So you and your dog have invested in training for the past several weeks and now its time for them to come home and get back to their normal lives. However, after all this work, let's make sure that we aren't going to back to the same bad behaviors that your dog has been working hard to correct while away at training.
Before we talk about your dog coming home, let us first review our equipment that we will be using with our dog to help guide them into their new and more well behaved routine.
Equipment
Leashes
Your dog will be returning home with a couple different types of leash. Each leash has an important role in their training journey and can help you manage their behaviors more easily than before.
Slip Leash - The first tool that your dog was introduced to during training was the slip leash. The slip leash is the most basic tool that can guarentee that your dog is safely secured and cannot slip out and get loose. The first and most important role as your dogs handler is ensuring you have control of your dog. We use the slip leash to introduce your dog to obedience commands as well as leash communication which we will discuss later.
Snap Leash - Your dog will also receive a snap leash. A snap leash is a leash used to attach to a training collar. While some dogs work just fine on a slip leash throughout their whole training program, another benefit from training collars that may include martingale collars, Starmark collars, or prong collars.
Longline - A long line is a great tool to give your dog the freedom to mave around more space and still have the safety and security of being on-leash. The first step to off-leash freedom is on-leash training.
Training Collars
Your dog likely received one or more training collars to use with your snap leash or long line. Your dog's training collar may vary from others, but the way we use each collar is exactly the same. Training collars like Starmark Collars or Prong Collars simply amplify the communication that we use through the leash.
Remote Collar
If you opted for your dog's program to include remote collar training then you will be bringing home your dog's remote collar and accessories when your dog goes home with you. Your remote collar will include:
Receiver: The actual collar portion that your dog wears.
Transimtter: The remote that controls the collar.
Charging Cable: You will need to charge your remote collar each night.
Additional Contact Points: The additional contact points are different lengths and may be necessary if your dog has significantly longer or thick fur.
Optional Finger Kick: The "Finger Kick" is the wearable finger button that activates the receiver exactly as the transmitter does. You need to keep the transmitter with you in your pocket or hanging around your neck or wrist for the finger kick to function.
Finger Clicker
The Finger Clicker is used to communicate with your dog each time they perform a behavior correction. The clicker can be used interchangibly with your positive verbal markers.
Treat Pouch
We like to make training as easy and convenient for you and your dog, so you will receive a treat pouch to help manage your dog's reward food and has an extra pocket for anything you might need to carry like your dog's clicker, remote, or poop bags.
Place Cot
The place command is an excellent tool that is simple, easy for your dog to learn, and can be a great first step to resolving many unwanted problem behaviors. You'll recieve a premium place cot to take home.
The Phases
Phase 1
2-5 Days Minimum
Phase1 Rules:
Your dog will be on-leash with you or they will be in the crate.
All food comes from you during training.
All behaviors occur on leash and are dictated by you (even going potty).
Everything is earned, nothing in life is free.
During the first stage of your dog being home, it is best to replicate the same routine that your dog had while they were in training. This means that your dog will spend the majority of their time in the kennel, with frequent short training sessions throughout the day.
Frequent short training sessions are better then a few long training sessions.
Getting your dog in and out of the kennel frequently is essentially creating a repetitive routine that includes kennel manners, door manners, leash manners, and allows your dog plenty of repetitions to get the routine down and well understood before they are given the freedom to make potentially bad decisions.
Know Your Routine Before You Start!
The Routine
The routine will become the expectation that we set for our dog. We will walk our dog through the expected routine, step-by-step in the first couple days before expecting our dog to perform the routine on their own.
Start with your dog in their kennel or crate.
Kennel Manners: Before opening your dog's kennel you should ask for a calm behavior to help quell any unwanted kennel behaviors such as barking, whining, or pushing on the kennel door. If your dog is doing anything pushy like barking, whining, or pushing or pawing at the kennel door, wait for them to stop before opening the kennel door.
