As your goal for the first week, try to work up to ten seconds of eye contact before clicking and treating.  Do not allow your dog to wonder away during the game—but do stop while your dog’s interest is still high and use your release word (OK--free dog or OK--all Done) to end the game. 

Long term goals--Your long term goal is to train your dog to hold respond on cue and maintain sustained eye contact for a minute or more, even in the presence of  major distractions such as other dogs.   However, if you are working with a reactive dog in the presence of one of his triggers such as a stranger or another dog, don't hesitate to use a series of short quick Watches rather than one long Watch/Look--every time your dog turns away from his trigger and returns his attention and focus to you is a chance for you to reinforce/reward that behavior and make it stronger!

Reward Voluntary Attention--Any time you notice your dog looking your way or making eye contact, especially in while training, reinforce this behavior with praise or clicks & treats. Again, by delaying the click, you can gradually increase the time he will maintain eye contact. If your dog will hardly look away from you while you play the game, it is still OK to keep clicking & treating.  You can reach that goal only by building toward it one step at a time, i.e. very gradually adding higher levels of distractions.—you are rewarding him for his focus on you.  When you are ready to stop, just say your release word (OK-Free Dog) and turn away from your dog.

Teaching Sit Exercise--HOW

1. Lure it—With a treat in hand, touch it to your dog’s nose and slowly lift your hand above and slightly back of your dog’s head.  Don't say anything.  (At this point if you say "Sit" your dog doesn't know what that means and so you are teaching him it's OK to ignore you). When your dog looks up at the treat, he will probably Sit.  Click or say Yes and treat.  If he tends to move around and back up, move the lure more slowly and work in a corner.  Repeat half a dozen times.

2. Name the behavior—Say “Sit” a second BEFORE you lure the dog into position, right before his rump hits the floor.  Immediately click & treat.  Now you are teaching him to associate the word "Sit" with the action. 

3. Now request the behavior using only your verbal cue. Give the verbal cue, and lure the dog using the same signal but with an empty hand.  Keep the food out of sight until the dog responds correctly, then reward the dog from your OTHER hand; repeat 25 times.

4. Fade the food lure--Give the verbal cue and use the same hand motion to lure your dog into a Sit, but with an empty hand.  Keep the food hidden in your other hand.  If your dog Sits, click and treat him/praise and feed with food that was out of sight in your other hand.   Repeat about 25 times. Your dog is learning that you may still reward him even if he doesn't see the food in your hand. 

5. Verbally Cue the behavior—Tell your dog to "Sit" without using a lure or hand movement!  Now that your dog has learned to associate the action of sitting with the word “Sit,” you can  verbally cue him to “Sit” without prompting him with a lure or hand signal.  Continue to  Click and treat every Sit. 

6. Move to a random reward schedule and fade out the clicker--After your dog will reliably Sit on cue 5 out of every 6 times, gradually progress from clicking and treating every single Sit, to clicking and treating every other Sit, then every third Sit, every fourth Sit, and then only randomly click & treat your dog's Sits.  Once you move to a random schedule of reinforcement, choose the best, fastest and straightest sits to click & treat.  Give Jackpots for really good responses!  (A Jackpot is an extra special reward--usually a super yummy treat or series of treats).  At this point you can fade the clicker--instead of clicking, verbally praise your dog for correct responses and give him an occasional treat to keep the behavior strong.

About Time Outs

Giving a time-out can be a good way to handle your puppy or dog’s misbehavior.  The concept is very simple—you are quickly removing rewards, including your attention, for a very short time by confining your dog in a safe quiet place and then ignoring him while he is there.  The time-out area can be his crate, a small safe confinement room, or on a leash or tether in an out of the way corner.  In a pinch, you can even give a time- out by stepping on the leash until he settles down (meanwhile ignoring him).  Eventually, your dog will learn to connect his misbehavior with the Time-Out consequence. 

HOW

1. Mark the misbehavior with a verbal cue by saying "TIME OUT"

2. Immediately follow up with the Time Out action--take him to his crate or tether.  Time-outs can be as be as brief as 30 seconds and should never last more than a few minutes.

