Training Small dogs can be a challenge. Dogs that weigh less than 10lbs move quickly. They are also so close to the ground already that using a Food-Lure (a treat held in your hand, close to their nose) can be challenging. For medium and large dogs Food-Lures are a convenient ways to move dogs into positions like sit or down. However, with small dogs Food-Lures can sometimes cause more jumping-bean action than is conducive to training.
For really small, fast-flying dogs I prefer to sit back and relax when training. For this type of training a CLICKER is really, really handy. A clicker is a small device that makes a click-sound when the metal flap inside the small box is pressed down and released.
Clickers are used to train dogs, horses, cats, pigeonsrats and even marine mammals. Using a clicker is simple. In the beginning the animal in training needs only to learn that each click-sound will be quickly followed by a small reward (technically it must be a reinforcer) that the animal will enjoy and working for. I like using small, tasty bits of food like cheeses or meats.
The rules are simple.
1. Click what you like.
2. Click at the EXACT moment the behavior is accomplished.
3. Don't command the animal to DO anything, JUST WAIT for something -be patient!!!
4. Reward the animal after every click.
5. Train is short intervals 5-10minutes
Sometimes it is helpful to think of the clicker as a camera. At the end of the training if each CLICK was a PHOTO, and if you placed all those photos on your kitchen table you would have only photos of the behavior (sit, down, bow) that you were hoping to train.
Here are two Kinder-CLICKER lesson for fast-flying, jumpy little-dogs.
1. Click (and reward) the dog anytime they are NOT moving. Click the dog for being still in any position. Offer extra treats for clicks that marked exceptionally cute still positions (like sit or down). After 2 or 3 sessions, raise the bar and click only certain positions.
2. Click (and reward) All Cute Behaviors. This is my favorite. I will click anything cute!!! Head-tilts, play-bows, prairie-dog position, sit, down, waving. Then I pick one behavior that gets clicked and a special bonus treat (gorgonzola). I like to see how long it takes for the dog to offer only that behavior.
D is for DOWN
Your dog is NOT being stubborn. He really didn't understand you.
Sometimes fixing small mistakes can make a BIG difference.
If your dogs are not always listening to you when you tell them down, they may simply be confused. Here are some things to check. These common mistakes are usually the root of the problem. It is rarely that the dog is deliberately being stubborn; instead you are unintentionally being vague.
1) Was your dog taught to get into the down position from a sitting position and the standing position. For some dogs you must think of down as an action (moving the body from one position to the next). If the pup was only taught DOWN as a movement of the front end to the floor from a sitting position, then the dog may not understand you when you say down while they are standing. They might eventually figure it out, but you could help them it would be faster. Just teach the DOWN position using the Lure-Reward method from both a sitting and standing position.
2) Are you giving HUGE Body Language signals. Sometimes when teaching we bend down and get right in the dogs face as if this will help them hear us better. In fact it ruins the verbal command training. The body language we give (bending, staring, pointing, leaning, reaching) is too "loud" for dogs to ignore. Dogs are more adept than humans at reading body language and if we consistently signal our dogs with body posture or hand gestures BEFORE or DURING a verbal command the "very loud" visual signal cancels out the verbal command. The dog ends up spending so much time trying to decipher our body language that they can't concentrate on what we are saying.
The result is that during a training session the dog appears to do fine--getting the commands for sit, down and stay from our body signals. Then, when the handler's body signal is absent (almost always in real life) the dog can't perform. When we are on the phone, carrying a bag, looking away from the dog, sitting, holding a door it is impossible to signal our dogs with our body as we did when training. At this time all we have is our verbal command, which the dog effectively never learned (or never had to learn because we kept giving such loud hints with our bodies). The result is that it looks like the dog is being stubborn. It is OK to use hand-signals, but they must be given AFTER the verbal command and only after the dog has had time (Verbal Command... Pause... Hand Signal) to hear and think about the verbal command.
3) Are you doubling up on a command and expecting different actions?
