Dog Owner Responsibility: Training

[Dogtra]

As a dog owner and handler I have to accept that I do not have control over other people, their pets, wild animals, and even the environment around me. However it is my responsibility to control my own dog and myself, the only two things I have full control over. The best way to assure control over a dog is through training. Lots… and LOTS of training. The goal of this thread is to compile a large variety of specific commands and behaviors that will help us to maintain control over our animals, protect them from those around them, and protect others from our dogs.

Are all of these commands necessary? No. Yet from my experience it is safer to have a larger pool of commands with which to communicate effectively with my dog(s). I’ve yet to meet a highly trained and socialized dog that turned out to be a PITA.

Please take from this what you like.

Recall: Come when called.
Climb: Climb and stay on object indicated. Benches, logs, stumps, boulders, and anything else elevated above the ground. This is a much more relaxed version of “stay” as they do not have to hold any formal position. It is also easier to enforce than the Place command listed below.
Place: To go to an indicated location and remain there, some trainers also include an automatic down in this command. Crate, tent, and mat are some forms of Place.
Sit/Stay: To sit and remain seated until released or given another command that would force the dog to break.
Down/Stay: To down and remain fully down until released or given another command that would force the dog to break.
Stand/Stay: To stand, on all four legs, and remain standing until released or given another command that would force the dog to break.
Release: Clear word or noise that tells the dog they are allowed to move from their stay, climb, place, and heel.
Potty: To potty on command.
Retrieve: Go to indicated item, pick it up, bring it to trainer, and keep holding it until told to drop it.
Orientation Specific: Heel – sit directly to my left side in heeling position, Front – sit directly in front of me and facing me, Board – sit directly to my right side, Behind – sit directly behind me and facing me, and Park – sit between my legs facing the same direction I am.
Forward: To walk straight out in front of me, even if tension is placed on the leash.
Back: To walk backwards, even if tension is placed on the leash.
Heel: To remain in heeling position, directly to my left, and at attention whether I’m standing still or moving.
Send Out: To run out in the direction indicated.
Obstacle Management: Around – “Around Left” and “Around Right”, Over - to go over the obstacle, Under – to go under the obstacle, Burst – to go through the obstacle.
Drop It: To immediately drop the item in your mouth.
Leave It: To leave/ignore the object of your interest.
Guard: Another version of “stay”, though specific to an object or person that must remain where it is, like a backpack.
Direction Specific: Verbal indications of direction like “Gee”, “Haw”, “Left”, or “Right”.
Shake: To shake off any water, mud, or dirt.
911: Specific to the trainer, the dog, and the situation. Either barking on command to alert nearby individuals like a whistle would or sending the dog off to retrieve help.
Quiet: To stop barking or whining.
Verbal Correction: Stop what you’re doing and/or don’t even think about it, basically. “No”, “Eh Eh”, and “Phooey” are commonly used.

The list above includes many Commanded Exercises. Yet there are also many behaviors that we train into our dogs that we want to become Automatic Exercises, meaning the dog will perform them without being told to do so. Examples include:

• When I sit at a table, desk, or tree stump he must do everything in his power to get under it if possible and remain close to my legs in a down position. This is to prevent him from being stepped on by others, tripped over, and so he isn’t off doing whatever he likes.
  
• When he is working, meaning not sleeping or playing, he must always be paying attention to me. Eye contact is constantly rewarded throughout his life to encourage this. Even now as I type this my dog is at my feet staring up at me.
  
• NEVER eating anything off the ground. Period. NEVER eating from a plate or bowl unless I specifically release him towards one, like his dog bowl. NEVER taking food from strangers, only myself. This is vitally important. My dog shall not beg, ever, and will avoid eating random things that I have no control over. Case in point… recently we’ve had dogs being poisoned at a nearby park by someone that left poisoned treats on the ground. Yes, some people hate dogs and life that much. Like I said before we can’t always control the environment but we CAN and should control our dogs.

