“A rose is a rose is a rose,” wrote Gertrude Stein, but the same isn’t true for dog training classes.

There are classes just for pups, adolescents, or adults; in basic and advanced manners; to improve a particular skill like coming when called or loose leash walking; for shy or fearful dogs; for leash reactive dogs; specialty classes such as tricks, freestyle, agility, rally, nose work and treibball; and more!

With so many classes to choose from, how do you make sure a group training class is the right fit for your dog? Read on for some tips and important considerations.

• Is it a positive training class or an old-school punishment based class? Positive reinforcement training is the only humane effective way to train dogs. It includes reward-based training and clicker training. Punishment-based training relies on force, pain and intimidation to control behavior and may include leash pops, yelling, choke chains, prong and shock collars. Between the two there’s no contest. Positive training is the only way to go if you want your dog to learn most effectively, to enjoy training and to trust you. If you’re not sure what methods will be used, get in touch with the training school or instructor and ask. Better yet, ask to sit in on a class so you can see for yourself.


Off-Leash Puppy Class

• What’s the maximum class size? If you’re new to training, you may want to opt for a smaller class so you and your dog get more individualized attention. (One caveat: No one taking a group dog training class should expect exclusive attention from the instructor – heck, they’re called “group” classes for a reason.)
• What do you want Rover to get out of the class & what does the curriculum cover? This may seem obvious, but surprisingly often, people come to classes with inaccurate expectations about what their dogs will be learning. Class content varies a lot. Basic manners classes typically cover at least sit, down, stand, leash walking, recall (come when called) and stays. Advanced manners classes take these behaviors and more to the next level. Some puppy classes like those offered by Sirius, are held off-leash and include lots of puppy play, which is essential to teaching pups bite inhibition. Other puppy classes are held on-leash and may or may not include off-leash puppy play. Some classes build their curricula around what students most want to learn. Others have set curricula.
• What does Rover need to know before he can take the class? The answer is usually “nothing” for puppy classes, basic manners classes and nose work. Specialty classes like agility, freestyle (doggy dancing), and rally obedience typically require student-dogs to know some basics. Some advanced classes require that dogs have graduated from a particular class at a particular facility, e.g., Sirius Puppy 2 classes are typically open only to graduates of Sirius Puppy 1. If it’s been a long time since Rover practiced behaviors necessary to take the class, bone up with him well before the class starts so he can hit the ground running on Day 1 of class, rather than spend time reviewing and catching up.
• Is Rover fearful or shy? Some dogs are so anxious/fearful that group training classes aren’t for them. Depending on the severity of the dog’s fear, expecting her to train in a group setting is unrealistic and may be downright unfair and unkind. These poor critters are far too upset to eat or learn in a class setting. If your dog is very fearful, private positive training is your best option to help conquer her fears. Classes designed especially for fearful dogs are another option, provided the methods are positive reinforcement-based, and the dog’s fear is not too severe for the class.
• Is Rover leash reactive? Most group classes are conducted with dogs leashed most of the time. If your dog reacts poorly to the sight of other dogs or strangers when he’s on leash, a garden variety group training class isn’t right for him. Instead, enroll him in a special class designed to address this behavior. I’ve seen these classes listed as “Growly Dog”, “Reactive Rover,” and “Control Unleashed.”
• Does Rover display aggression? Dogs that behave aggressively towards strangers, other dogs, or who guard food, toys or owners from dogs or humans may not be suitable for a group class. A dog that barks and lunges at mail carriers but is otherwise comfortable with strangers may be fine in class. A dog that barks and lunges at all male strangers may not be OK in class. When in doubt, check with the instructor to see if the class can accommodate your dog’s behavioral issues.
• What are the general policies regarding student dogs? Most classes have specific policies about dogs that will be accepted. Policies typically address the dog’s age, required vaccinations, whether or not the dog has bitten and injured a human or another dog, and whether student dogs must be spayed or neutered. Informing yourself about these policies ahead of time is the best way to avoid surprises on the first day of class.

