Dog Training Errors

Dog Training Errors
New article I wrote about what common mistakes dog owners make. Simple stuff really, but you'd be surprised how many people do these things

What do you think about the article?

You make some very good points! I wish more people would take the psychology of the dog and how our behavior, (including tone of voice), is interpreted by them, to heart.

I just scanned through it, I agree.

This is what I find most important - your tone. For my dogs, if I want them to do a command, I say it in my regular tone with a serious face on so they know that I mean it. That is what works well. For the "come" command, I say it this way, and loudly - "COME!" This is what works well for my dogs.

The "come" command usually works better for the dog's understanding when it is said in a happy voice. If someone yelled at me seriously with the word "come" I woudl be afraid. I would never want my dogs to fear me in training(or even just not be happy). My entire goal for trainign my dogs is to have well-behaved dogs that are HAPPY to behave for me!

One other common mistake we see all the time is owners allowing pup's to do actions because they are cute. When the pup gets to be an adult these behaviors are no longer desired and the dog gets reprimanded for them.

We always advise new owners to praise and mold their pups into the adult dogs they want to live with. Having a puppy jump up on you, mouth you etc. may be cute, but, not cute for an adult. Start early desensitizing your pup to nail trimming etc always in a positive manner.

For some reason people "think" that a puppy will automatically know what is allowed when an adult

Good dogs are created from puppyhood. Another thing people forget is dogs have no idea of what is allowed and not allowed in a house. Dogs are opportunist, meaning they evolved to be scavengers. If not given proper rules you can have a dog that is food aggressive, counter surfer etc. Many behaviors meant for survivol can be annoying in a family home. Start from a puppy or when you first bring a new dog into your home to "show" the dog what it can and can't do in a positive manner. Reward the good, redirect the bad behaviors...reward when done correctly.

I find the single most common mistake novice trainers make is marking the wrong behavior with the word they want the behavior to have. Before a dog understands what a word means, they use the word to try to elicit the behavior from the dog.

For example, a dog who has not been trained to come to you when it hears the word COME is told to come when he is standing still or moving away from the trainer. The trainer has used the word COME then, to mark the standing still or moving away from the handler behavior, not coming TOWARDS the handler.

The name of the behavior MUST be heard by the dog AS the behavior is occurring, and the reward must follow as immediately as possible.

I find this is the hardest thing to get across to novice trainers. You cannot say "sit" to an untrained puppy unless it is IN the ACT of sitting. If you do so at any other time, the puppy will not associate the word SIT with the correct behavior.

I NEVER call my dogs to come to me in anything except a pleasant tone of voice. If your dog does not wish to come when you call, it does not have to if it is not on a long line. You can find my recall training philosophies in a couple of pieces I've put here here....The Recall Game and Puppy Training 101.

Well yes, exactly. I see people do that with all kinds of things. That is one of my biggest "mottos"....."don't give a command if you can't enforce it." Don't even say the word, "come" unless you're positive your dog is coming first. Get the pup to come by other means, running the other way, making silly, fun noises, hide behind a tree...something and then when it's obviously coming and very, very close to you, then say, "come." Then reward immediately. Or use a long line.

Same with any command. Get the behavior first, then add a command word while he's doing it and reward. Once he becomes quite good at it, then use the command word to get the behavior, but you better be able to see that it is carried out if you do use the word.

I know someone who says to her dog, "sit, sit, sit, sit." The dog is oblivious to her owner....absolutely out of control, not paying one bit of attention. And the owner continues to say, "sit, sit, sit, sit." It's unbelievable.

As far as understanding words, well....they don't at first, but are quite capable of learning many, many words in their lifetime.

Tone of voice means a lot to a dog. But we teach them what our voice means. Dogs primary means of communication is not verbal, but more physical; positioning, looks etc.... And they tend to become habituated to a certain voice. If you are loud, they'll get use to loud and won't respond to anything less....that is, if you haven't enforced or motivated and rewarded in a consistant manner. If you start out with a quiet voice, motivate and reward enough to get consistant compliance, then a quiet voice is all you'll ever need.

I see that too...people saying "come" in a loud, almost nasty, angry sounding voice. No wonder their dogs don't want to come. LOL.

You haven't met my dogs, stop telling me what is right and wrong for them. I say it in my regular voice, in a serious way - "Come!" Me saying "Come!" in my happy, praising voice doesn't work. I don't appreciate it when people try to tell me what is right and what is wrong when they don't even know me. You have your opinions, I have mine.

My dogs know the "come" command very well. Including my terrier mix. They immediately turn around and run to me, and then they receive lots of praise in my happy voice, some petting, and maybe a treat.