3. It’s OK to let your dog have a chewy bone during his time-out if it is already in the crate or confinement area. 

4. Ignore all whining or barking during a time-out and be sure to let your dog out only while he is quiet—otherwise you will teach him that raising a ruckus is how to get his way.  When you release him, do it in a calm neutral manner without undue fanfare.

Take Treats Gently Exercise--More Soft mouth-Bite inhibition Training 

HOW

In addition, several times a day place your fingers in your dog's mouth.  If your dog chomps down, yelp and withdraw your hand and eye contact.  Then remind your dog "easy-gentle" as you give him another chance.  If he is more gentle with his teeth, praise him. 

*Note--In coming weeks and in Basic 2 we will build on this foundation by adding  mild distractions and in Basic 2 we will also begin learning methods to strengthen your dog's real life recall response in the face of stronger temptation.

Hand-feeding Your Dog Exercise

Why--There are several benefits that come from spending a week or two hand-feeding your dog.  Hand-feeding is a concrete way to show your dog who butters his bread.  Hand-feeding can help build trust, respect, and attention and all it takes is 5 to 10 minutes once or twice a day.

HOW

Sit in a chair with the bowl next to you on a table or kneel  on the floor with the bowl in your lap.  Wait for your dog to offer eye contact before you give him each handful of food.

Training Tips

              LESSON 2 Reading & Exercises                        

Motivating Your Dog-Lesson 2 Reading

Many people believe that dogs “mind” us because of their great love for us.  Actually dogs, like humans, are capable of feeling a great deal of affection for others without any accompanying inclination to perform behaviors they don’t find inherently rewarding.  Others think that dogs mind us out of respect, which does come a little closer to the mark.   A dog is more apt to pay attention and respond to you when he sees you as his leader.  And yet, even the President of the United States may not be able to get his dog to reliably sit on cue if he only depends on having the dog’s "respect." Therefore the real training question becomes, how do you make your dog WANT to do as you ask?  The wrong answer, and something that doesn't work, is repeating a command while your dog ignores it!

Sit-Sit-Sit!  Yet another common mistaken notion is that dogs Sit or do any other behavior just because we tell them to.  Have you ever repeated Sit-Sit-Sit to a dog, with increasing emphasis, while the dog, who knows exactly what the word "Sit" means, ignores you?  Behavioral scientists have discovered that what really determines whether dogs respond or don't respond to our cues/commands depends on past consequences, good or bad.  If you give a dog both praise and a sardine as soon as he Sits on cue, and repeat that a few times, the dog will soon start sitting almost before you can get the word out of your mouth!  

We may have stars in our eyes about our furry companions, but the truth is they are lovable opportunists and their attitude toward training can be summed up with the question,  “What’s in it for me?”  and their favorite slogan “Dogs Just Wanna Have Fun!”

Reward your dog for correct responses--Initially when teaching a new behavior, you should immediately praise and reward your dog every single time that she does something for you on cue. In behavior  jargon, that is called a “continuous schedule of reinforcement."  During the learning stage of a behavior, rewarding your dog for every correct response is crucial--this is how you build a "reward history" to get reliable responses. 

Of course you can't and won't want to always present a sardine along with every request you make, so after your dog has learned a new behavior and will perform it about 5 out 6 times when you cue him, you will begin to cut back on the food rewards until you are giving them randomly, usually for the best and fastest responses. However you should always continue to praise each correct response and sometimes reward your dog with play and other "real life rewards" even when you don't give food rewards.  

Why won’t my dog won’t do what I tell him?  There are several reasons a dog may not respond to your verbal cue:    

Lesson 2 Study Handout--Food Lures & Food Rewards

Trainers who claim not to motivate dogs with food (because they say they want the dog to work for them and not for food) in reality rely instead on motivating dogs with aversives--some level of fear and pain. However, training with food does not mean that you have to end up with a dog who only works when you're waving a weenie under his nose--if you learn how to properly use food as a training aid.

Food Lures vs. Rewards--There are important differences between initially using food as a lure and later using food as a reward.

