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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

The Power Of

POSITIVE

REINFORCEMENTS The Key To Unleashing Your Dog’s True Potential

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JEAN COTE

Copyright © 2012 Positive Training Ltd. | www.dogtrickacademy.com Visit www.dogtrickacademy.com for more amazing dog-training information, videos and training guides.

The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

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contents

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A Note From Jean Hollywood’s Little Secret Canine Freestyle Inspiration A Dog Is Truly Man’s (Or Woman’s) Best Friend Search & Rescue and Law Enforcement Dogs It’s Not Just For Dogs! Your Dog’s Deepest Desire Coming When Called

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Walking on a Loose Leash Avoiding Food Possessiveness I Love Getting Groomed! Sit, Lie Down and Stand On Command Spin, Roll Over and Figure Eight More FREE Stuff On The Way!

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A Note From Jean

The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

A Note from Jean Dear Dog Owner and Friend, I would like to personally thank you for downloading my eBook. I can remember a not-so-distant past when I was in the same shoes as you are, trying to make sense of all the different training philosophies on the Internet. No matter where I turned, or whose work I studied, there was always a conflict in the different approaches to training a dog. Some experts were strong advocates of being the “pack leader,” others believed in “corrections,” and some even in “bribery.” It was hard to know which training method was the best, and which one I should train my dog with. In the beginning, I trained the way that the experts told me to. They all seemed to have such well-behaved dogs, so I listened and did as they said because I wanted to have the same results. But it didn’t take too long before I found myself “correcting” my dog with pops on the leash (pulling sharply on the leash, which jolts the dog’s neck) anytime my dog broke a stay position or pulled on the leash. Then, to make matters worse, I had adopted the belief that my dog was trying to dominate me by jumping up or walking through the doorway before I did. Long story short, the end result was a very obedient dog. But the obedience came at the cost of having a dog who was living in constant fear: my dog didn’t want to get “corrected” or be “dominated.” Then, I asked myself this very fundamental question: “If I were a dog … how would I like to be trained?” My answer was a painful pill to swallow, which was that I wouldn’t want to be trained the way that I had

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

been training my dog. So I knew that I had to make a change—and started reading dog training books and attending seminars. What I discovered changed my life: my dog stopped living in fear and I was finally able to communicate with my dog without the use of force or corrections. What really got me thinking outside the box was reading about animal trainers that were training their dogs by using only positive reinforcements. And I mean they were the best of the best, world agility champions and movie-set dog trainers. This was a massive eye-opener for me because I had always been taught to punish my dog whenever she “did something wrong.” But positive reinforcement training is the complete opposite! I learned that, instead, I needed to reward the good behaviors and choices. So I tried it—and it worked! I fell in love with this method of training. After a few weeks of training with positive reinforcements, I noticed a difference in my dog’s behavior and how she interacted with me. Her tail would start wagging and I could tell that she was having so much fun with this type of training. Since then, my focus has been to use this new way of training to strategically teach my dog to do all sorts of neat tricks. She now can clean up her toys, fetch, play chess, jump over objects, and much more! Then I started training and competing in dog agility, and we were very successful. We’ve even won several 1st place finishes. So my goal with this eBook is to invite you to have the same experience and transformation with your dog. I’ve written this eBook to be very easy to follow and understand. Please give it a try with your dog and practice the exercises given. They will work with dogs of any breed, size or temperament. If you have any questions, concerns, or need clarification on anything that is in this eBook, you can find me on the www.dogtrickacademy.com discussion forum. Best wishes,

Jean Cote

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Hollywood’s Little Secret

The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Hollywood’s Little Secret The first movie I watched that had a dog as a main character was the movie Bingo. Even to this day, I still remember the storyline: the countless hurdles that Bingo had to overcome, and the bond that was created between Bingo and Chuckie (the two main characters). If you’ve never watched the movie, the storyline goes like this: Bingo is kicked out of the circus for being afraid of jumping through a firelit hoop. A young boy named Chuckie finds him and takes care of him. But there is one problem: Chuckie’s family is moving 1,000 miles across the country and his parents won’t allow Bingo to come with them. Chuckie tries everything to make his parents understand how important Bingo is to him. He’s the only friend that he truly has. But it all falls on deaf ears and Bingo is left alone once again. But this time, Bingo is determined to be reunited with his best friend Chuckie, and so the journey begins! In the movie, Bingo runs, gets kidnapped, rides on the roofs of cars, and does whatever it takes to get back to his friend Chuckie.

“The real challenge was when we (my family and I) brought home a crazy, destructive, fearful and energetic husky puppy “Laika” …which put my mind to work. Through the internet I learned (and I’m still learning) how to use positive reinforcements to communicate and train Laika. The best part is it’s ALWAYS fun, because you’re creating a love bond with your dog. I am enjoying EVERY training session since I know positive reinforcement training. Laika is now a super intelligent dog and every day makes me proud and shows me that we’re on the right together.”

- Tâmara & Laika

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

I never realized it at the time, but this movie had a big influence on me. When I reflect back on it, I can see that that was the moment I decided I wanted a dog, and that I wanted to be best friends with my dog. I was also amazed at how Bingo was able to do those cool tricks in the movie. Bingo can be seen doing over 130 different behaviors in the movie. He skateboards, plays video games, makes phone calls, taps out Morse code, plays chess, catches fish, gives high fives and—my personal favorite—he even does Chuckie’s math homework! What an incredible dog! But surely this dog is “special” and must be “one in a million”—right? But, as I later discovered, the dog who played Bingo was actually found in a dog pound in California. And if someone hadn’t found him there, taken care of him and trained him properly, then he would never have made it onto the movie set. So, how did they train Bingo to do all of those fancy tricks and behaviors? I can’t be a hundred percent sure because I wasn’t there, but the way that I’ve been able to reproduce the same tricks shown in the movie was by using positive reinforcement training. The trick that I loved the most in the movie was “Playing Chess.” I made a promise to myself that I would find a way to train my dog to play chess, whatever it took. I achieved this several years later with my dog, Onyx. But it wasn’t easy! I had to invest hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on dog-training classes, books and seminars. Most dog-training schools that I turned to were only designed to make the dog obedient, without ever focusing on the cool tasks that I wanted to train my dog in, like playing chess. And I didn’t quite agree with their training philosophy either. The way that they achieved an obedient dog was by correcting and dominating the dog. They had silly rules like walking ahead of your dog through a doorway, and putting the dog onto his back. This training method and philosophy didn’t produce the result that I wanted. I wanted to become best friends with my dog, and train my dog to do really cool tricks that I saw in the movies. It wasn’t until a few years later that I discovered positive reinforcement training. It seemed strange at first because it is the complete opposite of what everyone else was teaching. The fundamental difference is that

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

the dog is rewarded for good behaviors and choices … instead of being punished for the bad ones. With my first dog, Tobbie, I was naïve and followed the traditional training as previously explained. But my dog was in a constant state of fear (due to being constantly corrected). He wouldn’t fetch a ball if his life depended on it, and we never even went for a walk because he would bark at everything he saw. Although I loved Tobbie, we were far from being best friends and I was never able to teach him any cool tricks. So our relationship never grew to the level that I wanted to, and the day I moved out of my home, I left Tobbie in the good care of my sister. Sadly, I didn’t discover positive reinforcement training until later on in life when I had my second dog, Onyx. The difference was night and day. I trained Onyx to do countless tricks, including all those I had seen in the movies. And to this day we still enjoy training together! So, in this book, I’m going to spill the beans on positive reinforcement training and get you started on the right path—and also the path that will enable you to train your dog to do all those cool tricks you see in movies. Are you up for the challenge? It won’t be easy in the beginning and it will take effort and dedication. But I can promise you one thing: it will get much easier the more you practice. Until one day, you won’t even have to think about it. This is kind of like how you started driving. At first, it was very difficult and you had to focus on the road, the steering wheel, the pedals and mirrors. Now you can do it effortlessly. The same thing will happen with positive reinforcement training if you practice it enough times. Are you excited yet? If you find yourself challenged or things are not working, you can always find help at the www.dogtrickacademy.com discussion forum. There are thousands of other dog owners on there who train their dogs using positive reinforcement training.

