To help your shy/fearful/reactive dog to relax and accept visitors, begin your training routine with only one person. After your dog will relax with that person, you can invite another and then two more and so on until your dog can be comfortable with a group.

Make sure that your dog is somewhat hungry and invite your helper over to train at a time when you can do this without other distractions going on. Have two bags of treats ready (one for you and one for your helper) which should be something special that your dog really loves such as bits of cooked chicken, thinly sliced hot dogs, etc. A variety of treats is even better. If you think your dog will try to jump up and grab the treat bag or bowl, keep the treats in a handy pouch/fanny pack.

If your dog behaves aggressively at the door: When the door bell rings, confine your dog in another room until your visitor is settled. Then, if your dog is able to attend to your direction, bring him out on leash. (Otherwise, allow your dog time to calm down, then run him through a few Sits and Downs behind the closed door before bringing him out on leash). Choose a seat several feet away from your guest. Place your dog in a Down-stay by your side. Your guest should ignore the dog and both of you should maintain a low key manner. If your dog begins to bark or growl or show other signs of distress or tension, calmly but quickly take him back to his crate or safe room. If your dog behaves well and remains calm and quiet on his Down-stay, praise him and feed him some treats. When he seems relaxed, allow him to approach (while you loosely hold the leash) to within 3 feet of the visitor, who should avoid staring and NOT try to pet him. Ask your visitor to tell your dog to Sit, and if your dog complies, you and your visitor can praise him and toss him a treat. Then return him to his resting spot.

Now drop the leash and allow your dog to freely wander around the room. Meanwhile you and helper should talk to one another and pay little attention to the dog as you drop treats on the floor. If the dog only takes your treats and not your helper’s, slow down your treat delivery and ignore his attempts to solicit your attention.

If your dog begins to eat your helper’s treats, she/he should continue to ignore the dog. If the dog seems to be getting more comfortable with your helper, then the helper may try offering a treat from her hand without making any attempt to touch or pet the dog.

If your dog seems relaxed, call your dog back to your side and have your visitor stand up. Allow your dog to approach your standing visitor for tossed treats. If this goes well, your standing visitor may offer treats from her hand. Before your visitor turns to walk away and leave, call your dog back to your side and pick up his leash. If your dog shows any signs of arousal, put him away before escorting your visitor to the door.

If you have a fearful dog that shows aggressive behavior towards strangers or other dogs, you should seek professional help. Here are some tips in the meantime:

What To Do: You should remain calm, upbeat, and pleasant when your dog is around unfamiliar people since they will feed off of your body language- good or bad. You need to help your dog to focus on you and try to prevent them from reaching an extreme state of anxiety or reactivity around their triggers. When working with your dog be upbeat and confident (or pretend to the best of your abilities).

Your dog is trying to drive people away with their aggressive displays. They will be much more comfortable when they can learn that with distance and you being their advocate by keeping them safe and providing distance from the person they fear, nothing is going to hurt them. When you are with your dog around people that make them anxious be their advocate and set them up for success.

Reward your dog with treats, petting, and praise for non-reactive and calm behavior around people. People can toss them treats from a distance so they have a good association with them. If your dog is accepting of a person they would normally react to or is indifferent, make sure to reward them! Besides letting your dog know what is not acceptable you need to teach them what you would like them to do.

The treats you use for training your dog calm and non-reactive behavior around people should be their very favorite and only given when unfamiliar people are around or when you have guests over. Favorite treats include hot dogs, lunchmeat, cheese, and freeze-dried liver. I highly recommend using the clicker training method to teach your dog calm and non-reactive behavior around people. Clicker training is the best training method for getting anxious dogs to focus and learn in stressful situations. Owners I see who rely on using a Gentle Leader head collar alone and don’t use clicker training never reach the same level of success with this issue as owners who utilize both methods.

