Tag: training


First this way and Then that Way

Dog Training: How To Train Your Dog To Change Direction When Walking

After you and your dog have pretty much gotten the hang of heeling, your next step is to introduce your dog to changes of direction while heeling. You find out about the three essential turns - a right turn, an about-turn to the right, and a left turn.
 
Turning Right: To stay with you when you are making a right turn, your dog needs to speed up. And, at this stage in your training, he is not yet giving you 100 percent of his attention, and you are going to anticipate that he needs help with the right turn.
 
If you want your dog to pay attention to you, you have to pay attention to your dog. Learning to anticipate what he is going to do is the first step to successful heeling.
 
Just before you make the turn, enthusiastically say his name, make the turn, and keep moving. Using his name will cause him to look up at you and he will notice that you are changing direction, which will cause him to stay with you. Without giving him that cue, chances are that as you make the turn and go one way, he will keep going the other way.
 
About-Turn: An about-turn is a right turn times two. When you make your turn, keep your feet together so your dog can keep up. As you did for the right turn, use his name just before you make the turn to encourage him to stay with you.
 
In the event your dog has a particularly difficult time remaining at your side for the right or about-turn, you can use a treat or other object of interest to him to help guide him around. The treat is held in your right hand as you are heeling. Before you make the turn, show it to your dog by bringing the treat directly in front of his nose and using it to guide him around the turn, then give him the treat.
 
This approach has a potential drawback. Some dogs become overly stimulated when they know you have a treat in your hand. Make no mistake about it, he knows. If you see that your dog becomes difficult to control under such circumstances, you may want to eliminate use of the treat. The hassle is not worth the potential benefit.
 
Turning Left: In order to make the left turn without crowding, your dog needs to slow down as you make the turn and then resume normal speed after you made the turn. Just before you make the turn, slow down and with your left hand draw back on the leash, make the turn, and resume your normal brisk pace.
 
Find out more when you read My Dog is Learning Some New Tricks.

 

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It’s a Private thing

Dog Training: How to Train Your Dog to Stop Licking “Private Places”

A nose thrust may be acceptable among dogs, but it’s not so pleasant for the two-legged visitors in their lives. Every dog can learn to greet people in more acceptable ways. The secret is to teach them an alternative to that ancient, secret handshake they know so well.
 
Start with a Shake
 
The standard greeting among people is the handshake, and dogs can learn it too. Have your dog sit, then stick out your hand, putting it slightly below her nose. Most dogs will instinctively raise a paw to meet it. If your dog doesn’t get it and won’t raise a paw, pick up her paw for her and give it a shake. Then say, "Good shake!" and give her something to eat. Keep practicing, and have other people do it too. As long as there’s the potential for food, dogs will remember this trick and try it every chance they get.
 
Take her Everywhere
 
Dogs spend most of their time at home, and when they do get out they’re so excited and hungry for information that they can hardly keep their noses to themselves. Take them out in public more often so they meet a lot of new people. Eventually, they’ll start getting used to everyone and everything, in part because they’ll have collected so much information in the past that they won’t feel the burning need to collect more. This will make it easier for them to remember to sit and shake rather than lunge and sniff.
 
Quick Tip
 
Dogs despise the smell of minty breath spray, and you can take advantage of this to discourage them from sniffing people. When you’re going to be in a situation in which your dog will be meeting new people, arm yourself beforehand with a canister of breath spray. When she moves in for the inevitable sniff, quickly spritz some of the spray toward her mouth. Aim downward so that the irritating spray doesn’t hit her eyes. The unpleasant smell and taste, combined with the psst sound, is a very strong discouragement.
 
This type of "aversion therapy" works because dogs link the unpleasant experience with the behavior that caused it, and the memory will stay with them. For the most part, however, dogs learn fastest when they’re praised for doing things right, rather than scolded for doing them wrong. So reward your dog well when she sits and shakes. You should even reward her when she does nothing at all. As long as she’s not sniffing, she’s being a good dog and deserves a special treat.
 

 

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It’s a Kiss

Dog Licking: Can Dogs Give You Germs When They Lick Your Face?

Dogs use their long tongues for mopping up lunch crumbs, removing mud from their feet, and cleaning their privates. And yet, when they give our faces sloppy licks, there’s something endearing about it. Apart from occasional attempts to retrieve bits of glazed doughnut from our chins, dogs lick us because they like us. It isn’t a kiss, but it’s close.
 
Almost as soon as they’re born, dogs experience the soft warmth of their mothers’ tongue,
which bathes them with maternal affection. The licking never really stops after that. Mothers take advantage of their puppies’ relative immobility during nursing to lick them clean. They also lick their bottoms to jump-start their impulses to relieve themselves.
 
Puppies do their share of licking too. They lick older dogs’ chins and faces to greet them and show respect. And when they’re hungry - and puppies are perpetually in search of something to eat - licking their mother will sometimes stimulate her to regurgitate a meal, which the puppies regard as an appetizing lunch.
 
As dogs get older, they lick each other less often, but they never quit entirely. At the very least, in the absence of hands and hairbrushes, they do each other’s hair with their tongues.
 
A Show Of Respect
 
Dogs don’t lick people because they’re hoping for a hot meal. They lick because we’re their parents, or at least the head folks in the house. Even when dogs are old, gray, and grizzled, they see themselves in some ways as being our children, and a lick shows how much they respect us.
 
You can tell a little bit about your dog’s personality by how much licking she does. Dogs who are very bold or independent are restrained with their licking because they don’t feel as though there is anyone they have to win over. Outgoing, sociable dogs, on the other hand, lick everyone all the time.
 
We play a role in all this licking too. It doesn’t take dogs very long to learn that laying a wet one on the cheek is a great way to get cooed over and rubbed the right way. So in a way, the instinct to lick is both ancient and immediate; dogs do it naturally, and we en- courage them to do it more.
 
People are never sure how to react to licks. The first emotion is generally "Aw, that’s cute," closely followed by "Yuck." Imagine where that tongue has been! But it’s not as unhygienic as it seems. At worst, dog licks are like wiping your face with a slightly dirty washcloth. Not exactly cleansing, but hardly worth worrying about. In fact, there’s some evidence that it may be good for you.
 
Learn more about the different training methods for your dog in Evolving the Training Methods.

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