November 12th, 2011
By Eric Letendre
In my last post I discussed how the secret to the recall command was freedom (see below).
Developing a sense of freedom is extremely important when teaching your dog to come.
Most dogs live under some type of confinement and will take off given the chance.
By helping your dog develop a sense of freedom, your dog’s recall command (come when called ) will dramatically improve.
This has to be done safely and can be done very easily.
Here are two ways to do it:
1. Go to a large fenced in area like a softball field with gates and make sure they are closed and secured. In the field, let your dog run and sniff and play. No commands, just let your dog run around.
2. Invest in a long line and find a place to let your dog strech her legs. I like fields and beaches because they are open.
The trick to the long line is to stay close to it. You don’t have to stay close to your dog, but you do have to stay close to the long line.
I buy clothes line to do this.
Two safe ways to let your dog develop a sense of freedom. Once your dog has spent some time running, playing and sniffing, call your dog over to you and reward.
Here is the important part.
Once your dog gets to you and you reward, let your dog go back to what he was doing.
Remember – dog training is all about consequnces. The recall command has to end with a positive consequnce.
Good luck and if you’d like to see more articles and videos on teaching your dog an awesome recall command, check out The Dog Training Inner Circle.
All the best,
Eric
November 9th, 2011
By Eric Letendre
Today you are going to learn the most important “Secret” to teaching your dog to come when called. This secret is not taught by other trainers but first…
…a story.
As many of you know, I did not enjoy school. In fact I HATED it and as you can guess, my grades were bad.
Don’t get me wrong, I love learning and reading. My library is huge and I am always taking classes and attending seminars.
I guess by today’s standards, I would be classifed as ADHD.
I would sit in the class room and stare out the window wishing I was outside doing anything other than sitting in a room listening to a boring teacher drone on and on.
One word would describe what I was thinking of most of the day.
Have you guessed it?
FREEDOM!
And that same word is the secret to getting your dog to come back when called.
The dogs that get good at coming when called have a developed sense of freedom.
When an owner is having a difficult time teaching their dog to come when called, it usually has more to do with the dog wanting to party than understanding the command.
Think about a dog’s life. They spend most of it under some type of confinement. They are in a crate, house, fenced in area, car, kennel, on leash, etc.
Who can blame them for refusing to come when called, why would a dog come racing back to the owner when they know the owner is going to put them back on leash or in the car or in the house?
The dog is going to maximize his freedom when he can unless…
…your dog develops a sense of freedom.
I can hear some of you saying:
“Okay, Mr. Amazing Dog Training Man, how the heck is my dog going to develop a sense of freedom when he takes off every time he is loose?”
Here’s the rub: You don’t let your dog off-leash, you never put your dog in a situation where he can take off and get lost or hurt.
In my next blog post I will share with you how to safely help your dog develop a sense of freedom so stay tuned…
All the best,
Eric
P.S. You can also get my step by step method for teaching your dog to come when called at The Dog Training Inner Circle.
September 29th, 2011
By Eric Letendre
Some of the scariest times I’ve had with dogs still play in my head like a high definition DVD with surround sound.
I can vividly play each scary scene in my head with laser like accuracy.
One time I was doing K-9 Security for a hospital in Hartford, CT. The only place we were allowed to exercise the dogs was on the roof of the parking garage.
One of the guys threw a tennis ball a little too hard and it went over the four foot wall that enclosed the roof.
The dog we were exercising was ball crazy and raced for the edge. Once he got to the fence we knew he would jump over it to go after the ball.
Or the other time my sheltie started racing toward a kid she saw on a skateboard on the other side of the street with a truck coming in the other direction.
I also get the same sick feeling in my stomach just thinking about these two incidents.
Luckily, disaster was avoided both times because…
…both dogs had an EXCELLENT recall command.
Both dogs were saved from injury or death because they came back when they heard the command “COME.”
In my next blog post, I am going to share 4 tips on how to teach your dog a really reliable recall command, so stay tuned…
All the best,
Eric
P.S. The recall command is something we take very seriously on the Dog Training Inner Circle. We provide articles and video seminars on how to teach this very important command. You can also take advantage of the forum and ask me questions that I answer personally. Get all the details here:
June 7th, 2010
By Eric Letendre
Saturday night my sweetie tells me that we
are going to her folk’s house for her Father’s
birthday.
“No problemo,” I tell her and off we go. I was
not expecting to walk through the door and get
attacked – not by a dog, by a person.
The person was Rachael’s cousin’s wife, Mary Ann.
