Be Flexible - adjust your training to the dog

Training tip of the day: training the dog to perform any command is not just about teaching a behavior as much information as we are giving our dogs it is so important to listen to your dogs too, read their body language and their actions and adjust your training method, style and speed to your dog. If your dog seems confused or doesnt seem to be getting something then don't blame your dog figure out what you can do differently to help your dog succeed. They are all different even dogs we have in for day training. Some dogs practice their obedience best straight out of a nap in the crate, others do better after a romp in the yard, some work better starting with a short walk down the street and back and others the treadmill 1st. We have a variety of dogs here today and not one of them is the same it is up to jason and i to read the individual dogs and decide what we believe is best for that dog then go with it but we are constantly listening and tweaking what we do to adjust to the speed and what works for that individual dog. This is what keeps my job fun. Sit is sit and down is down but how we teach it and reinforce it is different for very dog.

K9 Aprehension training

Super Cute Video
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=570506523041969

Treats: Lure! Don't Bribe

This is exactly why I instruct you to start with luring with treats or use food as a reward not as a bribe because they already aren't doing it. 
For example we started teaching "Cash" a 15wk Pom how to walk on the leash and he had never even had a leash on before today so he was extra stubborn so we started walking he dug his heels in and with a little encouragement after a few steps on his own he got a treat. Then after 3 or 4 more steps next to me he got another treat. If I had come back to him and bribed him with a treat after he had dug his heels in he would think "Cool the more stubborn I am the more treats I get, I will continue this behavior" Use food as a lure from the beginning, or as a reward never as a bribe.

Thinking one step ahead of your dog

Training Tip: Key to good dog training is being able to read the dog and predict their actions if you can stay ahead of the dog you can keep them under control and catch them before they make mistakes. 
Simple version: Dog barks/growls at person on the street.
What really happens: Dog looks, ears up, stiffens body, leans toward person/dog then barks.
You need to be able to redirect the attention, correct whatever you need to do to get the attention before the dog gets the stage of barking. If you redirect the attention at the lower stages that is training. If you just correct the dog for barking and growling the dog most likely will associate the correction with that which they are focused on and not their current behavior and you will need alot more force behind your correction because your dog is now in a high adrenalized state and reacting. Than if you had reminded your dog to pay attention to you in one of the early stages before the reaction.
Every time a dog gets ahead of you and makes mistakes like barking/growling and you don't catch it or aren't able to correct or redirect your dog it reinforces the behavior. The more your dog does it the more confident he/she will become doing it. A dog that runs to the door barking at guests if allowed to continue the behavior could turn into a bite in the future as they get more confident being allowed to practice it over and over.

Stay ahead of your dog. I thought about this, this morning after i wrote a post on my personal page about my new pup and about how wicked smart she is. She left her full food bowl to go to the bag of dog food and climbed up in it to eat instead of the full bowl. Im going to have fun keeping up with her and trying to stay ahead of her.

Honey I'm Home

Training Tip: When you get home and your dog is all excited IGNORE them until they settle down. If you need to let them out to potty do so but do not lavish praise on them for you arriving home. I know we like the feeling of our dog being excited to see us when we arrive home, but when we feed into that spastic energy we make the dog more stressed every time we leave. Wait until your dog calms down then go play with your dog. PREVENT separation anxiety instead of fixing it later.

Correct Heel Position

Training Tip of the day: If your dog is in heel position your shadow should look like this

Prepping your dog for a new baby

Commands to teach and practice that will help once baby arrives:
PLACE, Leave It, Down, and Move
Please take the time to train your dog before your baby arrives and don't wait until there is a problem.
Work on Crate time with your dog. Make sure that your dog is comfortable in the crate for extended periods of time. That your dog will wait when the crate door is opened and come out calmly when invited. Also work on sending your dog to the crate and that your dog can go to the crate and wait there. When your baby is here I recommend Crating your dog at the same time that you put your baby down for a nap. When baby wakes up I let the dog out too. But controlled of course so that you can associate the baby with freedom, fun and enjoyment.
Often people do the opposite and this is where they run into problems: Put baby down for a nap then let dog out to play, as soon as the baby wakes up dog goes back the crate or banished to the backyard. You do not want negative associations with baby.

