A FEW FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
When is it a good time to start training a puppy? NOW!
When is it a good time to start training a newly adopted shelter dog? NOW! Yes, a dog needs to adjust but he can learn at the same time. It is far easier to prevent unwanted behavior through planned management and training than to correct it later.
How many times a day should I train my dog? As many times as you possibly can. Short, 3-5 minute frequent sessions are best.
How long will it take to train my dog? This question is difficult to answer until I take a full history on the dog, learn about his living environment, and how much time his owner will commit to homework. Sometimes we need to additionally work on fear issues, management techniques, and exercise needs while implementing a training program.
<------- By the time this puppy was 14 weeks old, I had been working with her 20 minutes a day (broken up into 3 or 4 sessions) for four weeks. At this age she could sit in heel position, stay standing in show stance while having someone run their hands down her body, walk on leash, heel on left side without a leash, voluntarily remove herself from a group of dogs and come to me when her name was called, and retrieve a thrown bumper with delivery to my hand.
TIPS FOR TRAINING SUCCESS
Choose only one level of difficulty to work on so that it is easy and fun for your dog to succeed:
OR
OR
- Find what motivates/rewards your dog. Withhold motivators/rewards before your training sessions so your dog will be even more motivated!
- Keep your session short. Three or four short, five-minute sessions can be far more effective than one 30-minute session.
- Have a plan. If you are working on crate training, stick to crate training and don't suddenly reward the beautiful Down that your dog offered.
- Stay focused during your session. Do not answer the phone, give treats to the other dog, or talk to anyone else in the room. When you stay focused your dog will stay focused too.
- Once you have trained your dog a new behavior and he’s performing it consistently on cue, then incrementally increase the difficulty.
Choose only one level of difficulty to work on so that it is easy and fun for your dog to succeed:
- Add Duration
OR
- Add Distraction
OR
- Add Distance
FINDING WHAT MOTIVATES YOUR DOG - How to choose a reward
All dogs, at any age, have the ability to change their behavior if properly motivated and rewarded.
What motivates your dog? Many owners feel that an "atta boy” should be enough for their dog, but we need to look at what is reinforcing to that dog at that moment. Food might be very reinforcing right before mealtime. Playing ball might not be reinforcing if your dog has just been on a five mile run. So, even though YOU think it should be rewarding, it all depends on what the DOG thinks is rewarding.
Praise - verbal or physical: This type of reinforcement is what many people think their dog should work for. Some breeds and breed-types of dogs are very happy to do just about anything you want for a little bit of attention. A dog fresh out of his kennel at the shelter will crave human attention. However, if you are constantly telling your dog how cute and how good he is just for simply existing will he quickly lie down on command for the same praise that he got earlier for doing absolutely nothing?
Food: This is a pretty basic need for all dogs. Types of food can be more appealing through texture and odor. Cheese or meat usually has more appeal than dry kibble. A hungry dog can stay pretty focused on his training session. For sedate behaviors like settle, sit/stay, and down/stay, food can help calm the dog while he is remaining still. Through my years of experience, I have found this reward system to be the most user-friendly for the human.
Toy: High energy dogs love a good game of tug and we all have seen crazy ball dogs! Many of these dogs will snub their nose at food just for a little chase action. This is a great reward when you are training active behaviors and when you want to turn your dog's focus away from a big distraction. Dog's who have no interest in toys can be taught to enjoy them.
Another Behavior or a Privilege: You can reward a newly taught behavior with another behavior. When your dog sits then you can reward him by opening the door so he can go out/in. When a visitor enters your home you can ask your dog to Heel or Lie Down then allow him to greet the visitor as a reward for the Heel or Down .
Whatever reward you choose, be sure that it is desirable to that dog at that moment .
All dogs, at any age, have the ability to change their behavior if properly motivated and rewarded.