Ryan, her cousin, and his wife, Mary Ann, had come
up from New Jersey to attend the party and they brought
their new little dog, Lucy, with them.
Lucy had a few issues that Mary Ann wanted me to help
with and was anxious to get started. I had barely walked
through the door when the questions came at me faster
than bullets coming out of an M-16 on full auto.
Lucy is a great little dog and Rachael’s cousins were in
luck because I was going to compress six weeks of dog
training lessons into one hour.
I was going to show them how to stop the jumping, walk on
leash, come when called and show them what to do for the
separation problem they were having.
I think they were skeptical that I could accomplish such a
feat, but only because they had never seen me work my magic.
One hour later, Lucy was a different dog and Rachael’s cousins
had a better understanding of dog training. You see, I had
shared with them the secret to dog training.
It is a secret that I did not learn from any of the dog training
“gurus.”
You see, I learned it from one of America’s founding fathers – Ben Franklin.
Ole Ben was a master of persuasion. I became very interested in persuasion
and started to think about it and teach dog owners to use it instead of force.
Here is the definition of persuasion: “The state of being persuaded or
convinced; settled opinion or conviction, which has been induced.”
I especially like the last part, “which has been induced.”
The best way to train is to induce your dog into doing the commands.
For years force was used and it has backfired tremendously.
Don’t believe me?
Take a look at the statistics – 4.6 million reported dog bites last year. That
number probably doubles if you were to add the unreported dog bites.
Man’s best friend?
Not according to the statistics. Listen, I have been in the trenches training
dogs for a long time and I have seen first-hand how negative training methods
have caused a lot of aggression in a lot of dogs.
Anyway, as I said earlier, I don’t see her cousins too much and compressed
the six week course that I teach into one hour, but I told them they had to
continue their training using the Dog Training Inner Circle website.
They agreed and went home happy. Another day in the life of your friendly,
neighborhood Amazing Dog Training Man.
If you’re ready to learn more about training dogs Ben Franklin style, you’re
in luck because you can still take advantage of the Cotton Anniversary Special.
You can get my dog training products at an incredible half off.
This won’t last much longer, so don’t delay.
All the best,
Eric
June 6th, 2010
By Eric Letendre
Two years ago I did something that I thought I would never do.
Everyone I knew was convinced that I would never do this because
I told everyone every chance I got that I would never do it. Even
my Mother was shocked when she found out and I think secretly
wasn’t sure if I was going to go through with it.
I’m talking about marriage.
You see, I think I decided when I was around twelve years old
that I was going to stay single my entire life. I don’t know
why I thought that way, but I did.
I think it had something to do with my defiant nature.
All of my life I always felt compelled to go against the
grain – not always the easiest road to take, but definitely
interesting and not without some wisdom.
Have you ever read or listened to the great Earl Nightingale?
Mr. Nightingale literally started the self help movement in
America. Not the rah rah, walk on hot coals, pump em up fake
stuff.
I’m talking about the stuff that helped literally millions of
people.
Anyway, I started reading and listening to his tapes years ago
and he said something that was very profound and stuck with me
for years.
He said the best way to get good at anything is to find a mentor
and let them help you. He then went on to add “If you can’t find
a mentor, look at what everyone else is doing and do the opposite
– you’ll probably be right.”
Those words proved to be extremely correct.
When I started in dog training back in the 80’s everyone, and I
mean everyone, was using choke, prong and harsh methods to train.
I decided to do the opposite. I got rid of them, stopped using the
harsh, forceful methods and selected to a much more positive approach.
THANKS EARL!
One of the best decisions I ever made – for me and a whole lot of dogs.
I guess that is why I decided I would never get married. Everyone does
it and it was expected of me to do the same – NO THANKS BUBBA, I’ll stay
single, thank you very much.
WRONG!!!
Okay, I did wait until I was 40, but I also discovered that marriage is
a great thing and that’s why I’m doing something else I almost never do…
…I’m running a BIG SPECIAL!
Starting today, you can take advantage of THE COTTON ANNIVERARY SPECIAL!
You’ll be able to buy all the Q-Tips you need with the money you’ll save
with the Cotton Anniversary Special.
To show how happy I am, I have taken an unprecedented 50% off.
Run there now as this event may create a tsunami of orders that cause
us to end it early.
Go to Cotton Anniversary Special and get your
goodies now.
All the best,
Eric
P.S. I don’t do this often, so it may be our silver anniversary before it
happens again
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.”