When the baby is up and out I bring the dog out of the crate and send him/her to place to hang out in the same room where you are with the baby.
Also work on Place being able to send your dog to a place from a distance and having your dog hold a place command for extended periods of time and while you go out of sight and come back.

Front Door Manners. Teaching your dog not to dart through the front door. With a new baby it is likely that you will have lots of friends and family coming and going more than normal and you will have enough to deal with you want to feel confident that your dog won't dart out the front door at the 1st chance they get.

Furniture by invitation only: Have you gotten lax and let your dog up on the couch or your bed when he she pleases sometimes. It's time to tighten up your rules. ONLY by invitation. Never can they jump up on their own when they want.

Start making the house feel like a baby.  Have a baby bottle with milk out on the coffee table and work on teaching your dog to leave it.  Leave food out on the coffee table.

Leave a baby blanket on the floor in the middle of your living room.  Buy baby toys... and binkies... and leave them all over just like it will be when you have a baby. Make sure your dog really understands which toys are theirs and which one are the babies long before baby even arrives.

Buy a doll baby that makes noise and cries and start carrying it around everywhere with you. When you start showing this all kinds of attention your pup will be interested. Teach them to keep a respectful distance. Teach your dog with this doll as if it is your babies 1st day at home.

I would start giving less attention weeks before as soon you will be busy with a baby and you don't want the dog to feel like the baby is the reason. If I start making changes now it will help make it more normal for the dog when the baby arrives.

Teaching Wait at doorways will help when going in and out of the babies room. I suggest not making the babies room off limits instead having a place somewhere in the babies room out of the way and teaching your dog to automaticallly waiting at the door the babies room but you can invite the dog in and have them on place out of the way if you are spending more time in the babies room.

Just make sure to remember a few things NEVER leave dogs unsupervised with kids EVER.

Make sure your dog can get away and have breaks from the new baby as it grows into a toddler.

Also there are a few great books on this as well that goes into more detail:

Childproofing Your Dog: A Complete Guide to Preparing Your Dog for the Children in Your Life Paperback By Brian Kilcommons    

Can be found on Amazon.com  

                                            

    

You can find thisbook here:  http://www.thatsmydogstore.com/Dogs_Diapers_and_Beyond_p/dogdiapersbeyond.htm

Come when Called

“Come when Called”

Pick a word – “Come” / “Here” / “Front” / “To me” / “Fall In”

Now I want you to think about the word you want to use, do you use that to mean anything else in the dogs life? Could you be confusing your dog?

I find that MANY of us. ME included use the words “Come on” ALL the time as encouragement and we use it really casually coming in from the back yard we say it anytime we want our dog to follow and just walk with us. IF this sounds like you DO NOT use the word “Come” you will confuse your dog. It is far easier to start new habits with a word like “Here” then it is to break old habits. 

For the rest of this handout from now on our Recall word will be “Here” but you can choose to use any word as long as your family will be consistent with it. You can use your dog’s name in front of the command if you wish. It isn’t mandatory but I feel it helps to get the dogs attention before the command is given. “Fido Here” If you have multiple dogs it is mandatory to train with the dogs name in front of each command otherwise all the dogs will respond.

When and ONLY when to use “Here”

ONLY use your word when you have a way to reinforce the command if your dog doesn’t listen AND when you are practicing the following exercises.

OR if you are 110% sure they will come without a doubt the 1^st time no matter what.

What if my dog is loose in the house or back yard and I can’t catch or don’t want to chase them to reinforce the command. I know that there are times like… It’s 5am and raining outside. You let Fido out to potty. You have a large yard, Your in your slippers and you want Fido to come back inside you have 2 options.

1.        Say “Fido Here” … if Fido is too entranced in a smell. DO NOT repeat “Here” … Put on your shoes and go get Fido to reinforce the command that you gave. At no time do you EVER want “Here” to be optional to your dog.

2.      Use Anything else if you don’t want to go outside after them. Shake a food bowl, “I have a cookie”, “Fido”, Whistle, “Puppy puppy” or whatever else you want to use. It’s ok to admit that we are lazy sometimes and that’s fine! Just don’t jeopardize all of the hard work you have put in on teaching the command to let the dog believe it is really optional on one occasion.