“Positive reinforcement has really changed the way I think about dogs, and dog training. I used to be a Cesar Millan fan, but once I turned over to positive reinforcement training, I never looked back. My dog, Shivon is my best friend. I can’t imagine my life without her. We have a strong bond, which was formed thanks to positive reinforcements, love and devotion. You just can’t get that using corrections, alpha rolls, choke collars, etc. With the power of positive reinforcement training, I was able to teach Shivon obedience (such as stay, and loose-leash walking), but I was also able to teach her amazing dog tricks, like painting, playing the piano, and carrying my purse. Positive reinforcement training changed my life forever. It’s amazing what praise, treats and a little tool called a clicker can do.”

- Maya & Shivon

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Canine Freestyle Inspiration

The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Canine Freestyle Inspiration Isn’t YouTube a wonderful thing? A few years ago, I was browsing the Internet one night and stumbled upon this YouTube video of a Canine Freestyle performance on Britain’s Got Talent. If you don’t know or have never heard of Britain’s Got Talent, it’s a TV show in Britain where talented people from all walks of life compete against each other. They have singers, dancers, acrobats, magicians—and now even dogs! In this particular video, the Canine Freestyle performance was by Kate and her dog, Gin. They completed dozens of jaw-dropping tricks. Everyone in the audience was completely amazed and the judges couldn’t believe that a dog could do that.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Personally, I was totally impressed with the tricks and handling displayed by Kate and Gin—so much so that I began to train my dogs to do the same tricks as in their performance. I trained my dog to stand on her hind legs and stand tall like a human. It was really fun! But I think that when most people watch this video, they think to themselves, “This dog is great, but there’s no way that my dog could do that.” And that’s totally untrue. In fact, Kate struggled with training her dog in the beginning. She was asked to leave every dog-training club that she joined because her dog was so badly behaved. They even told her that she was never going to be able to train her dog! But what spirit Kate has! She was determined and did not give up. She decided to work hard at training Gin—and as a result, millions of people can now see her performance on YouTube and be inspired by it. This story is so inspirational! If Kate could learn how to train her dog, even after being told by the “experts” that she was a lost cause, then surely you can, too! And even if you don’t know how to train your dog yet … that’s okay! Everything begins with a thought, a desire and a vision. If your outcome is to train your dog to do really cool tricks, then there’s a way to train your dog to do them. It’s kind of funny: a while back someone had asked me on the www.dogtrickacademy.com discussion forum how they could train their dog to jump rope. With my limited imagination, I told them that it was impossible because dogs weren’t human. A few days later, another member posted a video of their dog jumping rope. My belief that it was impossible had clouded my perception of what was actually possible. I now believe that you can train a dog to do anything you want. So don’t believe it when someone tells you that you can’t train your dog—because you can!

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

A Dog Is Truly Man’s (Or Woman’s) Best Friend

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

A Dog Is Truly Man’s (Or Woman’s) Best Friend Dogs are such an incredible species! Some dogs spend their entire lives helping their human counterparts, with many dogs literally being “man’s best friend” to people with disabilities, including the blind and hard of hearing. The way that these dogs are trained is very interesting. Each dog is uniquely trained to help the individual they will be working with. For example, a dog who is going to assist a person in a wheelchair is trained to

pick up objects from the floor, whereas a dog who will be assisting a blind owner might be trained to avoid obstacles. The skills taught are always dependent on the particular disability the dog will be helping with. It can be a variety of tasks, including opening and closing doors, turning lights on and off, and even helping with the laundry.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

These dogs are trained by professionals. The trainers begin by looking at puppies and dogs who have excellent temperaments around strangers and children. Next, they evaluate how the dog reacts in various situations, including highly stressful ones. These tests are to determine the dog’s natural response, so as to make sure that the dog will be a good fit for the disabled person. Now, this does not mean that the dogs who do not pass the tests are unworthy—quite the contrary. Any dog can be trained with enough patience and determination. But because a disabled person relies heavily on their dog, it is important that these dogs be the best-tempered dogs possible, so as to avoid any problems down the line. Once the trainers find a dog who suits their high standards, they begin the training. They start with basic obedience behaviors like sit, stay, come, down, heel. They then train the disability-related tasks that the person will need, such as detecting medical problems. These dogs are trained for approximately 120 hours over the course of six months or more! And if the dog is required to do a lot of tasks, for example when helping a quadriplegic person, then it might take up to two years and $20,000 to train that particular dog. Why am I talking about service dogs? Because I want to inspire you! You can use the same training concepts practiced by these professional dog trainers to train your own dog at home. Yes, this means that you can train your dog to help with the laundry or turn the lights off if you want to! And the best part is that you can achieve this by training only for 15 to 20 minutes a day. I know that this might sound impossible, but it’s true! This is the way that I’ve trained my dogs to do their really cool tricks, and I rarely trained more than that per day. Wouldn’t it be awesome if your dog could help you around the house? I think so.

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“Does positive reinforcement training work? Yes very much so. My 2 ½ year old youngster “Ra Kismet” was recently attacked whilst out walking with me by another dog. Fortunately we both escaped physical injury but it left my boy psychologically scarred. So much so, that if he heard or saw another dog, he went into a total over-reaction tantrum to a point where all I could do was ‘hang on’. Six weeks later, Ra Kismet, with the aid of Positive Reinforcement Training is now happily trotting past dogs barking behind fences, seen or otherwise, to a point where after the occasional glance in the direction of the barking dogs, he will re-set himself, tail wagging madly and his trauma totally forgotten. All this was done on a loose lead, soft collar using click/treat. Positive Reinforcement Training is, in my opinion, the only way to train. Not only does it result in a well-mannered dog, but one who’s so happy to work with you, loves you and bonds with you in the way ‘man or woman’s best friend’ should, with complete love and loyalty.“ - Mary K Gill &

Ra Kismet

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Search & Rescue and Law Enforcement Dogs

The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Search & Rescue and Law Enforcement Dogs In my opinion, the noblest task that a dog can do involves search and rescue, police work and other specialty work like cancer detection. We’re all familiar with the classic image of a man trapped up to his neck in snow due to an avalanche and saved by a search and rescue dog. These dogs are incredible! They can find missing children and locate specific scent derived from a piece of clothing. I remember watching the television following the Haiti earthquake, and they were using search and rescue dogs to find people stuck in the rubble. These dogs were trained to walk on the rubble until they smelled someone trapped underneath. Then they would bring their handler to the spot where they had detected the person.

