OFF!

One of the most common problems that people complain about with their dogs is the inability for a dog to not jump up on somebody they meet.

Whether it's a little kid walking into the room, the owner coming home after work and walking in the front door, or meeting people on the walk through town. These issues are merely of the dog's misunderstanding of training. At some point it found that it was rewarding to jump up on you. Or on somebody that you were meeting. And it continued this behavior and what's your first response when it happens? We yell "OFF!"

By yelling "off" we're not telling them its ok to do something, but were telling them that it's unacceptable to be doing what they are doing. Well, at least that's what we think we're doing, and that makes sense in our head. In the dog's head they've already completed the behavior. And what you are wanting is to give a command for the next behavior which is to go from the standing up with my muddy paws on somebody's chest position to a four feet on the floor position.

While this is the intended goal of getting the dog off of somebody, what we would really like is for the dog never to jump up. So why do we not train this behavior instead?? Exactly the question that leads to the next and more appropriate way of training.

As opposed to waiting for the dog to rush up to somebody and jump,  next time, walk up to somebody that is remaining calm and quiet, being non-stimulated, and have them stand there while you put the dog into a Sit. Once the dog is in a sit, then, have the person reach out and pet the dog's head.

To begin with,  this is all you need.

Walk towards someone with the dog on leash. Have the dog sit just before it would normally begin to get ready to jump up, you'll need to watch your body's dogs body language to understand when this is about to happen. When they sit, have the person pat the dog on the head with little or no fanfare, so the dog gets a reward for it,  but there is low stimulation, keeping the dog from feeling the need to jump , and then the interaction is done.

Continue this until the dog is comfortable and used to sitting every time they approach somebody. Then they can have a little bit more freedom. If any time they began to jump back up, go back to the non-stimulating, slow introductions. You'll find your happy balance. And you'll also find happier interactions with people you approach!

Happy training!

"Positive" Reinforcement

Let's talk about positive reinforcement. The term "positive reinforcement" is often misused by marketing companies and those that sell toys or devices or even training for dogs. It's used to provide a description or a name for a product that they want you to think is happy, and produces positive thoughts or outcome for your dog. And everyone wants their dog to be happy, hence the intentional misuse and eventual misinterpretation of the word  "positive".

So let's breakdown the phrase.
Positive = the adding to
Reinforcement = anything causing a situation or behavior to repeat

In the terms of training, the phrase positive means adding to, not, positive as in: good and happy. So anything that you do with your voice, touch, leash, electronic collars, rattle can, etc are going to be adding to a situation. Now if those things that you add to the situation cause of behavior to repeat, then you are reinforcing. And the behavior will repeat again because of the reinforcement it received the last time.

Example: a dog in the other room is barking from its kennel, you, from your bedroom yell, "no!" The dog goes quiet for a few seconds, then begins to bark again. You repeat, "No!" Again the dog is quiet for a few seconds then continues to bark.

In your mind the word "no" is a reprimand, the punishment for the dog doing something that you don't approve of. After all you do need your beauty sleep.  In the dog's mind they are merely seeking your attention, they can't see you, they can't hear you, so in order to get that attention, they do whatever it is that will get it. In this case it's barking. They are rewarded by merely hearing your voice. You have added to the situation. This in turn reinforces the parking. And so you are POSITIVELY reinforcing the behavior.

Training your dog is not merely giving it treats and putting a leash on it. There are portions of Psychology with you can pull from and learn so much more about how a dog thinks. This is the part that I find fascinating. We can guide our dogs to be better pets, partners, family members by understanding how they understand the world. They don't use logic or reasoning so its not as easy as sitting them down to explain why you have done something. Once you understand how they see the world and interact with it, your next training session will be much more fun and in-depth than you ever expected!

Happy training!

Suggested  reading: http://psychology.about.com/od/operantconditioning/f/positive-reinforcement.htm