Teaching Your Dog Behaviors

Telling your dog he did something right and rewarding his behavior will help your dog know what it is you want from him.  Saying "yes" or marking the exact behavior with a clicker then following with a reward will help your dog learn faster.  

In this video, I am using a clicker to mark many different behaviors from my dog Pablo.  Once I have him performing the behavior reliably, then I put a cue word to it so I am able to ask for the behavior.

Many of these tricks took a series of sessions to teach and you will see some are still a work in progress!  The key is to make it fun for your dog!

Timing and repetition are very important as you want to click or say "yes" just as the behavior happens!  Practice several repetitions in a row so your dog understands what it is you are rewarding.  Practice using your dogs meal rather than feeding him out of a bowl, you will be amazed how smart your dog is!!

Nail Trimming can be Pleasant

Many owners take their dogs to the groomer or vet simply to have their nails trimmed.  If you have a little time to work with your dog, you might find that trimming your dogs nails can be easy and even an enjoyable event for you and your dog.

In this video, I am desensitizing Pablo to having his nails trimmed.  Like many dogs, he does not enjoy this, however he tolerates it because it predicts him getting food, which he loves!

Note how Pablo begins to offer me his paw as the trim actually predicts his reward coming.

Do you remember going to the dentist as a child?  Who did not stare at the Treasure Chest and wonder what new toys might be inside!  This reward of getting to pick a toy was all I could think about!  Hence it made the entire process of holding my mouth open so the dentist could poke around bearable for me!

It is helpful to go at your dogs pace and be consistent.  Always begin each session the same, tap, treat, tap, treat, trim, treat, and so on.  Progressing to fast will only make your dog more anxious as the unknown is scary and the known is safer.

Desensitizing or Sensitizing

When we change a dogs association, we often discuss the "how to's" of desensitizing the dog to a stimuli (stranger, noise, moving cars, bikes, children ect.)  If your steps of desensitizing are not working you must consider the fact that you may actually be sensitizing your dog or increasing arousal and anxiety rather than decreasing them.

Sara playing "find it" at the park

Sara, a sweet beagle mix in my Outdoor Adventure Class is fearful of new environments and will often shake and not take treats.  Using a series of games and food she enjoys like "find it", we are helping desensitize her to new places.

Taking a dog that is fearful of cars and tying him to a street sign would most likely increase the dogs fear and arousal or sensitize him to the sight and sound of cars.  After this type of training, the dog would be more likely to bark at the simple sound of a car.

However, if you stay a distance from the street where the dog is not yet aroused and play his favorite game of tug, find it, or fetch, you may find that the dog seems unaware of the cars going by.  I have used play to desensitize many dogs to their fears. This type of desensitization helps the dog associate a happy, playful emotional state when near loud or fast moving cars.