“When I was twelve, I found a six month old Border Collie/Lab mix. She was crazy, hyper, and everything in her path was chewed apart. I had never trained a dog or any other animal before, but I knew one thing … no one would ever lay a hand on her. I started researching how to train dogs and found some amazing videos of dogs that performed tricks and listened to their owners every command. I wanted that for Missy. She now knows sixty tricks and commands all thanks to teaching her with Positive Reinforcements!! We’ve created a really strong bond from working as a team and I’ve learned how amazing and intelligent animals are. “

-Danielle & Missy

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Some of these dogs are even trained to detect explosives. You might have seen them at the airport. They are actually highly accurate. In 1972, a dog named Brandy had successfully avoided a tragedy when she found a suitcase full of C-4 explosives at the New York City airport. But at that time, detection dogs were not normally used and it was by pure coincidence that Brandy was there for a demonstration on detecting bombs. These dogs are highly trained and they begin the training as puppies. They first train the basic obedience skills so that the dog is well behaved in a variety of locations, and then they train to detect specific smells. So, how does this relate to your dog? You can use the same training techniques used to train search and rescue dogs to train your dog to find items in your home. You could train your dog to find your lost keys or TV remote control. A few years ago, I trained my dog, Chase, to find my keys. I’d spray a little garlic juice on them to make them easier to find, and then I’d hide them all over the house. I would put them behind the bed, on the couch and on the computer desk. Chase was so excited to look for those keys. We really had a blast playing this game. These sorts of tasks can be extremely beneficial, especially if you often lose or forget your keys. The purpose is really to stimulate your dog. Dogs really depend on their noses for hunting, so you might as well use their drive for something constructive. Need help training your dog? “Find the Keys” is one of the dog training challenges over at www.dogtrickacademy.com and you are welcome to join in!

“The power of a clicker and positive reinforcement is lifechanging. It’s been called bribery by those who don’t understand. But why would I want to punish my dog for being afraid? Or punish a dog simply because they just might not understand what I want them to do? And that’s essentially what I was being asked to do. When I started treating her with the respect she so deserved, and rewarding her for all her good behavior, her whole attitude changed - much the same as happens with us as humans. The bond that has developed between my dogs and me is based on mutual respect and trust, and is deeper than one can imagine. Positive reinforcement training is the best and only way to go - our dogs deserve nothing less.”

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-Jackie & Makena

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It’s Not Just for Dogs!

The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

It’s Not Just for Dogs! Did you know that all sorts of animals can be trained? Pigeons, chickens, parrots, dolphins, whales, dogs and even cats can be trained with positive reinforcements! Recently, I saw a YouTube video of a cockatiel (a parrot) that was trained to fetch small multi-colored discs from one end of a table and bring them back to his owner. In the video description, it said that this behavior was taught in only a week by giving the parrot seeds for various “good behaviors.” The owner trained her parrot by rewarding four specific behaviors: 1) 2) 3) 4)

Nipping and biting the discs Picking up the disc Walking with the disc Putting the disc in the owner’s hand.

Each behavior was trained individually, starting with the first one. Once the parrot was successful, they moved on to the next behavior until the parrot could retrieve. Isn’t it really cool how she was able to train her parrot to fetch? It gets better!

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

A little while ago, I couldn’t believe what I had just seen… A new member had just joined the www.dogtrickacademy.com discussion forum, and she mentioned that she had trained her cat to do all sorts of tricks. I was a little skeptical, because I had always been told that cats are not trainable. To be honest, I was expecting a cheesy trick like a cat chasing a red dot, which they all do. But when she posted some videos, I was utterly amazed at what she had accomplished! Her cat had been trained to respond to the common obedience commands such as sit, down and stand. But what really impressed me was her cat doing all sorts of tricks—some that were incredibly advanced, like leapfrogging over her dog. This is such a great demonstration of the power of positive reinforcements. Her cat was more trained than most dogs will ever be. And what’s even more amazing is that this cat only had three legs! If she can train her cat to be well behaved and do tricks, surely you can do the same with your dog! Right? This story brought back memories of a trainer I used to be good friends with. She desperately wanted to go to dog-obedience school, but didn’t know how well received she would be—because she kind of had a special request that not too many students had. Her request was definitely special: she wanted to train her pig instead of a dog. And, surprisingly, she found a good and open-minded training facility that allowed her to bring her pig in for training classes. This training class focused on positive reinforcement training and, amazingly, it worked! By the end of her training, her pig was just as trained as the dogs… And she even continued her training into agility and her pig was able to complete agility courses. How amazing is that? Again, if someone can train a pig to behave, surely you can train your dog, too! It’s no secret that I’m a “seminar junkie.” I love learning and using my newfound knowledge to improve my life. I attended this one particular seminar, and the information presented was a bit of an eye-opener for me.

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“I used to be a corrective based trainer, but I slowly started changing my methods as I got into adopting special needs dogs. But one very special dog has completely changed me into a Positive Reinforcement trainer. Oliver is a street dog with serious fear-based aggression. I started out with Oliver using a mix of corrective methods and positive methods. But Ollie kept getting worse, not better. I talked to other trainers in town, and they all were telling me to keep doing what I was doing... But I knew it was wrong. Oliver certainly needed a different approach. I began joining forums, and reading books recommended to me, and have completely crossed over to the positive side. I am still working on issues that my ignorance caused with Ollie, but we are slowly overcoming his fears.” -Sara & Her Dogs Oliver, Mouse, Boo, Scout and Zoe

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

The presenter talked about how whales are trained to jump out of the water. And, to my surprise, the biggest misconception is that people believe they are trained with electric shocks. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Whales are actually trained with positive reinforcements. They are taught that if they jump out of the water and make a big splash, they will receive a delicious fish (or several). There are many ways to train a whale. One of them is by tying a rope from one end of the pool to the other. Then, the whale is given a fish each time it swims above the rope. They gradually move the rope higher and higher until the whale has no choice but to jump out of the water to go above the rope and get the fish. I think that it’s incredible how we can train such large animals simply by strategically giving positive reinforcements. And what’s really cool is that your dog can be trained the same way!

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Your Dog’s Deepest Desire

The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Your Dog’s Deepest Desire Before you can begin to train your dog, you must first find out what your dog values most. There are four primary reinforcements that you can train your dog with. These are: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Food and treats Toys and play Verbal praise Physical touch.

Now, think about your dog’s behavior and analyze his excitement to each one of these primary reinforcements. Which one of these excites your dog the most? Rate them all on a scale of 1 to 10. For example, here are my dog Onyx’s results: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Food and treats – 10/10 Toys and play – 5/10 Verbal praise – 6/10 Physical touch – 4/10.

Your results are probably going to be different from mine, and that’s perfectly okay! All this test does is tell you what you should be training your dog with. With my dog, Onyx, I would primarily use treats but would also use verbal praise as she values both. Next, you need to dive a little deeper into this primary reinforcement. Within each group, there are subcategories of reinforcements, and your dog is going to respond to each one differently. Let’s take food and treats for example. This is a very big category that could include all sorts of foods such as kibble, broccoli and steak. It helps to be specific in what your dog values, because it tells you what you should be using to train your dog. Make a list of what your dog values for each of the primary reinforcements. This can be anything from your dog’s favorite dog treat, to his favorite toy, a special word or tone of voice, or a special place that he likes to be touched.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

For example, here are my dog Onyx’s results:

Food and Praise:

1. Cooked meat like beef or chicken 2. Hot-dog sausages 3. Dry treats. Toys and Play

1. Long tug-toy made of fabric 2. Empty water bottle 3. Plush toy that squeaks.

Verbal Praise

1. “Good girl!” 2. “Yeah!” 3. “Woo-hoo!”