What motivates your dog? Many owners feel that an "atta boy” should be enough for their dog, but we need to look at what is reinforcing to that dog at that moment. Food might be very reinforcing right before mealtime. Playing ball might not be reinforcing if your dog has just been on a five mile run. So, even though YOU think it should be rewarding, it all depends on what the DOG thinks is rewarding.
Praise - verbal or physical: This type of reinforcement is what many people think their dog should work for. Some breeds and breed-types of dogs are very happy to do just about anything you want for a little bit of attention. A dog fresh out of his kennel at the shelter will crave human attention. However, if you are constantly telling your dog how cute and how good he is just for simply existing will he quickly lie down on command for the same praise that he got earlier for doing absolutely nothing?
Food: This is a pretty basic need for all dogs. Types of food can be more appealing through texture and odor. Cheese or meat usually has more appeal than dry kibble. A hungry dog can stay pretty focused on his training session. For sedate behaviors like settle, sit/stay, and down/stay, food can help calm the dog while he is remaining still. Through my years of experience, I have found this reward system to be the most user-friendly for the human.
Toy: High energy dogs love a good game of tug and we all have seen crazy ball dogs! Many of these dogs will snub their nose at food just for a little chase action. This is a great reward when you are training active behaviors and when you want to turn your dog's focus away from a big distraction. Dog's who have no interest in toys can be taught to enjoy them.
Another Behavior or a Privilege: You can reward a newly taught behavior with another behavior. When your dog sits then you can reward him by opening the door so he can go out/in. When a visitor enters your home you can ask your dog to Heel or Lie Down then allow him to greet the visitor as a reward for the Heel or Down .
Whatever reward you choose, be sure that it is desirable to that dog at that moment .
SIT AND STAY
Be sure you have your dog's focus and that he is interested in you and your food before beginning your training session. If he isn't interested, wait for a better time or location to train him.
Lure your dog into position then reward. Hold a treat tightly in your hand held just above your dog’s nose. Draw your hand back from his nose toward his forehead, encouraging him to keep smelling and/or licking your hand. As his nose goes up, his rear will naturally go down toward the floor. If he goes fully into a sit, great! If not, give him the treat as soon as his back legs start to fold into a sit position. Reward increments of the final sit position instead of waiting for him to go all the way into the sit. Even if you cannot get him to go into the sit, his "muscle memory" will kick in after many repetitions and, during his next session or two, he’ll eventually sit.
Be careful not to hold the treat too high, the dog will jump up. If your dog keeps backing up then put him in front of a wall.
*After 8 or 10 successful repetitions, lure without any food – just your empty hand. Be sure to quickly give a treat that you have previously hidden in your other hand. This is critical. If you don't quickly fade the lure, the dog will become dependent on it and won't follow your requests unless you have a visible food lure in your hand.
ADDING THE STAY
Wait one second after your dog sits before giving a treat. Repeat several times. Continue increasing the time before giving a treat. After giving the reward, and before your dog gets up, give him a release command like "okay" or "alright." My preference is "free." When your dog is waiting for a release command he is "staying" so there is no need to signal or command a "stay."
Do not ask for too much too soon and ALWAYS give a release command before the dog gets up on his own.
Be sure you have your dog's focus and that he is interested in you and your food before beginning your training session. If he isn't interested, wait for a better time or location to train him.
Lure your dog into position then reward. Hold a treat tightly in your hand held just above your dog’s nose. Draw your hand back from his nose toward his forehead, encouraging him to keep smelling and/or licking your hand. As his nose goes up, his rear will naturally go down toward the floor. If he goes fully into a sit, great! If not, give him the treat as soon as his back legs start to fold into a sit position. Reward increments of the final sit position instead of waiting for him to go all the way into the sit. Even if you cannot get him to go into the sit, his "muscle memory" will kick in after many repetitions and, during his next session or two, he’ll eventually sit.
Be careful not to hold the treat too high, the dog will jump up. If your dog keeps backing up then put him in front of a wall.