Remind your dog that they will be expected to demonstrate proper kennel manners by giving the Kennel or Crate command before opening the door. This command should mean to stay in the kennel with all four paws even when the door is opened. If your dog steps out of the kennel when the door is opened, you can use your negative marker to let your dog know they have made a mistake and gently close the door until your dog is completely inside the kennel. (If using a remote collar, you can pair this with a low level e-collar stimulation until your dog is fully inside the kennel again)
Put on your dogs training equipment, including collar and leash before allowing your dog to exit the kennel. You can set the standard for your dog's kennel manners. If you want to allow your dog to stick their head out of the kennel to make it easier to put on their training equipment, that is up to you. You may prefer to reach into the kennel to put your dog's training equipment on. Whichever you choose, it is always important to stay consistent.
Once your dog's training equipment is on, expect your dog to remain in the kennel for a few more moments before releasing them. Release your dog from their kennel by using either their release command ("Free") or a heel or recall command. If you use the heel or recall command, make sure to follow through with requiring your dog to perform the commanded behavior.
Water Access: It is always important to give your dog regular and predictable access to water, but in this first phase of training, it is important to remember the phrase "Nothing in Life is Free." This will apply to your dog's access to water. You can decide to give your dog the opporutnity to drink water before each training session, after each training session, or both.
Routine and predictability is the cornerstone of an effective relationship between you and your dog. So generally you should decide when your dog will be allowed access to water and remain consistent with that decision.
Because "Nothing in Life is Free", you will ask your dog to perform a behavior such as sit, down, or heel before giving them their release command allowing them to drink water.
Door Manners: In most cases your dog lives inside your home with you and you will likely need to pass through one or more doorways or thresholds before accessing the outside. Each threshold is an opportunity to practice your dog's Door Manners.
As your approach each threshold, including baby gates and open doorways, with your dog on leash, you will stop and require your dog to sit in your heel position. Your door manners practice can vary to prevent our dog from rushing the routine, but the expecations will remain the same.
Variation 1: Give your dog the sit command at the threshold. Leave your dog in the "Sit-Stay" and the handler passes through the threshold (right foot first). The handler can then either release the dog using their release command, or call the dog into the heel position through the threshold. (The handler may leave the dog and return to the dog and reward multiple times before passing through the threshold for additional training)
Variation 2: Give your dog the sit command at the threshold. Leave your dog in the "Sit-Stay" and the handler passes through the threshold(right foot first). The handler then returns to the dog with the dog in the heel position and rewards the dog, then the dog and handler may pass through the threshold together in a heel. (The handler may leave the dog and return to the dog and reward multiple times before passing through the threshold for additional training)
Variation 3: Give your dog the sit command at the threshold and reward your dog. Then give your dog the heel command and pass through the threshold in a heel (left foot first).
Note: Your dog should never pass through the threshold before you. And if your dog passes through the threshold in such a way that is "unacceptable" or results in the dog pulling ahead of you, or pushing their way through the door, you should repeat your door manners until they can do it appropriately. If you need to repeat your door manners, you should choose a different variation.
Potty Manners: How and when you take your dog to potty can set the tone for the session, so it is best to start on a good note. Heel your dog to a designated potty location. Stop and have them sit in the heel position for a few moments before giving them their release command followed by a potty command ("Go Potty") and allowing them to go potty.
As the handler, you should remain where you are standing and allow your dog to generally sniff and find a place to relieve themselves within the length of a approximately six-foot leash. You should avoid allowing your dog to mark on upright items, fixtures, statues, signposts, trees, or similar things. Choose a grassy, flat, open area and expect your dog to relieve themselves there.
Once your dog has sufficiently relieved themselves, (be sure to wait long enough to both Number 1 and Number 2 if necessary) you will then be able to begin your training session. Once you start your training session your dog should not be allowed to break or disobey obedience behaviors to go potty.
