Great thread. I just adopted a 9 week old beagle mix. He is mild tempered and lots of fun. What he is doing that bothers me is after a nice long walk within 5 minutes of coming inside he will shit on the floor and not outside. My other question(s) How do I teach him the difference between his name and a command like come here? I've googled free training books and read training articles but I'm hoping you could give me good (preferably free) reliable training information or some good sites to check out.
Hahahaha, I really like that saying a lot. It strikes at the core of what this profession is all about honestly. Although there is a very solid outline of why and how training techniques work (Operant conditioning and behavioral psychology) There are also infinitely many ways to "skin a cat" so to speak. I'm not interested in pushing any one specific training technique over any other as long as they produce results in a fashion the owner is comfortable with. I don't mind a little debate over techniques, and I definitely acknowledge that there are many ways to train the same skill, it is fundamentally preference as long as results are being achieved. The one thing I've learned the most since I delved into this career is that my learning and knowledge of training will NEVER stop. There will always be new scenarios to encounter with different dogs, and different ways to rehabilitate and problem solve based on the circumstances. Like I said, feel free to enlighten me if you feel that there is a better way to achieve a certain outcome - I'm always open to new ideas. I actually really enjoy this method a lot compared to the way we train people in group obedience classes at our facility. My mentor recommends (for the group class at least) a 6 ft. lead with nylon snap collar or metal correction [I'm not too big of a fan of the metal ones] and the way we train it is essentially keeping them on a loose lead and using luring to reinforce the "Heel" verbal marker with a visual marker of a thigh pat and stepping with your left leg. We will variate between right and left turns and having the dog go behind us and always sit at our left side when we stop. As people progress through the class we drop use of the verbal marker, reduce the amount of luring, and eventually end with the dog trained to watch and heel whenever we step with our left foot. Note: That is only when I bring a dog through group class that I use the technique in that fashion, I personally am not a big fan of luring to train heel and pretty much did not use it at all with my BC. I used a 6ft lead but did a very similar method to yours, albeit I did not start out with silent training sessions (I'm going to have to try this out though!), rather I built up to them. I taught her the basic verbal heel command in conjunction with the thigh pat and leading with left leg, and every right turn or left turn I would say "Heel" tighten lead, and guide her to my left side only enough so that she reorients herself and then loosen up again. In the event she would try and pull away, a slight tug straight up on the correction with a "nope" is usually how I would correct it. Every successful repetition of this was rewarded with a treat at first until she became familiar with the command and what was expected of her. Now she is at the point where we can go anywhere and as soon as I step out with my left foot she is at my side following along or sitting and awaiting my next command. Your method is far superior when training a dog with a hearing impairment though, allowing the ability to bypass the verbal command is incredibly beneficial. I want to address a couple things about your post. Although it may seem like nitpicking: It is far from unusual to be a very lenient and relaxed dog owner, but the issue most people run into is similar to yours. It is not manipulative to set rules and guidelines for your dog. In a pack structure in the wild, a dog would have rules and guidelines set by the pack leader. When the dog disobeys the rules or steps outside the guidelines, the other pack members will correct the behavior through various methods. In your case, The dog develops behavior that is considered an "annoyance" by the owner, whereas the dog is doing it because it thinks that behavior is acceptable. The ONLY reason the dog is continuing this behavior is because as the owner, you are not enforcing rules and regulations. Your dog is displaying classic submissive tendencies towards people, which is not a bad thing necessarily. What IS bad is the way you are reacting to these tendencies. You say that you "solve" the issue by putting her in a crate before someone even comes over. IMO, you're really just punishing her by taking away her freedom for behaving appropriately. Im sure it has been done enough times by now that she associates new people coming over with being locked into a crate. A simple solution is to have every person that comes in use the general "No talk, no touch, no eye contact" method for at LEAST 10 minutes, and only then allow them to acknowledge your dog. The more the dog is ignored for the behavior you consider an annoyance, the less of a reason it will have to perform that behavior. The pulling is guaranteed to come from