Next up, how to get the most out of your dog’s group training class.

January is National Train Your Dog month – a grand kick-off to another year with your best furry friend. If you haven’t heard, positive reinforcement training is one of the best ways to enhance your relationship with Rover.

Relationship: the way in which two or more concepts, objects or people are connected, or the state of being connected.

Some may think true relationships exist only between humans, but we do indeed have relationships with our dogs. Humans provide the things dogs need and want in life, and they depend on us to provide those things. Humans depend on dogs for all kinds of help: as flock guardians and herders on farms and ranches; as protectors of the home and family; as trackers and retrievers in the field; as our eyes, ears, and sometimes, our hands. We look to dogs for much of what we share with other humans – companionship, affection, friendship and a good laugh.

Positive training fosters relationships with dogs on a foundation of clear consistent communication, mutual respect and trust. Thankfully, that’s the kind of relationship I enjoy with my dog; I wouldn’t want it any other way.

When Vinnie first came into my life he was a sweet cuddly pup. Now, nearly 5 years later, he is sweeter, deeply bonded to me (and I to him) and even more affectionate. He trusts me completely. I see it in his eyes when he looks to me in new or uncertain situations. I know it when he leans his body into mine, when he passes by and licks my hand, when he nuzzles his face into my chest or shoulder and waits for me to pet him. Between us there’s a constant dialogue, mostly devoid of words but full of body language. I understand some of his body language, he understands a great deal more of mine, and we communicate very well most of the time. I’m still moved by all of this because his trust and our ability to communicate are things I earned in large part through positive training.

But aside from these warm fuzzies, why train/keep training your dog?

• Because they get rusty, just like we do.
• Because all dogs need mental stimulation every day, and training – practicing known stuff or learning new behaviors or tricks – is an easy way to provide mini mental workouts.
• Because it’s fun for you and your dog – if you’re using positive training that is!
• Because solid training spells more freedom in life for you and your dog, together.
• Because training prevents unwanted behavior and strengthens desirable behavior, which make for a happier more harmonious relationships between humans and dogs.
• Because too many dogs end up in shelters (or worse) every day for behaviors that could easily have been prevented or solved through positive training.
• Because positive training is the only way to fairly and effectively teach your dog how you’d like him to behave.
• Because, as expert trainer Ken Ramirez says, “Training is not a luxury, but a key component to good animal care….Training is about teaching a dog (or any animal) to live in our world safely.”

Need inspiration? Go to APDT’s National Train Your Dog Month website for training tips and links to free webinars and Facebook chats with dog training experts on a wide range of training and behavior issues, from how to teach kids to interact safely with dogs to housetraining issues to introducing dogs and cats safely. Check out the full schedule here and spread the word to anyone you know with a dog, or anyone thinking of adopting one.

Happy 2012 & Happy Training!

I see it every day, far more often than I care to remember. Someone walks down the street with a dog on leash, yanking and jerking the leash as they go. The dog pulls ahead of the human, the human responds with a swift sharp jerk on the leash. The dog doesn’t sit when asked to, the human pops the leash. The dog stops to sniff a hydrant, the human yanks the leash.

What’s wrong with this picture? Plenty. Leash popping hurts the dog by tightening collar pressure on the dog’s neck. Over time, leash popping can injure the dog’s trachea. Add a choke chain or prong collar into the mix, and the short term pain is worse, and risk of tracheal damage even higher.

There’s more. Leash pops and other painful/forceful tactics don’t teach your dog want you want him to do. Assuming the timing of the leash pop is spot on – and that’s a big “if” as I’ll explain later – the pop might teach the dog that you don’t want him to pull ahead, but doesn’t teach the dog what you want him to do instead.

Imagine learning to ballroom dance for the very first time. Though the instructor hasn’t spent time teaching you the correct moves, she tells you to go ahead and dance. Every time you make a misstep, she yells, “Wrong,” or worse, slaps you.