What Not To Do: Some people may advise “socializing” your fear aggressive dog to people they fear and surrounding them with people or going to public places. This is bad advice. The sensitive period for socialization in dogs is 3-12 weeks of age. After this if fear aggression develops, slowly desensitizing your dog one at a time to people they fear is the best approach. Forcing your dog to be surrounded by what they fear will only reinforce their fear making them uncomfortable and also more likely to use aggression to drive the scary people away. Don’t let strangers approach or pet your dog unless they are comfortable. Just tell them that they are in training and need some space. Watch out for “All Dogs Love Me” people. Assure them that your dog doesn’t love them and head for the hills if they keep insisting.

Never punish your dog for showing fear aggression. Punishment includes the use of aversive corrections (jerk corrections on lead, prong collars, shock collars, spraying with water, yelling, holding your dog by the muzzle, putting your dog into a submissive position, staring at your dog, scolding, and choke collars). Punishment or severe corrections will only make fear aggression worse as pain and fear will be associated with someone that already makes your dog fearful and uncomfortable. Punishment will increase your dog’s anxiety and it will also undermine your relationship with your dog. It is best to reward your dog for calm and appropriate behavior around people so they know what to do. If you create a positive relationship with your dog they will want to please you.

On the flip side of things, if you soothe your dog with baby talk, reassurance, or petting when they are being reactive around people you could be feeding into their anxiety and inadvertently rewarding them for aggressive behavior. You should be upbeat, calm, and relaxed when people are around. Show your dog through your behavior that they have nothing to be anxious about.

Avoid Triggers for Your Dog’s Aggression Towards People: Do not push your dog into situations in which they are bound to be uncomfortable, such as in crowds or in close proximity to strangers. You need to be their advocate and keep the people away from them that they show fear aggression to.

Teach people how to behave around your dog. It is best for them to ignore your dog, to not initiate contact with your dog, to turn away from your dog while sitting, and to avoid direct eye contact with your dog to keep your dog more comfortable in their presence. Behaviors such as hugging, petting over the head, staring at, grabbing by the collar, and looming/standing over a dog are considered threats or dominance behaviors in the dog world and may make your dog more likely to behave aggressively. If you don’t trust that a person can follow your instructions or they really set your dog off, put your dog in a crate or another room with some fun things to do (food puzzles, toys, etc.- as long as they won’t guard them). Your dog doesn’t have to interact with everybody and you may find that everyone, including your dog, is more comfortable this way.

Fear aggressive dogs may be triggered when a person speaks excitedly, uses hand gestures, or moves suddenly. Let people know to be conscious of their body language. Make a point to hold your dog on leash when people get up or walk away (fear aggressive dogs will often lunge at a person as they get up to leave or turn away). Your dog should be wearing their Gentle Leader with a leash or drag line attached when you have new people over the house.

Learn to interpret your dog’s body language when they are showing anxiety or reactivity to people. Some signs that a dog is frightened (besides cowering, shaking, and freezing) include: ears back and to the side or flattened, lowered head, paw lifting, tail down or tucked, whites of eyes showing, cowering, shaking, freezing, tense drawn back lips, panting with spoon-shaped tongue, squatting rear legs, looking away or avoiding eye contact, squinting eyes, braced front legs, rigidity, pressing into wall, leaning, hiding, rounded back, lowered body position, submissive urination, sweating through footpads, turning away, forming a C shape with the body, and drooling excessively. A very fearful dog won’t accept food and they may drink excessively.

Signs that a dog may be aggressive include: stiffness, staring, forward center of gravity, lips C-shaped, teeth bared, lunging, sharp barking, freezing, and stillness. Make sure to keep in mind that dogs wag their tail when they are excited about something, not always because they are happy about it.

Some dogs may also show displacement behaviors (sometimes referred to as “calming signals”) when they are conflicted such as licking their lips, tongue-flicking, scratching themselves¸ sniffing the ground, shaking (like a wet dog shake), or frequent yawning.

If you notice your dog freezing or becoming very still around a person, be careful, as this could mean they are going to bite them. Do your best to remain calm and redirect your dog if possible. Try using a “Watch Me” command (reward your dog for direct eye contact) or “Check In” command (reward your dog for touching their nose to your closed hand).