I could continue with automatic exercises but I think you have the idea.
Let us not forget the importance of Socialization and Habituation too. You may have a high flying, superbly obedient, circus dog at home… but if you take your dog out (and I really hope you do) you must be able to have the same level of obedience when you’re out and about. This means socializing them to as many types of people as you can: Children, teens, adults, and the elderly. People of all sizes and colors. Beards, hoods, dreadlocks, afros, Halloween costumes, etc etc. Socializing them with animals, not just dogs. Equally important is getting your dog accustomed to being around certain stimuli that may be overwhelming and to remain calm regardless. Traffic, thunderstorms, fireworks, non-threatening wildlife, festivals, etc etc. It is important that my dog stay calm and focused regardless if a few squirrels are chucking things at him from a tree, a child runs up to him and grabs his tail, or if a helicopter is landing just yards away.
I hope this is helpful to some and I apologize in advance if there is already a thread like this one. Please feel free to add any commands and/or behaviors that I didn’t list that may be useful, especially for the daily lives of those in the hiking community.

[Dogwood]

Dog Owner Responsibility: Training

As a dog owner and handler I have to accept that I do not have control over other people, their pets, wild animals, and even the environment around me. However it is my responsibility to control my own dog and myself, the only two things I have full control over. The best way to assure control over a dog is through training.

OMG There is hope yet left in the world. A super conscientious dog person. Thank yo soooo much for posting this! Dancin banana award for you.
Do you also train humans other than yourself? Where do I sign up?

[Dogtra]

Thank you, Dogwood, you made me smile. You're very welcome.

Dog training is what I do for a living. If this thread ends up being well received then I will freely offer more training advice and may contribute what I know about other canine topics, like health. We'll see.

[Studlintsean]

Thanks for the information. I try to hike with my dog as much as I can. He is a bit older now (9) and has had a knee replacement so I have to limit my miles with him which unfortunately limits his trips. One command that I use while hiking is "Back". When told "Back", he knows to stay behind me on the trail at all times. I know, shame on me for not having him on a leash. I do keep his leash within easy access and I am very conscious of other peoples feelings toward dogs (he does not approach people unless they have said it is OK and he does not go near others gear).

[Dogtra]

Studlintsean, I personally have no issue with your dog being off leash provided that it is under complete control and that you accept responsibility for what your dog does and what may happen to your dog. Physical restraint does not always mean control, as many people don't seem to fully understand unfortunately. I feel much more secure when I see a dog and handler approaching if it is on a loose lead or off leash, while still focused on its handler and responsive to commands.. VERSUS a leashed dog that is approaching on a tight leash and its focus is on me and mine.

However if its an off leash dog that is approaching, whether I judge its demeanor as friendly or threatening, I have the orientation specific commands I listed to help quickly place my dog on the opposite side of me so I can protect him if need be. Your "Back" is similar to my "Behind" command.

[ChuckT]

Dam so that's why I keep saying "Yes mistress"

[Wise Old Owl]

Chuck - I am not sure that was appropriate. But I have so many gafs here ... nevermind

Dogtra! Thank you for an exceptional outstanding posts. I look forward to more from you... Awesome.

[Dogtra]

Thank you, Wise Old Owl.

[Dogtra]

Dog Owner Responsibility: Training – Continued

Classical Conditioning:Creating an association between a naturally existing stimulus and a previously neutral one. (Involuntary response) Example: Teaching a dog to associate the sound of a clicker or other form of marker that a reward soon follows.

Operant Conditioning: A learning process that involves an increase or decrease in the likelihood of some behavior as a result of the consequences.(Voluntary response)

• Positive Reinforcement: Adding something to encourage a behavior. +R
  
• Positive Punishment: Adding something to discourage a behavior. +P
  
• Negative Reinforcement: Removing something to encourage a behavior. -R
  
• Negative Punishment: Removing something to discourage a behavior. –P
  
  

Extinction:The gradual disappearance of a previously conditioned response when it stops being reinforced.

What does this mean for us?
Understanding learning theory is not only valuable for teaching new behaviors but also important for modifying existing behaviors. One example is a hiking dog’s hyperactivity upon seeing us pull out their backpack. The backpack alone meant nothing to the dog at first, but through repetition learned that it meant he/she was going for a hike. Hyperactivity, the involuntary response, was created through Classical conditioning.

Operant conditioning comes into play as well when we place the backpack on the dog during whining, barking, jumping, or any other behaviors that may not be favorable. As soon as we do that, and then go further still by walking out the door to start a hike, we’ve essentially trained the dog through positive reinforcement that those behaviors are rewarded.

