. If you’ve never trained a dog before, or if this is the first time that you’ve used this type of training, be patient with yourself! You are learning a new skill. As with any other new skill, it will take time to learn to do well. Your timing may be too slow at first, or even too fast, but you will get better with practice.

A clicker is a box-shaped tool that emits a “click” when pressed.

Another wonderful thing about marker training is that even if you are a rookie, you won’t make mistakes that will set back your training very much or hurt your dog. With punishment-based training, punishing your dog at the wrong moment can have unintended consequences. Not the case with marker training! You may mark a bit early or late and not get the exact behavior that you wanted, but you will be able to fix that easily in a few more clicks. No harm done.

Here are some tips on using a clicker correctly.

•Don’t point it at your dog. It’s not a remote control!

•Click only once per behavior. It’s a marker, so you are marking a specific behavior only once. If your dog does something really well, you still click only once, but you can give him a better reward or several rewards if you like.

•Use the clicker only to mark behavior, not for other things. After a dog learns that a click means that a reward is coming, he can get very excited at the sound of the click. It can be tempting, then, to use the clicker to get your dog’s attention or to use the sound to have him come running to you if you don’t know where he is in the house or yard. If you do this, you’ve just damaged the power of the click as a marker.

•Always give a treat after clicking. Even if you make a mistake and click at the wrong time, you need to give your dog a reward. It’s not your dog’s fault that you made a mistake. If you skip the reward because you clicked in error, you will lessen the power of the click. Do it often enough, and your dog could stop paying attention to the click altogether.

•Because the click marks the behavior, it ends the behavior. For example, when working on the Down cue, if your dog lies down, you click, and your dog then gets up, it’s OK. You already marked the Down, so it’s OK if he gets up to get his treat.

The Ten Rules of Shaping

Karen Pryor, one of the founders of clicker training, offers ten rules of shaping in her book Don’t Shoot the Dog.

1.Raise criteria in increments small enough so that the subject always has a realistic chance of reinforcement.

2.Train one aspect of any particular behavior at a time. Don’t try to shape for two criteria simultaneously.

3.During shaping, put the current level of response on a variable-ratio schedule of reinforcement (meaning that you don’t offer a reward every time) before adding to or raising the criteria.

4.When introducing a new criterion or aspect of the behavioral skill, temporarily relax the old ones.

5.Stay ahead of your subject: plan your shaping program completely so that if the subject makes sudden progress, you are aware of what to reinforce next.

6.Don’t change trainers in midstream. You can have several trainers per trainee, but stick to one shaper per behavior.

7.If one shaping procedure is not eliciting progress, find another. There are as many ways to get behavior as there are trainers to think them up.

8.Don’t interrupt a training session gratuitously; that constitutes a punishment.

9.If behavior deteriorates, “go back to kindergarten.” Quickly review the whole shaping process with a series of easily earned reinforcers.

10.End each session on a high note, if possible, but in any case quit while you’re ahead.

Step 3: Add a Cue

Once a behavior is reliable, which means that the dog is regularly performing the behavior, it’s time to add the cue (the word or physical signal you will use in order to ask the dog to perform the behavior).

Why don’t we add the cue first? Why don’t we say “Down” and then lure a dog into the down position? Because it’s not as easy for dogs to learn that way. Remember, they don’t speak English. Saying “Down” means nothing to them. Repeating it over and over isn’t helpful, either. If someone says something to you in a foreign language that you don’t know, does it help you understand it if they repeat it over and over? If they yell it at you? Of course not. It won’t help your dog, either. This is why we teach the behavior first and then label it with a cue.

For stationary behaviors, such as Sit, Down, and Settle, it’s helpful to teach a release cue. This is an indication to your dog that it’s OK to get up. Otherwise, should he stay seated forever? Or just get up whenever he wants? By teaching a release cue, you’ll help him hold a longer, more consistent Stay. You can use the same release cue for each exercise because it will always signify the same behavior—your dog no longer has to hold the position. Choose a word that you don’t often use in casual conversation, such as “Ok!” or “free” or “release.” The actual word doesn’t matter, as long as you are consistent with its use.

