This question came as a comment from the following post.

DECEMBER 27, 2008, 8:57 AM

My rescue dog is a large German Shepherd surrendered to a shelter by her owner in California. She is a good dog and smart but has never been trained. She had a computer name only so does not know her new name. I want her to come when I call her. She has never had treats. She takes them then drops them. I take her and my other rescue dog on walks on a leash but can not trust either to come back if they were loose. Any ideas. Thanks.

For your rescue GS I would recommend the following:

A FIST-BUMP... of course!

At the very least a Presidential Pup needs a Presidential Paw Shake.  SHAKE is one of the first tricks I teach in class.  Its a great way to get the stress of "obedience" out of the way so that everyone can learn.  The dogs easily pick up this fun trick and it can quickly be used to prevent jumping and can also be used later as a reward for complying with obedience commands such as sit, down and stay.

TEACHING YOUR PUP TO RAISE THEIR PAW

Make sure you have a marker word that means:  "You did it!"

Choose a tasty treat -something that will fit in your fist.

Leash your pup.

Prevent your pup from wandering off, step on the leash.

Grip the treat in your fist.

Hold your fist in front of your dog's nose.

Allow your pup to sniff and nuzzle at your fist.

If your pup nibbles at your hand, pull your hand away and hide it behind your back for 3-5 seconds.

Present your fist again and continue to allow your pup to nuzzle and sniff at the treat in your fist.

WATCH YOUR PUP'S PAWS!

The moment your pup lifts a paw, MARK IT!  Use a clicker or your marker-word and then Treat your dog.

Don't wait to long, or set your expectations too high!  Take the first little, itty-bitty attempt your pup puts forth.  Even if all your pup does is lift a paw ever so slightly.  Mark it and pay your dog with a HUGE, TASTY TREAT!

Repeat this until your dog lifts her paw the moment you present your fist.

When your dog is consistently lifting her paw then you change the game...

Don't mark the paw-lift!  WAIT.

Raise your standard.  Use your marker-word only if your pup lift her paw up higher than she had been doing in the past.  

AND, if your pup slaps your fist with her paw, MARK-IT and TREAT!  Use a fantastic treat or lots of yummy treats given al at once.

Expect to teach this trick over several sessions.

Every dog should learn to come when called; it's a matter of safety.  

It is often easier to teach a puppy to come when called than it is to teach an adult dog.  This is because a puppy is naturally responsive to happy sounding, high-pitched noises.  These noises can be used in conjunction with running backwards, crouching down, and patting the legs to help a puppy respond correctly after the recall command has been given.  To maintain this behavior a food or toy reward should be given to the puppy once they reach the person who called them.

Teaching the older dog to come when called is easy too.

Many of my clients have dogs that are older, or who have been recently adopted.  These dogs are often able to go off-leash on hikes, or to parks, beaches, and dog runs without running away or getting in trouble.  However, many of them will not (or only rarely) come when called.  Generally these clients have been getting by without recall, but would prefer to have better control of their dogs at the park.  For these clients and their dogs it is often unnecessary to follow standard management practices, such as having the dog drag a long leash.  The following exercises are often all that is needed to get started with teaching your dog to come when called. 

Recall Exercises for well-behaved, older dogs.

1) You can't get them to come when called if they can't even look at you when you say their name.  

Practice this on leash walks first.  Say your dog's name, then stop walking forward.  Stand still and remain calm.  Say nothing.  DO NOT REPEAT YOUR DOG'S NAME.  Wait and watch your dog.  As soon as your dog turns and looks at you (usually because they can't figure out why you are being so still and quiet) clearly mark your dog's behavior with a word that means you like what they did.  Then give them a tasty treat and continue walking forward.  Later, try this when your dog is off-leash and has little or no distractions.  Finally, try it with distractions.  If your dog doesn't look at you, simply walk away (no reprimand and no reward).

NOTES ON MARKING WHAT YOU LIKE

• When you mark things that your dog does that you like, use one word.

• Always use the same word.

• Pick a word that is special--something you don't use all the time.

• Use the marker word like a camera to catch exactly the moment of success.

• Always follow the marker word with a valuable reward (food, toy, access).

• When your dog has learned the behavior and is successful 95% of the time you can start giving rewards for only the best responses.  Continue to praise your dog for all correct responses, but use the marker word only if you intend to reward the dog with food, toys, or access to something they wanted.

2) The first rule of teaching a new behavior is to make sure that your dog can do it.  

