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[Einstein the Dog]

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Nothing contained on this forum should be considered, or used as a substitute for professional in-person advice. Dog training and behavior modification comes with risks. It is always recommended to seek in-person assistance for training and behavior problems for safety and correct behavior modification implementation. While general comments and support can be provided, specific support for the implementation of training and behavior modification protocols should be implemented with the in-person assistance of a force-free professional.

If your dog is acting aggressive, consult with a veterinary behaviorist or a force-free dog trainer/behavior consultant well versed in dog behavior for an in-person assessment and implementation of behavior modification. In other words, hire a professional to help you out in person before implementing any advice found on this forum or in any groups, articles or videos found over the web.

 

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Thanks for your compliance and welcome to the forum!

[JamesAchille]

What's the easiest way to ask Adrienne a question on this forum or private message?

 

Thanks,

Jim & Baker

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello,

Welcome to the forums!

We encourage forum members to post in the forums as other dog owners may benefit from reading other member's posts and to foster a supportive community.

I'll keep an eye on for your next post,

Cheers!

Adrienne

[JamesAchille]

Thanks for the quick reply Adrienne!

 

My question was:

 

Thanks for the training program! My pup is almost 8 months and has been through some training classes at the local dog store and he has done very well. The airplane game is very easy for him as he caught on quick and we timed it at less than 7 seconds, but it's the first time I used a clicker when training him as I have always said, "yes" or "good boy."My question is, he seems like he is afraid of the clicker sound and he started to move away from me when I clicked it and his ears went back as I dropped the treat after he made eye contact with me. What are your thoughts?

 

Thanks,Jim

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Great to hear your pup is doing so well and aced the airplane game!

 

It can happen sometimes that noise-sensitive dogs find the sound aversive. The good news is that there are several options around this. You can keep using your verbal marker (yes!) or you can use a sound made with your mouth as long as you can easily make it often and keep it consistent.

 

However, studies have found that clicker provides cutting edge precision and some advantages over sounds produced by us. So if you want to stick to the clicker, you can try the following:

 

-You can try to keep the clicker inside a pocket. The pocket will help muffle the sound and make it less intimidating towards sensitive dogs.

-Another trick of the trade is to put several layers of tape on the clicker, again, for the purpose of muffling the sound. The keyword here is going gradually, therefore, as the dog learns that the click brings marvelous treats, you can start peeling off a layer of tape so to allow the dog to get step-by- step used to the clicking sound.

-For severely noise sensitive dogs, you can use a retractable pen that clicks.

-Use high value treats to create strong positive associations especially during the charging process (click, treat, click, treat, click treat).

[JamesAchille]

Thank you Adrienne! BTW, the training video when you open your door and keep your dog from jumping on you worked great for Baker! I then had my wife and my son do it at different times later the same day. AMAZING! He jumped on me 4 times when I first did it and did not jump on my wife or son.

 

So what's the best way to start the training process? Am I going to receive any DVD's, books, etc in the mail?

 

Can you outline how begin using your tools? Should it be done in a certain order? And can I go to specific areas of concern that I have with my dogs behavior?

 

Thanks,

JIm

[Adrienne Farricelli]

I am so glad to hear that the jumping exercise has worked for you sa far! You need to pat yourself on the back for a job well done. It's a good idea to hold refresher sessions of this exercise every now and then since jumping is a strongly ingrained habit and it takes some time for the dog to remember to not act instinctively and remind themselves that it's far more rewarding to sit rather than jump. It also helps a lot to involve guests (briefing them on what to do) so that your dog learns to generalize the behavior to them too. Guests are often super exciting and their presence raises an extra challenge.

 

The course is entirely online so you should have received login credentials shortly after purchase. If you haven't please contact support at: [email protected]

 

You can find details on tools and the course outline here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/

 

The archive covers many common issues:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/

 

The course has an order to follow for practical reasons, but it is not necessary to follow it to a T, it can happen that a dog owner may have some more urgent things to train and it's OK to skip through (for example, a large yard needing to train a recall, or a dog who grabs things and needs to learn how to drop or a dog who pulls too much on the leash needing to learn heel). Also, it may happen that some dog may need to start on some brain games more than training certain tasks. So if you have a pressing issue, it perfectly OK to start working on that and giving it priority.

 

And of course, you can always ask on the forum and start a new thread. For training and behavior, simply press the blue "post new thread button" found on this page:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?3-Dog-Training-amp-Behavior

 

Happy training!

[Adrienne Farricelli]

I am so glad to hear that the jumping exercise has worked for you sa far! You need to pat yourself on the back for a job well done. It's a good idea to hold refresher sessions of this exercise every now and then since jumping is a strongly ingrained habit and it takes some time for the dog to remember to not act instinctively and remind themselves that it's far more rewarding to sit rather than jump. It also helps a lot to involve guests (briefing them on what to do) so that your dog learns to generalize the behavior to them too. Guests are often super exciting and their presence raises an extra challenge.

 

The course is entirely online so you should have received login credentials shortly after purchase. If you haven't please contact support at: [email protected]

 

You can find details on tools and the course outline here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/

 

The archive covers many common issues:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/

 

The course has an order to follow for practical reasons, but it is not necessary to follow it to a T, it can happen that a dog owner may have some more urgent things to train and it's OK to skip through (for example, a large yard needing to train a recall, or a dog who grabs things and needs to learn how to drop or a dog who pulls too much on the leash needing to learn heel). Also, it may happen that some dog may need to start on some brain games more than training certain tasks. So if you have a pressing issue, it perfectly OK to start working on that and giving it priority.

 

And of course, you can always ask on the forum and start a new thread. For training and behavior, simply press the blue "post new thread button" found on this page:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?3-Dog-Training-amp-Behavior

 

Happy training!

[AprilCoetzee]

Can you advise how much training I should do at once. Do I do it several times a day or once a week. Not sure. 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hit there,

When it comes to training, there are ultimately no exact general rules of thumb when it comes to how long to train per session and how many sessions to do a day. There are many variables at play such as the age of the dogs, breed, energy levels, health, level of attentiveness, the experience of the person training, current mindset of the dog, whether the dog was ever trained before etc.

Since your dog is a young pup, it's best to start with several brief sessions. You can start with just 3-5 minutes of training a day and always watch for signs of frustration, stress or tiring under the form of yawning, a sudden itch, walking away, loss of interest etc. You want to avoid though getting to this point. So to play it safe, best to keep sessions short and sweet at first, always ending on a positive note.

As for quantity, there are variables too. After testing the waters with a few brief sessions, you can eventually progress and try and fit several of these brief sessions in a day always watching for the pup getting bored or uninterested. Some of my busy clients like to use television commercial breaks for training. You may find that you can train more and longer on some days, while some days less. Just like us, dog may have more productive days than others.

When you are done training, some dogs may find it frustrating for the all the fun and interaction to end, so it may help to end your training by giving your pup something to do that doesn't involve you, such as giving a stuffed Kong or a portion of his meal in a Kong Wobbler or doing a Muffin Tin game. 

Hope this helps!

Let me know if you have any other questions,

Happy training!