Training for Communication.

Our goal is to introduce you to the extensive topic of training and to get you started on your journey. We recommend all new puppies be enrolled in training early on to help you communicate effectively with your new family member. Understanding the two main types of training theories is critical regarding the outcome of your training program.

Positive “Reward Based” Reinforcement

Aversion “Negative” Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement

This approach is recommended by the American Veterinarian Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB). This method uses scientific, evidence-based guidelines for operant conditioning, classical conditioning, desensitization, and counter conditioning. In a nut shell, it focuses on rewarding desired behavior and avoiding the reinforcement of undesired behaviors. For weekly articles for great training topics sign up for the newsletter at Cattledog Publishing, the company that founded Fear Free Training and Handling.

Many times this approach is associated with food only rewards or clicker training. In reality, rewards are not just about food but include affection, praise, play and targeted interaction (like going for a walk). Bottom line, reward the good, ignore the bad.

Dogs understand Praise the same way we do. Here's why that matters.

AKC: The Reinforcement Dog Training: The Science Behind Operant Conditioning

Aversion Reinforcement

The Aversion method uses dominance hierarchy theory and confrontational training. The AVSAB takes a strong stance on this form of behavior due to its out dated theories and the use of punishment based methods. The veterinarian industry has found that “aggression” and “dominance” are usually misunderstood terms.

Most aggression has an underlying cause such as fear, anxiety, resource guarding, improper socialization or owners inadvertently rewarding bad behavior. Per the AVSAB Position Statement on the Use of Dominance Theory in Behavior Modification of Animals, true “dominance-submissive relationships are reinforced through warning postures and ritualistic dominance and submissive displays. If the relationship is stable, then the submissive animal defers automatically to the dominant individual.”

This approach uses the “alpha roll”, yelling, leash tugging, jowl grabbing, water sprayers and kicking. Quite a few studies have shown that the outcome can lead to aggression to people or other animals, house-soiling and anxiety,

Dr. John Ciribassi is one of the leading veterinarian behaviorists who happens to practice in the Chicago area.

Recommend book: Decoding Your Dog: Explaining Common Dog Behaviors and How to Prevent or Change Unwanted Ones.

The Mechanics of Positive Reinforcement

How to reward the good and ignore the bad starts with inflection of voice and timing.

We recommend following the AVSAB, positive reinforcement approach. There are three components that create an association with a command.

Cue - verbal word or visual sign i.e. command
Marker - verbal word or noise i.e. “yes” or snap from a clicker
Reward - treat, praise, petting, toy

One uses a “cue”, known as a command, with a marker which allows an association to be linked with a reward.

We recommend using the word “yes” in conjunction with a hand command as the “marker” and starting with food as a reward. The word “yes” in our languages causes a higher inflections that triggers a positive pitch. Most puppies are highly motivated by food, and at the beginning you need complete attention. Eventually, food rewards are replaced with other rewards such as a tug toy play, petting and praise. Hand commands allow you to signal your dog when your voice does not suffice.

Rewards are categorized into “low-value” or “high-value”. Low value rewards are used once an association has been made to continued training; for example a small biscuit or a praise “high-value” rewards are those reserved when attention needs to be very focused during training; for example a freeze dried meat treat or favorite plush toy. There are times that both styles of treats will be used for advanced training. The “low-value” treat is used as a lure while the “high-value”. Because food is a “high-value” reward, slow down the phasing out of its use if your puppy starts blatantly ignoring commands. Sometimes associations take longer then expected.

When a command is given and executed say the word “yes” and offer a very small food reward. This allows your dog to form a positive association with the food and the word, “I hear yes and good things happen.” The treat must be small enough for a quick taste. Too large a piece and your puppy will get distracted with the treat and not with the lesson.

It is critical for you to understand that puppies and kittens learn by association and attention (positive or negative) is perceived as a reward. Very similar to human children, getting a reaction from bad attention is better then no attention. The positive reinforcement methods highlights timing the reward and ignoring the negative. Thus, by not rewarding an undesired outcome and ignoring it, your puppy will not form an association with it or gain attention by it.