Classical and Operant conditioning created the issue and it can be fixed using the same principles. First we would decondition the pack from its current association of backpack = hike. Instead try picking the pack up and walking around without ever placing it on your dog. Repeat this enough and eventually the pack will have less meaning, which will result in less excitement. Less excitement could then turn into a completely new response to the sight of you picking up the backpack.

Once we’ve reduced or eliminated the level of excitement, we can then begin the process of changing the dog’s hiking preparation routine. Now we’ll insist the dog to sit calmly while we place the pack on her/him before exiting the household. Over time this becomes an automatic behavior when you pick the pack up and the dog instantly sits by the door in a calm and collected manner. Which is much more desirable than a dog jumping, barking, or being otherwise disruptive. For me specifically, I required my dog to go to his climb bench and wait in a stand/stay until I had “dressed” him and then released him.

[Dogtra]

General Training Principles



Don’t lose your temper.Equipment doesn’t ruin dogs, people do.When you become angry, it’s just one dumb animal abusing another animal. Losing your temper will only cause damage to your dog, its training, and its relationship with you. The only thing to be gained from it is a temporary release of your frustrations.

Develop the ability to read your dog and respond accordingly. Every dog is different and we need to customize training to suit each individual dog. Recognizing when our dogs show signs of stress, fatigue, distraction, loading, and every other possible sign that we need to modify on the move.

Break down exercises into the smallest parts.This is fundamental in training, especially as it pertains to training advanced behaviors. Instead of teaching a dog to return its toys to the proper bin as the first step for this trick, let us instead break it down into several smaller behaviors for the dog to learn first. Retrieve: Picking up an indicated object and holding it until told otherwise.
Target: Having the dog touch an indicated spot with its nose.
Drop-It: Releasing whatever is in the dog’s mouth, immediately.
Combining all of the above will set the foundation for the more advanced trick. Retrieve the toy, walk over to the toy bin, place head in toy bin, and release the toy.

Prevent mistakes. An allowed behavior is a taught behavior. Prime example is a puppy that is allowed to jump when it is young and adorable, but suddenly grows confused when that same behavior is corrected later on in life. Avoid this confusion in your dog if at all possible. Not just for your dog’s benefit but yours as well. Fun fact: It takes ten times as long to fix a behavior than it does to teach one, on average.

Make training fun. I am still constantly surprised by just how often I have to stress this to my clients. Strangely there are people out there that believe a dog should respond to commands without the need for enjoyment or reward… ever. Even those that have a better relationship with their dogs than that still tend to fall into the trap of correcting more than they reward. Overall this is a bad thing to do because it is critically important to maintain a good attitude in your dog for training. It is extremely easy for me to spot a dog that loves training with its owner versus a dog that would rather be doing anything but. I try to tell my clients:

• If the dog is presenting good behavior or responds to your commands – Reward
  
• If the dog needs a correction for an undesired behavior - Correct But please don’t stop there. When correcting you’re basically telling the dog what not to do AND then you need to show them what they must do instead. Once they then do that correct behavior - Reward

Be consistent. One of the most important rules of training. You MUST be consistent. Remember that effective training comes from preventing confusion in your dog’s mind as to what is expected of them. The best way to create stress, confusion in your dog is to teach them that a particular behavior must be executed in one manner most of the time but doesn’t always have to be followed. Case in point: A dog that is told to down/stay while you’re cooking dinner, you take your eyes off the dog, the dog gets up and walks away without being released. If this happens you may find yourself with a dog that doesn’t have a reliable Down/Stay command. Another example: A dog that is corrected for jumping until Uncle John Doe visits and then it is acceptable.

Develop good timing. I tell my clients that they have 1.3 seconds to either encourage or discourage a behavior. That’s about it. Again this is all about avoiding confusion in our dogs, right? So clearly communicate to your dog as to what they’re doing right and what they’re doing incorrectly IMMEDIATELY. An example of bad timing: You come home from work to find a puddle in your kitchen, then punish your dog for messing inside the house. Whether it happened a minute before you arrived or 7 hours ago, the time for it to be corrected has long passed. Your dog will not understand what it is being punished for or why. Some people try to dispute this with me. “She knows what she did wrong because she always acts guilty,” they say. Remember Classical conditioning? The dog has learned to associate the change in your behavior, when you notice the incident, to an impending outburst.

