Come Fido Come!

The most important command that you can teach a dog is COME. Most dog owners teach it without much problem, but often, it's a loose command that translates to come over here and pay attention to your person for a second. However, you want your dog to come to you 100 percent of the time and and give you 100 percent of its attention...not just come when you are yelling bloody murder or when there is nothing distracting it. What do you do if you have a dog (or two, like me) that is not really interested in coming when called, or only comes when there are no distractions? You can't punish the dog and expect it to want to come to you. We never want to punish our dogs for not coming, or when they FINALLY come, or it will poison the word. It makes sense then that we would only use this command in the most positive of ways. I have two dogs, who when I first got them, would not come when called and even ran away when I said the C word! For them it meant that the fun was over, or they were in trouble. So you'd better run or the game was over! They had been taught that COME usually meant, it's time to put the leash on and leave the park. I needed to re-define it and make coming fun and exciting for them, so that I could rely on the command. To start fresh I broke COME into three parts and worked on them individually.

These three parts or three R's, as I like to call them are:

Recognition, Recall and Release.

Name RECOGNITION is something a single dog owner might not give much thought to, but for those of us who have multiple dogs, it is necessary to preface all commands with the dog's name. Some trainers don't encourage the use of the dog's name, but I think it is very important. The name is really the foundation of all commands. You need to get the dog's attention before you tell it what to do. To establish name recognition, I call my dogs' names out separately and throw treats at them for looking at me. Looking at me, on cue, is all they have to do to get a treat! Do this three time a day, for five repetitions for a few days or a week. This might seem simple or silly to some, but for people who have dogs who don't pay attention when called, this is the first step toward bridging a recall. (Doing five times takes about five minutes, three times a day). The most important thing about name RECOGNITION is that it gets your dogs attention. You want to have, or be able to get it's attention at all times. Repetition of this assures that your dog will be well practiced in looking to you for the next command. You can use it to bridge all the obedience work you will be doing in the future. It is easy and can be fun if you keep it dynamic and set up a scheduled time to practice. I keep a bowl of treats in a candy dish that I can get at easily so I'm more apt to practice. If you are concerned with your pet gaining weight, cut back on it's meal size appropriately.

Next is the RECALL game. The dog might already be coming to you (in anticipation of a treat) when you call it's name. That is great, but at this point it needs to be happening without you saying COME! However, if the dog isn't already starting to head your way when you say it's name; then simply throw it a treat for looking at you when you call it and then show it a second treat. It should start to head your way for more treats. Now give the COME command. When it reaches you, say GOOD COME making a big deal out of it...then give the dog the treat. Do this three times a day for five repetitions. You can even do it while walking on leash and combine it with the name recognition. Call the dog's name...take a step back and lure the dog with a treat. This doesn't take much time and is an easy way of strengthening the bond you have with your dog. Don't worry, eventually, you can just call the dog's name and when it looks at you, say COME and treat it when it gets to you. Right now we are concerned with establishing a fast and consistent recall. The whole point of calling the dogs name and luring it to you is to teach it that great things come from you! The reason you want to say COME when the dog is already on it's way to you, is so you have a 100 percent success rate. Repetition of good behavior is what we want here. We want COME to be a 100 percent automatic knee jerk reaction. If COME has been poisoned by a bad experience, or the dog is just so used to hearing it and not responding this will re-condition the word to have a new value.

NOTE: if necessary you can change your recall word to HERE, if you think it will help things along. For many adopted dogs rescued from bad situations, it is necessary to change, not only the recall word, but also the dog's name to start fresh. I recommend changing it if there has been a history of abuse, or if the dog thinks COME means RUN!

