Zak George's Guide to a Well-Behaved Dog

by Zak George

  The same thing is true even if you use something as seemingly benign as an anxiety vest to help your dog stay calm during a thunderstorm. You’re only addressing the symptom, not the cause. Without that vest, your dog will still be nervous. Wouldn’t it be better to actually help her mitigate or even eliminate her fear of thunder and other loud noises altogether? Or say your dog loves to chew up your shoes. Sure, you can spray all of your shoes with a bitter spray. However, doesn’t it make more sense to actually teach your dog not to chew such items in the first place? I’ll show you how to address the causes of many issues such as anxiety and chewing so you don’t have to rely on these quick-but-temporary fixes.

  Another important point: When you rely on a strategy of correcting a dog after she does something you don’t like, you are too late. In fact, it’s probably ten times more difficult to break a bad habit than it is to prevent establishing one in the first place. I realize that this is tough to understand initially. It’s probably the biggest hurdle I face when teaching people how to teach their dogs. I mean, how are you supposed to prevent a jumping, lunging dog from doing these things? If she doesn’t learn by being corrected, then how is she ever supposed to learn at all? I’ll answer these questions in depth throughout this book.

  For now, however, know that when you motivate your dog to want to listen to you rather than physically making her behave a certain way, you are on the road to actually teaching your dog. Most dogs will sit for a treat, right? This is a good example of showing your dog what you want and providing a great outcome rather than pushing her butt down on the ground if she doesn’t do it. It’s up to you show your dog how to voluntarily do things you wish.

  Think about teaching young children how to do multiplication. You must take the time to sit with them, work through the problems, and be patient. You can’t do it passively, and you can’t force them to think or understand. And, of course, if you do their math homework for them, then they really won’t learn a thing!

  It’s similar with dogs and training. When you reward your dog with treats, playtime, and lots of praise and affection, your dog is going to want to continue the behavior that got her all those awesome things. If you’ve ever had a particular passion such as sports, music, or any hobby or interest, you’ll probably recall that you found lots of joy in it—so much so, that you were willing to go out of your way to participate in it. So, you’ll need to cater to the things your dog loves in order to achieve long-lasting, authentic results in your training.

  One more note: There will be times when you need to pick up your dog or escort her away from, say, a dangerous situation, such as when she encounters another dog exhibiting aggressive behaviors. Or if your dog freezes up on the leash and doesn’t budge during a walk, you might have to pick her up, if possible, and place her on the grass so she can go potty (and then schedule dedicated training sessions to work on this issue, of course). I don’t view this as outside-in training as much as I consider it management, which I explain in depth on this page in this chapter. I’m not assuming that physically removing your dog from a situation or placing her in one actually teaches her anything. Instead, it’s just a way to correct yourself when you’ve inadvertently put your dog in a sticky situation or one she just isn’t ready for yet.

  5. CONTROL THE ENVIRONMENT

  The most common mistake made by people with new dogs is giving them too much freedom too early. Not controlling your dog’s environment well is the greatest contributing factor to allowing the establishment of undesirable habits. In other words, if you want your dog to avoid picking up bad habits, relentlessly control where she can and can’t go and what she has access to for the first year of training at least (especially for puppies and untrained older dogs).

  Controlling a dog’s environment is also key in resolving unwanted behaviors like barking. Let’s say your dog barks at everyone and everything that walks in front of your house. If you rely on redirecting her attention to you after she has started barking, then this means you’ll have to go to where she is in the house (as she continues to bark for a few more seconds, further establishing the unwanted behavior) and then redirect her attention to you. Whereas, if you are right there to get her attention on you immediately when someone walks past your house, you can then reward her for ideal behavior before the barking even starts.

  The best way to keep control of your dog is by having her attached to you with a leash as often as possible. I’ll be honest, too few people take my advice on this. They think they can bypass this step, but that’s not advisable for the majority of dogs. I’m not talking about having your dog on leash only when outside of the house. I want you to attach her to you often when inside the house, too.

  By having your dog attached to your belt loop or otherwise tied to you, not only do you prevent her from chewing on furniture or shoes, jumping all over small children, and bolting out of the front door, but you are also in an ideal position to provide feedback to let your dog know when you like her behavior. Also, when your dog does perform less than ideally, you are right there to interrupt the actions you don’t like and show her what you’d prefer her to do instead. Whenever you are at home and able to attach your dog to you, do it.

  Of course, you can’t always supervise your dog this thoroughly. You have to work, run errands, and relax sometimes. In these cases, it’s critical that you make sure that you have your dog in a controlled setting where she can’t tear up your belongings, pee on the floor, or acquire other bad habits. Crates are an excellent way to keep dogs safe for short periods of time. When introducing a crate, proceed slowly and at your dog’s pace. Lots of dogs learn to love their crate as it’s their own special place. Check out my various YouTube videos on how to introduce a dog to her crate, such as How to Potty Train Your Puppy Easily! Everything You Need to Know!