Repeat!Dogs don’t have great short term memory but they do excel at long term memory. The best way for us to create reliability in our dog is to repeat, Repeat, REPEAT. Don’t stop teaching your dog to come when called, retrieve, and heel just because they’ve done it correctly a handful of times. The best advice I ever got concerning reliability was not to feel safe with a command unless your dog has done 100 repetitions of that command in succession without fault. Even then don’t stop training – “Don’t use it and you’ll lose it” also applies to dogs.

Don’t anthropomorphize. While this may not seem like such a bad thing, know that it can be. People that anthropomorphize their dogs are more likely to lose their temper, skip training steps, hesitate to use corrections, and generally confuse their dogs. Staying objective however tends to produce better results with training.

Understand how to praise and reward.Inappropriate praise can hinder the training process. Remember we want to clearly communicate with our dogs and to keep things simple? Unfortunately it’s difficult for a dog to distinguish between the “good boy!” that means “that’s perfect!” and the “good boy!” that means “you’re getting better!”We can explain that to people, but not to a dog. Using a marker word or noise, or a clicker if you prefer, can be very useful in clearly communicating improvement. My normal routine is to reward with food after marking improvements and then when the dog has fully completed the correct behavior I mark and temporarily break training with a larger reward (play/toy).

Don’t yell at your dog. Some people believe that when their dog doesn’t respond to their commands using a neutral tone, then yelling may “get the message” across to them. ‘Cause it couldn’t be that a dog doesn’t understand the command, right? It has to be that we didn’t put enough force behind our commands. Yeah… that’s it. * insert eye roll here * Also know that if you choose to raise your voice at your dog when training then you are essentially training your dog to respond to commands if and when you yell.

Don’t correct your dog for past errors.While I’ve already touched on this a bit when I talked about timing, I want to stress the importance of this a bit more. There was a trainer that swore his dog knew he had done wrong when he got into the trash and left a mess of it all over the house because he would always look guilty afterwards. So he decided to try a little experiment. He took the trash can and spread it around a room, then left for 15 minutes. When he returned home after that short timeframe… guess how his dog responded when he entered the room? He looked “guilty” again even though the trainer was at fault, not the dog. Why? Because the dog had clearly come to associate that the sight of Trash and Owner = Impending Doom. Please be kind and understanding with your dog(s).

Proof.Just because your dog is doing great with your training exercises at home, or at your public training class, does not mean that they can be considered reliable when you’re not in those locations. Proof your dog’s training in multiple locations. Follow the 3 Ds: Distance, Duration, Distraction. Heeling through a gauntlet of plates stacked with food, holding a Climb with the sprinkler system periodically drenching the dog, remaining in a Sit/Stay even with trainer out of sight for extended durations, Retrieving items ranging in size and texture, remaining by your side even when a crowd of people attempt to call your dog from you, etc. You can get creative with proofing exercises.

Have realistic goals for your dog.Know your dog’s breed and temperament. Understand its potential limitations. I’ve had many client’s approach me wanting their dog to pass CGC then go on to Therapy dog training. Unfortunately therapy work is not for every dog. Same thing for service dog work – many are not suited for it. Another time I had a woman bring in a 5 year old lab/basset hound mix that wanted to train her dog to do SAR work. I had to inform her that it takes 2 years to train a SAR dog for active duty and by that time her dog would be about 1 year away from retirement. It just wasn’t a good investment. Her dog also had an undesirable gait for endurance running.

Know your own capabilities.This falls in line with setting realistic goals for your dog. Understand what you’re good at, where your experience lies, and if you should get outside help.

Be aware of your nonverbal signals.Dogs pick up nonverbal language much faster than they do verbal. Most beginner trainers are unaware just how strongly the impact can be from this until it’s pointed out to them from a colleague or trial judge. A dog may not understand a Stand in motion during a trial because the trainer/handler didn’t look back over their shoulder upon giving the command. The dog had been trained for both the verbal and nonverbal, so when one was suddenly missing the dog didn’t understand.

Try to understand what your dog is really learning from you.Just like being aware of our nonverbals, it’s important that we try to understand that what we think we’ve taught our dog may not be what they’ve actually learned. Case in point: A client of mine had been working with her dog on an extended recall using a 40 foot line and the dog was reliably coming to her every time. I took the long line from her and walked off at a 90 degree angle to her left and asked her to call her dog once more. Her dog paced for a moment in obvious confusion then ran towards me and did a beautiful sit front. It was clear that we had some proofing to do from that moment on. We had to clearly teach the dog that she had to run towards the handler calling her verbally, whether she was at the end of a long line or not.