*After 8 or 10 successful repetitions, lure without any food – just your empty hand. Be sure to quickly give a treat that you have previously hidden in your other hand. This is critical. If you don't quickly fade the lure, the dog will become dependent on it and won't follow your requests unless you have a visible food lure in your hand.
ADDING THE STAY
Wait one second after your dog sits before giving a treat. Repeat several times. Continue increasing the time before giving a treat. After giving the reward, and before your dog gets up, give him a release command like "okay" or "alright." My preference is "free." When your dog is waiting for a release command he is "staying" so there is no need to signal or command a "stay."
Do not ask for too much too soon and ALWAYS give a release command before the dog gets up on his own.
DOWN AND STAY
The down is easily taught by having the dog sit then luring into the down position. The young Havanese in this picture had not been taught a sit so I lured her under a dog bed to get her in the down position.
Be sure you have your dog's focus and that he is interested in you and your food before beginning your training session. If he isn't interested, wait for a better time or location to train him.
Lure your dog into position then reward. Have your dog sit and use a piece of food to draw your dog’s nose down between his front legs. Hold your fist just an inch below his nose, and draw it down to a spot on the floor just at the front of his toes. Give your dog little nibbles of the treat as his head goes down. As his head goes down, his elbows will lower toward the floor. Give him a treat as soon as his body starts lowering.
Reward increments of the final down position instead of waiting for him to go all the way down. Some dogs are reluctant to go into this position so need encouragement along the way. Even if you cannot get him to go all the way down, his muscles will remember how to relax and in his next session or two he’ll eventually go down.
*After 8 to 10 successful repetitions, lure without any food – just your hand. Be sure to quickly give a treat hidden in your other hand. This is critical. If you don't quickly fade the lure, the dog will become dependent on it and won't follow your requests unless you have a visible food lure in your hand.
Be careful not to hold your lure too far forward, the dog will get up. Be careful not to hold your lure too far back toward his chest, the dog will back up out of his sit.
You can also teach the down by waiting until your dog does it on his own. Dogs lie down all day long. Just have your treats ready.
ADDING THE STAY
Wait one second after your dog lies down before giving a treat. Repeat several times. Continue increasing the time before giving a treat. After giving the reward, and before your dog gets up, give him a release command like "okay" or "alright." My preference is "free." When your dog is waiting for a release command he is "staying" so there is no need to signal or command a "stay."
Do not ask for too much too soon and ALWAYS give a release command before the dog gets up on his own.
The down is easily taught by having the dog sit then luring into the down position. The young Havanese in this picture had not been taught a sit so I lured her under a dog bed to get her in the down position.
Be sure you have your dog's focus and that he is interested in you and your food before beginning your training session. If he isn't interested, wait for a better time or location to train him.
Lure your dog into position then reward. Have your dog sit and use a piece of food to draw your dog’s nose down between his front legs. Hold your fist just an inch below his nose, and draw it down to a spot on the floor just at the front of his toes. Give your dog little nibbles of the treat as his head goes down. As his head goes down, his elbows will lower toward the floor. Give him a treat as soon as his body starts lowering.
Reward increments of the final down position instead of waiting for him to go all the way down. Some dogs are reluctant to go into this position so need encouragement along the way. Even if you cannot get him to go all the way down, his muscles will remember how to relax and in his next session or two he’ll eventually go down.
*After 8 to 10 successful repetitions, lure without any food – just your hand. Be sure to quickly give a treat hidden in your other hand. This is critical. If you don't quickly fade the lure, the dog will become dependent on it and won't follow your requests unless you have a visible food lure in your hand.
Be careful not to hold your lure too far forward, the dog will get up. Be careful not to hold your lure too far back toward his chest, the dog will back up out of his sit.
You can also teach the down by waiting until your dog does it on his own. Dogs lie down all day long. Just have your treats ready.