This brings us to the final and most overlooked step, RELEASE. In order to build a good strong COME, that isn't sloppy, you want the dog to stick around and wait for further instruction. To teach the dog to wait until you say it is okay, you need a word that can be used to indicate the exercise is over. Some people use the release OKAY, but that is an overused word and comes up often in a conversation. This could pose a danger that you will say it unwittingly and the dog will take off, when you didn't intend to release it. I use BREAK for one of my dogs and FREE for the other. With two dogs, you must use the name again with the release word in order to strengthen the difference. So to teach RELEASE, you just throw a treat away from you as you say the word and let the dog get it. Eventually, you can let the dog go without a treat, with the RELEASE as the reward, but to start with, using treats is a way to mark the behavior and to create a definite marker. The importance of creating a release word is that it can be applied to anything that is considered an endurance command. You want your dog to understand that you expect it to do what you want, or ask it to do until you say otherwise. When you choose the word most comfortable for you, use it with everything. If the dog is laying down while you are having dinner, because you asked it to...say the word and throw a treat...it will let the dog know that it can get up now. If you have asked the dog to sit until you unclip it's leash, then throw a treat and use the command to let it know it can move around now that you say it is okay.

The fourth R is repetition!

REPEAT-REPEAT-REPEAT!

When the dog is coming successfully and knows that it doesn't mean the fun is over, add distractions, like other dogs.

Remember to be dynamic and fun, this will make your dog want to choose you over other stimulus and make it fun for you too!

Training=Consistency over Time!

Training the terrible two's...

As I get further into my studies as a dog trainer, I learn that there are many common threads between human development and canine stages of learning and behaviour. I often hear of people complaining that their previously sweet puppy, who is now a year and a half or nearly two is suddenly out of control and they need help. Recently, I began training a cute little mutt, a rescue from Mexico, named Sugar (above). She is adorable and smart, but very unruly. She reminds me of two year old child, discovering how to wrap adults around her little finger, or paw rather. Whether, the dog was brought home as a puppy, rescued as an adult dog, or just going through a stage, there will come a time when this cute little being will test you, its handler, to establish its boundaries. My advice to all dog owners who are struggling to get their dog under control is, ZERO TOLERANCE for any unwanted behaviour. Any repeated behaviour becomes learnt behaviour!

Many behavioral problems are in actuality training issues. With daily work, my dogs are getting progressively better behaved; nevertheless, some of their habits are unacceptable and seem to be chronic. Holly jumps up and pushes people over. She is a bully and barks at the neighbors. Miko, my boy dog, barks at everything, especially men. He also pushes past me and pulls on his lead. I have been working on improving their level of obedience and using positive training methods to reinforce their good behaviors. Unfortunately, even though they are improving and are more manageable; they are still misbehaving. The reason for this is that I have been unintentionally reinforcing their habits. Simply put, dogs only do things that work. They have a desired outcome, if achieved, the reward ensures they will perform the action again. The reason they continue to do these annoying things is because they bring about the desired results.

Regardless of your chosen training techniques, it is not effective to simply punish your dog for doing things you don't like! To decrease bad habits, you must give your dog the exact opposite of what it wants in order to make it clear that the action is not going to bring about the desired effect. Punishment, verbal and even physical, for some dogs is perceived as attention. For attention seekers like my Holly, the punishment becomes an enforcer! Squeaky noises, squealing and yelling at her makes her happy and reinforces the jumping. Pushing her down becomes a game. For Miko, his barking simply makes people go away. Even though he is often barking through the window and the passer-by is going by regardless; he perceives their retreat as a victory, which ensures he will do it again the next time. The same goes for pulling. Miko pulls me to get to the park faster and sure enough it does get us there! Even though I am correcting him the entire way, even treating him for heeling, he is reinforced by the fact that we get to the park because he has pulled me there. If I punish him by pulling back on the leash, it just amps him up!

To control unwanted behavior you must give the dog the opposite of what it wants. When Miko pulls, I turn around and walk him the other way. We don't move one inch toward the park until he heels nicely. If he barks through the window, he loses his privileges of looking out. I take away his ability to see the people move away. He values his freedom to look out the window and guard the house, so I made up a two bark rule. I take that freedom away from him, each and every time he barks (more than twice). When Holly jumps up for attention, she gets ignored and turned a back to. She must sit for any positive interactions. Jumping gets her nothing! Similarly, if she barks for attention or demands treats, she gets ignored or quietly put out of the room. This requires "Zero Tolerance" of bad behavior. I now do not allow her to pull on the leash either. She has a good heel, but lunges at other dogs. This results in me turning on my heels and walking the other way. She is aggressing over territory, barking, as well as lunging. This results in her losing access to that territory. What I had taken to be fear aggression may actually be a dominance issue. She wants to be top dog! Since aggressive displays now results in a loss of resources to her, the behavior has decreased.

