The Dog Commandments – “WAIT”

Welcome to a new blog series – the dog commandments. I’m going to talk about the ultimate commands for a happy and safe life with your dog. They’re easy to teach your dog and should form the basis for ongoing training. We are going to start with something simple and wonderfully adaptable – “wait”.

Why it’s useful

I think this is one of the most useful commands a dog can know because it gives you (aka the almighty dog master) control over precious, precious resources. And resources in the dog world are pretty basic; things like food, water, going for a walk and being allowed to get on the couch. By teaching wait, you can teach your dog that he needs your permission to use or keep using any of said resources. When linked with a “release” word, it allows you to tell your dog “don’t do anything until I say the special word” and “special word!”.

Examples of how to use it

This is easily Atlas’s most well followed command because we use it 10-20 times on a daily basis. There are food related waits (before being served dinner, before being allowed to accept a treat), which are great because the reward for waiting is getting the food! There are also walking waits – we ask him to wait at the kerb, as well as the front door before leaving the house. We have also trained him to respond to wait even if we aren’t stopping at a particular place – he will stop mid stride and stand there if we call “wait”. It’s also useful for things like grooming, vet visits, standing on scales and accepting pats from inquisitive kids (I use it like the more traditional “stand” command taught in most obedience schools).

How to teach it

Believe it or not, “wait” is incredibly easy to teach – your dog can pick it up across all the above examples in a matter of days. If you want your dog to wait to tuck into their food or a treat:

1. Put their bowl or treat on the floor in front of them
2. Stand in front of them and hold their collar
3. Raise a hand with your palm flat in front of their face and say “wait” (or whatever command word you want)
4. When they are calm and not moving, release their collar and say “ok” (or whatever release word you want)

Each time you do this, try and have less and less hold on their collar – you can progress to a finger just resting on the collar, with the final goal being no hand on their collar at all. To take it further, have your dog “wait” several seconds before saying your release word.

To teach your dog to wait at the kerb or stand still even with an open door/gate in front of them, try this:

1. With your dog on lead, approach a kerb or a door
2. When you stop, say “wait” and move your hand in a swiping motion above your dog’s eyes
3. When they are calm and not moving, reward profusely
4. When you want to keep moving, say “ok” so they know they are allowed to continue with you

Don’t worry if your dog pulls on the leash, crazily trying to keep moving while you are standing still. Be firm and consistent and don’t budge an inch. They will soon learn that a) the fastest way to get moving is to stop when you ask and b) that they get treats just for standing still!

Once your dog is nicely waiting at landmarks like kerbs, ask them to wait at a random spot (e.g. when you need to bag a poop they just lovingly produced for you) and reward them when they do.

Here’s a short vid of Atlas demonstrating expert level waiting!

 

Practice every day and you’ll have it mastered in no time!

Happy training and much love,

 

How to fix your “naughty” dog

I try to be an optimist – I don’t think people are born bad, I think their experiences in life make them that way. I’ve got the same attitude to “bad” or “naughty” dogs – they weren’t born like that (and it also didn’t happen over night). I’m going to walk you through some typical naughty dog behaviour and more importantly, help you fix it! To refresh yourself on the basics of training, have a quick read of this.

The “I’m so excited to see you, I must jump on you”.

Does your dog jump up on you, your children and any visitors to your house? They aren’t a naughty dog. They are excited to see said person, but don’t know that it’s rude to jump up. So let’s fix that.

WHY she does it
to jump is to receive attention and be soooo close to you.
WHAT you need to do
as soon as they jump, turn around and cross your arms (ensure this is EVERYONE’s response to this behaviour). When 4 paws are on the floor, apply 10, 000 affection.
alternatively
teach your dog to sit. Have her sit whenever someone arrives – she will get attention as long as she remains sitting. Whenever she stands or jumps, attention goes away.
WHY it works
her aim is getting attention. If jumping gets attention, she will jump. If standing still or sitting gets attention, she will do that instead.

The “BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK”.

Does your dog bark insanely any time people or people with dogs walk the footpath outside your house? He’s not naughty. He is territorial and needs to be socialised. So let’s fix that.