Food Lures--The food lure is used as an aide and motivator to teach the dog the body mechanics of a new behavior like Sit or Down by having him target and follow the visible food lure in your hand with his nose.  (At this point the dog is smelling, but usually not being allowed to eat the treat).  Luring should be faded out as soon as possible so that this doesn’t become a permanent crutch for your dog and so that your dog does not come to depend on the visible presence of food to obey you.  You can usually fade out the lure after about 6 repetitions of a behavior.

Fading the food lure—Fading the food lure means gradually eliminating the lure as a crutch to get/elicit the behavior. 

How--After your dog will readily perform a behavior when you lure him (usually after about half a dozen repetitions)  make the same luring movement/signal, but with an empty hand.  Tell your dog to Sit and/or give your hand signal (without the food lure), and if he does, immediately click and reward him from your other hand.  Keep the treats out of sight in your other hand, pocket or fanny pack --and eventually, sometimes off your person entirely in a near-by location such as a table or counter top.

Food Rewards--In contrast to food lures, which are used to  elicit a new behavior,  food used as a reward is given to the dog to eat after the behavior is performed. 

After the visible food lure is no longer needed to elicit the behavior and is faded out, food used as a reward should usually be kept out of sight until after the dog has performed the cued behavior.  Food rewards help maintain your dog’s enthusiasm and motivation so they should never be completely phased out, although they should gradually change from being offered every time the dog gives a correct response to being given on a random schedule.

Why the confusion?  Initially, when the dog is learning a new behavior (sometimes called “the teaching phase” of training) the same piece of food used as a lure to get the dog to perform the physical movements of a behavior such as Sit, a few seconds later becomes the actual treat given as a reward for that behavior.  However, at a later stage in training, after the dog knows how to perform a  behavior on cue, you should no longer need to lure him and should then be using food only as a reward.

Using food as bribe is a no-no.  You are using food as a bribe when you dangle it in front of the dog before getting him to perform a behavior that he has already learned well.  To prevent the food from becoming a bribe, keep the food out of sight until the dog has given a correct response and offer the treat immediately afterwards as a paycheck for a job well done. 

Food Rewards—Schedules of Reinforcement--While the dog is in the learning stage of a new behavior, you should reward him on a continuous basis—in other words, he gets a treat every time he performs the requested behavior. 

Moving to a random reward schedule- Once the dog performs reliably, you no longer have to give him a treat for every correct action—you can gradually put the rewards on a random schedule. 

How--When your dog is responding promptly and correctly about at least 85% of the time (5 times out of 6) begin to reward him every 2nd time, then every 3rd time, every 4th time, then randomly.  Let your dog’s behavior guide you in how fast to proceed in cutting down on the frequency of rewards, and if his correct responses slow, drop back to a more frequent reward schedule.  

Raise your criteria—Since you are now only rewarding some of the time, try to reward/reinforce the fastest downs, the straightest sits, etc.  Give Jackpots for really good responses! 

Other Real Live Rewards--Once your dog is very solid with a behavior, you can begin to sometimes offer a reward other than food.  When your dog responds to your cues, praise and play with him with or without a toy.  Call him to Come and reward him with a walk or a game of Tug.  Tell him to Wait and reward him by allowing him to follow you out the door.  Remember that rewarded behavior remains strong, unrewarded behavior will eventually fade and extinguish. Think of food, play, and other rewards as your dog’s paychecks!   

Trouble Shooting--"My Dog Only Works for Food!" 

1. With a treat in both hands, raise both arms out to your side, like a scarecrow.  Give your verbal cue "Watch" and just wait until he looks away from the treat in your hand and looks into your eyes instead, then immediately click or say “YES” and give the treat.  Repeat several times and each time you click, alternate the hand that you feed him the treat with.  Now he is learning that watching the treat doesn’t earn the treat—only watching you and making eye contact earns the treat

2. With arms down at your sides, hold treats in both hands.  Your dog will look at one hand or the other—Say "Watch" then wait until he glances back at your face.  Click and feed him from the opposite hand from the one he was just looking at.  

3. Continue to vary your arm/hand positions—for example one arm pointing at 12 o'clock and the other at 3 o'clock--he may glance at your hands as you move, but always require eye contact before you click & treat. 