  However, some dogs will never like staying in a crate. Also, even if your dog loves her crate, she shouldn’t spend more than four hours in it at a time (or less depending on her age). That’s why it’s important to have other options for keeping your dog’s environment controlled while you’re out of the house or preoccupied at home. For instance, you might want to puppy proof a bathroom or other area in the house so that your dog has a bit more room while you’re away. Indoor exercise pens and baby/puppy gates are another great way for your dog to have additional room while being kept safe.

  6. KNOW YOUR DOG’S CURRENCY

  We all love incentives. Tell a child that you’ll take her for ice cream or buy her a toy if she makes her bed every morning, and you can bet that she’ll tuck those sheets in tight. Of course, the reverse is true. If you tell a kid she can’t watch TV or have a friend over if she doesn’t eat her veggies, she’ll more likely try a bite of something green.

  Well, dogs are the same as humans in this respect. They are more likely to repeat an action, like sit, when the outcome is favorable (say, you give them a treat). In the training world, this is called reinforcement. On the flip side, dogs are less likely to repeat a behavior when the outcome is unfavorable to them. We refer to this unfavorable outcome as punishment.

  Note that when dog trainers and behaviorists refer to punishment, they might mean anything that is viewed as unpleasant to a dog. In our case, we limit unpleasant outcomes to withholding something they want or denying access to a particular environment. For example, provided you’ve taught your dog to sit, if you ask her to do so and she doesn’t, you now need to provide an undesired but humane consequence. In this case, you might withhold a treat or not let her run into the backyard until she first holds a ten-second sit.

  I know you’ve probably come across trainers who promote physical punishment. When their dogs have accidents in the house, they rub their pets’ noses in it. They yell at their dogs and flip them on their backs in what’s called an “alpha roll.” They use the choke, prong, or electric collars I mentioned earlier. Please don’t do any of these things!

  Reme
mber that physical punishment is the shallowest form of punishing a dog. It’s not only unnecessary and ineffective, but it can also destroy your bond with your dog, which, as I mentioned earlier in this chapter, is the cornerstone of training.

  While you should always praise your dog with a “Good girl!” or a similar phrase when she does something you like, praise by itself is not usually enough to encourage long-term repeated behavior in the first several months of training. You’ve got to use your dog’s currency. In fact, whether reinforcing behaviors you do like or punishing behaviors you don’t, you’ll need to use your dog’s currency very consistently throughout her training.

  What is currency? There are three main types: food and play are the most common, while the third type of currency is environment. I’ll walk you through all three options.

  Food

  Virtually all dogs are motivated by food, provided that you are attempting to train them in a situation that they are used to and with food that they love. When using food for primary training sessions, use a high-value food reward almost exclusively. Think of it like a one dollar bill. A good choice is usually plain, boiled chicken, turkey, or something extra-special like that. It’s essential that your dog loves the currency, not just like it.

  However, that doesn’t mean she gets a huge piece of chicken every time she does something good. When using treats, it’s quality, not quantity, that’s important. Plus, the last thing you want is your dog getting too full (or overweight!). So, the size of food rewards should be between the size of a grain of rice and a pea. This also goes a long way toward setting up “jackpot” rewards that you can use when your dog really breaks new ground in training. In other words, sometimes when teaching dogs, we have to supply rapid-fire treats, one after the other. You can’t do that if the currency is too large.

  Traditional dog treats have their place in training, too. Think of their value as being a quarter. Dog treats are convenient to have readily available throughout the house, in your car, or in your pocket or purse so that you can quickly reward your dog in those unexpected secondary training sessions. Stick with soft ones, which are usually more palatable and desirable to dogs than dry ones (freeze-dried meat treats are an exception). Plus, they’re easy to break up into small pieces, which you should still do. Almost all commercial dog treats are way too big to be given at once for training purposes.

  You can use bits of kibble or dry treats during training on occasion, too. However, they are equivalent to a penny. Use these sparingly. Remember, the currency has to really excite your dog, and a bit of kibble or a dry treat isn’t going to do the trick in the same way a piece of meat will. I generally do not advise using kibble or dry treats for training on a regular basis.

  Play

  Sure, food motivates a lot of dogs, but many people overlook play as a potential currency, too. However, for a huge percentage of dogs—especially those with a lot of energy—some type of play is the ultimate currency. The most common examples of play as a currency are three- to ten-second games of tug-of-war and fetch. That’s right, sometimes a simple toss of a ball just a few feet is very intoxicating and motivating for dogs. A lot of dogs will do anything for even the most insignificant toss of a toy. My dogs were even more driven by that than by food! In fact, I taught them almost exclusively with play as a currency, and they would even abandon their food at mealtime if they simply caught a glimpse of me picking up their ball. It was quite hilarious, actually.

