Dog Training Podcast

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Training = Fun

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Clicker Training

After I posted the last post about rewards, I realized that I did not even talk about clicker training. If you are a fast mouse clicker, you can be a fast reward clicker. Most pet stores have them, and they are so very very useful when teaching new behaviors. I can click fast than I can say good dog. In fact, I can click about 6 times before I get out good dog. So that may be something to think about. It is easy to teach the pup that the clicker means good dog. All you do to get started, is click the clicker - and give a treat. Very very quickly the dog will realize that the clicking sounds = food! Then the next time you are training a sit or what ever, just click the second the dog sits down. They will know, I did good and food it coming.

How to reward

I was watching one of my favorite shows yesterday (good Dog U), and the trainer brought up a great point that I wanted to pass along. When training your dog, make sure to reward the dog at the correct time. So many people (and yes I have done this too) will reward the dog before it has finished what you ask of it. For example, you will call the dog to come, and when it is about 4 feet from you, you tell it "good Dog". That is not correct. You just rewarded the dog before it came to you. So the next time, you call the dog thinks - I only have to get close, not actually come all the way. So make sure the dog as completed the whole task before you reward. Also - the second the do the task you want, especially when you are teaching a new behavior, praise and reward. Don't wait a sec, or get the treat then praise. Make sure the second the dog has come all the way to you, praise it while getting the reward. Let them know that they have done what you wanted.

Happy training!

Bonding with your Dog

Have you bonded with your dog? I have seen so many people lately who spend no time with their 4 legged family members. Then they get mad when the dog does not listen to their commands. If you think you could use some good bonding with a young dog, try to play chase with them. This is a great game that really will have your dog bond with you. This is one of the very first games we play with our search and rescue puppies. If you have an older dog, a simply game of fetch may be all that you need to do. However, almost all dogs really do like to play chase. Get out there in our "Cool" hot weather and have some fun this summer! Your dogs will thank you for it. Just don't forget to keep them very hydrated. If you are worried they are getting overheated - pour cool water on their tummy, get them in the shade or indoors, and get them some water fast. Time is important so they do not have a heat stroke.

Pulling on the Lesh

I was trying to decide what to post about this week until I took my kids to the park. There was a women there who had a huge lab that she was attempting to take for a walk. Not really sure who was leading who on their walk.

So, Do you have a dog that pulls you instead of walking with you? Never fear - there is hope!! My Shepherd Lib and I had that issue for about a year. She was very determined to go at her pace instead of mine. There are a few great products out there that can really help, but my favorite is the gentle leader. However, if you have one of those retractable leashes - do not use it with this product, you might hurt your dog. The gentle leader is a device that fits over the dogs nose, and snaps on behind their head. It is a wonderful product that will work for most dogs. When they pull you, it turns their head around, and it teaches them not to pull. If that does not work, try this little trick. Evertime the dog pulls you, yank on the leash to get their attention, and change your direction. This was what I had to do to get Lib to heel correctly to pass the Canine Good Citzen test. She just did not want to heel with a leash on. She does it perfectly without the leash, but we had to work hard to get it with the leash. What can I say, she is a complex puppy!

Basic Sit Instructions

Okay - most dogs can get the sit pretty fast. If you have not gotten this one mastered - try this trick. With the dog in front of you. Hold a really good treat out (I like hot dog pieces or lunch meat pieces), and let the dog smell the hand. Hold you hand above its nose and say "Sit". While doing this, take the hand with your treat, and push your hand above the dogs head. (This is so that if the dog is staring at your hand, it will have to sit and raise its head to see the hand.) If the dog sits, immediately give lots of praise and the treat. After doing this a few times, most dogs will pick up on this command. Just remember to always always end your training on a good note - and never do it to long. You want it to be remembered by the dog as fun. Not really work.

Also - a quick tip. Do you have a dog that just loves to hunt for things? Make it work for those treats. A favorite of mine, is to get those tiny training treats at petsmart, and then hide them all over a room when Lib is not there. She will spend a good amount of time using her nose to sniff them out. If you don't want treats all over a room in your house, throw them in the grass. This will keep those pups entertained for a little while.

Intro

Welcome! I wanted to take a minute to talk a little about myself. I have a retired Search and Rescue Dog who is a German Shepherd named Lib. She was a Humans Remains Detection Dog. Even though we have not "officially" trained for 3 years, she still knows what to do. Just today, I placed a hidden training aide in a field where we walk. She had no clue that I had done that, when I took her for the walk, I could tell when she smelled the aide. She ran right to it, and alerted like a pro. Makes me so proud.

Okay, what I am going to Blog about? I am going to go over some simply training techniques that anyone can do. These first techniques will be on obedience. That is one of the most important things that ANY dog must know. They need to come when called, especially if you live near a street where they can get hit my a car. They need to know not to jump on people or kids visiting your house. I will also post some games that we use when we are training puppies. These will help you bond with your dog. Because if the dog does not bond with your family, it will not listen to your commands, or behave either. Please feel free to try these, and let people know how you did.

Welcome

Welcome to the New blog for people who are trainging our K9 Searchers.