Your dog is on the couch and you say, "GET DOWN!" What should happen? You probably intended for your dog to get down from the couch, but what can happen is that your dog lifts her head, looks at you and thinks: I am down. Then your dog puts her head down and goes back to sleep. It is really important to pick different commands for different actions. If DOWN means to assume the position of laying down, then you must pick another command for communicating to your dog that they can't jump, or that they must get off of something.
Dogs can be punished for naughty, rude or inappropriate behavior. Punishments do not need to scare, hurt or intimidate your dog. You can punish your dog by REMOVING REWARDS. Removing Rewards is a humane way to communicate to your dog that you were displeased with their behavior and that such behaviors will have consequences.
Consequences change behaviors. Telling your dog, "No" is not a consequence;it is a marker, and unless paired with an action, "No" will mean nothing to your dog. Most dogs respond to harsh words and handling with appeasement gestures (ears back, licking, rolling, cowering). Appeasement gestures are your dogs way of saying, "Please stop." It does NOT mean that they understand why you are upset!
There are several ways to Remove Rewards (humanely punish your dog), but before any punishments are given it is important to make sure that the following have been addressed.
1. Has the dog had ample opportunity to learn what behavior(s) are appropriate?
Punishments only tell a dog how they got it wrong. It is faster and more effective to spend some time teaching your dog what you expect. Your dog will need you to help them get it right. Management tools such as leashes, gates, toys and treats are often helpful.
For example: When I am working with a friendly puppy who jumps on guests, I often set up a gate near the entrance or attach a leash to a nearby banister or door. When the doorbell rings the dog is put on the leash or behind the gate so they can't jump on the guest. When the guest enters the puppy will have the chance to practice sitting for a cookie or toy. If the puppy is too wiggly or excited to sit, then everyone walks away for 5-10 seconds. When we return the puppy is allowed to try again try. This type of system is error-proof. The puppy can't get it WRONG (jump) and the failure to get it RIGHT (sit) is punished by having the guest and owner/guardian leave.
2. Are you certain you know what your dog wants?
Knowing what your dog wants in any given situation is critical. How YOU want to reward your dog is not always WHAT YOUR DOG WANTS. Inadvertently giving your dog what they want when they are naughty is a sure way to create frustration. I have often found that dogs can be rewarded with the strangest things: access to sniffing; permission to tree a squirrel; returning to a favorite spot or person; being let out or into a yard or car; being given more playtime. These are all "Real-Life" Rewards. The trick to using them as rewards is being able to prevent free-access to them so that you can GIVE them when the dog is behaving.
For example: On the way to the dog park your dog might pull. If you are trying to use treats to get your dog to walk next to you, you might or might NOT be successful because what your dog wants is TO GET TO THE PARK! Penalty yards away from the park might be a reward-removal that effectively reduces pulling if your dog is not responding to food rewards for walking nicely.
3. Is your dog scared or upset?
If your dog is growling, snapping, biting, or lunging they may be scared or upset. Although these are dangerous and inappropriate behaviors, punishing fear-based behaviors is NOT a solution. Contact a certified trainer.
For Example: If my dog is chewing a bone and growls at me when I approach, my dog is upset! Growling is a communication that says, "No, I don't want to give up the bone." I do not want to be growled at, but punishing my dog for growling (a reaction, not a planned behavior) will only prove to my dog that he SHOULD be upset when I approach him chewing a bone because I predict a punishment. Classical Conditioning is a better solution.
HOW TO REMOVE REWARDS
1. Prevent access to stuff your dog wants with doors, leashes, gates.
At the front door if my dog pushes his nose into the crack before I am ready to let her out, I shut the door. Only when she is sitting and waiting will the door open, or will she be released "free-dog" to leave. Until then, I keep shutting the door. No yelling, no screaming, no commands --the door just stays shuts.
2. Removing Access to stuff your dog is enjoying.
If you call your dog at the park and they are too busy playing with their dog friends to come to you. Say "Too-Bad!" Then go get your dog, leash them and either clip them to a post, put them in the car, or walk away from the doggie play-party zone.