Physical Touch



1. Gentle touch on side of body 2. Massaging neck and ears 3. Stroking shoulder blades.

Your list is not going to be the same as mine. Every dog is unique and your dog will value different things. I even had a dog on the www.dogtrickacademy.com discussion forum who valued peas and carrots more than meat. How about that!? The positive reinforcement you choose for training your dog should ideally be consumed in less than five seconds. This is to allow you to practice numerous repetitions in a short amount of time. Let’s say that you were to give your dog a cookie each time he did something right. Then your dog would spend 30 seconds or so eating the cookie and cleaning up the crumbs, plus he would get full after only five or six cookies. So a cookie is not ideal for training. But if you were to train with pea-sized treats, then they would be eaten in less than two seconds and your dog wouldn’t even be full after five minutes of training. I have one more tip for you! Create variety in your positive reinforcements so that your training sessions don’t become boring and predictable. Train your dog with chicken one day, sausages the next, and steak the following day. You should now be ready to start training your dog! Have fun!

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Coming When Called

The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Coming When Called Did you know that the #1 problem that dog owners experience is that their dog won’t come when they want him to? So if your dog ignores you when you call his name, then you are not alone! In this training guide, I will discuss the potential reasons your dog might not be willing to come to you. Then, I will give you three simple exercises that you can practice at home that will get your dog to come running. The first thing that you must evaluate is what’s in it for your dog? Is coming to you a rewarding or painful experience? Let’s take a common scenario: A dog runs out of the front door and runs freely around the neighborhood. The owner panics and desperately tries to get the dog to come back. He tries yelling the dog’s name but the dog doesn’t respond. Then he tries yelling, “Come” and still the dog ignores him. The owner is by now fuming with anger. He walks up to his dog and yells at his dog, “Fido! Get over here!” and the dog, out of fear, finally comes to the owner. Then the owner gives him a scolding to punish the dog for running out of the door. What has the dog learned from this experience? If you look at this scenario from the dog’s point of view, you would realize that the dog was actually rewarded for running out of the front door, and punished for coming back to his owner. This means that this scenario will unfortunately happen again—and next time the owner will have an even harder time to get his dog to come to him.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Let me explain in greater detail: Imagine the dog, bored out of his mind and locked up inside the house all day. All the dog wants to do is experience a little freedom, explore the world and feel alive. So when the dog sees the front door standing wide open, he sees it as an opportunity to experience these things. And as soon as the dog runs out of the front door, that behavior is instantly rewarded. He gets to run anywhere he wants to, sniff anything he wants to … everything is rewarding to him! Why would the dog ever go back to his owner? Especially since the owner is so angry the dog knows he’s going to get punished once he comes back. The dog will weigh up both options, and the one that is most rewarding will win every time. So the dog weighs up: running free and feeling alive—or returning to the owner and getting scolded. That’s a nobrainer for most dogs. The owner in this scenario is well intentioned: he wanted to “punish” the dog for running out of the front door so that it never happens again. But all the dog understands is that coming back to him is a painful experience. By understanding the power of positive reinforcements, you can analyze situations and see what reinforces your dog. This is an invaluable tool that you must master to become a great trainer. What could the owner have done differently? Ideally, you would want to prevent this behavior by training the dog to remain indoors. But new dogowners might not be prepared or have the experience to train this before it happens. So, here’s what I would do if I were in the shoes of the owner: Assuming that they lived in a residential area with cars driving regularly, I would have no choice but to go after the dog. But here’s what I would do differently: I would not get angry; I would entice the dog to come to me and sound exciting. This way, the dog would see that coming to me is something pleasurable. I would even give the dog a treat for coming to me—if I didn’t have one, I’d bring the dog home and give him a treat. But afterwards, I would immediately start training the dog to stay indoors when the door is open. I would do this by rewarding the dog for making the good choice of remaining inside the house. And I would do it very slowly and incrementally, like this:

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1) First, I would open the door slightly and analyze the dog’s behavior. If the dog remained calm and focused on me, then I’d throw him a treat.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote



2) Then, I would continue to reward the dog for remaining calmly inside the house while I slowly opened the door until it was fully open. I would also keep a hand on the handle so that I could quickly close it in the event that he decided to run outside.



3) Finally, I would challenge the dog by making it enticing to run outside, while continuing to reward his good choice of staying calmly inside the house. I would walk outside and out of view for a few seconds, or throw a toy outside and reward the behavior of staying inside.



By practicing this training game with your dog, you’ll be teaching him that it is much more pleasurable to stay inside the house as opposed to running out of the front door. Plus, it will be extremely beneficial when you bring in groceries or anytime you need the door open for a while. You can even continue building on this training game! You can add a “break” command to let your dog know that he’s allowed to go outside. But make sure that you reward him when he comes back inside so that he still sees value in being inside the house. Below are some easy exercises that you can practice with your dog. They are the same exercises that I’ve used to train my dog to come on command.

Recall Exercise #1: The Boomerang Requirements:

• A helper • Your dog’s primary reinforcement.

Description: The purpose of this exercise is to teach your dog to come to you upon hearing his name or the command “Come,” and that coming to you is rewarding. Set-Up: Pick a large room in your home that is not distracting to your dog. Stand about six to eight feet away from your helper, so that your dog can run back and forth between the two of you.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Exercise: 1. Have your dog’s primary reinforcement in your hands or ready to give it once your dog gets to you. 2. Begin the exercise by asking your helper to hold your dog. Then call your dog’s name and entice your dog to come to you. (You can alternatively use the command “Come.”) 3. As soon as your dog gets to you, immediately give him the positive reinforcement. 4. Now it’s your helper’s turn. Ask your helper to call your dog’s name and to give him a positive reinforce ment once the dog gets to him. Step-1

Step-2

Step-3

Step-4

Summary: Practice this exercise a dozen of times or so every day for a week. You’ll instantly see a difference in your dog’s response to his name—I guarantee it!

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Recall Exercise #2: The Rocket Launch Requirements:

• A helper • A large outdoor area • Your dog’s primary reinforcement.

Description: The purpose of this drill is to build your dog’s drive to come to you—so that your dog comes running as fast as possible! Set-Up: Find a large outdoor area where you can train your dog off-leash, like a backyard or a fenced-in park that has no distractions nearby (including other dogs). Instruct your helper to hold on to your dog until you call your dog’s name or say the “Come” command. A practical way for your helper to hold your dog is by holding the chest area, so that the dog can look at you as you walk away from him (see picture). Exercise: 1. Begin this exercise by asking your helper to hold your dog while you walk about eight feet away. Then, try to entice your dog to come to you using your voice. You can do that by saying, “Are you ready?” “Want to do something fun?” in an exciting and cheerful tone of voice. But do not say your dog’s name or the “Come” command, as this will be the release word. 2. Once your dog is focused entirely on you, say your dog’s name or the “Come” command. And as you say it, your helper should immediately let go of your dog. This will result in your dog coming to you much faster than usual. 3. As soon as your dog gets to you, immediately give him the positive reinforcement. 4. Now it’s your helper’s turn. Ask your helper to call your dog’s name and to give him a positive reinforce ment once the dog gets to him.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Tip: To build even more drive, wait until your dog gets halfway to you, then immediately turn around and run away from your dog. This will trigger your dog’s chasing instinct and your dog will now run as fast as he can to get to you. Summary: This is my favorite exercise! I practice it with my dogs all the time when I am at the park or when I notice that my dog is walking too far ahead of me. It really makes training fun, too!