So how do you avoid the undesired behavior? Use the word “uh uh” as a neutral marker for undesired behavior. It forces your voice to a lower inflection so that your pet can distinguish a positive vs neutral pitch. Avoid “no” because everyone will use this word around your pet and its meaning will be lost.

When your pet does something undesirable you say “uh uh” and wait. If the correct behavior does not present itself then no reward is given. The second the positive behavior occurs say “yes” and give a small treat. At this point, if your puppy is not responding, say nothing and move on to something completely different. Commands should be single words. Stringing words together will take longer for an association to occur if at all.

Timing is everything with training. Delaying a response whether positive or neutral will jeopardize the association. It is vital to never repeat a command. Say it once, otherwise the intended association will not occur because your puppy will start to “tune-out” the repeated word.

Patience is key with all training. Do not fall into the trap of believing that an association happens instantly. Some puppies take longer then others to form associations. Also, randomly reward good behavior when it happens naturally without a command allows for the associations to imprint faster.

So how does this all work together.

Example: dog jumps, “no no” (with a higher calm inflection) and push him off. Dog just got rewarded for jumping because he got your attention and the tone of your voice was a higher pitch.
Example: dog jumps, “uh uh” and turn your back. Once he is off, say “yes” for the good choice made and then have your dog do a “sit” and quickly pet. Do not give a treat reward. You are complimenting your dog without a “high-value” reward which would then be associated with the unwanted action.

Dr. Sophia Yin, founded Low Stress Handling via Cattledog Publishing. Sing up for their newsletter with training tips.

The Basics for Dogs.

Focusing on the basics occurs for the first 2-6 months of your puppies life. Your puppy technically becomes a juvenile from 7-16 weeks and then moves into the adolescent phase. These first 16 weeks are incredibly important because this is the time period that your dog is most adaptable to new things. We recommend working on these basics command from the start at home and via a training class based on interaction with trainers and clients over the years.

Housebreaking
Crating
Name Recognition
Socialization
Impulse/ Self-Control
Patience
Preventing Separation Anxiety

Housebreaking

Puppies cannot hold their bladders for long. We always remind clients that the rule of thumb is for every month of life is about an hour of time a puppy can hold its bladder. In the beginning, going out every 1-2 hours for the first week and then increasing it by an hour per couple weeks, is the most effective, albeit exhausting method.

As a puppy ages, they can usually hold their bladder through the night but will need to go out immediately upon waking up. During the day, puppies will need to go out directly after eating, playing or sleeping. Creating a schedule will be important and being mindful of situations so that you do not set your puppy up to disappoint you. If training your puppy to potty outside do not use pee-pads because it giving mixed messages.

Bring puppy outside to a designated spot.
Say “potty”
Wait until your puppy potties
Say “yes” and a reward (treat, praise, petting)
Note: do not go for a walk until your puppy potties. Walks can be a reward and sometimes puppies will not eliminate until after the walk, and once you have gone back inside

If you definitely plan to use pee-pads, use the same method described for outside but for inside use a different command such as “toilet”. This allows your puppy to differentiate outside from inside potty times.

Accidents can happen. When puppies potty indoors and in front of you, try to distract them with hand clapping or call their name. Take them outside immediately then clean up the problem area with a good enzyme cleaner when you get back home. Do not punish your puppy. They will associate going to the bathroom (which happens to be in front of you) as bad behavior. This will result in your puppy have difficulty going to the bathroom in front of you in the future. Instead constant supervision will be needed and remind yourself that more “potty” breaks are necessary.

If the puppy has an accident inside without you catching the action, do not punish the puppy. There is no behavior to associate the punishment with an action and instead the puppy will only associate it with random punishment. This negative approach can cause damage to your relationship.

Related Article: Housebreaking Your Puppy

Crating

Crating has great benefits which include:

Effective potty training
Provides a safe space (like having one’s own bedroom)
Decreases anxiety for grooming and veterinarian visits
Makes traveling long distances easier

There is a lot of debate regarding dogs being crated. However, dogs that are not exposed to positive crate training have more stressful experience while at the veterinarian for medical procedures, while at a professional groomer and while traveling. Proper, humane methods teach your dog that its a good place to go and it becomes their “safe” zone. It becomes a place to go when they want alone time or are stressed.

