Do Not Repeat Cues

It is a bit ironic that this is the recommendation that I repeat most to my clients. But, this makes a HUGE difference in training. Any animal learns faster if there are clear instructions. If you ask your dog to do something and they don’t do it, there are a few reasons that they did not perform:
• They did not hear you
• They don’t know the cue
• They don’t want to do the cue
• They are distracted and lost focus on what is expected of them

It doesn’t matter which of the above reasons a dog doesn’t perform. You should pay attention to being a good teacher and achieving a reflex response by asking your dog to do something, wait for a moment, help gently – if needed, and then reward after your dog does the behavior.

Don’t worry about your dog getting something for “nothing” by rewarding if you help your dog by gently helping. An example of a helper is gently pulling the leash after saying, “Come”. Eventually your dog will do the behavior on his own.

See more tips at http://www.watchandtrain.com

Football Season - A Great Opportunity for Dog Training

Yes, I love football. My wife is not too thrilled with this “problem” but she overlooks it once (or twice a week) during the winter. But, you know what? Your dog and your spouse doesn’t have to suffer! Use this as a structured training time to train your pooch. Here is one example of how to use your football time efficiently:

• Don’t feed your dog her breakfast that day to make this even more of a special event
• Take her food bowl and put it out of reach of your dog
• During the game, take small handfuls of it and periodically give small bits of it while she is lying nicely either next to you on the couch or on the floor
• Add more time in between tidbits to work on increasing patience and working on a nice “down stay”
• You can also stuff bigger portions or treats in a Kong or other stuffable toy and give it to her to keep her busy
• During the commercial break get up and do 2 minutes of training
• Introduce more advanced placement commands and reward these: examples include “go to bed”, “lie down next to couch”, etc.
• Once the game starts again, sit down and continue

What could happen by the end of the season:

• Your dog will see you plop on the couch, remote in hand and lie down next to you
• Your dog will see you sit down and go to her “spot”
• Your dog will learn to be patient when she is not getting full attention
• You will have a better trained, happier dog
• Your spouse will be appreciative of all the hard work you put in and will enjoy your well-behaved dog even more
  

To find more suggestions for training, visit WatchandTrain.com

Exercise your dog – physical and mental

In my daily dog training life I am constantly asked a simple question: How much exercise does my dog need? The answer depends on your dog. When my Collie, Ranger was a puppy, he needed three hours of exercise per day. How did I know he needed that much? When I did not provide him that much he was agitated, barked in the crate, was destructive and was just not as enjoyable to be around.

I probably could have gotten away with less, but what I did was what I recommend for all of my clients: train and exercise at the same time. A walk wasn’t just for exercise, but I worked on training, I chased him (one of his favorite activities) only after he came when I called him. I taught him all kind of silly but mind-exercising activities and tricks including “coffee table” – run around the coffee table, “hand-off” – take whatever object is in my hand as you run by, “nose down” – put your nose down between your paws, etc.

As with most dogs, as he got older his requirements lessened a bit, but he still is very high energy and LOVES training. My other two dogs love it as well. My Sheltie is high-energy as well, and my other Collie, Trooper is much lower energy but loves training.

I always recommend a MINIMUM of an hour of heavy-duty exercise including brisk walks, games of fetch, tug, or running at the dog park in addition to a MINIMUM of 15 minutes of training per day. Start there and adjust it as necessary.

The Importance of Handling Your Dog - What to do if your dog growls

It is so important to gently handle your dog throughout his or her life. I received a typical call today from a client that is afraid because her dog growls when she puts on his his harness.

The challenge with growling is that it is much better than biting, but it does signify a problem that needs to be worked on. If you put your dog in a situation where he growls, and you move away from him, then he is learning that growling is effective and he can do it when he is scared. If he growls and you ignore it, he might bite.

