Custom Pets Dog Training - Training Tips

Bored Dogs - Teaching Quiet - Problem Solving
Let Your Puppy Train Himself - Thunder Rolls
Potty Training - Go Away – Reliable Compliance new

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Griz

Potty Training

Teaching your puppy to eliminate outside or in a litter box can be one of the easiest parts of training, if you’re careful to heed the following rules:

1. 1. Don’t expect too much. A rule of thumb is that most puppies can physically hold their bladders about one hour longer than the nhe number of months they are old. For example, a three-month old puppy can go for maximum of four hours, and a couple hours longer at night.

2. 2. Regulate his feeding schedule. Don’t free-feed your puppy. Give him two or three meals per day, using the portions recommended by your veterinarian, and pick up his bowl after 30 minutes, whether or not he has finished. This will allow you to more accurately predict when he’ll need to go outside.

3. 3. Confine him in a small place. Most dogs will not willingly soil the area where they sleep and eat, so when you’re not home, or when you can’t watch him every second, you must confine your pup in a small area. A crate is good, or a small, uncarpeted room you can block off. Do not lock your dog behind a door; the problems this type of isolation can cause a puppy could last his whole life, often causing a pattern of destructive and sometimes dangerous behavior. Instead, put up a child gate so that the pup can see out and still be part of the family.

4. If your puppy was forced to soil his sleeping/eating area before you brought him home (for example, if you got him at a pet shop), potty training will be much more difficult. You will probably not be able to use the confinement method; instead, keep him in an area where it’s okay for him to eliminate, such as the back yard, during the training process.

5. 4. Take him out regularly. For a eight-week old puppy, take him out every two to three hours at first, then gradually increase the duration between potty breaks, adding an hour per month. Also take him out after a nap, after he eats, and after he plays. Stay out with him to be sure he goes; otherwise, he is likely to get distracted and forget to go, and may squat as soon as he comes in the house!

6. 5. Watch him when he’s not confined. When you’re home, and your puppy is loose, you must literally watch him every single second. You can actually tie his leash to your waist while you move around the house, or tie him to the couch leg if you’re watching TV. If he sneaks away and potties without you knowing it, you have allowed him to learn that going potty in the house is safe sometimes, and you have prolonged the whole housebreaking process (“I wonder if it’ll be okay this time?”). DO NOT punish the puppy if you find an ‘accident’, even if it only happened 10 seconds ago. Punishment in this situation is counter-productive, because the dog has already been reinforced for the behavior; the relief of emptying his bladder has already occurred.

7. 6. Interrupt him as he begins to eliminate in the house. If your puppy squats, immediately make a loud noise to interrupt his behavior - yell “Hey!” or hit a wall with your hand, or something on that order. This is an interruption only, not a punishment or a threat! Punishment in this situation simply muddies up the teaching process by triggering a fear response in the puppy when he really needs to be in a learning state of mind. Instead, quickly go to the pup and calmly carry or lead (not drag!) him outside. Tell him “Go potty” or whatever, and then simply wait. Do not leave, do not yell, and do not try to force him to hurry. He may be a bit unsettled by the commotion, so it may take him some minutes to relax enough to finish. By the way, be careful not to yell the puppy’s name when you see him squat, because if you want your dog to respond reliably to his name throughout his life, you must only use it in a positive manner.

8. 7. Teach him to tell you when he needs to go outside. Every time you take Sparky out for a regularly scheduled potty break, pause at the door for a minute and have a party. Get excited, bounce a bit, and see if you can get him to get excited with you. At the slightest hint of activity - a whine, a lifted paw, anything, reward the attempt by opening the door and taking him out. Soon he’ll start getting more and more active at the door with you, and will eventually initiate it himself. NOTE: Be careful about over-stimulating him. You don’t want him leaking with excitement!

9. 8. Praise and reward him when he eliminates outside. When he does finally go, lavish praise and dog cookies on him so that he learns that going potty outside is wonderful, and going inside isn’t as fun.