Know when to use strong corrections.Avoidance corrections are always strong because the goal is to completely eliminate a behavior. This type of correction is to be used sparingly and with the very best timing. It is used on behaviors that could get a dog injured or killed; like chasing horses, chasing cars, eating from the trashcan, chewing on holiday ornaments, etc. Our goal is to teach the dog that these things are dangerous before they actually get hurt by them. When giving this sort of correction I don’t care if the dog has a bad attitude towards the correction because in a sense I WANT it to have a bad attitude towards cars, horses, or whatever else that may send him to the vet one day. Please don’t abuse this type of correction and get help from a qualified trainer before you attempt it if you are unfamiliar.

Be PATIENT.Don’t place a time table on your dog’s progress. Please remain patient and go at your dog’s pace, not your own.

[Mrs Baggins]

Lesson 1: LEAVE THE DOG HOME. NO ONE THINKS HE/SHE IS AS CUTE AS YOU SEEM TO THINK. NO ONE LIKES YOUR DOG AS MUCH AS YOU DO. AND YOUR DOG HAS NO FREAKING IDEA OF WHAT IS AHEAD OF IT.

[Dogtra]

Lesson 1: LEAVE THE DOG HOME. NO ONE THINKS HE/SHE IS AS CUTE AS YOU SEEM TO THINK. NO ONE LIKES YOUR DOG AS MUCH AS YOU DO. AND YOUR DOG HAS NO FREAKING IDEA OF WHAT IS AHEAD OF IT.

Mrs Baggins, there are plenty of threads concerning the debate over if a dog should or shouldn't be on the trail. Please take your uncalled for hostility elsewhere. This thread is to help those owners that are interested to improve their training. Which is a good thing for everyone involved.

[July]

General Training Principles



Don’t lose your temper.Equipment doesn’t ruin dogs, people do.When you become angry, it’s just one dumb animal abusing another animal. Losing your temper will only cause damage to your dog, its training, and its relationship with you. The only thing to be gained from it is a temporary release of your frustrations.

Develop the ability to read your dog and respond accordingly. Every dog is different and we need to customize training to suit each individual dog. Recognizing when our dogs show signs of stress, fatigue, distraction, loading, and every other possible sign that we need to modify on the move.

Break down exercises into the smallest parts.This is fundamental in training, especially as it pertains to training advanced behaviors. Instead of teaching a dog to return its toys to the proper bin as the first step for this trick, let us instead break it down into several smaller behaviors for the dog to learn first. Retrieve: Picking up an indicated object and holding it until told otherwise.
Target: Having the dog touch an indicated spot with its nose.
Drop-It: Releasing whatever is in the dog’s mouth, immediately.
Combining all of the above will set the foundation for the more advanced trick. Retrieve the toy, walk over to the toy bin, place head in toy bin, and release the toy.

Prevent mistakes. An allowed behavior is a taught behavior. Prime example is a puppy that is allowed to jump when it is young and adorable, but suddenly grows confused when that same behavior is corrected later on in life. Avoid this confusion in your dog if at all possible. Not just for your dog’s benefit but yours as well. Fun fact: It takes ten times as long to fix a behavior than it does to teach one, on average.

Make training fun. I am still constantly surprised by just how often I have to stress this to my clients. Strangely there are people out there that believe a dog should respond to commands without the need for enjoyment or reward… ever. Even those that have a better relationship with their dogs than that still tend to fall into the trap of correcting more than they reward. Overall this is a bad thing to do because it is critically important to maintain a good attitude in your dog for training. It is extremely easy for me to spot a dog that loves training with its owner versus a dog that would rather be doing anything but. I try to tell my clients:

• If the dog is presenting good behavior or responds to your commands – Reward
• If the dog needs a correction for an undesired behavior - Correct But please don’t stop there. When correcting you’re basically telling the dog what not to do AND then you need to show them what they must do instead. Once they then do that correct behavior - Reward

Be consistent. One of the most important rules of training. You MUST be consistent. Remember that effective training comes from preventing confusion in your dog’s mind as to what is expected of them. The best way to create stress, confusion in your dog is to teach them that a particular behavior must be executed in one manner most of the time but doesn’t always have to be followed. Case in point: A dog that is told to down/stay while you’re cooking dinner, you take your eyes off the dog, the dog gets up and walks away without being released. If this happens you may find yourself with a dog that doesn’t have a reliable Down/Stay command. Another example: A dog that is corrected for jumping until Uncle John Doe visits and then it is acceptable.

