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| Toby's Training Tips |
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| 1) |
Be a confident leader. Your dog expects and wants a pack leader, so you must be in control at all times. If your dog feels you are not fulfilling that obligation, he will quickly take that position. You decided where your dog sleeps, when he eats, and when he plays. Even though they're cute and they'll try to sweet talk you into something, you must be firm in your decisions. Your dog will learn to listen and respect you. |
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| 2) |
Be consistent. If one family member makes your dog sit before receiving meals and another family member doesn't, this confuses your dog. It also makes him less reliable when it comes time to sit before a meal. Everybody training your dog must practice the commands the same way every time. If you are not consistent with your commands, your dog won't be either. |
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| 3) |
Use different voice tones with your dog. Dogs do not understand all of our words, but they do understand our different tones. Use a high-pitched voice for praising, a firm voice for commands, and a disappointed voice for reprimands. Use facial expressions and body language as well. Make it easy for your dog to see how you're feeling. |
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| 4) |
Give your dog feedback about his behavior. Use a No Reward Mark when your dog does the wrong behavior or when no behavior is given for the said command. This word will tell your dog his action was incorrect. He will associate his NRM with getting no treat and no praise, and he will associate his Reward Mark with getting praise and possibly a reward. The NRM teaches your dog to think on his own by telling him to try a different behavior so he can succeed and get rewarded. The RM marks the correct behavior that you want to reinforce and have him repeat. |
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| 5) |
Use a Release word. After your dog performs a command and you've given him praise and a reward, release him with a word such as "Okay!" This word tells your dog the command is over and he is free to break the position. After every command either give your dog a new command or give him your Release word. Use one or the other every time. If you do not do this consistently, your dog will think he can break out of the position whenever he wants. |
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| 6) |
Timing is important. Praise your dog the moment he does something right. If you give treats to your dog, give him a treat while he's in the position. If you wait till your dog moves out of the position to praise/reward him, then he is not getting praised for the correct position. He's getting praised for moving and you should not reward for an incorrect behavior. For example, if you tell your dog to sit and as you're giving him a treat he stands up, what are you rewarding him for? Standing up to get the treat and not for sitting. He needs to be in the position you asked him to be in as he gets the treat, and the same goes for verbal praise. |
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| 7) |
Dogs learn more through praise than through correction. Focus more on praising for the good things your dog does rather than always correcting for the wrong ones. For instance, if your dog is a barker, praise him when he is quiet rather than punishing him when he barks. Show your dog what you want him to do instead of telling him what not to do. |
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| 8) |
Use both verbal commands and hand signals. Many dogs only learn the hand signals because they are masters at reading body language and novices at understanding English. Use the verbal command and the hand signal together for a while so your dog associates both cues with the same behavior. Then start to practice using the cues separately so your dog understands that they both elicit the same behavior. |
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| 9) |
Time your treat-giving correctly to gain the best results. At first, give rewards out for every correct behavior to gain consistency and build memory. This is called a fixed schedule. One correct behavior equals one reward. Later, once your dog understands the command and behavior, switch to a variable schedule to build stronger and more reliable behaviors. Only give rewards for the best behaviors like the straighter sits or the faster recalls. Your dog will perform the command, never knowing whether a reward is coming or not, but not willing to risk it. You can also give more rewards and better rewards for the best behaviors, and give fewer and less desirable rewards for the average behaviors. You must, however, give praise or your Reward Mark after every correct behavior so your dog knows that he behaved correctly. |
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| 10) |
Take your time with training. For some dogs, it takes a while for them to understand what it is you want. Train a new command in small steps, and don't be discouraged if you have to back up a step or two. Make it real simple and easy for your dog. Also, it's not uncommon for dogs to regress in their training or to forget what you taught them. It's tough to learn a new language, so if your dog is having trouble then make it as simple as possible and build from there. |
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| 11) |
Training sessions should be short and fun. Make learning and practicing commands a fun game with your dog so both you and your dog look forward to training sessions. Sessions should last on average about five minutes, but can go longer or shorter depending on your dog's attention span. Have at least one session everyday. If your dog loves training time, have as many as you can fit in, as long as your dog is having fun and enjoying it. Always end on a good note so your dog leaves feeling happy, confident, and awaiting the next training session with you. |
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| 12) |
Give your dog plenty of exercise. Your dog needs an outlet for all his energy. Take him on a walk or run everyday. You can also take him to the local dog park or a dog daycare. A dog with built-up energy will find a way to let it out, and it's usually a way that is unpleasant to humans such as chewing, digging, or barking. In addition, give your dog items to chew on. Dogs love to chew so provide different bones, rawhides, or tough toys for your dog. Don't leave them lie around your house because your dog will get bored with them fast. Keep them at your level and give him one every so often. If he hasn't seen the toy or bone in a while, then he'll get real excited for it and play for a longer period of time. |
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| 13) |
Prevent rehearsal of unwanted behaviors. Every time your dog performs a behavior, he is reinforcing himself to perform it again the next time, especially if the behavior was rewarding to him. For example, if your dog barks at the mailman everyday, and every time the mailman drives off to the next house, your dog thinks his barking made the mailman leave. Prevent your dog from barking at the mailman and let him see that whether he barks or not, the truck is still going to leave. Distract your dog, practice obedience or attention, play a game, or just hold your dog's muzzle shut. If your dog gets enough rehearsal of staying quiet when he sees the mailman and learning that the truck is still going to drive off, he'll learn that he doesn't have to bark and the behavior will stop. |
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| 14) |
Set your dog up for success. Don't give your dog a command you know he can't perform at that given moment. For example, if your dog is jumping around greeting people and acting extremely excited, don't give your dog the Sit command. He's probably too excited to think about what Sit means, let alone calm down enough to perform it. Give your dog the Off command or call him Come. If your dog is too excited, then don't use any commands--just physically place your dog into the desired position. The reason is, if you shout out numerous commands at your dog and he continues to ignore them, then he is learning that he doesn't have to listen to you if he doesn't want to. Every command you repeat is reinforcing your dog to ignore it the next time. With enough practice around distractions and excitable situations, you can teach your dog to listen to you even when he's excited. That will take some practice work, and you're not going to get it by barking commands and getting frustrated when your dog doesn't listen to you. Give your dog the correct command for the given situation if you know he can follow through with it. If he can't, then work with him in practice situations and build him up to listening to you under any circumstance. |
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| 15) |
What makes a trained dog obey? If you said the command word you are incorrect. A trained dog obeys because of the history of reinforcement he got whenever he did. When training your dog, do not focus so much on command words, hand signals, tones of voice, how many words or syllables should there be in a command, etc. Learn to focus more on giving your dog feedback and consequences to his behaviors rather than on what command word to use. Command words are just cues to your dog that there is now an opportunity for reinforcement, and with enough training history and association of the cue and behavior together, he will learn what behavior to perform to get reinforcement. Command words do not make your dog perform a behavior, consequences do. If your dog gets praised every time he sits, he's going to sit more often, whether you added a cue before the behavior or not. You cannot command a behavior that you have not yet taught your dog. Show your dog what you want, give him feedback, and name it later. Dogs repeat reinforced behaviors. Reinforce what you want repeated.
Dog Training Tip of the Month from Animal Behavior College
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