Bob's Dog Blog

Here is some information that I feel is vital to the correct development of your working dog. It is often missed, ignored and otherwise relegated to the zone of  ‘that stuff is for other people’s dogs’, which is inaccurate to say the least.

So, when should the red light go off regarding formal obedience training?  When your dog is old enough to know the value of reward and motivation for executing a command, has developed some focus and when it is beginning to test the boundaries of its relationship with the owner. This comes into play around six to eight months old, can happen earlier or later, but it will happen.

Here we have the dog, who, when asked to sit (off leash), will sit some of the time; who will engage in destructive chewing or barking; who will challenge the handler or people in the environment; doesn’t come when called. The list goes on.

Here is the rule: A dog will not learn actual compliance to a command while off the leash/correction collar. True compliance to a given command will only be effective once the dog realizes it cannot disobey the command, ever.

The solution is to either enroll in a puppy obedience class or teach yourself how to train your dog. That means every day, for its lesson, it is on a leash, with a correction collar (usually a prong). That doesn’t mean endlessly telling the dog ‘No’, louder and louder in a vain attempt to control the animal with your voice. This is a useless exercise. There has to be a an actual physical correction in conjunction with the command (Sit, Stay, Come, etc) for the command to have an impact on the dog.  This doesn’t mean, of course, that you should over-correct or be a sadist with your animal.  This is not punishment. It is training. If you cannot differentiate between the two, get a lizard for a pet.

A few minutes a day, with a day or two off per week,  should start conditioning a dog towards good obedience.

As a note on this, there are some people who feel it is cruel to correct a dog with a collar. They feel, instead, that you can use reason and human communication alone to get a dog to obey. There are all sorts of silly dog training ‘techniques’ out there that purport to solve the ‘problem’ of training a dog in obedience by not training the dog in obedience. Good luck with that, especially with a working breed.

If you think this doesn’t apply to your dog, or that your dog is a natural Rin-Tin-Tin, then by all means disregard the above rule. However, I am willing to wager you that at some point your dog will choose to disobey your command and that will be the end of that experiment. A dog will get away with as much as it can get away with, in the obedience department. It is a fact that obedience is not native to a dog’s behavior, so one probably should also conclude that the human handler must  create an environment where obedience is part of the dog’s life.

If you wait for the dog to make decisions on its behavior, you are asking for trouble.

Good luck and Good obedience training.

I thought I’d share some things I’ve learned over the past few years, while training 3 month old, 4 month old, etc. puppies.

You see, I’ve tried to train eight week old pups. Not very much there to work with. I’ve tried working with ten week olds. Better, but still not enough attention and focus to do basic work. So, I’ve been just letting these pups grow a bit, gain some muscle tone through exercise and learn basic things, like how to climb up steps and walk through a doorway.

However, starting at around 14 weeks, for some reason, I started to see that the pups really come alive and begin to recognize that there is something more than eating, sleeping and random play. This is, truly, the time when the pup’s awareness of its surroundings becomes focused enough that the handler can create a proper bond between person and dog. This is when obedience training will sink in, when the connection between a light correction, a command and a reward will all begin to make some sense to the pup.

For example, today I took out a pup, at 15 weeks, who has had nothing more than some basic leash work and basic socialization. I put her on a big slip lead, brought along some of her kibble and began to coax her to come to me, rewarding all the time with the food. I did the same with the ‘sit’ command. After no more than five minutes or so, the pup was responding, doing the basics of a recall and a sit. Granted it was sloppy and sometimes hesitant, but she always did the command and got her reward. This is the beginning of actual obedience training and the pup will NEVER forget the five minutes I spent with her, as it was fun and gave her a reason to comply.

So, here is my first suggestion about puppy training:

Do not become frustrated if your pup does not respond to obedience training prior to 12-16 weeks of age. Be patient, continue to socialize and crate train and the pup will wake up and start working with you at some point between 12-16 weeks of age.

Here is my second rule, just to set the record straight:

Any attempt to do obedience training on a pup WITHOUT a leash is a waste of time. The bond between human and dog must have the leash to become totally real to the animal. This is so the pup recognizes that the correction has something to do with the human and that the correction will consistently occur when the dog disobeys. Very light coaxing and correction can be done on a four month old, with a fat, english style slip lead. To give a pup corrections with verbal only will not condition the dog to obey under ALL CONDITIONS, as, depending on the individual dog, disobedience may be the path more traveled than obedience.

I would hate to be the owner of a dog, who, after being ‘trained’ without a lead and collar, decided to run across the street or continue chewing on the furniture, or worse, at age one or two.

I sincerely hope this helps.

Bob

Sometimes, I work with young dogs and pups as sort of an ongoing obedience laboratory. I spend time imprinting them with what I feel an owner wants and needs and then continue with basic training and socialization. The real fun comes when the young dog is ready for some formal obedience training. I say fun because I write about this stuff all the time and tell owners to train, train, train. Should I really be espousing this philosophy if I myself don’t practice it? The answer is ‘No’, and that goes for any breeder out there who sells pups. If they don’t, won’t or can’t train their own dogs, then they are not worth your time.

That being said, I have been working on a particularly raucous young female, age six months, still available, but nonetheless living in my house and my yard until such time as she is picked out by her new owner. She has all of the energy of a working lines pup, hectic at times and in need of focus and obedience. She also forged quite a bit on the leash, which is something I felt needed to be taken care of before adoption.

