Basic blueprint for commands
Marker Words -
Marker words are easy feedback for dogs to help them understand when they do something right or wrong. Use your marker words consistently. Do not overland with long marker words ex: "Good boy, Sammy! You are such a good dog!" Short and concise will help your dog understand faster.
Traditional Markers
Yes: I like what you are doing, come get your reward. (Can facilitate movement upon completion of a command)
Good: Keep doing what you are doing. Your reward is coming to you. (Used to mark duration of commands)
Uh-uh: I do not like what you are doing - Try Again (used to test proficiency of command. Not paired)
No (pairs with correction): I do not like what you are doing. Please stop and do not do it again. (We do not introduce the NO marker until we are certain the dog has a full understanding of the command.)
Break/Free: You are released from command. – Free time
How to load your "Yes" marker.
Get your dog to sit.
Say “Yes”, move them out of command, then Reward
10-15 times 3 times a day.
How to load your good marker
Get your dog to sit
Repeat good and reward while your dog is still in sit.
Move your dog out of command with the "Yes" marker.
USE MARKERS CONSISTENTLY
DO NOT NAME A COMMAND UNTIL YOUR DOG UNDERSTANDS THE MECHANICS OF THE COMMAND
DO NOT MARK WITH “NO” UNTIL YOUR DOG UNDERSTANDS COMMAND OR EXPECTATION
DO NOT MARK WITH “NO” UNLESS YOU ARE ABLE TO FOLLOW THROUGH. (Leash Tug, spatial pressure, etc)
Find what motivates your dog.
Food
Toys
Praise and/or affection
Use this motivation to teach and reinforce skills and behaviors.
THREE D’S OF TRAINING
The three D’s of training, used in the proofing stages of a command, increase difficulty, proficiency, and reliability of any given command.
Distance – The gap created between you and your dog. Your dog MUST not break command when you move away. Used in the stay commands. PLACE, SIT, and DOWN
Duration – The length of time your dog is in command. Used in SIT, DOWN, PLACE, and HEEL.
Distraction – The ability for your dog to prioritize your command over outside influences.
The most important step - Calmness in the home - Sit on the dog or the Behavioral Down
1. Put your dog on a leash.
2. Find a place to sit. It could be while you are watching TV, checking email on the computer, etc.
3. Sit on the leash
4. Ignore your dog. (This is key. For most dogs, any attention from the human, good or bad is good for them and will cause them to keep acting out)
5. If your dog gets in your space, gently take the leash close to the collar and guide them off in a downward position.
6. Once your dog is settled, remain here for 30 minutes. Then reward and go about your day. The first few times, it will take longer.
7. If your dog gets up anytime during the 30 minutes, wait until they settle again, and start the timer over.
8. Practice this at least twice a day with all able humans in the home. (Young children might find this a challenge. Especially if it is a bigger dog.)
A dog simply cannot learn if they are all over the place and not paying attention to you. Use this exercise to teach them an automatic off switch in the home, when you are you are not engaging with them. Check out these resources for instructions:
https://www.markmccabe.com/.../BD-2019-rev_compressed-1.pdf
https://caninelifeskills.com/sit-on-the-dog-exercise/
Hand Following
1. With food in your hand, get your dog’s attention and let them sniff your hand.
2. Mark with “yes” and reward
3. From here, move your hand around. It does not have to be methodical.
4. Each time your dog follows your hand, mark with “yes” and reward.
ONLY REWARD WITH POLITE FOLLOWS. IF THERE IS NIPPING, BITING OR LICKING, KEEP UP THE EXERCISE UNTIL YOUR DOG GIVES YOUR HAND SOME SPACE, THEN REWARD.
Marker words are easy feedback for dogs to help them understand when they do something right or wrong. Use your marker words consistently. Do not overland with long marker words ex: "Good boy, Sammy! You are such a good dog!" Short and concise will help your dog understand faster.
Traditional Markers
Yes: I like what you are doing, come get your reward. (Can facilitate movement upon completion of a command)
Good: Keep doing what you are doing. Your reward is coming to you. (Used to mark duration of commands)
Uh-uh: I do not like what you are doing - Try Again (used to test proficiency of command. Not paired)
No (pairs with correction): I do not like what you are doing. Please stop and do not do it again. (We do not introduce the NO marker until we are certain the dog has a full understanding of the command.)
Break/Free: You are released from command. – Free time
How to load your "Yes" marker.
Get your dog to sit.
