Puppy Training

This is a full 8 week puppy obedience course designed to get your puppy off to a good start on training. I will be attempting to upload videos of these steps as I go with my own puppy.

Week One

Introduction to Clicker:

Click and quickly treat. If your dog seems startled by the noise, try putting the clicker in your pocket or behind

your back. Repeat for a about 10-12 repetitions.

You’ll know your dog has it when they are looking away and will promptly look for a treat with the

“click”.

You only need to do this the first time you introduce the clicker.

Name Recognition:

Your Dog’s name should be a “pay attention” cue as well as a default Come Command.
With your dog on a leash, say your dog’s name one time. If he looks at you, mark and reward. If he doesn’t look at you, don’t say his name again. Take a few steps back and as soon as he turns (because the dog is on a leash and must go where the leash goes) mark and reward.
Keep working this behavior until the dog is making eye contact every time you say their name.
Reminder, you have zero enforcement of this behavior without a leash on your dog. So, make sure to practice this only with a leash on your dog.

Heel Position:

With a treat in your left hand, lure your dog onto your left side slightly behind you, facing behind you. Taking multiple steps backwards can help here.
Now take multiple steps forward luring your dog to turn forward and get into position.
Make sure to help the dog turn so their bum is turning on the outside and not towards your leg. This helps avoid them bumping into us as they get more proficient.

Trade:

With your dog on a leash or tethered, say the words “take it” and offer something lower value than your treat. Let them take the object in their mouth.
Offer your dog some treats with higher value. You might initially have to hold the treats to your dog’s nose to entice them to drop the first item.
When your dog drops the first item, mark, then let them eat the treats from your hand. Be sure you have enough treats to keep your dog busy for several seconds. As they eat, pick up the first object with your other hand and place it out of sight, such as in your pocket or behind your back. If your dog tries to race you for the first object, toss some treats to the side to redirect your dog while you pick it up.
As soon as your dog finishes eating, say, “Take it,” and offer the first object back again. Let your dog take the object in their mouth. Your dog is learning that trading earns them some treats and gives them the original item back.
Repeat the above steps until your dog will predictably drop the first object. At that point, say “trade,” “swap,” or a similar verbal cue right before your dog lets the object go. Then, mark the moment and offer the treats.

Sit:

With the dog in heel position and a treat directly on their nose, lure the dog into a sitting position by bringing the treat UPWARDS, not back, until they tuck their butt in and sit. Holding the leash a little tight will help prevent them from rocking backwards out of position to sit. Mark the behavior as soon as the dog sits.
No commands yet.
Aim for 40 reps this week, or as many as you can, helping them to be right every time.

Sprinkler Game:

Toss a few treats on the ground off to the side of you, one after another alternating sides, to your dog. Then pause and wait for your dog to look at you to see why the treats stopped. Immediately resume this back and forth treat dispensing waiting for eye contact between treats. You can use your clicker here to mark the eye contact. Do this for about 10 repetitions and then start turning your back to the dogy. As soon as they come around to look for more treats, mark and toss another treat on the ground. Turn your back to your dig and repeat. The goal here is for them to engage and seek out eye contact. If your dog doesn’t follow around you, move back to step one, or try catching their attention with Kissy Noises or pat your thighs. Avoid saying their name.

Leash Handling:

This website has some great info that explains how to properly hold a leash to have better control and avoid injury.
.https://www.simpawtico-training.com/how-to-handle-a-leash-properly/

Gear:

Our recommendation for a leash is a 4-6 foot leash made from leather, biothane or nylon that is no more than 3/4in thick. These are very strong and the thinner width is more comfortable in your hand.
Our collar recommendations are a well-fitted flat collar (or rolled leather for dogs with a single coat such as poodles), a martingale style collar, a slip style collar or a prong collar. We don’t recommend using harnesses as they can encourage pulling behavior, and can inhibit movement causing joint issues, especially when used from a young age. We are more than happy to discuss appropriate collar types that will best suit your dog’s needs and can help you with fitting.

Ditch the Bowl:

Ditching the bowl is using the daily food that you would normally place in a bowl, in training instead. This looks different for everyone, it could be a couple of Kongs that you stuff the food and some bone broth in and freeze, or use the kibble for training, or scattering around. Basically, asking your dog to hunt/work for it instead of gulping it from a bowl. Some people also may use wobblers or other puzzle toys that get their dog thinking.

Settle:

Kick back, get comfortable and ignore those dogs. This first week is the hardest by far. Keep at it. Make sure your dog is on a leash so they can’t “opt out” and walk away. The goal here is to let them get bored enough to give up and lay down. If they are struggling to lay down after about 30 minutes, I’ll reward ANY calm behavior (Sitting, not panting, etc.). Once they do lay down, praise like crazy, get them back up and then immediately ignore again to get another rep. Aim for 3 “settles” in a session this week. Fair warning, this first week can take over an hour a session.