Dogs are very simple creatures, in that they do what works! They learn like children, while we adults will bang our heads against a wall trying to fit a square peg into a round hole! Dogs will only try something a couple times without results. If it doesn't work, they will most likely move onto something that does. Figure out what is the most "basic" reason your dog is doing whatever it is you don't like and either make it impossible for the dog to continue that behavior, or give it the exact opposite outcome that it desires. This will aid in correcting them faster than verbal or physical punishment. (Technically, punishment is anything that decreases a behavior, but in this case I am referring to the familiar term of scolding or even physically dominating). In terms of reinforcing, I reward all good behavior too. Giving attention and / or resources (access to something), as well as praise and treats, will increase the good behavior while you are decreasing the bad. "Zero Tolerance" doesn't mean "punishment", it simply means consistency!

Recalls and Attention Games

Of course the structure of anything solid, comes from a strong foundation. It seems simple, but gets complicated...especially when you talk about dog training. We tend to look at trained behaviors as being separate and taught separately. However, when a dog lacks basic foundation behaviors, it is hard to teach it to do what we want it to do, like function calmly and properly in social situations. The most basic foundation behavior is one that people often fail to reinforce. We call our pets, or whistle to them and they come to us, or look at us in response. This is the most important tool that we can exercise with our pet, yet we often take it for granted. Every time your dog comes to you or looks toward you, it is a strengthening of the bond you share, a strengthening of the foundation of your relationship. Unfortunately, unintentionally people will sometimes poison this bond. If you interrupt your dog's (unwanted) behavior, perhaps calling the dog out of a potentially dangerous situation, then reprimand the dog for the event...this is poisoning the command. Humans expect dogs to understand what they are upset about; which is the outburst or the disobedience. However, the dog is probably connecting the reprimand to the action of coming when called. Because the dog often looks sheepish, we assume it understands and feels guilty about what it has done, but more than likely what we are perceiving is fear. The dog is actually coming to fear us and learning that it can't trust us as good leaders. Each time we punish a dog by calling it to get it to come, or to get it's attention and then reprimand it, we destroy the bond we have formed with it. We are in essence destroying the very foundation we strive to build.

Coming when called, or solid recall, is the most important foundation behavior that we as dog owners and handlers can work on. Most situations can be prevented or avoided by calling the animal out of it. A strong recall can save your dog's life! Most people that have problems controlling their dogs also have problems getting their dog to come. This reasons to say, that they might also have weak foundations on which they base the rest of their training. The way to begin properly training your dog is to first figure out how to get its attention. (I won't say undivided attention, because dogs will always have distractions that they find hard to resist). Nonetheless, at least knowing how to get your dog's attention will aid you in being able to keep its attention long enough and often enough to teach it the skills it needs to be a great companion and pet. All dogs have different distractions, drives and motivations. In the beginning you should practice all recalls without distractions and find out what is most likely to draw your dog to you. Is it food, is it toys that make squeaky noises, is it fun gestures or a game of chase? Dogs are simple...they will almost always give their attention and be drawn to the biggest distraction. The trick to teaching good recall is to make ourself as alluring as possible and practice it whenever possible. Often people call their dogs in a stern voice and expect them to obey. For the most part, they will come when called in this manner...unless there is something they like better or something distracting them that lures them away. We need to teach our dogs to choose us over their distractions. Through repetition and positive reinforcement the dog will learn to always choose you as the most interesting and consistent source of reward. Strong recall takes a lot of work, but it is the most important thing you can teach your dog.