When purchasing a crate, make sure that it is big enough for your puppy to stand up, lie down and turn around in, but not large enough that your puppy could potty on one side and sleep on the other. Also, make sure the crate constructed of a material that your puppy cannot chew through and has proper ventilation. We do not advise crates that are mostly covered or constructed mainly of solid plastic for this reason.

Never use the crate as a punishment and never shove your pup into it and leave.

To make the process positive use the following method:

Place your puppy outside the crate
Place an extremely “high value” treat (a Kong toy filled with peanut butter or cream cheese) inside the crate near the back and shut the door.
Keep your puppy outside the crate.
When your puppy shows excitement (but not jumping or barking) open the door and let him rush to get the reward.
Keep your puppy in the crate for a minute or two allowing your puppy to come out BEFORE he’s finished the reward in order to build the anticipate to go back inside.
Do this randomly five times a day so that your puppy associates the crate with a fun place to go. If you only do this method when you leave your residence then the crate will always be associated with you leaving.

Name Recognition

Name recognition is the foundation of training.

Stand in front of your puppy. Say his name once. If he looks at you say ‘yes’ and give that small treat as a reward. When no respond happens wait a few second. Your puppy may look around a few times and then look at you. At that instance, say “yes” and give the reward.

If your puppy becomes completely distracted, walk around in a circle and start again with this alternative method. Holding the treat above the tip of your nose, draw the treat upward toward your eyes at the bridge of your nose while establishing eye contact. Say his name once, say “yes” and give the reward. Do this three times. Then, say your puppy’s name without the treat, say “yes” and reward with praise.

It will take some time and puppies will need more breaks then you realize. Once your puppy starts responding to this exercise, use the name at random times in random locations in random situations to reinforce the name recognition.

Socialization

The prime period for socializing puppies is the first 16 weeks. During this time, their personality and behavior is highly influenced and formed by their experiences and environment.

According to Leslie Sinn, CPDT-KA, DVM, DACVB from Behavior Solutions for Pets, “This is the time that exposure to their environment establishes many of their behaviors. Socialization helps normal kittens and puppies learn to be at ease in their expected living environment through exposure to different humans, environments, surfaces, sights, and sounds and to novel objects.”

Sitting

Learning to sit works in conjunction with many social situations and serves as a foundation for other commands. It helps to curb jumping and pulling while teaching patience.

Hold a treat above the bridge of your puppy’s nose and slowly draw the treat up behind the head. As your puppy tries to follow the treat and the head and shoulders lift, the rump will touch the ground. Do this movement three times and then say the word “sit” only once with a hand marker (flat palm while bending the elbow and slowly drawing the hand to the shoulder) once the rump touches the ground say "yes" and reward.

After 10-20 times with 100% compliance, start to use intermittent reinforcement with rewards i.e. reward for the 1st, 3rd and 7th time while saying “yes” and using the hand command. Advance this command by commanding a sit before crossing a street, before greeting another dog or human and before play time.

Related article: How to Teach Your Dog to Sit

Related article: Teach Your Puppy These 5 Basic Commands

Greeting

Greeting is the most important aspect of your puppy’s socialization. Learning to greet is the difference between responsible behavior or irresponsible behavior which can lead to lunging, pulling or leash aggression.

When another dog or human approaches, utilize the “sit” command before greeting in order to teach your puppy to be calm for social interactions. Note, do not use food near another dog’s face or that dog will respond and the situation will not be beneficial for either party.

Once the other dog or human are at the point of greeting say “greet.” Count to three and say “good greet” and walk away. The concept is to teach your puppy that they can greet but the greet itself is not the reward. This is very important in case you run into a dog that is not friendly and you need to move away quickly. If another dog lunges at your puppy, then your puppy has the potential to mimic this behavior later.

Moving forward, every time your puppy greets humans or dogs in a calm manner with all four paws on the ground, always praise to reinforce positive interactions. At this stage in your puppy’s life, excitement occurs VERY quickly, and you will want your dog to learn positive leash behaviors.

Gotcha

Desensitizing your puppy to touch is incredibly important. It helps decrease the chance of resource guarding and makes veterinarian and grooming appointments less stressful.

