What Dog Training Really Is

Michael Baugh CDBC CPDT-KSA

A trainer friend, Ginger Alpine, said this years ago, and it’s stuck with me. “Training isn’t something we do to our dogs. It’s something we do with them.” I love Ginger’s wisdom. And, I love how clearly and succinctly these two sentences define training as a process in which we and our dogs are full and equal participants. It’s not me versus him; it’s both of us working together.

Training–Teaching–Learning. It “isn’t something we do to our dogs” Here’s what else I love about this saying. There’s no time limit implied. We don’t do it and we’re done. It frees us from the finality of time-based questions about dog training. How long does it take? How much time will I have to spend? When will it end? These are not the kinds of questions we ask about other things we enjoy, like hiking or dancing or playing a musical instrument. I, for example, enjoy running (I know not everyone does). How long does it take? Well, as long as I want, a long time if I’m lucky and long into my old age if I’m really lucky and take care of myself.

Dog training, specifically reinforcement-based training, is how we learn to communicate with our dogs. Strip the goals away for now. Sit, down, jump through a hoop. Yes, all that will come. But look with me for a moment at this as “something we do with” our dogs. When we are training, we are in partnership, connected, and engaged with each other in problem solving and task building. We get to stop everything else and keenly observe our dog, see what it is she is actually about, what she actually does in this world. We guide her and provide feedback. And guess what? She’s observing us, paying attention to nothing else, noticing our moves, adjusting hers in kind, and giving us feedback as well. Give and take. It’s a process. It’s what we do with our dogs.

If we love our dogs, how can we not love doing things with them? I’m still grappling with that question, and may my whole life. Maybe it’s the “something we do to them” part that gets in our way. Maybe when we frame training as a chore that needs to get done, we freeze up. I can assure you, I’m no fan of chores either. And what if we can’t get the chore completed? How frustrating is that? I wonder what would happen if we kept stripping away the goals and set aside the are-we-done-yet part. What if training was like play, hiking, dancing or making music? What if we could think of this time with our dog not as a chore but as a fun conversation with her? I love a good chat, sometimes spirited, occasionally challenging, often just relaxed.

What if that’s what training is? What if it’s the time we get to spend with our dogs, not the time we have to spend? What if the goal isn’t the thing? What if the thing itself is the thing, the process, that conversation between two species? What if we’ve been missing the point all along? Yes, we will get our sits, and downs, and she’ll jump that hoop. But next time you join your dog in training (today I hope), watch how she moves. Look at her expression. My guess is you’ll see joy. And my further guess is that the joy has little to do with accomplishing goals. She’s happy to see you. She’s happy to be with you. She’s happy to have this time with you.

What are we doing? That doggy grin. What are we learning today? That full-butt tail wag. What does it matter? This is the best part of my day, the best part of my tomorrow and every day with you. Let’s do this.

Michael Baugh teaches dog training in Houston, TX.

The Benefits of a Group Setting for Puppies

Guest Blogger – Kevin Duggan, CPDT-KA

A group class is a wonderful place to bring your puppy for multiples reasons. The biggest reason is socialization. Second on the list is learning in an environment that has distractions. Third up is the development of your pup’s play skills. Last, but definitely not least is bite inhibition.

Let’s take a look at each of these.

Socialization – Puppies go through what is referred to as the critical socialization period between the ages of 8-16 weeks. During this time it’s crucial to get them out to help them build positive associations with the things that they will encounter in every day life.

To build positive associations all you need to do is give your pup some treats a second or two after something new appears. Give those treats the entire time the new thing is there and once the new thing is gone, stop treating. It won’t take long for him to realize that people, dogs, surfaces, loud trucks, going into buildings, being handled and examined all predict awesome stuff. Once that clicks, your pup will enjoy all of those things.

It is important to socialize in as many places as possible. Dogs are poor generalizers. (Except they generalize fear well.) They can discriminate that a certain place is awesome and they may enjoy all the people in that place, but they may be fearful of other places and be nervous of people in those places.

Use the location of the group class you join as one place. From there, utilizes pet friendly places like certain hardware stores and ice cream parlors. (You’ll even want to do lots of happy visits at your vet’s office and at your groomer’s.) This will set him up to be a behaviorally sound adult dog.

Distractions- Life is full of distractions. In reality, these distractions are what we refer to as “competing motivators.” These are just other things in the environment that your pup wants to interact with. If you want him to be able to do behaviors while out and about, it’s important to practice out and about.

The main issue that people have when they’re out in public with their pup is that he has trouble staying focused. If he sees something that he wants it’s naturally going to motivate him to do a behavior in hopes to get to interact with it. That’s often where barking, pulling on leash and not coming when called come from.

One of the best places to start is a group setting. In the group setting he will be around lots of other people and puppies. You will get lots of practice and coaching from your trainer on how to get him to do the behaviors. This can and will translate to out into the real world, making life easier.