Develop good timing. I tell my clients that they have 1.3 seconds to either encourage or discourage a behavior. That’s about it. Again this is all about avoiding confusion in our dogs, right? So clearly communicate to your dog as to what they’re doing right and what they’re doing incorrectly IMMEDIATELY. An example of bad timing: You come home from work to find a puddle in your kitchen, then punish your dog for messing inside the house. Whether it happened a minute before you arrived or 7 hours ago, the time for it to be corrected has long passed. Your dog will not understand what it is being punished for or why. Some people try to dispute this with me. “She knows what she did wrong because she always acts guilty,” they say. Remember Classical conditioning? The dog has learned to associate the change in your behavior, when you notice the incident, to an impending outburst.

Repeat!Dogs don’t have great short term memory but they do excel at long term memory. The best way for us to create reliability in our dog is to repeat, Repeat, REPEAT. Don’t stop teaching your dog to come when called, retrieve, and heel just because they’ve done it correctly a handful of times. The best advice I ever got concerning reliability was not to feel safe with a command unless your dog has done 100 repetitions of that command in succession without fault. Even then don’t stop training – “Don’t use it and you’ll lose it” also applies to dogs.

Don’t anthropomorphize. While this may not seem like such a bad thing, know that it can be. People that anthropomorphize their dogs are more likely to lose their temper, skip training steps, hesitate to use corrections, and generally confuse their dogs. Staying objective however tends to produce better results with training.

Understand how to praise and reward.Inappropriate praise can hinder the training process. Remember we want to clearly communicate with our dogs and to keep things simple? Unfortunately it’s difficult for a dog to distinguish between the “good boy!” that means “that’s perfect!” and the “good boy!” that means “you’re getting better!”We can explain that to people, but not to a dog. Using a marker word or noise, or a clicker if you prefer, can be very useful in clearly communicating improvement. My normal routine is to reward with food after marking improvements and then when the dog has fully completed the correct behavior I mark and temporarily break training with a larger reward (play/toy).

Don’t yell at your dog. Some people believe that when their dog doesn’t respond to their commands using a neutral tone, then yelling may “get the message” across to them. ‘Cause it couldn’t be that a dog doesn’t understand the command, right? It has to be that we didn’t put enough force behind our commands. Yeah… that’s it. * insert eye roll here * Also know that if you choose to raise your voice at your dog when training then you are essentially training your dog to respond to commands if and when you yell.

Don’t correct your dog for past errors.While I’ve already touched on this a bit when I talked about timing, I want to stress the importance of this a bit more. There was a trainer that swore his dog knew he had done wrong when he got into the trash and left a mess of it all over the house because he would always look guilty afterwards. So he decided to try a little experiment. He took the trash can and spread it around a room, then left for 15 minutes. When he returned home after that short timeframe… guess how his dog responded when he entered the room? He looked “guilty” again even though the trainer was at fault, not the dog. Why? Because the dog had clearly come to associate that the sight of Trash and Owner = Impending Doom. Please be kind and understanding with your dog(s).

Proof.Just because your dog is doing great with your training exercises at home, or at your public training class, does not mean that they can be considered reliable when you’re not in those locations. Proof your dog’s training in multiple locations. Follow the 3 Ds: Distance, Duration, Distraction. Heeling through a gauntlet of plates stacked with food, holding a Climb with the sprinkler system periodically drenching the dog, remaining in a Sit/Stay even with trainer out of sight for extended durations, Retrieving items ranging in size and texture, remaining by your side even when a crowd of people attempt to call your dog from you, etc. You can get creative with proofing exercises.

Have realistic goals for your dog.Know your dog’s breed and temperament. Understand its potential limitations. I’ve had many client’s approach me wanting their dog to pass CGC then go on to Therapy dog training. Unfortunately therapy work is not for every dog. Same thing for service dog work – many are not suited for it. Another time I had a woman bring in a 5 year old lab/basset hound mix that wanted to train her dog to do SAR work. I had to inform her that it takes 2 years to train a SAR dog for active duty and by that time her dog would be about 1 year away from retirement. It just wasn’t a good investment. Her dog also had an undesirable gait for endurance running.

