Training Two dogs

[laingsom]

If we have two dogs is it okay to train together in the same session or best to do individual training sessions and next question about time spent trying to get dog to obey because of the amount of treats needed at first for reward purposes so not to over do it Thx in advance 

 

[Adrienne]

Hi there!

Welcome to the forums!

Training a dog requires giving the dog lots of individual attention, especially initially. You will need to pay attention to what the dog does, concentrate on his progress and possibly carry several items in your hands (treats for luring and then rewarding, a clicker -if you use it). On top of this, you need to focus on the dog's body language for signs of motivation, eagerness or tiring or stress.

While there are several training methods nowadays, a popular one that yields fast results is luring (which is mostly used throughout the course), where a treat is used as a guide to get the dog perform a desired behavior and is then quickly faded to primarily being used as reinforcement. It would be close to impossible using two hands to lure two untrained dogs side-by-side without creating confusion. Additionally, it would become confusing for us using the clicker/verbal marker since both dogs will likely perform the desired behavior at different times.

Another consideration is that in the initial stages of training, it is important to start training in an area free of distractions. To one dog, the presence of another dog or more dogs, is a strong distraction. Often dogs tend to get into "pack mentality" and influence each other, feeding off each others' emotions. If for example, you are training in one room and one dog is reactive to noises and takes off, the other dog will likely leave and go check things out with his buddy too. Soon, you are left with no dogs to train as these distractions have won over you.

Not to mention, dogs may also tend to compete for attention. In a dog training scenario, competition may involve a dog owner's attention with the added bonus of the presence of a odoriferous treat bag clipped to a belt. Intrusions are almost a certainty with untrained dogs, with them getting in between repeatedly if no measures are taken to keep these dogs under control and out of the way. Some dogs may be prone to resource guarding.

It is therefore important that, in the initial stages of training, each dog is provided with attention until he or she grasps the concept, and then,  other dogs can be brought into the picture. The more dogs in a household, the more crucial it is that all dogs are well-trained and well-behaved.

You would therefore first select one dog to work with. In the meanwhile, you will have to find a way to keep the other dog out of the way. You can keep your other dog in another room, behind a baby gate, in a crate, tethered, or in the yard. If you choose to crate , you can provide the non-working dogs with a safe chew toy or food-dispensing toy to keep him busy. This way your dog will look forward to this training routine without getting frustrated waiting his turn to be trained.

If you choose to use a see-through baby gate, from where your other dog can watch you train, consider that they may get frustrated and impatient and this may lead to barking which can be a major distraction. If your dogs though are able to stay calm, reap the benefit of having them observe your training. Studies have shown that dogs learn faster if they watch other dogs being trained. On top of this, by watching, the motivation for the other non-working dogs will increase by the time it's their turn.

If your dogs have had some basic training and know how to hold a solid down stay on a mat, you can teach them to patiently wait their turns, laying on the mat, as you train each dog individually. In the midst of training,  you can pause and drop a treat on the non-working dogs' mats every now and then to reward them for being chill.

Alternatively, you can enlist the help of other family members to help train each dog individually and even in the same room mimicking the group classes dog trainers hold. In such a case, make sure that all members are on the same page as to training methods and verbal cues used.

Once you have trained each dog individually and they all have shown signs of grasping the concept and each dog has demonstrated the proficiency of being able to respond in the training room, but also in other areas of the home and the yard, it is time to add your other dog. At that point, you can use an attention grabbing cue such as "dogs" (a cue that will come to signify that all dogs must collectively respond) followed by your verbal cue such as "sit" or "down" etc. 

Group training works wonderfully for important cues such as all dogs waiting before you open a door, responding to a smacking sound when the postal carrier approaches (look up the "Look at that" brain game), having your dogs all lie down politely on their mats during your meal times, asking your dogs to do a group sit/stay or down/stay and then releasing them and calling your dogs (watch them competing rushing towards you!) and even holding sit-stays for great group pictures.

As for the concerns about treats. I like to use very tiny pieces. Like if you are using soft treats,  you can split them into small bits and use those so that a treat can easily yield 5-10 pieces. So chances are, in one training sessions you might not use more than 3-4 treats. I used lately soft meat--based strips for dogs where the package says to give a dog up to three strips a day using only one strip that I divided in about 20 to 25 pieces. There are also many low calorie treats in pet stores now if calories are a concern.

If you are training at home in an area with little distractions and your dogs love their food, one big perk in these cases is using your dog's kibble for training.  Just think if you can use once piece of kibble to reinforce each desired behavior!  I love it when dogs love their kibble. Like with some dogs who are a lot of work in progress, I just carry the kibble in my treat bag and toss a kibble for every desirable behavior. Just a dog's meal gives me like 60 or more opportunities for reinforcing desired behaviors, win-win!

Happy Training!

Let me know if you have any questions,

Best,

Adrienne