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.
Dear Kelley,
I pray you can help me. Last year I rescued a dog, and myself + my family showered her with love. She had had a very distressing past history, this reinforced to us when she bit my Mother In Law on her third day with us. They were very serious bites and our vet said we had no option but to put her down as she had a high risk of re-offending.
We, as a family, found this incredibly difficult but had no choice. She was a beautiful 2 yr old collie and it was so heartbreaking. We recently re-homed a 6-month old German Shepherd who is a real sweetheart.
However we have just realized that our 12 yr old daughter is still traumatized by the incident with my Mother In Law (which she witnessed).
Krya jumped up to lick her and she had a panic attack. My question to you is "Is it better to put a muzzle on a dog we all love or let her move to a home where she does not have that restraint? She would get plenty of stimulation with us, walks beside a canal for 2 hrs a day, hill walking/climbing regularly with loads of love + attention. Please let me know which outcome would be better for Kyra as it is her welfare that is at the forefront of our dilemma.
Kind regards, Linda
Facts & Summary:
- "Kyra" is your new, 6-mo. old German Shepherd Dog.
- Your daughter, age 12, was recently witness to a severe bite inflicted by a different dog to a family member.
- The dog who bit was a 3-day, newly adopted, 2-yr old Collie.
- The Collie was euthanized for aggression as recommended by your vet.
- Although the new dog is friendly, she is rambunctious and untrained.
- Your daughter is having panic attacks whenever the dog jumps up on her, licks her or does both.
QUESTION:
Should you use a a muzzle on the new dog, so that your daughter will not have to worry about being bitten. Or, is this unfair to the dog?
First, let me say that if your daughters fear is severe, or getting worse, you may want to seek help from a mental health professional.
It is entirely normal to be afraid of large animals with big teeth! But it sounds as if you are describing a new change in your daughter that is drastically different because of a specific event.
Given the bite your daughter witnessed and the events that followed, I am not surprised that your daughter is having a difficult time bonding with your new dog.
If you can't manage the access the two have to each other with gates, crates, and tie-downs while still providing excellent opportunities for mental and physical exercise for the dog, then you may want to re-home the GSD.
If you are able to find professional help for your daughter and the prognosis is good, then it might be possible to temporarily manage the situation and work through the issue.
Having worked as a humane educator I do have some experience working with social workers and psychologists in controlled settings with dogs and children who were fearful of, or had had a traumatic experience with an aggressive dog. It takes time to recover from a bad experience and steady, slow progress is best.
From a dog-behavior perspective, "wiggly" & "overly-friendly" are encouraging terms. They mean that the dog is not afraid (potential fear-aggression), just untrained. Untrained is fixable with patience and a little work. The dog's temperament aside, the human needs to be comfortable too and wiggly/friendly can be just too much for a fearful person.
When working with people who are afraid of dogs, I have never started with a puppy! They are TOO-WIGGLY! A friendly, well-trained adult dog who listens well to commands is ideal. So, don't peg your daughters recovery on your puppy. Consider training the puppy and getting your daughter (at her comfort level) interacting with older, well-behaved, friendly dogs.
Regarding your specific question, I would NOT recommend muzzling the dog.
I only use muzzles when the is a clear indication that a bite is likely and/or a previously known history of the dog having bitten or fought.
If this is a concern (that the GSD may have some tendency to bite or nip) than it may be best to re-home the dog and focus on your daughter's feelings and concerns regarding dogs.
If the dog is not currently biting or showing signs of being fearful or aggressive, then it is your daughter whom you need to turn your energy.
Muzzling the dog will not fix your daughter's fear, but could give her a false sense of security.
Furthermore, your 6-month old pup will miss out on the opportunity she needs to learn what (toys) she is allowed to put her mouth on and when (never), she may place (even gently) her mouth on people.
If the dog is NOT biting or puppy-nipping then by all means, please use other management devices such as crates, pens or tie-downs to prevent the dog from jumping all over your daughter.
This is just good-sense for anyone with a rude, jumpy pup.
Preventing the dog from practicing the bad behavior is critical to training.
Finally, please enroll in a Reward-Based (no choke/prong collars) Training Class.
