Pets
Training Procedures
To understand dog training, it is necessary to have some basic knowledge of how dogs think, learn and behave. A puppy decides whether or not he is going to repeat a behavior by the direct consequences of that behavior. If a behavior brings about a reward, either from you or from the environment, the behavior is likely to be repeated. Similarly, if a behavior brings about an unpleasant consequence, chances are good that the puppy will not repeat the behavior.
Encouraging Good Behavior
Your puppy is not born with good manners. He does not know what humans consider to be acceptable behavior. He does not purposely misbehave -- he simply does not know the rules. Your puppy is learning every single, waking moment. If you want him to learn what you want, it is up to you to supervise guide and teach him so he learns what is acceptable and what is unacceptable in his new home.
Just as your puppy does not purposely misbehave, he also does not know that he is doing something you like unless you tell him. The best way to "tell" him and therefore, establish good behavior in your puppy is to associate behavior you like with rewards so that he learns it is in his best interest to repeat good behavior. A reward is anything your puppy finds enjoyable, such as praise, petting, food, play, a walk, a ride in the car, etc. Reward-based training is an enjoyable, humane, and motivational way for you and your puppy to learn.
Catch Your Puppy Doing Things Right
The most fundamental way to teach your puppy good behavior is to simply wait until he does something you like and reward him. Whenever you see that your puppy is behaving the way you like, such as watching you, following you, chewing on his bone, licking you instead of nipping, eliminating outside, greeting you without jumping up, or lying quietly, let him know that he has done well. When he does something that is pleasing to you, reward him immediately. Timing is everything -- make sure you give rewards the instant your puppy does something good. And don't be skimpy with rewards -- they should be given for all the little things your puppy does right throughout the day.
Integrate Training into Everyday Life
You will teach plenty of good behaviors in puppy class, such as sit, down, wait, and so on. Incorporate these behaviors into your puppy's daily routine and reward with activities your puppy enjoys. If your puppy wants you to play with him, practice sit and down first. If your puppy wants a chew bone, have him take and leave it a few times first. If he wants to say hello to the neighbor's children, require that he practice sitting politely for petting. Make your puppy's training "real" for the whole family.
Discouraging Unwanted Behavior
Realize that rewards don't come just from you. Your puppy can seek out rewards from a variety of sources: interesting smells in the clothes hamper, a peanut butter sandwich left unattended on the table, used tissues in the wastebasket, an unattended child's toy to chew. If your puppy discovers these rewards, he'll be more likely to repeat the same behaviors, such as digging in the hamper, stealing food from the table, or raiding the wastebasket. Remember, each time a behavior is rewarded, either by you or by the environment; chances are good that your puppy will repeat the same behavior. In addition to training, you need to practice good management (meaning that you control your puppy's environment) so that your puppy doesn't have the freedom to seek out his own rewards.
Even with all your best efforts to minimize potential misbehavior, your puppy will behave inappropriately on occasion. To provide your puppy with a comprehensive education, you must let him know when he is behaving badly. There are various ways to convey this to your puppy, all of which are humane and effective when implemented correctly.
Verbal Reprimands
You should teach your puppy a specific word that means, "stop what you are doing!" Examples of a verbal reprimand might be "enough", "eh, eh", "uh", "oi", "hey", etc. Your reprimand should be said without emotion or a display of anger; but it should be said in such a way that it captures your puppy's attention. A short, sharp sound is best. It need not be shouted or screamed; in fact, the less you yell at your puppy the better. When you discover your puppy misbehaving, for instance, chewing on the sofa leg or sniffing around the garbage can, reprimand your puppy and immediately go to him and remove him from the situation. Redirect him to another activity. Once your puppy learns the significance of the reprimand, you will not need to physically remove him -- he will come away by himself.
Do not use your puppy's name as a reprimand. Your puppy should always associate his name with good things.
Ignore Bad Behavior
Ignoring bad behavior is a powerful way to discourage behaviors that are designed to get your attention. Probably the most common way for a puppy to get the attention of his owner is through nuisance barking. Barking tends to get a reaction and so, the more owners attempt to quiet a puppy, the more the puppy barks. Even if the attention is" negative", some puppies will find it rewarding. If you are confident the puppy is barking to gain your attention, the best method to discourage the behavior is to ignore him. Leave the room if possible. If you are consistent, the puppy will quickly learn that barking causes you to leave.
This method can be difficult for owners to implement, for two reasons. First, the puppy will initially become more persistent. The behavior got your attention before so why isn't it working now? The puppy will try even harder by barking more often, barking more loudly, maybe even pawing at you. The good news is that the behavior gets worse because you are successful. The puppy is performing the bad behavior to get your attention, because when you stop, he gets frustrated. This is called an extinction burst and is only temporary. Do not give up because it will work! The second problem with this method is that the bad behavior comes back every now and then. This is called spontaneous recovery. It, too, is only temporary so stick to your guns!