Step 4: Train to Fluency

Once you have a behavior on cue, it’s time to train it to fluency. This means that you will need to train it so that your dog will perform it with distractions, in different environments, and under different conditions. It doesn’t really do you much good if your dog only performs for you in your living room. If that’s the only place you train, however, then that’s likely the only place in which your dog will reliably perform the behavior.

For example, you teach your dog to Sit-Stay at home. You take him to the park and cue him: “Sit, Stay.” He sits but then bounces right up and takes off after a squirrel. This may be annoying, but it’s not unusual at all. You never taught your dog to Sit-Stay outside, with all of its scents and distractions, let alone squirrels.

This can also happen with house-training. Just because you teach your dog not to eliminate in your own home doesn’t mean that he learns not to eliminate in other people’s homes. So, when you take your dog to a relative’s house over the holidays, he may pee on the carpet even though he hasn’t done that in your house in some time. While his peeing could be due to stress or excitement, it also could be due to lack of training in different locations.

In order to train a behavior to fluency, you work gradually. Start with just a few distractions and then gradually add more and more. Remember to keep your training sessions short. If you find your dog struggling, you’re probably going too fast in your training. Back up to the last step at which your dog was successful, practice more at that level, and then try making it harder again.

It’s easy to add distractions to your training. When you first start working on a behavior, you will start with very few distractions. Train in a quiet place that your dog is familiar with, such as your family room. When a behavior is reliable, add a few distractions to your training sessions. Depending on the behavior you’re working on, it may be you moving around, getting farther from your dog, changing your training location, dropping items, having other people walk nearby, having other dogs nearby, and the like. Just add the distractions gradually. For example, if you’re working on Sit-Stay, you will move one pace away and ensure that your dog holds the position, then two paces, then three. You wouldn’t go from being right next to your dog to being across the room. This would likely be too much for your dog, and he would break position.

Depending on your dog’s age and disposition, training to fluency can take time. This is normal! Rushing him won’t be helpful. You want him to practice being successful rather than practice being unsuccessful. Young puppies have no attention spans, so they will be easily distracted. Something as small as a ladybug could prove a distraction for a puppy as compared to an older dog. Some breeds, such as bouncy Boxers or leaping Labradors, are busy by nature. Stock up on your patience and go only as fast as your dog can progress. Your training will be worth your efforts! By gradually increasing distractions and introducing new environments, you’ll have a dog that will perform for you in just about any situation.

Think of therapy dogs that have to be reliable in busy environments, such as hospitals, or emotionally charged environments, such as with hospice bereavement groups. Search and rescue dogs have to perform under sometimes treacherous conditions, experiencing loud noises and sharp smells. Police dogs have to perform in a variety of environments, from schools to alleys. This level of performance doesn’t happen automatically or overnight. It takes training behaviors to fluency so the dog learns to be consistent under a variety of conditions.

You need to train your dog to perform cues despite distractions.

Reward-Based Training

If someone were to offer you chocolate-chip cookies, ice cream, or tiramisu, would you have a preference? Maybe your teeth are sensitive to cold, so you wouldn’t find the ice cream appealing. Maybe you don’t like the taste of coffee, so the tiramisu holds little appeal. Or maybe you just don’t like chocolate, in which case the chocolate-chip cookies wouldn’t hold your interest. Everyone has different preferences when it comes to things that they like. Dogs are similar.

Not every dog loves being petted. Some dogs are OK with it, but they really don’t love it. Other dogs would do anything to snuggle with you. Some dogs are crazy about balls. They will play fetch for hours at a time. Other dogs just look at you when you toss a ball and never make an attempt to go after it. Some dogs will eat anything you put in front of them, while others are quite picky.

In using reward-based training, it’s very important to determine exactly what your dog finds rewarding. The items you use as rewards must be appealing in the eyes of your individual dog.

So, what does your dog find appealing? Make a list, in order of your dog’s preference. This will help you train, especially when it comes to adding distractions or teaching challenging behaviors for your dog. For example, some dogs have trouble with Down. If using a regular food treat as a lure doesn’t help him lie down, you may need to go to a higher-ranked reward on your list.

