Foundations Module 4

STAY WORK

Once we have taught our puppies their release command and we have worked on impulse control it’s time to make our stays a more formal exercise where we start to push everything we can do right next to our dog. Don’t worry about getting far away from your puppy! Work close so your reward timing can catch them for being correct! Duration is far more important in stay work than distance, most real life stays are used very close to you and are about wanting a dog to be patient.

  • Always start with just one foot moving, and have the foot closest to the dog move last.

  • Try to make sure your dog is successful at least 80% of the time or you are pushing too much.

  • Always reward in the stay position rather than just for the release.

  • Move confidently, don’t creep away or move as if you are expecting a mistake, creeping stalking hesitant movements make dogs move because your body is subtly inviting it. Strong postures hold positions much better.

  • You can see in the video towards the end how I handle a mistake, allowing a dog to self correct so the rewards can resume. You can always use this technique if the dog breaks because they want to follow you or want your rewards, this won’t work if they are breaking to move away from you. But if they come to you, let them see the position is what keeps the reward game going.

HOMEWORK:

TRY TO MOVE YOUR OUTSIDE LEG ONE STEP AWAY FROM YOUR DOG, FORWARD AND LATERALLY WHILE THEY STAY SITTING.

SEE IF YOU CAN WALK ALL THE WAY AROUND THEM USING A TREAT TO HELP THEM STAY

CHIN REST FOR COOPERATIVE CARE

Teaching a puppy to lay it’s chin in your hand or on other things is such a powerful and effective way to help teach a puppy how to do an alternative behavior during things like grooming, vaccinations, etc. This puppy in the videos was attacking his brush when they wanted to groom him and we fixed it in two weeks by just teaching him to do a chin rest.

Watch the video below for how to teach your puppy to do a chin rest!

  • The subtle timing and hand positions is what makes this exercise easier, if you are reaching out for your pups chin they will reflexively withdraw from your reach, so you need to keep your hands still and let them bring the chin in so you can gently cradle the chin once it’s already there. You can see in the video the difference between when this is done correctly and when reaching causes issues.

HOMEWORK: SEE IF YOU CAN GET YOUR PUP TO GENTLY REST THEIR CHINS IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND FOR 3-5 SECONDS

LONG LINE RECALL WORK

Long line work is essential in teaching a great come command, it’s a tool all dog trainers and owners should own. As you saw with the leash walking exercise of last module I use long lines to teach so many things so I can mostly use my movements to train my puppy rather than using a short leash to control all their movements. Ideal length is 15-25ft and you want a material that is gentle on your hands.

Watch the video below to see how I use a long line to work on calling my puppy when they are distracted.

  • Have a gentle touch with your long line if you do need to use it to stop a puppy.

  • a long line should not be used to pull a dog into you, use your motion and engagement to encourage them in, pressure should only be used to stop them from moving away from you or to give them a gentle nudge in your direction if they are unable to let go of a distraction.

  • If your puppy is older and weighs more you might want to wear gloves the first time you use a long line to protect your hands, most young pups don’t race off with enough pressure or have enough weight to do too much damage to your hands with a long line but gauge your pup’s enthusiasm for racing away to determine if you should wear gloves.

  • As you can see in all the video clips with the puppy pressure is never needed as I am moving away very early in losing her focus so she is responding before we are even near the end of the line and this is what you want. Generally it is only with older pups or adults that really challenge that kind of distance.

  • Always get your hands on your puppy while giving rewards, a puppy should always view being touched as a positive during a recall.

  • Give a nice clear target with that food as you call the dog in.

  • I highly recommend using a clicker to mark the exact moment a puppy makes eye contact with you when you call.

  • Don’t over do it, call 3-5 times and call it good, you can over train recalls and have dogs then start choosing the environment over your rewards so keep them on the long line and let them safely explore rather than needing to rely on constantly calling them. When your pup is super distracted you can then walk yourself up the long line to them rather than calling.

  • Training is accomplished in the cumulative sessions not in one go of it! If you have endless time and energy ideal would be 3-5 sessions in a week of 3-5 calls

HOMEWORK: HEAD OUT TO A PARKING LOT OR PARK AND PRACTICE 3-5 RECALLS ON YOUR LONG LINE

LOOSE LEASH WALKING

You want to start this exercise inside your house, or in your backyard or drive way before taking it on the road. The goal here is to get a few steps of completely focused walking at your side. You want your puppy to know how to walk closely to you so when you need to walk in busy vet waiting rooms, stores or busy sidewalks your pup knows how to stay close and walk with you through those areas.

