How to Get Your Puppy Used to a Collar

August 22, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Training a Puppy to Wear a Collar in One Week

Puppy Doesn't Like His Collar — ChrisLeRoy/iStock

Puppies aren’t born wearing collars, so when a collar is first fastened around a puppy’s little neck, it can feel strange for her. Most puppies will bite, scratch, turn circles or refuse to walk while wearing a collar. This is totally normal behavior. As pet owners, it’s our job to train a puppy to wear a collar.

How to Teach Your Puppy to Wear a Collar

Once your puppy is home, it’s time to teach her that wearing a puppy training collar makes good things happen. Move slowly and reward your puppy often while she’s wearing a collar.

Choose the Right Puppy Collar

Puppies should wear an expandable flat buckle collar without tags at first. ID tags can be a bit distracting, as most puppies will mouth or paw at the dangling bits of metal clanging under their chins. They’re simply too distracting for an inquisitive puppy. After a week of your puppy successfully wearing her collar, then you can add ID tags.

Puppies, or all dogs really, shouldn’t wear choke chains, cloth slip collars or prong collars. They need a flat buckle collar. Harnesses are OK too, but make sure the straps don’t rub against your puppy’s skin, apply pressure to your puppy’s neck or restrict her movement.

Give Her a Food Stuffed Toy

Before introducing a collar or harness to your puppy, fill a toy with food and freeze overnight. Now, fasten your puppy’s collar in place and immediately give her the food stuffed toy to enjoy while she’s wearing her collar.

Once she’s emptied all the food from the toy, remove her collar and toy and place both up high, so she can’t reach it. Practice this several times a day. Feel free to stuff your puppy’s regular meals inside of a food toy for additional practice sessions. By pairing good things with the sensation of wearing a collar, your puppy learns that collars are harmless and pretty darn fun.

Puppy Doesn’t Like Her Collar?

If your puppy starts pawing or scratching her collar, distract her by playing a 1-2 minute game of “touch.” Distracting her without saying “stop” or “no” gives your puppy something else to do instead of worrying about the collar on her neck.

Learn how to teach the “touch” behavior in the video below. This dog training game is easy to teach and extremely useful in many different situations. The “touch” behavior is vital—so much so that it’s the first behavior I teach during dog training classes or private lessons.

WATCH: Teach Your Puppy the “Touch” Cue

https://youtu.be/d-spTywRXEo

Teach Collar Pressure = Treats

Once your puppy is completely comfortable with the sensation of a collar, it’s time to teach her that collar pressure makes treats happen. Collar pressure can cause a puppy to freak out because she may not be used to feeling pressure against her neck, which limits her movement.

Collars can scare puppies so much that they will usually hop, buck, or “pancake” on the ground and refuse to move forward. If this happens, immediately stop the pressure by walking over to your puppy or letting go of her collar, and practice the collar pressure game.

When teaching collar pressure, you’re not pulling against your puppy. Instead, you’re holding your puppy’s collar in place while your puppy pulls against it. The moment your puppy stops pulling against the collar, you click and reward your puppy.

Pulling against pressure is a natural reaction to restraint; it’s called opposition reflex. Your goal is to teach your puppy to move with pressure. This is the first step when teaching loose leashing walking and teaching your dog to walk with you while touching her collar. Plus, every time your puppy pulls against her collar, it increases her chances of injury in her neck area.

Practice this dog training behavior several times a day with super yummy treats. If your puppy balks when you reach for her collar, take a step back and teach her that collar touches are a good thing.

WATCH: Dog Training Tip: Teach Collar Pressure

https://youtu.be/I39BE4xOnLY

Attach a Leash

Always teach your puppy how to wear a collar first, then master the collar pressure game before attaching a leash to her collar. On average, it takes about a week for a puppy to feel comfortable wearing a collar and respond well to collar pressure. Attaching a leash to your puppy’s collar is a completely different lesson. Check out this article on teaching a puppy to walk on leash for additional details.

Puppies are tiny little sponges. Take advantage and teach them that the world is full of fun!

What to Do When Your Puppy Won’t Walk on Leash

August 15, 2016 by Fanna Easter

How to Teach a Puppy to Walk on Leash

Puppies refusing to walk on leash is an extremely common behavior. Walking with restricted movement due to a leash is unnatural for dogs, so we as pet owners should positively teach puppies and dogs that walking on leash is a good thing.