To help this method be even more powerful, always replace bad behaviors with good behaviors. If you plan to ignore your puppy for barking, you will be much more likely to succeed if you also teach him an acceptable way to gain your attention. Teach him that if he sits in front and watches you, you will pay attention to him. If he barks, you will stare at the ceiling for 30 seconds.
Time Outs
Remember how much you hated being sent to your room for misbehaving as a child? Puppies find time out punishing as well, especially if it means being separated from the family. Suppose you give your puppy a tasty chew toy and he chooses to jump and grab at your clothes instead. Reprimand him verbally and direct him back to his toy. If he persists, calmly, without emotion, and with minimal interaction, either leave the room or remove the puppy to a time-out area. A time-out area can be a crate, a small room, a confined space, or a tie-out (a short leash attached to an immovable object), where there is nothing interesting for the puppy to do. Time him out for no more than 30 seconds. Believe it or not, anything longer than 30 seconds is less effective. If your puppy behaves himself during the time out, let him out after 30 seconds and return to what you were doing before. If your puppy is destructive during time out, you need to re-design your time out area. Ignore barking or whining until he stops before letting him out. Be patient -- he will eventually stop! If you let him out before he stops, he will bark and whine even louder and longer the next time. If he lies down and chews his toy, quietly praise him for doing what you want. If the scenario occurs again, repeat the above steps. For some puppies, this may have to be repeated over and over again, many times in a row even in the course of one day, for this to be effective. You must be as consistent and persistent in your behavior as your puppy is in his!
Withdrawal of Expected Rewards
If your puppy misbehaves, you can communicate your displeasure by holding back on a reward your puppy is expecting, provided that it relates to the misbehavior. For instance, you want to teach your puppy to sit calmly until you place his food bowl on the floor and invite him to eat. Here's how this should look: you prepare the pup's bowl of food, you signal him to sit and wait, and you place the dish on the floor. The pup stays in place until you signal him that it's okay to dig in. However, most puppies will not be able to contain their excitement and will jump up to get at the food before the invitation. Be prepared and the instant your puppy leaves the sit, repeat your cue and lift the bowl out of reach. When he sits again, lower the bowl. Continue this process until the puppy learns that if he anticipates, the food will disappear. If he is patient and waits, he'll get his food more quickly. Another application of this is teaching your puppy to sit calmly while having his leash attached before going for a walk. The excitement associated with going for a walk will likely interfere with your puppy's ability to sit still. Each time your puppy jumps up, repeat your sit command and stand up straight. Wait until he sits and then attempt to snap on the leash. If he jumps up again, stand up and wait. Repeat until he learns that if he sits still, he gets to go for his walk.
This process will take patience on your part, but you will benefit in the end with a well-mannered companion. Do not give in. Remember, you must be as persistent as your puppy. Your puppy will eventually learn that he will not get his reward until he controls his own behavior.
Booby Traps and Sting Operations
Interactive punishment should be avoided as much as possible because you risk making the puppy afraid of you. However, sometimes it is necessary to use punishment to discourage an unwanted behavior. When it is used, punishment should take the form of a booby trap so it appears to the puppy as though he caused the punishment himself. For instance, if you touched your finger to a hot stove, you wouldn't blame someone in the room for the pain -- you would know it came from the stove and next time, you'd look before you touch! Setting up your puppy to experience his own punishment for misbehavior can be a good learning tool, provided you don't over use it.
Suppose your puppy has learned to steal food off the kitchen counter. You can't ignore it because the puppy will obtain his own rewards (your food!). You can try a verbal reprimand when you catch him but the puppy will likely learn to stay off the counter only when you are present. A time out will probably be ineffective because the food reward would be worth the short time away from the family. A more efficient way to teach your puppy not to counter surf would be to set up a "sting operation." Booby trap the counter, for example, with Snappy TrainersTM that are designed to spring up in the air when touched, and place some very enticing food just beyond the puppy's reach. Hide out and wait for him to make the steal. You'll know because he will trigger the Snappy Trainers and that should startle him enough that he takes off out of the room. Likewise, if your puppy has decided that the sofa is a nice place to sleep and you would prefer that he stay off the furniture. A Sofa Scram is a pressure pad that you can lay on your sofa. When the puppy jumps up and touches the pad, it triggers a loud alarm that should frighten the puppy. In both cases, the puppy has encountered something unpleasant that will teach him not to misbehave and he didn't associate it with you at all!
