Making Simple Dog Training Easy

I attended a weekend seminar by Dr. Susan Friedman and during the talk someone raised a good question.  How can we help pet owners get the most out of modern, science based training methods to solve behaviour problems and improve relationships with their dogs?  Dr. Friedman’s response was as surprising to me as it was simple.  She suggested that you teach them the basics before trying to solve their doggy behaviour problems.

 

Modern dog training techniques are based on some pretty cool science.  We have learned a great deal and in the past 20 years some absolutely amazing approaches and techniques have become a regular part of the dog training world.  But as remarkable as this new training can be, it will amount to exactly nothing if it isn’t used with some basic skills.

 

Progressive, reinforcement-based training approaches are often not familiar to pet owners.  The science and data showing how and why these techniques work and the great results they produce is pretty exciting stuff so it can be easy to get caught up in telling the story of behavioural science.  Explaining why people should use these techniques and telling stories of the many successes is great.  But maybe we should be talking about the simple mechanics of how to do it instead.  

 

As Dr. Friedman put it, you wouldn’t teach someone to do a surgery by just handing them a scalpel and a human to practice on.  You might want to teach them with a few more simple tasks so they learn how to use the tools.

 

 

To me, the beauty of reinforcement based training is its simplicity.  I think B.F. Skinner summed it up nicely when he said, “Consequence dictates behaviour.”  Whatever happens immediately after a dog chooses to perform an action will affect whether they will be more or less likely to do that action again.  Reward the dog when they do what I like or scold them when they do what I don’t like.  It’s a simple formula but it raises a few questions.

 

How do I let my dog know when they’ve done something I like?  What will my dog think is a good enough reward to try doing that behaviour again?  How do I get them to do that behaviour that I want so I can reward it?  And lots more.  There are some basic training skills that can go a long way toward helping to answer those questions.

 

 

How would you build a house if you absolutely had to?  Piece by piece.  It’s the same when we teach a dog a behaviour.  Waiting for my dog to offer me a whole, finished behaviour might confuse or frustrate her.  Trying to prompt her for the behaviour might be equally confusing or frustrating.  I think it’s best to break big jobs up into small pieces.  The work goes easier and you feel good about the small successes along the way.  

 

As important as it is to have a clear idea of the behaviour you are trying to teach your dog, it can be just as important to know all of the pieces that can make up that behaviour.  Like building a house, sometimes we need to build behaviour in pieces.  So it’s better if you have a plan ready in case you need to break things down to make it easier.

For example, teaching my dog to “sit” sounds simple enough.  But there are smaller bits of behaviour that make up that “sit” behaviour.  My dog has to move her butt toward the floor.  She needs to touch her butt to the floor.  She needs to be sitting straight and not rolled over onto one hip.  And she needs to not lie down after sitting.  If I don’t take the time to reward each of those pieces, I could be making the whole process of learning too difficult and frustrating for my dog.

 

 

Another important aspect of working with my dogs is setting up my training environment.  I try to prepare the place I train, the props and toys I’m going to use, and even the scheduling of the session to give myself every advantage before I try to teach my dog.  This also includes coming to the training with the right attitude.  Being prepared helps a lot.  Only the most skilled trainers can “wing it” and get great results all the time.

 

Doing all of that preparation beforehand also allows me to focus on what’s happening during training.  Dogs are pretty fast.  Faster than humans.  And if I’m not watching closely, my dog could be giving me what I’m asking for (or at least something close that’s worth rewarding) and I won’t see it.  By paying attention to my training and watching my dog, I’m ready to reward my dog so she learns quickly.  I can also see if she is confused or getting frustrated so that I can give her a break.

 

 

One of the biggest mistakes that we can fall into as dog trainers is being too committed to getting what we want in a training session.  Sometimes the training we planned to do isn’t working out or perhaps my dog isn’t very focused on a given day.  It’s important to be flexible enough to say, “Maybe now is not the best time to work on this.”  There’s no harm in taking a break and trying again later.

 

It is a very human thing for us to keep at something until we get it right (or close to it).  But, from my dog’s point of view, it can be unpleasant for me to keep pushing her for something she doesn’t understand.  If I’m honest, what she really needs is for me to go and fix my training plan and try it again later when I can be more clear in helping her.  There are no stupid dogs, only trainers who aren’t smart enough to admit that things aren’t working.

 

 

The basic process of teaching a dog any behaviour is simple – see the behaviour, mark the behaviour, and reward the behaviour.  The science of behaviour says that if we get those three simple steps right, we’re well on our way to having a well trained dog.  But if we don’t come to that simple process with a plan to work in small, achievable pieces and pay attention to all of the details that can help us be successful, it can become frustrating very quickly for us and our dogs. Being flexible about time and training goals allows us to change what we are doing and be willing to take a break and work on it another time if necessary.

 

These guidelines can be even more important when dealing with unwanted behaviours like barking or jumping.  The training process remains simple but the situations can make them challenging and far from easy.  It can be even more important to remember to take things in small pieces, set up for success, and be flexible in doing our training.  Some of my biggest training mistakes have come in those moments where I wasn’t quite prepared and not smart enough to be flexible.

 

It doesn’t really matter where you learn to use reward-based training.  There are lots of great books out there and plenty of great websites as well.  Just don’t try to tackle the whole job of training your dog all at once.  These three techniques – breaking things down, attending to the details, and being flexible – have made all the difference in my work with my dogs.  Teaching these skills to others can save them a lot of grief in working with their dogs!

 

Until next time, have fun with your dogs!