ADDING THE STAY
Wait one second after your dog lies down before giving a treat. Repeat several times. Continue increasing the time before giving a treat. After giving the reward, and before your dog gets up, give him a release command like "okay" or "alright." My preference is "free." When your dog is waiting for a release command he is "staying" so there is no need to signal or command a "stay."
Do not ask for too much too soon and ALWAYS give a release command before the dog gets up on his own.
WALKING ON A LEASH WITHOUT PULLING
The most frequent training request by my clients is to have their dog walk with a loose leash. It seems that we humans just can't keep up with our quick-paced canines. My guess is that our dogs would ask for 100-foot-long leashes if they could.
There are several ways to teach your dog to walk without pulling. I would suggest that you try all of these methods and use what works best. I like to use most or all of them so the dog has many ways to understand this "silly" idea that he needs to walk so slowly alongside me.
**** The most important thing to remember is let the dog know that when he gets to the end of the leash, there is NO MORE MOVEMENT. Keep your arms in close to your body so they don't act as bungee cords and stop still in your tracks. Just like this statue --------------------->>>>
1. STOP WHEN DOG PULLS - Whenever your dog pulls, stop. When he doesn't pull, continue walking forward. The act of walking forward is his reward for not pulling.
2. TURN THE OTHER DIRECTION WHEN DOG PULLS - Dogs frequently get focused on moving toward a specific direction so break it up and be unpredictable. When I am teaching competition heeling, where the dog must stay on my left side, I like to make several sharp left turns into the dog so that he must back up to get out of my way and get into heel position. A dog who is backing up cannot physically pull forward.
3. FEED IN HEEL POSITION - Hold a treat at your thigh and lure the dog into heeling position. Feed him a treat every time he voluntarily comes into the heel position. Be generous with the treats - use your dog's regular meals so you don't cause stomach upset or weight gain.
4. SIT-WALK-SIT-WALK-SIT-WALK - Have dog sit in heel position, give reward. Release from sit and walk three steps and have him sit again. Reward, release, walk four steps. Sit, reward, release, walk six steps. Continue increasing your steps between the sits. His focus will be on the next sit-reward instead of the next bush, butterfly, or distant dog.
5. USE THINGS THAT YOUR DOG IS TRYING TO GET TO AS A REWARD - When your dog pulls to get to a visitor or into the car, wait patiently until he stops pulling and then release him to the visitor or the car. My dogs have favorite pee places but must maintain a loose leash while we approach the specific area and await my release word.
Always praise/reward your dog when he comes anywhere near heel position.
Stay consistent and never let your dog pull you to his favorite person, dog, pee spot, or dropped treats. So did ya hear that? NEVER let your dog pull. Occasional pulling will undermine your hard work and it is unfair and confusing to your dog.
The most frequent training request by my clients is to have their dog walk with a loose leash. It seems that we humans just can't keep up with our quick-paced canines. My guess is that our dogs would ask for 100-foot-long leashes if they could.
There are several ways to teach your dog to walk without pulling. I would suggest that you try all of these methods and use what works best. I like to use most or all of them so the dog has many ways to understand this "silly" idea that he needs to walk so slowly alongside me.
**** The most important thing to remember is let the dog know that when he gets to the end of the leash, there is NO MORE MOVEMENT. Keep your arms in close to your body so they don't act as bungee cords and stop still in your tracks. Just like this statue --------------------->>>>
1. STOP WHEN DOG PULLS - Whenever your dog pulls, stop. When he doesn't pull, continue walking forward. The act of walking forward is his reward for not pulling.
2. TURN THE OTHER DIRECTION WHEN DOG PULLS - Dogs frequently get focused on moving toward a specific direction so break it up and be unpredictable. When I am teaching competition heeling, where the dog must stay on my left side, I like to make several sharp left turns into the dog so that he must back up to get out of my way and get into heel position. A dog who is backing up cannot physically pull forward.
