Why Should I Train My Dog?
Training is a great way to bond with your dog and to establish trust, communication and leadership. Dogs that receive training are much less likely to be surrendered to a shelter for behavior problems and generally are able to have more freedom in life.
How Should I Train My Dog?
There is tons of advice on dog training available in books, on the internet, and on television, and it can be hard to figure out what methods to choose. At Teacher's Pet, we focus primarily on two methods - Positive Reinforcement and Negative Punishment.
Positive reinforcement is giving your dog something he or she wants right after a desirable behavior, which will make that behavior more likely to happen again. If you ask Max to sit and give him a treat when he does, he is more likely to sit the next time you ask him. If you ask Molly to come, and then toss her a favorite toy, she's more likely to come the next time you call her.
Negative punishment is removing something your dog wants after an undesirable behavior, which will make that behavior less likely to happen again. If Bailey is jumping on you, and you turn away and ignore her, jumping will be less likely to happen again, because your attention was taken away. If Duke is accidentally bites your hand when getting too rough with the tug toy, and you put the tug toy away, biting will be less likely to happen again, because it made the fun toy go away.
These methods also work best in combination! Bailey is jumping on you, and you turn away and ignore her (negative punishment for jumping). She stops jumping and sits, and then you pet her (positive reinforcement for sitting). Every time you give your dog a NO, try to follow it with a YES, so your dog knows what behavior is appropriate.
There are other methods out there that we do not recommend, namely positive punishment methods. Positive punishment means you are supplying something aversive in order to decrease an unwanted behavior. Rusty is pulling on leash to go greet another dog, and you jerk on a prong collar to decrease pulling. Sadie is jumping up on your guests, so you zap her with a shock collar. These aversive methods certainly can decrease unwanted behavior, but there is a major problem with them - dogs learn a lot through associations (also called classical conditioning). In the examples above, Rusty had other dogs associated with pain in his neck, and Sadie had strangers associated with a shock. You don't know until after you've used punishment whether or not your dog will make a bad association that you then have to work (sometimes very hard!) to repair. There are safer and gentler ways to train the behaviors that you want rather than punish the ones you don't want!
What is Luring?
Luring is getting your dog interested in something so that he follows it with his nose. See if you can find a "nose magnet" for your dog, like a smelly treat or a toy. By moving your nose magnet (lure) you can get your dog's body to move in different positions. For example, if you move your lure up and back towards you dog's rear, he should sit. If you drop your lure down to the floor, your dog should lie down. (Don't worry - we will demonstrate these things in class!). The nice thing about luring is that your lure can be used to reinforce the behavior.
We will use luring in class for several skills because it is quick and easy, but there are some things that it cannot be used for, and then we'll need a different method.
What is Capturing?
Capturing is waiting for your dog to
offer a behavior, and then reinforcing it. Give it a try - the next time
you go to give your dog a treat or toy, wait for a sit first. Don't ask
your dog to sit, rather let her figure out that she can control her environment
with polite behavior. Some of the things we'll use
capturing for in class will include settle, gentle and off.
How Do I Reinforce My Dog?
In order to use positive reinforcement, we need to find things that are reinforcing for our dogs. There are three main reinforcers we'll make use of in class - food, toys/play and petting/praise.
Food is a primary reinforcer - all
dogs need food to stay alive. Dogs vary in how food motivated they are,
but food is often the most potent reinforcer to use during class. When we
talk about using food in class, people sometimes have some concerns. The
main concerns we get are obesity, begging and the dog only paying attention when
you have a treat in your hand. 
Obesity is a huge concern for pets today, and can be very detrimental to their health. We recommend cutting back your dog's meal the night of class, and even bringing some (or all) of his dinner to use as reinforcers. However, when distraction levels are high, regular dog food may not be exciting enough. We also recommend having a variety of treats, such as cheese, hotdog, freeze dried liver, carrots, etc. When we use these treats, we'll break them into tiny pieces. One stick of string cheese can be 50-100 reinforcers! This way you're able to reinforce your dog without tons of extra calories.
When we suggest using "people food" in class, people often refuse, saying that they don't want their dog to start begging. Begging is a learned behavior. If you are eating a hotdog, and your dog sits at your feet and gives you the puppy eyes, and you hand her a piece of hotdog, you've just reinforced begging. If you ignore the sad look, she'll learn that begging doesn't pay off, and she'll stop. It has nothing to do with whether or not she gets a sliver of hotdog in class!
The concern that the dog will only
pay attention when food is present is a very valid concern, and one that we will
address frequently during class. When we are training our dogs a new
skill, we will reinforce a lot, but once they start learning, we'll start to
fade the treats. The eventual goal is for you to be a slot machine for
your dog. You don't pay out with a treat every time, but your dog will
keep trying because occasionally there's a jackpot!
Toys and play also make great reinforcers for many dogs. We encourage you to bring your dog's favorite toy to class. You can toss your dog a ball to reward him for looking when you say his name, or start a game of tug after you successfully call your dog across the room.
Petting and attention can also be used for reinforcement. However, this can be a trickier than other forms of reinforcement. For starters, you need to figure out what kind of petting is pleasant for your dog. Some dogs are sensitive to having their ears touched, others don't like being touched on the rear. Pay attention to your dog's body language - if she moves away after you pat her on the head, it probably wasn't reinforcing for her. If she noses your hand when you stop scratching her neck, it probably was reinforcing to her. The other problem with using attention for reinforcement is that people often think that dogs have a natural desire to please them, and that all the dog should need is a "good dog" and a pat on the head. Dogs are not born with a desire to please people - they learn that when their owners are pleased, it predicts good things for them. This is an important distinction because it means that we have to teach dogs what praise means.
We will do this by teaching our dogs a "marker word". A marker word is a word that means "You got it right - you did something I wanted you to do, and reinforcement is on the way!" Some common examples people choose to use include "good girl/boy/dog" and "yes", but you can pick whatever word comes naturally to you. HOMEWORK ALERT! To train your dog this special word, get out a handful of small treats, and simply say the word, and feed a treat, say the word, and feed a treat, etc. You're creating an association in your dog's brain that that word means a treat is coming. This will help with timing when you train, and eventually, you'll be able to use this word alone as a reinforcer!
What Should I Expect The First Week Of Class?
Come prepared for the first week with your dog (of course!) on a regular leash and collar or harness. We do not allow choke or prong collars in class. You may have your dog on a head collar (e.g. gentle leader) or body harness. We also do not allow flexi-leads in class. We do some exercises where we drop the leash, and flexis can break, or startle the dog. Please wear safe shoes - there will be some exercises that you need to be able to move freely for!
Also come with a variety of reinforcers (different food, from kibble to cheese, and a favorite toy). It can be helpful to have a treat pouch of some kind (available for purchase at local pet stores). The class environment is very stimulating for many dogs. If you think your dog is likely to bark a lot, you are welcome to bring a bone, or stuffed Kong for him to chew on while the trainer is talking. Our trainers and assistants will also be helping the dogs to settle down.
Expect that your dog will be less responsive to you in a new environment! You may get a great start on sit and down and other skills before class begins, but there is a lot more distraction in class. Try not to get frustrated, and keep in mind that we want to set our dogs up to succeed, and your dog will improve each week!