HOW--Calmly reach out and take hold of your dog’s collar, say “Gotcha” and quickly hand him a yummy treat.  Do this exercise at least a dozen times a day until your pup is completely comfortable having his collar touched and grabbed.  Then, if your dog is stable and friendly and shows no signs of aggression, invite family members and friends to do the same.  Do this exercise occasionally throughout your dog’s life.  

*Your dog will learn how to behave at the door a lot faster if you give her some extra practice.  Go get your clicker and some treats, exit the house, and repeat entering again for a few times to give your dog practice in getting this right and in being rewarded for her good door manners--when she keeps 4 on the floor, click/praise & treat.

Training tips— 

When your dog will readily target your hand, you can proceed to teach her to target other things such as a target stick, a pencil or a ball, etc. by using the same steps.  Always use the same verbal cue, “Touch.” 

Loose Leash Walking 

Controlled or Loose Leash Walking simply means having your dog walk along with you without pulling. (This is different from formal obedience heeling because it does not require constant attention or a “head up” position). 

My criteria for controlled walking is that the dog must allow me to set the pace and direction of our walk – it is the dog’s job to keep the leash loose as he accompanies me. 

Why Train-1) Training a dog to walk in a controlled manner makes walking your dog more pleasant and safe.  2) It also helps keep your relationship on the right track by reminding your dog who is really in charge; if your dog is pulling you down he street, he has the wrong idea about how to play "follow the leader."  3) When you train your dog not to pull on leash, you are also teaching your dog self-control - which will have a positive effect on other obedience behaviors! 

Why Dogs Pull-Because the pulling behavior works!  It gets dogs where they want to go and gets them there faster!  When your dog pulls, every forward following step that you take with a taunt leash rewards him for pulling and makes the behavior stronger!

After trying out many methods (including click & treat) for teaching dogs to walk on a loose leash on a buckle collar, here is the only thing I have found that works in real life outside distracting situations:

HOW-

Note - While your dog is learning this new behavior, your goal for walking him should not be to get from point A to point Z in the quickest most direct way, but rather to practice this new skill, which means you may spend much of your time walking in circles.  Better to go only half a block and back while training effectively than to allow your dog to pull you all over the neighborhood or park.

Why it works:  What your dog wants most during a walk is forward movement or movement toward a distraction such as something he wants to sniff. This maneuver will teach your dog that placing tension on the leash effectively prevents him from getting where he wants to go, and at the same time begins to teach him that as long as the leash is loose he can move forward.  Thus, you are preventing him from getting any positive reinforcement for pulling, while allowing him to get positive reinforcement for walking on a loose leash. 

Although this method will work, there are no magic bullets in training.  Factors that will influence how quickly your dog will change his leash pulling behavior include his inherent temperament (some dogs have a genetic propensity to pull), your own consistency and timing, and how often you practice.  It will also help to give your dog some exercise before walking him to allow him to release some of his pent up energy.

Training Tips:

Special Training Equipment: If you have a large, strong hard pulling dog you may also want to consider using  a Gentle Leader Head Halter or a No Pull Sensation Harness: http://www.softouchconcepts.com/products/index.html     http://www.softouchconcepts.com/support/Softouch_instr_webR3.pdf

Neither of these tools will completely eliminate pulling, but along with training, they can make it much easier to walk and exercise your dog.  Martingale collars may also be used for dogs that tend to slip out of their collars.  http://www.collargirl.com/how_martingale_work.htm

Please do not resort to using a choke collar which is 1) not effective and 2) can cause tracheal damage. 

Prong collars are preferable because they work by pinching rather than by choking and they can be effective for pulling, but positive trainers tend to avoid them because they are easily misused and jerking a dog too hard on a prong collar can not only be painful, it can also play a part in developing on leash aggression. For more about how to use them correctly read:  http://www.flyingdogpress.com/prong.html

About Flexi Leashes:  If you use a flexi leash at any time for any purpose, be careful to do so in a responsible manner (do not use a flexi leash with a head halter or with a no pull harness, or allow your dog to pull out on the flexi and get in another person or dog’s face/space). 