Say “Yes”, move them out of command, then Reward
10-15 times 3 times a day.
How to load your good marker
Get your dog to sit
Repeat good and reward while your dog is still in sit.
Move your dog out of command with the "Yes" marker.
USE MARKERS CONSISTENTLY
DO NOT NAME A COMMAND UNTIL YOUR DOG UNDERSTANDS THE MECHANICS OF THE COMMAND
DO NOT MARK WITH “NO” UNTIL YOUR DOG UNDERSTANDS COMMAND OR EXPECTATION
DO NOT MARK WITH “NO” UNLESS YOU ARE ABLE TO FOLLOW THROUGH. (Leash Tug, spatial pressure, etc)
Find what motivates your dog.
Food
Toys
Praise and/or affection
Use this motivation to teach and reinforce skills and behaviors.
THREE D’S OF TRAINING
The three D’s of training, used in the proofing stages of a command, increase difficulty, proficiency, and reliability of any given command.
Distance – The gap created between you and your dog. Your dog MUST not break command when you move away. Used in the stay commands. PLACE, SIT, and DOWN
Duration – The length of time your dog is in command. Used in SIT, DOWN, PLACE, and HEEL.
Distraction – The ability for your dog to prioritize your command over outside influences.
The most important step - Calmness in the home - Sit on the dog or the Behavioral Down
1. Put your dog on a leash.
2. Find a place to sit. It could be while you are watching TV, checking email on the computer, etc.
3. Sit on the leash
4. Ignore your dog. (This is key. For most dogs, any attention from the human, good or bad is good for them and will cause them to keep acting out)
5. If your dog gets in your space, gently take the leash close to the collar and guide them off in a downward position.
6. Once your dog is settled, remain here for 30 minutes. Then reward and go about your day. The first few times, it will take longer.
7. If your dog gets up anytime during the 30 minutes, wait until they settle again, and start the timer over.
8. Practice this at least twice a day with all able humans in the home. (Young children might find this a challenge. Especially if it is a bigger dog.)
A dog simply cannot learn if they are all over the place and not paying attention to you. Use this exercise to teach them an automatic off switch in the home, when you are you are not engaging with them. Check out these resources for instructions:
https://www.markmccabe.com/.../BD-2019-rev_compressed-1.pdf
https://caninelifeskills.com/sit-on-the-dog-exercise/
Hand Following
1. With food in your hand, get your dog’s attention and let them sniff your hand.
2. Mark with “yes” and reward
3. From here, move your hand around. It does not have to be methodical.
4. Each time your dog follows your hand, mark with “yes” and reward.
ONLY REWARD WITH POLITE FOLLOWS. IF THERE IS NIPPING, BITING OR LICKING, KEEP UP THE EXERCISE UNTIL YOUR DOG GIVES YOUR HAND SOME SPACE, THEN REWARD.
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Engagement - Getting your dog excited to work with you
The Name Game This is a simple game to help your dog be more in tune with your during your time together while working. This requires that you are present, animated and intentional when working with your dog. This teaches the marker word, "YES!" Which tells our dog that a reward is coming immediately. This will also teach the basics of leash pressure and getting your dog to yield to the leash. This is also serves as the intro to recall. With leash in hand, let your dog walk away from you. If they will not leave your side, you may throw a treat to get them to leave you. When they reach the end of the leash, start moving backwards and call their name or make any other sounds that will interest them. Once they start to return, stop moving, say "Yes!", and reward when they reach you. You can do this exercise at home or in public. In public, keep you hand on the leash. At home, you may try to do it with the leash dragging on the ground. |
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Loose Leash walking
The purpose of loose leash walking to have our dogs walking by our side, at our pace. Fluency in this skill means that the dog is not pulling on the leash, forging ahead, or lagging too far behind. 1. Choose your loose leash walking command. Many will use the term “Heel” You can also use the term “With me” or “Let’s go” Whichever term you choose, please make sure you are consistent in using it. 2.Choose which side you would like for your dog to walk on. Traditional heeling is done on the LEFT. However, if you tend to run across a lot of dogs and people on your walk, you might want to use the RIGHT side. 3.Keep a healthy number of treats in your treat pouch. You can choose what ever side you would like to have the treat pouch on. If you choose, you can also put the treat pouch behind you. 4.Hold the leash in the hand opposite your dog. The hand closest to your dog is your treat dispensing hand. Place a handful of treats in front of your dog’s nose and start walking. Let your dog eat the treats out of your hand. When your hand is empty stop and reload your hand and start again. 5. After your dog is following the treats, you will need to up the expectation by spacing out the time between treat dispending. Raise your hand and take a few steps, then lower to reward. Repeat several times, increasing the number of steps in-between rewards. 6.If you have a distracted dog, we will use leash pressure to encourage the dog to stay with us and stay in position. 7.Once your dog gets distracted, looks away, starts barking etc. Make a 180 turn in the opposite direction away from the dog’s attention and keep walking. Once the dog is back in position, reward. (it helps to have the reward in place so that the dog seemingly runs into the treat.) Repeat every time the dog loses focus. 8.With your dog on your chosen side, you will now name the skill. 9.Say your chosen command BEFORE you start walking. 10.Continue with intermittent rewarding and 180 in the face of distractions. 11. Say your chosen word BEFORE you turn. TROUBLESHOOTING
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Recall
The goal of this skill to have our dogs come back to us when we call them the first time.