Training Exercises

Teaching the Foundation

Luring / Teaching Foundation

Start with your dog in front of you on leash. Show your dog a treat command “Fido Here” and bring the food up towards your center and run backwards encouraging your dog “Yes”, “Good Job” etc. Get EXCITED for your dog.I want you to be valuable to your dog and more exciting than the ball, squirrel or skateboard that they might see. When you stop have the treat at your dogs nose level and bring it directly up into you and your dog will automatically sit.  We teach the auto sit as part of “Here” so that once your dog gets to you it gives them something to do. Instead of coming and then running off. Lots of dogs learn all I have to do is come in to you then I can take off again. No…. You come in to me, sit and wait. Then you will Release your dog with whatever your release word is for basic commands we recommend “Free” but again up to you.

Building Excitement

Have someone else restrain your dog by holding your dog on a harness or by holding on to the front of their chest. Instruct the person holding your dog to only release their restraint on your dog when they hear you say “Here” But not until then. While someone is restraining your dog take a treat and taunt your dog with it. “Look what I have”… then run backwards say “Fido Here” as soon as your dog heads toward you keep backing up when your dog gets to you stop and bring your food up and they should sit. Treat and release and Praise. You will see the dramatic increase in excitement and drive to come toward you after practicing this exercise.

Proofing Exercises

Get a 20-30ft long line (leash).

Toss treats crumbled up on the ground.. let your dog go eat some. Sneak away from your dog have some treats in your hand and command “Fido Here” If your dog does not respond make a quick pop on the leash to surprise your dog and immediately after repeat “Here” the second your dog turns toward you back up and start praising right away. Once your dog is to you then stop and bring your food up and they should sit. Treat, praise and release.  The leash correction you make should be enough to surprise your dog but it should in no way pull or force your dog your direction. I want to surprise and get the dogs attention and then I want the dog to choose and come my way on his own. I don’t want to force him to come to me. I want him to WANT to.

Repeat until your dog turns toward and heads toward you on the 1^st time you call them.

If you need to repeat this more than twice you need to evaluate if you have done enough foundation training with your dog that he really understands what “Here” Means or he just doesn’t care and the 1^st two corrections you made when he ignored you weren’t effective. So IF you are certain you have done enough foundation training then you may need to increase the technique of your correction to make it effective.

From here we increase the level of distractions and scenarios in which we practice. 

Please keep in mind that this is a general overview to how we teach the dog to come back to you. In an ideal training program we don't start teaching recall until the dog walks well on a leash and we have already set some other foundation training. We adjust all training plans to the individual dog and owners needs and learning style.  Some dogs may respond and work on a flat collars others might need a different type of training collar. 

Paws In Progress

Dog Training with Eleza Kerfoot

www.pawsinprogress.com

(916)251-7671 

Discover the Potential in your Paws!

Your dog only mirrors you

This week I read and shared a facebook post by Sean O'shea can be seen on his business page: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=687645261259678&id=133978373293039
"Remember folks, what you pet is what you get. 

If you pet a nervous, fearful, insecure dog, you get more nervousness, insecurity, and fear. If you pet a pushy, disrespectful, bratty dog, you get more pushiness, disrespect, and brattiness. If you pet a hyper, overly-excited, manic dog, you get more hyperactivity, excitement, and manic-ness.

If you pet a calm, relaxed, respectful dog (and do it in a calm, relaxed fashion) you'll create more of that too.

Learn to become super aware of your dog's true state of mind, and use your affection and interactions to cultivate the behavior you want - not what you don't want!"

This is VERY true. I wanted to post about this and add a little more. 

Save your praise and affection for what you really want. Make your praise and touch valuable to your dog. Not something they get all the time. 

We are setting a leadership role for our dog to follow.

If you aren't calm and consistent how to do you expect your dog to be? 

The calmer, clearer, and relaxed we can be... the more your dog will be. Your dog is a direct mirror for what you are doing and teaching them. If you don't like the dog you are looking at in the mirror. It's us that needs to take a closer look at we are or aren't doing that we can change to get our desired results in our dog. 

Praise

• Physical touch or pet
• Calm, slow, soothing
• Eye Contact
• Can be praise in itself
• Don't give eye contact to a mis behaving dog
• Play with a toy
• Verbal "Good" / "Good dog" / "That's it"
• Reserve for awesome - make it special not expected

Verbal

• Calm voice - don't raise your voice
• Say a command once and follow through with it
• NEVER give commands that you have no intention or way to follow through with. 
• When your dog is holding a command try not to say anything additional until you release them from a rare and occasional "good". 

