Positive Conditioning

Dogs are one of the rare species of animals who play throughout their lifetimes; perhaps it's one of the reasons we have such strong bonds with dogs, because we too play as grown ups. Humans and canines appear to be what scientists call neotenous": as adults

I suggest they wear one and let you "tune" the intensity until it reaches their "recognition" level. I have two dogs who

Every so often, at a training demonstration or event promoting positive training methods, a skeptical spectator will ask me whether positive training methods can be used for preparing dogs for all types of careers. I know where they are usually going with this question. Their real question is, “I know you can teach dogs to do cute little tricks with treats and stuff, but what about when you want a reliable dog, like an obedience competitor, a protection dog, or a police dog?” Their assumption is that in order to teach a dog to respond without fail, to sharply execute the handler’s every command, you will have to use force- and fear-based methods at some point in the dog’s education.

The process of teaching a dog to tolerate hugging involves either classical conditioning (giving a puppy a positive association with something she doesn't already have an opinion of), or classical counter-conditioning (giving a dog a new association with something she already has a negative opinion of). Either way, the process is similar, but it may go slower if you are working to change an existing opinion rather than simply installing one where none previously exists.

his paw) to your hand or a target stick.üTrill

Touch dog’s shoulder with one hand, feed treat with other hand, remove both hands. Repeat multiple times until touch to the shoulder elicits an automatic look for the other hand to arrive with treat. Move touch process to various other parts of dog’s head and body until a touch anywhere on the dog elicits an auto-look for the delivery of a treat. Pay extra attention to any body part where your touch seems to elicit a more intense response from the dog.

Behavior professionals often define “reliable” as responding appropriately to the cue at least 80 percent of the time. That means your dog sits at least 8 out of 10 times when you ask him to. It’s unreasonable to expect 100 percent reliability from your dog. It takes commitment to your training program to achieve reliability under a wide variety of conditions. Let’s explore some of the elements that make for true reliability.

When I was a kid, nobody talked about “socializing” their dogs, and most of the dogs we knew were just fine with kids. What’s the big deal? At risk of sounding old, when I was a kid, it was a different world. The only dogs I knew who weren’t free to run around my rural neighborhood were either hunting dogs or watchdogs; kids knew not to fool around with any of those dogs. And all the ones running loose in the neighborhood were extremely “good with kids.” That’s because they were constantly exposed to kids! I want my dog to be as rock-solid with kids – and every other type of person – as he is at resisting the urge to chase cats. So we’re going to have to practice.

and then it means leash jerk! The dog's not learning to walk close to me because he wants to, he's learning to walk close to me because he fears what's going to happen to him if he doesn't. I have to say this was a long, long, time ago. I thought, This is bizarre

Regular readers of WDJ are aware that we advocate a positive approach to dog training, that is, using only dog-friendly methods to teach our canine companions how we want them to behave in our homes, our cars, our arms – our world. We eschew methods that hurt or frighten dogs, even in the name of the supposed “greater good.” We think there are plenty of dog-related examples to justify this stance, but occasionally, we also find it useful to look beyond the dog-training profession for reinforcement for our beliefs.

Canine Charlie willingly sits on cue, but when clicks and treats don't come fast enough, he starts trying other dog behaviors in his repertoire - with rapid-fire offerings of shake, speak, down, and even a roll-over finding its way into the mix. He gets so excited about the dog training game that sometimes he doesn't even bother to sit first when asked, but drops right into the down - his favorite position. Charlie, an eager worker who loves positive reinforcement, has learned a lot of different behaviors and is anticipating his human's cues for all his favorite tricks. He clearly doesn't have his behaviors under stimulus control.

1.Place both hands briefly, gently, on either side of your dog's spine, and then feed him a treat.2.Gradually move your hand down and under your dog's ribcage on the far side, touching and feeding him a treat several times at each step.3.Gradually move your other hand around the front of your dog's chest to his opposite shoulder, touching and feeding him several times at each step.4.Put light pressure on your dog with both hands, gradually hugging him toward you, and then feed him a treat.5.Gradually increase pressure, feeding him treats several times at each step.6.Hug your dog against your chest, lifting upward slightly; release and treat.7.Gradually increase the amount of lift pressure until you are picking him up, giving him a treat several times at each step.