Would you learn how to do the foxtrot with that kind of training? Unlikely.

Would you feel confident about dancing? Hard to imagine.

Would you have any desire to dance at all with that sort of “instruction?” Probably not.

What exactly would you like Rover to do when you take him on a leash walk? To maintain a strict heel position, walking glued to your left side? Is it OK if he pulls ahead at all? Is it OK if he lags behind? Is it OK if he walks at your side but 2 -3 feet away from you? Is it OK if he stops and sniffs a tree? It must be incredibly difficult if not impossible for Rover to figure out exactly how and where someone wants him to walk on leash when all he gets is leash pops as feedback.

Let’s talk about timing. Consequences must occur within 1-2 seconds of a dog doing a behavior in order for the dog to connect the two. This basic training principle is true for the timing of rewards and punishments. But humans are notorious for sloppy timing and inconsistency when delivering consequences. Rarely are humans skilled at popping the leash at just right the moment and in time for the dog to understand what behavior is being punished. Given humans’ inconsistency and poor timing, as far as Rover is concerned, sometimes he’s punished for pulling on leash, sometimes he isn’t punished for that, and sometimes he’s punished for walking quite nicely on leash. Confusing and unfair, don’t you think?

Leash pops are good way to build frustration, fear and anxiety in a dog. Wearing the leash becomes a predictor of nasty things for the dog. Depending on when the leash pops occur, the pain may become associated with whatever’s in the vicinity at that moment.

Let’s say Fred jerks the leash whenever Fluffy pulls towards others dogs. The sight of other dogs when Fluffy’s on leash would easily become a predictor of pain for her. Soon Fred may find himself walking a dog who turns into a snarling, lunging, barking mess whenever she sees another dog.

Thankfully, there is a humane effective alternative. Instead of leash popping or giving Rover other forceful, painful and unkind corrections, your time is far better spent training him to do what you want him to do using positive reward-based methods. If you want Rover to maintain a heel position on leash walks, train him to do that and reward him for doing so. If you want Rover to sit at every street corner, train him to do that and reward him for doing so. Behaviors trained in this way become stronger and more frequent, and a lovely side effect of positive training will result. Rover will want to do the things you’ve rewarded him for! I suspect if he could talk, he’d thank you for taking the time to teach him those things.

If your dog’s an ardent leash puller, enroll him in a positive training basic manners class, a leash manners workshop or consult with a qualified positive trainer. No doubt, training leash manners takes lots of time, practice and patience, but in this trainer’s humble opinion, that’s infinitely better than inflicting pain and confusing a dog every time he goes for a walk. To reduce/prevent pulling on leash while your dog is learning better leash manners, read my post, A Better Way to Walk Your Dog.

Whether you’ve just adopted a puppy or an adult dog, or you’ve had a dog in your family for years, here are 10 great reasons to train your pooch now:

1. Get your dog started (or keep him going) on the right paw. Training will teach him good manners from the get-go, maintain good manners and prevent the development of bad habits and behavior problems.
2. Training provides your dog with one form of mental stimulation, which is vital to his behavioral health. Without sufficient daily mental and physical exercise, dogs get bored. Boredom usually leads to behavior humans don’t like, like boredom barking, and destructive chewing and digging.