If you notice growling, do not punish it. Move gently away and make a note of what you were doing right before the growling. Let’s just say you were putting on a harness. You need to break down the complete action into small steps and desensitize your dog to each step. For instance, putting on a harness could be broken down into these big steps:
1. Show dog his harness
2. Move harness towards dog
3. Open head hole
4. Move harness towards dog
5. Put harness over dogs head
6. Rest harness on dogs back
7. Move hand towards paw to bring it through front leg hole in harness
8. Lift paw
9. Put paw through hole
10. Lean towards dog
11. Touch clip under belly
12. Clip harness under belly

Each one of those steps could take a long time. For instance, step 4 “Move harness towards dog” could elicit a fear response. If this happens, you have to go at a slower pace, both while you are doing the exercise and take more days to achieve this step.

After each step, I recommend saying, “Yes” or Clicking and treating. If your dog shows any fear, move more slowly and end on a good note and then stop the exercise before he gets worked up.

If he is constantly getting worked up when you do these exercises, you are moving much too quickly.

To prevent issues like this, handle your dog throughout his or her life and give treats toys, or food after doing the handling. Done correctly, your dog will love it!

Dog Training Expectations

Performance is something that changes moment to moment. When you are training your dog, you need to always pay attention to how well she is doing. If she is consistently distracted by something in the environment which causes her behavior to fluctuate, you have a couple of options.

1. Train another day. You might be at the dog park providing your pooch with some much needed exercise and you realize that she is extremely distracted and not paying attention to your cues. Get SOMETHING - even as simple as a sit - and then let her play.
2. Move farther away from the distraction and keep working. Do a quick session and then reward a snappy response by allowing her to go back to what she was doing.
3. Provide more help. If she is distracted and is not listening when you say, "Come!" have her trail a leash and hold it before you say it again. Then, say, "Come", gently pull the leash towards you, tap your leg, walk backwards, etc. To help the behavior happen. Then, reward her and do it again. When she does the behavior on her own, let her go back to what she was doing.
   

More tips like this can be found at my online video site.

Choke chains can increase aggression

I got a sad call from a new client yesterday. She said her dog was showing signs of dog-dog aggression and, from the advice of someone in the dog park, she hired a trainer that uses choke chains. She said initially the training wasn't too physical, but she ended up firing him because of his increasingly abusive techniques when dogs were around her dog.
She noticed that since those sessions, her dog has gotten worse, and more anxious when dogs come into view. I was not surprised and told her that is one of my main reasons for never recommending physical, or fear-based training.

From a learning perspective this is what can happen and probably happened in this case:

• Her dog showed signs of aggression
• She got "popped" with the choke chain which is called "positive punishment" (many people and trainers incorrectly call this "negative reinforcement")
• The pain possibly stopped her barking, but actually increased the anxiety (she was anxious about dogs coming into view because now it meant pain for her)
• Her behavior escalated over time because now she became anxious about getting anxious. The way I explain this is that the pattern has been consistent that she will bark at some point, and now she has to worry about two things: the dog and the pain associated with the dog
• She can't win. Either she shows anxiety and gets choked, or she has to quietly endure a situation that causes her fear

Dog-dog aggression can be modified using only positive reinforcement. I have been thinking about it for a while, but I am going to write a Dog Aggression E-book as soon as I can. I am editing videos for my dog training video site, but it will be a while before I have a dog aggression video. An E-book can be helpful and I have to help people realize that you don't have to use abusive methods to work with an aggressive dog.

Not enough time for dog training? Tips to find time.

Everyone is busy. My wife and I are taking a guitar class together and it is amazing how the week flies by and I realize I haven't practiced enough.

I am sure you are busy as well and can never find enough time to train your dog. Here are some tips to help you find the time.

• Do short training sessions before EVERYTHING that your dog wants. Examples include walks, dinner, belly rubs, games of fetch.
  
• Use what I call the Calorie Bowl. Portion out your dog's daily food including a few tasty treats and put it on the counter out of reach. Grab handfuls of it throughout the day and do quick training sessions. When the food is done, your dog is done eating for the day. No worries about overfeeding and it forces you to think about daily training.
  