Recall Exercise #3: The Right Choice Requirements:

• A helper • Some distracting objects • Your dog’s primary reinforcement.

Description: The purpose of this drill is to teach your dog to come to you even if there are distractions, and that coming to you is more pleasurable than investigating the distractions. Set-Up: Pick a large area where you can train your dog. It can be either inside or outside—you won’t have to run in this exercise so it can be done in a smaller area than the previous drill. But you will need to have a minimum of eight feet between you and your helper. Exercise: 1. Begin this exercise by placing some distracting objects on the floor between you and your helper.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Make it easy for your dog to be successful. Start by placing ‘boring’ distractions like a shoe or newspaper, then, as your dog learns to ignore those, place more distracting objects like toys and treats. 2. Ask your helper to hold your dog. Then call your dog’s name and entice your dog to come to you. (You can alternatively use the command “Come.”) 3. As soon as your dog gets to you, immediately give him the positive reinforcement. 4. Now it’s your helper’s turn. Ask your helper to call your dog’s name and to give him a positive reinforce ment once he gets to him.

Tip:

Step-1

Step-2

Step-3

Step-4

If your dog stops at the distracting object, it means that your dog has made the wrong choice so you should not give your dog any positive reinforcement. Then, move the distracting object further away from the line between you and your helper. If your dog goes out of his way to get the distracting object, then you will need to remove it and use a less distracting object. Summary: Your dog will come after practicing the first two exercises, but he most likely won’t do so in a highly distracting environment. So please practice this exercise—it could save your dog’s life one day.

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Walking on a Loose Leash

The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Walking on a Loose Leash Talk about ironic. Just before I wrote this chapter, I went to the pool store to purchase some cleaning supplies. And on my way there, I noticed a young girl walking her dog. They looked like the perfect fit for each other, but there was one problem: her dog was completely dragging her around. Her retractable leash was fully extended and her dog was a good 10–15 feet ahead of her. It was almost like a scene out of a movie, the girl almost having to run to keep up with her dog. I wished that I could have helped her. Hopefully she will read this eBook. Although this story may seem “extreme,” is it unfortunately a big problem for many dog owners. Their dog learns early on that pulling on the leash is an acceptable behavior, and when it’s left unchecked, it turns into a really nasty habit.

The solution is simple. But first, let’s analyze why your dog wants to pull on the leash. The “traditional” dog trainer will tell you that your dog is pulling on the leash because your dog doesn’t respect you as a pack leader, or that your dog is trying to dominate you. And that the solution is to correct him with pops on the leash… But that is all nonsense!

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

The truth is … your dog is getting reinforced for pulling on the leash! That’s right—your dog wants to explore the world, smell new things, meet strangers and meet other dogs. But if your dog is allowed to pull on the leash to get to those things, then the behavior of pulling is reinforced by getting to those things. Remember, a positive reinforcement can be anything that your dog values. So, for example, if your dog values meeting another dog, then getting to meet that dog can be deemed a positive reinforcement. Thus, if your dog pulls on the leash to get to another dog, then the behavior of pulling is rewarded by meeting that dog. So, what can be done about it? There are two things that you can do to prevent your dog from pulling on the leash. First, you must limit access to anything that might reinforce your dog in the behavior of pulling. This means that you will have to stop walking whenever your dog pulls, or that you go in the opposite direction. Second, you must reward your dog for the behavior that you want—which is walking nicely with you on the leash without pulling. You can easily tell your dog, “Good dog!” or give him a treat while he’s walking nicely with you. The following exercise is designed to teach your dog not to pull on the leash. It will work with any type of dog, regardless of size or breed. However, if your dog has developed a habit of pulling on the leash, then it will take longer to get your dog to stop pulling.

Loose Leash Exercise: The U-Turn Requirements: • A six-foot leash (non-retractable) • A flat-buckle collar on your dog • Your dog’s primary reinforcement.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Description: The purpose of this exercise is to teach your dog to become aware of the pressure on his collar and to determine whether the leash is tight or loose. This will also teach him that pulling does not get him closer to where he wants to go. Set-Up: You will need to practice this exercise in a very large outdoor area like a park, a parking lot or a large yard— somewhere you have lots of room to walk around and won’t be bothered by anyone. Exercise: 1. Once you are at the park, make sure that you hold your leash by the handle so that your dog has lots of room to move ahead of you if he chooses to. But as soon as your dog pulls, you must immediately turn in the opposite direction. 2. After a few repetitions, your dog will begin to walk nicely on the leash. Give your dog a positive reinforcement for walking nicely with you. Tip: Once you are able to easily walk your dog in a large park area, practice this same exercise on the sidewalk and where there are distractions nearby.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

A more advanced technique: If you want to challenge your training skills, only reward your dog when he is in the reinforcement zone (see attached diagram). Try to visualize a straight line going from your left all the way to your right. Anything that is behind this line is what is called the reinforcement zone. This means that your dog is only given a positive reinforcement when he is behind this line. Tip: To keep your dog in the reinforcement zone, hold your positive reinforcement near to or on your hip before giving it to your dog. This way, he won’t go in front of you. Summary: Although this is an advanced training technique, it is highly beneficial if you plan to do agility or obedience trials in the future, as your dog can clearly see your body language and hand signals.

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Avoiding Food Possessiveness

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Avoiding Food Possessiveness The first dog we got as a family was an off-white Lhasa apso named Tobbie. He was an extremely energetic and loyal dog, but unfortunately we had no clue what we were doing in terms of training. So we did things that resulted in Tobbie guarding his food from us. If we got too close to his food bowl, he would stop eating and growl at us. And if we tried to take it away from him, he would literally bite us. Although it would be easy to blame Tobbie for this behavior, my family unknowingly did some things that encouraged the behavior, while at the same time we did nothing to prevent it from becoming worse. As a child, I would bug and pet Tobbie while he was eating. Now, anyone with any basic understanding of dog training will tell you that this is a very bad idea, but my family didn’t know. Can you imagine a worse scenario than this? Actually, we did many things wrong! The worst thing that we did was give Tobbie table food while we ate so that he would stop whining. Little did we know that this was actually reinforcing the behavior! These mistakes were of our own doing, and it wouldn’t be until a few years later that I realized how my actions impacted Tobbie’s behavior. Then I learned all about conditioning and counter-conditioning, and I practiced some simple exercises with my second dog. The difference was night and day. I went from having a dog who would growl at me, to being able to put my hand in my dog’s food bowl while she was eating (yes, I’ve actually tried this!). What exactly did I do in the exercises?

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

I created a positive association to being near the food bowl. I gave my dog something incredibly delicious, even more so than what she was eating so that she would see me as someone who adds value to her food bowl, not someone who takes it away. Below, you will find the exercise that I practiced with my dog. Practice it on a daily basis even if your dog hasn’t shown any signs of food possessiveness. It’s much easier to prevent a problem from occurring than to have to deal with it once it becomes a habit. And if you have a puppy, this is the perfect time to do this exercise as the conditioning will last him a lifetime! CAUTION: During this exercise, you must be alert and visually attentive to your dog’s responses. Be careful and if you see your dog showing his teeth, growling, lunging or trying to bite you, you should immediately stop this exercise and seek professional help. Although this exercise has proven to be extremely beneficial for my dogs, I am in no way responsible if your dog bites or injures you.