If you are considering the use of an electronic/shock collar please read: http://www.hollysden.com/say-no-to-shock-collars.htm

Part 1:  Duration

Stay means, “Don’t move or change your position until I release you.”  You release your dog from a Stay by saying your release word (OK, Free Dog, At Ease).   

Stay vs. Wait-Some trainers use Wait to mean pause and don't move forward.

Laying the groundwork--After you clicker train your dog to Sit, keep your dog from immediately getting up by delaying the click & treat, first for only a second or two,  and then for a few seconds, to help your dog learn to “hold” his Sit.  

HOW--We won’t use the clicker for this.  In order for your dog to really understand what Stay means, we also need to teach him a release word/cue that says  "you are finished, NOW you can move.  To do this you need to choose and use a consistent release word/phrase such as “OK—Free Dog.”   

1. Stand in front of the dog, tell him to Sit, then move your palm toward his face with your fingers pointed down to the floor and tell him to "Stay."  Quietly praise him for a second or two, then release him by saying your release word "OK" as you move back and encourage him to follow you by clapping the side of your leg.  Both your verbal cue and your body language should signal your dog that it is OK to move now.

2.  Repeat, tell him to Sit-Stay, then feed him a treat while he maintains his Stay--remind him again to Stay as he finishes his treat so that he doesn't think finishing the treat is a release.  Quietly praise him and release him. *Note that by giving treats during the Stay rather than after it ends, we are reinforcing the Stay itself, not the release.

3. Gradually build up the seconds that he can maintain his Stay--and if he breaks after 5 seconds,  help him to be successful by releasing him after 3 seconds the next time. 

About treats- Many dogs do not need treats to learn how how to Stay but treats can be very helpful in teaching dogs who tend to pop right up to learn what Stay means.  Here are two techniques for using treats in teaching Stay:

Training tips—  

Pup/Basic 1 Lesson Table of Contents or Skip to Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3 or Lesson 4

LESSON 3 Reading & Exercises 

Leave It—When you give this verbal cue, your dog should immediately cease sniffing, touching or pursuing contact with the distraction or object of his attention, and return his attention to you. This is a very useful important behavior to train your dog to avoid contact with things you want him to avoid, or to keep his attention focused on you when necessary.  This is an exercise that Search & Rescue dogs practice throughout their entire careers!

You can tell your dog “Leave it” when he is about to approach a dead bird or rodent in your backyard, a rotting fish on the beach, a snake on a hike, snacks on the coffee table, or a person or dog that may not welcome his overtures.   Reliable “Leave It” training can sometimes prevent a dogfight!  You can also use “Leave It” when your dog is still sniffing the fire hydrant long after you are ready to move on.

Depending on your timing,” Leave it” can mean 1) “Don’t approach it,” or 2) “Move away from it NOW.”  But remember, when your dog hears you say “Leave It” that is also his cue to return his attention to you! Begin teaching this behavior by teaching your dog to leave treats alone.  As your dog comes to understand the exercise, begin to generalize the lesson by teaching him to leave other kinds of objects as well.  Eventually you will teach him to even leave people or other animals when he hears this cue and turn to you for his reward.   

Teach Leave It--HOW

Give/Out—Choose the word you prefer--This exercise teaches your dog to release an object when you tell him to do so.   

Why—Releasing objects on cue helps your dog learn another important aspect of self-control.  If your dog will release objects on cue, you can play games like Tug with him.  Releasing objects is also a skill needed for good retrieving.

How—Exchange the object in your dog’s mouth for a treat!  You can initiate this exercise with a game of Tug, or catch the behavior by approaching your dog when he already has a ball or other object in his mouth.

1. Have some high value (esp. yummy) treats ready on hand and put the treat under your dog’s nose—he will probably release the object in his mouth to take the treat.

2. Praise him warmly as you give him the treat.

3. Name the behavior—after your dog has readily dropped the object in his mouth a few times, begin to add your chosen word “Give” or “Out” as you hand him the treat, so he will learn to associate the word with the action. 

4. Now wean your dog off getting a treat exchange to release: If you are tugging with your dog, keep hold of the object but suddenly release pulling pressure as you step toward dog, point your finger at his face, and say "Out."