The Training Sessions
Believe it or not, the most important things that your dog needs to know to be a well mannered member of your household are actually learned in the routine leading up to the actual training sessions. The training sessions will help your dog be able to manage their behaviors throughout the day with more reliable obedience. And your dog's ability to perform obedience more reliability and under more challenging circumstances will help them be well-behaved in a wide variety of situations.
Choose your Training Space
For your first few sessions, choose an area that has enough space to move around and very few distractions. Your yard can be a great choice, but remember to put away all dog toys unless you are actively planning to use them during your training session. You can also choose to train in your driveway if your dog tends to enjoy sniffing or eating grass too much to pay attention.
You can plan to training if different spaces for future sessions to help your dog understand that obedience remains a requirement no matter where you are and no matter what is going on around you.
Choose Your Training Priority
Each of your training sessions should have a singular training focus and a goal to achieve. Its easy to get stuck doing the same skills at the same difficulty over and over, so it is important to choose the skills that are not only most important to you, but also the skills that may need the most work.
Set a goal: Remembering where your dog left off during their previous training session can be a great way to help set your goals for each future session. Your goals should focus on gradually increasing the "Three D's": Duration, Distance, and Distractions.
Example: If my dog was able to do a 1 minute down-stay during our last training session in which we worked on down-stays, then I should make my goal for this down-stay training session 1 minute and 30 seconds...
"The first rule for a successful training session is: have a plan. The second rule is: Be prepared to abandon that plan."
Sometimes during your training session you realize that another training task is actually much more important at the time. Don't be afraid to occasionally shift your focus for a training session, but try not to make this a repetitive habit. Disciplined handlers make reliably trained dogs.
Ending your training session: Always try to end your training session on a great note! Finish your session when you dog has just performed the intended skill really well. You can even give your dog a Jackpot to really add a great memorable moment to end the session!
A Jackpot is a very high value or significantly large reward. This could be a special treat, a large amount of their usual food, or your dog's favorite toy.
At the end of your session, remember to heel back to where your dog's crate or kennel is. (Don't forget your door manners). You can offer your dog the opportunity to drink some water. Remember to have your dog perform some type of obedience task before releasing them to their water.
Optional: you can also have your dog perform an obedience task such as a sit or down or heel before going into their kennel as well. You should expect your dog to remain in the kennel with the door open and allow you to remove their training equipment before closing the door.
(If you dog is on e-collar, the e-collar can stay on the dog throughout the day and will only come off at the end of the night after you last potty and training session. Charge your ecollar every night. Turn on your e-collar and put your e-collar on your dog prior to your first training session of the day.)
Obedience skills to be worked on during Phase 1
On-Leash Heeling: Practice heeling with frequent to moderate rate of rewards through mild to moderate distraction levels.
Sit and Sit-Stay: Goal of 1 minute sit-stay with mild to moderate distraction up to 6' of distance
Down and Down-Stay: Goal of 3 minute down-stay with mild to moderate distraction up to 6' of distance
Place-stay: Goal of 5 minute place-stay with moderate distraction up to 10' of distance
On-Leash Recall: Outdoors under mild to moderate distraction up to 15' away
Once your dog is able to meet the majority of the above listed obedience goals, and is fluently meeting all of your routine expectations, it is time to move to the next phase of your dog's transition back into your normal routine.
Phase 2
7 days minimum
Start the day exactly the same as Phase 1 with your dog in their kennel and they come out of their kennel on leash, and go potty on leash.
After each potty opportunity you can begin to vary what comes next. You are encouraged to continue dedicated training sessions fucusing on the previously listed obedience skills and continuing to improve your skills by increasing your dog's ability to perform each of the obedience skills with greater duration, distance and distractions.
However, during Phase 2, you will begin to identify parts of your normal daily routine in which you can begin to integrate your dog. These parts of your routine can be things such as cooking meals, working at your computer, or watching a movie or reading a book.