• Use Kongs to feed your dog. Extracting food out of Kongs is a great way to provide your dog with mental stimulation.
• Have a favorite outside-only toy that your dog gets for good behavior on walks. Give it to him or her for a snappy behavior such as walking next to you for 20 steps. Then, take it away and ask for more of the behavior before your dog gets it back.
  
• One of my favorites: put training sessions in your calendar. Everything else is scheduled, why not training? One of my private client's favorite things about our sessions is that it reminds them to do weekly training. If you schedule it, you will find the time!

More tips like these can be found in my streaming online dog training videos.

Dog Summertime Safety Tips

Wow is it hot. In Chicago it has been near 90 degrees every day for more than a week. I feel for those of you in hotter areas such as California or Arizona.

But wherever you live, it is important to keep in mind some basic safety tips for dogs. If you ever suspect your dog having problems due to the heat or ingesting something, get him or to the vet immediately.

Summertime hazards can be found in many places. This is not a complete list, but some of the more common issues. You can also visit the ASPCA site for up-to-date information on a variety of issues.

Overheating. Dogs can overheat on normal walks or even faster in the the car. Take lots of water with you, avoid the heat of day, take shorter walks, and NEVER leave a dog in a car alone, even with the windows open. A car can heat up to a lethal temperature in minutes. Just don't take a chance.

Theft. Dogs can get taken for medical experiments, dog fighting, or for their companionship. There has been a rash of small dogs getting taken out of cars in Chicago. The thieves smash the windows and take the dogs. Some police think that the thieves might look for reward signs and return the dog to the rightful guardian to claim the reward. Evil. Dogs also can get taken when tied up outside of stores or coffee shops or out of backyards. Be careful.

Ingesting Antifreeze. This is the main reason I never let my dogs drink out of puddles. I don't want them to get in the habit of doing so. Even a small amount of antifreeze can kill a dog, and to make it worse, the sweet taste attracts dogs.

Ingesting chocolate. There is a lot of great information out there about the toxicities in different types of chocolate. Dark chocolate and baker's chocolate is the most dangerous, but it is a good idea to keep all chocolate away from your dog. Here is an article about the dangers of chocolate at About.com.

Ticks. Ticks have got to be the nastiest looking creature out there. Besides the skin irritations they can cause, they can also carry Lyme Disease. Make sure check your dog thoroughly after every romp in a potentially tick-infested area. Learn more about Ticks at this informative website.

Giardia. Dogs can get this parasite from feces of other dogs. So, if you are out more with your dog in the summer, make sure you are in a clean area. Here is an article about Giardia. As you can see, it is a complicated topic.

There are a lot more dangers for dogs out there, if you have more that you would like to talk about add a comment to this post.

Have a safe summer.

Dog training guaranteed

I use this post to get people to think about dog training, but also want to make sure you know about my online dog training website. You can learn how to housetrain your puppy, learn how to train your dog to perform proper leash walking, teach your dog to come when called, no jumping on guests or counter surfing.

I am currently working on my next video which will show you how to teach your dog to Stop on cue.

The videos are extremely high-quality and since they are so good, I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee. You can review the videos and the accompanying notes for 10 days.

I put a lot of time and energy into producing a product that is helpful, easy-to-use and can help dogs all over the world. I hope you like it.

Watch and Train.com, online dog training videos.

Please check dog trainer references

I was interviewed in April by the Chicago Reader about a horrifying situation about a dog trainer in the Chicago area arrested for animal cruelty. Read the article. I was interviewed to get a the perspective about, as a positive reinforcement trainer, why I think other trainers use abusive methods.

A lot of people don't think about the implications of who they hire to give them advice about the raising of their pet. Whether they think it is "just a dog" and you "just train it" or they just assume that dog trainers are screened by the state in which they operate, I am not sure. Besides requiring a business license, dog trainers are not screened or regulated in any other way at this time.