So many times, we snap a leash onto a puppy’s collar and take off walking, but the puppy becomes confused and tries running the opposite direction or refuses to walk. They flatten themselves onto the ground like a pancake. When we continue to pull on the leash, it causes the dog to panic. If you combine this scary scenario with a highly distracting environment, such as the park, neighborhood or vet’s office, or continue to pull on your confused puppy’s leash, you’ll teach your puppy that leashes make scary things happen.

Now, let’s start on the right paw and discuss how to teach a puppy to walk on leash. 🙂 Dog leashes are basically a safety line that keeps pets safe. They should never be used for jerking, yanking or any other type of punishment.

Leash Training a Puppy Tips

Teaching a puppy to walk on leash is pretty easy. You’ll need lots of super yummy treats, a body harness, and a six-foot nylon or cotton leash.

There are a few steps on teaching this dog behavior, so take your time and teach your puppy each step thoroughly before moving on. If your puppy or dog becomes confused, take a step or two back until your puppy is comfortable again. Understand, it’s completely normal to take a few steps backwards before moving forward again; it’s part of the learning process. I’m sure you painfully remember learning a foreign language or algebra at one point. 🙂

Also, it’s important to teach this behavior before attaching a leash to your puppy. Plan ahead and teach this puppy training skill before vet visits or walks around the neighborhood.

Step One: Introduce the Leash

Goal: Teach your puppy that leashes are positive things and leashes make treats happen.

With your dog indoors, sit on the floor and put your puppy’s leash on the floor in front of you. Whenever your puppy looks at the leash, click and give your dog a treat. If your puppy stays next to the leash (that’s a good thing), toss a treat in the opposite direction of the leash (e.g. toss treat across the room). That way your puppy must approach the leash for another click and treat. Play this game for a minute or two, then pick up the leash and put it in a location where your puppy can’t see it.

Practice this step 2-3 times per day for 3 days. By then, your puppy will run toward the leash whenever you bring it out.

Step Two: Fun Happens While Wearing a Leash

Goal: Puppy is comfortable with a leash attached to his harness or collar.

For this step, I’ll assume your puppy is already comfortable wearing a harness or flat collar. If not, take a moment and teach your dog that wearing a harness/collar is a good thing before completing this step.

Fill an interactive toy with food and freeze overnight. Now, attach a leash to your dog’s harness and let your dog drag it around the house for a bit. To make this experience positive and to keep a puppy from chewing on the leash, give your dog a frozen food stuffed toy to enjoy while wearing and dragging his leash around the house.

Once your dog has finished his food stuffed toy, remove the leash and put it away. Practice this game several times a day. You can certainly fill interactive toys with your dog’s daily meals for more leashes-make-fun-things-happen moments.

Remember, you’re not holding the other end of the leash. Your dog is learning that attached leashes are harmless and make good things appear like food stuffed toys. Practice for 3-4 days before moving onto the next step.

Step Three: Hold Other End of Leash

Goal: Puppy learns that leash pressure is fun.

By now, your dog has learned that fun things happen when a leash is present, so it’s time to hold the other end of the leash. This is the part that usually freaks some puppies out. They’re not used to limited mobility caused by leash restraint, so they pull, buck or lie flat on the ground. Teach your puppy or dog that collar pressure is a good thing by watching the video below.

WATCH: Teaching Collar Pressure

https://youtu.be/I39BE4xOnLY

Treats = Leash Pressure

You’ll need a handful of super yummy treats and a clicker. Attach the leash to your puppy’s harness and hold the leash handle in one hand. Lure your puppy around with a treat while holding the leash, and give him the treat. You’ll notice your puppy pulling ahead or lagging behind. Call your puppy to you and reward with many dog treats. Practice for 1-2 minutes and end the dog training session.

If your puppy freaks out when he feels leash tension, don’t pull the leash toward you. Instead, move toward your dog to release the pressure. Once your puppy is completely comfortable walking on a leash, you can then teach him how to walk politely on leash. Remember, crawl before walking. 🙂

Practice this step for 3-4 days and make a game out of it. Reward your puppy often like every 10-20 seconds.

Step Four: Walk on Leash Outdoors

Goal: Puppy learns how to walk on leash outdoors.

By now, your puppy should be completely comfortable walking on leash indoors, so it’s time to take leash walking outside. Practice luring and holding the other end of the leash in your backyard for several days—you’re not ready for walks in the neighborhood just yet.

You’ll notice your puppy becoming a bit more distracted, so he’ll probably feel more leash resistance while in the backyard due to him lunging toward squirrels or watching neighbors walk by. When your dog pulls, stand still and reward your dog the moment you feel less pressure on the leash. I recommend tossing a few treats in front of your feet, so your dog returns to you for rewards.

