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.

There’s a pet store in my neighborhood where the kind staff gives all doggy visitors free treats. Naturally it’s one of Vin’s favorite destinations. If he’s within a half-block of the store in any direction he tries to pull towards it. If we walk by the storefront he always wants to go in. I usually give in.

For a long time Vinnie would pull furiously towards the pet store on night time walks especially when his papa stopped at the convenience store a few doors down from the pet place. I worked on training stays with Vin while we waited outside the convenience store but he always had pet store fever and wouldn’t give up on pulling in that direction.

A few months ago I decided to give up that battle. If Vin wanted to go the pet store at night, I let him. I’d stand there silently as he pawed and nosed the door, waiting for him to turn away and leave.

Last week we had a first. During a night time stroll, hubby stopped at the convenience store but Vin did something different. Instead of pulling to the pet store he stayed right next to me waiting for his papa without so much as a glance in the pet store’s direction.

What changed?

Extinction! Extinction means withholding reinforcers for a behavior that’s previously been maintained by reinforcement. The behavior goes away because it no longer works – it’s no longer rewarding to the dog.

Going to the pet store at night had ceased to be rewarding for Vinnie. Every time he’d visited at night the store was closed and the human treat dispensers were away.

Dressing Vin in costumer - a behavior he'd love to extinguish!

Extinction is one method positive trainers use to get rid of unwanted behavior. When used correctly, extinction is a powerful tool. The key is 100% consistency – never rewarding the unwanted behavior.

Vin made a total of 8-12 night visits to the pet store over a period of 4-5 months before his breakthrough. During that time he continued visiting the store during the day and scoring treats. If that hadn’t happened night time trips to the store would have stopped sooner.

Extinction can be used to get rid of behaviors like attention barking, counter surfing, jumping up and mouthing. If you decide to use extinction, make a plan and try to be as specific as possible:

• What behavior do you want to extinguish?
• How is the dog currently being rewarded for the behavior? How has the dog been rewarded in the past for the behavior?
• What’s your plan to remove all reinforcers for that behavior?
• Can you and everyone else in the family realistically commit and follow through with the plan? Is your plan workable for you?

Follow through is crucial. In fact, if you can’t realistically follow through 100% of the time, an extinction plan is a waste of time. Why? If the dog is rewarded even just occasionally for the behavior, it will become more resilient instead of going away!

Follow through needs to continue as long as the dog is doing the behavior, particularly if there’s an extinction burst – a sudden temporary increase in the behavior that sometimes occurs after the start of an extinction plan. Remember, the flare up is normal and temporary, so just dig in and stick to your plan, or you’ll end up with an even stronger more resilient behavior.

Extinction is useful for stopping a variety of behaviors such as attention barking, counter surfing, mouthing and jumping up. My strong preference for getting rid of unwanted behavior is a two-fold strategy: removing all rewards for the undesirable behavior, and training the dog to do another acceptable behavior. (Read more about that here.)

The more I train dogs, the more fearful dogs I encounter. Dogs that are afraid of mailmen, being alone, kids, strangers, other dogs, being handled, traffic noises, novel things they haven’t seen before, things appearing suddenly in the environment . . . the list goes on. One little dog I worked with a few years ago was afraid of so many different things that her guardian was overwhelmed after just a few weeks of life together. She’d asked me for recommendations on books about fearful dogs. How I wish Debbie Jacobs’ A Guide to Living With & Training a Fearful Dog (“Guide”) had been available then!

A committed dog geek, I’m always studying dog behavior and training. I’ve read several books on training fearful dogs but the Guide is unique. Drawing from years of experience living, working with and training her extremely fearful dog Sunny, Debbie cracks a tough nut that’s essential to helping any fearful dog – putting ourselves in their paws as they navigate a world fraught with scary triggers.

As the Guide explains so well, rewiring one’s mindset is vital to helping a fearful dog. Goals and expectations that might be entirely reasonable when training confident well-socialized dogs are often unrealistic for dogs with severe and/or multiple fears and anxieties. Imagining life from a fearful dog’s perspective helps guardians cultivate compassion, empathy and patience both in daily life with the dog and when training to reduce/overcome fears.

Grounded in solid science-based training, the Guide also addresses the significance of the relationship between guardians and dogs. Establishing trust in the guardian is crucial to building the dog’s confidence, reducing fear and anxiety, and changing fearful behavior.

Wonderfully readable and easy to understand, the Guide provides a wealth of concrete information on a host of useful topics including why positive training is a must; the dangers of punishment-based training; suggested treats and rewards; how play can help a fearful dog; how to gauge the dog’s progress; training games and exercises; medications and other calming remedies.

One of the things I like best about the Guide is the discussion of real and sometimes difficult questions that many fearful dog guardians face. Living with and training a fearful dog can be taxing and draining. It may require more of an investment from a guardian than s/he can realistically or wants to make. The Guide takes on these issues with refreshing frankness and lack of judgment considering not only the dog’s well-being but that of the human caretaker.

Debbie Jacobs’ knowledge, candor and humor shine throughout the Guide. Her sound practical advice spells hope for guardians of all dogs, fearful, anxious, and otherwise. For those with shy or fearful dogs, reading and following the Guide will be one of the best things you can do for your dog. I suspect you’ll find yourself returning to its pages over and over again. Thank you Debbie for this gem of a book!

To order the Guide and learn more about Debbie Jacobs, CPDT-KA, CAP, visit her fabulous Fearful Dogs blog at www.fearfuldogs.com.

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!

What do good manners and playing with your food have to do with one another?

Everything . . . if you’re a dog!

One of the best and easiest things you can do to enrich your dog’s life and lay a foundation for polite dog behavior is encourage him to play with his food. Food puzzle toys abound – nifty contraptions into which you stuff food or treats, and give to your dog to “solve” so he can eat what’s inside.

