The first thing I always talk about with a new client, is the power of association. The primary form of learning for all living things is learning by association. This is especially important for dogs because they can’t rely on higher cognition to figure out that they don’t really have to be afraid of wheelie bins just because a car backfired the first time he saw one.

When communicating with dogs, we can use this power of association to help them understand that there are plenty of things out in the world that can bring them good things. This is why working with treats is so important. Treats are a useful way to create positive associations with unfamiliar or even scary new objects. Look! a traffic cone, Treat! Look a group of kids, Treat! Look! a loud train, Treat!

You get the idea.

Training, no matter which methods you are a fan of, is generally thought of as: how you get your dog to do what you want her to do. But what about all those other moments in the day when you aren’t asking your dog to do something specific?

These are times during the day when your dog is not doing anything actively for you, but is making his own decisions about what to do. If you have made your dog very aware of types of behavior you appreciate then he will likely choose to lay quietly on his bed and chew one of his toys. It is quite possible however that although your dog is very obedient (he does what he is asked to do) he is not fully aware of what you consider “good” behavior so he may make a poor decision as to how to spend his free time. Then when steping away from your computer, you find that your very obedient dog has pulled your sunglasses off the kitchen counter and turned them into a misshapen twist of metal and plastic.

As you can see there is a big difference between an obedient dog and a well trained dog. A well trained dog knows what his leader wants without having to be told. I realize this sounds  bit like a 6th sense but it isn’t. This is simply a result of a very strong bond between the careg giver and the dog.  It isn’t magic although some people have more of an intuition for creating a bond with their dogs than others.

You can have a bond like this with your dog but it isn’t always easy and you may need to alter your preconceived ideas towards your furry family member.

FIRST: Realize is that your dog is not a machine. He is unlike every other dog in the world, he is unique. If you had a five Black Labs before, this one is different. Although all dogs learn in very similar ways, care about very similar things and may react similarly to the same experience, your dog is not the sum of his instincts.

SECOND:  Understand what is important to your dog. Yes, that’s right, your dog’s opinion matters. So find out what your dog likes! Does your dog look dolefully at you when you place dry dog food in his bowl for dinner? Does she prefer one of her bed’s to another? Are there some walking trails she seems to have more fun on than others? Some dog friends she gets really excited to see?

THIRD: Build trust. Trust goes both ways. I am always amazed by people who complain that their dog “doesn’t pay attention”. Then I meet the dog and although the dog has offered numerous attempts at seeking eye contact, the owner hasn’t looked at him once, so he gives up. Your dog needs to trust that you will also pay attention, listen, care about him. If you can show him that you are capable of these things then your dog will do the same for you!

FOURTH: Touch. Sure everyone pets their dog, maybe they give him a scratch behind the ears if they are really doling out the praise. Very few people actually spend the time to give there dog a full body massage. Massage is not only a must for building a strong bond with your dog, but also can help you discover hidden wounds and sore spots you may not have known he she had. Massage builds the bond with your dog partly because of the time you spend with her during the massage, but for your dog, it reinacts her puppyhood when her mother used to lick her clean many times a day. Massage from mom was one of the very first touch experiences your dog ever had and it was warm, comforting and has an extremely strong positive association. By touching your dog with long, firm, and slow strokes, you will tap into that touch-memory from your dog’s early weeks and tell her through your actions that you are her mother, her protector and everything that is good.  

All new training takes time but the bond with your dog can start improving right away. Every step builds your dog’s trust and his devotion to you. A bond is not one sided, it goes both ways. It not only shows you both what you each find important but it also makes you care what the other finds important. Now, when you sit down at your computer you can be confident that your dog will make a good decision about how he spends his time without supervision, because he knows and he cares what you think.

Many of the dogs I see are not toilet trained. The first question I always ask these clients is “How often does shadow NEED to go to the toilet?”, the answer I get most often is “I don’t know.”

Toilet training becomes immensely easier when you can answer this question with complete confidence. There is a quick rule of thumb for house training puppies that is; 2 months old = 2 hours, 3 months old = 3 hours, 4 months old = 4 hours, etc…  Then your puppy can probably hold a little longer at night. Some puppies can sleep through the night, others might need a potty break.

The way to figure out how often your puppy actually needs to go is to start timing her. I encourage my clients to keep a Training Log. You keep the notebook by the door and whenever anyone takers her out for a break they write in the book; what time, what she did (pee or poo), and how long it took. Keeping the log will keep everyone in the house on the same timetable and show you quite clearly how often shadow actually needs to go out.

For people that have their dog mostly toilet trained (1-2 accidents/week). keeping the log will help you get over that last hurdle. However for beginners (young puppies) you will probably need to do a bit more to ensure the house is accident free.

1. Shadow should NOT get free reign of the house and should always be supervised. This is especially true when she hasn’t had a break in awhile. If you can’t supervise her, then I highly recommend getting a crate and doing some positive crate training. She can stay in the crate with a chew toy when you are too busy to watch her, and she may not be “empty”.

2. Keep to a schedule, and let her out before she HAS to go. This is especially true if you are having morning accidents. If she goes at 5:30 AM then set your alarm for 5AM! (then go back to bed). This will help her build her trust in you, she will get to go out before she feels like it is an emergency!

3. Always positively reinforce going outside. Give a special treat for using the toilet outside (a small bit of dried liver afterwards)! This will encourage her to hold it until she can go out, she learns to differentiate between indoors and out! Why would she go inside when she waits a little longer and gets a treat for going out!

4. For heaven’s sake don’t scold or punish accidents! That means no growling, yelling, slapping or rubbing her nose in it. All this will do is convince her of your insanity and make her try to hide the next accident in a closet, a shoe, or your kid’s room. If you have already started training this way, then stop immediately and start with the previous steps, build her trust in you again and you will start having less accidents. Although she may occasionally regress if she feels unsafe going to the bathroom outside when you are near.

The moral of this story is; stay positive and calm, clean up messes with no fuss, stay on a schedule, and reinforce with treats for going in the correct place. Stay consistent and you will have a toilet trained puppy or dog in no time at all!

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.