3. FEED IN HEEL POSITION - Hold a treat at your thigh and lure the dog into heeling position. Feed him a treat every time he voluntarily comes into the heel position. Be generous with the treats - use your dog's regular meals so you don't cause stomach upset or weight gain.
4. SIT-WALK-SIT-WALK-SIT-WALK - Have dog sit in heel position, give reward. Release from sit and walk three steps and have him sit again. Reward, release, walk four steps. Sit, reward, release, walk six steps. Continue increasing your steps between the sits. His focus will be on the next sit-reward instead of the next bush, butterfly, or distant dog.
5. USE THINGS THAT YOUR DOG IS TRYING TO GET TO AS A REWARD - When your dog pulls to get to a visitor or into the car, wait patiently until he stops pulling and then release him to the visitor or the car. My dogs have favorite pee places but must maintain a loose leash while we approach the specific area and await my release word.
Always praise/reward your dog when he comes anywhere near heel position.
Stay consistent and never let your dog pull you to his favorite person, dog, pee spot, or dropped treats. So did ya hear that? NEVER let your dog pull. Occasional pulling will undermine your hard work and it is unfair and confusing to your dog.
COME WHEN CALLED
I wrote another article about this in my blog (scroll down to the entry).
Start indoors so you won't be competing with odors, noises, birds, people, dogs, and other distractions.
Encourage the dog to come to you without actually saying the word “come.” Like training all other behaviors, you want to make sure that he comes reliably before adding a cue. You can clap and call out, “puppy,” or squeak a toy. Give him several treats in a row when he comes to you. Repeat several times.
Once he comes to you each and every time you clap or call, you can start adding the cue. As soon as he starts running toward you, say the word, ”here” (or whatever word you choose to use). Now he is getting the association with the word while he is already in motion and facing toward you. Always give praise and a reward of several treats in a row. I really like to give this reward "event" of several treats in a row versus one big handful of treats. It lasts a long time and seems to leave a lasting impression on the dog.
Once you have practiced this several times you can start giving the cue when your dog is not paying attention to you.
PROGRESSIONS
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER EVER scold your dog after calling him to you. If you are going to be upset when your dog comes to you he will think twice about coming. If you feel compelled to scold your dog, do NOT call him to you to do it. So did you get that? A big huge NEVER scold your dog when he comes to you and ALWAYS give him great praise and generous rewards.
I wrote another article about this in my blog (scroll down to the entry).
Start indoors so you won't be competing with odors, noises, birds, people, dogs, and other distractions.
Encourage the dog to come to you without actually saying the word “come.” Like training all other behaviors, you want to make sure that he comes reliably before adding a cue. You can clap and call out, “puppy,” or squeak a toy. Give him several treats in a row when he comes to you. Repeat several times.
Once he comes to you each and every time you clap or call, you can start adding the cue. As soon as he starts running toward you, say the word, ”here” (or whatever word you choose to use). Now he is getting the association with the word while he is already in motion and facing toward you. Always give praise and a reward of several treats in a row. I really like to give this reward "event" of several treats in a row versus one big handful of treats. It lasts a long time and seems to leave a lasting impression on the dog.
Once you have practiced this several times you can start giving the cue when your dog is not paying attention to you.
PROGRESSIONS
- Call dog from different rooms in the house.
- Add distractions – you’ll need to decrease distance when you add distractions. Have a visitor in the room, place a trail of toys on the floor, ring the doorbell, etc.
- Start grabbing his collar while you give him his treats. People naturally grab for dog collars so you might as well get him to think it is a wonderful thing instead of a game of chase.
- Send the dog back and forth between two or more people in a room. Each person takes turns calling the dog and gives him a treat.
- On leash in a fenced yard. Add distractions, stand farther away.
- Off leash in a fenced yard. Add distractions, stand farther away.
- When walking your dog, say, “here,” and quickly back up several steps.
- Take him out on a long line and let him get farther away from you before calling him.
