On Getting Your Dog To Come When You Call Him

As far as basic obedience goes, “come” is a pretty easy command to teach.
You excitedly call your dog toward you, maybe tugging the leash or offering a treat. When he comes, you praise him. Eventually you attach the word “come” to it, and there ya go, you have taught the recall command. But that’s not what people have trouble with. What really frustrates dog owners is
a) getting the dog to respond no matter what, and/or
b), maintaining the command.
How many of you started out in your training with a beautiful response to the recall, only to have it deteriorate to the point where you’re lucky if the dog even flicks an ear in your direction when you call him? I’m in the process of fixing a broken recall …read more

7 Habits of Highly Effective Dog Trainers

Some people are just really good at dog training. They get results and seem like naturals. Does this mean that the rest of us mere mortals cannot hope to be as good as they are? Nope.

Ask any one of these “naturals” how they got so good and they’ll probably tell you “with lots of practice.” And whether they are pros with hundreds of clients, agility handlers, or 12 year old kids training their pet in the backyard, they all tend to possess the following seven habits. I could probably turn each one of these into a blog post by themselves, but for now, here’s an overview.

Good trainers…

1. are clear and consistent
Imagine being taught the rules of a new game in a foreign language. Hard enough, but your teacher constantly changes the rules and even changes the meaning of words. This is what your dog faces when you don’t use consistency in your training.
Before you start your training sessions, get an image in your head of how you want the session to go. Think of what voice/hand signals you’ll use and the exact behavior you want the dog to perform. Once you’re actually training, concentrate on delivering your cues clearly. Use the same cues every time.

2. know what their dog wants
Because sometimes liver treats aren’t enough. Whenever you’re training (or even just hanging out), watch your dog and ask yourself “what does my dog want right now?” Maybe she really wants to go sniff that fascinating tree. Maybe she can’t wait to get to the dog park. Turn distractions into rewards. Once she does what you ask, reward her by letting her have the “distraction” for a while. She’ll learn that doing what you want gets her what she …read more

Using Rewards in Dog Training

Food! When you saw the title, that was the first thing you thought of, right? You may envision colorful little Milkbones, liver treats or chopped-up hot dogs. If you train with food a lot and are now sick of the smell of hot dogs, you’ll be relieved to know that rewards don’t have to be just treats.

A reward (“reinforcement” is the technical term) is whatever the trainee finds valuable. Trainers use …read more