March 17th, 2011
By Eric Letendre
Snow is finally melting here in Western MA and I CAN’T wait to get outside and do some hiking and biking.
Anyway, in my last message I shared with you a simple solution I came up with when my zipper got stuck at a most inopportune time (if you missed it you can get the full story below this post).
A big problem for many dog owners is the hectic, crazy dog. The dog that literally blows a gasket every time he sees another dog, person, bird, squirrel or leaf blowing by.
When it comes to calming the hectic dog, it’s important to understand how reinforcement works.
Webster defines reinforcement as: An event, a circumstance, or a condition that increases the likelihood that a given response will recur in a situation like that in which the reinforcing condition originally occurred.
Basically, when we reinforce a behavior, the behavior gets stronger.
What most people don’t understand is that reinforcement comes in two forms:
Intentional reinforcement and UN-intentional reinforcement.
A lot of the behaviors that we don’t like have been unintentionally reinforced by the owner. For example, the dog starts to bark and pull and become uncontrollable. The owner starts to pull back on the leash and starts to say things like:
“Stop that,” “Stop pulling,” “Bad boy,” “No,” “Don’t pull,” ”Quit it,” and on it goes.
Same thing happens with jumping. The dog jumps and gets some form of attention. Barking is often reinforced by the owner shouting at the dog.
My friend and psychotherapist, Gena, tells me often that negative attention is better than no attention.
So we have to be very careful about unintentionally reinforcing the behaviors we don’t like.
When I walk into a classroom full of dogs and their owners, the first thing I have the owners do is to stop talking to their dogs UNLESS the dog is doing exactly what they want the dog to do.
If their dog is standing politely at their side and there is no tension in the leash, if they are not straining and barking at the other dogs, then and only then do they talk and pet their dog. If the dog pulls, I instruct them to simply pull back on the leash and to put some slack into the leash. Pull back and get the leash to go slack.
The amazing thing that happens when you do this is that the less you struggle, the faster you gain control.
So your homework is to go to a park or a place that is not too busy (you don’t want to make it too difficult in the beginning) and practice with your dog. Find a spot and just stand there with your dog. When your dog becomes excited and starts to pull, don’t say anything, don’t get ruffled and simply pull back on the leash and put some slack into it.
Repeat this and in a few minutes you’ll see a big change in your dog. Once your dog relaxes, then and only then do you turn on the verbal and physical praise.
Give it a try and see for yourself.
I guarantee you’ll be impressed with your dog and yourself.
All the best,
Eric
P.S. I got a nasty email from one reader this week saying that I should not promote my Dog Training Inner Circle in the P.S. That I should just come out and ask the readers of this blog to buy it without “dangling a carrot(?)”
P.P.S. I do like to help as many dog lovers as I possibly can and offer a lot of advice at no charge, but this is how I make my living. So if you’d like to become a member of the Dog Training Inner Circle and get the really good stuff please consider joining The Dog Training Inner Circle.
P.P.P.S. If that offended anyone please let me apologize in advance. I still hope you find my email newsletter informative and fun to read. Even though it is free, I do put a lot of work into it.
February 24th, 2011
By Eric Letendre
In my last blog post I showed you where you can get a FREE clicker app for your phone (See below).
In this video I discuss how to use clickers. Clickers are extremely effective and you can teach your dog very fast by using one. The clicker is a tool that you use to communicate to your dog and it can cut the training time down fast.
Here is a video explaining how to do clicker training.
BTW, if you want more in depth information on clicker training check out The Dog Training Inner Circle.
February 16th, 2011
By Eric Letendre
Yesterday I posted a video on this blog. You can watch it below this post.
The video was from the 1930′s Little Rascals.
When I was a kid, I would watch The Little Rascals every morning after I did my paper route. LOVED that show and found some old videos on YouTube.
I laughed at the way Spanky grabs the other kid under the table like a dog and gets a dose of Tabasco.
Taste deterrents are used in some situations – chewing, begging, etc.
You can find commercial taste deterrents in most pet stores. They come flavored as bitter apple, sour grapes,
etc.
In the dog training world, there are STRONG opinions on using any type of aversive in dog training.
What I have found in 20+ years of training dogs is that there are times when you use positive reinforcement and there are times when you can use a negative consequence to get the desired result.
Now, before I get a flood of hate mail, please let me explain.
Using a negative consequence does NOT mean you hurt or harm your dog. For instance, I have used breath spray for years to teach dogs to stop barking on command.
Would you think breath spray is harmful to a dog?
NO, it is not, but it is a negative consequence and the dog quickly learns to stop barking on command.
And that is what dog training comes down to. TEACH your dog by positively reinforcing behaviors. Sit, down, stand come, etc, are ALL taught by rewarding the behaviors. These commands used to be taught with a choke or prong collar which is wrong, wrong, WRONG!
You stop behaviors (jumping, barking, begging, chewing) by using a negative consequence.