3. Ending the fun.
If you are playing TUG with your dog and your dog does not drop the toy, then let go of the toy (no fun to tug alone) and walk away. If your dog is rude at the park, say "Too-Bad" and leave.
4. Time-Outs.
If your dog is barking at you while you are on the phone because they want attention you can give a time-out by: 1. walking to the another room and shutting the door (opposite of what dog wanted). 2. You can take the dog and put them in a Time-out space (the former puppy confinement area works well).
If your dog jumps on a guest, you can say, "Too-bad" and clip your dog to a leash which is attached somewhere away from fun stuff/people, or put them behind a gate that creates a no-fun space.
NOTES:
"Too-Bad" is a marker. It must be used at the exact moment your dog commits the offense & you MUST be willing to carry out the Reward-Removal!!!
In general, I find the term "Positive Reinforcement Trainer" too specific and misleading.
The term is commonly used to describe trainers who won't use aversive methods such as choke, prong, or shock collars. Because of this I think that many dog owners/guardians have been given the impression that trainers who focus on rewards never punish dogs. This is untrue.
Reward-Based Trainers (I consider myself one) choose to not scare, hurt or intimidate dogs. This does not mean that naughty behaviors will go without consequences. Nor does it mean, that I am arguing: aversive methods won't work. I am aware that aversive methods can effectively punish out bad behaviors. However, using aversives to punish/doling out yucky stuff (aka: Positive Punishment) will have side effects. In addition to the side effects there are moral and ethical considerations that prevent me from even considering Positive Punishment: Giving (+) an aversive for a bad behavior.
My concerns regarding Positive Punishment:
1) Given the many other options available for teaching a dog what to do or how to respond, Positive Punishments are unnecessary.
2) To reduce harm, Positive Punishments demand absolute accuracy; perfect timing is hard for trainers and almost impossible for new dog owners/guardians.
3) Even when used correctly, aversive methods can have damaging and dangerous side effects including increased fear, unintended associations, avoidance and learned helplessness.
4) Aversive methods are a poor choice for fear-based behaviors (barking, lunging, growling, biting) because Classical Conditioning, not punishment, is what will condition new responses to threatening stimuli or items perceived to be scary.
This is usually where someone tries to argue:
________ piece of equipment "doesn't really" hurt the dog.
IF this were true, then the equipment or method being used would be an ineffective punisher. Because ineffective punishers don't work they need to be used over and over again. If what the trainer wants is to teach the dog NOT to do something and they are adding/giving a punishment then you must assume that the intention is for that punishment to be aversive. Aversives are by definition unpleasant. If they are not truly aversive then they won't eliminate the behavior and the trainer/handler is merely startling or nagging the dog over and over again (choke/prong collars used for pulling). This could be considered abusive.
It needs to be recognized that many Reward-Based Trainers (myself included) DO punish dogs when they fail to respond or behave rudely. But, let me be clear. This does not mean that we use aversive methods or GIVE punishments.
Reward-Based Trainers stick to focusing on rewards by using 1) Positive Reinforcement (giving rewards -adding good stuff into the situation) and 2) Negative Punishment (taking away rewards, or removing access to fun stuff). ***Remember the words: positive & negative refer to whether the trainer is adding or taking away a reinforcer or aversive, not to whether the dog will perceive them as good or bad.
This leads to the question: How does one punish a dog by using rewards?
It's simple. If rewards can be given/earned, then they can be taken away/denied. Taking away something your dog wants is a type of punishment. By definition a punisher reduces or eliminates a behavior. This is the principle behind detention. In school detention a student loses their "free time," This translates as a loss of access to people, places and things that are fun. This loss is a consequence for bad behavior. This is calledReward-Removal or Negative Punishment. ***Again, negative refers to something being taken away or removed (-) from a situation.
The expectation in dog training is that naughty behaviors like chewing, jumping and barking will decrease until they are extinguished completely. As with all learning, the principles of Reward-Removal must be used in conjunction with other learning tools.