WHY he does it
I am scared and/or angry when I see this thing walk past, so I yell at it. When I yell at it, it goes away.
WHAT you need to do
two part answer – the first part is that you need to teach your dog that people and other dogs walking part are ok. Have a neighbour and a dog owner prepared to do laps outside your front gate. As they walk past, feed him treats. Feed him as many treats as he can handle in a mouthful any time he is calm and not barking. The second part is in the next section!
WHY it works
dogs and people on the street suddenly turn into signals that a treat is coming! They are the treat bringers! I no longer need to yell at them!

The “I hate other dogs”.

Does your dog growl, snarl, bark or carry on when seeing other dogs on a walk? She’s not naughty. She needs reassurance that other dogs are ok, and education about how to interact with other dogs AKA socialisation (see here for a full blog on it). So let’s fix that.

WHY she does it
I don’t see many other dogs and I don’t know how to act appropriately around them, so I’m nasty just in case they are too.
WHAT you need to do
introduce your dog to other dogs, but SLOWLY. Start by watching other dogs from a creepily long distance away and avoid meeting dogs up close. Get closer each week. Reward calm behaviour EVERY TIME. Know your dog and how they are likely to react – don’t push them too far, too fast, this process can take time.
WHY it works
we ease her into interactions with other dogs through CONTROLLED exposure, which limits adrenaline-rush type responses. We show her that being calm and happy around other dogs is a good thing.

The “I have destroyed all your most prized possessions”.

Does you dog have a knack for finding either the thing that you love the most or the thing that was the most expensive and destroying it while you’re not home? They aren’t a naughty dog. They are either bored shitless and full of energy, upset that you have left them by themselves or both. So let’s fix that.

WHY he does it
energy build up, separation anxiety, lack of stimulation. Basically, being in solitary confinement.
WHAT you need to do
walk your dog regularly – once a day is ideal, particularly for ANY working breed. Limit the time your dog spends alone. Make life interesting – provide toys and rotate them frequently, give long lasting treats or hide small ones, let them see the outside world (through the fence or a window). Provide company in the form of a radio switched on, a canine companion or a cuddly toy and blanket. Don’t make a big deal of leaving or coming home.
WHY it works
if dogs are tired they will sleep. If given toys and things to chew, they will stop destroying other things. Company and not even noticing you leave or come back can help to limit separation anxiety.

The “I’m taking the human for a walk”.

Does your dog drag you down the street, zigzagging from lamp post to mail box and back again? She’s not naughty. She has no idea why her throat always hurts or that you would prefer to walk at a regular pace with her by your side. So let’s fix that.

WHY she does it
the more I pull, the more I get to sniff and wee on all the things! Plus, no one’s ever stopped me.
WHAT you need to do
take charge. Decide which poles your dog is allowed to pee on and ONLY allow her to go to those poles. If she pulls towards ANYTHING, do not allow her to get to it. This is your walk, and she’s coming along. Keep her to one side and next to you with a short leash – tell her “AH” and redirect her body if she tries to barge to the other side. Hold a treat over her nose to position her exactly where you want her to walk and reward often. Invest in a front attach harness like this one as a training aid to prevent pulling. For every pull, give a short and sharp (but gentle) tug and tell her “AH”. Reward when not pulling. Don’t exhaust this precious tool – if your dog does not respond, stop walking as soon as they start pulling. Note: this will test your patience to the limits, but it is well worth the commitment to have a dog who doesn’t pull.
WHY it works
She now sees that she’s not allowed to sniff anything she damn well pleases. She also knows that while rushing ahead just causes discomfort, sticking right by you means lots of tasty treats!

A note on “naughty” dogs

Naughty dogs are like naughty children – they haven’t been provided with the rules of engagement, or have been given no incentive to follow them. So really, no dog is to blame for being naughty and no dog is “born bad”. Invest time, treats and patience in your dog and they will return your efforts ten fold in good behaviour.

With love,

The Social Butterfly

Sometimes I think I’m not super social…I often prefer to stay at home curled up on the couch than go out. But then again, I know how to greet other people, have a conversation and generally act in a socially acceptable manner. I know how to do these things because I observed other people from a young age and my parents and others were always there to guide and teach me. Now pretend I’m a dog. This paragraph is totally applicable whether you’re of the human or dog variety.

What is socialisation?