Training means more fun & off-leash freedom

3. Training helps your dog control his impulses in everyday life. Dogs are highly impulsive, opportunistic scavengers. Learning and maintaining impulse control makes for a better behaved pet.
4. Training teaches dogs how to learn. This makes future training easier for you and for your dog.
5. The Fun starts now! Positive reinforcement training is reward-based, not punishment-based. Of course rewards are fun (otherwise they wouldn’t be rewards)! When you use reward-based training, in no time your dog will LOVE training. A dog who loves to train and do what you ask…how fab is that?
6. Training may save your dog’s life. In our busy urban environment, you could easily find yourself and your pooch in a situation where you need him to come to you immediately or stay exactly where he is to avoid oncoming traffic or some other hazard. Training snappy recalls, lightning speed sits, and rock solid stays sets you and your dog up for safety and success in emergencies.
7. Training behaviors like stays, settle down, and coming when called means more off-leash freedom for your dog, more peace of mind for you, and more — here’s that word again — fun for you both.
8. Training makes travel and other outings with your dog hassle-free. You and your dog’s quality of life improves when you can take him on vacation or into any dog-friendly café or other establishment.
9. Positive training deepens the bond between you and your dog. You’ll have a relationship built on mutual respect, clear communication and trust, rather than pain, force and intimidation.
10. Positive training builds a more confident dog. Positive training is especially wonderful at building confidence in shy and fearful dogs. Fearful dogs are more likely to bite, so decreasing fear and increasing confidence are good things.

It’s that time again when the new year stretches out shiny, new and full of promise. January also happens to be the APDT’s second annual National Train Your Dog Month (TYDM), which is a wonderful coincidence because training your dog the positive way promises to yield happy results for you and your pooch.

Whether you have a newly adopted dog, a bouncing –off-the-walls adolescent dog, or a senior dog, ongoing positive training is essential for polite doggy behavior. Teach your new dog good manners from the get go, polish up Rover’s rusty recalls and other important behaviors, take a class, or train your dog to do a snazzy trick.

Reward-based training is easy and fun for you and your dog.  And that’s not all. It builds doggy confidence, ensures that your dog will engage more often in behaviors you like, gives her mental exercise and helps prevent boredom.

Love your dog? Then train him!

Who cares if your dog is bored? Well, it’s a good bet that your dog does. Being perpetually bored is no way for a critter to live. (I don’t know about you, but boredom drives me positively bonkers.) Aside from the fact that boredom is a serious drag, a bored doggy is very likely to get into mischief like chewing up your stuff, digging in your houseplants, or barking all the time.  

Problem behavior that could have been prevented or resolved through positive training is one of the leading causes of dogs losing their homes and ending up in shelters. If you love your dog – and I know you do – and you want a long happy life together, a lifetime of positive training is one of the best gifts you can give her and yourself.

Check out the TYDM website for free training tips or to enter this year’s Photo/Video contest. And check out my blog for upcoming posts on useful and cool stuff you can teach your dog.

Happy New Year! Happy Training!

I’ve been off the web for a little while. As much as I love blogging about dogs and dog training, major taxing life events have interrupted. Now that I have a little more time on my hands, writing feels like a task I’m not quite prepared for. The ideas don’t flow like they used to when I was blogging regularly. Sentences feel awkward and strained. The words on the screen don’t seem to fully capture what I want to say. . . I’m rusty.

You may be wondering what any of this has to do with dog training. Good question.

Dogs get rusty too. Rover’s once snappy off-leash recall can start to fall apart if he hasn’t practiced in a while.

Much of what we ask dogs to do on a daily basis runs counter to how they’d behave if left to their own devices. Many behaviors we ask of them involve controlling their natural doggy impulses. Leaving a gopher alone in a park may not seem like a big deal to us, but that’s not so for the countless dogs who delight in chasing small critters. Ditto for breaking off dog play to come when called, and for sitting and waiting at doorways instead of darting into the great outdoors as soon as a door opens.

Dogs can and do learn to do these and other behaviors reliably. But to maintain reliability over a lifetime, dogs need regular practice just as we do to keep up skills like speaking another language, playing an instrument, or blogging about dog training.

To keep learned behaviors sharp, make mini training sessions part of daily life. Ask Rover to do behaviors for meals, chewies, walks, Frisbee tosses and other real life rewards he enjoys. Practice calling Rover to come whenever he’s off leash and make sure to reward him handsomely with an extra-tasty treat, a game of tug, or some dog play.

