The Basic Fact About Dog Training

95

Dog Training

The one basic fact in dog training is that the animal must always be rewarded if it performs correctly and punished if it performs incorrectly.

Reward and punishment

This reward or punishment must be given immediately upon performance so that the dog can directly associate them with the specific action.

If too much time elapses between the action and the expression of reward or punishment, the animal will not associate them with the action.

example of reward

A reward is most often expressed by:

  • a kind word.
  • a gentle pat on the head.
  • the feeding of a tidbit.

example of Punishment

  • Punishment is most often expressed by:
  • a harsh word.,
  • a sharp tug at the leash.
  • grasping the animal by the scruff of the neck and letting it know in no uncertain terms that you disapprove.

Disapproval also may be expressed by slapping the haunches of the animal with a folded newspaper. How­ever, this procedure often seems to cow the animal and tend to break its spirit, and for this reason, it is not generally rec­ommended.

The idea behind this system of reward and punishment

is that it seems to be the innate desire of the dog to please the master—to win his approval and to avoid his disapproval.

If the master appreciates this fact, dog training rarely presents any special problem. All he essentially has to do is to approve those actions that he wants the dog to perform and to dis­approve those actions he does not want the dog to perform.

This requirement is not always as easy as it sounds. It is sometimes difficult to be rigidly consistent, especially with a pet for whom the owner has a deep affection.

It must never­theless be understood that the most obedient pet is the most desirable one, and any strain on the conscience that may be accompanied by persistently firm discipline will be more than compensated by the fullness of pleasure that will be derived from the completely obedient pet.

And let us stop kidding ourselves: pets are acquired mainly to give the owner pleas­ure. When they are disobedient they cause the owner dis­pleasure. When they cause the owner displeasure, they de­stroy the essential purpose for which they were acquired. So it goes without saying that to enjoy your pet fully it is neces­sary to teach it obedience.

It must also be understood that the mind of the dog is not as well developed as the human mind. Therefore dogs are often slow in “catching on” to what the owner is trying to teach. It must also be borne in mind that the animal’s power of concentration is limited; no more than half an hour a day should be devoted to training.

Thus, especially at an early stage in training, an enormous amount of patience is neces­sary before the dog can be made to behave with any sem­blance of consistency. However, as the animal becomes in­creasingly obedient, it is amazing to what limits the training can extend. With patience and discipline, the obedient pet can be made into a wonderful companion and can be the source of wholesome enjoyment.

Dog training commands list

The Command “No”.

One of the first and most imperative things for the puppy to learn is to obey the command, “No.” Teaching this should start in the housebreaking period.

Whenever the animal makes a mistake it should be told briskly, “No,” grasped by the scruff of the neck, shown what it has done, and then placed on its housebreaking paper. The sharp “No” should also accompany any excess barking or biting on the part of the puppy as well as any other of its undesirable ac­tions. The tone of voice and the attitude of the owner must be such as to make it completely clear to the puppy that dis­approval is expressed.

The dog will gradually come to as­sociate unpleasantness with the word “No,” and will often seek refuge in its bed until the “heat is off.” The owner should maintain aloofness for a couple of minutes. By that time the pup has forgotten about the whole thing, and further punishment would serve no purpose. Dogs seem to grasp the meaning of the word “No” very quickly, and this is a good thing because the word is invaluable in further training.

Staying Alone Without Barking

Your dog should be taught to remain alone quietly from the earliest possible age.

If the dog is made to sleep in its own bed in a separate room, this will assist materially in the train­ing because in this way the dog already starts to become ac­customed to staying alone.

In any case, the specific technique to eliminate the barking and whining when the animal is left alone is quite simple.

  • Place the dog in its bed.
  • Walk out of your house or apartment, slam the door and remain out­side a short distance from the door to hear what happens.

-If the dog whines or barks, come back in, grasp the animal by the scruff of the neck, tell it sharply, “No! No! No!”; go on scolding the animal thoroughly for a couple of minutes and put the animal back in its bed.

-Repeat this procedure several times each day.

As the dog starts to quiet down more and more, remain away from home for longer and longer periods. In a very short time, the animal becomes completely accus­tomed to remaining alone and does not even bat an eyelash when you leave.

Another technique is to use a muzzle.

