Training Basics and why your dog is NOT stubborn!

One of the most common things I hear whether I teach a class or over hear people in the park is (with exasperation) "They do it so well at home!" Well, that's partially because that's where they've been taught.

Dogs don't generalize well. What does that mean? If you teach them something in one place, doesn't mean they're going to understand it in a new place (with some dogs, this can mean from the Living room to the kitchen!). It also means that just because they know how to do it in one spot, if new distractions are added, they might get confused and be slow to respond. So what do you do?

Train them in lots of different places, with lots of differing distractions. The more you "proof" them like this, the more likely they are to start understand when you flap your arms around in a certain way or make a funny noise (like "Sit!") it means do that thing.

Numerous repetitions are required for a dog to understand what you want, and in different locations with different distractions. So if you teach your dog to come only in the house, expect when it runs out of the house and you yell "Come!!!!" in a frantic and possibly angry voice that you pooch will look back and go Wow... I'm not going back there until you calm down!. You want to practice a lot with the things you want your dog to be strong in. Think of it the same way a professional athlete does things. Dancing through tires and using blocking dummies is not the same as playing in a scrimmage of football. Always thing to yourself when the pooch is learning something "How can I make you successful?"

Why do you want to make them successful? So they'll learn. Learning theory is scientific. If anyone tells you that a dog needs to be bullied, dominated or otherwise manipulated with force to do something or to react in a certain way, walk away, and find a better way to teach them. Dogs learn quickly when they are shown what the RIGHT thing to do is, instead of constantly being punished for doing the wrong THINGS. Yes, one or two right things, and a potentially infinite number of wrong things.

If you want to reward your dog for doing the right thing, instead of rewarding him for NOT doing an endless list of bad things, then follow "positive principles". The same principles will work on people too -- The Big Bang Theory had an episode that featured this type of training.

So, basics: Repeat repeat repeat! Add distractions so the dog is continually successful, reward for success; increase the level of difficulty. If they aren't successful, ask yourself: What Can I Do, to Help you Be Successful?