Attitude

• Relax! Be positive and confident about your ability to work with your dog. 
• The calmer more confident you are about working with your dog the more comfortable your dog will be to follow your lead. If your nervous and unsure your dog will be too. 

Birdie on place

Birdie is so tired from a long day of training. So proud of this little pup. She held a 30min place this afternoon.

Etiquette for greeting people

Elsa waits politely before going to "Say Hi"

Your dog should ALWAYS wait for your command to "Go Say Hi"
I use this at the front door, out in public, anywhere except with members of the family who live in the home.

When dogs have no rules for greeting people they are...
a.) Excited, Rude and overly exuberant in the greeting
b.) fearful / anxious / not sure what to do
c.) Reactive / Aggressive
d.) Aloof and just don't care about people

What are these Rules?

1. When someone approaches and wants to pet or see your dog. Stop the person 1st and tell them your working on training or manners and to wait just 1 sec. Tell them you will have the dog come to them. You are having the dog go to them so that your dog has a choice if they don't want to, much more comfortable than having this person come at them tower o
   
   ver them and corner them. Even if you have the friendliest dog in the world there will be 1 person your dog may be unsure of and its not fair to force your dog in a position where they cant get away or back away if they feel the need to. 
2. Get your dog to settle. Ideally you have the dog in a calm sit next to or even behind you. Your dog is holding their sit here on a loose leash you do not need a death grip on the leash, you are not just restraining the dog the dog is required to practice impulse control and hold the sit on their own.
3. IF and ONLY when your dog is settled down and in a calmer state do you make the decision to allow them to greet a person. If your dog is still overly excited and not able to sit on their own, do not allow your dog to go greet the person.  *Straining at the leash... you give in.... dog gets what they wanted... dog is learning tight leash gets me what i want you are reinforcing your dog pulling on their leash and now they are more likely to pull next time*



Io is shy so her owner hands the stranger a treat.

4. Tell your dog to go "Say Hi" / "Make friends" / "Visit" allow your dog to go forward and greet. Correct for any jumping on people. If your dog is meeting children I HIGHLY recommend getting down with your dog and holding on to your dogs collar so that you have extra control. 

Io greets and allows petting. Although this person is petting on the head when at all possible try to encourage people to pet from under the chin and on the chest. Also notice she is bent down next to the dog not hovering over the dog. Io's owner is also engaging and making sure Io knows this is a team effort shes not just out on her own greeting this person. 

By making the dog wait and then putting a command to go say hi helps with general greeting manners as well as showing the dog you are in charge and making it clear that you have already checked it out - now they can go say hi. Almost all dogs start off friendly and happy go lucky and we encourage them to socialize when they are young but the problem we run into is as they get older it turns into a habit of running up to people and as they get old and turn into teenagers and mature... they are running up to a person out of habit but then trying to make their own decision if this person is ok or not. Do not let your dog decide who is and isn't ok. That's up to you. 

Stewie is very well behaved as the kid pets him but his owner holds his collar.

For a Shy dog while you get your dog calm beside you, you can hand the stranger a treat and ask them to "Please offer this treat out to my dog, Please DONT pet him, hes shy" This will help to make positive associations with people without anything negative or scary like a hand reaching out too. 

Wait to feed the dog!

Quick training tip:
DON'T FEED WHEN YOUR DOG WANTS TO BE FED. If you get in the habit of feeding your dog every morning as soon as you get up many dogs start anticipating you getting up means that they get breakfast as a result lots of dogs over time will start trying to wake you up earlier to get fed earlier. I know of a number of dogs whose owners wake up at 4 or 5am to feed their dog then go back to bed. This is NOT necessary.
Instead:
Get up, start your day, Feed your dog on your time. Don't feed them at a set time every day so that they aren't expecting it at any particular time. My dogs get fed twice a day and every day is different. Some days they eat at  5am some days 7 or 8am. In the evening same plan... sometimes its 4 or 5pm sometimes its closer to 7pm. If you take your dog with you on a vacation or to a friends house it will be alot easier for you to enjoy your vacation or for the person taking care of your dog if they are ok with eating at any time and not demanding to be awake and fed at 5am.