Provide a Safe Place: Your dog needs a safe place to retreat to in your home so they can get away from people if they want to. If you have a crate I recommend putting a sheet over the sides and back of it (leave the front uncovered) to make it more den-like. Many people also opt to use a room in the house. Give your dog a bed, toys, and a water dish there. When your dog is in their safe space they should not be approached by anyone they are reactive to. Provide your dog with special toys and long-lasting treats to enjoy in their safe space while you have people over. You may find that both your guest and your dog are more comfortable. This is a good option when you don’t want to actively train and supervise your dog around guests and it will prevent your dog from honing in on their aggressive skills.

Accept Reaching Hands and Touching

This exercise will help hand shy dogs become more comfortable with being touched. It is important to begin practicing with familiar and accepted adults first. Again, keep in mind that your objective is not for the dog to merely tolerate, but rather to remain relaxed and enjoy the process, and that an inexperienced helper can get bitten if you proceed too quickly without making sure that the dog is truly accepting rather than merely tolerating the touching.

Goal 1: Relaxed Dog will accept face touch from owner and/or helper.
1. Reach toward dog, stop 6 in. from side of dog’s face, treat from other hand.
2. Repeat reach toward dog, stopping 3 inches from face, treat from other hand.
3. Repeat reach, stopping 2 inches from face, then repeat stopping 1 inch from face.
4. Lightly touch the side of dog’s face.
5. Repeat toward chin.

GO SLOWLY THROUGH THESE STEPS – ONLY MOVE ON TO CLOSER OR FASTER TOUCHING WHEN DOG IS HAPPY AND RELAXED.
SAY ‘GOTCHA’ AS YOU REACH TOWARD DOG TO MAKE IT FUN

Goal 2: Relaxed dog will accept collar and body touch from owner and/or helper.
1. As you feed the treat with one hand, touch the dog’s head with the other.
2. As you feed the treat with one hand, touch the dog under the ear and on the ear.
3. As you feed the treat with one hand, touch the side of the dog’s neck.
4. As you feed the dog with one hand, touch the collar.
5. As you feed with one hand, touch the dog’s chest, front legs, back, lower back, belly, down the back legs, the tail, and finally the paws.
6. Progress to touching from different positions and at different speeds.

Many dogs and cats get along very well, especially if they’ve grown up with each other or have prior experience living with the other species. But dogs who have never lived with cats are more likely to treat cats like other dogs and try to play with them—or like prey animals and try to chase and possibly kill them. Similarly, cats who have never lived with dogs will likely view them as predators and will run away or become defensively aggressive. Keep in mind that a dog can kill a cat very easily, even in play. But if your dog is gentle and friendly, and he’s not a squirrel-chasing predatory type, he may be a good candidate for successfully living with a cat. And in general, kittens and laid-back cats are good candidates for successfully living with a dog.

Two exercises that are important for your dog to do well when asked are a recall (coming when called) and a “leave it” exercise. These skills will help you control your dog if he gets overexcited around your cat

At first, confine your new cat in a room with her food, water and litter box. You can start to introduce your cat and your dog by the doorway to that room. Fill your pockets with treats that your dog loves, like bite-sized pieces of chicken or cheese, and treats that your cat will love as well, such as bits of meat or tuna. Keep the door open but block it with a baby gate. Walk your dog slowly by the doorway several times each day for a couple of days. Praise and treat him for calm behavior, and then toss the cat a treat as well. This way, your cat will associate your dog with delicious treats. If your dog overreacts to the cat, distract him and get his attention focused on you. Avoid accomplishing this by using leash corrections. Instead, get your dog’s attention by asking him to do basic obedience skills, like Sit and Down. Use delicious treats to reward him for his obedience in the presence of something as tempting and distracting as your new cat! Your cat should be free to approach the baby gate to get closer to the dog or to retreat if she wants to. Reward her any time she approaches the baby gate by tossing her treats.