After your dog is consistently offering the new behavior (sitting, coming, speaking) THEN you can call it something and reward your dog only when you command them to show a specific behavior.  To do this I have my clients GIVE their dog HUGE REWARDS for Auto Check-Ins.  

When rewarding your dog for AUTO CHECK-INS you will NOT CALL your dog.

• Wait for your dog to be willing come to you--even if they are only 10 feet close.

• With your best happy voice PRAISE YOUR DOG LIKE MAD!

• THEN give your dog a fantastic reward--something TRULY YUMMY!!!!

• Now walk away.

• Watch your dog closely.  Try to guess when your dog is going to come to check-in and get a treat.

• When you are 90% accurate on guessing when your dog is about to come to you, then start calling your dog right before they are about to check-in.

• Then stop feeding your dog for auto check-ins and only feed your dog when you call them.
  

Pets Product Review - Dogsrule.com Open Letter to President-elect Obama

I love to shop and test out products.  But when it comes to dogs my opinion is different.  Rescue dogs, mutts, pound puppies whatever you call them are all regal creatures and worthy of a place in the White House.  After all, aren't we a nation of mutts?

Bravo to the great people at Pedigree for reminding us how special every dog with or without a pedigree is.  Here is their open letter to President-elect Obama:

If you're having a hard time reading the letter, go to www.dogsrule.com for a better view.  And remember, if you're considering adopting a dog, your local shelters have wonderful dogs of all kinds, thoroughbred predigreed dogs too.  Please support them.

If you've got a product that you think will pass the Secret Shopper test, send an email to secretshopperblog@gmail.com.

Will the new Obama Puppy run the White House?

Should your puppy have unlimited access to your whole house?

Dogs are creatures of habit and they will do whatever works; has worked; or has a good chance of working.  An often overlooked and drastically important part of training a new dog is preventing them from even knowing that a particular thing is even possible!  If they don't get a chance to get it wrong, than they will be getting it right and good habits will be created.

Think of it this way...

If your dining room had two possible entrances, one from the kitchen and one from the living room, you would probably use both entrances.  Now let's say that the kitchen doorknob breaks and you can't enter through that door.  It is highly likely that for a period of time everyone in the house would still attempt to use that door, even if they KNEW that the door was broken.  Habit would drive everyone to try the door.  Eventually you would stop trying the broken door, but it is worth noting that the change in your behavior would show up much later than your knowledge that the door was broken.  

If a puppy is allowed to run around the house causing a ruckus and pulling everything down (tablecloths), jumping on everything (sofas) and chewing whatever (brooms, chairs, socks) this will become a habit.  Then the family gets strict with the puppy (usually when the "isn't that so cute" factor wears off).  As the puppy becomes an adolescent many of my clients tend to think the puppy is magically old enough to "know better" despite no previous training or education.  This is terrible for everyone because the puppy is in the habit of doing all the wrong things.  Should the family start actually training the puppy the right things to chew, and the right places to dig, sleep and play the puppy will LEARN/KNOW what to do.  BUT...  the old habits will still a huge part of their decisions on how to behave.

Back to our door...

The opposite situation.  Imagine you move into a house and the door to the kitchen from the dining room was rusty, painted shut, and unusable.  Everyone in the house would learn a particular way of moving from room to room without using that door.  Now imagine that one day the door was fixed.  Even if everyone was told that the door was working, the old patterns of moving from room to room without using said door would likely be retained.

This is true for your pup as well.  If during every family meal I leash my dog near their bed and give them a chew toy or Kong, then this will be their habit.  Eventually I will not need the leash, or the kong.  My dog will trot to her bed when I sit at the table and I could give her a Kong afterwards for having such good habits!

The final door.  

How would things change if SOMETIMES the door worked.  Occasionally being denied entry through the door might not be enough to keep you from trying to use it.  This would all depend on the inconvenience of the alternate route, and how often the door failed.  Its possible that your behavior of trying the door might never fully go away if the alternate route was highly inconvenient and the odds were good that the door might work.

Now lets talk about your puppy.  

It is fastest and easiest to restrict a puppy's access to tempting places completely in the first year.  This is why trainers like crates and puppy-play/confinement areas so much.  Allowing access slowly, when you are ready to supervise your dog completely and interrupt naughtiness is paramount to a good puppy plan!  Every puppy should have limited access to places that will tempt them to chew, pee, dog, or steal food.  Even a Presidential Puppy needs a crate, a play pen, and supervision.