inconsistency when walking her. My dog will NEVER attempt to pull me when she is on lead. The reason? Constant rules and regulations. She knows if she pulls, she will be corrected. She knows that heeling appropriately is the expectation I have for her, and she follows it accordingly. You seem to think that setting rules for your dog is harsh, but it is in the dogs NATURAL instincts to have structure and guidance. IF you are not demonstrating that you are the leader by setting these guidelines, the dog will do it for you. When your dog comes into contact with another dog, before you make her sit or stay or any of that, the behavior you seek to minimize MUST be corrected and replaced. IF she is jumping and pulling, a firm NO and negative stimulus (whether it be an e-collar shock, collar "pop", or a leash flank, even one of cesar milans little hippy kicks) must be applied. Then you may correct it with a sit, stay, and reward. Slowly your dog will realize that the excitability towards other dogs is responsible for the negative stimulus, and it is much more rewarding to sit and stay for you than to try and pull you. I'm no vet. but IMO it's nothing too severe as long as the dog is weight bearing on it. If the dog was putting NO weight on it for many days in a row it would be an issue for a vet to look at. More often than not they will just give the dog pain medication and wrap up the leg, so your best bet is to keep an eye on it and try to minimize the amount of strenuous activity your dog exerts on it. Also note that there is a difference between a "paw lift" which can be a sign of alertness or targeting and a legitimately injured leg. Let me know how your pup is doing in the future! If it continues to be a problem after a week and a half definitely get it checked by a vet!
Potty training is always such good fun haha. My question for you is whether or not you are witnessing him in the act of shitting on the floor or if he is doing it out of sight. As a puppy, you should either keep him tethered to you in the house, or very strictly limit his reign of the house. You need to catch him IN THE ACT, and correct him accordingly. When you see him squat to go to the bathroom, this needs to be corrected immediately (I use touch corrections: Mimic with 3 fingers a pinching motion and give a correction "bite" much the same way a mother dog would nip her puppy whenever she wanted to demonstrate the behavior being performed is unacceptable. This is usually done by lightly pinching the neck or the hips near the belly.) In conjunction with the touch correction, a very firm "NO" should be given, and the puppy should immediately be placed outside. Once you are outdoors, wait until the puppy finishes going to the bathroom, and as the act is finished give tactile and verbal praise and possibly even play with them for a little while. This will take a couple of repetitions but soon your dog will realize the negative consequences for using the bathroom in the house and will strive to make it outdoors every time. As far as the teaching of commands goes: When you are using the dogs name, I recommend against ever correcting a dog with use of it's name. You don't want your dog to associate a negative stimulus with it's name. Hence, if your dog goes to the bathroom on the floor you don't want to yell "TOBY, NO!" and correct the dog. I rarely use my dogs name, but if I do it is as an attention getter. You can reinforce this by saying your dogs name, and AS SOON AS the dog looks at you and gives you its focus (it's generally the rule that if the dog is looking at it, they're thinking about it too) reward the behavior. However, when teaching the dog to "come" or "heel" you need to make sure that these commands are being reinforced seperately from the name. Recall is usually the most difficult skill for people to master because they convince their dog that when they say it's name that should mean come here. You need to start on lead, close to your dog, and teach him that when you say "Come," it means for him to come to you. At my facility we teach "Heel" long before come, and after the dog successfully heels, and can sit/stay on command, we stand in front of the dog and tell them "Come" while pulling the dog towards us, around to our left side, and then rewarding. This is done with an increase in distance every so many reps until the dog is associating "Come" with positive reinforcement, and the action of coming directly to you and assuming the heel position. I apologize if some of this isn't as clear as it could be. I'm more than willing to clarify anything if you still have questions, I'm just very very tired at the moment haha.
Hey dude, I have had this black Labrador for about 2 years now. She is an amazing dog, but as we know with every dog they have their own personal issues. Starting off with her, when we go to walks she is literally always smelling the grass, im assuming smelling other dogs. I tried to yank her away to snap her out of it, yet she goes right back to it. Secondly she has the same issue with when we have guests over, she runs right over to them smelling the insanely hard.. and eventually starts to jump on them. It really aggravates anyone it happens to. appreciate your insight bro.