I do not say it in a nasty voice.

I sure agree with you on this one! It's is amazing how dogs of any age can use "cuteness" to get what they want. I've seen more than a few of them use this to "train" their owners, too!

My dog has my boyfriend trained to fetch her cookies. I have to keep being the "meanie" to get him to take the lead, so she is "reacting" to what he wants, instead of the other way around!

My dog knows from my tone of voice, whether I am serious or not. When I mean business, my dog knows this. I use a firm tone of voice with the "come" command, or use a sharp whistle if she is at a distance. If things are not of a serious nature, my tone is still firm, yet softer. I have no need to use an "angry" tone, just a "bossy" one.

Doberluv,

Great point about not overusing a raised tone of voice. It reminds me of mothers who constantly yell at their kids. Well, pretty soon that's just mom's regular tone of voice, and it loses the impact which should probably be reserved for serious and/or emergency stituations.

Gaddy,

Gaddy's quote: Where, in Tessa's post is she talking about you? Where is the reference to you Gaddy?

my quote:
Gaddy's quote:
I actually was thinking about a neighbor who lives down my road. Where on earth do you see your name in that quote?

Where do you get the idea that everything anyone writes is about you? Do you think you're that much on everyones' mind that it must be about you? I can only speak for myself, but I expect that whatever is written in this thread seems to be pretty general information based on peoples' experiences and education etc....general....not about you. If you read these posts as a source of information or stories that people like to share, realize that most likely, people are not thinking about you, but about their own dogs and what they do...in other words, get your mind off yourself and onto other ideas, dogs, people....you'll probably see a more objective, realistic discussion going on. It's not all about you Gaddy.

And you're right about it being ok to have one's own opinion about something. You say that someone has her opinions and you have yours. But then you also say that you don't appreciate what people think about how to teach a dog something. That's a little over the top, isn't it. No one was attacking you or even talking about you.

Gaddy, with all due respect, you really need to calm down. This is not the first post in the last week that you have been very critical of others, or were offended by someone's OPINIONS. When I posted after you it was NOT meant as an attack and I certainly was not yelling at you.

Honestly, this is the internet! You can never be 100% certain what a person means or is trying to say with words typed over the internet. That is why it is best to NOT get so easily offended.

If it works for your dogs, great! But it certainly won't work for EVERY dog, and I was just stating that. So..calm down, and take a deep breath.

Everyone has a different way of communicating with their dog, a different relationship. I am firm and fair with my dogs, and the way I treat them is not necessarily the way I would treat a dog that I don't know. I rough-house with my dogs, if I want my Border Collie's attention I just grab for some hair and give it a tug. If I want my Papillon's attention or if I want to initiate play I grab his tail. I, too, get exhausted with people disapproving of the way I handle my dogs. I can't expect everybody to understand, though. What matters is that this is how I communicate with my dogs. They understand and don't mind at all. In return, they will put their teeth on me to get my attention, or growl at me. This is no more an act of aggression or dominance on their part as my handling of them is an act of abuse.

I don't think many people can thoroughly understand the relationships other people have with their dogs... Gaddy I dont think anyone was commenting on the way you handle your girls, but rather on their own experiences.

As far as the word "come" goes.. I am always peppy and happy with puppies, but as they mature they learn that it is a very serious command and I give it in a very firm, almost harsh-sounding voice. It's not punishing the dog, he doesn't view it that way, he just knows that it's my no-nonsense voice that means "this is urgent, do it NOW".

I agree for the most part with your article, Orion.

Oh i was just trying to help

Obviously everyone has a different method that works, i was just pointing out something that I though would help

I agree (mostly)
There is a definite difference between my peppy "come" which is viewed as come here, please, I have something for you !' to my dogs, in which they come running. When we are out hiking, however, and I see something potentially dangerous my come is urgent/firm. I wouldn't necessarily say harsh, but it's meaningful enough to tell her that its "urgent, do it NOW!"
I think that's okay, I mean, when you're in a situation where its paramount your dog comes to you -- especially for safety reasons -- not many people have that much control over there voice/emotions and can't take the precious time to get it right.

Well, of course, if my dog's about to get run over by a logging truck, I'm not going to call out in my "let's play....come" voice. I'm talking about the every day, average times when someone calls their dog, why use a harsh voice? My friend does this. His dog won't go lie down unless you say "go lie down" in a very stern voice, almost like you're mad. The dog has been conditioned to this tone and it just sounds awful to my ears. The dog slinks off and goes and lies down. She absolutely doesn't understand when I try saying in a normal tone, "go lie down." She just stands there.