A negative consequence is NOT hitting, slapping, shocking, choking or anything harsh.
A negative consequence can be water, sound, spray, etc.
You can apply a negative consequence that will stop the behavior without hurting your dog.
Here is the last bit of advice I’ll give you on applying a negative consequence. The negative consequence should NEVER be associated with you.
All negative consequences come from the environment, everything positive comes from you.
I discuss this much more in depth on the Good K9 Manners website.
You can get $10.00 off the regular price by using the coupon code: 10-OFFK9MANNERS
You can think of it as a late Valentine’s gift from your friend, The Amazing Dog Training Man.
All the best,
Eric
January 26th, 2011
By Eric Letendre
Well, it’s official.
Another 4 to 12 inches of snow expected tonight into tomorrow morning.
We already have two and half feet of the stuff and I had to shovel out a place for my dog to take care of business. It would also be nice to take a long hike in the woods, but I think I am going to have to invest in some snow shoes.
Anyway, the last time we had a winter this bad I got a call from a very distressed border collie owner.
She worked long hours and because of work and weather conditions her poor dog was really going nuts. Every dog needs exercise but border collies need jobs. They really have an incredible desire to work and run.
By the time I got called in, things had gone from bad to really, really bad.
You see, she lived in an apartment and her dog had chewed a hole in the wall and gone right through it. Her dog was in her neighbor’s apartment when she came home. The neighbor was none too happy and that’s when I got the call.
I put together a program for her that included a lot of exercise for her dog. Luckily, there was a dog daycare in the area that her dog could go to a few times a week. We also taught her what was acceptable and what was UN-Acceptable to chew on.
Within a few weeks, the neighbor got over the hole in the wall and the border collie responded very well to the training.
The scary part of all of this was what was going to happen if the training program that I recommended did not work. She knew that she was going to have to find her dog a new home which would have broken her heart.
But, it all turned out good.
A lot of what I showed her to do is in the Good K9 Manners program that you can still get at a reduced price for two more days.
Hop on over to Good K9 Manners and use the code 10-OFFK9MANNERS to get the special discount.
All the best,
Eric
January 21st, 2011
By Eric Letendre
Here I am sitting in my house watching the snow falling at a very rapid rate.
I really don’t a mind some snow but this year we are getting nailed here in Western MA. The big problem is that after the last snow storm, it rained which put a thin sheet of ice over all the snow making it next to impossible to walk in.
Yesterday I was going to go for a walk with my pup but by the time I made it to the backyard I felt like I had run a marathon.
This can be a tough time of the year to exercise your dog.
As I was sitting here watching more snow dump on us, I decided to make a list of all the ways to exercise your dog inside and I am going to share it with you.
Dogs need physical AND mental exercise. I’ve included both in my list. Here you go:
Search and Rescue - Especially good if you have kids.
Tell your kids that you going to play a game with your dog. They have to go and hide somewhere in the house.
They have to be very quiet and let them know that their dog is going to rescue them. Hold your dog as they go hide.
Once they are hiding tell your dog “Find them” and let him go.
Your kids will love playing this game. Make sure you tell the kids to make a big deal when the dog finds them.
Find it - A variation of the above but done with toys.
Stuff a kong toy with some of your dog’s favorite treats right in front of her. Tell her to stay and go hide the toy. Once it is hidden release your dog from the stay command and tell her, “Find it.” As your dog gets good at this make it more and more difficult to find the toy.
Tug o war - One of my favorite games. Can be played in a very small area and really gives your dog a good work out.
Retrieve up stairs - This was a favorite for my Belgian Malinois, Suede. I would stand at the top of the stairs and drop a ball down them. He would run down, retrieve the ball and haul back up the stairs.
Ten minutes of this can wear out any dog.
Tricks - What better way to give your dog some mental stimulation than tricks. Teach your dog to roll over, sit pretty, shake and play dead. These are easy tricks to teach and it will tire your dog out.
Obedience - Another great way to mentally stimulate your dog when he is bored. Work on sit, down and stay. Start working on the time your dog does a stay and distractions.
Work on nagging behavior problems - What better time to finally put an end to those behavior problems you’ve been putting up with. Now is the time to teach your dog to stop barking on command. End begging at the table. Teach your dog to never steal anything off the table ever again.
Turn a snow day into a productive day with your dog and if you need help ending those pesky behavior problems check out the Good K9 Manners Course.
Good K9 Manners Course has videos showing you step by step how to stop annoying behavior problems. Use this course to change your dog’s behavior and for a short time I’ll even offer it at a special discount price.
Use this code to get the special price: 10-OFFK9MANNERS
All the best,
Eric
Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States. For more than 20 years, he has been developing dog training "hacks" that have worked for dog owners all over the world. Eric operates from a home office or a laptop while traveling and draws on his experience and passion for dog training to show others how to develop a dog that is truly “Man’s Best Friend”.
Eric is the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Hack Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