One of the most common questions about using rewards in training is “When do you stop using them?” When you are building behavior, you will use rewards. Once a behavior is trained to fluency, it’s a good idea to keep the rewards for a while and then gradually wean your dog off of them. This means that when your dog will reliably perform a behavior despite distractions and in different environments, you can start weaning him off of rewards. Most people try to remove the rewards too soon, and they find that the dog’s behavior suffers as a result.

There is a big difference between a reward and a bribe. A reward is offered after a behavior. A bribe is offered to get a behavior. You don’t want to bribe your dog! If you do, he will become dependent on that bribe, and you definitely don’t want that. For example, you want your dog to get off the couch. You give him the cue “Off!” and he gets off the couch. You give him a treat. Thus, you gave him a cue, he performed the correct behavior, and he got a reward.

Take the same scenario, except this time you go get a treat and show it to him, tempting him with it so he gets off the couch. Then you give him the treat. This is a bribe. Do this often enough, and your dog won’t get off the couch unless you tempt him with a treat. You don’t want to have to carry treats around with you all the time just to get your dog to do what you want. You can train your dog to respond by using rewards, not bribes.

Attention and Affection

Most dogs love attention, although not all of them love petting and other physically affectionate gestures. Many dogs, for example, do not like being petted on top of the head. This is a pretty assertive gesture when translated by dogs, so many will duck out of the way or avoid your hand. Some dogs don’t mind at all.

When physically interacting with your dog, what does his resulting body language tell you? Does he go stiff? Do his ears lay flat, do his eyes have a worried expression? Does he lean away from you? Does he struggle? All of these are signs that he is not enjoying your interaction. On the other hand, does he lean into you? Does his body feel relaxed? Do his eyes get squinty? These are signs that he is enjoying the interaction.

If you love to snuggle with your dog, but your dog doesn’t like to snuggle with you, please respect your dog’s wishes. If you force him to endure it, he may feel the need to escalate the way in which he communicates to you that he doesn’t like it. He may start growling or even snap or bite. This can happen easily with children who don’t recognize when a dog is uncomfortable, but it can also happen with adults. Pay attention to your dog. He will tell you if he likes your petting.

If you have a dog that loves physical interaction, learn what he likes best. Does he like a good ear scratch? Belly rub? Chest rub? Find his favorites to use as rewards.

Pay attention to your dog and take note if he is not enjoying being petted.

Some dogs are ball-crazy and will play fetch for hours at a time.

Verbal Praise

While verbal praise is often handy if you don’t have a higher value reward with you, it’s generally not as appreciated by dogs as it is by humans. If you tell a friend how wonderful she is, she’s likely to be pleased. Your dog will be pleased as well, but if given a choice between verbal praise and a treat, the dog will likely choose the treat every time.

Please don’t take it personally. It doesn’t mean that your dog doesn’t love you, and it doesn’t mean that you are a bad pet owner. If your dog would rather have a cookie than hear you talk to him, this is actually quite normal. It’s humbling, but it’s normal.

In general, if verbal praise is going to be effective, it should be enthusiastic and effusive. Make a big deal out of it! Watch your dog. Is he giving you positive body language in return? Then you are doing it right.

Food Rewards

Food is generally a high-value treat for any dog. It can be the fastest reward for teaching behaviors. When using food, pieces should be small and easy to swallow. You just need a tiny bite per behavior. Hard treats, such as baked treats, that take a while to chew, are not optimal for training because they will lengthen your training sessions and add too much time in between repetitions of a behavior.

Treats that have strong odors are more appealing to dogs. When training at home, with few distractions, you can use your dog’s regular kibble to train if he will work for it. This is a great way to regulate the amount of food you feed him each day and avoid obesity issues. Make him work for his meals! Just measure out what you would normally feed him and use part or all of it in your training sessions during the day. You will not use it all at once because training sessions should be very short.

