DIY Dog Training: What You're Missing
Why Your Training Isn't Going Anywhere
Three Phases of Dog Training
Before you set down the road to training your dog, it would benefit you greatly to know there are three phases in dog training. Knowing and using these phases will help improve your dog's understanding of obedience commands. Applied with some common sense, these three phases will save you from frustrating setbacks and from making a dog's breakfast of your lessons.
One of the first things we do when we bring our new puppy home is to point at his nose and say 'sit!'. Not getting any reaction we repeat ourselves in a louder and more forceful tone. We push our increasingly bewildered dog into the sit position or raise a treat above his head and repeatedly say the command, “sit, sit, siitt, siiiittt!”. After a dozen tries, a clever dog might sit – but only on his own terms, or perhaps only by chance. Alas, new dog owners are easy to please and this is the level of consistency to which we settle.
Dear dog owner, you can aspire to higher levels of consistency! You can train your dog properly! In this article I will show you where your training broke down, how to get it going again and what you can do to take Rover's training to competition-level performance!
The three phases of training apply to anything that your dog will learn. This concept can be applied in a formal training environment or informally teaching a few tricks at home.
No matter what technique or method you intend to use, these three phases of training apply. They apply whether using a purely positive training method or a mixed bag of positive motivation and compulsion. And best of all, Rover will thank you for applying the three phases to his lessons.
Phase One – The Teaching Phase
Do you remember, as a child, when your teacher would guide your hand and pencil over the page to form the shapes of letters and words? That guidance is what we mean in the teaching phase.
To teach is to help your dog learn something. It means to give knowledge or ability through instruction, description or explanation. Holding a formal conference with your dog to talk about the sit command would be a waste of time. (Don't do that. If you already tried this, I would keep it to yourself.)
Think of dog training as an athletic type of instruction, rather than academic. Just like with sport or any physical skill, practice is a big part of the teaching phase. Ability develops over time with practice and repetition. To explain this more clearly, let's compare two types of learning:
The first type is academic learning. With this type of learning there is often a sudden realization when a person finally 'gets' a concept. A good example is when little Johnny learns how to solve a basic math problem – the concept of subtraction, for example - and with a sudden flash of comprehension Johnny understands how it works. Rover doesn't say, “Oh! Now I get what you're talking about...thanks for explaining that to me,” after a sudden epiphany. That is not how dogs learn.
The second type of learning would be best illustrated with the example of an athlete. “Jill the Gymnast” learns how to perform a double backflip by practicing the exercise or smaller exercises that lead up to it. Although Jill might understand the theory of a double backflip, she must practice the finer points of balance and momentum to learn how to do it. That is how dogs learn.
Repetition builds a connection in Rover's mind between:
the sit posture,
the word you use to signal the posture (“sit!”),
and a positive outcome if you use a food treat to bribe or steer Rover into position.
If you physically compel Rover into the sit position he will offer less resistance as you progress. If you use food to get him into position, he will sit quicker as he begins to understand – or at least until his stomach fills up!
Why do you refer to food treats as a “bribe”? Certainly the food is a reward, isn't it?
The use of food during the teaching phase is not a reward. Food and compulsion are ways to manipulate Rover during the teaching phase. They have neither positive nor negative connotation.
During the teaching phase the dog is not aware that he is “doing the right thing”. He is being manipulated into position with no decision necessary on his part. He is experiencing the lesson as its recipient, not as an equal partner in the learning process. The use of compulsion (physically placing Rover into the sit posture) is not punishment, but just another way of getting him into position.
Okay, repetition is an important part of how my dog learns...but how many repetitions of a command does he need?
The teaching phase is the most important part of training. If the teaching phase is thorough you will spend less time on the other phases of training and less likely to run into problems. As a general rule, I do about 400 repetitions of each command. Although 400 repetitions may be more than required, I want to be sure Rover learned the command before moving on.
How is teaching actually done?
First, push Rover's butt down so he goes into the sit posture (or raise food above his head until he sits to keep his eyes on it) and say 'sit'. Repeat 399 more times.
Phase Two – The Training Phase
Now, wait a minute. Don't teaching and training mean the same thing? Not quite.
Let's first clear up the difference between the idea of teaching versus training.
