Basic dog training - Does your dog know what you want from him?

Basic Dog Training

If you are just get started with basic dog training, chances are that you will make some of the common mistakes listed below. Hopefully this article helps you to learn more about how dog training basics work from your dog’s perspective and how to have more fun and success when training your dog.

To start let me make clear that I am by no stretch of the imagination a perfect dog trainer All mistakes, bar one, I have committed myself occasionally while training my own dogs or while helping others to train theirs! If you don’t have the time to read the whole article, please read at least the next paragraph, it is the single most common mistake I see people making with their dogs on a daily basis! Never making this mistake again will immensely improve the relationship you have with your dog and it’s behavior of your dog .

Your Dog Comes to You And Bad Things Happen…

Example 1: Owner calls dog, dog takes his sweet time to come and when he finally comes owner tells dog off for not coming quicker.

Example 2: Owner calls dog mostly when it is time to go home., i.e. an unpleasant experience (end of fun) follows directly after being called to the owner.

Mistake: The crucial mistake here is that dogs always connect the last thing they did, or what happened to them, with the owners next reaction to it. Dogs don’t think like this: “Oh, I didn’t come quick enough, next time I have to come faster!” or “Ok, we go home now, I hope there is something nice for dinner planned!”

Dogs live only in the present, not in the past, not in the future when it comes to learning. That is not to say that past experiences don’t have an influence on a dog, far from it! The more often, for example, you tell your dog off for coming reluctantly, the more reluctantly he will come each time you call! This is especially important when you start with how to train a dog to come. But if you want to change any behavior…or teach a completely new one…this holds true and the dog makes only a connection between his first action (arriving at your feet) and your following action (telling your dog off). Got it? OK, you might now want to read on or leave, in any case always keep this golden rule of dog training number one in mind:

Your dog makes only a connection between his last action and your immediate re-action to it. Anything else simply doesn’t connect in the canine universe …

What to Do Instead:

Call your dog frequently to you, at home, outside, on the leash, off leash and reward him royally every single time he comes. Start easy and set your dog up for success, call him only when your are sure that he will come and add distractions and distance slowly and carefully. When doing basic dog training like this off leash, keep a long-trailing leash on your dog’s harness so that you have a security line in case he doesn’t come or something unexpected happens. Make sure that coming to you is the best thing that your dog could do, because great things, from the dogs point of view, happen when he comes to you.

And if you train any other behaviors, make sure that:

Your immediate reaction directly follows the dog’s actions. And that you therefore only re-enforce the behavior you do want to re-enforce. And yes, make you’re actions a reward for your dog!

Your Are Refusing Reward and Bribing …

Example: You are waving a hotdog while calling your dog to come.

Mistake: You are bribing your dog, not rewarding it.

What to Do Instead:

By all means, reward your dog every time he shows a behavior you want to encourage, but follow this order: Command => Behavior + Marker (verbal or clicker) => Reward. This way you show the dog that certain behaviors result in good things happening. Bribing your dog is not training him to do a certain behavior, it is putting before him the decision of if he wants to perform the behavior or not, depending on the bribe. Rewarding him, on the other hand, with food, games or a toy to play with is rewarding the desired behavior he has already shown.

You Decide What a High Value Reward Is Not Your Dog …

Some dogs are not motivated by food, others couldn’t care less about playing  tug-of-war. If you choose the wrong reward, your dog will feel ‘under-paid’ and less motivated during training lessons. Make a list of things that your dogs like (praise, ear scratchies, favorite foods, toys/games) and find out which ones work the best. Always have some really high value rewards at hand to reward outstanding performance!

Your Timing is Off …

Like I wrote above, dogs connect the latest thing they did with your reaction to it. If your reaction is too slow or too early, the dog will connect the wrong things. This means that your reaction has to directly follow (max. 1-2 seconds after) your dogs’ behavior.

You Talk Too Much …

Example: Your dog barks and you preach him a ‘sermon’ on the lines of: ‘I rescued you from the human society, I give you food and treats, I keep you warm and comfy and take you for great walks every day – And you drive me nuts by barking like a mad dog.’ Translated into ‘doggish’, this is what your dog hears:

‘Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff, Ruff Ruff Ruff food Ruff treats, Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff walks Ruff Ruff – Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff.’

See the problem? Your dog doesn’t understand what you are saying and is most likely completely confused because your using the words he knows, and that are positive for him, in an unhappy voice. By all means speak to your dog frequently…preferable with a happy and positive voice…but when it comes to communicating what you want, use clear commands and don’t waffle.

Too Many Repetitions or Too Much Variety…

Every dog is different when it comes to learning new, and maintaining established, behaviors. Some dogs need a lot of repetitions until they have things ‘paws down’, others get bored easily and wander of, mentally or physically, as if they wanted to say ‘I know that already, boring, can we move on?’. Learning to know your dog is also learning to know how your dog learns. Keep training sessions short and fun for both of you and if you want to work on another trick or behavior, changing the setting (go to another room for example) so that your dog knows something new is coming.

The following two basic dog training mistakes are the ones I catch myself making embarrassingly often …

You are Not Teaching a Release Command …

Example: ‘Down!’ Dog lies down. You walk away and for a time the dog stays ‘down’, but sooner or later your dog will want to go up and creep out of the ‘down stay’.

Funny Example:

I trained one of my dogs to balance a treat on his nose and to wait with catching or eating it until I gave the command. One day, as I just had placed a treat on his nose, the telephone rang and I answered it. As I turned around several minutes later, my poor dog was sitting their with his eyes crossed and trying to stare at the treat on his nose. I gave the release command rather quickly and giggly …

How to avoid this mistake:

You need to teach your dog with each trick or behavior that requires duration, i.e. your dog performing it for some time, simultaneously the release command. This way you become predictable and reliable in the eyes of your dog. So, for example, say ‘down’ and release your dog when he is allowed to go up with ‘free’, ‘ok’ or whatever word you choose.

You Use One Command for Different Things …

Dogs jumps on furniture and you say, understandably ‘DOWN!’, but you also use this word to tell your dog to lay down on the floor. Chances are that your dog, in this situation, after hearing ‘DOWN!’ is laying down – on the furniture. And who could blame him? In the end he is doing what you told him to, laying down where he is. I think you can figure the solution to this one out on your own

Just a hint, my dog now knows what ‘Off’ means …

I am sure there are more basic dog training mistakes around that I forgot to list in this article. Care to share them in a comment? Funny stories and funny mistakes are especially welcome!