Installation Guide
After you have commanded “Sit” and walk away from your dog, you have the option
of going forward or backward. Try to create balance by going in both directions an
equal number of times. This drill should be performed in every direction until the
conditioning process is well established. How do you know when this occurs? Your
dog is well conditioned on the “Here”-“Heel”-“Sit” drill when you can command
“Here” and it will “Heel” and “Sit” in the proper position without another command.
This is called “chaining,” where one command leads to another without any cues.
Chaining can take place because in all of your training, you are emphasizing
conditioned responses that are the result of repetition. Some people believe once
a dog learns how to perform a skill, it need not be repeated. Most professional
trainers are of the opinion that all of your drill work becomes well conditioned
only with thousands of repetitions. When you are told to repeat a drill at least a
thousand times, you might envision it requiring years to finish. If you think about
how many times you repeat a command during a drill, it’s easy to understand
that this volume of repetition can be accomplished quickly. But, it can’t be
accomplished in a reasonable time without working your dog on a daily basis.
After you have done a thousand repetitions, then it is time to do several thousand
more. As Dr. Pavlov proved to us, there is no substitution for repetition.
UNDERSTANDING CORRECTION
We have spoken very little about correcting your dog for making a mistake up until
this time. No dog is perfect and many mistakes are going to occur while training. In
reality you want your dog to make mistakes so you can clearly show the difference
between right and wrong. It’s important that you have a correction method that
your dog understands and comfortably accepts. Here is the correction system
you should use from day one. The same correction system will be used for the rest
of your dog’s life whether you are using a leash or e-collar to correct improper
responses.
1. Give your dog a command. If it obeys, use a positive reward. If it fails
to obey, proceed to Step 2.
2. Stop your dog’s incorrect action with the command “No.” Repeat the
command after you get the incorrect actions stopped. If your dog
obeys, use a positive reward. If it fails to obey, proceed to Step 3.
3. Stop your dog’s incorrect action with the command “No” and use
the physical pressure of your leash until the correct response occurs.
Immediately release the pressure when your dog obeys, repeat the
command and praise with a positive reward.
If you are consistent in this correction process, the verbal correction of “No”
will become much more powerful. Your dog will learn through daily usage that
if it doesn’t follow your lead after the command “No,” there will be some form
of physical pressure (leash or electronic). Your dog doesn’t like being corrected
any more than you do. Correction will be a part of its life and it will accept this
correction as long as you give it in a comfortable and systematic fashion. This
means you must be consistent and you can’t hurt your dog by hitting, kicking, or
overstimulating when you become frustrated.
Once your dog has learned the “Here”-“Heel”-“Sit” drill and understands the
system of correction described before, anyone can pick up your leash and your
dog will know that person is alpha. Each person in the household should take a
turn doing obedience work with your dog. Not only does that make life comfortable
for the entire family, it makes the world clear in your dog’s eyes. It will assume the
beta position with all of your family and not mind it one bit.
PRESENTING NEW TRAINING CHALLENGES
Most people confine their
training to just a few
areas, but this teaches
a dog a bad concept:
Obedience is required
only in those areas. For
this reason, you should
rotate your training areas
to anyplace that you and
your dog will be going.
The front yard, garage,
great room, backyard,
kitchen, bedroom, and
deck must all be used as
training areas around
the home. As your dog’s
ability to obey grows,
you'll be taking it to areas
away from home and it
must also be obedient in
those places.
UNDERSTANDING CORRECTION
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