If it’s been a long time since that basic manners training class you took when you first adopted Rover, sign up for a refresher class. Better yet, try a new fun class like doggy dancing, agility, or tricks. Any group training class is excellent practice for Rover in responding to and focusing on you amidst distractions.

Keep training sessions short – 3 to 5 minutes at a time. Reward Rover for getting behaviors right. (Remember, behaviors that are never rewarded disappear over time.)

And as anyone lucky enough to have a dog knows, dogs are all about having a good time. So have a positive fun attitude whenever you’re training Rover will go a long way to keeping you both engaged in training games. (Click here to read my post on how to keep the FUN in training.)

As for me, I’m taking some of my own advice and jumping back into writing more often. No doubt, the more I do it, the sooner I’ll be rust-free and back into my blogging groove!

If I let my dog on the furniture or sleep on my bed, he’ll think he’s dominant over me.

I’m sounding the Mutt Myth Alert!! Let’s bust this myth one piece at a time.

First, no one can look inside a dog’s head and read his thoughts. My dog Vinnie sometimes sleeps in my bed. When he’s snoozing there he looks peaceful and comfortable, but I have no idea what he’s thinking. Neither does anyone else.

“Dominance” is a term that’s misunderstood, misinterpreted and misused rampantly in discussions of dog behavior. In ethology (the scientific study of behavior), dominance refers to “priority access to a limited resource,” and is dependent on context and the distribution of resources. This is not what most people have in mind when they say their dogs are trying to dominate them.

In my experience, what folks usually mean when they say their dogs are trying to dominate them, is, Fido isn’t doing what I want him to do, or, If I let Fido do X, he’ll try to control me.

Let’s take a common sense look at this notion of “dominance as control.” As expert dog trainer and founder of the SF-SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers Jean Donaldson points out, humans control everything dogs need and want in life – food, water, playtime, walks, medical care, companionship, affection, access to other dogs, shelter, sleeping spots, and ultimately, life and death. Given that, who’s dominating whom? Who’s really in control? Here’s a hint – it’s not the dogs.

Though we can’t read dogs’ minds, we can observe their behavior. What’s more, we can manipulate the environment, resources, and consequences to get dogs to behave in ways we like and want to see more of. Simply put, dogs can be trained, undesirable behaviors can be changed, and at the end of the day, much of our dogs’ behavior is up to us.

Sleeping on a human bed is surely far more comfortable than sleeping in a crate or on the floor. When Vin lounges on my bed, he’s rewarded immediately by softness and comfort. Because sleeping on the bed is inherently rewarding to him, every nap on the bed sets him up to nap on the bed more frequently in the future.

There’s no scientific evidence showing that bed snoozes will make Vinnie want to control me, nor that they cause dogs to behave badly. Dogs do behaviors that work to get them what they want. I’d bet lots of money that Vinnie likes sleeping on the bed because it feels good.

Even if he secretly wants to be my boss, the reality is that he’s only allowed on the bed if it’s OK with the humans in the home. Each dog guardian gets to decide what behavior is acceptable from her dog. Some people don’t care if their dogs pull on leash. Others don’t mind if their dogs beg under the table during dinner. I don’t mind if Vinnie sleeps on my bed; in fact, I like it.

Comfy or trying to seize control?

If I were to decide that Vinnie could never again be on the bed, I could implement that change easily. I’d manage the environment to prevent him from getting on the bed – i.e., keep the bedroom door closed or install a baby gate across the door.

I’d also make his sleeping spot more attractive and comfortable. I could put blankets and a crate pad in his crate, or get him a nice plush dog bed.

He’s already trained to get off of beds and furniture when we ask him to, so if I were to find him on my bed, I’d ask him to get down and direct him to his comfy crate/dog bed.

With consistent practice, he’d learn that whenever he gets on the bed I’m going to ask him to get off and go to his own bed. Dogs are economical in how they spend their energies and creatures of habit; in time, he’d stop getting on the bed as often and instead, go to his own bed.