Removing Rewards is an effective and humane way to eliminate unwanted behaviors in dogs, cats, children, and many other living beings. As a humane dog trainer I use Positive Reinforcement (giving rewards) & Negative Punishment (removing rewards). I call myself, and others who train by similar principles Reward-Based Trainers.
One practical application of REWARD REMOVALS is removing access to fun stuff. This can be accomplished by putting your dog in a Time-Out. Because dogs are unable to comprehend a long time-out at the end of the week (no Saturday morning romp at the beach) you will need to be prepared to give your dog many, short time-outs immediately after each offense.
Jumping is dangerous, messy and rude, but it is nothing more. Jumping is NOT a tactic dogs use to dominate people. Your dog is jumping because they want something. If your dog continues to jump (because jumping is working) they are clever, not domineering.
If you want to teach your dog to keep their paws off, you will need to outsmart your dog. Even if jumping is not a problem for you, dogs who jump up can scare and/or hurt people. Even small dogs should NOT jump up on people unless invited. You should begin teaching your dog not to jump right away!
No matter the task, a good trainer will always know what their dog wants. If you know what your dog wants, you can devise a system for controlling access to the desired person, place or thing that your dog covets.
Controlling access to rewards is how trainers get animals to do the things they want. When I am working with a highly responsive dog, the dog is responding to the history of access that I gave or denied, not to me. Don't take it personally when your dog does not listen to you; dogs who ignore commands do so because the command doesn't have significant relevance to what they want or to how they will go about getting it.
A dog's behavior is a result of their learning. Learning is a process with a resulting belief; that belief is that certain actions have predictable results. Animals (including humans) always do more of the things that lead to positive results (getting what one wants). For the purpose of training, think of the things your dog wants as tangible items or measurable activities. Avoid using complex desires in training. For example, "My dog wants to rule the world!" is a poor item-of-desire to use in training since you cannot really give or remove an abstract concept.
Good things to control access to are:
>People, especially people your dog loves -YOU are at the top of this list!
>Smells & Sniff-spots -favorite pee-mail poles and corners.
>Spaces and Places -the car, the park, the backyard.
>Dog friends -dogs your dog knows and loves to play with or greet.
>Food & Toys -usually these items trump the other items on the list, but not always.
Now that you know what your dog wants, you are ready to give and remove access to this item.
Most dogs enjoy it when people talk to them, look at them, or touch them. These are all things that we do BEFORE we give our dogs really wonderful things like. Before we toss a toy, feed a meal, lett a dog inside or out of a crate, we talk to them, look at them, and/or touch them. Eye-contact, touch and voice (especially as a group) overwhelmingly mean to your dog, "Here comes the really good stuff!" This makes voice, touch and eye-contact poor markers of your dogs bad behavior, because sometimes they also mean that your dog did something right. If your dog jumps on you, turn around and walk away -avoid giving your dog something that predicts something they will likely want. Your dog likely wanted your attention, don't give it.
If this fails (after everyone your dog comes in contact with really tries it for a week), then you can try making a bigger point. Remember, yelling at your dog probably involves voice & eye-contact; pushing your dog down, probably includes voice and touch. Dogs who continue to jump even when their owners tell them "No." and push them down, are doing what works! Or what they think works because you marked their jump with a combination of things (voice, eye, touch) that predict good things (toys, food, access). Imagine how confusing this is to your dog! Confusion equals stress. Stress leads to erratic behavior and poor judgement (ie: your dog will keep jumping).
If your dog jumps on your when you come home, leave the moment their paws look like they are going to leave the ground. If you are having guests over, don't give your dog the chance to jump on them. Leash them to a heavy piece of furniture or banister. Let your guest arrive in peace. Allow your guest to approach your dog, if the dog jumps up, the guests walks away. Repeat as many times as necessary. Then ask your dog to sit. If your dog stays in a sit, the guest can pet them. If your dog's bottom leaves the ground, your guest walks away. Un-leash your dog and if they jump, back on the leash they go.
For thoughts on why punishment is a poor response to jumping, try these other articles.
Quiet! -Barking Whose Problem Is It?