Once your puppy will walk around your backyard on leash comfortably, then you can try walking in your neighborhood.

Make walking on leash fun for your puppy, so he learns that fun things happen when leashes are present no matter where you are.

The Ultimate Dog Training Reward For Your Dog

August 8, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Dog Training Rewards Don’t Always Have to Be Food

Rewards are a vital part of dog training; they’re basically your dog’s paycheck for a job well done. Dogs must be rewarded whenever they choose to perform a desired behavior. Giving your dog a reward tells your dog he’s on the right track and to keep doing the rewarded behavior.

Dogs must choose their own rewards. Since each dog is different, he will find certain foods, toys and games more rewarding than others. Finding a dog’s ultimate reward isn’t always easy, but once discovered it makes learning new dog behaviors quick and fun. Finding a dog’s ultimate reward is so important that I ask pet owners this question during our first dog training session. So here it goes: what does your dog love more than anything?

Dog Training Rewards

Food Rewards

All dogs love food—even picky ones. It’s our job to experiment and find food rewards that will cause our dogs to drool, dance, offer a sit behavior or climb countertops to get to their favorite food rewards.

Dogs like fresh food. The more moisture a dog training treat contains, the better. High percentages of moisture make the treat smell stronger, and you can never go wrong with meat foods. When looking for your dog’s ultimate reward, don’t limit yourself to certain types of food. Try a variety of moist foods, such as:

Baked chicken (if you’re in a hurry, try store-bought rotisserie chicken)
Canned sausages (Vienna sausages)
Roast beef lunch meat
Cheese chunks
Tuna fish (tuna fish pouches work best)
Hot dogs

Toy Rewards

Many years ago, I remember watching a dog working for food treats during a dog training session, but he was missing that “Oh my gosh, I got it right!” excitement. Hmm, I asked the pet owner what his dog loved most in the world and he said, “Catching a tennis ball.”

I asked him to bring a tennis ball to class next week and keep it in his bait bag. The following week, whenever his dog chose to sit, down, heel, leave it or whatever, he would take out the tennis ball and play a game of “toss and catch the tennis ball” for a few seconds. Wow! A tennis ball was this dog’s ultimate reward and, from that moment on, this darling dog learned quickly.

If your dog enjoys toys more so than food rewards, try using a toy as a reward. Some dogs love to chase a ball, bite a squeaky toy or pull on a tug toy, so experiment with different toys and games. When my Rottweiler was introduced to an underwater treadmill for physical rehabilitation after having his ACL repaired, he worked for food, but still disliked the treadmill.

One day, our physical therapist brought out a yellow tennis ball and Sobek smiled with glee. He totally enjoyed mouthing and holding a tennis ball in his mouth while walking in a tank filled with water. I was left scratching my head, but it didn’t matter. We finally found Sobek’s ultimate reward for this situation. Oh, and it helped tremendously that tennis balls float in water. 🙂

A Bit About Praise

Back in the dark ages (or the ’80s), dogs were only rewarded with praise. It was thought that food was bribery back then. Now that we know better, food rewards are an important part of a dog’s learning process. Eventually, praise fizzled out as a reward.

Honestly, I cringe when someone still says his dog only works for praise. I don’t completely buy it. I’ve worked with dog training clients who swear their dogs work for praise as a reward and it seemed effective in the beginning, but fizzled out when making the decision to perform the desired behavior became harder. If you believe your dog works for only praise, you should try other dog training rewards. You might be shocked at your dog’s decision.

Praise is good as a reward, but it shouldn’t be the only reward. Think of praise as the icing on a cake—it works best when paired with food or toy rewards. We all love praise. It’s nice being verbally recognized by your boss, but you still need your paycheck, right? It’s the same for your dog.

Use praise as a maximizer for food or toy rewards, and use praise during breakthrough or difficult decision-making moments. Oh, and praise shouldn’t be limited to pats and “atta boy.” You need to have a party! Clap, jump, sing, make smoochie sounds, say “puppy, puppy, puppy,” pat your dog quickly and smile! Dogs love high-pitched, rapidly repeating sounds. Make praise count.

Ultimate Rewards Can Change

This is totally true! Your dog may love spoonfuls of peanut butter, but suddenly a floating tennis ball becomes an object of desire during a certain moment. It happens. Don’t assume you’ve chosen the wrong dog training reward. Embrace your dog’s newfound love and use it as a reward.

