Tutorials | Dog Spelled Forward

How can I get my dog to calm down?

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: January 1, 2010

Buddha is feeling crazy!

Exercising impulse control isn’t something that comes naturally to all dogs, especially adolescents (those aged roughly 6 – 24 months). But we can help our dogs quite a bit with some basic training. Although it is completely unscientific, I like to describe impulse control as a “muscle” that can be developed and strengthened with exercise.

Training “wait” is one way to teach your dog to display some patience. “Wait” is exactly what the name implies: waiting for a release before doing something. Many dog people already perform this exercise at mealtimes, but it is a very useful behavior just about any time. For example, teaching your dog to wait before passing through a doorway, going down stairs, or exiting the car can be not only more pleasant for you, but also more safe for everyone.

The reward for waiting is being released and allowed to continue. It’s not necessary to use food with this behavior. As you will see below, I only use food after the wait to get some additional attention after the release. Over time your dog will learn that good things come to he who, well, waits!

When you train “wait” you use a release word, just like with “stay.”. Most people use “OK!” for this. It’s important to be sure that your dog does not move until she hears your release. It’s also good to get in the habit of only releasing your dog when her attention is on you, so you will see me wait for my dog to make eye contact with me before I release him.

Do not use the leash to stop your dog. Use your body to block her and/or occupy space. Doing this you can convey what you want your dog to do without using the leash or even touching her.

I also add an extra step to the exercise. After the release I wait for eye contact from my dog and then mark it with a “yes” and reward my dog.

In the video below I use a pair of traffic cones to demonstrate training Gage how to “wait” at a doorway.

The video is broken down into 4 nominal steps:

First, get a brief moment of hesitation at the “door.”
Next, pivot in front of your dog and add a bit more duration. (Gage doesn’t try to get past me, if your dog does, block her way like a soccer goalie.)
Keep pivoting in front and add a few steps backward before the release.
Get rid of the pivot.

There is a brief handout on training this here.

Also posted in Videos | 8 Comments

How can I stop my dog from being afraid of being touched?

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: October 26, 2009

Do you have a hard time picking up your dog or touching his collar? Does he run away to evade your hands? Is putting on your dog’s leash a major undertaking?

Many dogs are afraid of hands near their face and/or afraid of having their collars grabbed. Being afraid of hands is often assumed to be a sign of abuse when in fact it is not. This problem can be caused by a lack of sufficient handling as a puppy, by a sensitive temperament, or as a result of just one bad experience.

Being afraid of hands and being picked up is especially common with smaller dogs. Human hands can seem huge to a small dog and almost always come from above, where they look even more intimidating.

Fortunately, this problem can be addressed with some very simple desensitization. We use a combination of treats and gradual touch around the head, face, and collar to change our dog’s opinion about being touched.

Get a generous amount of a very desirable treat. Feed your dog while very gradually moving your hands toward your dog’s head from the side or underneath, not from above or the front. Over time (this may take many sessions) you should be able to touch your dog and gently grab the collar.

When you can gently grab the collar, starting using the “gotcha” cue. Rather than making it a game of chase, you are making offering the collar (in return for a reward) a behavior, just like “sit” or “down.”

Keep sessions short and fun. It’s much better to have a few one or two minute sessions a day that one marathon session.

Here is a video.

(Neither of the dogs in the video have a problem with their collars being grabbed. Unfortunately the two dogs I am working on this problem with right now are also afraid of cameras. )

Also posted in Training Tips, Videos | 1 Comment

This Way! – Avoiding Trouble on Leash

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: October 12, 2009

You’re walking with your dog and you spot something ahead that you do not want to pass or meet. Maybe it’s another dog that looks like trouble. What will you do?

“This way!” is a cue that tells your dog to immediately turn around and follow you. It is trained by practicing this move with a treat as a lure. The key is to use the treat to teach your dog to walk in a small circle around you, rather than letting the leash get tight and pull him. This brief video shows me practicing it, including a mistake in the beginning where I let the leash get too tight.

Rocky is having a really hard time with the slippery floor, so I cut the session short.

Start working on this behavior in a low distraction environment and then take it on the road. Whenever you start working in a more distracting area, use treats and then fade them away after your dog becomes proficient.

“This way” is a very simple technique that can help you get out of trouble quickly. It also had the added bonus of redirecting your dog’s attention to you, keeping his mind off of the distraction.

Have fun!

Also posted in Training Tips, Videos | 5 Comments

My Dog is Afraid. What Can I Do?

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: September 28, 2009

Last week I posted a video of Caffeine getting her ears cleaned. When we are trying to change a dog’s behavior our can can be broadly classified into two types of activities: training and behavior modification.

