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I am about to break a myth that has been around the dog training circuit for some time.
The myth is that you will “have a perfectly training pet in “X” number of Steps”.
The truth of the matter is that training your pet does require time, effort and multiple, repetitive training sessions.
Take a minute to think about the steps. Each step is one basic training lesson. Even washing your hair in the morning has several “steps”. Wet hair, lather, rinse and repeat.
I know that if training my dogs was as simply as saying “Sit, Stay, Good” and I was done, then I would have done so a long time ago. Even as a trainer I sometimes would rather be doing something else instead. Heck I like to watch TV, sit and read a book, or even post to my sites.
However, training a dog properly does take time. So do not get discouraged when you read headlines that claim your dog will be trained in a few steps. Just realize that each one of those steps does include sub-steps that must be performed.
If you think of “Sit” as one step, “Stay” and another step, “down” as a third, then yes you too will have a dog that is well trained once they have completed your version of the “x(1,2,5,12, whatever) step program”.
Anyone who knows who Bruce Lee is, and who really doesn’t know who he is, would likely know he is often held with high regard as being one of the best martial artists of all time.
But what would he be able to teach us if here were a dog trainer instead?
Well, take a moment to know what he did as a martial artist. For those who actually do not know, he founded his own martial art known as Jeet Kuna Do. Without going into a long winded seminar about marital arts, the main point here is that he created his own techniques.
He studied other martial arts, such as Kung Fu, Karate, and others and learned what aspects of those martial arts worked and which ones did not. He then kept the ones that worked and excluded the non-working methods from his training.
Ahhh. Training. Just like martial arts training, pet training requires many of the same principles. You must be
consistent
train properly
train often
you must train what works
you get rid of what doesn’t
Each person is going to train their own dog their own way. No one way is truly perfect for all owners or all pets. While not everyone will become the world’s best pet trainer, ever person has to take some active role in training their own pet.
Whether your pet learns to behave or your pet learns to misbehave, both are based on how you do, or don’t, train your pet.
I have not invented a “new style,” composite, modified or otherwise that is set within distinct form as apart from “this” method or “that” method. On the contrary, I hope to free my followers from clinging to styles, patterns, or molds.
- Bruce Lee
Lee, Bruce (September 1971). “[1] Liberate Yourself From Classical Karate”. Black Belt Magazine (Rainbow Publications, Inc.) 9 (9): 24.
Before you really start taking your pet training to a serious level, you will need to make one more really important decision.
You need to decide what exactly you want your pet to learn.
Some basic commands, such as sit, stay, come, down, should be taught to all dogs. Any dog will benefit from a consistent ability to follow these commands. As these are the foundation commands of having a well behaved dog.
But what other types of pet training are there? Would your pet enjoy them?
Many dogs love to have purpose. This is what makes training so good for a dog. They receive praise and treats for doing good and learn that the more good stuff they do, the more they are rewarded. Your pet is likely to be no exception to this rule.
Many people just do not realize that training your dog does not need to stop at a basic level. As you continue to train your pet, and as they continue to get better, consider taking your pet’s training to more advanced levels. Some advanced training techniques can be quite rewarding for both owner and pet.
Several other types of pet training fall into advanced training these often include
Pet Long Distance Jumping
Pet Agility Training
Schutzhund Training
Frisbee Toss Training
Protection Training
Search and Rescue Training
Canine Helper Programs for Handicapped
and many other programs.
Advanced training does not even need to be something as serious as search and rescue, but should be something both of you enjoy doing. We have one dog that loves to help us carry in wood during the winter. When we head to the wood pile, he grabs a piece and carries it inside for us. He enjoys it.
Other programs, such as Service Dogs Amercia, or the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Program, are always looking for volunteers that have socially behaved dogs. These dogs are often requested to visit elderly homes or sick children in the hospital. Which is often a very enjoyable and heartwarming experience.
The only limits to your dogs training potential come from both you and your dog. If you do not wish to train your pet to advanced levels, then by all means train the basics until your pet is well-behaved, sociable and a loving pet. On the other hand, keep in mind that there are many other options that you and your dog could pursue that might be rewarding to you and your pet.
This does it for this training series. Come back often as we continue to provide canine training tips for the average person.
I found this video today. This is a prime example of a well trained dog. While everyone may not think they need their dog to be this well-behaved, you should at least make sure your dogs adhere to important commands this well.
Important commands, such as sit, stay, or come should be done by your dog without any hesitation. This is for both your protection and the dogs. So strive for perfection on at least those three commands. Everything else will be a bonus.