When people say a dog is “well socialised”, it means that the dog is aware of the “correct” way to act in dog society. Believe it or not, dogs have a fully functioning society just like ours, where actions, reactions and body language make a world of difference. If someone new you’ve just met sticks their hand out, you know you’re supposed to shake it. If a dog is well socialised, they know to expect that other dogs will go in for a butt sniff. From greetings, to displays of affection, submission and play, a well socialised dog knows the ‘language’ and doggy rules of these interactions.

Atlas has always known the greyhound ‘dialect’, but he’s now learned the global dog language.

A more subtle part of socialisation is teaching dogs how to interact with things that aren’t dogs. That includes other (non-dog) animals, weird things like vacuum cleaners and most importantly, people. The critical period for socialisation is 3-12 weeks of age, so much of this crucial time may be out of your hands if you are buying an older dog, and even sometimes when buying a puppy. While the socialisation period is the point at which dogs are most malleable, adult dogs can certainly be re-shaped to some extent, depending on the history of the dog.

Spotting the Social Butterfly

It’s hard to believe that this fat slug was ever an over reactive dog.

For us, it’s relatively easy to identify a person that’s socially awkward. When you know the signs, it’s just as easy to see it in dogs. Particularly in the case of older adopted dogs, you may not know their history, so you need to observe their behaviour closely. Firstly, categorise their personality;

outgoing & curious dog

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If your dog is outgoing and curious, how does he react to unexpected things, new people and unfamiliar dogs? Does he a) take it in his stride and remain chill or b) become nervous, agitated or overly excited? If a, you’ve got yourself a well adjusted, perfectly socialised dog – congrats! If b, you’ve got work to do.

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OR

reserved, quiet dog

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If your dog is shy and anxious, it’s likely they haven’t been very well socialised. If this nervous behaviour leads to aggressive responses when stressed out, this can pose serious problems, particularly if you’ve got kids around.

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Socialisation for Dummies

Socialisation exercises can easily be applied to both puppies and adult dogs, and it’s equally important for both. Puppies and adult dogs that have lead a sheltered life to date need exposure to the world, just like babies. Here are some important exercises to start these naive pups on their journey to explore the world…

DOGS

Help your dog learn that other dogs come in all shapes and sizes, different breeds, ages and temperaments. It’s best to start with other dogs you know are friendly and will tolerate a puppy. Be aware that if both dogs are on lead, they are likely to be more stressed out. Puppies are likely to be immediately submissive to adult dogs, and will learn appropriate reactions and behaviours by watching and interacting with adults. This can often include warning growls from the adult – keep a close eye, but don’t intervene unless there is serious cause for concern, as most adults will simply remove themselves if annoyed. It’s also good to have puppies play with other pups, who will match them with behaviours like play fighting.

PEOPLE

Show your dog that people can be big or little, normal or very strange and very nice to have around. This is key to minimising aggression directed towards both your family and visitors. Have everyone in the family involved in training your dog – every person is a potential source of delicious treats! Teach them that humans aren’t always quiet and that’s ok. Have a bunch of friends around and ask them to talk loudly for 30 seconds, then return to talking quietly. Treat, treat, treat. Weird stuff happens but it’s nothing to worry about. Meet your friend at the park and have them give your dog a treat – strangers happen to carry their favourite treat! While ensuring your children know how to act appropriately around a dog (e.g. no ear pulling, screaming, taking food, etc), show your dog that these tiny humans are a) above them in the pack (control resources like food) and b) can be loud and smelly but aren’t anything to be afraid of.

EXPERIENCES

Unless you plan to leave your dog in a backyard its entire life (please for the love of dog, no), it needs to understand that the big bad outside world ain’t so bad at all. That means introducing pup to car trips, waves at the beach, the sound of a hair dryer, something loud being dropped, having their toe nails clipped….etc, etc, etc. Unless you have shown your dog something before, they have no idea whether it’s going to kill them or be the best thing ever, just keep that in mind. For example, reassure them that the car isn’t a monster by letting them get in and sniff around before even going anywhere. Once they’re ok with that, go for a 2 minute drive and give them a super amazing crazy jackpot treat. They’ll soon learn that something they weren’t sure about is definitely in the “best thing ever” category.