10. 9. Do not punish your dog. Dogs simply do not comprehend punishment after the fact. If you come home and see your dog has had an accident in the house, please don’t drag him over to the spot and do any of the horrible things people do - scream, spank, rub noses in the spot. All your dog will learn is that you sometimes act like a crazy person when you come home, and you may very well cause the type of stress in your dog that will quite likely manifest itself in - yep, you guessed it - inappropriate elimination in the house. If the dog potties in the house, it’s not his fault that he’s doing what a dog does, it’s your fault for not watching him.

11. 10. Litter Box Training. For smaller dogs, or dogs who had previously been forced to eliminate in their sleeping areas, look into purchasing a litter box kit for dogs. An ideal setup is a small (about 4' by 6') puppy-proofed confinement area: an exercise pen or a small room with a baby gate blocking the entrance, Place the pup's crate with the door fastened in the open position on one side of the room, with his water dish close by. Put the litter box on the other end of the area. Follow the steps above for basic potty training, replacing 'outdoors' with 'litter box'. Be careful to make sure your puppy has easy access to the confinement area when he's out in the house with you!

12. 11. Older dogs with housebreaking problems. First, determine that it really is a housebreaking issue. If it is a sudden-onset thing, take your dog to the veterinarian to have him checked for urinary tract or other medical problems before attempting to deal with it from a behavior standpoint.

If there is a great amount of stress in the household, or if you’ve moved to a new house, the dog’s anxiety often causes elimination problems. Seek the advice of a behaviorist for ideas about reducing his unease, and patiently re-train him using the steps outlined above.

If you have an older dog who has never been reliably housebroken, you must re-train him from scratch, using the same method outlined above. It will take somewhat longer, however, since your dog has a history of eliminating in the house. First, clean your carpet thoroughly with an odor neutralizer (not just a scented cover-up; this never fools dogs! Remember, a dog can smell a tiny amount of urine in a swimming pool!). Then throw out your preconceived idea that your dog ‘knows better’ or that he’s ‘getting even with you’. He doesn’t, really - dogs don’t think like that. Simply start over with a fresh slate, following the steps above, and you’ll solve the problem.

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Bored Dogs

Having a hard time getting your dog in his kennel or crate when you leave for work? Does he sometimes drag your pillow around when he’s left alone in the house while you’re gone? Eat your patio furniture? It could be that he’s just bored, so let’s give him some things to do while he’s alone!

Stuffed Toys/Bones - This is my favorite thing to do for bored dogs. Most pet stores sell those hard, hollow, rubber toys that look like little red snowmen. For dogs 40 lbs. or bigger, get the largest size they have (it’s the size of the hole in the end that matters, not the toy itself), and stuff it with appetizing treats for your dog. For the first few months after my Australian Cattle Dog Ellie came home, I gave her part of her breakfast in it, along with a couple of dog biscuits, a few soft treats or leftover chicken, and then smear a bit of canned dog food, cheese spread, or - Ellie’s favorite - low-fat peanut butter around the large hole. Ellie couldn’t get in her crate fast enough! Hollow bones work as well; simply stuff the middle with canned dog food or soft treats, or wedge a biscuit into the cavity.

Hunt for breakfast - After you get them hooked on stuffed toys or bones, you can start hiding them in the house or the yard and let them hunt for their treats. Or, more simply, you can scatter a handful of dry kibble around the yard for your dog to hunt for. My indoor dogs enjoy hunting for the breakfast I scatter on the living room carpet. Interestingly enough, I never have to vacuum up kibble; they manage to find every morsel!

Chewies - Puppies chew when they’re teething, adolescents chew when their molars come in, and even adult dogs have an instinctive need to chew to keep their jaws exercised. Give them something satisfying, but safe, to chew. Soft plastic or rubber toys may be fun to play with for a while, but don’t make very good chew toys. Rawhide bones may not be the best choice because of the intestinal danger they can pose, but most dogs do enjoy stuffed hollow bones (as described above). Pig’s ears are nice treats if your dog’s stomach can tolerate them, but they don’t last long enough to make good chew toys. Nylon bones are good and seem to be safe. If your dog doesn’t show any interest in them, try smearing something tasty on the bone to get them started.