Training is concerned with what dogs do. We can train a dog to do something he already knows how to do, such as sitting on cue. We can train a dog to do something new, such as come when called. We can also train a dog to stop doing something we don’t want, such as jump on visitors.

Behavior modification deals with how dogs react to situations, places, people or other dogs. With behavior modification we change emotional responses.

Of course, this division may look neat “on paper” (or it may not) but in reality the two activities have a lot of overlap. Many unwanted behaviors are the result of emotional responses and changing emotional responses frequently requires training new behaviors, but a complete awareness of the two approaches is key to solving many problems.

Negative emotional responses are frequently the result of inadequate or improper socialization. There is a lot of information about the need for proper puppy socialization available on the Internet. Liz Catalano has some great information here. Dr. Ian Dunbar discusses it extensively in his books and here. I mentioned it a few weeks ago here.

They can also be the result of unpleasant experiences. Dogs, like us, are constantly creating associations. A bout of car sickness can create fear and anxiety around cars. Being attacked by another dog can create a fear of dogs. Being abused by a person can create problems with people. How general or specific depends largely on the individual dogs. For some dogs a bad experience with a brown dog results in a problem with brown dogs. For others the association might be with all dogs.

While knowing the “why” behind our dog’s negative emotional responses can be very satisfying, it’s not nearly as useful as knowing the “what.” Behavior modification consists of identifying the stimulus that elicits the emotional responses and then pairing that stimulus, which is presented in gradually increasing intensity, with something pleasant. It literally changes the dog’s opinion about the situation.

An important aspect of this process is the gradually increasing intensity. When discussing behavior modification, behavior people frequently use the term “over threshold.” When a dog is “over threshold” she is displaying the intense fearful or aggressive behavior we want to change. When this state is reached learning has ceased. It’s time to stop the process, remove the dog from the situation, and either start over or quit for the day.

For example, consider a dog that reacts negatively to having her nails clipped. She reacts badly as soon as she sees the clippers. This may be because she had them cut too short once or just because she doesn’t like have her feet handled. It doesn’t matter

Here’s a condensed procedure:

Take out the clippers. Give dog a yummy treat.
Repeat for a few days.
Take out clippers. Place them on coffee table. Give dog a yummy treat.
Repeat for a few days.
Take out clippers. Place them on coffee table. Pick up. Move slightly toward dog. Give dog a yummy treat.
Repeat for a few days.
Take out clippers. Place them on coffee table. Pick up. Move slightly toward dog. Touch one paw. Give dog a yummy treat.
Repeat for a few days.
Take out clippers. Place them on coffee table. Pick up. Move slightly toward dog. Place clipper on nail. Give dog a yummy treat.
Repeat for a few days.
Take out clippers. Place them on coffee table. Pick up. Move slightly toward dog. Clip one nail. Give dog a yummy treat.
Repeat for a few days.

And so forth. if at any point the dog reacted badly, it would be time to back up a step or two and continue until the response is completely gone again.

Does this sound like a long process? Good. It is. There are no 30 minute fixes, and punishment works on emotional responses about as effectively as hitting someone who is afraid of spiders until she agrees to kiss a tarantula.

Look here more training tips and tutorials. Click here if you are interested in home or group class training.

Also posted in Training Theory, Training Tips | 4 Comments

My Dog Keeps Taking Stuff!

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: September 25, 2009

It seems like your dog is always stealing something. Your dog steals your shoes. Your dog steals your socks. Your dog steals your remote control. Your steals your Crocs. (Sorry. I’m a Dr. Seuss fan.)

Stealing things can be very rewarding for a dog. Most dogs love to put anything and everything in their mouths. Many dogs also love to chase and be chased, and nothing gets that started quite like stealing an iPhone or half of a pair of Uggs!

We train two behaviors to help with dogs stealing things. “Give” or “Release” is for getting your dog to drop something. “Leave it” is for getting him to not pick it up in the first place.

We train “Leave it” by training a dog to avoid things. Avoiding means not even looking at an item, let alone trying to take it. The complete behavior is “turn away from what you are currently looking at and look at me”

Training starts with treats and is then generalized to other things. When fully mastered you can tell your dog to leave anything, including other dogs and people

This video shows the initial training:

You can see three steps with Jewels, an exceptionally smart puppy:

Marking and rewarding not lunging at or trying to taking a treat from my closed hand
Then my open hand.
Finally from the floor.

The initial training really does take only a few minutes (the edits are because of a shaky camera, not time), and you do want to try to get the “leave it treat” to the floor very quickly. It was very fast with Jewels, but most dogs shouldn’t take more than 3 or 4 minutes.

Each time Jewels stops trying to get the treat (she does a great sit or down when she does – not all dogs do that) I mark the moment with “Yes!”