You're going to have to learn to accept that smelling is literally one of if not the most important sense a dog has to work with. There are millions of olfactory cells that the dog uses to process information from scent alone, and one of the most important aspects of structured migration (I.E. Walking) is to allow your dog to smell these new environments and leave their own scent their. I recommend training her heavily on the "Heel" Command and ensuring that she knows when YOU move, she stays right next to you. My BC often sniffs the ground but you have to realize this is her way of processing environmental information. We as humans are very visual, and the most mundane of smells go unnoticed. The same goes for when you have guests over. The smelling is not particularly the issue here. To dogs, sniffing is an introduction. In almost every dog to dog interaction, the dogs will sniff each others faces, genitals, and then anus almost like clock work. They don't used language to communicate like we do, and thus are unable to run up to a new human entering the environment and say "HEY BUDDY WHAT'S UP WHERE YAH BEEN WHATCHA BEEN UP TO"? When they sniff, that is essentially exactly the information they are processing. The jumping on the other hand IS a fixable behavior, and this is often corrected through completely ignoring the dog (Again, no touch, no talk, no eye contact, 5-10 minutes minimum) Unless the dog is VERY rambunctious. Like Irie said: Guage the behavior on a scale of 1-10. If it's 1-5, ignore the behavior. If it is 6-10, correct the behavior using touch corrections, a simple 'OFF", e-collar + behavioral replacement - etc... More often than not with jumping, ignoring the behavior and the dog will quickly destroy the dogs desire to repeat the behavior. The problem occurs when people love and acknowledge the dog for performing the unwanted behavior. Hope this helps!
This is not unusual. This is the exact same behavior that I see in every one of my clients homes. Exactly. It is a syndrome basically that is caused by: There has to be structure. Has to be a leader. If there is not then you get this: There is a happy medium in there and the art of raising a dog is exactly that. You have to have rules, however you have to have love and relaxation at the same time. Its like being a parent. You have to tell them the rules or they'll end up in prison some day. You cant be too hard, but you cant be too soft. St. Bernards are a very sweet breed, so you have minimal chance of these relaxed methods creating any aggression, but in certain breeds, your way of raising your dog can create a dangerous animal. They are cute and lovable, but they are also carnivores. If they had a choice they would kill for their meal. Which means we have to teach them our human rules so they can exist in our human society safely. If no one tells them what is right and wrong, they do what an animal would do: run, jump, pee, poop, bite, growl, chew. Things that we dont allow. Most of your issues can be solved quickly with a solid obedience program. Not treat training, not petsmart. Im sorry, but I disagree. The behaviors that you dont mind and are just an annoyance will lead to worse behavior. Many small annoyances can be stopped with a minimal amount of disipline so they never get worse, so they never need corrected with harsher methods.
Ive seen this happen. Most the time it is something stuck in the paw (thorn?/ Glass?) If not, then maybe a muscle strain. Wait a day or two to see if it improves, then its off to the vet
The one and only way that I will teach a come command is mapped out in the book, "Koehler method of Dog Training". If you read this book, you will know everything there is to know about training a dog. However, I always throw out a warning when recomending this book. It was written a long time ago and the methods were much harsher then. There is a lot of genius in those pages, but when you read it, know that you will be taming it down QUITE a bit. I bought my copy on Amazon used for $0.37. They are expensive new
I think to answer that question it all depends on your preferences and the reasons with which you are looking for a dog. Certain breeds have very deeply embedded natural instincts, and training has a lot to do with utilizing those natural instincts to reinforce desired behavior and negate unwanted behavior. There is a really good book with a list of over 150 AKC recognized breeds, categorized by their specialties (Herding, Guarding, Hunting, Toy dogs etc...) and breed specific characteristics like energy level, exercise requirements, ability to learn and so on. It should go without saying that if you are looking for a dog that will just be sitting at home waiting for you day in and day out, you will want a breed that requires minimal exercise requirements and that is very low energy. You wouldn't want a Doberman Pinscher as a house pet if you didn't intend on exercising it thoroughly and providing it with good mental stimulation. A lot of people would argue (myself included) that border collies are one of the most intelligent, easily trained, and obedient dogs that exist to date. However, this comes at the price of being a very energetic and hard working dog. If you do not give a border collie the appropriate mental stimulation and physical exercise, you will have an unbalanced dog that demonstrates more behavioral issues than any other breed. Dog training and obedience comes down to balancing Exercise, Structure, and Affection(Food/Water/Love) so that the dog receives appropriate amounts of each. Some dogs require less exercise, but more structure, or vice versa. Fundamentally though, every dog will be trainable and obedient if trained, socialized, and worked with enough. There ARE exceptions to breed specific traits however, and I can claim to be one of the few people with a High energy breed dog who adopted many melancholy and chilled out traits. My border collie is mixed with an Australian Shepherd, both working dogs and very high energy. However, she is a very mellow dog who requires moderate exercise and thrives off of mental stimulation. She does however, have certain breed specific traits such as The Collie "Stare" , Nipping, and various other qualities that are directly related to her sheep herding heritage. That being said though, because she is provided with an adequate balance of exercise, structure, mental stimulation, and affection, these traits are minimized and she has other outlets for them.