My dogs prefer cow’s hooves. They last for days, and are very satisfying for dogs to chew. The bad news is they really smell nasty when the dog chews them, but it’s a small price to pay for saving the couch! Throw them away when they’re chewed down to the point of the hoof so your dog doesn’t choke on them. Note: Pick out thick-sided hooves and be sure your dog chews them safely. If he’s a forceful enough chewer that the cow hoof breaks as he chews it, remove it immediately and look for something else to give him.

An uncooked, thick-sided marrow bone rarely fails to keep a teething puppy busy for hours! You can usually get them from the local butcher for pennies a pound. Watch your dog for the first few minutes with a new bone to be sure he’s chewing it safely, not crunching it up and swallowing chunks of it. Also, never, ever give your dog cooked bones, as cooking makes bones brittle and therefore dangerous for your dog.

Always check with your vet to get his or her recommendation before giving your dogs chew toys or products.

Interactive play – “Why does my dog chew up the hot tub cover when I’m gone? He has toys all over the back yard!” This is a very common question. Actually, most dogs only play with toys when there is a person or another dog playing with them – tugging, chasing, or throwing. Sure, some dogs will toss a ball for themselves, but that’s only a small percentage.

Consider providing Sparky with more interactive toys. One idea that works well for ball-crazy dogs is to hang a tether ball from a cable strung across the dog’s kennel or between two trees. The tether ball should be right about nose level to Sparky, and should be attached to the cable with some type of roller so that it moves easily. Encourage Sparky to chase the ball a few times, praising excitedly when he pushes it down the cable. Soon he will play this game all by himself, sometimes exhausting himself in the process! A Custom Pets client offers this suggestion: For added safety, particularly with short or young dogs who can wrestle the ball to the ground, encase the hanging cable/rope in a length of PCV pipe before attaching the tetherball.

(Puppy Ellie with her tetherball. A big Thank You to Ellie's owner for the PVC suggestion!)

Be creative when thinking up alone-time activities for your dog. Remember, if your dog is occupied doing something you’ve set up for him, he’s less likely to dig or bark or destroy furniture or any of those other annoying pastimes they come up with! For even more ideas, ask the keepers at your local zoo about the enrichment programs they have for the captive animals. A lot of those can be tailored for use with your dog!

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Teaching Quiet

Dogs bark. It’s as natural to them as wagging their tails. Expecting a dog to never, ever bark is not only unrealistic, but it borders on cruelty. Does this mean we should allow dogs to bark uncontrollably? Absolutely not!

Dogs bark for a variety of reasons; boredom, fear, joy, loneliness. In cases like this, you will want to address the reasons for the barking, not the barking itself. Giving the dog more to do when he’s alone is often helpful for this (see the section on Bored Dogs for more information on this).

They also bark to alert pack members (that’s us!) to the appearance of an intruder. We will focus on this type of barking.

Having an alert dog can be very useful, particularly in a house that is remote, or if a person is alone at night, or if there are children in the house. Having Sparky let us know that someone is walking up the drive (or is in the back yard!) can be invaluable to us. All we need to do is to teach our dogs what we consider to be ‘intrusion’.

In my house, if there is a person on the property, Griz lets me know. Whenever he gives his ‘alert bark’, I get up and look out the window. If it’s a person actually on the property, I praise him enthusiastically, and to reward him, I let him come to the door and greet the person with me.

If, however, the person is on the sidewalk in front of the house, I simply tell him “Thanks anyway. Quiet,” in a normal tone of voice, and walk away from the window. I’m not reprimanding him, only teaching him what I consider to be important enough for my attention. If I don’t teach him, how else will he know?

Teaching a 'Quiet' Cue

To teach a Quiet command, you will associate the word Quiet (or Hush, or whatever term you wish to use) with the cessation of barking. With most dogs, the word itself is enough to interrupt the dog’s barking long enough for you to reinforce the quiet – two seconds. If the word is not sufficient enough to interrupt the behavior, you're trying to teach the behavior in a situation that is too difficult for your dog. Practice on something less stimulating, and work up to the bigger distractions.

Teach this behavior first in the house, then start working with him outside as he progresses in his learning. The process is this:

1. 1. Do something that will get Sparky to bark (with Josie, my Jack Russell Terrier, I simply moved a chair to the front window when there were cats in the front yard!). With many dogs simply knocking on the wall works.

