Baseline Needs Before Training

I adapted this idea from Sarah Stremming’s “Four Steps to Behavioral Wellness.” These are baseline needs that we must meet for our dogs before we can expect training to have any significant effect on their behavior. Sometimes addressing these needs is in fact all you need to remove problematic behaviors.

 

Exercise

Ever heard the phrase “a tired dog is a good dog”? While physical exercise won’t solve anxiety issues like separation anxiety, it has a huge impact on nuisance behaviors like jumping and pulling and barking. Any time you are asking your dog to exhibit self control in exciting situations, you must also be providing an appropriate outlet for their energy - they can’t just tamp all of it down without it spilling over in other contexts. Here is an article with all kinds of ideas for providing your dog with physical exercise.

 

Enrichment

Enrichment refers to activities your dog can engage in that provide mental exercise and entertainment. This is particularly important for “busy” dogs who get into trouble when bored. This is just as important as physical exercise, especially if there are long periods of time that your dog is being asked to just chill at home. The best enrichment strategies for any particular dog are usually ones that enable him to express his natural “doggy” behaviors in an appropriate way. Here is an article with all kinds of ideas for providing your dog with mental enrichment.

 

Health

Improper diet, gastrointestinal inflammation and other metabolic diseases, joint pain, sprained muscles, and many other health problems can cause dogs to be irritable, aggressive, anxious, impulsive, or non-responsive to training/“stubborn.” There is even a study linking noise sensitivities with pain in dogs. Think about how hard it is to focus on work when you have a headache, or have patience with your toddler climbing all over you when you’re experiencing back pain, or drive safely when you’re exhausted. These are some of the areas we want to look at when it comes to making sure that our dogs are in good health:

If you suspect that something is physically wrong but your vet cannot find an obvious cause during a physical examination, don’t give up! Sometimes it can take some digging (see this post and comments below for many examples), but there is evidence that “a conservative estimate of around a third of referred [behavior problem] cases involve some form of painful condition, and in some instances, the figure may be nearly 80%.”

 

Communication

Clear communication is definitely a prerequisite for training. Mixed signals - such as sometimes petting your dog when he puts his paws up, while other times yelling at him because you’re wearing your “nice” clothes - will confuse your dog and grind training progress to a halt. Some aspects of clear communication are:

Small dog wearing harness heels next to a young girl, with the leash hanging slack between them
  • Consistency: All members of the household should follow the same rules and training procedures, unless there is a specific reason to alter them (for example, young kids may not be able to follow some of the more nuanced training procedures, so are given simplified directions). In addition, each person should make sure that they are consistent throughout the day.

  • Clear cues: One word/phrase per behavior.

    • Don’t use the same word to mean different things (such as saying “down” when you want your dog to get off the couch and when you want him to lie down on the floor).

    • Don’t use multiple words to mean the same thing (such as “shake” and “gimme your paw” for the same action).

    • Keep your tone consistent (say “come” the same way every time, not sometimes high-pitched and happy and other times low and upset).

    • Don’t jerk on your dog’s leash when you want him to do something; many owners will jerk when they want their dog to sit, or to slow down, or to stop sniffing, or to look up. How is your dog to know which one you want? Give them a verbal cue or hand signal that has been trained for a specific behavior, instead.

  • Reward markers: Use a clicker or other quick reward marker to let your dog know when they’ve done something good and earned a reward. I use a happy “yes!” when I want to use a verbal marker instead of a clicker. The reward marker should always be followed by a treat or other reward.

  • Communication goes both ways - in addition to being clear when cuing your dog, you should learn to read his body language so that you can understand what he is “saying” to you. Here are some resources on dog body language.

As we work together to train your dog using humane and effective positive methods, your ability to communicate with your dog will grow exponentially - leading to a stronger bond and more reliable behaviors.

 
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