Junior Puppy Home Training PT II

Part II - Beginner Basics

Background and foundation information

Puppies learn best by repetition, consistency and positive reinforcement (rewards) – which makes them keen to repeat the training experience and learn more. The key training methods we use are luring; shaping; targeting; bridging; reinforcing. Each of these and some other important training concepts is explained below.

•        Bridging; Also called “Marking” - this is delivering an auditory signal to the pup the second it does what we hoped for – the action or first approximation to what we want as a response to a cue. [In “technical jargon”, the “Yes” or “Click” is called the “Conditioned or Secondary Reinforcer” – the food or toy reward that follows is the “Primary Reinforcer”. That is, the “Yes” or “Click” become like rewards in themselves – just remember the “Yes” or “Click” tells the pup it is giving the desired response, you are happy and they are being/will be rewarded].

•        Charging the Marker/Bridge; this is teaching the puppy that when the guardian says “Yes” or “Clicks” a clicker, a reward (usually food – but may be a toy and brief play) will follow within a couple of seconds. This is effectively programming the puppy to enjoy the sound of the Bridge word (the “Yes”) or sound (the “Click”), knowing they have done the right thing and will be rewarded. This can be taught as a separate, up-front exercise – just by having the pup’s attention, “Clicking” or saying “Yes” and then rewarding – not for any particular task performed, but just to associate the Bridge/Mark sound with the reward. Alternatively, this association of the Marker and Reward can build up over the progress of the first few training sessions as the combination is practised.

•        Reinforcing; Commonly called “Positive Reinforcement” or “Motivational Training” – any rewarding event which encourages the puppy to repeat the task on cue, consolidating the pup’s knowledge and association of the cue with the requested action. The Reward is most commonly a food treat, but may be a toy (ball or tug) and as training advances will become intermittent and sometimes be replaced by a “pat” or “good dog”.

•        Shaping; often referred to as “shaping by approximations” and also commonly linked with the concept of “Chaining” (below). Shaping by approximations is having a puppy perform an action in response to a cue from the guardian and setting the puppy up to perform at least an approximation of the desired action and rewarding that at each step. For example, if we want the pup to go to a “Place”, (mat/bed/ upturned box, or even a pole in the back yard) the guardian stands close to the “Place” object and indicates it to the pup. As soon as the pup even looks at the object, that is Marked and Rewarded. The process is repeated many times, at each repetition looking for a little closer association with the object – for example, first a glance, then a stare by the pup, then a step towards the object, then one foot on it, then eventually two front feet (say, up on the box or on the mat). Each “closer approximation” may be rewarded with a little more excitement in the trainer’s voice, until the end result is achieved, then the reward and excitement reflect that success.

•        Targeting; This refers (generally) to teaching the pup to indicate – usually through direct touch with nose or paw – an object. The object may be the end of a stick (perhaps with a ball or ribbon on it) or simply the trainer’s hand. The usual cue given is “Touch” – started with a food treat in the hand indicated so the pup is attracted to it. As the pup touches the closed hand (smelling the treat) that is “Marked and Rewarded” by releasing the treat. This develops into no treat, just an open hand and as the pup touches the hand it is Marked and a treat is delivered from a pocket or treat pouch. This training mechanism forms the basis of a number of more complex manoeuvres, such as “follow-my-hand” and “come in close to me” or “come to the heel position by the trainer’s left ankle”.

•        Look-at-me; also cued as “Watch” – having the pup look the guardian in the face with eye contact. May be taught by showing the pup a treat in the hand and moving that hand slowly to the guardian’s nose or eye and verbalising “Look at me” or “Watch” – then, as soon the pup makes eye contact, Bridge and Reward.

•        Chaining; This is breaking a complex task or action into small training steps over time so they eventually add together to deliver the desired action (links in a chain). Often referred to as forward chaining, backward chaining, and total task chaining – depending on how the final task is broken into steps and which end of the chain is taught first. Total task chaining is less common in dog training, as it aims to teach every step sequentially in a single (repeated) lesson. As an advanced example, if the desire is to have the dog carry an object away to a “Place”, the exercise will be broken down into “Hold” an object (such as a dumbbell), then “Carry” the object (beside the trainer), then separately the “Place” cue is taught (as above) – then these three parts (Hold/Carry/Place) are linked.

•        Tone of voice; When verbalising a “Cue”- say the dog’s name first (to be sure you have their attention) and deliver the cue in an upbeat happy voice – not a yell nor gruff. This is especially for the “Recall” which will be “Fido – Come” (upward inflection). Some cues, such as “Leave it”, “Wait”/ “Stay”, may call for a firmer/flatter tone of voice – but again no need to yell – just straight and firm, as you mean what you say and you are assuming the pup will follow this request (if a pup fails to follow the cue as desired, it will not be because they didn’t hear and you should yell next time – it will be because they haven’t learned it properly yet).