2. 2. Sparky barks.

3. 3. You tell him “Quiet” in a tone loud enough to be heard, but not in a reprimanding way (if he ignores you, start with a less stimulating trigger).

4. 4. Sparky stops barking for two seconds.

5. 5. During that two seconds, praise him (“Good boy”, or “That’s right”, or something similar). It’s not necessary to use food rewards at this point.

6. 6. Sparky says “Yeah, sure. Bark Bark Bark!”

7. 7. Repeat steps 2 through 4 until either Sparky doesn’t take it to step 6, or just before you get to the “Shut up or I’ll _____________!” phase. If he stops barking, play a game with him, or give him a treat and really good on-the-floor-with-him praise, and you’re done with this episode. If he doesn’t stop, simply remove the cause of the barking (in my case with Josie, I moved the chair back away from the window or shut the blinds).

To get him to respond to the word “Quiet” should take no more than a week or two provided the opportunity presents itself often enough and he never gets to bark in an uncontrolled manner while you’re in the house during that time. Set up situations that will start him barking several times a day so you can practice this.

Once he’s responding well to “Quiet”, you are ready to start the alert dog training as described at the beginning of this article.

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Management - The Magic Wand of Dog Training

(Or, How To Prevent Your Puppy From Becoming A Terror In The First Place!)

The easiest way to control a habit is to never let the habit develop in the first place. Think about how habits are created, whether for dogs or for humans; when a behavior is reinforced, it is repeated. Repeat it enough times, and it becomes a habit. Continue, and it becomes a way of life.

Many habits are formed in childhood – or, in this case, puppyhood. Whether they are good habits or bad habits depend on us. Following is a list of the most common bad habits that we allow our puppies to develop, because with each and every one of these behaviors, the act of performing them is in itself reinforcing for dogs:

Pulling on the leash	Tearing maniacally around the house
Jumping on people	Ripping up the furniture
Chewing on our hands	Barking incessantly

The list could go on and on, but you get the drift. How do we prevent these habits from getting set in the first place? Management is your magic wand.

Walking on a Leash

Pulling on the leash is usually the easiest habit for dogs to develop, and the hardest for the owners to cure. The prevention is simple, though – do not allow your dog to pull on the leash! It only takes a time or two of your dog dragging you down the street for the seed of this habit to take root, so don’t delay. You can manage this in a number of ways; carry your pup, or engage your dog in play during leash time, or hold a spoonful of peanut butter at your side, or use a Gentle Leader or a Halti (head halters; the humane way to control your dog, as opposed to a prong collar, which uses pain, or a choke chain, which was never designed as an anti-pulling device in the first place. Many anti-pull harnesses are safe and useful, as well), or simply shorten the leash so that your dog is physically next to you, instead of pulling in front of you. This is particularly important when you’re walking from your car to puppy class; learning is completely impossible in this situation, because all he can think of is his puppy friends waiting for him. Manage instead.

Until you’ve trained your puppy to walk politely on a leash, do not try to take him for casual walks. This is when we tend to get lax in our efforts, and before we even realize it, the pup is dragging us down the street, choking and gagging as the collar constricts his windpipe. Remember, this habit is 500 times harder to break than it is to make.

The Magic of Containment

Where is your puppy, usually? In his crate or a small confinced area at night? Good for you. In a safe, protected dog run with lots of toys when you’re at work? Not bad. Playing loose in the house when you’re home? Oh-oh . . . . . . .

Unless you’re specifically interacting with your dog – playing or training – keep him contained in some way. You can set up a small confinement area somewhere by using a baby gate across a kitchen or laundry room doorway, and completely puppy-proofing the area (we'll discuss Puppy Proofing shortly). You could keep him on a leash tied to your waist while you work around the house.

Best of all, purchase a portable exercise pen or make a ‘puppy playpen’ that can be easily transported to whatever room you’re likely to spend time in, like the family room or the computer room. Give Sparky an old blanket or rug to lie on, a chew toy (a safe, stuffed bone is best, because it’s not likely to roll out of his reach), and let him get used to being contained and quiet while you’re in the room with him. Praise him for playing with his own toys, or for lying quietly. Ignore him if he fusses. In no time you’ll have a dog who has developed the habit of lying quietly around the house.

