Fit as Fido

Training Tips

Here are some tried-and-true training tips for important basic obedience commands every dog should know from expert dog trainer, Debbie Brown. Debbie’s tips teach us several important lessons about dog training:

- Training takes time and practice.
- Training needs to be consistent.
- Training is best done as part of your daily routine.
- Training should be fun and rewarding for person and pooch.
- The results of training are always well worth the effort.

Debbie Brown has the right attitude about training:
I make most things into games so the family has fun, the puppy has fun, and everyone enjoys the training.

Reliable recall

- Pick a new word to go with a new behavior. For this skill, the new behavior is a 100% never-fail recall. The word we’re selecting is “HERE.”
- Begin training in a room with no distractions.
- Have someone hold your puppy’s collar. Give the puppy a treat to get her attention and let her see that you have more treats.
- Turn around and walk away about 2 feet.
- Face your dog and using your new reliable recall word, cheerfully instruct your pup, “Natty HERE.”
- When the puppy gets to you, grab the collar, give lots of praise and then food rewards.
- Repeat this three times all at once and build distance.
- Congratulate yourself and your puppy for a job well done.
- Tomorrow, Natty is going to be so excited when she sees you want to play the recall game again. Play a short game each day for one week.
- Week 2 of recall training: don’t give any treats initially before you first start calling your dog with “HERE.” Just move away, call , grab the collar, and reward.
- Week 3 of recall training: the same as week 2, but ask your puppy to sit before giving her a treat.
- Week 4 of recall training: play hide and seek with your puppy. Give everyone playing some treats. Have someone hold the puppy while everyone else hides. Have the first person call the puppy. “Natty HERE, good girl, good girl.” The person needs to keep talking until the dog finds her. Once the dog finds the person, ask the puppy to sit, grab collar, and feed. Now the next person calls the puppy, while the first person can go hide somewhere else. Dogs love hide and seek and the recalls become amazing through this play.

OFF and TAKE IT

- With your hand open, place a treat in your hand and instruct your dog to “TAKE IT.” Repeat this three times.
- Now put a treat in your upright fist and hold your fist close to your puppy’s nose. Firmly say “OFF.” Keep your hand steady and wait for the puppy to look away for just a heartbeat. Then open your hand and say, “TAKE IT,” allowing the dog to take the treat.
- Repeat.

The puppy will quickly learn if she backs away, the magic words “TAKE IT” come and she gets a treat. As you practice, wait longer and longer between your OFF and TAKE IT words. This is a good skill to practice at meal time.

Stay delay

- Ask your dog to sit.
- Open your hand like a stop sign with the food under your thumb. Hold your hand by your face and say “SIT STAY.”
- Count to 3. Then open your hand and feed the dog. Count out loud. You want your dog’s attention.
- Put food in hand again, raise your hand in stop sign position and say “STAY.” Count to 3 then feed.
- Repeat, counting to 5.
- Repeat counting to 3.
- Repeat counting to 7.
- Repeat counting to 3.
- Repeat counting to 9.
- Repeat counting to 3.
- Repeat counting to 11.
- Each time you are going to a high number, return to 3 the next time. Your dog will begin to sit quietly during your counts and he is beginning to learn to sit and stay.
- Week 2: count to 30 seconds.
- Week 3: count to 60 seconds.
- Week 4: count to 90 seconds.
- Week 5: count to 2 minutes.

Do all the training at meal time. Once the dog is full, training is finished.