I help my clients train a lot of dogs. Over the years of observing I have discovered some tiny details that when performed correctly have huge results.
Let's look at a simple skill like teaching a dog his name.
You know you want the dog to come when he hears his name. There are the common pitfalls of don't use his name as a correction, don't set him up for failure unless you have management in place and don't say his name unless you are prepared to make sure he responds. I have clients who are following all these rules and yet their "Name Game" is not improving how I and they hoped it would .
Here are some details that will have a huge impact.
The "Name Game' is a game of movement, I want to reward movement. This means I will continue to move backwards as I reward the dog. I will not have the dog sit and then reward the dog because then I would be building value for the sit and not the movement.
If your dog has not got value for having his collar grabbed do not call him and then grab his collar, you are correcting him every time he comes. Work on the collar grab separately.
Never, ever, ever move towards the dog. You are teaching coming therefore the dog always has to move towards you to get the reward. I have seen so many clients call their dogs and the dog very nicely turns their head towards the client and the client steps in and rewards. This all looks good but you are teaching the dog that turning your head is all that is expected, not any movement. Now picture your dog in a field and you call his name and he turns and looks at you. In the dogs eyes he is doing exactly what he has been trained to do but I have heard many an owner say my dog is being stubborn or dominant.
It doesn't matter what the cue is; the dogs name or come or here or whatever be aware of how it is used and when. I regularly see people say come and then drag the dog along on their leash. All the dog is learning is the "come" cue means I am about to get pulled so they plant themselves, not at all conducive to come.
Don't allow your dog to practice failure on a regular basis. Your dog is out in the field and you yell "come" and your dog ignores you completely or worse heads in the other direction. Sure if you think maybe he didn't hear you try it one more time but after that all your doing is associating the word "come" with either ignore you or go the other way. Get the dog back without calling him; go get him, walk away, give treats to your other dog, pretend there is something very interesting on the ground (gets them every time). When the dog comes put him on leash, go home and realize you have to do some work on building the value for coming when called.
Your recall is one of the most important skills I dog needs. A dog that comes when called gets more exercise therefore ends up being better behaved. Have fun teaching your dog to love to come to you.
Let's look at a simple skill like teaching a dog his name.
You know you want the dog to come when he hears his name. There are the common pitfalls of don't use his name as a correction, don't set him up for failure unless you have management in place and don't say his name unless you are prepared to make sure he responds. I have clients who are following all these rules and yet their "Name Game" is not improving how I and they hoped it would .
Here are some details that will have a huge impact.
The "Name Game' is a game of movement, I want to reward movement. This means I will continue to move backwards as I reward the dog. I will not have the dog sit and then reward the dog because then I would be building value for the sit and not the movement.
If your dog has not got value for having his collar grabbed do not call him and then grab his collar, you are correcting him every time he comes. Work on the collar grab separately.
It doesn't matter what the cue is; the dogs name or come or here or whatever be aware of how it is used and when. I regularly see people say come and then drag the dog along on their leash. All the dog is learning is the "come" cue means I am about to get pulled so they plant themselves, not at all conducive to come.
Don't allow your dog to practice failure on a regular basis. Your dog is out in the field and you yell "come" and your dog ignores you completely or worse heads in the other direction. Sure if you think maybe he didn't hear you try it one more time but after that all your doing is associating the word "come" with either ignore you or go the other way. Get the dog back without calling him; go get him, walk away, give treats to your other dog, pretend there is something very interesting on the ground (gets them every time). When the dog comes put him on leash, go home and realize you have to do some work on building the value for coming when called.
Your recall is one of the most important skills I dog needs. A dog that comes when called gets more exercise therefore ends up being better behaved. Have fun teaching your dog to love to come to you.
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