With these tips your dog will still get fed but you can enjoy a morning to sleep in once in a while.

Nose Touch - Trick Tuesday

Weve decide to challenge you to teach your dog a new trick every week and practice and post pics and vids.
I want to start with something very simple that some of you may already know.
Nose Touch - Teaching your dog to touch their nose to your hand.
You will use a marker word that catches the exact second their nose touches your hand - we use "YES". Some people like to use a clicker and you can we just dislike the need for an extra tool.

1. Start with treats in one hand then transfer them to the other hand so your empty hand will smell like treats.
2. Hold your hand flat out near your dogs face and encourage your dog to touch your hand with their nose. Do not do it for them but encourage them to do it even by accident the 1st time is ok. 
3. The second their nose is in contact with your hand say "YES" and treat immediately.
4. Continue this and trade and switch hands until your dog understands and has the hang of it
5. Once they understand this you can start raising or lowering your hand so they have to jump for it or lean down low. Still saying "Yes" when they do it and treating each time.

Simple Fun Trick to start with.

Other uses for Nose touch - shy dogs encouraging them to go greet someone. If your dog already knows and enjoys this game and you have a shy dog it can be a great ice breaker to have the person just hold their hand out and have your dog go touch for something positive.


Harley: the lab
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&list=UUUcqW_f8ZqmHni8Pk0Eq7GQ&v=KhngiBykieo

Vader: the shep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T6vJxYQdMQ&feature=c4-overview&list=UUUcqW_f8ZqmHni8Pk0Eq7GQ

Stripey + Blackie: cats
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quXYzHaymiI&feature=c4-overview&list=UUUcqW_f8ZqmHni8Pk0Eq7GQ


Share your pics with us!! #tricktuesday #pawsinprogress or @pawsinprogress    These hashtags can be used on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Tug of War MUST have rules

More and more i'm having people come into training and having previously been told or read somewhere that you should never play tug with your dog.
Tug without Rules is a disaster waiting to happen.
Tug without Rules teaches posession when the dog is allowed to have the toy and run off with it in victory and can lead to guarding and possessive behaviors with toys.
TUG WITH RULES is a GREAT game and can help build a positive relationship with you and your dog.
Rules to TUG
1. ) Dog must enjoy the game

2.) Dog must want to bring tug back when you let go
3.) Dog must drop it when you ask

How do I accomplish these rules?

Put your dog on a leash and start with holding the end of your dogs leash. You want the leash to be loose and for the dog hardly to know its there.
Start playing tug with your dog. Get your dog engaged in the game. It should be give and take but keep tension on the tug at all times. Don't allow the dog to thrash their head around.
You let go of the tug but hold onto the leash and back up and encourage your dog to bring the toy to you. Keep backing up until the dog brings it to you. You are holding the end of your dogs leash so that your dog cant run too far away but dont reel your dog in you want your dog to want to come to you. If your dog takes the toy to the ground i encourage him to bring it back up. As soon as the dog brings it back up tug again then repeat letting it go.
I want to create the idea in my dogs mind "Wait we were playing" and want the dog to run back at me with their toy not running away from me in victory of "winning" the game.
Once your dog is doing fairly well with this then mid play with tug i will take the toy to the dogs level hold onto the toy on both sides of the dogs mouth where he is holding the toy and hold the toy still. When the dog lets go - don't pull the toy away yet hold it still wait till the dog actively backs up. Release the dog to play again. The faster the dog lets go the faster you get to play again.

Furyk playing with Rules: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhqMdAU3W4Y&feature=c4-overview&list=UUUcqW_f8ZqmHni8Pk0Eq7GQ

Flirt Pole / "Woof stick"

This morning we were watching the news and they showed a clip at the SPCA about using a "woofstick" as a great way to exercise your dog. We thought it would be a good idea to give you some more information and background information on this. The "Woofstick" is more commonly known as a flirt pole and was originally used to build prey drive to chase and bite for puppies that would later be trained to bite for sport

work (Schutzhund, French Ring, Mondio Ring). So knowing what its supposed to be used for do you want to do this for your dog? Do you want to increase your dogs prey drive? Probably Not!
You CAN use the flirt pole to exercise your dog but you need to add in some training and impulse control so that you have control of the game and so that it wont teach bad habits.
Make sure the dog has a solid foundation in obedience before playing.
Just like all games you want to start with the dog having a strong interest and desire to play.
Once the dog is into the game then add some rules.