So, I decided that, after a couple of months on the slip lead doing basic sit and focus commands, it was time for the prong collar. Now, a prong collar is not a cruel instrument. The prongs are all soft, rounded metal points. You start out snapping to both rings and use very light, firm pops. No dragging, no walking with it, no using it for jewelry. Trust me, your dog will only look ghetto in a prong collar that you can’t use because you never corrected your dog with it.

The obedience sessions have been no more than five minutes each, for a total of two days in a row. I generally like to do daily obedience until the young dog is somewhat conditioned to the corrections and starts to respond in a consistent manner, then back off to every other day.

Here is the summary of the training done so far:

1. ‘Sit’ command, followed by ‘Watch’ command. Verbal praise plus some kibble. Corrections done for ANY deviation from the command, as many times as needed to get the command executed.

2. Sit/Stay with ‘Watch’ command. Done until dog was able to sit and watch for a few seconds at a distance of three feet. All done on leash. Verbal praise plus kibble. Repeated ten or fifteen times, with correction, until dog could do it.

3. Heeling (fusse) in circles. Similar to lunge work, only in a smaller circle. I started her in a small circle, about eight feet in diameter, giving the heel command with light correction. When she jumped up instead of heeling, she was corrected instantly, made to heel again, then praised verbally and with kibble. Repeated about five to eight times, all after doing the above sit commands. Occasionally, dog was put in a sit, then back to heeling just to ensure good control.

After two sessions (two days, five minutes each day) of the above actions, the pup went from hectic and unfocused to calm and more focused. Even her ears, usually flying and sticking out all over the place, settled down to a perfect pendant position.

I brought her into the house where she will rest, prong collar still on, for a few hours before play time (after taking the prong off).

I will keep you all posted on her progress, but am positive that after only another week of this work, the dog will fully flatten out on all the kinks and be on her way to obedience stardom!

All too many times, dog and puppy owners register a complaint with whoever will listen: ‘My dog behaves badly’, or ‘I don’t know what to do about my dog’s behavior’.

This is not a small situation. Thousands of dog trainers attempt to help bewildered owners deal with the ‘behavior’ issue. Indeed, there are numerous cable shows dedicated to showing viewers how to ‘handle’ behavioral problems in canines.

Here’s a unique twist on the whole canine behavior issue: What if, just IF the behavior problem your dog or puppy is manifesting came from some place other than its own canine mind? What if, perhaps the owner/handler was in some way contributing to the behavior (good or bad) of their animal?

It is a fact that a very young pup is like a blank slate. They have very little experience, training or other information to use canine judgment to make most decisions. That is why you, as the owner, need to crate train, socialize, house train, obedience train your young dog and continue with this process throughout its adult life.

So, if you are the one imprinting the animal with all of this stuff, all of this repetitive exposure to various things, wouldn’t it make sense that you could possibly be imprinting (or allowing to be imprinted) the dog with unwanted behavior as well?

Here’s an example: Someone takes ownership of an eight week old pup. Having not fully grasped the above concept, they take the young dog out for walks, all the while allowing the pup to forge (pull) the owner all over the place. Now, by the time the pup is a year old, the owner cannot control this forging and the dog is now getting into fights with other dogs while walking, pulling the owner to the ground and so on.

If the owner could not see the issue they were creating with this permissive lack of obedience in leash work, they would certainly at this point see the result of over a year of repetitive bad training as they are dragged to the ground while their eighty pound dog makes a run for the UPS guy.

Could this have been prevented? Of course. But first, it takes an understanding that YOU are the one in charge of your dog’s behavior. The first moment you complain about your dog, you need to step back and take a look at exactly what the dog is doing. Destructive chewing? How about crate training the dog and giving it a bone in its crate? Pulling on the leash? How about properly leash training the dog to obey you and walk along your side or at least to stop forging? Dogs do stupid things because their masters ALLOW them to do these things.

If you think a dog has the native intelligence to do you harm or dream up some plan to ruin your life, then your are really, actually, not a person who should own a dog.

Remember this:

1. The handler, as trainer, is the ultimate cause of all behavior issues with their dog. If you do not wish to train your dog and instead allow it to train itself, you basically will reap what you sow.

2. All situations can be resolved with dog training. The type of training may be highly situational and may require a good amount of time to complete, but is nonetheless achievable.

Hope this helps.

Best,
Bob

Rule Number One: The purpose of a leash is to control your dog.

If you use a leash to let the dog drag you down the street, you are not using the lead for its intended purpose. When done this way, the dog is using the lead to control you. Practice using the leash to position your dog with quick corrections (see below) and to initiate heeling or walking. If a dog pulls, work it in basic heeling and correct this in your back yard or training area daily until the dog complies. Trying to correct a dog for the first time while it is outside the realm of a training activity (and while he is free to sniff and pee, etc) will get you nowhere.

Rule Number Two: The purpose of a correction collar is to train the dog into correct obedience.

Using a choke or prong collar as a type of jewelry is a misuse of this training tool and can also be hazardous to your dog’s health. All it takes is one hang up of the collar on a fence or some other stationary object and the dog will choke itself out and possibly die.

Training collars need to be used during training sessions, not just for walking the dog to go to the bathroom. Letting a dog drag you with its training collar on just strengthens the dog’s ability to drag you around and does not really correct anything. Pop the collar with your lead with correct timing after the command has been given so the dog avoids being disobedient. Reward for compliance. Begin by doing this daily in your back yard during training time. Then, the correction will have some relevance to the dog when walking with you or out and about on lead.

Obviously, you need to first train the dog or pup to understand your commands, otherwise all of the above correction will not be understood by the dog.

I hope this helps!

Best,

Bob