Reward your dog often, and reward yourself too!

Do Dog Boarding and Training Programs Work?

July 12, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Think Twice About Dog Boarding and Training Programs

Pet owners want fast dog training results, so they choose to board their dog with a dog trainer (i.e. dog lives with dog trainer) and the dog trainer trains their dog to a certain level of training. Sounds quick and simple right? Even though this is an extremely fast growing segment of dog training, not all dog trainers agree with dog boarding and training philosophies. There are so many bad things that can happen when you choose this route, so know the facts first before dropping your dog off at someone’s house for weeks of boarding and training.

Typical Dog Boarding and Training Options

As mentioned above, pet owners drop their dog off at a dog trainer’s facility or home, and the dog trainer teaches their dog specific agreed upon behaviors. Length of stay with a dog trainer depends on the behaviors that will be taught to the dog, so it can vary between 2-6 weeks.

Learning takes times, especially when teaching challenging behaviors, such as walking on a loose leash in public and coming when called around tons of distractions. It’s important to understand dogs aren’t furry little computers; we can’t download information into their brains. If only it were that easy for dogs and humans! 🙂 Be prepared for sticker shock as well: boarding and training programs are extremely expensive. A two-week program can cost more than $500—that’s an insane amount of money.

How to Find a Good Dog Boarding and Training Program

Oh, this is where board and train programs can get really sticky. Finding the right dog trainer is key! There are several excellent board and train dog trainers out there and some rotten ones too. Learn how to stay clear of the rotten ones.

Research Good Dog Trainers

Choose a dog trainer who uses only positive reinforcement, meaning he doesn’t use punishment (physical or verbal), choke chains, pinch collars and/or electronic collars.

Look for dog trainers who will:

Reward good behavior
Redirect/ignore bad behavior
Only use flat buckle collars, Martingale collars, harnesses, head halters, clickers and yummy treats.

Check out my article on finding a good dog trainer. It lists websites that will help you in your search and point you in the right direction.

Don’t fall for the hype. Reward-based dog trainers can teach behaviors just as fast as punishment-based dog trainers. I know this personally, as I was a punishment-based dog trainer during the first 10 years of my dog training career. I switched to positive reinforcement because it was the humane thing to do for dogs, pet owners and myself. Also, it just works faster. Yes, I’ve been a positive reinforcement dog trainer for more than 15 years now and I’ve seen results from both sides of the dog training fence. Positive reinforcement is the clear winner by a landslide.

If a punishment-based dog trainer claims his methods work faster, ask for scientific research to back up those claims. Do know his personal experience is biased and wrong. Check out the multiple studies done on the effectiveness of positive reinforcement here.

Check Out the Facility

If a dog trainer offers a dog boarding and training program, ask to view where your dog will live while under his care. Ask how often your dog will be trained per day, if she’ll be crated and if she’ll go on daily walks. Ask if the dog trainer will follow your feeding instructions.

In addition, ask for contact information of previous clients and ask them for their reviews. You’re leaving a living and defenseless being in the care of this person. Interview the dog trainer ruthlessly and view the dog training facility thoroughly.

Dog Boarding and Training Program Horror Stories

Every day, I hear horror stories about dog boarding and training programs that will make you nauseous. I’m only sharing this information to inform you about the terrible possibilities that can happen to your dog. I’ve witnessed dogs starve during board and trains, as the dog trainer insisted dogs must earn all of their food or he simply forgot to feed them.

Some dogs would be left in their crates for 23 hours and forced to potty on themselves, which would cause large open sores. Other dogs were beaten and shocked with electronic collars so much so that the dogs would develop huge wounds. Others would be sent home with broken toes, legs and spines from physical abuse. I’ve also heard of dogs being left in extreme weather conditions that caused permanent damage; I could go on and on.

This stuff happens more than you think. I’ve witnessed these poor dogs being rushed into a veterinary clinic where I worked. Once you’re aware of the bad, you know what to look for during the interview phase and when visiting the dog training facility.

Don’t worry about offending a dog trainer either. An honest dog trainer actually admires and respects pet owners searching for the very best person to train their dog. We love it! If a dog trainer is rude, dismissive, unprofessional, lies or appears offended during your interview, end it and continue with your search.

Will Pet Owners Learn How to Train Their Dogs Too?

Professional board and train dog trainers will require pet owners to attend several dog training sessions with their dogs. While board and train dog trainers will teach your dog certain behaviors and put her on cue for you, you should still learn how to ask and reward cues, and know what to do if your dog becomes confused.