Have the dog hold a sit or down while you move the pole around and then release them to the toy.
For more advanced dogs have them Sit or Down mid run after the toy or call them too you.
You dont want to increase their drive for a moving object if they cant still come when they call.
This is a great game to play with them that adds more rules to a high arousal game.





I got a video of Amber this morning her 1st time with a flirt pole.
She was interested but not completely engaged so we didn't add in the obedience.
See vid here: http://youtu.be/CpoInZKL5l8

Take your dog to work day June 21st 2013

Is your dog ready to go to work with you?
Ready? Yes... make sure your pup is ready to go to work with you before you take them.
You want your dog to be on their best behavior if you take them out, especially in your workplace. Set a good example of what dogs can be like when they are trained.

• Make sure your dog is friendly and enjoys meeting new people and visiting new places.
• If your not sure, take them out to some different parks, shopping centers, restaurants with outdoor patios.
• If your dog is friendly with others can they wait till you allow them to greet then greet appropriately and semi calmly?
• Does your dog get along with other pets/animals that may be at the workplace as well?
• How is your leash walking? 
• Make sure your dog can have a reliable heel and loose leash walk before going to the office. 
• You want your dog staying right with you in the office and not pulling, sniffing and knocking things over.
• Have you thought about stairs, escalator/elevators, and sleek floors that might spook your pup?
• Is your dog familiar with any or all of these?
• Some outdoor malls in the area have these that you could see about practicing with.
• Wait, Sit, Down - Solid
• Make sure your dogs obedience is solid so that you can leave them in a command when you are waiting in areas crowded with people. 
• How is your dog riding in the car?
• You want to make sure your dog is comfortable riding in the car.
• You don't want to start off your day with a stress-full car ride. Being in your work environment and having to deal with all of the new things will be enough for your dog.
• PLACE... how reliable is your "place"?
• At some point you will need to WORK at work right? In which case you will need your dog to stay and settle. I recommend using a Place for a few reasons. If you bring a blanket or towel for place that will be less dog hair you'll leave behind as well as it allows your dog to get comfortable not just holding the down position.
• Can your dog leave it when asked?
• There are so many strange/new things in the workplace that your dog isn't used to, make sure that they know leave-it well and you can get them to leave things alone if they show interest. 

Need a little extra work on any of these commands? 

Contact Paws In Progress dog training

www.pawsinprogress.com

(916) 735-7496

trainer@pawsinprogress.com

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Field trips are a great place to work on this.

Waking you up because they want to be fed

I have had 2 lessons this week with owners having the troubling behavior of the dogs waking them up tooo early in the morning because the dogs want to be fed.
One of them is actually getting up at 3am to feed let the dog out and go back to bed just so the dog will let them finish sleeping.
I figure this is a perfect topic for the blog!
If you are already having this trouble with your dog i recommend crating them so that they cannot get to you to bug you to wake you up.
In general I recommend not feeding the dogs at the same time every night or morning. Mix up so they are never expecting a given time.
For example some mornings mine eat as soon as i'm awake and sometimes its a 1/2hr after that or even 1 or 2 hours after Im awake and I tend to wake up at different times depending on the day. I always take them out 1st thing to potty but I wait to feed them most mornings, I also change it up between who eats 1st and I feed the cats around the same time as the dogs. So sometimes the cats eat 1st and sometimes its the dogs but again not necessarily right after each other so they are never expecting.
Same with in the evening... Sometimes they eat before i leave for teaching classes around 5pm and sometimes its when i get home around 9pm. I just make sure they have enough time to potty before bed.
With this schedule I have never had a problem with anyone waking me up to early or pestering me to be fed.
Hope this is helpful and you can both have a good nights sleep.