I suppose Vinnie could be plotting to dominate me. He’s a clever guy. When he wants to play tug, he brings his toy to me, drops it rather dramatically at my feet, and sits there and stares at me for a while. If I look at him, he picks up the tug toy and tries to put it in my lap. Sometimes after all that, I get up and play tug with him, but that’s when I feel like it, when I have the time and the energy, and according to my rules. When we’re finished, he likes to go to my bed and take a nap. I see him, smile, and think he looks adorable.

* * *

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some dogs behave possessively around furniture and sleeping locations. This sort of behavior, known as resource guarding, is normal dog behavior, and doesn’t arise from letting dogs sleep on beds. It’s a common behavior that many dogs come pre-programmed with and is an advantage in the wild. Dogs that guard food, sleeping locations, and other resources have a better shot at surviving. Resource guarding presents safety risks for humans; fortunately, it’s a behavior that can be changed through positive training. If your dog growls/behaves aggressively when you approach him when he’s on the bed, on other furniture, or when he’s eating or playing with toys, punishing or trying to “show him who’s boss” is dangerous and will make his behavior worse. Instead, consult with a good positive reinforcement trainer as soon as possible.

It took me a LONG time, much diligent training and careful management to teach my Kelpie mix Vinnie not to chase my cat Ted, and to get a tug toy instead when he gets the cat-chasing urge. We enjoyed a lengthy stretch of peace at home; dog and cat could both chill out in the same room in close proximity to one another without problems.

Vin Settled With Ted Nearby

I was overjoyed. There’s almost nothing I like better than the company of both my critters at the same time. And the dog-cat harmony at home was no small achievement. Vinnie is a herding mix with high energy and an intense desire to herd moving critters.

But that was then.

Lately Vinnie starts whining in frustration and his eyes light up in that, “I’m dying to chase you now!” way whenever he sees Ted. Vinnie has also taken to following Ted so closely, he’s practically standing on top of him. Ted is not amused.

At first I was puzzled about the change in Vin’s behavior. Then I remembered that of late, our garden has been overrun with feral cats. There always seems to be at least one feral kitty lurking in the shadows. (I don’t leave food or garbage out there. A well-meaning neighbor has been feeding the ferals daily and ever since, the surrounding yards have become a feline playground.)

No wonder Vin’s interest in Ted has revived. Vinnie’s had plenty of recent opportunity to chase the feral cats outside. And chase them he does!

For Vinnie, chasing cats is a self-reinforcing behavior. Chasing cats is tons of fun for him. He’s rewarded powerfully whenever he does it; chasing and herding cats must feel incredible to him. Herding is after all, what he’s hard-wired to do.

Animals aren’t static entities or robots. They’re living organic creatures who respond and react to their environments. In other words,behavior changes. It can change for a host reasons such as an illness, a health problem, or as a result of natural development and maturing (transitions from puppyhood to adolescence to adulthood to the golden years).

Ted

Behavior can also change as a result of environmental factors. These run the gamut and include changes in diet, in amounts and types of exercise and mental stimulation, in life routines, a move to a new home, the addition of a new pet or family member, or the death of a loved one to name a few.

Vinnie’s in perfect health and the only recent change in his life has been the feral festival in our yard and the many opportunities he’s seized to chase those cats. Behavior that’s rewarded increases in intensity and frequency. The more Vinnie chases cats — a rewarding behavior to him — the more he wants to chase cats, and the more he wants to chase cats, the more he chases them. This explains his changed behavior and attitude towards Ted.

One of my instructors at the SF-SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers always said, “If you want the animal to change its behavior, change your behavior.” So true.

If I want to curb Vinnie’s desire to chase Ted, I need to change my behavior. Relying on my pre-feral cat training plan won’t suffice. I need to manage the environment to prevent Vin from chasing the outdoor kitties.