How do I punish my dogs for getting out? I want them to know that they're being punished for getting out, not for getting caught. And when I catch them, should I reward them? If so, how will they know they're being rewarded for coming to me, and not being rewarded for running away?
I cannot speak for Irie but I myself am self-educated (as most trainers are I believe) in behavioral and analytical psychology as well as landing a job at a small business where the owner is an Ex Police K-9 dog trainer. I'm relatively young (20 years old) and will be attending a community college [lol] for psychology classes just to have fluff for my name. In this profession that is really all you have and either it's a name that provides a good service, or it's a name that is disrespected as a result of failing to provide good behavioral changes. Everything I know has been learned from my boss on private lessons, through group obedience classes, or read in various books on dog psychology. That and the personal experience I have working with my own dog and various dogs that attend our rehabilitation and daycare facility. One of my favorite pieces of literature is "How dogs think" by Stanley Coren. It really helped me conceptualize the thought processes that lead to the behavior I see inside of most dogs. The more you understand about operant conditioning and the natural instincts engrained into a dogs psychology, the easier it becomes to understand why and how the conditioning works to achieve the desired results in dog training. RULES: GUIDELINES: EXERCISE: These 3 things MUST be provided to prevent your dog from getting out. Ask yourself why it is that your dog is trying to escape in the first place? Is it getting enough exercise? Does it have the structure needed for it to understand that its place in this world is under you, the pack leader? To break my dog of this I did hundreds of repetitions consisting of going in and out of various places (Cars, houses, rooms etc...) I would make my dog sit, then stay, then reward. After a good amount of repetitions, I would make my dog sit, stay in front of the door, and then I would walk out backwards facing her. If she stayed and did not move, I would return to her and reward her for staying. After a while, when she no longer demonstrated any desire to exit the door without my approval, I would tell her to come and allow her to exit the door. This teaches your dog that the only time to enter or exit is with YOUR permission. I find this to be one of the most important things to teach your dog next to the heel command, because the number one reason for many dogs being hit by cars is because that escape from their house and run right in front of a car. If the proper structure had been in place, the dog would never consider it an option. Also: If your dog isn't receiving the appropriate amount of exercise then this behavior is likely to not cease entirely. I had a siberian husky who wasn't provided with adequate exercise and she spent all her time attempting to escape from our yard and from our house at any opportunity. Dogs live in the present moment, if the dog is coming to you, it has already long forgotten about the game of chase it has initiated and is focused solely on you. If the dog comes to you when you say come, it should be rewarded. You have to correct the undesired behavior as it happens, which is why it is so important to train your dog not to leave the house or your car until after you exit and give them permission. It lets the dog see that you are the maker of these decisions and thus will learn to respect you for it.