Let your new cat set the pace. If she chooses to run and hide under the furniture when you and your dog walk by, let her. It simply means your introductions will take longer—maybe weeks longer. Taking things slow will help to avoid a bad first impression. Keep in mind that cats can take months to form relationships with other animals. Never attempt to force any interactions by holding your cat, putting her into a crate or carrier or restricting her movement in any way.

If your cat doesn’t seem afraid of your dog as you pass by the doorway of her room, or if she even tries to jump over the gate, you can introduce them in your living room or other large room. Make sure your cat can get away from your dog during the introduction. She should have the freedom and room to retreat, run and hide, slip beneath a piece of furniture where the dog can’t follow or jump up on something higher than the dog.

Keep your dog with you on-leash during these introductions in the living room and for the first couple of weeks. Allow the leash to be loose, but hold onto it in case your dog decides to try to chase your cat. Use your recall and “leave it” exercises if your dog starts nosing or following your cat and she seems perturbed. When you ask your dog to come to you or leave your cat alone and he responds, be sure to give him a very special treat.

When you’re not present or can’t directly supervise, keep your cat and dog confined in separate areas of the house.
Interrupt any chasing, barking or agitated behavior from your dog by using a leash to move him away from your cat. Redirect his attention to another activity or ask him to do some easy obedience skills for food rewards. Avoid scolding, yelling or jerking on your dog’s leash. A positive approach is crucial because you want your dog and cat to learn a pleasant association with each other’s presence. You don’t want them to learn that everyone gets tense and angry and bad things happen when the cat or dog is around. Dogs are more likely to engage in chase or prey behavior when they’re tense or aroused.

Most cats will accept a young dog and correct him when necessary. Be sure your cat’s nails are trimmed before bringing her home so that she doesn’t hurt your dog if she corrects him.

Your dog shouldn’t have access to your cat’s litter box. If he does, it will be highly stressful to your cat, and your dog may
eat the feces and litter.

To prevent your dog from eating your cat’s food, consider feeding your cat on a high surface, like a window sill, dresser, shelf or cat tree furniture.

• Plan ahead. Know which exercise you’ll be training and be prepared to promptly and effectively deliver that reward when your dog produces the desired behavior. You miss a learning opportunity and your dog’s focus is dissembled when you send changing body signals to your dog by rooting around in your pockets for a food reward, or trying to untangle a something from your belt.
• Orchestrate success. Introduce early focus-building exercises in a quiet environment without distractions. As your dog develops its focus skills, incrementally transition the exercises to more stimulating environments. Key the training environment to your dog’s focus skill level with an appropriate progression over time from a distraction-free environment to a highly stimulating one. Prematurely expecting or demanding too much of the dog will set the scene for failure for the dog, for you, and for the overall training.
• If you are using a ball/toy/tug reward in your training, identify the one that is most favored by your dog and reserve it for training purposes only. Don’t allow your dog to have access to this favored item during idle moments, in the crate, for puppy teething/chewing, etc.
• Avoid displaying the reward visibly in your hand, and inadvertently making it the primary object of your dog’s focus. A tug can be tucked into your waistband, a ball in your pocket, or food kept out of sight in a pouch at your side, until needed for reward purposes.
• Keep it up close and personal. Use a leash length that keeps the dog in close physical proximity to you. When using a toy reward in the training, keep it close to your body. A ball on a short leather lead, or a tug with handle, will provide an outstanding reward while keeping the dog physically close to, interacting with, and focused on, you.
• Make your dog’s play time fun and exciting one-on-one interaction with you. Allowing your dog to spend all of its recreational time with other dogs or other people will diminish your position as the most interesting, rewarding, and desired prize in the universe. Allowing your dog to regularly run freely with other dogs, either at home or at an off-leash park, is squandering time, energy, and focus better spent with you in constructive play in training.
• Familiarize yourself with the basics of Operant Conditioning and develop your own method of precisely marking desired behaviors (e.g. clicker, vocalization) and rewarding appropriately (e.g. food, toy, praise, release). Build the intensity and duration of your dog’s focused obedience by incrementally extending the period of time between (a) marking the correct response to your command, and (b) rewarding it.
• Maintain consistency in your total body language, hand signals, and verbal commands. The more precise and unambiguous your communications, the less unwanted distractions to potentially diminish your dog’s sensory awareness of and focus on you.