I can’t block them from my yard and it doesn’t seem fair to suspend Vin’s yard privileges. My management plan is to go outside and get any feral cats to skedaddle before Vinnie is allowed into the yard. I also need to ramp up the training – more recall and leave it practice away from Ted, lots of practice calling Vinnie to come inside from the back yard, and stupendous rewards for those behaviors.

If your dog’s behavior has changed suddenly and it’s not to your liking, try to figure out what may have caused the change. If it’s not due to maturing, rule out any physical problems with a vet exam.

If there are no health issues, consider whether there have been any changes in your dog’s life or routine. If he’s been getting less physical or mental exercise, increase it. If the environment has changed, depending on what’s changed and how intensely it’s affected your dog, he may just need some time to adjust.

If you’re concerned and/or your dog’s behavior doesn’t improve, it’s best not to let the undesirable behavior continue as it will most likely worsen.

Do your best to prevent your dog from doing the behavior and consult with a good positive reinforcement trainer. Deciphering behavior puzzles and crafting a plan to address them is what dog trainer geeks like me relish.

Max, Lola, Roxie, Charlie, Pancake, Izzy, Suki! . . . When it comes to dogs, what’s in a name?

As it turns out, with the right training, quite a bit.

Your dog’s name can be a lot more than just the word you use to refer to him. With the right training, your dog’s name can serve as a cue to look at you. Getting dogs to pay attention to their humans around lots of distractions is one of the most common dog guardians’ challenges. Name training is the first step to teaching your dog to attend to and focus on you no matter where you are. Name training is also a terrific building block for teaching your dog to come to you when you call him.

To train your dog to look at you when you say his name all you need are a clicker and some treats he really likes. Small soft smelly treats work best because your dog can eat them quickly, which helps you get the most mileage out of a training session. Most importantly, use treats that your dog likes. (Every dog is different and just because one dog likes a certain type of treat doesn’t mean another dog will. A student in one of my group training classes had a puppy who would happily train for tiny pieces of apple! I tried giving my dog a piece of apple and he just sniffed it and walked away from me.)

This exercise rewards your dog for looking at you when you say his name, and will teach a newly adopted dog or pup his name if he doesn’t already know it. Your dog learns that looking at you when you say his name is a splendid thing to do because doing so means yummies are coming his way.

1. Do this exercise at home in a room where there’s not a lot of activity.
2. Have your clicker ready and a handful (about 15-20) of treats in one hand held behind your back, or in a treat pouch or in a pocket.
3. Say your dog’s name one time only in a happy upbeat voice. The moment your dog looks at you, click, then give him a treat. Be sure to click first, and then give the treat.
4. If your dog doesn’t look at you, don’t repeat his name. Instead, watch for any response to hearing his name. It might be a slight head turn, a pricking up of his ears, or a tail wag. Click the moment he responds and then feed him a treat.
5. If your dog does absolutely nothing when you say his name, try making kissy noises, clapping your hands, or using jolly talk to get his attention. The moment he responds click, then treat.
6. Continue the exercise until you’ve used up your handful of treats.

Do the exercise a couple of times a day for 2-3 minutes at a time. Practice at different times of day and in different rooms of the house.

It won’t take long for you to notice progress. Small head turns will soon become quite deliberate looks at you. Looks at you will very likely turn into actual approaches. (See what I mean about name training serving as a great foundation for training your dog to come when you call?)

When your dog is reliably looking at you at least 8/10 times when you say his name, kick the exercise up a notch:

• Randomly say your dog’s name when he’s not expecting it. Remember to click when he looks at you, then give him a treat.
• Ask a helper to do the exercise with you so your dog learns to respond to his name when other people say it.
• Gradually increase the level of environmental distractions when you do name training. Enlist a friend or family member to be the distractor. Their simple presence might be enough to distract your dog, or your helper can bounce a ball, squeak a squeaky toy, or jump around and act silly.
• Practice on leash walks and outdoors in an enclosed yard.