I don't think that this is critical because then it could open up all other kinds of questions. Who would do the screening, what would the criteria be, what types of training would be allowed, etc.

But, what you can do is to screen dog trainers yourself. Check references, check their training credentials, go watch them train if they teach classes. A bad trainer can give you terrible advice and really ruin the physical or mental well-being of your pet.

Dog trainers should be versed in learning theory, be members of organizations such as the APDT, attended seminars by other skilled trainers, studied at schools such as the Academy for Dog Trainers and/or worked closely with other trainers in a internship or apprentice situation.

You are hiring someone for his or her knowledge and experience. Make sure you know what you are getting.

Teach a dog to Come when called - the importance of consistency in dog training

"Come on guys let's go for a walk."

Blank stares . . .

"Ranger, Trooper, Linus, Come."

Three furry friends come running.

I realized that I never taught my dogs what "Come on guys let's go for a walk" meant. That was many years ago, and since then I have taught them that, but it reminded me of the importance of consistent teaching and that . . . dogs don't understand synonyms! We talk this way all the time and humans are able to fill in the gaps based on the context of the situation or the sentence. Dogs might be able to understand based on inflection, situation or body movement, but they need consistent patterns to understand what we mean.

Try this: work for 30 seconds on your dog's easiest behavior -usually sit - rewarding each behavior and then at some point say, "blah blah blah" and just look at your dog. Most likely your dog will sit, but you did not ask her, did you? What you did was create a pattern of:

1. You say something
   
2. Your dog does something
   
3. Your dog gets a reward

Your dog tried to fill in the blanks about what you were asking her. She tried a behavior because it had been working for her in the past because she was motivated by the reward. Motivation is the single most fascinating subject on this planet because it drives all species every moment of the day.

So now let's get back to the original topic of teaching Come and apply the demonstration outlined above. You can use this information to be a great teacher by following the simple pattern of:

1. Say the cue (or make a visual cue with your hands) for Come
2. Help your dog get it right by gently helping her come to you either by gently pulling on her leash, tapping your leg, running the other way, crouching down, etc.
   
3. Reward
4. Say the cue
5. Delay the help just a bit to allow your dog to try and connect the dots
6. Help, if necessary
7. Reward
8. Repeat

You are creating a consistent pattern that will motivate your dog to do the behavior when she hears the cue. That is dog training!

You can get even more step-by-step instructions including high-quality video and downloadable notes at my online dog training website.

Happy Training!

Housetraining tips - what not to do

It still amazes me the frequency I hear people talk about pushing their puppy's face in an accident to teach her housetraining. This is a sure way to greatly increase your puppy's anxiety and potentially teach your dog not to go potty in front of you at all for fear of punishment.

Just don't do it.
What you do want to is to manage your dog to prevent accidents and motivate your dog to hold her bladder and reward her for going potty in the correct location. My favorite management option is a crate.

You can learn step-by-step crate training and housetraining techniques at my online dog training website.

Dog scared of fireworks?

I was interviewed recently by the Chicago Tribune as well as a couple radio stations to help dogs overcome fear of fireworks. Here are the links if you want to read the information.

Pets Unleashed - Chicago Tribune Blog

107.5 Frank FM Radio Interview, July 2, 2007

710 AM, Seattle, WA Radio Interview, Friday, June 29, 2007 - Link to come

Dog Training 101 - Don't repeat cues and other dog training basics

Just some quick thoughts to make your life as a dog trainer much easier. After training thousands of dogs, it still amazes me how the little suggestions can make the biggest difference.