For example, let’s say you feed your dog 2 cups (453.6 g) of kibble a day. You are currently working on confinement training, the Recall, and Settle. You could use 1 cup (226.8 g) of the kibble throughout the day for Recall training, ½ cup (113.4 g) stuffed in a toy for the confinement training to keep him occupied and happy in his crate, and the last ½ cup (113.4 g) also stuffed in a toy for a long Stay when he settles on his bed or mat.

When you start training in other areas and adding distractions, you may have to up the ante with the food. Plain kibble can work for some dogs, but for others it will take a treat that smells stronger. For example, if you take your dog to a training class, it’s likely you will need some more tempting treats than your dog’s regular kibble. There will be many of distractions, including other dogs and people, so your dog’s kibble may not be as rewarding to him in that situation as it is at home.

If you use dog treats, choose ones that are healthy. Treats that you find in the grocery store, for example, are often full of dyes and sugars. These are not necessary for training, and they aren’t a healthy choice for your dog. Choose a treat with all-natural ingredients.

The food rewards you use may also depend on the behavior you are training and the location. For example, if Sit is an easy behavior for your dog to learn, you can use a lower-value treat as a reward. If you are teaching a more challenging behavior, such as Heel, you may need a higher-value food treat.

If you are training in the quiet of your own living room, you may be able to use kibble successfully. If you are in the middle of a busy park, you may have to bring out higher value rewards in order to keep your dog’s attention.

What food does your dog enjoy? Some dogs will easily work for their daily kibble, while others are choosier. Some dogs get excited over lettuce; others would ignore it altogether. Every dog has his own preferences, so it will depend on your dog. It is a myth that some dogs won’t work for food at all.

All dogs need to eat. There is a food that is rewarding for every dog. Some just take some more detective work than others! One reason why a dog may seem unmotivated by food is that if food is left out all day for him (called free feeding), then food is always available to him and it doesn’t have much power as a reward. This can affect your training potential. Leaving food out all day can also lead to obesity in dogs if they don’t self-regulate effectively.

When you train with food, you’ll also need something convenient in which to hold the food. You can purchase a bait bag, specially made to hold treats while training. You can also use a fanny pack or a carpenter’s apron. A shirt with big pockets can also work. You just need to be able to get to the treats quickly, without having to dig for them.

Food is generally a high-value treat for any dog.

Try This! Healthy People Food as a Reward

You can use people food to train your dog. You don’t want to feed your dog people food all the time because it can cause pancreatitis and other health issues. But for the purposes of training, healthy people food can be a great option. Here are some suggestions:

•Hot dogs (choose low-sodium hot dogs for dogs less than 15 pounds [6.8 kg])

•Cheese, including string cheese

•Deli turkey or roast beef

•Roasted chicken

•Steak

•Oat cereal

•Carrots

Toys

Toys can be fun rewards. Some dogs adore toys, while others are not as interested. Some dogs love only fetch toys, while others prefer tug toys. Some dogs will do anything for a ball.

If you’re going to use toys as rewards, just keep in mind that training sessions will take longer because you have to allow playtime with the toy as the reward. This may not be practical for some behaviors or early in the training process, when quick repetitions will help your dog learn a behavior faster.

Always pick safe toys for your dog. A chew toy that a dog can fit entirely in his mouth is not safe. He could swallow it whole, and it could get stuck in his throat or digestive tract. Tennis balls are safe for many dogs, but not dogs that will chew on them because the tennis balls’ coating will damage their tooth enamel. If your dog wants to chase the tennis ball, that is fine, but he should not settle down with it and chew it like a bone.

If using toys as a reward, make sure they are safe and sized properly for your dog.

Play

While you can use toys to play with your dog, you don’t always have to have a toy to play. Games, including chase, hide-and-seek, and recall, can be fun rewards for some dogs, and they provide a nice way to break up a training session if your dog is getting frustrated. If you play chase, encourage your dog to chase you, instead of the other way around. You don’t want him to practice running away from you, but playing a fun game in which he’s running toward you can help you teach him a fast Come.