Know your own capabilities.This falls in line with setting realistic goals for your dog. Understand what you’re good at, where your experience lies, and if you should get outside help.

Be aware of your nonverbal signals.Dogs pick up nonverbal language much faster than they do verbal. Most beginner trainers are unaware just how strongly the impact can be from this until it’s pointed out to them from a colleague or trial judge. A dog may not understand a Stand in motion during a trial because the trainer/handler didn’t look back over their shoulder upon giving the command. The dog had been trained for both the verbal and nonverbal, so when one was suddenly missing the dog didn’t understand.

Try to understand what your dog is really learning from you.Just like being aware of our nonverbals, it’s important that we try to understand that what we think we’ve taught our dog may not be what they’ve actually learned. Case in point: A client of mine had been working with her dog on an extended recall using a 40 foot line and the dog was reliably coming to her every time. I took the long line from her and walked off at a 90 degree angle to her left and asked her to call her dog once more. Her dog paced for a moment in obvious confusion then ran towards me and did a beautiful sit front. It was clear that we had some proofing to do from that moment on. We had to clearly teach the dog that she had to run towards the handler calling her verbally, whether she was at the end of a long line or not.

Know when to use strong corrections.Avoidance corrections are always strong because the goal is to completely eliminate a behavior. This type of correction is to be used sparingly and with the very best timing. It is used on behaviors that could get a dog injured or killed; like chasing horses, chasing cars, eating from the trashcan, chewing on holiday ornaments, etc. Our goal is to teach the dog that these things are dangerous before they actually get hurt by them. When giving this sort of correction I don’t care if the dog has a bad attitude towards the correction because in a sense I WANT it to have a bad attitude towards cars, horses, or whatever else that may send him to the vet one day. Please don’t abuse this type of correction and get help from a qualified trainer before you attempt it if you are unfamiliar.

Be PATIENT.Don’t place a time table on your dog’s progress. Please remain patient and go at your dog’s pace, not your own.

Fantastic informed info, Dogtra

[Sarcasm the elf]

Lesson 1: LEAVE THE DOG HOME. NO ONE THINKS HE/SHE IS AS CUTE AS YOU SEEM TO THINK. NO ONE LIKES YOUR DOG AS MUCH AS YOU DO. AND YOUR DOG HAS NO FREAKING IDEA OF WHAT IS AHEAD OF IT.

Thank you for your mature and constructive post Mrs. Baggins. It's a bit disappointing to read since you're someone who's input I otherwise generally respect. You may want to re-read the rules for the hiking WITH dogs forum.

[squeezebox]

Thanks Dogtra
I thought my dog was good because she could do 10






Dogtra
Geez! I thought my dog was good for doing 10% of what your dog does.
Mrs Baggins
please let me know where you live so I can suggest a therapist for you.
After reading Dogtra's post and your response, you are way beyond crazy.
Dogtra,
Thanks for showing us what a dog can be and should be on the trail.
Not the idiot whose dog knocks over my supper and then says the dog was only being nosy.
I've gone to sheep days in Missouri a few times and the trained sheep dogs are a joy to behold.

[squeezebox]

Mrs Baggins
Seems to me that Dogtra's dog is much better socialized than you are.
In my not so humble opinion it belongs on the trail and you do not.

[2015 Lady Thru-Hiker]

Dogtra,

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I don't currently own a dog but my daughter and her family have a staffordshire bull terrier that is good natured but a bit unruly at times. They haven't taken him for training because he "doesn't get along with other dogs". All the more reason to take him as I told my daughter, just talk to the trainer first. I intend to share this with her to encourage them to take him for training. He really is a sweetheart and I think he would benefit.

Thank you again for sharing

[swjohnsey]

Could you train my kid to do this?

[Likeapuma]

Awesome thread! We're no where near this level, but I can see many things that we're still working on.

I joke & tell people "he's just a big dummy", but he's never let me down.

As for the hateful folks on here, there's no real point in debating them. I've learned ignorance combined with hatred is an incurable disease.

[swjohnsey]

We are doomed!