Kong, Tricky Treat Ball, Tug A Jug (L-R)

He might have to chew on the toy to get the food out (as in the case of Kongs and Busy Buddy toys); nose, bat and roll the toy around to get at the yummies inside (e.g., Buster Cubes, Tricky Treat Balls); manipulate puzzle pieces (Nina Ottoson’s interactive toys); or come up with a combination of moves to work the puzzle (e.g., Tug a Jug). The point is he’ll need to use his brain and sometimes his brawn to devise a winning strategy.

Feeding your dog from food puzzle toys has many advantages over bowl feeding. Working food puzzle toys:

• Is fun! Not every food puzzle toy is a hit with every dog, but with the wide variety of available toys there are sure to be a couple that get your dog’s groove on.
• Helps dogs eat more slowly than if they were gulping food from a bowl. Eating more slowly helps avoid bloat, a serious and often fatal ailment.
• Staves off boredom. Boredom breeds undesirable behavior like excessive barking, fence fighting and destructive chewing. Besides, living in a perpetually or mostly bored state must be a serious drag for a dog. Food puzzle toys gives dogs mini mental workouts and are a good antidote to boredom.
• Burns doggy energy. Don’t you wish you had your dog’s energy? Without daily outlets for that energy, dogs find other things to do with it. All too often, those things are activities humans don’t appreciate. Interactive toys provide outlets for some of dogs’ mental and physical energy.
• Satisfies the urge and need to chew. Many interactive toys require chewing action to get the food out. Chewing keeps teeth, gums and jaw muscles healthy and is a natural behavior that many dogs really love, especially pups and adolescents. Directing dogs towards acceptable chewies – like food puzzle toys – is essential when teaching dogs to keep their teeth off of your stuff.

If your dog is already a food puzzle wiz, mix up the types of puzzle toys he plays with. Some puzzle toys (like Kongs) can be frozen after stuffing to make solving them tougher for dogs ready for more of a challenge.

Get creative with food stuffings. You can layer different ingredients; alternate wet food with dry; mix wet food with dry dog food before stuffing the toy; or mix an extra special treat with the rest of the food (like the prize in the cereal box).

Does your dog have a favorite food puzzle toy? Do you have a favorite “recipe” for food puzzle toy stuffings? Please feel free to share in a comment.

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.

I should have known better.

Yesterday was Vinnie’s and my first public freestyle performance. We danced in a group routine at a dog festival in a park, with a large audience of dogs and their people, including my husband a.k.a, Vinnie’s “Papa.” (Very corny, I know. But c’mon, I have a hunch you’ve dished up some corny talk to your dog.)

Back to the festival. As soon as we arrived, a little voice in my head said, Uh oh. Vinnie was very excited. He wanted to play off-leash with other dogs, to inhale the scent of grilling meat wafting about and hunt for dropped tidbits. He saw kids playing soccer and wanted to nab their ball. And he was hell-bent on keeping his group – me, him and his Papa – together. Rounding us up is something my dear Kelpie mix has always done, and more intently in new environments.

I’d agreed at the last minute to dance in the routine, and Vin and I’d been practicing our parts diligently. But that was mostly indoor practice at home, a familiar relatively distraction-free location. I’d come to the park ready with a large bag of chicken, which had never failed to help Vin’s focus and for which he’d danced eagerly the day before in the same park. But that was without barbecues, human food galore, scores of other dogs in the vicinity, and Papa at the ringside.

When it was our turn in the ring Vinnie’s performance fell apart. Instead of heeling and spinning next to me across the stage, he took off towards the gate, his eyes darting around for any sign of my husband. I quickly got Vin’s attention and he did most of his routine after that only to lose it again during his solo finale. Instead of trotting towards me and taking a bow, he spotted my husband and ran to the side of the ring to greet him.

Like I said, I of all people should have known there’s just no short cutting the training process. One essential key to effective training is to train gradually, making tasks more challenging for your dog one step at a time. It’s like training for a marathon; you don’t vault from jogging a mile a day to being able to run a 26-mile race.

It’s not surprising that Vinnie didn’t perform well. I rushed his training and neglected to set him up for success in several ways.

For one thing, dogs don’t generalize easily. It you want them to apply learning acquired in one context to another, you have to help them get there. If you only train “sits” in the kitchen, it will take a bit more training for the dog to learn that “sit” means the same thing in the living room, a yard, at the beach and on the sidewalk. Even though Vinnie had nailed the routine again and again at home, he’d only had one practice at the park and another in someone’s back yard. That wasn’t nearly enough to bet on a solid performance on the day of the show amidst a sea of distractions.

The world is a mighty distracting place!

For another thing, dogs are notoriously distractible. To get behavior around distractions, increase distraction levels incrementally. A dog who responds reliably to, “Let’s heel,” in your hallway may look as if he’s never heard the words the first several times you try heeling at the beach. Other dogs, new people, food, new smells and sounds are just some things most dogs find pretty darn enticing. Poor Vin was faced with multiple high level distractions at the same time. That together with insufficient practice to generalize was enough to doom his performance.

On top of all tha, Vin was grappling with a strong competing motivator. Most dogs love food and are very motivated to do stuff, training included, to get it. But a treat that keeps a dog’s attention on training when there’s nothing else going on may very likely pale in comparison to a chance for a squirrel chase, to romp with other dogs, or in Vinnie’s case, to round up his humans. On show day, Vinnie was highly motivated to keep his group together. While he was motivated at times to score chicken by doing parts of his routine, at other times the desire to find his dad won out.

Thankfully, the performance was just for fun. We all laughed about it. No harm was done except for a little bruise on my ego. And I’ll make sure not to repeat the same mistakes as we prepare for our next performance. Next time, we’ll both be ready!