• Deliver a clear and consistent command to mark the end of a focused obedience exercise. “Okay”, “Break”, “Release”, and “Free” or “Free Dog” are examples of unique release commands. The release command builds anticipation and focus by signaling the completion of a required behavior and releasing the dog physically and psychologically from the stressors of training. The release command can be supplemented with a reward, or it can be a reward in and of itself.
• Crate-train your dog and utilize its time in the crate for resting periods between training and play interaction. Allowing your dog to idle around the yard or house 24/7, especially in your absence, creates boredom and encourages the dog to identify alternate sources of stimulus and pleasure.
• Utilize moments of interaction with your dog as spontaneous training opportunities. Create the environment where your dog is earning each desired activity. For example, require a sit before allowing your dog access to his food bowl; a wait before going through the door into the house; a quiet before being allowed out of the crate or kennel; a teeth, ears, or toes command and examination before petting. Vary the required behaviors to maintain spontaneity and keep your dog alert and focused on you to hear, see, or feel your command.
• Create an attitude of purpose and direction in your daily walks. A purposeful, energetic walk with many turns and changes of pace and terrain will build the dog’s focus on you and secure its confidence in your leadership. A slow, lazy walk in a straight line will allow your dog to sniff and smell whatever strikes its fancy and encourage a head-down, indiscriminately scenting dog intent on ‘reading the newspaper.
• Employ the powerful effects of touch. Regular grooming and massage sessions with your canine partner are superb opportunities for bonding. The stronger the bond between you and your partner, the better the focus. Spending quiet, one-on-one time in close physical contact is relaxing and healthful for both you and your dog, and is the surest way to closely examine your dog from nose to tail tip to identify and treat minor health issues before they become major.
• Shape your dog’s behavior to await your explicit permission to sniff and greet other people or animals. Withhold that permission far more often than you grant it.
• Take control of the learning curve. Proactively create opportunities for your dog to successfully learn and develop desired behaviors and skills. When this is done correctly, you should be generating 500 opportunities to praise your dog for every one time you correct your dog.
• Less is more. A five-minute training session with an energetic, enthusiastic, highly focused dog and handler that concludes with a celebration of success will always be more productive than a 60-minute training session with progressively diminishing mental and physical resources that concludes in frustration and failure.
• At the end of every training or play session, leave your dog wanting more, more, more and enthusiastically looking to you to provide it!

It is important to control on leash greetings and not let them go on for too long. All dogs have a fight or flight mentality and if they feel ‘trapped’ with an over exuberant dog on the other end of the greeting, there is a risk of them lashing out. Don’t let your dog pull to every other dog they see – you should decide when you want to allow and on leash greeting. Here are some guidelines.

1. Many otherwise social dogs will behave aggressively toward other dogs while on leash with their owners.
2. Many dogs are less social than your own.
3. If your dog is straining at the leash as he approaches another dog, the other dog may perceive your dog’s body language as confrontational or intimidating, and vice versa.
4. A tight leash may telegraph stress to your dog, and cause him to be more on guard.
5. Safe and successful introductions between adult dogs are most likely when the following conditions are met:
a. Both dogs are regularly socialized and have no history of aggression
b. Both owners have voice control (at minimum) over their dogs in stimulating situations (i.e. there is a balance between stimulation and control)
c. Both owners know their dogs well and are able to read canine signals
d. Both dogs are able to approach on slack leashes with relaxed body language
e. Both owners are relaxed and confident
f. Owners have good communication with one another
g. Neither dog is wearing any training equipment that might cause unintended corrections or inhibit natural body language
h. Neither dog is on a taught leash or a retractable leash
i. Both dogs have the freedom to walk away
j. Owners have good communication with one another

6. Allowing unwelcome or uncontrolled introductions may undermine your leadership with your dog, who may trust your judgment less after being subjected to an introduction that goes badly.
7. If you are not certain your dog (or the other dog) is adequately prepared for a successful greeting, try walking in parallel with the other dog and owner at a safe distance, to see if both dogs relax a bit, to give them each an opportunity to take in the other dog’s body language, and to gauge your control over your dog (and the other owner’s control over his) in each other’s presence.