NOTES: Do not use the formal recall command if your dog is not a on a leash.
Choose your recall command. – “Here” and “Come” are two of the most popular. If you have multiple dogs, It is best to say your dog’s name BEFORE the command.
GOLDEN RULE: Be Interesting! The goal is to have our dogs come back to use when we call them. It will be challenging if you aren’t the most interesting man or woman in the world!
(This is a great exercise to do on a free walk. (when you are not practicing heeling.)
Getting them interested.
Adding the leash
Add your recall command.
Upping the expectation – Taking it away from the wall.
In this step, we do not lead off with treats. Instead, we are using the world as natural distractions.
The goal of this skill to have our dogs come back to us when we call them the first time.
NOTES: Do not use the formal recall command if your dog is not a on a leash.
Choose your recall command. – “Here” and “Come” are two of the most popular. If you have multiple dogs, It is best to say your dog’s name BEFORE the command.
GOLDEN RULE: Be Interesting! The goal is to have our dogs come back to use when we call them. It will be challenging if you aren’t the most interesting man or woman in the world!
(This is a great exercise to do on a free walk. (when you are not practicing heeling.)
Getting them interested.
- Start in front of a wall.
- Throw a treat to wall, and let your dog follow it.
- Once they get the treat, start making sounds (not a command or their name) to get their attention to come back to you.
- Use your body as a magnet by backing up a few steps to get them to follow you.
- Stop and reward once they reach you.
- Rinse and repeat.
Adding the leash
- Throw a treat to the baseboard again.
- This time when you walk backwards, let the leash tighten to further encourage the follow.
- Praise when they make the visual commitment to come to you.
- Reward when they reach you.
Add your recall command.
- Throw a treat.
- Let your dog follow.
- Say your chosen command and move to back with leash pressure.
- Praise when they make the visual commitment to come to you.
- Reward when they get to you.
Upping the expectation – Taking it away from the wall.
In this step, we do not lead off with treats. Instead, we are using the world as natural distractions.
- Get your dog to leave you.
- Give your recall command ONCE.
- Use the leash pressure and your body to guide them to you.
- Praise when they make the visual commitment to come to you.
- Reward when they get to you.
Place/Sit/Down
The ultimate goal of is to have them hold position even when you walk away and among distractions.
Think of what you would like to name each command.
Single words that are very distinct from each other will help a lot.
With no words. Find a way to get your dog to consistently perform the command.
Luring with food is a great go to.
Sit – Up and over the head so that the dog’s rear hits the ground.
Down – Down the dog’s nose to the ground
Place – Tapping or placing food on the bed.
Adding the leash – Provides directional guidance.
Sit – Leash straight up.
Down – Leash straight down to the ground
Place - Leash toward the bed.
First add the leash tension, THEN use what gets your dog into that position. (Food lure, toy, etc.)
Relax the leash when the position is found.
Say "YES" and reward with food or toy
Add the word – Your chosen command name.
Speak the command.
Use the leash for guidance.
Relax leash once position is found.
We are not focusing on the stay portion of the position just yet. We are just building the association of the position and the name.
Troubleshooting
Dogs that slide into the down from the sit - Move quicker with reward.
Dogs who wait for your to bend over before going into the down - Run the leash under your foot and use like a pully system.
Dogs that are having trouble with place. - Place the food on the bed. If your dog still will not get on the bed, turn it over that that it is flat to the ground. After a few reps, Flip it right side up again.
Dogs that pop up from the down. Reward on the ground in between your dog's paws.