Recall games can be great for energetic dogs that like to move. If you have more than one person available to play, each of you can call your dog to “Come.” As the dog runs away from a person, that person takes a step backward. Eventually, you can be in different rooms of your house, or spread out in a fenced yard, with your dog running in between. Not only is this a game, it’s also training! You can also modify this game into hide-and-seek, with different people hiding and calling your dog to come find them.

As with toys, playing games will extend your training sessions, but short bursts of play during your training sessions as rewards can be very powerful motivators.

Life Rewards

Life rewards are activities dogs enjoy that you can use as rewards. Does your dog love to use his nose? Use the opportunity to sniff as a reward. Does your dog go nuts for a car ride? Give him a ride as a reward! Does he enjoy swimming? Train near a lake and let him swim as a reward. Life rewards can be extremely powerful. If your dog performs a behavior, and you reward him with a life reward, it can be a strong motivator for your dog to repeat the behavior. You generally don’t use these rewards all of the time because you wouldn’t get much training done, but if used once in a while, life rewards can make a big impression on your dog.

Introducing the Clicker

Dogs don’t automatically understand that the click sound from the clicker means that they did something that you like. You need to teach them the meaning of the sound. You need to classically condition the clicker to mean that a treat is coming.

This is the very first exercise to teach your dog before you start training the basics. You’ll be using the clicker for all of the exercises, so teach your dog that the click sound means a treat is coming first.

1.Get five small, tasty treats. Be near to your dog. If he is across the yard, you’re not ready for this exercise, so make sure that he is close to you. Don’t ask your dog to sit or to do anything else. This exercise is just about teaching him that the sound of the click means that a treat is coming, so you don’t want to clutter it with anything else.

2.Click once. Immediately follow the click with a treat. Repeat this five times.

3.Do this exercise twice a day for two days.

It won’t take long before your dog’s ears perk up at the sound of the click. You may see his tail wagging. Now that the clicker is “charged up,” it’s time to use it to start training!

The Click Is Stronger than Words

Research has shown that a mechanical clicker is more effective than a verbal marker. According to the study titled Clicker Bridging Stimulus Efficacy by Lindsay Wood, MA, CTC: “The clicker-trained dogs achieved behavior acquisition in significantly (p < .05) fewer minutes and required significantly fewer primary reinforcements than verbally conditioned dogs. … It appears that use of the clicker, by providing a more precise marker than a verbal bridging stimulus, is responsible for superior acquisition of complex behaviors such as that studied here. … The potential of the clicker stimulus to improve animal learning throughout the entire process of a behavior may not only increase the rate of behavior acquisition but also reduce animal frustration and further enhance the relationship between trainer and animal.”

The clicker isn’t a remote control!

Introducing a Target

Targeting is an extremely useful training skill to teach your dog. There are two main types of targets—nose targets and paw targets. By teaching your dog to touch his nose or paw to a target, you can teach a variety of behaviors. A nose target to your hand can turn into a Recall, your dog can follow your hand to get on and off furniture, and more. A paw target can teach your dog to go to his kennel or his bed or to stay outside the kitchen while you’re preparing dinner. Your first step will be to introduce targets to your dog.

Introducing a Nose Target

The easiest nose target to start with is your hand. Here are the steps to teaching a nose target:

Goal: Your dog will touch his nose to your hand.

What You’ll Need: Clicker, treats.

1.Hold the clicker in one hand. Hold your other, empty, hand with the palm toward your dog and the fingers downward. Hold it 1 inch (2.5 cm) from your dog’s nose.

2.Most dogs will reach forward to sniff or lick your hand. The second that your dog’s nose touches your palm, click and pull your hand away. Give him a treat. Remove your hand so he won’t touch it again before you are ready to click and treat him again.

3.Present your hand again, 1 inch (2.5 cm) in front of your dog’s nose. When he touches it, click, pull your hand away, and treat.

4.Repeat for a total of ten repetitions. End your training session.

Tip: If your dog doesn’t touch your hand, you will need to gradually shape the behavior. When you first present your hand, your dog is likely to at least look at it. Click, remove your hand, and treat him for looking. Repeat several times. Your dog will begin to look at your hand more frequently. When he’s looking at it consistently, hold off on clicking. Wait to see if he nudges your hand. Be patient—let him think this through. When he moves forward to touch your hand, click and treat!

