Training Tips #5: Obedience

You've got house-training well underway, your dog has been socialized, and you're beginning to establish yourself as the dominant "pack-leader." What next? The answer is demanding obedience. When you dog becomes fully obedient, it means you feel safe with them in any public setting. You know they will come when called and not misbehave. When your dog has reached the stage of true obedience, treats become less and less necessary. Reaching this stage comes down to you and your dog mastering certain basic commands. And like any mastery, reaching true obedience requires time and effort. Even though obedience sounds like a harsh term to apply to a dog, like so many other concepts I have written about, dogs actually enjoy being obedient because they enjoy pleasing their owners. My Denver veterinarian and I have compiled a few tips to help you and your dog through obedience training.

Patience
Just like in all other training steps, keeping calm and patient remains important through the obedience training stage. The biggest problem with loosing patience is that your dog gets confused, and a confused dog won't learn quickly. Dog's always react what happening in the present, not to what may have happened a few minutes ago. Let's look at an example of how loosing patience puts you a step behind - You throw your dog a tennis ball and instead of following my tip in the last post to just ignore the dog, you begin calling it. You call and you call and your dog doesn't respond. You finally walk up to the dog and scold him. This accomplished absolutely nothing. Your dog won't associate the fact that you called to him a few minutes ago with the fact that he is getting scolded. All you will accomplish is confusion. Even worse, your dog might learn that when he hears his owner calling, he will be scolded if his owner catches him. The moral of this story: think like your dog.

Learning to Heel
We covered the different kinds of collars, the process of getting accustomed to a leash, and how to properly teach your dog to walk with you. The next step is the heel. The reason for the heel is to teach your dog to walk with you on a leash without pulling (a skill most dogs in your local park have probably not acquired). By the time you start heel training, you dog should already be used to the feeling of the collar and leash. It is best to teach the heel in a non-distracting setting like your backyard, where other dogs won't interrupt your training. Here's the teaching strategy: Walk your dog around your yard keeping a loose leash. At the point your puppy begins to pull, say "heel," stop walking and have him come to you (use treats if necessary). Don't tug on the leash. Continue walking and repeat this process. Eventually, your puppy will begin to associate the "heel" command with a treat and praise.

My vet at the Denver Animal Hospital recommends another strategy. Fill a pop can with small rocks. Again, walk with your dog around your yard. As soon as your dog gets ahead of you and begins to pull, thrown the pop can full of pebbles out in front of your puppy. The sound will alarm him and he will learn not to pull by associating the surprise sound with getting ahead of you on the leash.

It is worth considering the purchase of an extending leash like the one found here. These leashes allow for more flexibility and greater range of where your dog can walk, but without loosing control. This can also be a great training tool. Let your dog run in front of you while connected to one of these leashes until he feels as if he is running free. Then, suddenly, apply the leash break. This sudden jolt will indicate to your dog that the leash is to restrain him and is not a toy to pull against.

Sit/Down
Teaching your dog the "sit" and "down" commands is the next step. You may already have some practice with the sit if you follow my tip about the proper way to present your dog with food. One place to start is to trick your dog into sitting. This can be accomplished when your dog is on his restraining leash by holding a treat just behind his head. He will naturally sit in an effort to get the treat. When doing this say "Sit" and he will begin to learn that the process of sitting gets him a treat and is good.

After your puppy has learned to sit, you can work on the "down" command. To teach "down," first have your dog sit. Then hold a treat low to the ground to the point where your dog is bending over. Then say "down" while you gently push your puppy down and hold the treat of the floor. Hold your puppy gently down and he will be encouraged to stay there by your treat!