  • Give your pup your total focus

  • don’t start unless they are focused on you

  • give frequent rewards

  • the more distractions the higher the value of reward

  • keep this engaging and fun

Once you get nice walking inside take your practice out to a known safe area, like your driveway or the sidewalk in front of your house. When you need to keep a leash on for safety still try to only use your rewards and voice to hold your puppy’s focus with you. You can clip the leash to your belt, you can tie it around your waist, try very hard to keep your hands from using the leash to control them.

TEACHING A PUPPY TO FETCH A BALL

The key to teaching fetch with a pup that doesn’t naturally retrieve is two things:

  • you make it fun to chase things.

  • you make it fun to share things.

Notice the “you” in that! If you love playing fetch with dogs you can make it fun for a dog that doesn’t naturally fetch. But it requires you pump out some energy and fun.

  • Have two of the exact same ball, I promise if they are different the pup will prefer one over the other which will slow down the share part of the game.

  • First bring the ball to life, toss it up and down in your hand, bounce it on the ground, make it fun.

  • Give the ball a very short toss. With a baby pup they don’t track well so if you toss fast they might not even see where it goes so make it a slow dramatic little toss they can see.

  • If they don’t chase it, you chase it. Run and grab it yourself and play with it again. I promise your puppy will not be able to keep resisting seeing you run and they will want to beat you once they see what you keep chasing.

  • Once your puppy grabs the ball, do NOT try to take the ball away. This is what kills so many pups desire to retrieve.

  • When they start playing with the ball, you then start playing with the second ball. See in the video how I make the second ball fun and wait out when she wants to keep her ball.

  • The moment the pup lets go, they very moment they lock onto wanting the second ball, give it a toss, and again if they don’t immediately go for it, you run for it.

  • Always use two of the same ball to play fetch until your pup is easily running for the ball and racing back to you for the game.

LEAVE IT WITH THINGS ON THE GROUND

Teaching puppies how to leave things alone that are on the ground is an essential life skill. It’s an exercise I put a lot of early work on so I know I can safely hike with my dogs in the world and not have them grabbing everything they see to eat.

So after I have done the leave it work with the food in my hand like we worked on in the last module I then start to work on the pup leaving food on the ground. You will notice in these videos once I have said leave it with food on the ground they do not get to then later eat it off the ground. Leave it means permanently! Instead I will reward from my hands.

It is basically almost the same as the last exercise except the food is on the ground and I am protecting it with my other hand. This is not a good exercise to do with an older dog already exhibiting resource guarding! If you have that going on let me know so we can look at other ways to address this for you. This is actually a good exercise for preventing it if it has not yet started so I do recommend that all puppies learn a very good leave it. Now this is not a “positive” method in that I am asserting myself over this situation, however it is all done with me asserting myself over the food, not the puppy so the puppy has no reason to feel worried or threatened. And actually most puppies come understanding possession and can very quickly learn a fast leave it with anything when you invoke the canine rule of “that’s already mine” and it can actually be far less confusing than how many people teach leave it by pulling a dog away from something they want which just causes frustration and makes them try to just be faster. This method teaches a pup to look to a person as to whether something is fair game or claimed.

  • When you place the food on the ground the pup does not have to be in a sit, down or any particular position.

  • Have your hand over the food as you set it down, if they go for it, just drop your hand over the food and don’t let the pup steal any.

  • Don’t say anything, don’t scold if they go for it, just don’t let them have it.

  • When they give up trying to steal it, quickly reward with a different treat (but the same kind of food) using your other hand leaving the food on the ground.

  • Be ready, after they get the first treat they will likely then go after that food on the ground again so be ready to defend it.

  • Play this 3-4 times in a session or until you see the pup gets it and is no longer moving to the food on the ground.

  • You can add the “leave it” cue in once you see the pup gets it, that the food on the ground is off limits.

HOMEWORK: SEE IF YOU CAN GET YOUR PUPPY TO LEAVE FOOD ALONE ON THE GROUND WITH YOUR HAND NO LONGER COVERING THE FOOD FOR 3-5 SECONDS.

ROLL OVER

Another good trick to teach a puppy! Why? Because it’s very good to have a pup comfortable getting into weird positions. If you need to check their tummies for ticks, cuts, burrs you want them being comfortable rolling over for you. Getting stitches out after a spay surgery. Getting procedures like ultrasounds and other veterinary care. The more comfortable a puppy is with following your guidance into weird positions the easier cooperative care will be for them when they are older!

Roll over is so much easier with a young puppy. When they are still floppy and flexible they turn so much easier! This is all about finding the perfect lure position for the puppy to follow over.

Below are a few videos demonstrating how to teach a puppy to roll over.

It may take your several sessions to get your puppy to roll over and that’s ok! First just try to get them laying on their sides and twisting their heads following your treat.