Don't forget to include your daughter in training the dog. The class may be overwhelming, lots of young, un-trained dogs, but your daughter could be included in the homework exercises.
In the beginning this may mean that someone else holds the leash and controls the dog from a distance, or that your daughter gives the commands or food-rewards.
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.
I will remember that PRAISE is only as good as what comes next!
I will try to GIVE REAL REWARDS like fetch, tug , treats, and access to good smells, dog friends, people and places.
Whatever I give, I will make sure it is something my dog really wants -right then.
A REAL REWARD is something your dog REALLY WANTS!
In this photo the dog is being "rewarded" with a scratchy-pet on the head.
The person petting him said, "Good-boy!" first. Then she pet the dog. Care was taken to finish marking the dog's sit with the verbal "good-boy," before the "reward" was given.
By competing the verbal-marker FIRST, they have helped ensure that the dog will learn the meaning of the words "Good-boy." These words predict that petting will come next.
HOWEVER... I doubt that should this continue that the dog will show any improvement in sitting.
WHY?
This dog clearly HATES being pet on the head!
His ears are back. His eyes are hard and staring, his nose is pointed up which leans his head back and away from the hand (not into it), and his tongue is flicking out in classic -"please don't do that!" lip-licking body language.
Petting, in this situation, for this dog is not just a poor reward, but a terrible reward -in fact it looks like a punishment to this particular dog because they clearly dislike it.
Your dog may also have likes and dislikes.
Do not assume that what you THINK your dog will find rewarding, will actually be perceived as a reward by your dog. Additionally, not want all things are liked equally at all times.
At the dog park, they may want access to dogs more than food or pets. In the evening they may want snuggles and an invitation on the couch more than a toy. In the morning they may want to get out the door, more than they want food.
Try planning ahead and thinking about what your dog may want in any given situation. Then think about how you could prevent them from having access to what they want until they earn it. They can earn access by ding what you want them to do. You might need to help them understand what you want by using a hint such as a command, or a food lure.
A good example is getting out the door. YOU ARE IN CONTROL because you can operate the door. Open it slowly. If your dog charges out, shut the door. If your dog sits, you reach for the handle of the door. If your dog's butt pops up off the floor, shut the door.
I love doing this silently (no commands) and letting my dog's brain work it out. It is an amazing process to watch. Try it!
Should I use a clicker to train my dog?
A clicker is a fabulous tool for teaching new behaviors to a dog. Ideally it is used while the dog is learning. As the dog approaches competency, the new behavior can be named (a command added) and then the clicker can be faded out.
A clicker is much like a camera when used to get action shots. For example if you were using a clicker to teach a puppy to sit, you might lure the action. Luring a sit requires that you hold a treat in your hand right up to the pup's nose. Then slowly, very slowly you would move the treat up and behind the puppy's head. This causes the pup to lean back and their back and their tail-end to drop down. At this moment, you would CLICK, and THEN give the dog the treat that was in your hand. The noise the clicker makes tells the dog, "Right then, you earned the treat!"
Later you can lure the behavior without a treat in your hand. You would still use the same hand-motion & click your puppy for completing the behavior. After every click you would treat your dog. The nice thing about the clicker is that you don't need the food on you or in your hand when teaching. As long as you are good at clicking at the EXACT MOMENT of success you can use 5-10 seconds to get the treat to your dog.
RULES FOR MARKING BEHAVIORS WITH A CLICKER
Click your dog when they do something you like. Be precise and click the exact moment of success.
If you click-it, you MUST treat your dog.
If your dog does a REALLY, really good job, you still click only once! You can give them several treats, but click only once.
It is not necessary to aim your clicker at your dog.
Never click unless you intend to train and treat your dog.
The clicker MARKS successful attempts, it does not tell your dog what you want.
NOTES ON MARKING BEHAVIORS WITH A WORD
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When you mark things that your dog does that you like, use one word.
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Always use the same word.
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Pick a word that is special -something you don't use al the time.
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Use the marker word like a camera to catch exactly the moment of success.
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Always follow the marker word with a valuable reward (food, toy, access).
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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 prasie 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.