I consider myself self-taught , but ive had some help along the way. I started out taking my own dog through an obedience course because she had attacked another dog. I took her through 3 courses from 3 different trainers. Her problems were svere and I was trying my hardest to 'cure' her. Then I payed for a piece of shit certification course from the animal behavior college. If any of you have thought about doing one of these online courses- DONT. Waste of time, waste of money. I basically took a test and anwered questions that I already knew all of the answers to. Then they set me up with a mentor trainer who sucked. I didnt learn shit and might have even taught him some things. Animal Behavior College was a joke! So then, very similar to RorT, I got a job working under a very qualified trainer. He filled in a lot of the blanks in my obedience, gave me real life experience and taught me some new e-collar techniques. After a year at this job, I didnt feel that he had much more to teach me so I moved on and joined the International Association of Canine Professionals. This is a great organization which connected me to many of the great trainers in the country so I traveled around working with different trainers and soaking in their specialty techniques. Thats where i am now and Im still learning every day
You success is in prevention not correction after the deed is done. What you are doing now is punishing after they get out, which means that you are actually punishing them for coming back to you. This is counter productive. Never scold a dog after he comes back to you!. He'll never 'come' ever again. Every single time he comes to you, even if he just got out, he gets praise. He is not in trouble because you failed to train him and you failed to prevent him from getting out because you failed to teach boundaries at the front door. Everyday, open the ddor and go outside while keeping the dog inside. Let the door stay open, face the dog and play soccer goaly for a while. Show the dog that he is not allowed out of the front door unless he is invited. Use a leash if you are not confident that you can succeed without having a runaway dog.
Just got a dog door. How do I get my 2 dogs to go through it. They see the flap and won't try to push through it.
Use a leash and a collar and pull them through it. Most dogs will go right through. If they fight you just pull through it. Then repeat it over and over. The first couple of times may be tough but as you continue they'll get easier and easier. After you've made them do it a few times, they'll pick it up pretty quick.
This is not my field, but the one time that I played around with scent detection, this is what we did. We got 3 empty boxes. In one box we would put a scent of weed with a piece of meat. The other two were empty boxes. The dog would naturally pick up the meat and go to that box. When he did, we would reward by throwing a ball. We would change which box we would put it in and with repitition, he would smell the weed/meat combo and realize he was being rewarded for finding the right box. Then we got rid of the meat. When the dog went to find the scent, all he smelled was the weed, but understood the game by this point so he went to the box with the weed. So we rewarded him. Now he's a weed finder. I believe this is ReasonorTreason's area of expertise. Maybe he'll chime in with something extra
As of recent I started working with scent tracking with my BC and there are dozens of techniques you can use. However, this starts to get into the realm of very advanced obedience so there are some things you should recognize before attempting to train your dog with scent detection. With most advanced obedience skills, baby steps need to be taken in order to achieve the desired results. You cannot just take your dog and in one or two sessions have them scenting trails. Think of it in terms of having to learn to crawl before you can walk, and having to learn how to walk before you can run. With scenting, you first must establish that the dog will be rewarded for using his/her nose. I've been using cut up bits of hot dogs to start with and it's been working well. How I've started training my dog is like this: invest in a couple of pairs of cloth gardening gloves. Take a cut up piece of hot dog and put it in the palm of your hand with the glove on. Make a fist and Hold your hand up to the dogs nose. Come up with a command such as "Where is it?!" When they smell it, reward. Next, put a glove on the other hand but be sure to avoid getting the hot dog scent on it (use tongs and keep them in a plastic bag if you have to.) repeat the previous exercise while increasing distance from your dog, forcing them to come to you and select a hand. Do this a couple of times and be sure to alternate the hands that each glove is on so the dog is forced to determine using scent which hand is the correct hand. Only reward when the dog is consistantly going to the correct hand with the hot dog in it. After the dog has mastered the hand game and is selecting the correct hand when prompted with "Where is it?", begin making short trails by smashing pieces of hot dog into the grass, and leading up to a glove that has hot dog in it. Be sure to make the trails short at first and as the dog gets better at it add turns and twists. (Also note, do not let your dog see you place the glove. Put them into a sit/stay or down/stay and put the trail behind them, or have someone hold them facing away while you set up the trail.) Avoid standing at the glove and giving away its position, and make sure to stay with your dog so you can reward them as soon as they locate the glove. This can slowly be worked into having multiple gloves on the ground. When your dog is consistantly selecting the correct glove out of 4-5 gloves then you can start working with other scents. I don't have extensive experience with scent training necessarily but this is a basic technique my boss has taught me to play around with and it has provided decent results so far. As with any advanced obedience training, it will take a lot of time and repetition to thoroughly master it. If you have a dog that is scent trained though, and you get a puppy, it has been proven that through mirroring a puppy can pick up the skills needed to scent just by watching the older dog perform.