This is also good for mouthing issues; if you’re playing with your puppy while he’s in his confinement area, and he puts his teeth on you, simply end the play session and leave the confinement area without a word. After a very few sessions, he’ll make the connection!

To teach your dog polite greeting behavior, and not to jump on people, try tethering him with an old leash or a 3 or 4 foot length of coated cable to a couch let. If he’s tethered, you can approach him without having to fight to keep him off you. You walk towards him. If he jumps, you stop. As soon as four feet are on the ground, move towards him again. If he jumps, stop. Continue in this fashion until you can walk up and pet him without him jumping on you. Don’t say a word to him during this process; it’ll only confuse matters. Your actions are all the training he needs.

Puppy Proofing

Having a puppy-proofed environment means your dog cannot possibly do anything wrong, and therefore doesn’t develop unwanted habits. Pick up all items that do not belong to the puppy, including plants and books and electrical cords. Coat the corners of the furniture, door moldings, or anything the pup could possibly get his teeth on with a non-evaporating substance (Bitter Orange, or a thick paste of Alum and water). Lay a thick sheet of plastic on the floor to protect the carpet or floor from ‘accidents’ and digging. Provide a couple of satisfying chew toys, and rotate the dog’s other toys from day to day, giving him two or three different ones per confinement time. Play a radio with soft, calming music for him, or turn on Animal Planet for him for company.

Don’t wait and think you can cure these problems later, ‘when you have more time’. And don't believe for a mintue that your puppy will "grow out of it." A few hours now will prevent weeks or even months of de-training later. Old habits die hard!

Lindy (center) and friends staying out of trouble at
HoboDog Haven Doggie Daycare

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Thunder Rolls!

It happens every year. The sky gets dark, the wind blows. You see the first flash of lightning, and your body tenses, waiting for the explosion. After the first clap of thunder subsides, you go pull Ginger out from underneath the bed, and try to quiet her trembling little body with comforting words and cuddles.

We can’t help it. Our parenting instinct compels us to soothe our ‘child’ when she is so obviously terrified. As human children get older, we can explain to them what thunder is, and why there is nothing to be afraid of. But our four-legged kids don’t understand science, so we need to tell them there is nothing to fear using another language.

There are a number of things you can do to help Ginger get over her thunder phobia. Before we go into some ideas, however, let’s talk about what NOT to do.

Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t pick her up and try to protect her from the storm! I know it’s hard, but if you’re in protection mode, she knows it and is convinced there is something to be afraid of. Regardless of what method you use to help her overcome her fear, always do it with the attitude that nothing unusual or scary is happening!

An easy start is to simply put a drop or two of mineral oil in her ears to lessen the vibration. Naturally, you wouldn’t want to use this method if your dog has an ear infection or irritation. You can also turn on a TV or a radio, and set it to a normal volume. This masks the noise somewhat, although not the vibration.

Distraction is another method to help your dog get over her fear. Make storm time play time! As soon as the storm hits, get out Ginger’s favorite toy and start playing a rousing, high-energy game of fetch or tug. Make thunder fun for her!

If she won’t play, food might work. Not her normal kibble, though. Pull the leftover chicken or liver out of the refrigerator and cut it up into small pieces. Even a hot dog will do. Every time the thunder rolls, give her a treat and tell her “Good girl! Isn’t this fun?” in the silliest, happiest voice you can manage.

Another idea is to desensitize your dog. Get a CD or a cassette tape of a thunder storm and, over the course of several days/weeks, play it at gradually increasing volumes until it’s as loud as a real storm. Use the distraction or food method in conjunction with this to build up her tolerance to thunder.

If, after all this, Ginger is still terrified of thunder, make sure she has a safe place to hide. If she normally sleeps in a crate, make sure she can get into her crate (but don’t close the door!) Above all, don’t do anything that will make her suspect there is something to fear. Be reassuring, in a normal tone of voice, but don’t give in to her fear!