Choose behaviors during which you generally want your dog to remain calm and relaxed yet still under control to prevent them from practicing unwanted behaviors.
Your Breakfast time:
An excellent time to make a huge impact on your dog's expected routine behaviors is meal time. During our human meal times, we generally do not want our dogs under our feet while we are preparing our food, jumping excitedly at the thought of getting their food, nor begging at the table while we eat. Therefore this is a perfect time to have our dogs practice an obedience skills while we are otherwise engaged.
For the first few times that you practice this part of your routine with your dog, you should position your dog's place cot someplace well out of your way, but still easily viewed and easy to walk to in order to reward your dog's good behavior or correct your dog for mistakes.
You may want to start with the bed fairly close for the first couple times, but work towards moving the bed further away as your dog begins to demonstrated improved proficiency in their obedience skills.
You can also choose to utilize a down-stay for this exercise, however we do highly recommend starting with your dog's place command and the place cot that you receive with your equipment package.
It is also recommended to keep your dog's leash and training collar attached during this exercise. And when/where possible, attach your dog's leash to a sturdy backtie or heavy piece of furniture to prevent your dog from straying too far if they break the position without you immediately noticing.
Use Your Dog's Skills!
While you prepare your meal, give your dog the place command and walk them to their place bed if needed. Reward your dog like you normally would during your place training sessions. Every couple minutes make it a point to reward your dog on their place bed and remind them of their place command. (As your dog's reliability in their routine improves you can try using a down-stay instead of the place command during this exercise)
While it is important to occassionally reward your dog, it is also important to correct your dog if they make mistakes during this exercise. Use your negative marker "no" as well as your training tools to provide your dog a correction just like you've learned in your lessons.
You can expect them to stay on their bed while you prepare your meal as well as when you eat your meal.
However, if your dining area and your preparation area in different locations that may make it difficult to maintain proper supervision of your dog, you may consider changing his place location before sitting down to eat your meal.
This is a simple exercise that could easily be used throughout your dog's entire life and could be a great daily mealtime reminder for them to start their day with proper manners and great obedience. During this stage of the training, it is wise not to use all of their food during their first session, esspecially if you plan to do more training sessions throughout the day.
Similar Sessions:
Working at your computer
Watching a movie or reading a book
Cleaning / Vacuuming / Mopping etc.
Each session can be set up very similarly using your place cot or a down-stay. The important thing to keep in mind during these sessions to remain aware of your dog and to regularly or occassionally reward them for remaining in their obedience behavior.
The longer that you expect your dog to remain under control, calm, and well-mannered in the house, you must also remember to find time to now provide them additional mental and physical exercise during dedicated training or play sessions as a privilege.
Earning Privileges
At this point in your training your dog can begin to earn their Privileges. Privileges can be any type of special access that the dog can earn through appropriate behavior. Privileges can also be taken away if your dog fails to meet your expectations throughout your routine.
Off-Leash Training
The first privilege your dog can earn may be off-leash training sessions inside of a fenced-in or enclosed training space. Off-leash training sessions can be great for working on building more enthusiastic obedience by encorporating play into your sessions, as well as beginning to build off-leash integrity through your remote collar training sessions. (However, remote collar training sessions should always begin on-leash, and work up to a drag leash, before going off-leash).
During your off-leash training sessions you can begin working on skills like recalls and sends to place, as well as reinforcing proper play behaviors like retrieving the toy and bringing it back to you, as well as letting go when told.
If during your off-leash training, at any time, if your dog begins to ignore you, get distracted, or "blows-off" your commands, they can lose this privilege and you can return to on-leash training. Don't forget to always have some way to provide corrections if your dog makes mistakes during training. Some recommended tools include e-collars, tab leashes, and drag leashes.
Be mindful that off-leash training should only be performed inside of enclosed spaces on your private property or where your dog is allowed to be off-leash and where you deem it is safe for your dog to be off-leash.
