I received so many requests for another set of "five minute training exercises" from followers after last week's blog post! I'm really pleased that you enjoyed these easy to do exercises with big behavioral payoffs for your dogs, so here are five more exercises you can do for five minutes each day:
1. Wait before going out the door or jumping out of the car; Make sure your dog understands stay before you teach them to wait. Stay is a permanent command, meaning you will always go back to your dog and release them from their stay. For wait, your dog can be told when it is safe for them to proceed, without you returning to them to do so. For example, have your dog sit on leash at the front door and stand on the leash. Tell them to "wait," and open your door. If they try to bolt out the door, they won't get far because you are standing on the leash! Say something like "Uh oh!" or "Nuh uh!" and bring them back, have them sit, tell them wait, and try again. Continue to do this until your dog will sit and wait at the door. Once they will do this reliably, then you will say something like "Now we go!" or "The coast is clear!" and head out the door with a calmer dog. For the car, have them in their car harness or crate for rides. When you stop the car and intend to let them out, don't allow them to bolt from the car. Again, tell them "wait," as you unhook the harness or open the crate door. Repeat the wait command if you have to do so. Then, hook on your leash and tell them "Now we go!" or "The coast is clear!" as they exit your vehicle. Never let your dog exit the car without being on leash as they could be distracted by a cat, squirrel, passerby, etc. and exit your car, cross the street, or run into traffic versus into your house or yard as you intended.
2. Take treats nicely: Do not teach your dog the gentle or easy command for this one. Putting taking treats nicely onto a command implies that there is a time or place where they won't have to take treats nicely and that's simply not the case! Your dog should always take a treat nicely, when offered. Instead, set them up to succeed every time by shaping the behavior you want around food. Hold a low value treat (kibble works well for this) in a closed fist and hold your fist out in front of your dog. She'll be able to smell the food and will bang on your hand with her nose, teeth, lips, etc. None of these behaviors will get you to release the kibble. When your dog gently nuzzles or licks at your hand, flip your hand open so she can take the kibble from the palm of your hand. Repeat this over and over with kibble until your dog simply approaches that closed fist and sits in front of you waiting for your hand to flip over and the kibble to magically appear in the palm of your hand. Once you can do this with kibble, repeat the exercise with low value treats, high value treats, and desirable "people" food like cheese, meat, etc. Once your dog is proficient at automatically taking treats gently from you, start adding in other people to your exercises to ensure that they always take treats nicely, regardless of who is offering them.
3. Stop grabbing hands, clothing, or the leash: This is an exercise in self control. Many dogs get so excited about going out for a walk that they start grabbing anything that they can get their mouths on, including us! Your first step will be to decrease the value that the leash inherently has for them. This means attaching an old leash to your dog's harness or collar (one that you really don't care if it gets dirty or destroyed!) and letting them drag it around while you are home doing other things. Basically, you want the leash being attached to their collar or harness to no longer be a thrill. Periodically pick up the leash your dog is dragging around as this used to signal to them that a walk or trip outside was going to happen. Now, when you pick up the leash, ask them for another behavior (sit, touch, watch me, shake, etc.), one that doesn't require them to open their mouths is the key. When they do this calm behavior, reward with a "yes!" and a treat from your pocket. Continue picking up the leash and marking a calm behavior throughout your training sessions. Once your dog can do this easily, you are ready to apply this same routine at the front door and on your walk. During the walk, keep your dog under threshold for grabbing and mouthing by redirecting them to "go sniff!" and even dropping treats on the ground for them to find. You can also redirect to a toy or bully stick you carry in your pocket, but mostly you want to be shaping calm behaviors on leash and keeping your dog from getting over-stimulated. If your dog still grabs your hand, your clothing, or the leash, stop dead in your tracks, drop the leash and stand on it, while ignoring your dog. Don't give them enough leash to jump on you, but just enough to stand or sit. They may get frustrated with this, but they won't be able to reward themselves with the jumping, grabbing, etc. When they settle down, pick up the leash, ask for a calm behavior like sit, touch, watch me, etc., before you begin walking again. Repeat as much as you need to for them to stay focused on the walk and not on grabbing you and the leash!
4. Stay off of the furniture: While some of us may be okay with our dogs being on the furniture, for others, the arrival of guests for the holidays, or the addition of new furniture, means dogs need to learn to stay on the floor. Obviously, it's easier to just never let them up there in the first place than to switch gears and change your mind, but it is possible. Just remember that to a dog, your old couch looks just like the new one, so they aren't going to figure out that they can't get up there anymore unless you help them to understand. Do make sure that you have dog beds, dog mats, or your dog's crate nearby so that you can tell you your dog where they are supposed to be rather than on the furniture. When you are first teaching this, do not leave them unsupervised in the room with the off limits furniture; close the door to the room, block it off with a baby gate, or confine your dog when you aren't home to help them make good choices. Now, it's time to make staying off the the furniture fun! Put yummy treats in your pocket and plop down on the couch yourself. When your dog approaches you, and before they try to jump up on the couch, tell them "go to your bed/mat!" and then toss a treat in that direction. Once they are there, tell them to stay. If they stay, toss them another treat. If they get up and come toward the couch, say "Nuh uh!' and take them back to their bed/mat and tell them to stay. If they stay, toss another treat. Repeat this exercise until your dog understands that staying off of the couch is way more rewarding than getting up there. A side note: this only works if everyone in the house keeps the dog off of the furniture. And, if your couch or chair is positioned in such a way that it is located in the exact spot that gives your dog the best view of the street, side walk, etc., then you will need to realize that keeping them off of that piece of furniture will be more challenging; you might even want to move it and put the dog's bed or mat there instead. Finally, if you are looking for a happy medium, teach your dog to lay on a machine washable blanket located on one spot on your sofa or chair. That way, they can still be there with you (and look our the window!) without soiling the whole piece of furniture. Again, you will still want to do the exercises outlined above to ensure that they stay on their blanket and don't wander to the unprotected spots on the couch.
5. Don't paw people for attention: Dogs paw to get our attention and will continue to paw as long as this behavior is successful. Remember, dogs just want attention, so negative or positive, if they get your attention for pawing you, then they've been successful! When your dog approaches you, and before they go to paw you, ask for something that is counter to pawing (lay down, for example). When they do what you asked, offer them a treat. If they paw you, turn your body away from them, or get up and walk away. When you sit down again, ask for the down and say "stay." Once again, if they paw, turn away or move away. Only give them attention for NOT pawing you; bringing a toy, is fine, just no barking, whining, or pawing for attention. Those behaviors will get them shunned or ignored. It is critical that everyone in the house resist giving the dog attention for pawing; if one person rewards them, the behavior will persist.
Now you have a total of ten exercises that you can do in 5 minutes or less everyday to help your dogs be on their best behavior! As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior (or have suggestions for topics you'd like me to cover in my blog posts!), you know where to find me.
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