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Let Your Puppy Train Himself

Takes a lot of work to train a dog, doesn’t it? Especially puppies, who seem to be into everything – the trash, your closet, the cat box. Wouldn’t it be nice if you weren’t constantly having to yell “No No Bad Dog!”?

We can let our dogs do some of the training themselves. And the earlier in our dog’s life we start, the more success we’ll have. It’s simple, really – we just have to set the dog up.

Sounds mean, doesn’t it? It’s not, though. Actually, it’s proactive, effective, simple for us, and painless for the puppy.

We set a dog up by baiting “traps”; the trash can, the counter top, etc. It’s important that we set the same trap for several days in a row, so puppy learns it’s never fun to dig in the trash or steal food from the counter. Note: Not all techniques work for all dogs. Contact an experienced dog trainer for assistance with specific problems.

Digging in the trash: Put a new bag in the trash can, then drop something really interesting in – perhaps table scraps from last night’s pot roast. Then take a few paper towels and douse them and the table scraps with something yucky: hot chili oil, Tabasco Sauce, or anything bad-tasting (but safe for dogs). My preference is Alum powder mixed with enough water to make a paste (Alum can be found in the spice section of your local grocery store).

Leave the trash out where your puppy can get to it. He’ll dump it over, go after the contents, taste the yucky stuff, and decide that getting into the trash is not fun after all. Set this up several times, with different bait.

Stealing food from the counter: Taylor’s favorite game was to lick all the butter off the dish that was kept on the kitchen counter. Her owner sprinkled Alum over the butter (after warning the family about her intentions!) and left the dish close to the edge. Within days, the butter-stealing habit was cured.

Rest Station: Your puppy can almost teach himself to go hang out on his dog bed in the family room if you do the following:

Place a mat, rug, or dog bed in an out-of-the-way area in a room where you tend to spend a lot of time, perhaps under an end table or small dogs, or a corner for larger dogs.
Begin tossing every chewy or toy you give your dog into or onto the rest area. Do not give a verbal cue, and do not try to prevent your dog from carrying the treat/toy away from the rest area.
Soon the dog will start to go to the rest station as soon as he realizes a chewy or toy is coming, and shortly thereafter you'll notice that he remains at the rest station to play with his toy or chew his bone. Calmly and briefly praise this when you notice it.

1. This works because the rest station becomes your dog's 'happy place', and he'll tend to go there on his own (no treats needed) just because he's been conditioned to feel good there - the spot itself is reinforcing (Think Pavlov's dogs - this is a classical conditioning process).

2. I used this process years ago with Josie. I put an open crate under an end table in the family room, and followed the process for about three weeks. To this day, Josie goes to her spot several times a week, whenever she gets stressed about something. I will occassionally give her a new chewy or a treat in the crate, but she goes there because it feels good to her (sort of how I feel when I'm pulling up to the espresso stand early in the morning . . . !).

3. By the way, this process only works if only good things happen for the dog in this spot. If you use the rest station as a "go to your bed and think about what you did!" or nag at him about staying on it, you've replaced reinforcement with punishment, and now the spot becomes a bad place.

Puppy mouthing: Because dogs don’t have opposable thumbs as we do, they tend to use their mouths as hands. And those little puppy teeth are sharp!

To cure your puppy of chewing on you, spray Bitter Apple on your hands every time you play with your puppy for a few days. Puppy will start to chew your hands, and find that it’s not so much fun after all. When he takes his mouth off you, praise him and give him an appropriate chew toy. And don’t worry, Bitter Apple evaporates after a few minutes!

Caution: I can't repeat this enough. Never, ever spray Bitter Apple or Binaca or lemon or similar products directly into your dog's mouth, regardless of what well-intentioned friends, groomers, breeders, or even some trainers and veterinarians will tell you. It's simply not worth the risk that it may cause your dog to become snappy and self-protective, especially when this type of product is so effective when used in the ways outlined above - without the danger.

Remember, no child's face is worth the risk.

Go Away
(From Everyday Dog: Dog Training For Real Life by Lori McKenna, CPDT)

This behavior will allow you to eat your dinner in peace, put your socks on in the morning, and end play sessions with your dog whether or not he’s ready to quit. Your guests can also use it when they’re tired of petting the household dog.