The key to sting operations and booby traps is that the consequence for the misbehavior does not depend upon your presence. The puppy thinks that it was his behavior that brought about the unpleasant consequence and that you had nothing to do with it. This way he will not come to fear you nor will he only refrain from bad behavior when you are present. There are a variety of situations where booby traps are appropriate -- check with your instructor for your specific problem.
General Advice on Training
Consistency is extremely important for your puppy to understand and learn your rules. The rules must be clear and fair. Once a rule is established, everyone in the family must enforce it consistently. You must not permit your puppy to misbehave one minute and punish it the next. For example, it is unfair to allow your puppy to jump up on you when you are wearing your weekend clothes and then reprimand him for jumping on you when you are dressed up to go out for dinner! Don't allow him on the sofa normally and then not when you have guests in the home. This is inconsistent, unfair, and will confuse and frustrate your puppy. Rules should be clear-cut in black and white, with no gray areas in between.
Timing is everything when you are training your puppy. Puppies live in the present. They connect good and bad things with what they are doing at the moment. So, whether you are trying to reward your puppy for good behavior or trying to discourage bad behavior, you must catch your puppy "in the act." If you are rewarding him, tell him right away, with a "good" or "yes" that you like what he is doing. If you are reprimanding him, the reprimand should interrupt his behavior and immediately direct him to a positive activity. "After the fact" reprimands and punishment are useless and will only teach your confused puppy to distrust and fear you. A common misconception is that you can scold your puppy for soiling the house after, provided you "show" him what he did. He can't make the connection with what he did even a minute before. If you are able to catch your puppy soiling, startle him with your reprimand to interrupt him right in the middle, then take him outside, wait for him to finish there, and reward him for a job well done. If you find an accident, simply clean it up and remind yourself that the puppy should not have had the opportunity to soil without you seeing him (see House Training Your Puppy).
Because it is so important to catch your puppy doing good and bad behaviors, your puppy should always be under your supervision. He should be in the same room with you. If you are in the kitchen, he should be in the kitchen; if you are in the bedroom, he should be in the bedroom, etc. This way you can immediately react to good or bad behavior at the very moment it occurs. If you are in the kitchen and he is in the bedroom tearing up the pillows, you have taught him that chewing on pillows is okay when you are not around. If your puppy does not naturally follow you from room to room you may need to put up gates or close doors for a while -- not to keep your puppy away from you but to keep him with you. Your puppy should be under someone's watchful eye at all times, unless he is confined to an area where he is safe. When you are not home or not able to pay attention to your puppy, he should be crated. The crate serves as a babysitter when you cannot be there to watch him. When your puppy is in the crate he is safe and your house is safe from him. He should be crated for short periods of time when you are home as well, so that crating doesn't always mean he will be left home alone (see Home Alone).
Training should be fun for both you and your puppy. Using rewards as positive reinforcement to shape your puppy's behavior encourages upbeat, enthusiastic responding and ensures that your puppy will have a happy attitude toward learning. Imagine if you were learning to play the piano and every time you hit the wrong key, the teacher scolded you. You would very likely give up, shut down, and hate piano lessons! If, on the other hand, you were encouraged to try and rewarded for your best efforts, learning would be a more enjoyable and productive experience. If you give your puppy lots of feedback for his behavior, relying primary on positive reinforcement and just occasionally on punishment, you will win your puppy's trust and start to build a lifelong bonding relationship on a strong and secure foundation.
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PETsMART Accredited Training Instructors, in addition to their previous experience, receive a minimum of 120 hours of training in a curriculum which includes: Canine Behavior, Learning Theory ("How Dogs Learn"), Problem-Solving, Classroom Management, Equipment, Handling Skills and more. Where possible, hands-on training is completed in partnership with local shelters, using shelter dogs to demonstrate training methods, behavior assessment and handling skills. This enables us to accredit our instructors while contributing to the community, as we help to make these dogs even more adoptable.
Suzanne Hetts Ph.D. is certified as an applied animal behaviorist and co-owner of Animal Behavior Associates, Inc., in Denver, CO.
Terry Ryan is the well-known author of training books such as The Toolbox for Remodeling Your Problem Dog and The Bark Stops Here.
Pia Silvani is the Director of Pet Training and Behavior at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in Madison, N.J.
Mary Lee Nitschke, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology at Linfield College, an Animal Behavior Therapist and the Director of Training for Animal School in Portland, OR.
Trish King is the Director of the Animal Behavior and Training Department at the Marin Humane Society in Marin County, CA.
Pamela J. Reid, Ph.D. is a certified applied animal behaviorist and assistant professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, where she teaches veterinary students courses in Applied Ethology and the Principles of Learning.
Information and advice contained on this site is for your consideration only. Please consult your veterinarian for specific advice concerning the care and treatment of your pet.
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