Don't repeat cues. Each time you say, "Sit, sit, sit . . . SIT" you are creating more work for yourself. Why? Generally one of four reasons. Your dog did not hear the cue. Your dog doesn't know the cue. Your dog is distracted and you need to move farther away from the distraction. Your dog isn't motivated to do the cue. After you say a cue, you need to "help" your dog get the cue correct. For instance, if you say, "Come" and your dog doesn't come to you, gently put a leash on your dog, gently bring your dog to you, and . . . reward. Yes, you reward even if you are helping. You want to establish a pattern of your dog doing a certain behavior after hearing a cue and getting a reward. That is where the motivation comes in to play. Eventually if you follow the pattern of:

1. Say the cue once
2. Help your dog get the behavior correct
3. Reward your dog (even if you help)

Eventually your dog will do the behavior without help. You can see more examples of dog training techniques at http://www.watchandtrain.com

Train in short sessions. The best strategy is to do really short sessions (as little as one or two minutes) before EVERYTHING that your dog wants. For instance, before you take your pup for a walk ask for a "Sit", "Down" and "Stay" for 20 seconds. Then say, "Ok" (release) and put the leash on and go. This will force you to do training throughout the day, and will teach your dog that your cues have relevancy in her life. Motivation!

Pay attention to what your dog wants and use this as a reward. This goes along with the previous suggestion. For instance, if your dog wants to play with a squeaky toy, take it away, do a short session and then give it back as a reward. If your dog wants to say, "hello" to his friend Spike on a walk, ask for a "Watch me" and then allow him to say "hello". Then . . . do a quick "let's go" walk away 5 steps and then come back only if he is not pulling on the leash.

Stay close to home, if necessary. It is much smarter to stay 10 feet on either side of your front door for 20 minutes than to allow your dog to pull you around the block which teaches her to pull. Stay in a setting that is less distracting until the behavior improves before heading to a new location.

Use a Sensible Harness for pullers. There is a fantastic, humane harness called the Sensible or Senseation harness. Find it at Softouchconcepts. Use it instead of chokes or prong collars.

Happy training!
http://www.watchandtrain.com

To Sit or Not to Sit - Helping a dog with dog-dog aggression

I work with dog-dog aggression a lot. I get lots of practice in the congested city of Chicago, and I use techniques that work. As with any training topic, there are many competing strategies out there, but I urge you to think about the psychology of anxiety and aggression.

If an animal is not hunting for food (one form of aggression) if they show aggression towards another animal it is almost exclusively as a result of discomfort. "You are too close, get away from me!"

To help a dog feel more comfortable, you have to help them BEFORE they start the "rehearsal" of the behavior. If the pattern is currently 1) I see a dog 2) Eventually I will bark and lunge at that dog. You need to change the pattern to 1) I see dog 2) I am calm.

This is how it works: If your dog currently is routinely in a situation where she ends up barking, she can start to predict the discomfort that will eventually happen and get more anxious earlier in the process. I think about it as getting anxious about getting anxious.

I like to use an analogy to a human experience to help my clients understand. If you are terrified of roller coasters, you might get anxious as soon as one of your friends even suggests going to the amusement park. You can already predict how you will feel at the park and start to go over that feeling in your head. Now think about how you might feel driving to the amusement park, walking through the gate, etc. The ANTICIPATION of the event can actually be stressful.

The same process happens with dogs. I usually get calls from new clients when their dog's behavior has gotten worse. "They used to be ok with dogs about 10 feet away, and now they bark when the dog is 50 feet away!"

So now, how do you fix the problem? I will post a more detailed answer at some point . . . want more info . . . comment on this post and I will do it faster . . . .

The main point I want to talk about today is the very common practice of having a dog sit when she growls or barks. Not inhumane, not always a bad idea, but . . . often it can send a dog into an anxiety-ridden tailspin.

If your dog is anxious 20 feet from a dog and you have her sit, she is MORE vulnerable sitting. If you have done lots of training and sitting is a conditioned response, now you've done it. Part of her brain is telling her to sit, and part of her brain is telling her to fight or flee (the two instinctual reactions when any animal is in panic mode). So now what can happen is your dog is anxious. She wants to run away or fight but is told to do something else that will make her more vulnerable.

What should you do? Move her away and desensitize her to the event so she doesn't even start to feel anxious.

Teach Emergency STOP!