- Add distractions of dogs behind fences, cats, postal carrier, etc.
- Go to enclosed areas where you can safely practice off leash. Start off with low distraction and then add distractions.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER EVER scold your dog after calling him to you. If you are going to be upset when your dog comes to you he will think twice about coming. If you feel compelled to scold your dog, do NOT call him to you to do it. So did you get that? A big huge NEVER scold your dog when he comes to you and ALWAYS give him great praise and generous rewards.
FOUR ON THE FLOOR - A guide to keeping your dog from jumping on people
First of all, a dog finds jumping on you pretty rewarding - even if you ignore him. He is succeeding at getting closer to your face and is getting body contact with you. When you don't want to, or have time to train then simply put the dog on a leash and step on it. Give him enough length to do his happy dance but not enough length to get his front feet off the ground. Prevention is as important as training.
Find a soft, pea-sized treat that your dog finds extra special (chicken or cheese works well). Make sure your dog is hungry and only let your dog have this specific treat during training period.
JUMPING ON YOU:
Before dog actually makes contact with your body, show him the treat and toss it away from you. Keep your body movement and voice to a minimum. Make the treat more exciting than you. If the dog does jump on you, just ignore him and stand quietly. Any attention you give him (even yelling) may reward the jumping behavior.
AT THE DOOR:
Have helper ring door bell. Go to door, do not open it, and toss treat back away from the door. Have helper ring the bell again, toss the treat back again. Repeat several times.
Keep having helper ring and start opening the door just slightly. Toss treat.
Progress to having helper step inside while you continue tossing the treat away from the helper and back inside the house.
There is no need to say anything to your dog. In fact, talking to your dog, asking "Who's there?" may actually increase the dog's excitability and cause more jumping and/or barking.
When dog is successfully anticipating the treat toss, you can have helper ring bell, open door, step in and toss the treat him/herself.
Bonus tip: If you can't find a helper, those plug-in doorbells from the hardware store are great. You can slide the doorbell button from wherever you have mounted it and carry it in your hand.
ON LEASH:
When approaching a person or dog that causes your dog to lunge and jump, use the same treat tossing suggestion as above. Toss the treat away from the other person. If you dog is too excited to take his eyes off the newcomer then toss treat just to the side of his target.
Once your dog becomes conditioned to expecting a treat instead of jumping on his target you can fade out the treats.
Location / Target Training
Crate/Kennel/Bed/Mat Also called target training, “location” training is used when you want the dog to move away from you to a given location.
How nice to ask your dog to go to his "spot" when someone comes to the door. Then you don’t have to worry about all that jumping up and fuss. Oops, your pork tenderloin slipped off the counter. You can see who gets to it first, or send your dog off to his mat.
Start with a bath towel. Later you can move the towel onto the dog bed, in the car, in the crate, on the couch – wherever you want to send the dog. As you progress in training, you can fold the towel into smaller sizes, enabling you to pinpoint to your dog exactly where you want him.
Sit indoors in a quiet location several feet from the mat. Toss a treat onto the mat. Then hold a treat out for him so he will return to you for it. Since you are training the dog to "get on" the mat you need to lure him off the mat to give him the opportunity to get back on it. Repeat this 15 times. Take a break. Repeat this session several times a day over the next several days.
Progressions:
Lastly, add a few distractions. Any time that you add new criteria you must lessen the other criteria. So if you decide to ring the doorbell and send him to his mat then you need to decrease the distance to his mat and only ask him to stand on it for a second or two.
From start to finish, training a dog to reliably go and stay on his mat can take from a few days to a few weeks. It all depends how much time you put into it and how quickly your individual dog learns.
First of all, a dog finds jumping on you pretty rewarding - even if you ignore him. He is succeeding at getting closer to your face and is getting body contact with you. When you don't want to, or have time to train then simply put the dog on a leash and step on it. Give him enough length to do his happy dance but not enough length to get his front feet off the ground. Prevention is as important as training.