The muzzle is put on whenever the dog barks or whines upon the owner’s leav­ing. This can be repeated until the proper degree of quiet is obtained. Some trainers consider this method cruel and there­fore it is not routinely recommended except in the case of ex­tremely stubborn dogs. In any case, the conscientious owner who uses the more humane method outlined above will ordinarily have no difficulty.

The fact that a dog remains alone does not mean that the animal likes it or prefers it. It simply has learned to stay alone and take it, whether it likes it or not. The dog has learned another lesson in obedience and does not bark for the simple reason that it does not want to provoke the disapproval of its master.

Collar And Leash

  • A dog should be trained to a leash and collar at the earliest possible age.
  • Walking a dog on a leash is often a legal re­quirement in large metropolitan centers, and in smaller com­munities it is suggested as a safety measure in order to reduce the chance of an accident.
  • After the dog has made its preliminary adaptation to the household—let us say after a week or so—put a collar on it.
  • Allow collar to remain on for several days until the animal has become thoroughly accustomed to it.
  • A harness is not recommended at this time because training can be accom­plished much more readily with a collar.
  • Then attach a short leash to the collar and let the animal drag it around for a couple of days more, reprimanding it whenever it tries to chew the leash.
  • After this time take hold of the leash and en­courage the animal to be led through various rooms with you.
  • Make it a point not to drag the animal, since this will frighten it and make further training difficult. With gentle­ness, and with repeated daily efforts inside the house, the animal soon will permit itself to be led with surprising ease.
  • If the animal should sit down and refuse to be led, tell it “No! No!” before picking it up on its legs and starting over again.
  • When the animal can be led quite easily, take it outside to a quiet street and repeat the procedure there.
  • With a little pa­tience on the part of the owner, the animal will be seen to make a rapid adaptation and will behave quite well on the leash.
  • And this is so especially when the animal starts to as­sociate pleasantness with the outside.
  • When the pet sees you pick up the leash to take it outside, its tail will very likely wag in pleasant anticipation.

dog training heel

Heel

When the animal is thoroughly trained to a leash and col­lar, a harness may be used. But at best a harness serves merely a decorative purpose. It is quite useless in the matter of training.

 

The Commands “Heel” And “Stop”

dog training stop
Stop dog training

 

The dog may be taught to obey these commands when as young as four months of age, but consistently better results will be obtained if the dog is from five to seven months old.

Use a choke collar in this training. Attach a leash to the collar and hold it short in your left hand, with the remaining portion in your right hand. Make the dog walk on your left side close to the back of your left knee. As the animal walks in this manner, give the command “Heel!” If the dog obeys this command, praise it with a pat on the head and an en­couraging word. If the dog lunges ahead, pull it back briskly while repeating the command “Heel! Heel!” This procedure should be repeated several times a day on a quiet street as free as possible from any distractions. After a time, varying in length with different animals, the dog will master this walk­ing technique and thereafter, to take the animal for a walk will be a pleasant, effortless experience. When the animal is thoroughly trained to heel—that is, when it is about eight or nine months of age—the acid test is to attempt to repeat the procedure without any leash at all. If the animal performs properly, praise it profusely. If the animal does not get the point, go back to more rigorous training with the leash, and also repeat the procedure without the leash until the animal completely grasps the idea of what you are trying to accom­plish.

The “Stop” command is often taught in conjunction with the “Heel” command, but it is better not to attempt to teach it until the animal is quite thoroughly accomplished in the art of heeling. While walking the animal, stop and give the command “Stop” at the same time. Make the animal stop and also stand on all fours. Do not permit the animal to sit. Re­peat the procedure until the animal masters the idea. As with heeling, the acid test is to make the animal repeat the per­formance without a leash.

dog training sit
Sit

 

 

dog training Sit
Sit

The Command “Sit”

The animal can be taught to sit at the age of four or five months. Occasionally an intelligent animal may be able to master this command at an even earlier age.

 

Stand on the left side of the animal and hold the leash short and firmly in the left hand. Place the right hand flat on the animal’s back in the hip region. As you give the command “Sit!” press down with the right hand, forcing the animal into the sitting position. Repeat this procedure many times a day until the idea is mastered. Once the animal learns the mean­ing of “Sit” it is ready to learn the “Stay” command.

