A puppy’s strongest motivator is his hunger, which is why we use food
in training; it is what we call a prime motivator. Prime Motivators are
anything that is essential for life such as food, water & air. You
can't force a young pup to do anything, without destroying his
independence and temperament. By using food for kindergarten classes the
pup is using natural instincts and drives to solve problems in training
and achieve its reward.
In the wild a pup learns by the trial and error system to achieve its
goals, and once gained, the imprint is set for future attempts. It will
always use the system that worked. Although the skills will become more
refined as the pup grows, it will not attempt to try another way of doing
it. That is why we need to show the pup the correct way of doing something
the first time, don't let the pup learn bad habits that need many hours of
training to be corrected.
EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED
You will need a container with two or more types of food, one that the
pup likes and one he can't resist (make each piece small enough to swallow
without chewing) and a soft foam filled ball.
Remember not to feed your pup before training.
TRAINING
Firstly you must understand that you cannot teach your dog anything
that he can't do already. He already knows how to sit, stand, drop, stay,
come, retrieve and so forth, what he doesn't know is the English word for
his natural actions, this is what we must teach him, and what a task,
teaching a different species to communicate with us and understand our
language. This is made relatively easy because dogs are so intelligent and
willing to communicate. They quickly learn what gains them something
pleasant.
LAW OF LEARNING
The Law of Learning is something that you will need to understand
before you can start to train your dog. Without this knowledge you could
spend months, even years without really achieving anything in training;
making you become frustrated with your dog and declaring that he is dumb
and incapable of learning. When in fact YOU have been breaking the Laws of
Learning.
A.B.C. of the LAW OF LEARNING
A = Antecedent (Trigger, Cue, Stimulus or Command.)
B = Behaviour (Any and every thing the dog does.)
C = Consequence (Follows behaviour. The result of the dogs’ action,
be it good or bad.)
Consequence rules Behaviour. A dog will either repeat or not repeat an
action, as a direct result of the consequences of that behaviour. A
consequence must always follow behaviour never precede it, for learning to
occur.
The Law of Learning applies to all living things including Man.
Example: A dog hears his lead jingle as you pick it up. This is an
antecedent. This causes or triggers the behaviour. The dog comes running
"behaviour”. The consequence, you take the dog for a walk.
The dog has learned that the jingle of the lead predicts a good
consequence.
LESSON ONE -
Offer some food from your hand to the pup and allow him to take it for
free, next offer another piece
but this time
hold it in front of and touching his nose. Move the food up and down then
back and forward in a yes and no fashion. Stay slow enough not to lose the
pups interest and only stay within the distance the pup can reach without
having to move its position. If the pups’ head follows the food without
loosing concentration, give it the food. This is called luring and you
cannot proceed unless your pup can do this.
THE COME
Bring the pup into the house and allow him to run about and
investigate. Every time it wanders out of your sight, call his name
followed by the command word 'COME'. When the pup reaches you give it a
food reward. Repeat this several times.
THE SIT
After rewarding for a 'COME', take another piece of food in your hand
and allow the pup to smell it, but before it can take it close your hand.
Keeping it close to the pups’ nose, move your hand back over the pups
head between the ears, the pup will try to follow the food with his nose.
The moment he sits say 'SIT' and immediately open your hand and reward the
pup. The pup will think that it was the action of sitting that caused your
hand to open.
Repeat three more 'COME SITS' only rewarding after the sit.
THE DROP
So as not to confuse the pup, we will be using the command word 'DROP'
when we teach the pup to lie down. The reason for this is that the word
'down' is used in every day conversation, if the pup is on the bed or
lounge most people say "get down", or when the pup jumps up on
you, you say "down", which would only confuse it. Start with the
pup in a sit position; hold some food in front of and touching its nose.
Move your hand in a direct line to the ground between the pups’ front
legs, and then draw your hand along in a straight line to where his feet
will be when he lies down. The moment
the pup lies down open your hand and let the pup have his
reward .Say DROP as the pup goes down, not as your hand moves down. If the
pup does not lie down immediately keep your hand closed and on the floor,
give the pup plenty of time to solve the problem, if it stops trying, get
it to sit and try again, this time move your hand very slowly to lure the
pup down.
THE STAY
The stay signal is always given with the palm of the right hand held in
front of the dogs’ eye. If you are standing in Heel position (that is
with your dog sitting alongside your left leg, facing forward ready to
walk) you should give the stay signal with your right hand and then step
off with your right leg. From now on using your right hand and leg will
indicate to the dog that you want him to stay. The opposite is true when
you use your left hand and left leg, this with the command HEEL will tell
the dog that it is coming with you. Start with the pup sitting in front
and facing you. Make sure that you have a huge supply of food ready. Begin
feeding one piece of food at a time, taking it from your left hand and
feeding it from your right hand in rapid succession. Keep your left food
hand against your body. Take a piece of food from your hand and raise it
towards your right shoulder saying STAY quickly lower the food to the pup
and feed from under the chin. Repeat this 5 or 6 times until it will sit
there waiting, without trying to get up. Start stepping back on your right
leg away from the pup, as you bring the food towards your shoulder
stepping back immediately to reward the stay. Keep this rocking motion
going until the pup is stable, and then start to step away with both legs,
always returning to the star position, never leaning to reward. If the pup
is still stable quietly waiting your return, start taking several steps
back until you can cross the room without the pup breaking position. If it
does get up it doesn't matter, simply don't reward it and start again .The
same principle applies to the down stay, but instead of feeding the pup
from under the chin, the food should be placed on the floor between its
front legs. Repeat as for sit-stays.
RETRIEVE
You will need a small soft foam ball & a tug toy.
It is best to start your retrieve training at the conclusion of your
obedience training or at a completely different time, as your pup needs to
be in Prey Drive (if your pup is thinking of food it won’t be
interested in chasing). Take your pup to a small, enclosed area such as a
hallway with the doors closed, start by bowling the ball up the hallway
towards the dead end section let your pup chase after it when it reaches
it and picks it up it will have no place to run with it except back in
your direction. When the pup comes close, reach out and grab the ball
giving the pup a short tug o war and a pat and instantly throw the ball
out for the pup to chase again. Repeat the same several times. Prey
Drive, Possession & Conflict needs to be discussed at a later
date.
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