What space and equipment the guardian needs

The best place to train a puppy in the start is inside at home. No collar nor leash required, just using small treats for luring and rewards to have the pup come to you (initiating the “recall” cue), touch your hand, follow you around the kitchen bench or up and down the hallway, sit, etc. (more on this in the detailed lessons below). This can be extended to the yard (with safe fencing) which adds some distractions and makes the practice a little harder for the puppy.

For equipment, when required for outside walks and safety, a soft flat collar (with a buckle so it’s adjustable as the pup grows), a comfortable puppy harness (soft material – you will go through a few of these as the puppy grows, as generally the amount they can adjust is limited), and a 1.8-meter (6 ft) light lead with a hand loop at one end and a G-clip for collar/harness attachment at the other, a long lead (say, 3 – 5 meters to start with). For carrying treats, a treat bag that belts around your waste (so you don’t end up with forgotten treats in your jacket/pants pocket). For an outside (park/pavement/beach) walk, you will obviously need to carry doggie poop bags to clean up.

What to use as treats

This depends a little on how “food motivated” your puppy is, but a general rule is something that is soft and so quickly eaten (avoiding a pause while the pup chomps and chews or chokes in its eagerness) and can be broken into little pieces – only a taste is required, not a full hamburger. For some, just puppy kibble is OK, as it is small and easily eaten – and you know they like it already.

If you have a fussy eater – or you are stuck on a particular cue the pup doesn’t seem to understand - then upgrade the “value” of the treat. For example, get some Supermarket thin sausages (plain chicken, beef or pork – no onion mixed in, of course) cook them in a pan, then when cool cut them into tiny treats (about the size of your little finger nail). If you cook a few snags and do this, you can bag small training packs and freeze them for future sessions. Some dogs do rarely develop food allergies, so be aware of this.

Note that there are sometimes warnings about overfeeding your pup, or making it obese (or even ill) because of too many treats – that is a bit silly, because you are only doing maybe 4 – 6 exercises of maybe one, two or at most three repetitions in any session, and delivering tiny bits of food, so the maximum treat delivery might be about, say, 10 – 15 treats – not even a small handful of food (you are not delivery a full “cookie” at every reward event and will soon start to only treat-reward intermittently – say, every 2nd, 3rd or 5th time). If this concerns you, just give this amount fewer pieces of kibble or a bit less wet food (whatever you are feeding) in the normal meals, but this should not be a concern.

Puppy socialisation

As a separate and ongoing exercise, it is essential that as soon as the pup is cleared by your vet to go out and meet other dogs and people (post-vaccination sequence) you need to think up every excuse possible to take the pup into new places, new scenery and environments, new smells, floor/ground textures and to meet and greet as many people (especially kids and the elderly) and pups/dogs as possible, to get them confident with all meetings. Also, try to invite guests around for coffee (any excuse) so the pup gets used to “strangers” in the home. Invite the neighbour’s kids in for a little “play date” with your pup – manage this well and show the kids how to interact playfully with a puppy (kids generally love any opportunity to play with a puppy) – obviously avoid over-excitement, rough play or chasing games, which can end in nipping or teaching the pup that “kids mean chase and bite”.

When greeting other dogs, remember to ask the other guardian first and be cautious to judge the reactions of both the other dog and your pup – not all dogs like all dogs – just like people – so actively manage these greetings. At the park, beach or on a pavement walk, make a judgement about the size of the other dog (and its body language as it approaches) to avoid an accidental scare for your puppy.

Some stores allow you to take a small dog around on a lead or in the trolley and this is excellent (a different form of travel). In Australia, all Pet Supply Stores, as well as the hardware chain, Bunnings, allow this – and lots of potential for people and kids wanting to see your cute puppy. Make sure to pause and invite them to talk to your pup and have a pat – this is like “speed dating” for your pup and works really well. Personally, I have found the staff in the hardware store just go “ga ga” about puppies – it’s a nice happy break in their work day (I have been thanked several times for brightening their day with my puppy visit).

Think carefully about “Dog Parks” – public fenced areas where dogs can run free. Generally speaking, these are a bad idea for your pup, because you have no control over the number, size and behaviours of other dogs present, and a group of dogs running together, as opposed to one-on-one meetings, is totally unpredictable. One bad situation – even if your pup is not physically damaged - can set your pup on a “fear reactive” path which will be extremely hard to overcome. Much better to find a like minded friend or two with pups of similar age and size and invite them around for a managed play date (yes – and coffee) or all go for an on-lead park walk together.

 Part III provides provides the Full Program Guide (exercises with detailed "how to" instructions).