Cardboard box problem solving games

I love teaching dogs how to think and figure things out on their own.
It can be great confidence building as well as great mental stimulation.
One of my favorites that is very simple is teaching them words associated with a box.
I start with teaching a marker word. "YES" is what I use.
Some like to use a clicker instead of a word.. I just find that clicker, treats, and leash is too much for me and i don't always have a clicker with me.
I start with saying "Yes" and feed the dog a treat immediately after.
DO NOT say the word and FEED at the same time. Must be after the word is said.
I get out a cardboard box and start really simple... I encourage the dog to go check it out.
The dog touches it or sniffs it at all and i say "Yes" and treat them.
I do this.. maybe 5-8 times in a row so now the dog is completely engaged with this box means good things.
Then I will have the box flipped over and encourage the dog to touch it with his/her paw.
I lure the dog with the food toward the box and upward. Initially the dog will accidently touch the box and you will say "Yes" and treat. Do this multiple times once the dog starts associating that his paw touching the box gets the treat you can start adding a word to it. "Paw"/"Touch" etc...
I would give the dog a break at this time and continue more in a bit or later on.
Other things I do with the box... depending on the size of the box
after each thing I have put suggestions for what you can call it... just suggestions you can call it anything you would like.
In between each of these give your dog a short break..
DON't try to do all of this in one day.
Each one of these is a lot of thinking. Please keep your training sessions short no more than 5 minutes.
MOST of all HAVE FUN!

• Put Front 2 Paws on box "Front Paws"
• Put Back 2 Paws on box "Back Paws
• Put all 4 Paws up on box "Climb"
• Touch it with his nose "Nose"
• move the box with his nose "Nudge" 
• Put their mouth on the box "Get it"/"Munch" / "snack" / "hold"
• Picking up the box with "mouth" and moving it
• flip the box over "Flip it"
• Have the box open upward get the front 2 Paws in the box "Front Paws in"
• Have the box open upward get the back 2 paws in the box "Back Paws In"
• All 4 paws in the box "Get in" 

I think that's enough to get you started! 

If you want help learning how to teach these I'd be happy to come to your home and work on this with you and your dog in a private lesson. 

Head Halters

Head halters can be a very useful tool for some types of dog training.

Just like harnesses Head halters tend to be a management tool not necessarily a training tool.

When you take the head halter off your dog will not walk as well as when it was on.

But it can be great for people that don't want anything other than to be able to walk their dogs.

If not used properly it can rub and hurt the bridge of the dogs nose.

It can also be a great tool for having control of the mouth. When working with a dog that can be dog reactive   it can be great for doing close dog on dog training and still having control of the mouth if you need it. 

Or dogs that can be people aggressive you still can have control of the mouth when needed. 

The head halters are not a muzzle. They don't do anything to restrict the mouth unless you are pulling up on it. 

When using a head halter we recommend the HALTI collar.

We like the fact that the Halti has a safety strap going from the connection for the leash to the collar.

This halti is not properly fitted on this fake dog head. The neck strap behind the head should be right up directly behind the ears.

There are other variations and types of head halters.
Another one is the Gentle leader. If you use the gentle leader make sure to make your own safety strap because they don't come with one.  They can also be a lot harder to fit properly without the help of a trainer.

Harnesses

A harness is a restraint and for most dogs just tends to teach them to pull.

We don't recommend a harness for teaching loose leash walking.

If you think about it.. police dogs have harnesses, sled dogs have harnesses, mountain dogs that pull carts have harnesses. Harnesses teach dogs to pull. 

So in some instances we use this to our advantage.

Puppies under 16weeks we recommend the use of a harness so that it is just management and they are not learning to pull on their collar. Until they are ready to start basic obedience training.

If a dog already has an existing neck injury and for some small dogs we may use a harness but it is not necessary to use a harness with all small dogs.

We use harnesses to help teach a restrained recall. Some dogs just lope their way on over to their owners when called. To make coming to you sooo much more exciting we teach a restrained recall. 

In the following video the handler is just holding onto the dog but it can be much easier with a harness and just restraining the dog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yMw3RdrFxQ

There are many different types of harnesses available.

Standard harness that we recommend for use just as management and to restrain should look like this one...

 There are other types of harnesses like this easy walk harness to the left.
For a dog with a soft personality this can work as management for some dogs that can help limit the strain on you when pulling. It does not stop pulling and you will not be able to take it off and the dog still walk nicely.

There are many other harnesses available that are supposed to stop pulling as well. Again all of these are management tools that can help with pulling on a soft personality dog. But will not stop pulling altogether.