With Holidays just around the corner, most dog owners have a lot of things on their "to-do" list. Family and friends will soon be visiting and if you are lucky they will come bearing gifts! One of the most stressful times for dog owners is the holiday season, when the eternal question is asked: "what do we do with Spot?" It seems that Spot may not possess the best manners when it comes to company dropping in to visit. The ringing of the doorbell is enough to cause dear Spot to launch into a frenzied fit of barking and jumping at the door. What can you do?

First things first. Trying to train Spot not to bark at doorbells, jump at the door, slather the guest with sloppy kisses, run Aunt Martha’s hose by jumping on her, or knock down little cousin Timmy is not started with the end result. Let me explain, training your dog is a whole pie, not just the slice called barking, or jumping. You can’t have a piece of the obedience pie if you don’t make the whole pie first. So, understanding some basis tips for training your dog to be a better family member starts with overall respect for YOU as the owner and head of household. I’ve listed what I have found to be the best 10 tips – or pie slices - for an obedient dog. (Don’t let the word obedient turn you away – it means YOU write the rules of the house, not Spot.)

Slice #1 Build a positive relationship with your dog.

You dog must see you as the best thing since rawhide chewies. He must see you as the center of his universe, his safety, and his "world". Your dog should want to be with YOU more than anything in the world.

How do you do that? Simple! Just be the person YOU would want to hang out with – fun, happy, loving, positive. Treat your dog as a member of the family, not just a warm creature you feed each day. Have FUN! TALK to your dog, he might not understand every word, but he will learn how to read your tone of voice and he will come to see himself as a member of the family (his pack.) TOUCH your dog. Dogs love to be reassured of their importance to the family, so stroking, petting, caressing your dog will let him know he is important to you. TAKE TIME with your dog. If he comes bounding towards you when you call him –make it the most wonderful thing he has done – bend down and give him a quick pat and a friendly word. If you are busy, remember to take at least 10 quality minutes each day with him to train him, pet him, talk to him – just be his buddy!

Slice #2 Decide on Boundaries

Each family has rules. They are specific to those living in the family and are generally not "one size fits all." The same goes for your dog’s boundaries. There are really no right or wrong boundaries in dog ownership. It is what works for YOU and YOUR LIFESTYLE. For some families, watching TV with Spot next to them on the couch is a much-awaited time of the day, while in other families, Spot on any furniture is a No-No. Whichever you chose, it has no bearing on how successful your dog with be at training. What matters is that you decide the boundaries and you reinforce the boundaries consistently. Think about what are non- negotiable behavior for Spot – and start reinforcing them immediately. Don’t let Spot jump on your kid’s friends when they come to visit, if you don’t want Spot to do the same to Aunt Martha.

Slice #3 Make the Correction fit the Crime

One thing dogs despise is unfairness. By nature they obey rules that are set out in clear description with corrections that are fair, consistent and quick. Don’t bear a grudge and remain angry at your dog. Administer the appropriate correction or punishment, and get on with your life in a positive manner. Dogs do not understand anger that remains for hours (or even days) after the infraction.

And when you do have to reprimand your dog, make the punishment fit the crime. You should not punish or correct Spot with the same intensity for counter surfing as you would for, say, play mouthing little cousin Timmy’s arm.

Slice #4 Strive for Reliability by Being Consistent

You want to know that Spot will listen to your command to come when called, no matter what. You want to know that Spot will NOT beg food from the table. Basically you want to know that you can count on Spot to be reliable. This is done by YOUR consistency. Once you decide what is and isn’t acceptable behavior, you must always be consistent about it.

If you decide that Spot is not allowed on the couch, you must correct him each and every time Spot jumps up and settles in for a good TV show – no matter how many times you must repeat the correction. THAT is the key. If Spot was good last night and did not try to jump on the couch, but tonight he does – you cannot reward his good behavior from last night by letting him up on the couch "just this once" tonight.

Slice #5 Know your Dog’s Reward System

Usually we think of rewards for our dog as a biscuit, piece of cheese, and a treat. But dog’s see rewards beyond our own narrowly defined understanding. Each dog has his own reward system. Some rewards are high motivators, some are medium motivators and some are low motivators. As a general rule dogs will work harder for a medium or high motivator than a low motivator. And each dog has his own criteria for the motivators. Think of rewards from your dog’s perspective – that smelly present in the litter box (the kitty café) might be a higher motivator than a hard biscuit. So, Spot might work harder to figure out how to get to the kitty café than to leave it alone for the biscuit you are offering. But, Spot, who has a great amount of energy and drive, might see that red squeaky ball you are tossing as even a greater motivator than snacking at the kitty café.

