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 Play training focuses on the reward of play for engagement, enthusiasm, and motivation of the tasks, obedience, behavioral change, and relationship being formed. It sounds easy, right? The dog does this, and then we go and do that. The knowledge of the impending reward of continuing the game increases the likely hood of the behavior and/or performance that you want. In theory, it is easy. In practice, you can make mistakes that I would rather others avoid if possible.
 Leon loved fetching as a wee young thing. We both learned about this skill together, and had a lot of fun doing it. What do I mean by your dog's "bliss"?
 Engagement in dog training is the ability to create a relationship with your dog where you are the reward. Engagement done well will have your dog insisting on continuing the activity with their owner. In other methods of training, there are some elements of this as well, but the engagement that I am talking about is much more. Engagement in dog training is more about play with their owner or handler to create that very strong bond and work ethic. As with anything, it can have it's pluses and minuses. I really enjoy this method, because I get to play with my dog and train. The thing that motivates me in this method, is seeing my dog have fun while we are doing it. Why do I also use other methods other than Engagement and Motivational methods? One reason is this is a bit slower process than some other methods in the shorter term. Sometimes if you really need to stop your dog from jumping on your elderly relatives, while including them in your family activities, you might want to take a faster course of action. Of course there are ways to control what you dog does by confining them more, but I like my dogs to have certain freedoms during the day, where this perhaps might not happen if I was only using this method. It takes longer not in time per day, but the progress to build to a goal in general will take more time. There are reasons to want to spend a longer period if time in training your dog. I will go over that at a later date.
 Typical Shana face when she hears the verbal marker "good". Feedback is information that lets your dog know whether they are on the right track or not, depending on what you are doing with them. It is important that feedback is given at a well timed point to let them know in that moment if they are performing or working in the direction or task that you want. Ideally you want this feedback to be able to be given with some space in between you once you get going. Rewards and corrections are a type of feedback that is close up. Instead in this article, I am going to talk about equipment, the clicker, and verbal, your voice.
I am not going to talk about head halties or harnesses in this article. I consider them management equipment and not training equipment. These types of equipment are designed to keep the pressure on the dog at all times, and not allow for decision-making ability on the part of the dog. There are definite uses for them both behaviorally and for the safety of the owner. We will be going over those in a separate blog post.
The following are all equipment that are used in a training program with other many other tools and methods. This is a small but important parts of training that is combined with handler confidence, body position, praise, rewards, consistency (arguably the most important tool), vocal tone, motivation (as in what does your dog naturally like to do, and use it) and training plan. None of these operate well without the others. Reading your dog and their response to tools and stimuli is also important. Have a trainer handy to walk you through whether your dog will not work well on the collar, or are just going through common avoidance antics. This is often hard for a first time dog owner/trainer to judge. You also need someone to help you fit these properly. None of these should be too loose, and the metal training link collar should have about two inches of extra link in it (depending on the size of your dog of course, this is the rule for most medium and large dogs—smaller dogs need much less slack as well their necks are teeny tiny). Generally, these tools and some training methods are used after a dog has become approximately six months of age.  Objectives: Using a crate is important for many reasons. House training, boarding, possible veterinarian visits where they are staying hours or overnight, safety in the house (puppies will try and chew wires and all sorts of things left to their own devices), just having a shower without worrying about what puppy is getting into, and separating out from company that may be afraid of dogs, in general. The objective is to create a peaceful place where your puppy or dog knows they are safe and comfortable to rest and relax.
Equipment: Crate, flat collar on dog (so you have some hold on him putting him in or out), toys placed in the crate already, and a lot of patience. You don't want your puppy to see you getting frustrated. This is all a learning experience for them.  A controversial sector of Training equipment are the electronic training tools. These tools combined with all other tools of dog training (consistency, reward, correction, praise, motivation, ET AL) are what complete the entire training plan. There must be a training plan in order to train your dog to the level of acceptable obedience that I want from my human and canine client teams! Electronics are one option of a tool, but not a requirement by any means. TOOLS also do not equate training. You will work to train your dogs, these are not magic wands. You must know when and how to use them, and you must train your dog first before overlaying this on them for best success.
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Author, Robin RubinOwner and Head Dog Trainer in Maine, Robin Katherine Rubin, started her Maine dog training business in September 2004. Our dog training facility is located in Southern Maine in York Beach and we help families enjoy their dogs more, making sure they listen reliably and resolving unwanted behaviors. Archives
May 2023
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