5 common dog training mistakes and how to avoid them

Here are a few of the most frequent problems I see folks have when it comes to training their dog, and suggestions on how to avoid them. Think of this as a “do’s and don’ts of dog training” told in picture form 😉

Do: have clear, simple, easy to understand signals for behaviors.

Examples:
short words/phrases (“sit,” “down,” “place”)
purposeful hand signals (raising a hand up for “sit,” pointing at the ground for “down,” twirling your finger for “spin”)
teaching an environmental signal by building predictable patterns (every time you approach a doorway you ask your dog to sit, feeding your dog a treat every time they see another dog so they learn to notice a dog and then look at you, only allowing your dog to walk forward when on a leash if the leash is loose)

Don’t: repeat your signals multiple times, give inconsistent signals (ie sometimes saying “Fido, come” and other times saying “Fido, here,” be wishy washy about when your dog should sit in doorways and when they shouldn’t

Your dog can only respond to one signal at a time!

If your body is moving, your mouth is not.

If your mouth is moving, your body is not.

If you want your dog to learn an environmental signal, then you need to let them experience the environmental stimulus FIRST before triggering the behavior you would like them to do when they notice that stimulus.

Do: have a clearly defined picture in your head of what the behavior should look like before you teach it to your dog.
Do: focus on asking your dog to do something, rather than asking them NOT to do something

If the definition of the behavior is vague or involves your dog NOT doing something (ie “I want my dog to stop approaching the distraction”) that’s going to be harder for your dog to learn.

Don’t: cue the ABSENCE of a behavior- ignoring something, not approaching something, looking away from something are all lack of behaviors.

It’s easier to tell your dog to do something than to NOT do something.

Instead of “leave it” or “off,” cue the behavior you would like your dog to do instead.

Do: pay attention to the patterns that are happening!

How much time passed between your dog experiencing the signal, the behavior happening, the behavior being marked (a clicker, verbal reward marker, etc), and reinforcement being delivered?

How much extraneous stimuli happened in between your dog experiencing the signal and the behavior happening?

Don’t: try to rush things.

Rushing to get your dog to respond to a verbal signal, for example, by issuing a hand signal while you’re still speaking will only overshadow your verbal signal.

If you want your dog to respond quickly and with ease, focus on being smooth.

Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

You can be efficient with your timing without rushing!

This goes for training sessions too- rushing your dog to try to learn a new behavior as fast as possible will only cause more errors and problems for you to have to fix later on.

It’s faster to slow down and do it right the first time, than go rush and have to go back and fix things!

Do: take a beat to plan ahead. Have some idea of how you’re going to break a behavior down for your dog. Strategize what signal you want to use, what marker is going to work best (ie what kind of reward is going to help reinforce the desired behavior- a click & tossing a treat on the ground might be great for loose leash walking vs telling your dog to “tug” a toy you’re holding in your hand to reward a recall).

Know what you’re going to do when things inevitably go wrong, too! Nothing and nobody is perfect- that includes you and your dog.

Don’t: throw your dog in the deep end and expect them to swim when they never learned how to tread water.
Don’t: punish your dog for YOUR lack of prior preparation and planning.

Do: be humble enough to ask for help, even if this isn’t your first rodeo
Do: onboard some kind of professional training BEFORE issues arise, rather than waiting for one to rear its head

Don’t: assume that things like puppy classes and early basic training aren’t necessary. Your trainer might be able to spot things that you hadn’t noticed. They’ll have a ton of helpful tips & tricks that you never would’ve thought of yourself from their years of hands-on experience and continuing education in the field. Which are invaluable assets!!