The Power of Positive Dog Training

Instructions
Clicker in hand, say your dog’s name one time. If he looks at you, click! and feed him a treat. If he doesn’t look at you, don’t say his name again. Make a kissy noise (a very technical dog-training tool) or some other sound to get his attention. The instant he looks, click! and treat.
Even if your dog is looking at you already, you can say his name, click! and treat. You are just associating his name with good stuff, teaching him that his name is a very good thing—when he hears it and makes eye contact with you, he gets a reward. Repeat this game a dozen times, then test his response by waiting until he looks away. Say his name. His head should snap back toward you for a click! and treat. If it doesn’t, keep playing the game.

Have the clicker in one hand—either behind your back, wrapped in a scarf, or deep in a pocket. Some dogs are startled by the sharp sound of the clicker at first. Muffle the sound until you see how your dog reacts to it. Click! the clicker and pop a treat into your dog’s mouth. He may look at the ground—some dogs think the click! is the sound of something dropping on the floor. If he doesn’t appear frightened by the sound, repeat the click! and treat several times. Then bring the clicker out from behind your back or from your pocket or scarf and continue with clicks and treats.
Every click! gets a treat. You will know that your dog is “getting it” when his eyes light up at the sound of the clicker—he knows a treat is coming! This can take anywhere from a half-dozen to a couple of dozen repetitions. You won’t be asking your dog to do anything to earn these clicks and treats—they are freebies. You do want to be sure, however, that he isn’t doing a behavior you don’t want to reinforce, such as jumping up. If he does jump, wait until he has all four on the floor, then click! and treat.

The secret of the clicker (or any other reward marker) is in the timing. The click! must happen the instant the dog does (or is doing) the behavior you want to reinforce. The offering of the treat is a separate step. Queenie sits. You immediately click! and pause—then move the treat forward and offer it to her. Novice clicker trainers tend to want to click! and treat at the same time, or even start to offer the treat before they click. When this happens, the dog is more interested in the approaching treat and doesn’t hear or think about the click!
Have someone watch you while you train or, better yet, have that person videotape you so that you can watch yourself in action. If there is a distinct pause between the sound of the clicker and the offering of the treat, you’ve got it. If Queenie is already getting up before you click!, or the click! and the treat are happening together (or if you are clicking before fur meets floor), then you need to work on your timing.

challenging shaping session—or she starts to jump up as is her usual custom and, for the first time, you see her stop herself and make a conscious decision to sit instead—click! and give the verbal cue “Jackpot!” Say it in an excited tone of voice, followed by a handful of treat pieces delivered in rapid succession instead of just one tiny piece.

Winning the Jackpot
Many trainers use the word jackpot as a cue to the dog that she has done something extra-special. This is usually a training breakthrough of some kind. For example, when Queenie finally lies all the way down after a chal

Breakfast time? Hold Queenie’s bowl up and have her do five puppy push-ups (see chapter 10, Core Exercise “1.5—Puppy Push-Ups”). Bingo—you just did a training session! Practice her Wait exercises a few times whenever she goes outside or comes back in. Do some “Stay” practice during TV commercials. Reinforce a polite greeting when you come home from work or from shopping. Before you know it, you will have easily exceeded your three to six sessions per day—and that’s fine, too!
In any single training session, pick one or two exercises to focus on. Start with something that Queenie’s good at, such as puppy push-ups, for example, to get her tuned in to you. There’s nothing like success and rewards to get a dog excited about playing the training game! Then introduce something new or more challenging. At first, do enough repetitions so that your dog has an opportunity to figure out what you are asking he

When you’re not having fun, it’s time to stop training—at least for that sessio

Modeling. For a positive trainer, modeling, or physically assisting the dog into position, is the least desirable and least effective of these five training methods.

Lures should be faded (minimized, then eliminated) as quickly as possible, or both the dog and you may become dependent on the lure to get the behavior. You can fade the lure by replacing the food lure with body language (move your empty hand toward the ground to elicit a Down, then click! and get the treat from a pocket or a bowl on the table) or by waiting for the dog to offer a behavior after you have lured her several times.

Tethers
A tether is a three- to six-foot length of plastic-coated cable with snaps at both ends. You can use a tether to secure your dog to a particular spot when you are working on teaching him to be well-mannered. These spots should be set up with a soft bed and good chew toys so that a time-out on a tether is a pleasant experience, not a punishment.