The easiest nose target to start with is your hand.

When your dog is consistently touching your hand, it’s time to move your hand.

1.Hold your palm 1 inch (2.5 cm) to the left of your dog’s nose. When he noses it, click and treat. Then hold your palm 1 inch (2.5 cm) to the right of your dog’s nose. When he noses it, click and treat.

2.Gradually start moving your hand farther away from your dog, switching between the left and right side. Click and treat for every correct response when his nose touches your palm.

3.Now it’s time to get your dog to follow your hand. Start with your hand close to your dog’s nose. When he moves to nose it, move it slowly away from him in a straight line so he follows it. Go only a couple of feet (about a meter) before you let him touch it. Click and treat.

4.Gradually work up to your dog following your hand for farther distances.

5.Repeat for a total of ten repetitions. End your training session.

When your dog is reliably touching your palm with his nose, no matter where you present it, it’s time to add the cue.

1.Just before you present your hand, say the cue “Touch” in a friendly voice. When your dog touches your hand, click and treat.

2.Repeat for a total of ten repetitions. End your training session.

Try This! Introducing a Clicker to a Fearful Dog

If your dog is scared of noises or very fearful, you need to introduce the clicker a little differently. If your dog is very sensitive, you may not want to use a clicker at first. Instead, a clickable ballpoint pen serves as a very soft sound that often works well. You introduce it the same way as the regular clicker. You can also muffle the regular clicker by tucking it into a pocket when you click it or wrapping a towel around it. You just want to create a softer noise so that your dog doesn’t startle.

Introducing a Paw Target

Choose a target that your dog will be able to touch with his paw. Keep in mind that some dogs are enthusiastic with their paws, so your target should be durable. For example, try a drink coaster, or a lid from a margarine tub. Here are the steps to teaching a paw target:

Goal: Your dog will touch his paw to a target.

What You’ll Need: Clicker, treats, paw target.

1.Place the target on the ground near your dog. If your dog reaches out with a paw to touch the target, click, remove the target, and treat. This is not common, though. Most dogs explore with their noses first. So, if your dog noses the target, click, remove the target, and treat. You remove your target so he won’t touch it again before you are ready to click and treat him again.

Why is it OK to click the nosing of the target instead of the pawing? Because for dogs, nosing and pawing are closely connected behaviors. If your dog starts with his nose, don’t worry. He will soon switch to pawing.

2.If your dog started by pawing the target, repeat about ten times and then end your training session.

3.If your dog started by nosing the target, repeat until he is nosing the target reliably, about ten times. Then, present the target and wait. Don’t click for him nosing the target. Just wait. He will soon get frustrated when nosing no longer works, and he will try something else, likely a paw. The second he touches the target with his paw, click, remove the target, and treat. Repeat ten more times. End your training session.

Tip: Some dogs like to use their paws more than others do and will pick this up quickly. Others take a while. Training a paw target may take just one session, or it may take several. Just proceed as far as your dog can succeed. Also, some dogs are mouthier than others. You may find your sporting-breed dog trying to pick up the target. If that’s the case, just anchor the target with your foot so he can’t pick it up. This exercise is not a retrieve. If you let your dog pick up the target, it will be harder to teach him to paw it.

When your dog is consistently pawing, it’s time to move the target.

1.Start placing the target in different locations, but within a couple of feet (about a meter) of your dog. Click and treat every time he touches a paw to the target.

2.Hold the target in the palm of your hand, against the ground. Click and treat for every correct response.

3.Gradually start moving the target a little higher, but still at a comfortable height for your dog. Click and treat for every correct response.

4.Repeat for a total of ten repetitions. End your training session.

When your dog is reliably touching the target with his paw, no matter where you present it, it’s time to add the cue.

1.Just before you present your hand, say the cue “Paw” once, in a friendly voice. When your dog paws the target, click and treat.

2.Repeat for a total of ten repetitions. End your training session.

Some breeds are mouthier than others and may try to pick up the target.