The best example of how the teaching and training phases differ is to go back to our math student, Johnny. In the teaching phase he is taught the concept of subtraction. We've assured ourselves that he understands the concept by giving him many problems to solve and he has done so successfully. The training phase would be comparable to sending him away with subtraction work to do at home. We tell Johnny that if he does his homework correctly he will be rewarded with extra play time. If he doesn't do his homework, or does it incorrectly, he will be made to stay behind after school for more practice. Johnny quickly understands the possible rewards and penalties, and being the type of kid that likes extra play time, does his homework carefully and correctly.
Most owners never apply the training phase. We taught Rover to sit but we don't understand why he won't do it every time. The reason is simple: Rover understands the command, but doesn't understand why he should do it. Like Johnny, he needs to be shown the advantages of cooperating.
Reliability is achieved by introducing rewards and penalties. If you reward Rover every time he complies with the command - and penalize him when he does not - he will easily see the benefits of obeying.
This phase is also a series of repetitions, but in another way: what is important here is that Rover is repeatedly rewarded for complying, and never rewarded for disobedience.
What is a reward...and what is a penalty?
There must be something Rover considers pleasurable or good in order to reward him – that might be a toy, food (this time treats are rewards), a soothing compliment from you, or a nice pat on the head or scratch behind his ears. As a penalty, you could correct Rover with a check chain or provide some similar type of negative experience if he disobeys. If you're going the route of positive motivation, withholding a reward when one was expect would be a penalty.
In this phase, say the command (“sit” for example) and wait a moment for your dog to comply. If he does, give a handsome reward. If he ignores you, correct with a light check on the collar or by withholding the treat he was expecting. Give the command again with the same “reward for compliance, penalty for noncompliance” outcome. As you continue through this process Rover will begin to understand that the outcome is a result of his action or inaction. With the brightest of dogs this understanding will come within a few moments. The average Rover will need a few dozen repetitions to come to the right conclusion.
The more times you are able to reward (or withhold the reward) the more certain Rover will become of the results. He will understand that he controls the possible outcomes by his own free choice. Rover becomes the master of his own destiny and will be sitting like a champion in no time at all.
Phase Three: The Proofing Phase
The term 'proofing' means to test something or to strain it by experiment to see if it holds up. For example, when you give a couple of tugs to the stitching job you've done on the button of your favorite shirt, that is proofing. In dog training, the final phase is a test of the dog's ability to comply with obedience commands under difficult or distracting circumstances.
The proofing phase is the fastest and easiest phase of training. But it's also the phase where you find out if all your hard work has paid off. Before a police, army or service dog is let loose on the world, he must pass a proofing test to ensure he understands the obedience commands and will do them under every possible circumstance. You can't have a guide dog for the blind ignoring commands to chase a cat and the proofing phase makes sure of that.
It is best to start your proofing with only minor distractions. Ease Rover into the idea of complying with the obedience commands by bringing him somewhere new. If he complies with the commands, find environments with greater amounts or intensity of distractions until he is reliably doing the commands anywhere. If he isn't paying attention to the commands, penalize him for the disobedience (as in the training phase). Show Rover how happy you are that he is following the commands no matter what is happening in the environment by giving him extra valuable rewards during this phase.
Reviewing The Phases
This all sounds good, but what happens if I start having problems?
It is common to run into some difficulties as you progress. If dog training was as easy as tying your shoes we'd be sitting back at night to watch The Shoe Whisperer on TV. The truth is, training Rover will take time, patience and common sense. You've got to have those three things to make a successful go at it. Be patient and persevere when things don't seem to be working out.
The most common error we make is to rush through the teaching phase. If you haven't been thorough in the teaching phase, the training phase will be sluggish and frustrating for both Rover and you. If you haven't been crystal clear with your rewards and penalties in the training phase, Rover will make frequent mistakes during proofing.
Here are some signs that you've skimped on a phase:
Training becomes sluggish and slow,
You both become frustrated or confused,
Rover continually makes the same errors,
Reliability isn't improving.
If you are having a problem on any of the phases, return to the prior step for more practice. Problems during the training phase? Go back to teaching. Problems during the proofing stage? Go back to training. That could mean going back to the very start to clear up any confusion in the teaching phase. It is better to return to an earlier phase than grind to a frustrating halt because of a missing part in Rover's education.
Use the three phases of training as a training guide. Make a note of the phase for each command as you train the sit, down, stay and heel commands. With young or sensitive dogs it is a good idea to train one command at a time from teaching to training to proofing. Older dogs and dogs that are of hearty spirit can progress through the three phases of training on several commands at once.
Now dust off that leash and collar and get started! Good luck!