Some dogs are not food motivated but are interaction motivated – that is they would rather play a game of Frisbee, or chase over a piece of cheese.

Using poor Aunt Martha as illustration again, Spot might find the interaction with Aunt Martha, squeals and all, more of a motivator than the treat you are bribing him with to get off of her. So Spot’s reward for sitting when Aunt Martha comes to the door, is to have Aunt Martha bend down to pet Spot and THEN offer him a treat.

Slice #6 Don’t Train Your Dog into Boredom

Dogs are very similar to humans when it comes to learning. I bet there were a couple of classes you had in school that seems to last for HOURS. You might not have been engaged enough to pay attention, so your mind started to wander – you might begin thinking about what your plans were for after school.

Well, dogs are just the same. If make your dog’s training session too long or you "over train" a behavior or command, your dog will let his mind wander. Now you will be competing with the leaf blowing across the yard, or the specks of dust floating in a ray of sunshine.

The solution to keeping your dog motivated and paying attention is to spend just a couple of minutes at a time spread out 3 or 4 times over the course of the day and do this every
day than to "cram" training in a one hour session once a week.


Slice #7 Don’t forget the Power of Praise

Praise doesn’t cost a dime. It doesn’t hurt and it doesn’t take a lot of time, yet it is one of the most forgotten components of training, but it IS a predictor of the success of your training.

I have found most dog owners use the word "NO" much more often than "Good Job". Remember that dogs are attention hounds – if there is not enough positive attention, they will gladly take the negative attention. If Spot has learned that the only way to engage you is to jump up on you, and hear a NO and get shoved away, he will repeat that behavior over the alternative, which is no interaction.

If you will just build a happy loving relationship with your dog he will work his heart out for nothing more than praise from you. So don't skimp on the praise! Remember to offer praise every time your dog does what you ask of it, no matter how small a thing it was you asked. Try this and you will be amazed at how much quicker you get the behavior you WANT from your dog.

Slice #8 Recognize your Dog’s First Language

Your dog’s first language is Body Language. Dogs learn how to communicate with each other with movements and positioning of their bodies. Have you ever wondered how Spot seems to read your mind, when it is bath time? Without a word from you, suddenly he is hiding under the bed before you even get the bath water turned on. Chances are, Spot knows that when you do a certain sequence of events, like open the linen closet and put the towel next to the sink, that means it is bath time. Or, ever try to take your dog for a walk on the leash only to have him jumping up at you the whole time? Think about what YOU are doing to cause that behavior – are you bending down towards your dog, pleading with him to stop jumping? Are you making eye contact with him and talking to him? Well, sure he is jumping up, and continuing to do so as your pleas continue – you are giving him LOTS of attention! Next time, try this: stand up straight, find a point ahead of you, set that as your goal and walk towards your goal with purpose. Don’ t look down at Spot and reward him with your attention if he is jumping. I would make a wager that his jumping will either stop or decrease immensely with just a change in your body behavior.

Slice #9 See Small Victories

Sometimes when owners are training their dogs to do a more complicated or difficult command, they will become frustrated at how long it takes for their dog to master the command. Remember that your dog is an individual and that he might take longer to learn some commands, while others he learns quickly. An example is loose leash walking. For some dogs, who have a genetic connection to pulling (such as the Siberian Husky, Boxer, Pit Bulls) learning to walk on a loose leash takes more time and work. Rather than see this as an impossible task, set your dog up for small victories. Instead of tackling a 45 minute walk on a loose leash, work on getting down the driveway on a loose leash – and celebrate that accomplishment. Then move on to getting down the driveway AND back on a loose leash.

If you do not reward for small victories, your dog may see you as punitive and unfair, and then the war is on!! You will become frustrated, your dog will not be successful and training will stop. One of the biggest reasons for dogs not walking well on a leash without pulling is just that. Small victories were ignored and now the owner has raised the white flag and has deemed their dog "unable to walk without pulling."

Slice #10 Set your Dog up for Success and End on a Positive Note!

Your dog, and YOU, should see training as a mostly enjoyable undertaking. It should be a time for both your and your dog to improve communication and to foster a positive relationship. If you become frustrated and lose your temper with your dog, you risk damaging the relationship that you have worked so hard to build. Additionally, if your training sessions consist of more corrections than rewards, then your dog will not view training as a positive and fun time with you - your dog most likely will shut down and you will become frustrated.

The solution, as I see it, is to make sure that every session always ends on a positive note with the dog doing the right thing and you praising it. If you're trying to teach something and it's not going well for some reason, don't keep working on and on at it, determined to get a good response. Instead take a step backwards and ask the dog to do something
simple that you know it will do. Praise for a good result and stop immediately.