On Friday I met a client for the first session and met his wonderful 1.5 year old Labrador Retriever named Riley. Our session ended after some fantastic leash work, placement cues and some work on Stay. As I was leaving, my client opened the door for me just as a delivery man was opening the door on the ground level. My client immediately saw the worst. The door was open, the gate was open and Riley ran through both.

We immediately raced after him and, thankfully, Riley did not make it to the very busy street one block away.

But, that reminded me of the importance of all dogs learning Emergency Stop. My client and I will be working on that during the next session, but it takes a while to "stick". So better management around open doors is first on the list for my client to practice.

Here are the steps. As with any positive reinforcement dog training, there are a number of ways to teach the same behavior. Here are a couple.

Strategy One

1. Start out with a 6 foot leash
2. Place a toy or treat that your dog likes 10 feet away
   
3. As she walks away from you say, "Stop" and gently stop her movement
4. AS SOON as she is stopped Click (if you are using a clicker) or say, "Yes"
5. She should turn around after hearing the Clicker or the word "Yes", but if not, give her a treat no matter which direction she is looking
6. Do 5 repetitions of this and continue below
7. My definition of Stop is for a dog to do a "U-turn" and turn around and look at me. So if she if she is not already doing that, you will now add that requirement to the behavior. So now your expectation is "Stop moving AND turn around and look at me"
8. Move a bit farther away from the toy or treat on the ground and add a little noise with your mouth after she has stopped moving. Then, when she turns around, 'Click' or say, "Yes"
9. The goal is that she starts to anticipate the word "Stop" with something behind her after she stops moving. It is almost as if we want her to turn around and say, "What?"

Troubleshooting

1. Move farther away from the object that she is moving towards before starting the exercise
2. Stop her more quickly after saying "Stop" (always gently)
3. Provide "help" more quickly after she stops so she turns around more quickly. Helpers include a kissing noise with your mouth, tapping your leg, etc.
   
4. Think of this as a reflex exercise that is only successful after the necessary repetitions. Do not get frustrated. Practice daily in different situations.
   
5. Practice on a walk every time you walk up to a curb and eventually she will associate the curb with "Stop" and will start to do it on her own
6. Move to fixed length - not retractable - long leashes (12 feet or more) and continue practicing. Make sure you do not "clothesline" your dog. If she is moving quickly do not stop her too quickly. You should move to a short leash until you have more reliability if this is happening frequently.
   

Strategy Two
You can do this one if your dog loves toys. Use her favorite toy that you know she will chase. As long as you are in a safe, enclosed area, she doesn't even need to be on leash for this one.

1. Take her favorite toy that you know she loves to chase
2. Pretend to throw it
   
3. When she takes steps towards the direction you "threw it", say, "Stop"
4. As soon as she turns around (help her with a noise with your mouth if you need to) 'Click' or say, "Yes" and throw it the opposite direction you originally "threw it"
   
5. What you are doing is associating the word "Stop" with her action of turning around and running the opposite direction
6. That is what Stop looks like!!! Yippeee!
   

Visit http://WatchandTrain.com for streaming dog training videos for more tips and techniques like these. Each video comes with a free, orientation video as well as downloadable notes with more helpful tips and tidbits.

Corrections

While working with a private client on Wednesday, we ran into another local Chicago trainer. It was interesting, because we were both teaching our clients the exact same lesson, using different philosophies. The goal was to have our dogs meet each other calmly. My client and I were walking a 2 year old wheaton terrier, and the other trainer and his client each had a dog that they were working with.

I used one of many strategies to get Misty to greet nicely. In this case, I asked her to watch me. Each time she watched me, she got to move a bit closer to the other dog. At a certain point I "lost her" and I moved her gently away and started again. So much of this strategy revolves around two things. Teaching a dog to pay attention and not be single-minded on the other dog and also through repetition teach her to "ask for permission" by checking in before greetings.