Holding the leash can cause the following issues:
• inhibits body language of the dog
• feed off of human emotions because of tension in the leash
• resource guarding of owner
• fearful dogs can’t escape
• frustrates playful dogs who may redirect on owner
• leashes tangle causing potential injury dogs/humans

This is a cooperation game that will improve your dog’s habit of coming when called, even when playing with doggie pals:

1) Have plenty of yummy treats.
2) Tell your dog “go play”.
3) Let him enjoy playing with his friend for a short while.
4) Go over to your dog, put a yummy treat right in front of his nose, then wiggle that treat back and forth while moving it away from him, sort of like a fish swimming away.
5) Tell your dog, “Come Away”, enticing him to follow the treat.
6) When he starts to move toward you, click and give him the treat.
7) Progress to backing away and having him take a step or two toward you before you click and reward. Gradually increase your distance from him when you call. Eventually wait until he comes all the way to you before you click/reward.
Give your dog the treat while holding his collar gently with your other hand. Praise with the informational phrase “Good come away!”, to help him learn what the cue “Come away” means while he’s getting a reward for doing it.
9) Then tell your dog “Go Play” and release his collar, gently touching his shoulder with a VERY slight fingertips-like-feathers push (“like launching a paper boat,” is how I can best describe it).
10) Let him socialize for a while with the other pup and then call him “Come Away” again. Click and reward!

Interrupting your dog’s play every so often with this game will teach him to quickly come to you whenever you call, regardless of what he’s doing at the time.

Tips: Use the cookie-right-on-the-nose technique only until your dog figures out how the game works and starts moving toward you on his own when he hears “Come away.” After that, use the treat as a reward but not to lure him to you.

Play this game when your dog is playing with other dogs, socializing with human friends, or sniffing the trail ahead of you on walks. Note: ALWAYS reward for “Come Away” so your dog enjoys forming this positive habit.

The main point of this game is to teach your dog that when he leaves his fun to come to you, he gets multiple rewards:
1) the treat and praise,
PLUS
2) He gets released to go play again.

This way he doesn’t lose ANYTHING by coming away from his fun… in fact, he gets good stuff and then gets to go back to his fun afterwards.

To keep your puppy or dog interested, keep asking for his very best. When you are starting out, every tiny effort toward good behavior is rewarded. But once a behavior is basically learned, it is time to raise the bar.

Use these criteria:

If you repeat yourself (don’t!) or physically help your puppy get it right, praise but no treat. Put the treat right to his nose then put it away. Too bad –try harder next time! You’re not angry but he doesn’t get a gold start for C- level work. If you want to encourage his best, treat only for A-level responses. Save your treats for the best performance your puppy can currently offer. Give a few small treats in a row for great responses or a breakthrough response (first correct effort). If your puppy offers a behavior without you asking for it, say ‘thank you’, but don’t treat.

While you are feeding, smile and praise. Don’t fake the praise – feel it and your puppy will feel it. Keep making it clear to your puppy what you really like (his very best!). If his slow Sit after two commands gets the same treat and praise that an immediate Sit with full attention gets, how is he supposed to know which is better? If you want the best, reward the best with your best.

Brian Kilcommons, a well-known area trainer puts it very well:

“You get what you pet”. In other words, if you pet your dog while he’s jumping, you’ll get jumping. If you pet your dog while he is sitting quietly, you’ll get quiet sitting.

We all have our weaknesses: those soulful brown eyes pleading for just one morsel from your plate, the warm head on your lap while you tap away on computer, heavy with the weight of hope and expectation for a game of fetch or at the very least an ear scratch, or the more-empty-than-usual bed when a spouse is out of town that leads letting her sleep with you “just this once”.