  So how do you use play as currency exactly? For many dogs, playing with you in a way that allows them to run, chase, and tug is highly fulfilling. For example, if your dog does something that you ask, go ahead and reward her with a few seconds of tug-of-war or a short toss of a ball (provided you’ve taught this!). If your dog doesn’t listen to a request, you can simply withhold the fun game until she does.

  I include a detailed description of tug-of-war on this page, chapter 7, and one of fetch on this page, chapter 17. Also, I know that not all dogs respond equally to tug-of-war and fetch as a currency. However, it’s always worth a try since using play as a currency can make all the difference in your dog’s willingness to keep learning and training.

  A NOTE ON INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT

  Some of you might wonder how effective your training will be if you reward your dog all of the time. It’s true that I advise rewarding very often in the early stages of training. However, as training goes on, and your dog begins to reliably listen with fairly heavy rewarding, you should start focusing on rewarding randomly, maybe 75 percent of the time at first, then 40 percent, then 90 percent, and then 20 percent. Use your own percentages—just keep it random. Intermittent reinforcement is highly effective when teaching because it keeps your dog guessing. Ultimately, you might only give your dog her currency every ten times or even every thirty. You can determine how often based on how reliably your dog is listening without her currency. There’s more on this on this page, chapter 22.

  Environment

  Along with food and playtime, you can use your dog’s environment as currency. Truthfully, you probably won’t need to do this as often as you’d use the other methods, but it can still be quite effective at times. For example, when teaching your dog to stay at a doorway leading to the outside, she might be very excited to get out in the yard and start smelling around. So not letting her run into the yard until she’s held a ten-second stay can be a significant motivator. Dogs are usually eager to comply if it means they get to go outside! Another example: When your dog is pulling on her leash, stopping and waiting for a compliant “look at me” and then rewarding her by continuing the walk can be an additional way to reinforce good behavior. On the flip side, bringing the walk to a stop is one way to provide an undesired outcome for your dog when she pulls. You’re basically saying to her, “We can walk, but it has to be on my terms.” Eventually, after a lot of repetition, this lesson starts to sink in.

  7. MAKE THE MOST OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TRAINING SESSIONS

  There are two main types of training sessions: primary and secondary. Understanding the importance of both types of sessions is vital to teaching a dog to listen to you in virtually every setting. Remember, always make sure you have your dog’s currency available during these sessions. Here’s a breakdown of each.

  Primary Training

  Primary training sessions are for when you are teaching something new to your dog. In a primary lesson, you are 100 percent focused on teaching your dog something specific in a very deliberate, slow manner. Take “sit,” for example. Here, you are using your dog’s currency to slowly lure her into the “sit” position. (See this page, chapter 3, for a refresher on this skill). You are not asking her to learn this concept around tons of distractions or other dogs. Nor are you requiring that she snap into a “sit,” like a soldier, on the first request. Instead, you are setting up time to patiently teach your dog the skill, just like you’d patiently teach a young child how to read or write.

  Primary lessons are where you should introduce and practice concepts. Always plan and conduct them in places where you have virtually total control of the environment, such as in your house or fenced yard. Primary lessons should also always occur in environments where your dog is likely to maintain her focus on you. In other words, make sure the distractions, scents, sounds, and sights at the place where you’re teaching are not too overwhelming for your dog at her current skill level. This might mean your living room if your dog is new to training, but it can also mean a busy park if you’ve worked up to training in such a place with your dog.

  SURPRISE PRIMARY TRAINING

  The next level of primary training is surprise primary training sessions. That’s when you attempt to introduce variables that mimic real-life distractions. These are still planned on your end, but your dog should have no notice that a training session is about to occur. For example, say your dog is hanging out next to you while you cook. You might intentionally drop a carro
t on the floor and ask your dog to “leave it.” From your perspective, you’ve thought about the training drill that’s about to happen. You are prepared to promptly request that your dog leave the carrot alone a second before it hits the ground. You’re prepared to give your dog a treat if she complies, and you’re ready to cover the carrot or pick it up if your dog seems to ignore your request.

  However, from your dog’s perspective, she has no idea what’s coming. This element of surprise is essential for dogs who have mastered the basic primary sessions. See, a huge part of training a dog to behave well is to make sure that she behaves well in all situations, not just when she’s totally prepared for a training session. Building basic impulse control takes extensive practice with most dogs. It’s not that difficult, but you have to do it often and in varied ways for months.

  Secondary Training

  Secondary training sessions are totally unplanned. They require you to drop what you are doing to show your dog how to behave in the moment that she is misbehaving. This is the real deal!

  The good news is that if you did plenty of surprise primary training sessions, you should be fine. See, that’s why those sessions are so critical. Since they imitate things that might happen in real life—say, you ask a friend to knock on your front door or you purposefully set a turkey sandwich out on the counter—your dog is likely to be much more successful when those things actually occur.