Take It & Tug--Select a toy that is good for pulling and use it to tease your dog a bit and encourage him to grab it with his teeth—as he does, say “Take It.”  Praise him as you pull and tug, then stop pulling and say “Give” as you offer your treat.  Gradually stop offering the treat, as your dog gets better at releasing the toy on cue.  When your dog releases the object, resume playing tug—getting to play again is his reward!

Benefits of playing Tug—Playing tug can be a good addition to a daily exercise program.  In addition to providing exercise, playing Tug can help teach self-control and provide a bonding activity for owner and dog.  If your dog is not unduly aggressive, Tug can be a terrific game IF you and your dog play by the rules!   

Rules for Tug: 

1. You, the owner/handler should initiate the Tug game.  If your dog tries to start the game, have him do some sits & downs for you first, then if go ahead and play with him if you want to.

2. Dog can only grab Tug toy when you give permission by holding out the toy and saying giving your chosen cue word “Take It, Tug or Pull.”  If your dog grabs the toy, his behavior should reap some negative punishment—the good thing, in this case the toy, goes away and disappears from sight—put it behind your back or in your pocket.   Tell your dog to Sit and if he complies, bring the toy back out and resume the game.

3. You should win the game almost all the time (9 times out of 10) unless your dog lacks confidence—then you can let him win more often.

4. If at any time your dog’s teeth touch your skin, say OUCH or Oops and end the game!  Put the toy away for several minutes.  Then you can give your dog another chance.

5. End the game before your dog gets bored by telling him to “Give or Out”  and putting the toy up or saying “Enough” or That’s all,” and withdrawing your attention.

*Anyone who can’t abide by these rules should not play tug with the dog—that is why Tug is not a good game for young children to play with the dog 

Note: You can use a similar technique to teach the dog to go to her crate.  You can also teach your dog to love going to her crate by using the "Crate Games" method developed by trainer Susan Garrett:

 How—

1. Stand by the door and ring the bell or have a helper ring the bell. 

2. When your dog comes running, walk toward your dog and herd him away and back from the door.  If he tries to dart around you, quickly throw a body block. 

3. When you have backed your dog up at least five feet from the door, tell him to “Wait.”  He may do his Wait in a Sit or Stand position, as long as he doesn’t move forward toward the door.

4. Return to the door and open it a crack, keeping one eye on your dog.  If he rushes the door, shut it fast and do another body block.  Then herd him back again.  If he doesn’t rush the door but creeps forward a few feet, use your body to block his path and shuffle him back( to the invisible line you don’t want him to cross) again. 

5. Now, give him another chance to get it right.  Open the door and stand a little to the side so the dog can make a choice.  If he chooses to Wait, click & treat or praise & treat, then shut the door and release him or give him permission to pass. 

6. Repeat a few times every day until he is reliable—then continue to use and randomly reward this behavior whenever visitors ring your doorbell.

Pup/Basic 1 Lesson Table of Contents or Skip to Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3

Homework Week 3-- Add

1. Leave It--Your goal by next week is to have your dog leave any object or treat that you place on the floor when you say "Leave It."

2. Out/Give—Twice daily, 5 reps with object exchanges for treats.

3. Wait--Make your dog Wait at the door before releasing him to go outside; make him Wait to be released before allowing him to jump out of the car.

4. Go to Your Mat—Gradually increase the distance from which  you can send your dog to his mat--daily, 5 reps.

5. Relaxation-Settle –massage and dog stays on mat until released.

6. Sit-Stay and Down-Stay – Add distance. Your goal is to have your dog Stay for 20 seconds as you walk in a 4 ft. circle around  him.

7. Come--Hide in the house and yard call your dog to Come—reward with treats and play.

8. Practice LLW in the yard--down the front walk and back and down your driveway and back.

9. Optional--Food Bowl exercises if indicated for pups or resource guarders.

LESSON 4 Reading & Exercises

Stage 2 - Teach Word Association and Fade Out the Food Lure

Stage 3 - Move to a Random Reward Schedule for Treats Using the 5 out 6 rule

Relaxation Handling Techniques & Tips--There will many times in your dog's life when he will be distracted, excited, or agitated and will find it harder to pay attention to you.  Dog class may be one of those times. Here is what you can do to help him out: 

1) The more excited your dog is, the more quiet and calm you need to be.  Don’t “catch” your dog’s stressed or hyped up mood—instead help him to catch your calm one!  Practice by taking at least 3 deep breaths.