Food Possessiveness Exercise: Just Delicious! Requirements:

• Your dog’s regular meal • Highly desirable food or treats.

Description: The purpose of this exercise is to associate pleasure to you being near your dog’s food during mealtime, or while he is eating. Set-up: You will need to practice this exercise while your dog is eating from his bowl. Exercise: 1. To begin this exercise, you will first need to give your dog his regular portioned meal. It can be either breakfast or dinner.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

2. While your dog is eating, walk towards your dog and drop a highly desirable food or treat inside his bowl. It can be steak, chicken, cheese or anything that your dog would see as more valuable than his current meal.

By Jean Cote

Step-1

3. Practice this exercise for a few days. Then, once your dog be comes more comfortable with you being near him while he’s eating, you can begin to touch his body while at the same time put the higher valued food into his food bowl. Tip: The goal of this exercise is to change your dog’s perspective about you being near his food. Food is a scarce resource in the wild and dogs will protect it. But with this exercise, you will be training your dog that good things happen when you are near his food. For advanced trainers: Once your dog is comfortable with you being near his food, you can pick up your dog’s bowl and add the highly desirable food or treats inside. This way, when you give it back to your dog, it will be better and tastier! Possessiveness over toys and bones:

Step-2

This same concept can be applied to possessiveness over toys and bones. The only difference is that you must give your dog something of extreme value (that is more valuable than the toy or bone) as you take it away. And I recommend that you give your dog his toy or bone again once he’s eaten the delicious treat. This is a win-win situation for your dog: he gets to eat a delicious treat and he gets his toy or bone back—what a great deal! Important: Be patient with your dog! You should only work at your dog’s current comfort level. If your dog shows signs of discomfort, then stop there. Throw a few treats in his direction and continue to work at that level until your dog accepts you coming closer.

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I Love Getting Groomed!

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

I Love Getting Groomed! In the last chapter, I introduced you to our first family dog, Tobbie. He was quite the adventurous little dog and he loved getting dirty. But the problem is that Tobbie hated being groomed. In fact, trimming his nails was a huge struggle and you’d never know when he was going to snap and bite you. It was so bad, that we couldn’t even bring him to the groomer without worrying about what might happen. His aggressive behavior diminished greatly once we started to exercise him daily. But his distaste for being groomed, touched and handled remained. What we did was “bribe” him with treats while we groomed him. But we had to be quick because as soon as the food was gone, the bad behavior returned. My original instinct to use food was correct, but my understanding and application of positive reinforcements was wrong. I was giving the food at the wrong time, and sometimes I’d even give the food right after Tobbie’s bad behavior. This actually reinforced the bad behavior! What I did with my second dog was to use the food to reinforce the behavior of being calm and accepting of my touch. She would only receive the treat if she was in a peaceful and calm state of mind. Did it work? Absolutely! My dogs now love being groomed! And I’m not exaggerating—one of my dogs will actually jump up on the grooming table to be brushed. This is solely due to the fact that I created a positive association to being touched and groomed.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Will this work with any dog? Yes! I’ve successfully used this training concept with an older dog, about ten years old, to overcome her fear of being petted on the head. For some reason, she was fearful of anyone touching her on the head. I suspect that her previous owner might have hit her. I practiced the exercise below for one week. The results were remarkable! She was allowing me to touch her anywhere on her body, including her head and ears! So if your dog is not enthusiastic about being touched, groomed or examined, then you will love this exercise! And if you have a puppy, this will be even better because the conditioning that you do now will last a lifetime! CAUTION: During this exercise, you must be alert and visually attentive to your dog’s responses. Be careful and if you see your dog showing his teeth, growling, lunging or trying to bite you, you should immediately stop this exercise and seek professional help. Although these exercises have proven to be extremely beneficial for my dogs, I am in no way responsible if your dog bites or injures you.

Grooming Exercise #1: I Love Your Touch Requirements: •Highly desirable food or treats. Description: The purpose of this exercise is to create a positive association to your touch, so that you can touch any part of your dog’s body. This is essential to being able to groom your dog. Set-Up: Ideally, you should exercise your dog with a walk or a hike before practicing this exercise. This will make your dog calmer and it will be easier to train him.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

Exercise:

By Jean Cote

Step-1

1. Begin this exercise with your dog in a standing or sitting po sition. You will also want to have your treats ready in one hand while leaving your other hand free to touch your dog. 2. Touch your dog in an area with which he is comfortable, like his back, side or neck. As soon as you feel your dog’s fur, imme diately give your dog a treat. This simple exercise will teach your dog that the sensation of being touched equals getting a treat, which is a pleasant experience. 3. As your dog becomes comfortable with your touch, you can gradually move to more sensitive areas like his head, nose, lips, paws, tail, etc. Analyze your dog’s response to your touch. If your dog is uncomfortable or showing signs of stress when being touched in a specific area (like licking his lips, yawning, tail between the legs), then work around that area for a few days until your dog can accept your touch there. Remember, this type of training takes time and requires patience. Tip:

Step-2 To make this exercise more efficient, bring a treat to the same hand you’ve touched your dog with before giving it to your dog. This will increase the value for him of your hand being near his body and touching him (see attached pictures for clarification).

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Grooming Exercise #2: The Grooming Experience Requirements: • •

A grooming brush Highly desirable food or treats.

Step-1

Description: The purpose of this exercise is to create a positive association to the sight and feeling of a grooming brush. This will make your grooming sessions much more enjoyable as your dog will see the brush as something pleasant. Set-Up: Practice “Grooming Exercise #1” for two minutes before attempting this one. This will make your dog calmer and more at ease. You should also place your dog on a grooming table or wherever you are planning to groom him on a regular basis. Exercise: 1. Begin this exercise by placing the brush directly against your dog’s fur. It can be anywhere on your dog but ideally in a location that he enjoys or doesn’t mind. 2. As soon as your brush touches your dog’s fur, immediately give your dog a treat. This simple exercise will teach your dog to associate the sensation of the brush with receiving a treat, which is a pleasant experience.

Step-2

3. Once your dog is calm and relaxed with the sensation of the brush, stroke your dog’s fur once with the brush and then immediately give him a treat. Continue practicing this exercise until your dog is comfortable with you brushing every part of his body.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Tip: As your dog begins to enjoy being brushed (due to the treats being given), you can increase the amount of brush strokes for every treat that you give. You could stroke your dog two, three or four times before giving him a treat. Summary: I know that this exercise is time-consuming, but the results are well worth it! The time that you spend now will give you a dog who enjoys being groomed.