Play skills- These can be developed quite easily at this young age. In a group setting that allows puppy play (look for one that does) your pup will get to learn what is and isn’t appropriate to do to the other pups. If his play gets to look a little questionable then a “consent check” can be done to see whether or not the other pup is enjoying what is happening. This is how he can be coached because if he is removed from play for doing a certain behavior, that behavior should decrease. This is because with consistency he learns that doing that behavior results in the removal of what he wants and enjoys.

Since play is a part of developing play skills, he will be getting a lot of physical exercise. This exercise will come from chasing, being chased, barking, biting, humping, wrestling and rolling around. These are all normal play behaviors.

Bite inhibition- This is something that not everyone knows about. This means your pup learns to control the amount of force/pressure applied during a bite. During a group class he can learn from other pups if he is biting too hard. Usually they learn that they’re biting too hard by an alert that comes in the form of a loud “yelp!” Most puppies hear that yelp and back off.

Puppies play bite. This is beyond normal. A group setting gives them an outlet to play bite and helps teach bite inhibition. This is a win-win.

Searching for the right group class

Now that you have all of that information it’s time to start researching places near you. When searching for a group class you want to ask some questions to ensure you’re going to the right place. Here is a list.

Do the puppies get to interact off leash with one another?
What happens when my puppy does the right behavior?
What happens when my puppy does the wrong behavior?
What type of equipment do you utilize in class? (Avoid any trainers that are recommend the use of choke, prong or shock collars as these types of collars can lead to aggression.)
Do you check vaccination records?

You’re looking for a place that does have off leash puppy play. You want to find a place that focuses on rewarding the pups when they do the right behavior. You want to find a place that doesn’t give any sort of physical correction when the pups do the wrong behavior. You want to find a place that recommends body harnesses or head halters. And lastly, you want to ensure that they do indeed check vaccination records.

Now that you have this list you’re ready to start having some fun training your pup in a group setting. Have fun!

Kevin Duggan is the owner of All Dogs Go To Kevin, which services Northeast Ohio and Eastern Tennessee.

Begin with Wonder

Michael Baugh CDBC

Life with our dogs can be confusing sometimes. Life can be confusing. It’s true. The world is crazy. Our dog seems crazy. Maybe I’m going crazy. He’s growling. I’m yelling. We just want the bad stuff to stop. But where do we begin?

I suggest we begin with wonder. We know sometimes our dog is at his best. There are places in which he is neither troubled nor troublesome. We know those times and places. Let’s find them. Be still. Be with our dog. Just be.

Let’s start right here, in wonder of all that our dog is. Author Richard Rohr refers to wonder as “standing in awe before something.” Can we really do that with our dog? Be right there for a moment, a short while, aware and in awe.

Our dog thinks. But what exactly? Let the question roll over you. Rohr also writes about wondering as “standing in the question itself.” We will never know our dog’s thoughts. But we can wonder. That alone could keep me here, contemplating not what my dog is thinking, but that he is.

Our dog feels. Researcher Jaak Panksepp opened that door for us, uncovering the emotional lives of animals. We can watch our dog, whatever he is doing right now, and we can settle in with the truth that he has feelings. We can imagine those feeling, because we are emotional creatures too. Our dogs seek things that feel good and avoid things that feel bad. We can relate. We empathize.

Our dog moves. He is a living being in motion here with us, right now, at this time, in this place. He makes choices and puts those choices in motion (or in stillness). It happens in this space with us fully present. Aware. In Awe.

Charlie sniffs the late-season wild grass. He smells I don’t know what. He is living. Thinking. Feeling. His ball is on the ground just behind him, a choice for playing a moment ago and perhaps in the moment ahead. But now, in this moment, Charlie is present in the sun and the sound of the wind and the moving leaves and the dappling of light. What is that scent? What moves him to this stillness?

Begin with wonder every day, every new start. We engage with dogs in ways not open to us with most other animals. We can learn to communicate with them. Spend a moment with that idea. It is wonderful, this connection we have, this chance to learn how they interact with us, the chance to teach them our words and phrases. Can we see the cooperation, the mutual learning? Who cares that I am human, and he is a dog?

Where else to begin now that we know, now that we notice? There is only wonder. They come to us, our dogs, and ask us: Play? Rest? Touch? Eat? They comfort us and turn to us for comfort when they are afraid, or anxious, or sad. They turn to us. Us.

And they are a wonder, these animals who live with us and think their private thoughts. Their feelings, like ours, must run amok at times. Their actions seem to run in kind, amok, but much differently than ours. They are fully dogs. No wonder, really, we get confused. And no wonder they get confused, too, I guess. It’s hard.

But connected we stay, committed. Life in this human world is crazy enough for us humans. What a mess it must seem to our dogs. It’s a good thing we’re here to see them through it. It’s a good they are here to see us through it.

Charlie is resting now, almost asleep, the wild grass and the breeze and the flicker of sunlight forgotten. He will dream, eyes flitting under half-closed lids. He always does. Perhaps he will bark hushed barks and run slow twitches of his feet. We won’t see what he sees, smell what he smells. No one can go with him. We can only watch and wonder. That word again. And awe. That one too.

Michael Baugh teaches dog training in Sedona Arizona and Houston Texas. He specializes in aggressive dog training.