The easiest attention getting exercise is rewarding any and all voluntary attention. If your dog looks at you, engage it, give it a treat or praise. If it comes up to you or returns it's attention to you...make a huge deal out of it. This is reinforcing good behavior. Sure it is not something that we commanded, but it is still an excellent foundation behavior that if gone unnoticed, will not strengthen. If you reward it, your dog will likely offer it more often and automatically. If your dog offers you its attention, then you will not have to worry about trying to get it! If you want your dog to come or do something other than what it is engaging in, you will already have done the ground work...with very little effort. In fact in this exercise the dog does most of the work for you. I think the reason this practice often goes unnoticed is because it is so simple it seems silly. Another reason people don't reward their dogs freely is that they don't want to spoil the dog or give it too much food. If you don't want your dog to gain weight from "excessive treating", then cut back on its daily meals. Eventually, you can find other things to give your dog as rewards. Food is simply something they relate to and instinctively strive to earn access to. If you don't want your dog to get spoilt, don't reward anything other than good behavior! If you want a dog that comes to you when called and is very interested in what you are doing or wanting it to do, make yourself the most delicious or interesting thing in the room or the situation. The easiest way to do this is through a reward system, treat training or praise. Getting a dogs attention is easy...make it fun! Ironically, making it fun for your pet, also makes it a lot more pleasant for you. Coming when called and recalls can be turned into attention games that are easy to do and will most likely lead to faster success for you and your dog.

Don't give up on defaults!

In order to build a strong stable nervous system you need to expose your dog to all sorts of experiences at a very young age, before four to six months old. Neither one of my dogs were socialized properly as puppies and as a result, are afraid of most things new or foreign. Exposing them to new situations is difficult and often unpredictable because of their lack of experience with common stimulus. Introducing a puppy to new things is fun, but introducing an anxious one and a half year old, or adult dog, to something new and exciting is not only difficult, but scary for both parties. I have done a lot of reading on desensitization and in the beginning of training Holly and Miko, I figured I would slowly and systematically expose my dogs to the things they were unfamiliar with, thus desensitizing them to their triggers. Little did I know that between the two of them, they are reactive to pretty much everything that moves and makes noise. On a daily basis they react to dogs, men, cats, birds, bikes, skateboards, motorcycles, trucks, lawn mowers, hair driers, vacuum cleaners and anything on wheels, including wheelchairs. Taking the two of them for a walk is hard work and I found it wasn't enjoyable for me. To turn things around I needed to work on a few basic foundation behaviors and bring some stability into our lives.

The behaviors that I now work on daily are COME, LOOK, TOUCH (or targeting) , DOWN, SIT, QUIET (or settle), as well as HEEL. I practice some of these commands in the house, looking out the window, in the back yard as people and dogs go by, as well as on our low stress walks. I can now walk both dogs, side by side, in a heel position, sitting on each corner in a controlled fashion. They don't pull me (very often) and walk on a loose leash (unless a dog or the mailman goes by). That might sound like an easy feat to some, but to owners of fear aggressive dogs, it can be a long road to enjoying a walk with "man's best friend". In fact, most people with fear aggressive dogs walk them at odd hours, when no distractions are present and a when they can avoid situations that leave them and their dogs rattled. I don't ever expect my dogs to be perfectly behaved or "off leash", but I do plan to enjoy the time I spend walking them. The foundation to successful rehabilitation of a fear aggressive dog is developing strong default behaviors, like the ones I have listed below, which can be taught through LOTS of repetition and LOTS of patience. Keep at them and DON"T GIVE UP on your dog!

COME: This is the most important command to work on. It can be used to pull a dog out of a dangerous situation. For fear aggressive dogs, a strong come default will save you much grief and could save you from unfortunate incidents, especially when you see something potentially scary and can avoid it by calling your dog to safety. I practice treating for COME every day so that when I need it, my dogs have an automatic and solid response to it and know it means good things to will follow.

LOOK: Most problems in training begin because the dog doesn't understand what the handler wants from it, or it is simply too distracted. The first step in communicating what you want from your dog is to get the dog's attention. Many times other distractions overshadow the handler's commands because the dog isn't paying attention to him or her. LOOK is an easy way to teach your dog to give you its focus. A strong look default will assure that you can get and keep your dog's attention when you most need it. Another form of "look" is name recognition. When you call your dog's name, you need it to look at you!

TOUCH: Teaching your dog to touch your hand or a target stick reliably, on command, is a good way to redirect it from a potentially reactive situation. Practice this command when there are no distractions and you can eventually use it to bridge many behaviors that will come in handy in the future. I use it to redirect my dogs after an outburst. I want to treat them for returning to calm behavior, but need something to separate the incident. By asking them to target my hand, it prevents me from accidentally reinforcing barking or lunging, because I need to treat them for ceasing the aggression and move on.