Find a soft, pea-sized treat that your dog finds extra special (chicken or cheese works well). Make sure your dog is hungry and only let your dog have this specific treat during training period.
JUMPING ON YOU:
Before dog actually makes contact with your body, show him the treat and toss it away from you. Keep your body movement and voice to a minimum. Make the treat more exciting than you. If the dog does jump on you, just ignore him and stand quietly. Any attention you give him (even yelling) may reward the jumping behavior.
AT THE DOOR:
Have helper ring door bell. Go to door, do not open it, and toss treat back away from the door. Have helper ring the bell again, toss the treat back again. Repeat several times.
Keep having helper ring and start opening the door just slightly. Toss treat.
Progress to having helper step inside while you continue tossing the treat away from the helper and back inside the house.
There is no need to say anything to your dog. In fact, talking to your dog, asking "Who's there?" may actually increase the dog's excitability and cause more jumping and/or barking.
When dog is successfully anticipating the treat toss, you can have helper ring bell, open door, step in and toss the treat him/herself.
Bonus tip: If you can't find a helper, those plug-in doorbells from the hardware store are great. You can slide the doorbell button from wherever you have mounted it and carry it in your hand.
ON LEASH:
When approaching a person or dog that causes your dog to lunge and jump, use the same treat tossing suggestion as above. Toss the treat away from the other person. If you dog is too excited to take his eyes off the newcomer then toss treat just to the side of his target.
Once your dog becomes conditioned to expecting a treat instead of jumping on his target you can fade out the treats.
Location / Target Training
Crate/Kennel/Bed/Mat Also called target training, “location” training is used when you want the dog to move away from you to a given location.
How nice to ask your dog to go to his "spot" when someone comes to the door. Then you don’t have to worry about all that jumping up and fuss. Oops, your pork tenderloin slipped off the counter. You can see who gets to it first, or send your dog off to his mat.
Start with a bath towel. Later you can move the towel onto the dog bed, in the car, in the crate, on the couch – wherever you want to send the dog. As you progress in training, you can fold the towel into smaller sizes, enabling you to pinpoint to your dog exactly where you want him.
Sit indoors in a quiet location several feet from the mat. Toss a treat onto the mat. Then hold a treat out for him so he will return to you for it. Since you are training the dog to "get on" the mat you need to lure him off the mat to give him the opportunity to get back on it. Repeat this 15 times. Take a break. Repeat this session several times a day over the next several days.
Progressions:
- Start saying "mat" or whatever word you’d like to use just as your dog steps onto the mat.
- Throughout the day occasionally toss a treat onto the mat repeating the cue just as the dog steps onto the mat.
- Start inching the mat around the house. Do not move more than a foot. Dogs do not generalize well.
- Once your dog is eagerly running to his mat you can add duration. Once he picks up his treat off of the mat, immediately give him a treat for staying there. Keep feeding small treats, one right after another, as long as his feet stay on the mat. Then start adding one second, two seconds, three seconds between giving treats. You don’t have to say the word, “stay;” you are automatically training that into his "mat" command.
- The first time you ask for your dog to go to his mat without initially tossing a treat, have the mat right in front of you. As soon as he puts his feet on the mat, give a treat. Repeat 10 times so that he now understands that he will not get the treat until AFTER he puts his feet on the mat. Gradually step away from the mat and send your dog over to it. Do not ask for any duration when you are working on this new criteria.
- Now add duration and, if your dog knows how to sit or lie down you can do that too.
Lastly, add a few distractions. Any time that you add new criteria you must lessen the other criteria. So if you decide to ring the doorbell and send him to his mat then you need to decrease the distance to his mat and only ask him to stand on it for a second or two.
From start to finish, training a dog to reliably go and stay on his mat can take from a few days to a few weeks. It all depends how much time you put into it and how quickly your individual dog learns.