Grooming Exercise #3: The Evil Nail Clipper Requirements: • A helper • A nail clipper • Highly desirable food or treats. Description: The purpose of this exercise is to create a positive association to the sight and sensation of clipping your dog’s nails. This is such a great exercise to practice with your dog, because once this is trained correctly, trimming your dog’s nails will be no big deal. Set-Up: Since you will have both hands tied up with your dog’s paw and nail clippers, your helper will be in charge of giving your dog a treat at the right moment. Let your helper read these instructions. Exercise: 1. Begin this exercise by picking up your dog’s paw with one hand, and placing the nail clippers adjacent to the paw with your other hand. The goal is get your dog to feel the nail clippers without trimming any nails yet. As soon as the nail clippers are touching your dog’s paw, your helper should immediately give your dog a treat.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Step-1 Practice this simple exercise with all four paws, and don’t proceed further until a day or two later. 2. Once your dog is comfortable with seeing and feeling the nail clippers, the next step is to actually trim one of your dog’s nails. Begin by picking up one of your dog’s paws with one hand, and trimming a nail with the nail clippers with your other hand. Each time a nail has been clipped, your helper should immediately give your dog a treat. Be very careful not to be quick in this exercise—you want to make this as pleasant as possible for your dog. Cut off small slivers of nails in the beginning for training purposes. Tip: You don’t have to trim all of your dog’s nails all at once! The objective is to make trimming your dog’s nails a pleasant experience for your dog. So if your dog is becoming anxious or nervous, let him go and continue this exercise a few hours later. Summary:

Step-2

This might be another time-consuming exercise, but the conditioning that you do now will pay off later, when you will be able to trim your dog’s nails with ease.

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Sit, Lie Down and Stand On Command!

The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Sit, Lie Down and Stand On Command! Training your dog to respond to the basic obedience commands is extremely beneficial for numerous reasons. Personally, I use the basic obedience behaviors like “Sit” and “Down” to control my dog in highly distracting environments and dangerous situations. For example, I always get my dog to sit before going outside or exiting a vehicle. And if there is another dog nearby, I can get my dog to sit quietly while she watches him walk by. But if this doesn’t convince you to train the basics, this should: by mastering the basics, you will be laying

the foundations for training more advanced behaviors. Because what you really learn while training the basics is the mechanism of behavior conditioning. In practical terms, training your dog to do a fancy trick such as “Spin” is done using the same techniques as for the basic obedience behaviors.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Are you ready to start training your dog? There are two ways that you can teach your dog the basic obedience behaviors. You can capture it by waiting for your dog to do it and reward it with a positive reinforcement. Or, you can lure the dog into the position by using a piece of food. Both of these training techniques will work. The capturing method might take a while to get your dog to offer all three behaviors, but if you are patient then this will work. I personally prefer the luring technique and I focus my training guides on this training method. The only drawback to luring is that it will only work if your dog is food-motivated. If your dog has no interest in food, then you will have to use the capturing method. Some more advanced training techniques like shaping and targeting could be used, but because of their complexity, I cannot discuss them in length in this eBook. Your dog’s irresistible treats! Before you begin the exercises below, it is extremely important that you first find a food or treat that your dog really loves. It must be something that excites your dog to the point where he would do anything to get it. It can be anything he loves—chicken, sausages, beef, liver, etc.

Obedience Behavior #1: The Sit Requirements: • Highly desirable food or treats. Description: The purpose of this exercise is to familiarize yourself and your dog with the luring technique by getting your dog in the “Sit” position. Set-Up: Find a non-distracting environment where your dog can focus entirely on you without getting interrupted or distracted. It can be anywhere—for example, your living room, your basement or your bedroom.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Exercise: 1. Begin this exercise by holding a treat in front of your dog’s nose. But do not let your dog eat the treat until he is in the “Sit” position. 2. Next, move your treat upwards and forwards so that your hand moves towards your dog’s eyes and ears. 3. When you move the treat in this manner, your dog will have no choice but to “Sit” in order to follow the treat. This gives you the opportunity to reinforce the behavior of sitting. So as soon as your dog sits, im mediately release the treat and let your dog eat it. 4. Once your dog has mastered your lure and is easily lured into the sit position, you may want to add a “Sit” command. You can do this by saying it one second before you lure your dog into the position. Here’s a summary of each step that you must do: Step 1: Say the command, “Sit.” Step 2: Lure your dog into the sit position. Step 3: Release the treat. Step-1

Step-2

Step-3

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Tip: In order for this training technique to work properly, you must have precise timing. This means that each step must take place within one second of the previous one. Command Only: It may take your dog a week or two before he can perform the behavior without you having to lure him. This is normal and it’s just a matter of repetitions. So keep practicing! If your dog is really not “getting it,” then come to the www.dogtrickacademy.com discussion forum and we will help you.

Obedience Behavior #2: The Down Requirements: • Highly desirable food or treats. Description: The purpose of this exercise is to familiarize yourself and your dog with the luring technique and to teach your dog the “Down” position. Set-Up: You can train this behavior with your dog starting from either a sitting or standing position. But I personally find it easier to begin from a sitting position Exercise: 1. Begin this exercise by holding a treat in front of your dog’s nose. But do not let your dog eat the treat until he is in the “Down” position 2. Next, move your treat downwards so that your hand moves towards the middle of your dog’s front legs. 3. When you move the treat in this manner, your dog will have no choice but to “Lie down” in order to follow the treat. This gives you the opportunity to reinforce the behavior of lying down. So as soon as your dog lies down, immediately release the treat and let your dog eat it. If your dog has trouble following the lure, try releasing it halfway down and gradually move it lower until

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

you can get your dog into the down position. And if you have a small dog, you may want to practice by the edge of stairs, so that you can move your lure lower than your dog. 4. Once your dog has mastered your lure and is easily lured into the down position, you may want to add a “Down” command. You can do this by saying it one second before you lure your dog into the position. Step 1: Say the command “Down.” Step 2: Lure your dog into the down position. Step 3: Release the treat.

Tip:

Step-1

Step-2

Step-3

Step-4

Once your dog has mastered both the sit and down behaviors, you can easily alternate between the two— but be sure to give your dog a treat for each behavior! Command Only: It may take your dog a week or two before he can perform the behavior without you having to lure him. This is normal and it’s just a case of repetition. So keep practicing! If your dog is really not “getting it,” then come to the www.dogtrickacademy.com discussion forum and we will help you.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Obedience Behavior #3: The Stand Requirements:

• Highly desirable food or treats

Description: The purpose of this exercise is to familiarize yourself and your dog with the luring technique and to teach your dog the “Stand” position. Set-Up: You can train this behavior with your dog starting from either a sitting or down position. But I personally find it easier to begin from a sitting position Exercise: 1. Begin this exercise by holding a treat in front of your dog’s nose. But do not let your dog eat the treat until he is in the “Stand” position 2. Next, move your treat backwards towards you so that your hand moves away from your dog. 3. When you move the treat in this manner, your dog will have no choice but to “Stand” in order to follow the treat. This gives you the opportunity to reinforce the behavior of standing. Make sure that you move your lure just enough so that your dog’s hind legs are straightened. Be careful not to lure your dog too far, as you would then be rewarding your dog for walking instead of standing. 4. Once your dog has mastered your lure, and is easily lured into the stand position, you may want to add a “Stand” command. You can do this by saying it one second before you lure your dog into the position. Step 1: Say the command “Stand.” Step 2: Lure your dog into the stand position. Step 3: Release the treat.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Step-1

Step-2

Step-3

Tip: A really fun game to challenge your dog is to alternate randomly between all three behaviors. So you could do: “Sit, Down, Stand” and then do “Down, Stand, Sit.” There are actually 27 different combinations! Try it—but make sure that you give your dog a treat after each one. Command Only: It may take your dog a week or two before he can perform the behavior without you having to lure him. This is normal and it’s just a matter of repetitions. So keep practicing! If your dog is really not “getting it,” then come to the www.dogtrickacademy.com discussion forum and we will help you.