Week Two

Name Recognition:

Add distractions.
Make sure that you are enforcing the acknowledgement of their name and not allowing them to ignore it.

Sit:

Lure the dog into a sit on a mat/towel/small rug. Immediately mark and toss a treat off the mat to let your dog reset. Quickly lure the dog right back onto the mat and into a sit. Mark and toss a treat off again. Keep doing this for a few reps until your dog is coming to the mat and automatically offering a sit. Now the fun part starts! Start adding your Sit cue (verbal or hand signal) as soon as the dog’s bum hits the floor, then mark and reward (again, off the mat to reset). Keep playing this “sit game” with your dog, making sure to not use your sit cue until the dog’s um is on the floor to ensure the dog isn’t delaying in responding. This method is fabulous about teaching a consistent, snappy sit in a fun way.

Down:

Grab a chair (if you have a smaller dog, use a stool or try kneeling on the ground). Sit with your butt as far forward on the chair as possible and make a decent amount of room between your legs. With the dog on your left side, show them that you have a treat and then put your right arm under the tunnel made by your left leg. Lure the dog through the leg tunnel and keep your treat hand steady (don’t let them have the treat) until the lay down. The goal here is to make the tunnel small enough that they need to “crawl” through to get to the treat. As soon as they down, mark and reward. If your dog is small, you can make a tunnel by kneeling on the ground instead of sitting in a chair, or sit on something shorter, like a step stool.
No commands yet.
Aim for 40 reps this week, as many as you can, helping them to be right every time.

Games:

101 Things to do with a box:
- http://www.clickertraining.com/101-things-to-do-with-a-box
- This game is all about free shaping behaviors. Free shaping teaches your puppy to problem solve and learn.

Settle:

Kick back, get comfortable again and ignore those dogs. At this point they should be offering the calm down quicker. Aim for 5 this week. I know this is tedious. Just keep at it. I promise it is worth it.

Week Three

Place:

I highly recommend having an evaluated bed for this. It will make your training experience so much easier. Amazon has some great ones that are cheap and easy to ship.
During this first week all you are trying to do is get your dog on the bed and IMMEDIATELY back off using your Release word (I use “FREE”). The goal this week is tons of reps. Aim for 30-40 reps a day; this should only take a few minutes. Remember, we aren’t using any words yet, and we are not expecting anything other than them being on the bed this week. Just on and off (with that release word EVERYTIME. Don’t forget).
If you are having a hard time getting your dog on the bed, try tossing a treat on it and then immediately praising and tossing a second treat when they get on the get the first. Also, try tossing a treat off of the bed as you say your Release Word. This will encourage the dog to quickly hop off when released, making it more fun to dart back and do it again.

Down:

Keep working the same motions this week with the chair/stool/on your knees and start putting your cue and/or hand signal on the behavior as soon as they are in a down.
Reps, reps, and more reps.

Loose Leash:

You are going to use A LOT of treats this first week, so I highly recommend using their breakfast/dinner to work this.
Leash goes in your right hand, with enough slack out that your left hand can just reach the clip when stretched to the collar.
Treats go in your left hand. This eliminates you reaching over with your right, which can inadvertently encourage the dog to forge ahead for food.
With a treat in your left hand and directly on the dog’s nose, lure the dog one step forward, mark and reward. Every step they take that leaves any slack in the leash, mark and reward. If the dog gets in front of you,is pulling or is inattentive, immediately turn to the right and change directions. This will apply pressure to the dog’s collar, giving a correction. As soon as they are back with you with slack, mark and reward.
The goal here is to make it very rewarding to stay in position next to you with a loose leach and teach them that being out of that position gets them further away from where they want to go.

Talking Points:

Speeding Tickets:
- Do you ever speed in your car? What an odd question, for a dog class isn't it? Why am I asking it? Everyone speeds sometimes. It may be 5mph over the speed limit or 20mph over the speed limit. Sometimes it's intentional and other times it's not. What alters your behavior however is the consequence of speeding.
  - - If I drove 10mph too fast on the same road, every day because I know there is no police that'll catch me, my behavior won't change. I'll keep doing it.
  - - If I drove 10mph too fast on the same road, every day but get pulled over every day and let off with a warning each time, my behavior may change once but then I'll carry on speeding. My behavior won't change.
  - - If I drove 10mph too fast on the same road every day, get pulled over and get a $2 fine, I'd be annoyed. But I would probably not stop speeding most of the time.
  - - If I drove 10mph too fast on the same road every day and get pulled over and get a $1000 fine, I'd never speed again.
- In the last scenario the consequence outweighed the benefit of the behavior. The same goes for dog training. Except in dog training, we call these corrections. Plenty of trainers nowadays will say to you 'corrections are terrible and cause fear, we should just reward our dogs or ignore the behavior and it'll go away'. That's simply not true for a lot of behaviors dogs do. Do you think someone would stop speeding if you would just ignore them? I would bet good money on it that the answer is no.