During the “open hand” part, timing with the “Yes” is critical. Your dog may only stop trying to get the treat for an instant and a “Yes” during that moment really helps convey what you are trying to teach her.

After you gain a high level of proficiency on the floor, the next step is to delay the “Yes” until you get solid eye contact from your dog. From there, you can start to practice on other items, first inside and then outside in the presence of distractions.

Look here more training tips and tutorials. Click here if you are interested in home or group class training.

Also posted in Videos | 21 Comments

My Dog Won’t Let Me Do That

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: September 23, 2009

A few years back Caffeine developed a nasty ear infection. A vet tech was way too rough with her and she ended up not liking her ears handled. Not. One. Bit.

My wife, Dagmar, (dog handler and spouse extraordinaire) took some time and over the course of a few weeks of careful work she convinced Caffeine that having your ears handled isn’t just “OK.” It’s actually great! (You can even see Clever and Smart milling around waiting for their turns.)

There’s no magic formula here. Just take your time and reward generously. Dagmar started out just touching the sides of Caffeine’s head and giving her some peanut butter. Then the ear, then the edge of the ear etc. until you are able to actually clean them. It may take weeks, it may take longer. Just take it slow and always quit while you are ahead: with a happy, comfortable dog. This process is called systematic counter-conditioning and desensitization.

The same process applies with clipping nails and brushing teeth.

Posted in Tutorials | Tagged Video | 3 Comments

My Dog Won’t Come When Called!

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: September 18, 2009

Being able to call your dog to you in a emergency is a critical ability, yet many people have problems training this. It’s actually a pretty simple behavior to train if you are willing to observe a few basic rules and put in some time practicing.

A recall is a behavior we train for emergencies, not for routine situations like coming in from the yard or for meals. For these situations use another cue. For example, when we are done playing in the yard I use “Inside!” and my dogs run into the kitchen. Sometimes they get a treat for that. (Most of the time they don’t, which makes it all the more tantalizing.)

When you have to use your emergency recall, you want your dog’s immediate attention and you want him to come to you as quickly and directly as possible, without hesistation. In order to insure this we follow these rules:

A recall is always rewarded with something special. We do not fade out rewards like other commands.
A recall never ends something fun or starts something that is not fun. This is why we use other cues for routine situations that may not be rewarding.
When practicing always guarantee success. The goal of practice is for a recall to be automatic.

Caffeine is distracted by the toy. I call: “Caffeine! Here!” She immediately turns and runs to me as fast as possible. When she reaches me she sits and waits for her reward. She only gets up when I release her with an “O.K!”

So, a full recall consists of four behaviors:

Find me when I call your name.
Run to me when I say “here.”
Sit at my feet when you get there.
Stay there until released.

We train complex behaviors like this by breaking it down into steps. Since the most difficult part of a recall is sitting and staying, we practice that first:

Practice this call/step exercise, gradually adding more steps and adding more time at the end. Adding time at the end is easy: feed very small (and very tasty) treats, one at a time. Always feed at least seven.

After a few days of practice and solid performance at six steps at a time, add some distance. This video shows two different exercises for that.

The first exercise adds some speed and distance to the previous exercise. You may need someone’s help to hold your dog to keep her from following you. As you practice this, start spacing out your treats at the end to add even more duration to the stay at the end.

The second is a “run away recall.” Running away from most dogs usually results in them chasing you, like a game of tag. Use that to make practicing your recalls a game.

Keep practicing, for as long as you and your dog are together. This is a critical emergency behavior and you don’t want it to get rusty! Make sure you use a special treat and make sure you reward her every time! For some really snappy behavior, add a game of tug at the end, after the treats!

Look here more training tips and tutorials. Click here if you are interested in home or group class training.

Also posted in Videos | 12 Comments

Five Ways To Stop Your Dog From Jumping Up On People

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: September 11, 2009

Jumping on people, whether it be at the door when visitors arrive, out on walks, or just about anytime, is one of the top three or four complaints I get from clients. Jumping up is a very common problem and solving it can be very frustrating.

It’s important to keep in mind that dogs jump up because they want to greet people. They jump to get our attention and/or to reach our face. It is not a dominant behavior, regardless of what some say. As a matter of fact, in doggy etiquette a face-to-face greeting frequently involves licking the lips of the other dog to show appeasement. Harsh corrections risk changing a happy reaction to meeting people into something much more undesirable.

Here is a list of five steps you can take to put a stop to jumping on people. Your solution will probably be a combination of these steps, not just one and certainly not all of them.