When The Damage Has Been Done

Research has suggested that lack of adequate socialisation as a puppy leads adult dogs to display unwanted behaviours like aggression towards other dogs and people, play biting, destructive tendencies, possessiveness, excessive barking and undue fearfulness (Pierantoni and Verga, 2007). Unfortunately, many of these dogs then end up in a shelter, looking for a new home. So what happens when you get a dog that’s missed the boat on puppy socialisation and has a bunch of bad behaviours? Train, train, train.

For example, if an adult dog is terrified of men, you can easily train them to enjoy and look forward to meeting them. All you need is patience and an unbeatable reward (see our blog on training for more info on training methods). Invite the boys around and have them all approach your dog and offer the treat – rinse and repeat, with different people, inside, outside, at the park. Teach them that men are actually are an exciting, delicious thing instead of something to be afraid of. The same can be applied to other dogs and experiences and can also be applied for dogs that are at the other extreme (over reactive); in this case, reward calm behaviour instead!

Atlas enjoying some quality time with his honorary blackandwhitehound friend, Kane the Dane

The best piece of advice for re-socialising adult dogs is go slow. When we first adopted Atlas, who had not been socialised with any dog except other greyhounds, we thought he would never be ok around other dogs. His hackles went up when within eyesight of another dog, so we knew it would be a long process. We started by going to the local dog park and watching dogs from across the street for 5 minutes a day, every second day or so. We focused on treating him and eventually, directing his attention back to us and away from the other dogs.

After a month or so of this, we moved up to the fence, allowing him to sniff other dogs. More rewards for every second of good behaviour. Another few weeks got us inside the dog park with Atlas still on lead, so we could easily remove him if necessary. In short, 6 months after we got him, Atlas passed his greenhound behavioural assessment, which meant that the assessors were confident he showed no aggression, fear or other undesirable behaviour around other dogs. So our beautiful social butterfly finally emerged from his cocoon; all it took was a little love and a lot of patience.

If you have any questions about socialising your dog, ask us!

With love,

References

L. Pierantoni, M. Verga (2007). 5: Behavioral consequences of premature maternal separation and lack of stimulation during the socialization period in dogs. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 2(3); 84-85
S. Arai, N. Ohtani, M. Ohta (2011). Importance of Bringing Dogs in Contact with Children during Their Socialization Period for Better Behavior. Journal of Veterinary Medical Science, 73(6); 747-752

Dog Training for Beginners

I’ve never really been a small dog person, and when I decided I would get a big dog, I immediately knew that I wanted it to be well trained. I think it’s particularly important for bigger dogs to have exceptional manners, since they have a lot more weight to throw around. That being said, dogs of every size, breed and age should at the very least learn basic obedience. Why? It’s a courtesy to the general public, as well as making being a dog owner all the more pleasurable and keeping your dog mentally and physically active.

How you ended up being that dog owner

Training isn’t just for “bad” dogs, but many people find themselves turning to training only when things have gotten unbearable. When you’ve got a puppy, it can be easy to let bad behaviour go unchecked. Of course it’s cute when a 6 week old puppy jumps up to lick you on the chin, but 12 months later when it weighs 40kg? Not so cute. Behaviours like jumping up, whining, barking, pulling on the lead and aggression towards other people and dogs are not ideal and certainly won’t win you any friends when out and about. Training for just 5 minutes a day is all that it takes to eradicate these nasty habits.

Is this your dog? Don’t let it be for another minute!

Most of these behaviours, your dog has learned from you! By shushing a bark, you give the dog attention (what it wanted in the first place). By allowing your dog to get to a tree when it pulls towards it with all it’s weight, you teach it that pulling=getting where they want to go. When greeting others, if your dog jumps up and immediately gets pats and lots of attention, it knows exactly how to get it next time. The first thing you need to do if your dog is like this, is realise what you are doing to reinforce (reward) it. Make a list; the behaviour you (or others) don’t like, the disadvantages of the behaviour and the reward the dog gets for doing it. When you understand how much you’ve unknowingly trained your dog into bad behaviours, take comfort in the fact that your dog responds well to training! Now you just need to start training positive behaviours.

The Basics

When I say I wanted my dog to be “well trained”, I had an idea in my head of what that meant; I find this is a very different idea depending on who you talk to. For some people, coming when called (aka ‘recall’) is well trained. Sitting when asked is well trained. The absence of behaviours like barking is well trained. For others, these things and much, much more go into a well trained dog. It really depends what you want from your dog, and what suits it too.