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Spin, Roll Over and Figure Eight!

The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Spin, Roll Over and Figure Eight! What really got me interested in dog training was the desire to train my dog to do tricks. And once I was able to train my dog to do a trick, I was instantly hooked! I remember the first trick that I taught my dog was, “Shake a paw.” Although very basic in nature, it was the coolest thing to me. And this developed into all sorts of tricks like “Jumping into my arms” and “Clean up your toys.” There’s nothing quite like having guests over and seeing how amazed they are when my dogs perform the tricks. The one trick that everybody loves is “Shy,” which is my Siberian Husky touching her nose with one of her paws. It’s extremely cute! In this chapter, I will give you some training guides that you can use to train your dog to do tricks. These tricks are not complicated and any dog can do them. Plus, you’ll be using the same luring technique as described in the obedience training from the previous chapter. If your dog has not mastered the basic obedience behaviors from the previous chapter, I recommend that you do that first. These tricks are slightly more difficult to train and will require a good understanding of luring before you proceed. Also, some tricks will require your dog to be able to sit or lie down. For example, your dog must first be able to lie down before you can train him to, “Roll over.” Okay, let’s get started! First, be sure to have some highly desirable food or treats that your dog really loves. It must be something that excites your dog to the point where he would do anything to get it. It can be anything he loves—chicken, sausages, beef, liver, etc.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Trick #1: The Spin Requirements:

• Highly desirable food or treats.

Description: The purpose of this exercise is to teach your dog to “Spin” in a circle numerous times. Set-Up: Find a quiet and non-distracting environment so that your dog can focus entirely on you. Exercise: 1. Begin this exercise by holding a treat in front of your dog’s nose. But do not let your dog eat the treat until he completes the criteria described below. 2. Next, move your treat in a semicircle, going to the right. If you can imagine a circle around your dog, you will want to move your treat starting from your dog’s nose to your dog’s tail or rear end. This way, your dog will be doing a half circle while following the lure. As soon as your dog completes the half circle, immediately let go of the treat. This will reinforce your dog in this behavior. 3. As your dog becomes comfortable following the lure in this manner, you can then move the lure in a complete circle. If you do this correctly, your dog should then do a complete circle. Again, immediately let go of your treat once your dog turns around. 4. Practice the previous two exercises until your dog fully masters them and can do them effortlessly. The next step is a little more challenging: it requires that you lure your dog in two or more circles before you release the treat. First, begin by training your dog to complete one circle. Then, once your dog can do it easily, move your lure in a circle twice in a row before releasing the treat. You can incrementally make it more challenging until your dog is doing four or five turns before you release the treat.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Step-1

Step-2

Step-3

Step-4

Step-5 5. If you want to associate a command to the behavior of spinning, then you will need to say your com mand, “Spin” one second before you lure your dog into the position. Step 1: Say the command “Spin.” Step 2: Lure your dog to spin two or three turns. Step 3: Release the treat. Please be patient—it may require a week or two before your dog will respond to the “Spin” command without having to lure him.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Trick #2: The Roll Over Requirements: • Highly desirable food or treats. Description: The purpose of this exercise is to teach your dog to “Roll over” numerous times. Set-Up: It would be ideal if you could train on a soft surface like carpet or a grass area, as a hard floor might not be comfortable for your dog’s back. Exercise: 1. Begin this exercise by placing your dog in a down position. Hold a treat in front of your dog’s nose, but do not let him eat it until he completes the criteria described below. 2. Next, move your lure to your right and towards your dog’s shoulder so that your dog has to look side ways to follow the treat. Your dog should remain in a down position for this. Once your dog has followed the lure and is looking towards his back, immediately let go of the treat. This is an uncomfortable position for your dog, so you want to build value in being in this position by giving positive reinforcements. 3. As your dog becomes comfortable following the lure in this manner, you can then move the lure further until your dog drops onto his side. Immediately let go of your treat once your dog is on his side. 4. The biggest challenge in teaching the roll over is to get your dog to roll onto his back. Some dogs really don’t like the feeling of rolling on their back, so you will need to make sure that you give your positive reinforcement with lots of praise as soon as your dog completes his first roll over. An easy way to get your dog to “Roll over” is to do the exercise as described above, but with momentum. What I mean by this is if you move your lure quickly towards your dog’s shoulder, and if he follows it with enough momentum, he will have no choice but to roll over.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Step-1

Step-2

Step-3

Step-4

Step-5 5. If you want to associate a command to the behavior of rolling over, then you will need to say your com mand, “Roll over” one second before you lure your dog. Step 1: Say the command “Roll over.” Step 2: Lure your dog to roll over. Step 3: Release the treat. Tip: In order for the command to be properly conditioned, you must have precise timing. This means that each step must take place within one second of the previous one.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Trick #3: The Figure Eight Requirements: • Highly desirable food or treats. Description: The purpose of this exercise is to teach your dog to “Figure eight” in and out of your legs. Set-Up: Find a location with a non-slippery surface like carpet, grass or asphalt. Training your dog on a hardwood or ceramic floor might be slippery for your dog. Exercise: 1. Begin this exercise by placing a treat in both of your hands. Hold your right hand in front of your dog’s nose, but do not let him eat it until he completes the criteria described below. Place your left hand behind you and between your legs. Lure your dog towards the middle of your legs and wiggle your left hand until your dog notices that you have a treat in it. Once he sniffs your left hand, immediately let go of the treat and let him eat it (see pictures). The goal of this exercise is to get your dog to follow the lure in your right hand, and to notice that there is food in your left hand. 2. Next, you will want to do the same exercise as above, but this time once your dog has noticed the treat in your left hand, you will want to move your hand around your leg. As soon as your dog goes around your leg, immediately let go of the treat (see picture). 3. The final step of this exercise is to continue the lure to the other side. You would begin the same way as above, but after your dog is lured around your leg, you would continue luring him with your right hand around your other leg. This will result in your dog doing a complete figure eight in and out of your legs. 4. Associating a command to this behavior is a little challenging because most dogs rely heavily on visual signals to do this trick. What I recommend instead is that you teach your dog to follow hand signals as opposed to a verbal command.

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The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

Step-1

Step-2

Step-3

Step-4

Step-5

Step-6

This can be accomplished by luring your dog two or three times in a row, then repeating the action without food in your hand. This way, your dog won’t know whether there’s food in your hand or not. And once your dog has completed the “figure eight” behavior, you grab a treat from your pocket and give it to him.

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More FREE Stuff On The Way!

The Power of POSITIVE Reinforcements

By Jean Cote

More FREE Stuff On The Way! Exciting news! Because you’ve taken a leap of faith and trusted me with your e-mail address, I will send you more free training guides, videos and presentations as soon as they are completed. If you’ve downloaded this eBook anywhere other than www.dogtrickacademy.com, or if someone has given you this eBook, simply go to my website and enter your e-mail address to download this eBook again. This will give me permission to send you more amazing free dog-training stuff. In the near future, I plan on expanding these training guides to include more advanced training concepts like clicker training, shaping and targeting. So be on the lookout for my e-mails! Thank you! I want to personally thank you for downloading and reading my eBook. It has been a wonderful experience writing it and I am grateful for the opportunity to help. If this eBook has helped you in any way, shape or form, I would love to hear from you or to read about your successes. Best wishes,

Jean Cote

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