Teach Relax-Settle

Settle means to assume a Down position and relax until released.  Think of “Settle” as going a step beyond the calm behavior you get from just stepping on the leash with the Chill Exercise above—now  your emphasis is on inducing a deeper state of relaxation.  When your dog assumes a very relaxed body posture, the matching emotional state tends to follow; your goal is to be able to trigger this state when your dog would otherwise become agitated or aroused.

How is Settle different from Down-Stay? 

Primary purpose of Down-Stay is to maintain stationary position—the dog may or may not remain alert; primary purpose of Settle is to induce relaxation.

During the Down-Stay the handler does not generally touch the dog; during Settle the handler may stroke the dog or give a massage.

During Down-Stay the training progression is to add distance and proof for distractions; during Settle, the handler sticks close to the dog and tries to avoid arousing/disturbing the dog. 

 

	After luring your dog into a Down with a food treat, delay giving the treat, and gently praise, pet and massage your dog; open your hand and give the treat when she is patiently waiting for the treat, not while she is nibbling or pawing for it; when she stops trying to get the food, open your hand and offer it, then release her. Repeat this step. This is to teach her that she will be rewarded for calm relaxed behavior and to encourage her to this position until you say your release word.
	Encourage your dog to hold her Down position by slowing feeding a series of treats, with a pause of several seconds between treats, then release.  Training progress is to increase the time that the dog will maintain this relaxed position from an initial 2-3 seconds to eventually at least 20-30 seconds or longer before being verbally released by the handler.
	Repeat, and if your dog is calm and quiet, add the verbal cue "Settle” as she goes Down.    Use one word consistently.  (Remember if you begin by saying "Settle” while your dog is still bouncing off the walls, you will teach her to associate the verbal cue word "Settle" with bouncing around, not with being still and quiet).

 

Relaxation Massage--While your dog is in the Settle position, give a Relaxation Massage. 

HOW—Place your dog in a down position as described above, then encourage the her to lie on her side and gently massage her until she is fully relaxed.  Begin by using a circular hand motion to gently massage your dog’s head, temples, ears, shoulders, chest and front legs.   If she struggles or squirms, resume massage where she enjoys being touched, then gradually radiate outward from that area.  When she is comfortable with the first step, progress to massaging her belly, side, hind legs, feet, and tail;  gently pull and stretch her tail.  Make sure to only give rewards for relaxation, and release her while she is being still and accepting your touch.  

Play Possum Trick—Teach your dog to “Play Possum” to get him to quickly assume a relaxed posture!

Teach this trick by using a food lure in your hand that your dog will follow with his nose, because using even the slightest physical force will produce muscular tension which will interfere with relaxation..

1. Encourage your dog to follow the food lure into a down position, rolled on one hip.  His head should now be facing toward the same side as his legs. Praise and feed the treat.

2. Use the lure to have him turn his head, as if to look over his shoulder, in the opposite direction from his legs.  As he raises his head this will cause him to roll back on his shoulder. 

3. With your dog now on his side, move the lure to turn his nose back to the front and down.  As his head touches the floor, feed him a treat while he is maintaining this lying on side/head down position. Encourage him to remain still until you (verbally) release him.

4. When your dog is readily following the lure, name the behavior--as his head touches the floor say, “Play Possum” or if you prefer, point your finger and say “Bang!"

 

Pup/Basic 1 Lesson Table of Contents or Skip to Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3 or Lesson 4

 

Handling Exercises--Accept Touch, Handling and Restraint--Being touched and handled can bother dogs who aren’t accustomed to mild restraint and handling socialized enough. It’s important to get your puppy or dog accustomed to being touched, reached for and handled so that he won’t act inappropriately aggressive and bite someone that he shouldn’t, such as a child or your vet. There are lots of things we can do to get puppies comfortable with being handled. It’s as simple as making sure that they are handled on a regular basis and that the handling is pleasant for them.  One easy way to do this is to pair handling & massage with a treat.  Make a point of having other family members and friends also handle your dog in gentle ways and pair this handling with treats.  Make sure that it is always a pleasant experience--don't push your dog beyond his comfort level. 