By now you know that there are many different factors that will affect your pet’s training. Such factors as your own consistency, where you bring your pet, and the interaction of other people will likely give you some pause as to whether or not training is right for you and your pet. However, do not get discouraged.
This next lesson will show you exactly what you can do that will go a long way to insure your pet training success. This lesson is all about Pet Training Goals.
We all hopefully know what goals are and how to set them in our own lives. But our pet cannot set their own goals. This means that we need to set them ourselves and we need to do it properly.
If you have not done so yet, this is the perfect time to consider starting a pet training log or journal. A simple notebook or paper pad will do but I prefer a hardcover journal. These are available at Wal Mart or any local bookstore. They have a hard cover to withstand abuse and many come with a ribbon page marker for help locating your last entry.
Setting Pet Training Goals
Lets first take a quick look at the key principles of goal setting and how to apply it to your pet training.
Goal Setting Steps:
Be sure your goals are valid
Do not have Contradicting Goals
Choose Specific Goals
Make sure goals are high but attainable
Word goals in a positive nature
Write Goals on paper in detail
Above are the basic goal setting structures for any aspect of life, so why not use them for puppy training? There is no reason not to apply these rules. So lets do just that.
Pet Training Goal – Gentle and well behaved dog behavior when people visit
Pet should sit and wait patiently when people enter the door – A valid goal
This goal does not contradict desired calm, gentle, and desired behavior – check
Specific goals -
Pet should sit on command
pet should stay on command
pet should not move when door opens
pet should not move when person enters
pet should move only on command
Goal is high as this will require long-term training depending on pet, but very attainable with consistent practice.
Positive Goal – Our pet will behave in a calm, pleasant, well-behaved manner when people are greeted at the door. Pet will sit patiently until allowed to move.
Detailed Writing – Abie, our presently hyper active GSD normally likes to run and jump when there is someone at the door. By training her not to react in this manner we will be able to allow her to greet people safely when they come to visit. Her training will consist of repeated attempts to have her sit at the door, then told to stay, while someone opens the door. If she moves, the door will be closed and the process started over again. This will be repeated until the desired behavior of sitting and staying until told is achieved.
The above example is not merely some made up scenario but is in fact the actual routine used with our dog Abie. This is one of the exact behaviors we have working on her with as this is a most destructive behavior.
Tracking Pet Training Goals
Once you have written your above pet training goals into your pet training journal the next step will be to start tracking your progress. This can be done quite easily and with a little time you will notice improvements in your pets behavior.
To start I generally keep track of the following items.
number of times a command is said before response. You should not use a command repeatedly if possible. But it does happen. The general rule is say once, wait a few seconds. Then repeat.
How long the stay duration lasted. Once seated and told to stay, movement or lack of concentration can cause the dog to move. The longer the better.
What if any distractions were there.
These criteria will change depending on what you are training. But these are good basics, as they record command attempts, time, and potential problems.
The normal behavior pattern should also be recorded as a starting point. So what I can do is make a time line.
Abie Door Training Start -
Start – normal pattern – Abie runs to door when any motion made toward the door. Waits until first door opens, then pushes through storm door.
Day 1 Session 1 – Abie told to sit, took 3 tries. Abie told to stay. Abie will stay if no movement or distractions arise.
Open Door causes Abie to rise and go towards door
Repeat
Day 1 Session 2 – As inner door seems to trigger reaction to move, training consisted of working this one problem for several minutes until door no longer triggers reaction
day 1 Session 3 – Abie told to sit, took 2 tries. Abie told to stay. No movement on first door.
Opening handle to outer door causes reaction to move. Repeat
repeat several attempts with outer door until outer door no longer causes her to react
Day 2 session 4 – Abie will now sit on first command. Sits well. told to stay. Abie stayed until I was standing with both doors fully open. She did twitch twice as if to move, but a second stay command kept her still. Told to release allows her to come out the door.
As you can see within 1 day a noticeable change has taken place. All of these sessions did not take place one after the other and each took about 10-15 minutes before she would move to the next step. Just like walking you have to take one step at a time. Within a few days she was willing to sit at the door and wait for us.
When Abie decided she was going to move because of the door I simply closed the door and restarted. This shows the dog that the door opening was not the proper time to get up. Same with the second door or any other distraction. If someone comes in the room, repeat the entire process if your dog breaks the stay.
Tracking your pets goals is very important. Otherwise how will you really know if they are making any progress. Track it the way you want to, as long as you are tracking it. Write down what steps you take, what reaction occurred, and what corrections needed to be done. Setting and tracking your pet training goals will be the next building block to actually succeeding where others fails.
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