If a board and train facility doesn’t offer this option, or charges you more for it, this dog trainer and facility is not for you. Find someone else.

Final Thoughts

If you want a fast and effective way to train your dog, attend group training classes with your puppy or dog. Not only will you both learn together from a skilled dog trainer, but you will also build an unbreakable bond with your dog that will last a lifetime. If group class isn’t an option, choose private lessons in your home with a professional dog trainer. Working and learning together is key to success. Plus, you’ll save lots of money in your pocket. 🙂

Ask The Dog Trainer: Why Is My Dog Stubborn?

May 23, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Dealing With a Stubborn Dog

It’s highly unlikely your dog is stubborn—he’s probably confused—but not stubborn. With that said, when a dog chooses to chase a squirrel instead of coming when called on cue, that’s not stubbornness; that’s lack of training around such distractions. And know that it happens to the best of us. Dogs are not robots nor should they be expected to be, but stubborn they are not. When a student starts using the word “stubborn,” I know her training message is not clearly reaching her dog.

Getting stuck during the learning process is a valuable part of learning, believe it or not. As the teacher, it’s your job to figure out what will work, so your dog understands not to jump on people, chew your hands or jump up on furniture. You probably just need a few tweaks to make sure your message is crystal clear to your dog.

The Word “No” Means Nothing

If your dog is jumping up or chewing on your hands, figure out what your dog could do differently, so they’re unable to do those annoying things. So many pet owners say “no” loudly or over and over again, which basically means nothing to their dogs.

Since I love a good analogy, let’s look at this from a human perspective. If you walk into a room and someone says “no, no, no,” you would become completely confused. What does “no” mean? Stop? Don’t walk, don’t stand, don’t look, don’t breathe, what? The word “no” is meaningless communication and can cause confusion quickly, so throw that word in the trash can. 🙂

How to Train a Stubborn Dog

Ask For Something Different

Now that we understand “no” means nothing, it’s time to reward your dog for doing something else. If your dog barks, reward him for being quiet. Here are a few other examples:

Reward your dog for keeping all four feet on the floor instead of jumping up. It’s impossible to jump up and keep your feet on the floor.
The moment you feel your dog’s (or puppy’s) teeth on your skin, leave the area or redirect him to another toy. By getting up and leaving whenever your dog’s teeth touch your skin, your dog learns to keep his teeth to himself.
Teach and heavily reward your dog for lying on anywhere else but furniture. Crate him when you leave, so he doesn’t learn to relax on your expensive sofa while you’re away. It won’t be forever; just until your dog learns what is expected.

Take a moment and think about what you want your dog to do instead of an annoying behavior. Usually the opposite behavior is key, such as standing still at the doorway instead of dashing out. If you can’t decide on an opposite behavior, you can always teach stationary behaviors, such as “sit,” “down” or “place.” Usually, dog movement is an underlying part of an undesirable behavior for people (e.g. pulling, running away, jumping up, dashing out doors, knocking people over, etc.).

Remember, teaching your dog an alternative behavior is much more effective than punishing him.

Make Sure Everyone is on the Same Page

To keep confusion to a minimum, make sure each family member understands how to manage a puppy chewing on his hands or what to do when a dog jumps up. Let’s use another analogy to further explain this concept. If you’re learning a new language, let’s say German, and each family member pronounces things completely different, it would be very challenging to learn German.

With that said, once you have figured out when to reward your dog, hold a family meeting to discuss and practice your dog training solution, so everyone is on the same page. I ask clients to keep homework directions in a highly visible place like the refrigerator, so each family member gets a quick refresher every time she grabs a beverage or food.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Now that you have developed a crystal clear solution for your dog’s unwanted behavior, practice it several times a week with really good rewards in a low distraction environment. Once your dog understands to stand instead of jump, keep teeth off human skin, be quiet instead of bark, or lie on his bed instead of the sofa, it’s time to practice with family members around for distractions. Expect a few hiccups until everyone gets into a rhythm and keep dog training sessions short (1-2 minutes long).

It’s impossible to be fluent in German without practicing it over and over—the same goes for dog training. 🙂

Dogs Forget Just Like We Do

Let’s take a step back to the foreign language analogy again. If you don’t practice speaking German several times a month, you’ll likely forget how to pronounce even the easiest words. Well, this applies to training your dog too. If your dog forgets, take a few steps back and practice your crystal clear solutions again. Going forward, vow to practice every week, so your dog doesn’t forget. We all forget; it’s not stubbornness. It’s either confusion or lack of training. 🙂