‘It’s a kinda magic’

October is upon us (honestly how did that happen!) and we are looking forward to Halloween when witches and wizards are abroad and magic is in the air. It is a fun time but we all now know that there is no such thing as magic! In life there are rarely any quick fixes, a magic pill to make you thin, a gadget that will give you a six pack in one week and cream that will make you look 10 years younger. The only magic ingredient really is you and what you put into it. Change the way you eat, exercise, have a good skin regime, you get the picture.

In the dog training world, it is no different. I am seeing time and time again a ‘magic’ fix. “I will teach your dog to walk perfectly in one hour”, “I will cure your reactive dog in one lesson”, “use this thing and it will stop your dog barking”. Sadly, they usually work using force, pain or fear or all of the above. This is often effective for a short time but the negative impact on our dogs is huge. Let’s look at reactive dogs, the reason they are reactive can be multiple, they are frightened and want the thing to go away so they bark and lunge and it does go away. To stop them we are told to do lead ‘pops’, use e-collar, prong collar. So now when the scary thing appears, it hurts. They are frightened and either shut down or escalate. They have not helped the dog to be confident and comfortable around the scary thing. Just made it scarier oh and now you are not to be trusted either. It doesn’t actually teach the dog anything, same with bark sprays, pushing them down to teach sit, yanking on the lead to stop pulling. Nothing has been taught, it is simply frightening.

So, if there is no such thing as magic, what now? I have put together some top training tips to help you and your dog:

Top 10 Training Tips

1. Have a marker word or use a clicker. It is a total game changer. Positive training is not about follow the sweetie. It’s about teaching the dog to think and make good decisions. We use Mark (Yes or click) the thing that you want and then reward. They then learn the behaviour and that the behaviour is rewarding, and what gets rewarded gets repeated. If you are feeling geeky and want to know more about clicker training, grab a copy of ‘Don’t shoot the dog’ by Karen Prior. It still is one of my favourite books. Amazon Link

2. Rewards. Think about what is rewarding for your dog not what you think they should have. You can use a number or rewards think about Treats, toys or life rewards.

Treats - Think soft, smelly and different values. So for my dogs I use dry food, squid bites, fish treats, cheese, hot dogs sausages. This is their top 5. I use dry food generally and then use the other higher value to reinforce intermittently and cheese which is their absolute favourite to reinforce recall.

Toys – My dogs aren’t really bothered by Toys, My colleagues Elle’s dog Kind is very toy driven and this is her preference. So giving her treats as a reward for recall isn’t nearly as reinforcing as using a tug toy.

Life rewards – praise, being allowed to sniff after 10 paces of loose lead, sitting politely by the back door before being released to go outside are all examples of life rewards.

3. Repetition. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Just because your dog sat once at home, doesn’t mean they understand the cue sit. Practice. Loads.

4. Teach them how, don’t just say words louder and louder. Dogs follow your body language a lot, they don’t know words yet you need to teach them. For example, to teach sit. Hold a piece of food under their nose, lift your hand up slowly over their head, their bottom goes down to the floor, mark/click, reward. Next just use the hand movement, when their bottom goes to the floor then mark and reward. And lastly say the word ‘Sit’, then use your hand signal, then mark and reward.

5. Be consistent. What is your recall cue? I ask people this a lot and often they just look confused! Does ‘down’ mean lie down on the floor, or get down of the sofa. Be clear, be consistent write a ‘cue’ diary. Stick somewhere that all the family can check they are use the right words.

6. Have fun! Enjoy teaching your dog, have fun with them, laugh find out what you like doing together. Obedience, tricks, scentwork, Hoopers, agility, mantrailing so much you could teach. It doesn’t have to be perfect you just have to make a start.

7. Train the dog in front of you. Dogs come in all shapes and sizes, they are bred to do lots of different ‘jobs’ and have different skill sets they tend to do well. If you have a specific breed, read up about it find out what makes them tick. If you have a mix, you can often guess what the mix is but if not simply get to know your dog. Likes, dislikes, what they enjoy doing and what you enjoy doing together.

8. The 3 ‘D’s. Duration, Distance and Distractions. I often get told ‘my dog is great at home but as soon as he sees another dog…….’ This is usually because you have only every trained at home. You need to proof your training once you get the basics right.

If we think about Sit, first of all build duration. Slowly build up the length of time they can sit for.

Distance. Can you move 1 step away from them? 2 steps?

Distraction. Once they have a super solid sit in your home, maybe they can sit for 2 minutes with you 10 steps away. Take outside in your garden, then in your front garden, then out on the street, on walks when it is quiet then build slowly to busier places. As you build your distractions, I would suggest going back to building duration and then distance. So first time outside or in a class ask for a 2 second sit and go from there.

9. 10 in 10. Do 10 repetitions of different behaviours (sit, down, nose touch, stand etc) for 10 minutes a day, and you will see results. Put a pot with some treats by Kettle along with your clicker and when you go and make a coffee do a little bit of training with your dog. Write a list of things you are teaching, pin it up and put a tick by the side of it every time you do 10 repetitions. It soon builds up.

10. Release cue. So useful. Instead of staring at your dog in threatening manner with a pointy finger, saying wait, or stay repeatedly (we have all done it!) just teach them to stay put until you say otherwise. Honestly, you will thank me later. Let’s look at sit. Ask for ‘Sit’, mark and reward. Then say your finish cue, OK, Break, Free anything is fine. And throw a piece of food to one side. So, they move to pick it up. They soon realise that they just need to stay where you left them until you say otherwise.

I would love to believe in magic but honestly you don’t need it. Go grab your dog, your clicker and some treats and see what you can do. If you need some inspiration, check out our trick of the day on our newsletter - sign up link is here or head to our facebook group – bark-ology training group.

Having a dog should be fun, for both of you. If that magic thing or that quick fix is aversive in any way, I suggest you walk away.

"Violence begins where knowledge ends." ~Abraham Lincoln.

Enjoy your dogs and if you need help please get in touch.

Karen, Elle, Kate & Jo

www.bark-ology.co.uk

info@bark-ology.co.uk