Relevancy is the key to having a dog continue to obey long after class is over. Dogs usually learn things in context and if not trained under any circumstance will not obey in any circumstance. For instance it’s great if your dog sits, downs and stays in the kitchen, but not very helpful if he won’t do these things when you need him to elsewhere. The key to making the dog obey in all circumstances is to show him how his training is relevant to real life.
The first step is to make a list of what your dog finds enjoyable. Your list might include dinner, playing with other dogs, being let out in the yard, going for a walk. Instead of these pleasures simply being given to the dog, make him earn them by asking him to do something before they happen. For instance ask your dog to sit, before dinner goes on the floor: don’t repeat yourself over and over, if he doesn’t sit, you walk away with the bowl and come back in 5 minutes to try again. If your dog wants to go out to the yard to play, ask for a down before the door is opened. If he doesn’t lie down you walk away and try again later. Pretty soon your dog starts paying really close attention to you and what your asking, realizing for the first time that those things he learned in doggy school are indeed good for somthing. If you don’t make things relevant for the dog and don’t teach him how to use his training you willl have an unreliable and inconsistent dog.
Think of when you were in school learning geometry. Didn’t you wonder what the heck any of this had to do with what you wanted to do ? Well, so does your dog !! Class was great mom, but what’s it got to do with playing ball, dinner and a nap ? Make your dog’s training real for him and you’ll reap the rewards of a well behaved reliable companion.
Providing your dog with the proper motivation is essential to any training program. Motivation means food, toys, games, play…anything that your dog will work for. In most cases food is the easiest and most motivating source of reinforcement. There is nothing wrong with using food to train your dog, but it must be used appropriately so that your dog obeys despite its absence.
Some dog owners refuse to use food for a variety of reasons. They use force or just don’t train their dog altogether. My answer to the food phobics is simple- would you go to work every day for free? No? Then you shouldn’t expect your dog to either! If someone drove you to work, pushed you through the door and sat you down (however gently) would it make YOU want to work?! If every time you tried to leave they brought you back and sat you down again, day after day with no end in sight, no rewards, no promise of rewards…what would happen to you? Don’t you think eventually you’d shut down and stop responding to the people around you?
Food is a primary need of all living things, no creature can exist without food, so what’s wrong with using a basic need to motivate and train your dog?
There are several basic rules that should be followed when motivating your dog with food. Use food to introduce new behaviors and show your dog what to do. Once your dog knows what to do, hide the food and vary when you give it. For instance, when teaching the dog to sit, food is used initially to lure your dog without force into the desired position. Once the dog is sitting reliably, you replace the lure with a hand signal and vary when you give the reward.
Hiding the treat and varying when you give it is called variable reinforcement. This means that food is now hidden most of the time when asking for the behavior and is given sporadically, ie every other time, every 3rd time, etc. This keeps your dog guessing and makes his performance reliable and sharp every time you ask for it.
A real life example of variable reinforcement is a slot machine. People play the slots because every once in awhile they win! They can lose $150.00 in five minutes, but if they pull the handle and win just once the likelihood of them trying again is greater.
Linda Tellington-Jones developed a way of communicating with dogs that combines massage-like touches, body wraps and physical manipulation to improve athletic performance, aggressive behavior, nervousness, fears, as well as medical problems, and injuries. Linda started this method with horses where her skills were called upon frequently for unruly, uncooperative, injured or aggressive horses. She later adapted T-touch for dogs.
T-touch for dogs can be performed by any owner and its benefits are amazing. Animals who start out frantic and hyper become relaxed while being treated. Tellington touch can also improve an animals ability to learn . It can be used for nervous dogs who are fearful of loud noises, people or other dogs. It can be used to help aggressive dogs relax and learn new alternatives to aggression.
So how do you get started ? Here are some examples of T-touch techniques to try on your dog:
The T-touch is based upon the circular movement of the fingers all over the dogs body. It’s function is to wake up cells and improve the flow of energy within the dogs body. To begin, imagine the face of a clock on your dogs body about 1″ in size. Curve your fingers slightly at the 6 o’clock mark and move in a clockwise circle one an a quarter times around the clock. Don’t bear down too hard as you make your circle, just enough to move the skin. Pick up your hand and move to a new spot and make another circle. You can do circles in a straight line or randomly all over the body. The benefits are equal, see what your dog likes. Remember to breathe as you gently work on your dog and keep the first sessions short, less than 5 minutes. Give him time to adjust to this new way of interacting with you.
Another type of touch that is useful in relaxing dogs is Ear T-touch. There are several different ways in which you can work the ears. The simplest is to get behind your dog, place the rest of your fingers under the earflap and slide the ear through your thumb and index finger. Experiment with the speed and pressure and see what effect it has on your dog. Another type of ear touch involves making circles at the base of the ear or all along the length of the flap with your fingertips.
T-touch principles work similarly to accupressure. The pressure of touch stimulates the body to heal itself, relax itself and otherwise improve the quality of life and health. No matter how clumsy you feel at first keep practicing in short sessions and gradually increase their length if your dog seems to be enjoying himself. You may find that spending time with your dog in this way is the best part of your day!
Relevancy is the key to having a dog continue to obey long after class is over. Dogs usually learn things in context and if not trained under any circumstance will not obey in any circumstance. For instance it’s great if your dog sits, downs and stays in the kitchen, but not very helpful if he won’t do these things when you need him to elsewhere. The key to making the dog obey in all circumstances is to show him how his training is relevant to real life.
Providing your dog with the proper motivation is essential to any training program. Motivation means food, toys, games, play…anything that your dog will work for. In most cases food is the easiest and most motivating source of reinforcement. There is nothing wrong with using food to train your dog, but it must be used appropriately so that your dog obeys despite its absence.
Linda Tellington-Jones developed a way of communicating with dogs that combines massage-like touches, body wraps and physical manipulation to improve athletic performance, aggressive behavior, nervousness, fears, as well as medical problems, and injuries. Linda started this method with horses where her skills were called upon frequently for unruly, uncooperative, injured or aggressive horses. She later adapted T-touch for dogs.