Calm down – We frequently react to jumping by raising our voices and pushing the dog away. Doing this actually increases the intensity of the situation and makes it worse. Your best bet, regardless of which of the other steps you take is to calm down. Not only are your attempts to get your dog to stop reinforcing the behavior (she is seeking attention and getting it), it’s also possible that they feed an already anxious dog’s excitement level. Set up practice sessions so you don’t get so upset and try to act as even-handed and calm as possible.
Ignore it – ignoring jumping up is frequently recommended, but rarely seems to work. There is a very good reason. Most people do not really ignore the behavior. They make exceptions (or excuses) for some situations, such as for specific family members or locations. The goal of ignoring a behavior is extinction, but extinction will only occur when the behavior is truly never reinforced. If it is reinforced infrequently, the behavior will most likely get worse. I discuss extinction in depth here on Dog Star Daily.
Train a rock steady sit – one of the best ways to remove an annoying behavior like jumping up, is to identify an incompatible behavior and train your dog to do that instead. Sitting is a great example – jumping up and sitting at the same time is very difficult, even for the more determined dog. In my earlier post on jumping up I discuss training sit as a greeting.
Teach how to greet politely – maintaining a sit in the face of people is very difficult for many dogs. Instead of training a sit, you could training “Say Hi,” an alternative greeting that allows you dog to investigate the new person without knocking them over.

Here is a document on training this behavior.
Manage the situation – sometimes your best bet is to just avoid the situation, especially in the early stages of your training. Think of every time your dog jumps up as practice, and that she is getting better at it. If you are having visitors and believe that your dog will have problems restraining herself, manage the situation. Put her in her crate, close her into another room, or maybe keep her on leash. You can either introduce her after everyone has entered, or just keep her separated and avoid the situation altogether.

Look here more training tips and tutorials. Click here if you are interested in home or group class training.

Also posted in Training Tips, Videos | 5 Comments

Lure/Reward Training: Training Sit

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: July 5, 2009

Lure/Reward is exactly what it sounds like – luring the dog into doing something and then rewarding him for doing it. It is a very useful technique for many circumstances, especially basic obedience.

Here is a video of me putting sit on cue with Caffeine. (Actually, Caffeine already knew this, but it’s a decent representation.)

The lure is anything that your dog will follow such as a piece of kibble or a toy. The reward is almost always the lure itself.

Lure/reward training use a positive reward marker to “mark” the instant the dog performs the behavior being trained. For example, when training a sit, the moment the dog’s rear end hits the floor would be marked. A frequent marker is the word “yes.”

The process of teaching a behavior with lure/reward training can be explained in a few basic steps:

1) Lure the behavior and mark the instant your dog performs it. (This is step 1 in the video.)

2) When the behavior can be reliably lured, add the cue or “command” before the lure. (This is step 2 in the video.)

3) Get rid of the lure as fast as possible. Continue to mark and reward the behavior, but only produce the reward after the behavior is performed. (This is step 3 in the video.)

4) Once the behavior can be reliably acquired, stop marking (and rewarding) every instance. Reward at random.

There are a few important concepts embedded in these steps.

Don’t introduce the cue (or “command”) until the dog has mastered the behavior. Dog’s tend to respond to visual cues, such as a lure, better than audible signals like words.

Get rid of the lure right away. This is critical to avoiding “show me the money-itis.” A treat you have to show your dog before he does something is a bribe, not a lure.

Once the cue is taught and the lure is removed, it’s time to start rewarding at random. Behaviors that are rewarded at random are very strong and reliable. A behavior that is always rewarded falls apart the first time a reward is missed.

Steps 1 – 3 should usually occur in one session, unless the behavior is particularly complex or there is some exceptional difficulty.

Moving to step 4 can be tricky – too soon and the behavior may fall apart. Too late and you’ll get the same result for a different reason. For basic obedience the general rule is to shift to random rewards after the behavior is reliable is a few different places with some basic distractions, usually after about a week of regular practice.

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Attention: How to get your dog to pay it to you

By Eric Goebelbecker | Published: June 30, 2009

Why does your dog pull on leash? Because she’s not paying attention to you: she’s paying attention to the tree, hydrant, dog, or piece of dust she’s trying to get to.

Why doesn’t your dog come to you when you call? Because he’s paying attention to where he is (or where he’s going) instead of you.

Why doesn’t your dog drop your sock? You can see where I’m going with this.

How do you get attention? By being more interesting than everything else. This doesn’t mean that your dog should only have eyes for you, it just means that when you ask your dog should want to pay attention to you.

Play the name game. Start at home in a quiet room and gradually work your way up to distractions both inside and outside. It may take a long time, but it’s amazing how much easier it is to ask your dog to do something when he’s actually looking at you.

There is also a video covering this exercise here.

Visit my training tutorials page for more training information and some videos. Visit my services page to see how I can help you.

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