Dog Training Fun

In honor of reader requests and a new puppy over at Jess&James', a few helpful dog training tips I've gleaned:

- First of all, note that our dogs are older. Penny was estimated at 5 years old when we adopted her two years ago, and our vet has since said that she is more likely in the 8-10 year range. The other shelter told us that Leo was about 2, and last week our sainted vet estimated him to be about 4. Puppy training is a whole other ball of wax that is best left to the help of the pros!
- That said, they both needed a fair amount of training. Some people (aka Chris) felt that any kind of training would be wasted on Penny especially, but I went ahead and signed us up for a Basic Manners class at the Methuen MSPCA. This training was useful for me more than it was for her, I think - they work with you to learn how to really have the most control over your dog as possible. The philosophy behind the 'clicker' training that they teach is positive reinforcement. No yelling, no harsh physical contact, just patience, patience, patience. I've come to be a strong believer in this idea. This is the same kind of training that Victoria Stilwell shows on 'It's Me or the Dog', where I get a lot of other ideas from. I paid $150 for eight weeks of training and plan to do it all over again with Leo in the fall. It's good socialization for the dogs and great training for me, and I love that the money all goes to support the good work that the MSPCA does.
- My biggest concerns with Penny were recall (coming when called) and barking at other dogs/bikes/buses/animate and inanimate objects of choice. Leo needs some work on general impulse control, basic commands, recall, and loose leash walking. We are lucky to have dogs who do not have fear issues that lead to aggression. For more difficult cases, 1:1 training can be helpful. A friend of mine from work suggested The Pawsitive Dog in downtown Boston, who helped her get her large-breed dog under control.
- Dog training does not have to be a huge commitment - I train in 10-15 minute chunks throughout the day. I learned at dog school that training in multiple places is helpful, so I'll do 5-10 minutes at a quiet spot during our walks in addition to the time I spend training during TV commercials. My personal favorite time to train is while I'm doing work in the kitchen - yesterday, I had Leo doing long down/stays while I was unloading the dishwasher. Positive dog training takes a massive amount of patience and I find that it is more productive if I have something to do while I wait for the behavior. This also relieves some of the pressure off the dog - I've discovered that Leo especially needs a LOT of processing time to think through what I'm asking him.
- My training treat of choice has been peanut-butter flavored Zuke's for over a year now. However, with the amount of training we do, it was becoming another meal and led to our wee ones refusing dinner. I've found that using their regular kibble (Blue Buffalo chicken&brown rice, if I may put in a plug!) works for Leo and occasionally for Penny. The Zuke's are now for high-pressure situations - for example, if we're coming across another dog while walking and I need to distract them. I'd say this works 9/10 times with Leo and 2/10 times with Penny. Our dog training instructor suggested that I carry a favorite toy of hers along with us to distract her if food doesn't work, but I have yet to come to terms with walking around with a big orange squeaky toy. Penny is notoriously uninterested in food ("every family has a kid who won't eat"), and I've found that sometimes a belly rub is even more useful than a treat. Sigh. Women are complicated.
- I find that it's helpful to start small. The first step with Leo was just recognizing his name. We would sit in front of the TV at night, call 'Leo!', and click/treat every time he looked at us when we said it. From there we moved to sit, down, 'high five', etc. Both Penny and Leo are currently working on 'spot!' which is a bathmat that I put in various places. The lesson here is that when they see the mat, they are supposed to go lay down on it until I tell them to move. With reactive dogs like ours, it's helpful for them to have a place where they can go chill if things get heated. Just yesterday they were having a jolly good time barking at dogs outside until the spot came out, at which time Leo leaped on it, laid down and waited for his click/treat. Penny is a little more sarcastic about it. She'll creep close to it and lay one paw on the rug, looking at me like, where's my cookie now, biyatch. Either way it's a great way to redirect the energy into something positive and gets them focusing on you.

(grr...can't get this to flip. Sorry!)

The behavior I'm looking for is 'lay the heck down on the mat'. To do that, I started by clicking/treating any time he stepped on the mat. Then when he sat on the mat, and finally I waited until he laid down on the mat. From there, I clicked and treated but threw the treat across the room so that he has to get up and try it again. With a higher-energy dog like Leo, this turns the training into a game. I highly suggest training with any and all dogs to strengthen your bond and give your dog something to focus on - Leo is usually exhausted after a session like this. I'm always looking for tips, too, so feel free to let me know if you've got something that works!