 

 

 

dog training Stayy
Stay

The Command “Stay”

Tell the animal, “Sit.” Then command the animal “Stay,” and walk away a few feet from it. If the animal follows you, grasp it by the collar and return it to its original sitting posi­tion. Repeat the performance until the animal gets the idea. When a pretty fair mastery has been achieved, repeat the per­formance and gradually walk farther and farther away from the animal and remain away for longer and longer periods. If this dog training procedure is done within the household, an acid test would be for the animal to learn to obey the command when you walk into another room and remain there for several minutes. Sooner or later, with patience and persistency, the animal can be taught to obey this useful command. When the “Stay” command is thoroughly understood, the animal is ready to learn the “Come” command.

 

 

 

dog training Come

The Command “Come”

  • Command the animal, “Sit” and then, “Stay.”
  • Hold the ani­mal at the end of a three-foot leash.
  • Suddenly snap the com­mand “Come,” and with beckoning motions to encourage the animal to come to you.

-If the command is obeyed, praise the animal profusely.

-If the command is not obeyed, gently tug the animal toward you while repeating the word, “Come.” When the animal starts to grasp the idea, keep re­peating the performance using a longer and longer leash after each successful trial.

It will often speed up the procedure if the dog can be tempted with some sort of tidbit that it par­ticularly enjoys. The animal will associate the reward with obedi­ence.

The acid test is to make the animal come to you with­out using a leash.

The Command “Down”

The dog must first learn the “Sit” command before it can be properly taught the “Down” command. Stand on the right side of the animal. Tell the animal, “Sit.” Kneel down and place your left hand flat on the dog’s back in the shoulder region and your right hand in back of the front paws. Then snap the command “Down!” and as you do so raise the dog’s front legs upward and forward, forcing the animal into the “Down” position. This procedure is repeated until the dog learns to

obey the command. It goes without saying that kind words and gentle pats on the head should encourage the animal the more it seems to “catch on” to the idea.

Jumping On People

Jumping on people is a habit in the dog.

The best procedure is never to permit the animal to acquire it.

  • When the animal approaches you, you bend down to pet the animal rather than wait for it to hop up to your hand to receive petting.
  • If an animal should want to jump on you anyway, gently hold the dog on the ground by the collar and say, “No, No.”
  • If the owner is persistent in this procedure, and all those who meet or live with the pet are instructed to act the same way, the ani­mal will probably never acquire the habit of jumping on people.
  • If there is a situation where the habit is rather firmly en­trenched, many trainers have suggested that the easiest way to break it is to get hold of the pet’s front paws when it jumps on you, and to step lightly on its hind feet, making sure not to injure them. With such a routine, the jumping habit ordinarily is broken in no time at all.
  • Another tech­nique, which is simpler and probably even more effective, is to thrust your knee against the animal’s chest vigorously whenever it attempts to jump on you.

Chewing Things

Most puppies like to chew things. What these things do not appear to make a great deal of difference. During the fourth or fifth month, when the animal starts to lose its baby teeth and acquire its permanent ones, the gums are usually slightly inflamed and chewing is especially comforting to the animal.

Possibly the simplest way to prevent the animal from chew­ing things that you do not want it to chew, is to give the pet something that it can be permitted to chew on all it likes. This may be a toy bone or a hard biscuit. Along with this, the pup should be reprimanded with a sharp “No” whenever it attempts to chew on something that is forbidden. Another trick is to dust articles the dog is forbidden to chew with qui­nine and pepper, but this should serve only as a last resort.

The main way to prevent chewing is by improving obedi­ence in the dog. The dog should be reminded of this by daily exercises in obedience. Once the pet is thoroughly obedient, a sharp “No, No” is usually sufficient to do the trick.

Keeping Off Furniture

The most obvious way to keep a dog off furniture is never to encourage an animal to go on it. A pet should never be left alone at night in a room where it can be free to make use of a sofa or bed. Nor should the young dog be picked up and held while the owner is seated on a chair or sofa.

dog obedience training

Get Off the Sofa

If the animal insists on getting on furniture anyway, it should be grasped by the scruff of the neck, told briskly, “No, No, No,” and put down. The obedient pet will grasp the idea very quickly.