The “gotcha” command helps desensitize your puppy to touch. At random times during the day, hold a treat and say “gotcha” while reaching over and gently tugging loose skin or patting different parts of the body. Go slow and calmly. If your puppy backs up, then you are going to fast. The goal is to be able to handle and grab different parts of the body without your puppy becoming afraid, frustrated or aroused.

Bottom line, the more you physically handle your puppy the better. Petting, rubbing the muzzle, messaging the pads, gently tugging the nails and tail for example all allow for your puppy to be less reactionary later.

For more socialization information look under the New Puppy menu under Resources.

Play

Sitting, greeting and handling are all factor that help teach your puppy to play with other animals and humans. Puppies can get very excited during play. Utilizing calming techniques will help during many situations when you want to prevent playtime from becoming fight time. Body language is important to understand. Specifically watch for play bows from all parties and making sure each dog playing is given a turn to be on top and on bottom while wrestling. Keep in mind your puppy’s temperament. Not all puppies enjoy playing with large groups of dogs, wrestling or being chased. If your puppy starts becoming too excited or distressed leave the situation. Staying may form undesired behavioral associations. Also, like human’s, puppies learn from their peers. If you see another dog and do not like its play style do not allow your puppy to play.

Settle / Calm Down

The “settle” command teaching self-control and allows your puppy to learn to calm down when excited. The specific handling techniques teach your dog that when you handle in a specific manner its time for a calm moment and a reward will follow. This command and method work well for times when your puppy is aroused in social situations such as parties or during dog play that gets out-of-control.

Large Dog Technique

Stand in the same direction as your puppy with your puppy between your legs. Wrap your arms around the chest just behind the front arms in a hug. Hold firmly but gently and say “settle.” Once your puppy stops wiggling and relaxes with an exhale say “yes” and reward.

Small Dog Technique

Firmly hold your puppy in the air facing you just under the front legs. Your puppy’s head should be level with yours and be able to make eye contact. Firmly hold and say “settle.” Once your puppy stops wiggling and relaxes with an exhale say “yes” and reward.

Wait / Impulse Control

The “wait” command teaching impulse-control or patience which is key for performing every day tasks such as waiting for a meal, waiting for the crate door to open, waiting while you talk to your friend. The list is endless. The command teaches your puppy to wait and a good reward will follow. This command in its advanced for is the “stay” command.

Placing a favorite treat in the palm of your hand just above your puppy’s head and where the the treat is visible, close your hand around the treat and say “wait.” Lower your fist with the treat encased in it downward toward your puppy. Note, do not repeat the command and do not move. You must also show patience. Repeating the command during the process and will not allow a strong association to form.

Your puppy will pay attention to the treat encased in your hand by sniffing, scratching, licking, biting, etc. Continue to hold your fist closed until your puppy stops or looks away. The second your puppy stops or looks away, say “yes” while opening your palm and presenting the rewards.

As your puppy responds faster and faster, ignoring the treat more and more, you can present the fist toward the front of your chest and say “wait.” Once your puppy waits you can either give a treat from your loose hand or use an alternative reward. Eventually, your fist serves as a visual command for wait, or short advanced stay command.

Preventing Separation Anxiety

There are many reasons separation anxiety can occur. To help minimize separation anxiety with your puppy, we recommend one rule. Don’t make a huge deal when you leave or arrive home because it creates an association that only good things happen when you are there and decreases your puppy’s confidence in being alone.

Practice for short intervals leaving and coming back. When you leave, do not say good bye or necessarily give a reward while you leave. You want to create an atmosphere where it is natural for you to be gone. When you arrive home, ignore your puppy for the first 5-10 minutes. Only acknowledge your puppy after that period and when your puppy is calm.

Related article: Separation Anxiety in Dogs

Related article: Does your dog freak out when you leave?

Finding a Dog Trainer and Training Information

We highly recommend finding a trainer that has been certified by the CCPDT. This third party certification is rigorous and uses the evidence based science as continually researched by the AVSAB. We also listed other great resources with targeted topic articles written by reputable sources.

Certified Council for Professional Dog Trainers

American Veterinarian Society of Animal Behavior

Dogster.com

Companion Animal Psychology.com

Animal Humane Society

VetStreet.com

PetMD