More Questions
After you have observed the trainer in action, spoken to some of the students, received good recommendations about this trainer from friends, family, vets, groomers or pet supply stores, it's a good idea to ask a few other questions. Ask to see the trainer's own dog work. As surprising as it sounds, not all trainers have fantastically trained dogs of their own. However, a trainer who believes in what they teach and has applied it to their own dog is someone I would be more interested in working...
Begging Food From The Table
To solve this problem, you need to show the dog what you would like her to do during your meals. The simplest way to do that is to establish a spot near the dining area that your dog learns to like going to. Since the spot will not be at the table, it will not be possible for your dog to beg and be in her spot at the same time. The key is for your dog to learn to love being in this spot. This will take a little time but is well worth the effort. To accomplish this, make it a point to take your...
Positive And Negative Correction
The word correction is used throughout this text. My use of the word refers to both positive punishment adding something unpleasant and negative punishment taking away something pleasant . When choosing the type of correction to use, you should take into consideration the difficulty of the exercise and the temperament, drives and sensitivities of the dog. No single correction is right for every dog, and not all corrections involve physical force that is, positive punishment . Here is a partial...
Orienting Reflex
Anything the dog perceives activates the orienting reflex. The orienting reflex may be used to redirect the dog's behavior. This can be a very important training point. Here's one example Your dog hears a clicker and reflexively turns her head in the direction the click is coming from. Another example Your dog barks at the window when people walk down the sidewalk. If you move away from the window and click the clicker, the dog should momentarily notice the click. You may then encourage the dog...
Learned Irrelevance
The dog ceases to pay attention to a particular stimulus or command because she has learned that it is of no consequence to her. Here's an example The dog no longer responds to come because the owner says come frequently when they have no way to get the dog to actually come. Therefore, the dog learns that come doesn't mean anything, so she ignores it. Another example The dog gets frantic each time you pick up the leash, because you always take her for a walk if you pick up the leash. If you...
An Important Professional Tip
Most owners ignore their dogs when they are being good. This is understandable, because it is much easier to ignore a dog who is sitting quietly by your side or a dog lying on his mat in the safe spot than a dog who is jumping on you or running madly through the house with a dish towel in his mouth. Because of this, most dogs quickly figure out that doing something bad is what gets them attention. For a social animal like a dog, negative attention is better than no attention at all. A good...