Let’s teach Sparky “Gone”, which means “Go away from me. Do anything you want to, anywhere you want, just go away.” He will say “Okay, no problem” and walk away and leave you alone. This is less frustrating for you and easier for your dog than “Go lay down! Now stay there!” which rarely works and usually ends up ruining any Stay the dog has learned (how often do you remember to release the dog from his Stay after you’ve finished dinner? And how many dogs are still lying down by the time you’re done with dinner, anyway?).

The easiest way to teach this is on the couch while you’re watching TV. Invite Sparky to come over for petting. After a few seconds of attention, calmly say “Gone” and immediately cross your arms and turn your head and eyes from him. Ignore every single thing he does after that, even if he’s climbing on your lap. If you need to, stand up, keeping your arms crossed and your eyes averted. Very soon, Sparky will give up and go away. Do not praise him when he finally leaves, or he’ll just come right back. After a minute or two, call him back and repeat the process. Four or five repetitions per session are plenty.

Here’s why this works – when you say “Gone”, your expectation is that Sparky will leave. When Sparky hears the word, however, he has learned that he’s not going to get anything more from you, so he goes looking for something else to do. See how easy this is?

Be very patient with this. Do not change the tone of voice you use when saying “Gone” and do not repeat the request, even if Sparky is climbing up your pants leg. Just continue to ignore him until he leaves. If you start getting frustrated and yelling the command, your dog will probably leave out of fear, but he will not have learned “Gone”.

This typically takes three to five sessions for most dogs, assuming that you and your family are consistent with the teaching process. After the first two sessions, try telling him “Gone” before you cross your arms to see if he’s learned the cue. If he doesn’t leave, you can always translate the request by crossing your arms and looking away. Once he’s doing it consistently at the couch, try using it other places. Until he’s doing it every time you tell him, no matter what the situation, be prepared to translate the request.

A word of advice: Always remember the power of Eye Contact! If you’re looking at your dog, he knows that it is very possible that you will pay attention to him after all. If you want him to leave you alone, DON’T KEEP LOOKING AT HIM!

Once your dog has this behavior down, you’ll find that it’s the most useful cue you’ve ever taught your dog!

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Reliable Compliance

Ten practices for reliability:

Teach each behavior using a method that does not hurt, frighten, or worry the dog. These emotions inhibit learning. Instead, teach every behavior as if it were a trick – this actually makes the whole endeavor much more successful by taking the tension out of training for both you and your dog.
Add distractions and difficulty gradually. The more successes the dog and the handler have, the more quickly the behavior becomes reliable.
Introduce verbal cues only when you’re sure the dog will perform the behavior. Telling an untrained dog to “Come” while he’s running down the street teaches him that “Come” means “Run Away.” Dogs don’t speak English, so you must teach him what each cue means.
During the teaching process, only give the dog a cue, visual or verbal, that you are willing and able to immediately enforce. This teaches the dog that our instructions are not optional.
Reinforce the dog for every single compliance, no matter how long it took or how difficult it was to get. Reinforcement can, and should, include a variety of things your dog likes; play, petting, treats, sincere praise . . . all given with a smile.
Manage when you can’t train. The longer a dog is able to practice an unwanted behavior, the harder it is to “un-train” the behavior later.
Keep your cues simple and consistent. Did I mention that dogs don’t speak English? They are confused by our human tendency to chatter and repeat ourselves.
Make sure your dog is looking at you when you give a cue. If he’s looking at a squirrel on the fence, don’t assume he’s paying attention to you. Get eye contact first, then ask for the behavior you want.
Dogs repeat behaviors for which they are reinforced, so consider what you’re reinforcing. If you continue to walk with a dog who is pulling on the leash, the reinforcement of being able to go forward teaches him to continue to pull.
If you want your dog to respond the first time you ask, only ask once. Repeatedly chanting the cue teaches the dog to ignore the cue. Give the cue one time, clearly and confidently, then if necessary, show the dog what you mean. For example, say “Come”, then pat your legs or clap your hands encouragingly.

Lori McKenna, CPDT

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