Your dog's off-leash privilege can be extended to inside the home as well, as long as they are still able to meet all of your dog's training expectations and home manners. This should include their kennel and door manners, and responding to commands reliably.
Furniture Privileges
Many dog owners enjoy having their dogs join them on the couch to watch a movie or even to sleep in the beds at night. If you'd like your dog to be able to enjoy the furniture with you but don't want to encourage any problematic behaviors, introducing your dog to the furniture the right way can help set the tone.
The best way to introduce the furniture to your dog with clearly defined rules and expectations is to initially treat the furniture like you would the place cot, with a couple exceptions.
Exception 1: You can teach your dog a "Off" command meaning that they are required to get off of the furniture.
Exception 2: You will feed your dog their food rewards directly to their mouths instead of placing on the furniture.
Introducing the furniture. Example: The Couch
Step 1: With your dog on a short leash, teach your dog to get onto the couch on command. It is acceptable to use your dog's place command with a hand gesture pointing towards the couch.
Step 2: Teach your dog the "Off" command by saying the command and using the food to lure your dog off of the couch. Use your positive marker when all four feet are off of the couch and on the floor and reward your dog directly to their mouth.
Repeat Steps 1 and 2 10-15 times
Privileges Can Always Be Taken Away
If at anytime you feel that your dog is not behaving appropriately with their new-found access to their privileges, those privileges can be revoked even more quickly than they can be earned. This doesn't mean that your dog will need to lose their privilege forever, but they must have a deeper understanding of the expected appropriate behavior required to earn each privilege back.
Phase 3
Life-Long Learning
Your dog is learning every single day of their life. That is why phase 3 will is essentially that time that you've settled into a routine that you can maintain for the duration of your life with your dog.
For the life of your dog it is always important that they are living, breathing, creatures that can make decisions on a day to day basis. Our dogs never really mature to the extent that humans do, and it is easiest to view them as children, and capable of making decisions to the extent a child or young adolescent might.
Training is For When Management Fails
While it would be wonderful to be able to train and teach our dogs to the extent that we could allow them to live completely free of boundaries and management measures, there will always be the possibility of them making catastrophic decisions that could possible result in tragic consequences.
Some dogs may go their whole lives without ever getting into the trash or bolting out of the front door, while others may look for opportunities to get into trouble any time your back is turned.
Establishing management solutions to deny your dog the opportunities to practice problem behaviors is paramount to reducing your dog's attempts to behave inappropriately.
Example: If 99.99% of the times that your dog goes into the yard the fence gates are closed and latched, then in the 0.01% of times that you forget to latch the gate, your dog is extremely unlikely to attempt to escape.
Closing and latching your fence gates at all times, or any time you expect to be in the yard with your dog is just one example of a management measure. Our dog should expect that the fence gate is always closed and latched, so they will essentially stop looking for opportunities to escape.
In the event that your fence gate is unlatched or open, and your dog decides that today is the day they want to go for an adventure out of the gate, training an effective recall or emergency down will help you maintain control and the safety of your dog.
It is possible that with enough training you may feel confident that your dog will not make a run for it when the opportunity presents itself, but the question that you should ask yourself is:
"Would you bet your dog's life on it?"
Training can help eliminate many simple nuisance behaviors, but some other behaviors could result is tragic catastrophic consequences. You should always strive to maintain physical control of your dog using management tools like your leash, proper fencing, and crates to prevent potentially catastrophic behaviors.
Some trainers may boast that after training their dog never performed a bad behavior again, and potentially for some dogs that have completely training may never attempt problem behaviors again, but again, "would you bet your dog's life on it?"
Your dog will always benefit from continuing to work on their obedience skills including their leash-walking, sitting at doorways and thresholds, down stays with distractions, time on their place beds, and most importantly their recalls. Your dog's obedience skills are like muscles that can weaken over time if they are not exercised. Your dog will also always greatly enjoy fun and enthusiastic training sessions, no matter how old they get!
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