This probably goes in the “advanced” category, along with getting beers out of the fridge.

At the very least, all dogs should know basic obedience (“know” meaning responding correctly 90% of the time). For me, that’s basic commands like:

• come
• sit/drop
• stay
• heel

With these commands alone, you can manage to stop your dog running onto a road if you drop the leash, call your dog away from danger, walk calmly on the lead and most importantly, say “please”. For me, this is the most important part of basic training. With a sit/drop command, you give your dog a tool; manners. What does good manners get you? Pretty much anything. For instance, Atlas needs to use his “please”s to get his meals and treats, go off lead and get his ball thrown. He very clearly understands that by responding to commands, he gets what he wants. It’s a win-win.

Important Training Tools

There aren’t many people who work for free, so why would your dog? I don’t ask Atlas to do anything unless I am giving him something in return. Because he is a lardy, food is the most obvious, and often the best, treat. Roast chicken, hot dogs, liver, chicken heart and pet food logs, all fried up, can get him to do pretty much anything. These are “high value” food treats – I reserve these for training new and/or challenging commands and training in very distracting environments (e.g. dog park full of dogs). If I’m asking Atlas to do something simple in the quiet of home, a regular biscuit will suffice. Find out what your dog likes – try lots of different (especially smelly) things to see what works best.

Apart from food, there are many other things your dog enjoys. Some dogs are toy crazy, so use play as a reward (like police dogs!). Other dogs will do anything just to get attention, so use lavish praise as a reward. If your dog likes getting in the car, on the couch, outside, inside or off leash, use the action as a reward – just make them say “please!” first.

Operant conditioning explained

The idea of getting a reward for doing the right thing is called positive reinforcement, and forms part of a teaching method called operant conditioning. This method of teaching goes like this; the individual performs an action and receives a response. In general terms, the response either makes them want to do it more (reinforcement) or less (punishment). Both responses can be either positive or negative, with the same effect (NOTE – “positive” and “negative” do not mean “good” and “bad” here). I’ll explain with examples below to make things clearer.

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
giving a reward for the correct response
(e.g. giving a food treat for sitting when asked)
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT
removing something unpleasant for the correct response
(e.g. releasing pressure on the leash when the dog is at heel)
POSITIVE PUNISHMENT
use of something unpleasant for incorrect response
(e.g. pulling hard on the leash if a dog will not heel)
NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT
removing a reward for the incorrect response
(e.g. not giving a food treat if dog drops when asked to sit)

It’s incredibly important to understand the difference between these responses and to use them appropriately. In our training I use positive and negative reinforcement and negative punishment, but avoid using positive punishment, as I find it unnecessary and also generally not nice.

Don’t go it alone!

It can be easy to get frustrated and give up after one session, so it can be best to start off with help. There are a plethora of online training resources (including photo and video tutorials) and “how to” books, but I find nothing compares to some real life assistance. There’s also plenty of this kind of help available, so much so that the options can become a bit overwhelming. To be brief, ‘professional’ training is available from one of three groups; accredited dog trainers, kennel clubs and third parties such as vets and pet supply stores.

If you have a dog which you think needs one on one attention, or has serious behavioural issues, private sessions with a dog trainer are your best bet. If you just want to learn some basic (or even more advanced) commands and have fun with other dogs and dog owners, a kennel club is your best bet. They are scattered all over Sydney and are generally a low cost operation, run by volunteers, who are usually accredited trainers, working on their day off! This is how Atlas learned most of what he knows, thanks to the lovely team at Leichhardt Dog Training Club, who charge just $15 for a year pass to classes, which run every Sunday. This gives us the flexibility to come when we can, which is usually once a month.

Atlas with his mates at Leichhardt Dog Training Club

Third party training, run through dog related companies, are something I myself would never go for. Firstly they tend to be extremely expensive; $100+ for 4-6 week courses. Secondly, not all are run by actual dog trainers. While training can be relatively simple, it’s good to have an expert for any tricky canines. Lastly, I enjoy the flexibility of a kennel club (or a private trainer) over the stock standard program of a “puppy pre-school” type set up.

Whatever help you choose, it will fast track you on the road to success! We hope you find something that works for you and your pup as well as it has worked for us.

With love,