Step 1 Introduction

You can introduce a new behavior to your dog’s repertoire a number of different ways. I prefer to help dogs figure out what I want by luring them into a new behavior, capturing the behavior with a clicker, or shaping the behavior. All of these methods help the dog figure out what they are doing right by providing feedback through rewards (treats work best for teaching new behaviors for most dogs).

Step 2 Generalization or “He did it perfectly at home why won’t he do it in class?!”

After your dog has worked out the complete behavior you want, you must help him realize that he can do that behavior anytime, anywhere, and whenever you cue it. This surprises most people. They tend to think that once their dog has demonstrated a perfect recall once, he should be able to repeat that at any time. It would be great if this were the case, but sadly it isn’t. It takes awhile for dogs to realize which cues are important,  and it takes practice to be able to perform the cue with distractions or in new locations.  So after you have introduced a behavior you must generalize it. This means practice in many different situations, with different people, facing different directions, on different sides of your body, at different times of day, in different locations, inside, in the yard, at the park etc… Generalization is what you will spend MOST of your dog training time on.

The best way to generalize a new behavior is to raise your criteria for that behavior in VERY small steps, but raise it quickly. If the recall is the behavior you want, then start it from only 1 meter away. When he has done 8 perfect 1 meter recalls, ask for a 2 meter recall! If he can’t do 2 meters try 1.5 meters. Each session you practice, start two levels below where you think he can be successful then quickly work your way back up, then encourage him to do just a little bit more during each practice.  But remember it takes PRACTICE! The prefect recall is not learned in a single session.

Step 3 Maintenance

Occasionally you need to remind your dog that he can still do the behavior. If he goes for a long period of time without practice he will “forget”. If your dog has forgotten a behaviour you will have to start all over again at introduction. The good news is that  he should learn it much faster the second time around!

When I am doing a first session with clients I usually start with introducing them to a clicker. A clicker is a small hand held noisemaker, much like you would find at kid’s parties. But for the purpose of training, it is used as a marker for behavior. A clicker is ideal for this purpose because it is a quick noise that is almost instantaneous and completely repeatable. That means you can easily teach the dog by learned association, that if they hear a click, they will get a treat.

Once the dog understands that a click will always get them a treat, you then teach them that they can demonstrate behaviors and make you click. In this way they become active in their own training and actually enjoy the learning process itself!

Because of this, clickers are used all over the world to teach a variety of different animals new or complicated behaviors.  When I worked with Big Cats we used clickers as a means of communicating to our feline friends that we liked what they were doing. This is especially important because with many large predators you can’t force them to do what you want, you have to make them want to do what you want! Frequently you are working behind a cage wall so even if you wanted to you couldn’t use physical cues to model the behavior you needed.

The same is true for dogs, if you can get them to want to do something, whether that is staying off the couch, going to the toilet on cue, or just shaking hands. You can show them how much fun it is to do the things you like! And lets be honest, if you don’t like something, you don’t do it, and if you do like something you do it even if someone doesn’t give you a cupcake afterwards.

This is the basis for clicker training and one of the primary reasons why it works. We first teach the dog to positively associate the standard click noise with a positive experience (whatever motivates the dog). Clicks are especially good for this because they are the exact same sound every single time. Unlike the changes a voice might make when you are excited, angry, upset, or distracted. Or even a different person’s voice.

So first we have the dog learn the association; Click = Treat (pet, play ect…) treat is easiest to produce. Once the dog understands this, then you can start teaching him to learn that HE can control when the click happens. Once this cognitive leap is made the dog has learned the “game”.

The dog now associates the click with getting a treat and he knows that he can get you to click by trying new things or responding to the cues you have taught him. But keep in mind that the whole experience needs to be positive. The strongest correction given should be verbal/body language.

I have found that a lot of dog parents are surprised by the amount of work that goes into adopting a dog. It’s fun work, but its still work! And every once and a while that work just seems overwhelming. Even for people who have owned dogs in the past or are adopting a second dog. So my goal is to make their life easier and let every new dog owner know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

It is ok to be a little overwhelmed at first. In fact, its normal. I am hoping my blog brings insights, not only into dog training, but also the behaviour and psychology of the dog. I hope to answer all the “why did my dog DO that?” questions as well as share a few stories of my own that will bring readers a greater understanding of my methods and to share the amazing experiences I have had with a wide variety of animals!