When your dog is looking at you 90% of the times that you say his name, treat him less often and phase in real life rewards. Treat him occasionally and randomly for looking at you in response to his name. Reward him at other times with other things he enjoys such as belly scratches, playtime with you, a special toy, or a long-term chewie like a bully stick or tendon. If you stop rewarding him altogether for looking at you, he will eventually stop doing the behavior.

Happy Training!

A new client dog who I’ll call Misty is very fearful girl with multiple fear triggers. Misty has growled, snarled and lunged at people in certain situations but hasn’t bitten anyone. Misty’s human definitely has her hands full. “I don’t want her to be the type of dog that bites,” she said when we first met.

I know what the woman meant but I explained to her that actually, all dogs are “the type of dog that bites.” Given the right circumstances any dog can bite.

Biting and other forms of aggressive behavior most commonly arise from fear. Dogs typically avoid engaging in physical combat including biting, because fighting is expensive behavior for the dog from a survival standpoint. In combat, dogs risk being killed or seriously injured. Rather than do battle when faced with an upsetting, threatening or scary situation, most dogs flee or use ritualized forms of aggression to diffuse the conflict and avoid fighting. In other words, most dogs try to get the heck out of dodge, or do things to get the scary thing to go away. Barking, lunging, snarling, and growling are some of the more obvious behaviors that in dog language mean, “Go away. Back off. You are seriously freaking me out.”

I think of bites as a dog’s last line of defense. It’s unusual for a dog to leap frog over warning signals and proceed to biting. Usually long before biting, the dog has been communicating his fearful upset state using subtle warning signals. Well-meaning humans are frequently unaware of the dog’s warnings. Humans don’t notice the signals or don’t know what they mean. But ignoring a dog’s warning signals is a good set up for a dog bite.

All dogs have bite thresholds – points beyond which they are likely to bite. Because every dog is a unique individual, bite thresholds vary from dog to dog.

A dog can be pushed over his bite threshold when multiple fear triggers are presented simultaneously. Think of each fear trigger as a rock. Exposing the dog to fear triggers is like putting rocks in a paper bag. The bag might stand up to the weight of one rock, maybe two, possibly even three. But the more rocks you put into the bag, the bigger the risk the bag will rip apart.

Misty is afraid of men, loud machinery, and strangers who reach towards her head. Misty could easily bite if a strange man tried to pat her on the head just as a noisy street cleaning machine was passing by.

Besides stacking several fear triggers together, another set up for a dog bite is to present a single trigger at a sufficiently high intensity. This is like “growing” the rock into a boulder and putting it in the paper bag. The bag may very well break. In the case of Sam who guards his bones from humans, Sam is fine if a human is 6 feet away while he’s gnawing on a bone. Put the human 4 feet away from Sam and he growls. Put the human 1 foot from Sam and it’s boulder time — Sam bites.

To avoid bites, take the time to “learn” your dog. Identify her fear triggers and pay attention to her body language and warning signals. Avoid putting her in scary upsetting situations in general, and avoid pushing her beyond her bite threshold at all costs. If your dog is showing signs of fear, listen to what she’s saying and get her out of the scary situation as quickly as you can.

Getting a dog out of an upsetting situation may calm the dog in the moment but doesn’t resolve the problem. Fears don’t dissipate on their own. Without positive training interventions, fear-based behavior often gets worse. An experienced positive reinforcement trainer — along with an owner’s diligent follow-through on training instructions — should improve the dog’s emotional response to and behavior around the trigger.

I’m opposed to punishment-based training, period. But I can’t emphasize this enough: punishment-based methods should never be used with a fearful dog, or to address fearful behavior. Punishment-based training will most likely to escalate the dog’s underlying fear and the resultant behavior.

Some excellent resources to address fearful dog behavior include:

• Help For Your Fearful Dog, by Nicole Wilde
• Click to Calm, by Emma Parsons
• Debbie Jacobs’ Fearful Dog Blog