As we got closer to the other trainer and the two dogs, I noticed that each dog was wearing a choke chain. Anyone that knows me knows that I do not ever recommend using one of these "tools" for training. By definition, it adds pain to stop a behavior. This is called positive punishment. Often trainers will incorrectly label it negative reinforcement which is something different.

I heard the trainer tell his client that her dog should greet another dog on her terms and that she should "correct" him if he gets up from his sit too quickly. While I did not see her actually do this, this often means giving a pop with the leash to stop the dog's forward movement using the discomfort of the choke chain to help this happen.

On my way home I thought how unfortunate it was that while we were all teaching our dogs the same lesson, the word "correction" in the other trainer's case refers to adding discomfort or pain in the lesson. In my lessons, I "correct" a dog's actions by gently moving her away from her current location until she is able to focus on the task at hand and then continue the lesson.

The most troubling aspect of the word "correction" used in the physical sense is that it implies that there is a clear "right" and "wrong" and it is ok to punish dogs if they make the wrong decision. My strategy focuses on making sure that dogs understand what is expected of them and I encourage, motivate and reward the right decisions. If they make a "mistake" I don't hold it against them or decide that they are wrong. I look at the whole picture including the current location, the age of the dog, the amount of training the dog has had and adjust my expectations from there.

Stubborn

This little word gets so many dogs in trouble. I hear this word used very frequently to describe a dog's behavior. It often is used to describe a dog that will not come when called or perform another behavior such as 'sit'.

Whether you want to call a dog stubborn or not, I think we can all agree on one thing. Dogs have a brain and they make choices. That is one of the wonderful, magical elements to enjoying a dog in our world. They are dogs, yet they become members of our human families! Think about that. Should it be easy to teach them our language and have them do things when we ask them? How difficult is it for humans to learn another language, yet when a dog doesn't learn a language quickly enough or chooses to do something else -- he is labeled stubborn.

Often when I see a dog that has been labeled "stubborn" I can very quickly identify that the trainer is not being clear with his instructions, is repeating cues or is using a lot of extraneous movements that are confusing the dog.

What is the opposite of stubborn? What about a dog that instantly does everything that a trainer asks. They sit beautifully, they come when called from a dead sprint going the other direction, they leave off-limits food without a second thought. Do you know what I call that dog? A well trained dog that is motivated to do those behaviors. That takes time and good teaching.

Think about a small child learning to ride a bicycle. She might start with training wheels to gain confidence and to make the learning process go smoothly. If you take off the training wheels and she falls down, are you going to call her stubborn or are you going to put the wheels back on and give her encouragement to try again?

Just because any creature doesn't do everything that is asked of him doesn't make him bad. Maybe he needs more practice, maybe his or her teacher needs a different strategy to make the teachings stick. Maybe he needs more confidence before he can master the new skill. Think about how many years a professional teacher goes to school to learn how to teach young minds.

You might be a professional teacher, but chances are there are others reading this post. Should you be able to instantly understand how to motivate a dog to do everything perfectly? Should your dog be able to do everything that is asked among the distractions of the world?

Focusing is a learned skill. That is a big message I teach my private clients to think about. When your dog walks outside, she is inundated with smells, sounds and movement that trigger many other reactions besides sitting or lying down or running to us. When you ask her to do one of those things, you are competing with innate desires to do something else. Will your dog do it?

Hopefully, if not, you will chalk it up to one more training exercise that you can work on and not call your dog stubborn.

Introduction to This Blog

I want to use this forum to discuss dog training. I am not expecting to change every competing opinion, but, at a minimum, want people to be exposed to thoughts by someone who lives the life of a professional dog trainer.

One of the reasons for starting this dialogue is to react to issues and points of view that I encounter on a daily basis. While I would never pretend to know everything, my opinions and views are based on training thousands of dogs and tens of thousands of interactions as well as my formal training and continued reading and research.

My main philosophies center on the concepts that dogs are thinking, feeling, wonderful animals that are a part of human's lives and it is our responsibility to treat them with respect and provide them with the best chance to be well-adjusted members of our lives.