With particularly stubborn dogs, more drastic measures may be attempted. Commercial repellents, which may be bought at any pet shop, may be tried.

If these do not do a satisfactory job, a loaded mousetrap may be placed under some newspapers in a favorite chair.

  • When the animal hops on the chair, the loud, sudden noise of the closing trap will serve as a surprise that will deeply impress the animal.
  • After a few shocks of this kind, the animal will be extremely wary before it goes on furniture. Soon it will simply get out of the habit.

But the main keynote is obedience. When the simple repri­mand of “No, No” is sufficient to turn the trick, you know that you have an obedient pet.

Excessive Barking

There are times when it is desirable for a dog to bark and times when it is very annoying. It is desirable for a dog to bark when it is fulfilling its watchdog functions. It is annoying when a dog barks out of excessive rambunctiousness, or per­sistently in the backyard or whenever the telephone or door­bell ring. Thus, in training the dog to control its bark, an effort must be made to control only the excess barking, be­cause if the animal is cowed to the point where it refuses to bark altogether, a certain amount of its usefulness is lost.

The keynote to barking control is obedience. It is only the disobedient dog that barks excessively.

  • Repeated sharp repri­mands of “No, No” are usually quite sufficient to condition the dog not to bark in certain situations, such as when the telephone rings or in the backyard for no reason.
  • The more stubborn dog may be muzzled whenever it barks exces­sively. When the muzzle is removed, it is placed in full view of the dog.

Soon the animal cuts down on the barking because it associates the muzzle with restraint and discomfort. How­ever, the procedure is recommended only as a last resort in the very worst cases, since some trainers are of the opinion that it involves a certain amount of cruelty.

Other trainers teach the animal the meaning of the word “Quiet,” with the assistance of a piece of folded newspaper with which they slap the animal’s haunches whenever it barks excessively. The desirability of this method is also questionable.

It is worth repeating that obedience is the keynote. If the animal is obedience-trained and is constantly reminded of it, the problem of excessive barking will rarely arise.

Chasing Cars

It is obvious that if a dog is never permitted on the street with­out a leash, the problem of car-chasing will not arise. How­ever, assuming that this is not a practicable procedure and that the animal is in the habit of chasing cars, how is the habit to be broken?

Here is a routine method suggested by trainers.

  • Stand on the sidewalk or lawn with your dog and have a friend drive a car past you.
  • Hold a small, light piece of chain in your hand.
  • As the animal rushes at the car, throw the chain at its hind legs.
  • Repeat the procedure several times.

The dog’s mind does not realize that you threw the chain. It comes to associate the blow from the chain with the passing car and feels that somehow it has been attacked by the car. Repeated perfor­mance of this procedure sooner or later will break the animal of the car-chasing habit.

One very well-known trainer records that he modified this method by using a water pistol filled with perfume. The trainer stood a short distance behind the dog, and when the animal lunged for the car the pet’s rear end was squirted with perfume. This is a clever modification, because not only did the animal feel “attacked” by the car, but the attack some­how persisted. Needless to say, the car-chasing habit was broken very quickly in this case.

Tricks

Any animal that has thoroughly mastered the above-men­tioned procedures has certainly become sufficiently obedient to learn almost any kind of trick.

There are no set methods in the teaching of tricks. These depend upon the notions of the trainer and on the intelligence or peculiarities of the in­dividual dog. Any way in which a trick can be made clear to the dog is satisfactory.

The amount of patience demanded before a trick is learned depends naturally upon three factors

1-its com­plexity.

2-the owner’s persistence.

3- the intelligence of the animal.

But any dog that has learned to sit, stay, heel, lie down, come, and to obey the “No” command, can certainly be taught to sit up, to beg, to retrieve, to give a paw, to jump through a hoop, to balance objects on the bridge of its nose, and the like.

By the time the owner has had experience in training the dog to obey the basic obedience commands, which we have endeavored to describe, he will already have developed certain refinements in dog training that are exclusively his own, and the application of these ideas will be adapted to his own animal. He will proceed to develop a generous re­pertoire of tricks for his dog that he will proudly demonstrate at every opportunity.

The depth of pleasure that is felt in the relationship be­tween a master and a well-trained dog has to be experienced to be appreciated. It is wonderful.

Leave a Reply