Pass the Puppy is a game where everyone (family, friends, puppy school classmates, etc.) sits in a circle as the puppies or dogs are passed along from one person to the next until each puppy/dog is back with his/her owner again.  Meanwhile, every person the puppy/dog goes to should look at the pup’s ears, feed a treat, touch the collar, give a treat, hold a paw, give a treat, etc.

Mild restraint & examination--Get your dog accustomed to accepting mild restraint and to having you look, touch and examine his mouth, ears, paws, nails, tail, etc. by doing this on a regular basis.  Reward his good behavior with praise and a treat.  Massage your dog once a day (you can do this while watching TV).  

Teaching Restraint--Since every dog must be groomed and examined, train your pup/dog to accept restraint by doing the following: 

1. Hold your pup/dog in your lap and place the heel of your hands over his doggy shoulders with your fingers wrapped  around his chest.  Apply very slight pressure, release, praise and give a treat.

2. Repeat, gradually building up the time you exert the slight pressure a few seconds at a time.  Praise and treat.

3. Hold and gently press your dog’s foot. Praise and treat.

4. Hold and stroke each leg. Praise and treat.

5. Hold and gently press his shoulders. Praise and treat.

6. Hold his hips between your hands and press gently.  Praise and treat.

7. Cradle his entire body against your side.  Praise and treat.

8. If your dog is comfortable with the above exercises, hold his head in the crook of your arm, keeping your face away from his mouth; if he accepts this, praise & treat.

9. Examine his mouth—run your finger along his lips, pull back,  & check his teeth.  Praise and treat.

10. Examine his ears—touch his ears, gently wipe with cotton ball moistened with hydrogen peroxide or ear cleanser. 

11. Feet & toes—touch paws, touch between toes, touch and press nails.

 

Part 2--When Some Behavior Modification Is Needed

If your puppy/dog is already a bit touchy about being touched, you can still use a combination process of counter-conditioning and desensitization to train him to tolerate and eventually even enjoy being touched and handled.

Behavior modification programs work by using a combination of:

	Desensitization--exposing the dog to the same stimulus that usually bothers him, be it a stranger, another dog, a noise, etc. but at  such a low level or distance that it will not elicit a negative response.
	Counter-conditioning—conditioning the dog to associate the stimulus with something pleasant, usually a food treat.

In other words, keep the experience pleasant for the dog, take it slow and easy—don’t push too far too fast.  So, if you have a dog who is doesn’t like to have his feet touched, don’t start off by grabbing his feet!  The process of changing his reaction can be as simple as beginning wherever he is most comfortable being touched, say his back.  Touch his back while giving him a treat.  If he’s OK with that, touch his back lower down, give a treat.  Touch his upper leg, give a treat, etc.  If at any time he seems the least bit sensitive or worried, back pedal and repeat working where he is still comfortable with your touch.

Note: If you have a dog who is very fearful, resistant or aggressive about being approached or touched, you may need to work on the problem in a more systematic way with the help of a trainer or behaviorist.

Fast Drop--To lure the down from a Stand (Sphinx position down) move the lure back toward his chest under his chin to encourage him to fold back like an accordion.  Use the word “Drop” to distinguish this type of fast down position.  *We will work more on fast drops in Basic 2. 

Teaching Stay-Part 3: Adding Distractions 

Remember to be kind and patient with your dog—keeping in mind that much of our dogs’ difficulty with learning the behaviors we humans find desirable is due to our own limitations as their teachers.  Good luck and best wishes for a long and happy relationship with your best friend, based on mutual love and respect. 

References

The following books were consulted in writing the text and handouts for Pup/Basic 1:

1. Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals by Karen l. Overall, M.A., V.M.D, Ph.D.

2. Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson

3. Dog Friendly Dog Training by Andrea Arden

4. The Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller

5. Mine by Jean Donaldson

6. Teaching Clicker Classes : An Instructor’s Guide by Deborah A. Jones, Ph.D.

ADDITIONAL HANDOUTS