Let’s face it, we love our dogs and sometimes that love, our need for connection, our and desire to give back some of the happiness they’ve given us causes us to cave in situations where we’d all be better served by sticking to our guns.

The thing is, dogs don’t do “exceptions”. Instead, they are constantly collecting and evaluating the feedback/consequences to their actions and if something they do works to get them something they really want, chances are they are going to try it again. Period.

If the “rules” you’ve outlined are occasionally (or routinely) broken, they really won’t be viewed as rules through a dog’s eyes. We may be able to comprehend the concept of special occasions but inconsistency in our responses causes confusion in a dog’s mind, sets them up to make mistakes, and causes us to become frustrated or angry because “he knows better”. Guess what? He doesn’t. He just knows that sometimes when he jumps up on the couch he gets to stay, and he hasn’t worked out quite yet why it’s okay with you sometimes and not others. And the occasional reprimand from you is worth it for even the possibility of one more evening curled up next to you in comfort rather than across the room on his bed.

So be clear and consistent when interacting with your dog, determine your house rules in advance, and then take the time to teach your dog what is expected of him rather than just punish him for mistakes (or for not following a rule he’s never been properly clued-in on in the first place).

Boundary training is an excellent place to start your new crystal clear communication. Not only does this make life easier when you are trying to come and go, but also it keeps dogs safe.

Teaching dogs to pause at thresholds rather than push past you and bum-rush the door is another great habit to teach your dog, and NOT because he may take over the world if he goes through the doorways before you. Rather, “Sit” as the default setting at doorways saves lives. It also gives you a marvelous opportunity to reinforce a polite sit and impulse control with a very powerful life reward – “let’s go for a walk”!

One of the greatest gifts we can give our dogs is clear, concise and consistent communication.

Mark/Reward training is a simple way to communicate with your dog, letting him know, YES, that’s exactly what I want!” It helps your dog sort out what you’re really asking, and gives hi a way to understand the rules. It’s the quickest way for a dog to learn and fun for both the dog and human as they learn together how to best communicate.

The first thing we want to do to get started is to ‘charge up’ the reward marker. Just say the word ‘YES’ (or click your clicker) and give your dog a treat within a second. Practice until you can deliver 10 treats in 15 seconds. The order is very important. The treat must come after the YES or click. Yes! Then treat. This is how your dog learns that YES predicts a reward.

Timing is everything. Be sure to say YES at the exact moment your dog does what you want. Then you can deliver the treat. Decide what behavior you are going to reward ahead of time. As your dog is first learning a behavior, ie, to look at you when you say his name, you may first decide to ‘mark’ just a head turn but then build up to ‘marking’ full eye contact.

Once your dog knows the behavior in that setting, move to random rewards. Rewards can be petting, neck scratches, tossing a toy, going outside in addition to just treats.

The best way to teach a new behavior is to reward every success, every time. The best way to keep a learned behavior strong is to reward it less frequently and randomly. Your dog will try harder knowing that he might get a reward at any given time. You can start to reward for every 2 sits or after 2 or 3 different behaviors. Sometimes make it harder and sometimes make it easier.

It’s important to transition away from food rewards when the dog has learned the desired behavior. Begin to introduce ‘life’ rewards. Still say YES when your dog does something you want, but instead of giving a treat, give a neck scratch, belly rub, play with a toy, go for a walk or anything else your dog enjoys. Keep observing your dog’s response to things and use rewards to keep the behavior strong. Use food rewards occasionally as well.

Dogs don’t generalize behaviors right away. Just because they know sit in the kitchen does not mean they know sit at the store or in your backyard. We have to re-teach them each behavior in gradually more difficult situations so they will eventually generalize. It’s very important to make things easier (what and how much you are asking for) when you train in a new place or with more distractions. If your dog can do a 30 second down/stay in your living room, start by asking for a 3 second down/stay outside and work up from there.

Keep teaching your dog and help him be successful. Keep him well rewarded through praise, food, games and other things that he enjoys.