DOWN: As hard as it is to teach, an emergency down command can save your dog's life. It begins with practicing basic down commands in playtime, progressing to using a stern voice "DOWN" followed by praise and play. The point is to develop a strong and fast reaction to your voice...especially your panic voice. I do "downs" throughout the day in different tones of voice...even yelling it from a distance. It isn't abusive to bark a command at your dog in emergencies. They bark all the time! By practicing the word DOWN in a loud voice, you can be sure it will work when it really counts. (Don't give up on this one!)

SIT: If you can get your dog to sit, it can't jump or lung. (It is particularly useful for dogs who jump up). I use this for Holly when I position her facing away from her triggers. Sometimes I will go as far as holding her between my legs in a sit, so she can't look at the scary thing as it passes. It is always better to lure the dog away from the trigger, but in some cases, this is not possible and a strong sit will give me time to get my knees ready to block Holly from aggressing. I often put myself between the scary thing and the dog to physically block the reaction as well as visually block the stimulus.

QUIET: This is something I practice in the window of my living room for an hour or more a day. It can also be given as a "settle" or any word you prefer to use as a command. My dogs love to look out at the coming and goings of the neighbourhood. I keep a clicker handy and an ear cocked to ward off any window antics and to award any good behavior. I use the clicker as a marker for good quiet responses and as an interruptor of bad behavior (click and treat before they can start barking), as well as, as bridge to reward (to buy me a couple seconds of time to get the treat out). The trick is to award the calm quiet actions and redirect the barking into calm quiet behaviors, like sit or touch.

HEEL: Not to be confused with "walking on a loose leash"! My dogs must heel a block to earn a block of loose leash sniffing. It teaches them that they can have access to a good sniff, while working on a strong heel. The HEEL command is necessary in getting them through any social situation, be it walking down the sidewalk with men approaching, or allowing a cyclist to pass. This also allows me to walk calmly on the other side of the road, while a dog passes. Admittedly, I cross the street if I see a dog approaching (unless I am walking just one dog or the other). Together, two 65lb dogs can easily pull me off my feet. Miko wants to play and Holly wants to fight. I need a reliable heel to keep things under control.

ON and OFF game: Although this isn't a default exercise, it is a method of strengthening behaviors by adding distractions in a controlled way. I play with my dogs in the yard and get them really excited, (game ON) then ask them to quickly turn it OFF. I ask for a default behavior like sit, or down and make them settle down for treats. This is for practice in controlling their emotions and energy levels. By teaching them to turn their energy ON and OFF, I prepare them for settling down when they are over excited. It also allows me to figure out how quickly and under what circumstances I can expect them to settle down.

PRE-MACK Theory: This is a method of teaching more than a behavior. It works on the premise that you get your dog to perform a default in order to gain access to something or the freedom to do something. It is sometimes called the Grandmother Rule: "eat your veggies first!" I use it to strengthen desired behaviors by rewarding them with something the dogs really want, like sniffing when we are on a walk. In allowing the dogs a controlled amount of what they desire, it makes the desire to sniff less novel. They know that they will be allowed to sniff to their hearts content, as long as they heel for a block or even just as we cross a busy street. This can be applied to so many thing and is a great way to teach a default.

After months of training, unfortunately, Miko is still afraid of strange men and Holly is still afraid of other dogs. However, they are improving and learning to calm down on command. Instead of flooding them with their triggers while out and about (as I had done in the past with poor results). I now work on them at home and around my house without distractions, to build foundation behaviors which are incompatible with fear and aggression. I map out areas that are less stressful for the dogs. I keep the routes to low level exposures to their triggers. This way I can work on building up their threshold or tolerance to stimulus, rather than bulldozing through their fears in hopes of overcoming them. I concentrate on teaching them good behaviors and building the attention span, that they need to possess in order to feel more confident and calm in the face of perceived danger. I realized, not only had my dogs not been exposed to many types of things, people and stimulus, they had not been taught basic good manners and proper coping mechanisms. Before I could teach them to not react, I had to teach them what to do in place of reacting. I can't convince them not to be afraid of scary men and approaching dogs, but I can teach them to do something other than aggress.