Games:

Eye Contact Game:
- Get several small pieces of a high value treat and have your dog sit right in front of you. Sitting eye level to them, legs crossed for example or in a chair is preferred.
- Put the treat in your hand and let them smell it and lick but DON'T let them eat it yet.
- Once you have their attention with the treat in your hand, move the treat from your hand to up to eye level, having them watch the treat the whole time. As soon as you get to eye level, immediately say “Look”. Once they make eye contact, immediately mark and reward. Repeat until they are consistently making eye contact with you this way.
- Eventually start to move your hand down away from your face, only marking and rewarding when they look away from the treat and make eye contact.

Settle

This week we are back to step one of Settle basically but standing. So, get out there and bore those dogs. Aim for 5 reps a day. This is a great time to start putting the command on. Tell your dog “Settle” AS THEY ARE LAYING DOWN. Don’t say it prior to them actually going into a down or you will devalue the word.

Week Four

Place:

Place is a command where you really don’t want to rush through the steps. If at this point your dog is not offering to get on the bed without assistance from you, they are not ready for the next step. Just keep on the 1st steps until you get it. Remember, repetition is key here. If your dog is getting on the bed automatically that this time, go ahead and start luring them into a down as soon as they get on the bed. Again, do not use commands at this point, just help them to be right. Aim for 30-40 repetitions a day of on the bed and immediately into a down. Make sure to use that release word EVERY TIME. Don’t forget.

Down:

Ditch the tunnel this week and start working on the mat just like we did with Sit on Week 2.

Loose Leash:

Start fading the lure and expecting more than one step in position. Reward at random intervals, while giving a reinforcer as they stay in position. Continue to assist back to heel for inattention and pulling and add in a verbal correction just prior to the redirection.Try to start each session with our “Drunk Walking” exercise.
Drunk Walking: The goal here is to change directions at a fast, unpredictable pace so the dog learns to pay attention. You can walk forwards, backwards or side to side. Try not to take more than 3 steps in any one direction and make sure to praise when the dog is paying attention. The positioning of the dog doesn’t matter in this exercise, just the attentiveness. When done correctly, this should resemble someone stumbling about.

Recall:

Begin with dog on 6-foot leash. Call the dog to come and then back up as you reel the dog in. Praise the entire time you are reeling them in. Once they are close enough, reward and gently manipulate the dog’s collar. This will ensure they are close enough to grab, if needed, but also get them to stay with you a bit once they are there. I like to deliver multiple treats to ensure they stay with me for a second or two, then release them to leave again.
If your dog has been taught to recall in the past but ignores you, I HIGHLY recommend starting this training with a new Cue. One that hasn’t been optional.
In an effort to not ruin this new training, your dog must be on a leash when working this behavior. That means using a long line at potty time and a short leash while training.
No leash, no enforcement, unless you are willing to run down and flying tackle your dog, I’d recommend just keeping to using the leash as enforcement.

Talking Points:

Tainted Cue:
- Have you ever called your dog to Come and they’ve ignored you? Has it happened often? You may have a Tainted Cue. This means your dog has learned that your Recall cue isn’t enforced and they know they don’t have to listen to it. I HIGHLY recommend that as you start on your new recall journey with your dog, that you change to a new Recall word. I switched my dog’s from Come to Here a few years ago due to this same issue and I now have a VERY consistent Recall despite distractions because they learned the new command wasn’t optional and was enforced every single time.
- It is so quick to backslide in your training if your expectations for behaviors aren’t consistent. Don’t have a good enough mindset.
- You yourself need to be consistent with your training as well. If you are working on a recall, for example, and let your dog outside without a leash or long line because you didn’t want to go out with the dog, how are you going to be able to enforce that your dog will come in when called? Are you willing to go chase that dog down? Probably not. While training, it is important to stay consistent until concepts are really solid. If in the case of recall, you were to let your dog outside without a way to enforce the recall, then you just don’t use your recall word that time. Make kissey noises, call the dog’s name, etc. instead so you don’t risk tainting your new recall word.

Settle:

This week, focus on getting that command consistent. Make sure you are marking the behavior consistently. The dogs should be offering a calm down a lot quicker at this point. Start calmly rewarding and giving a to continue to lay calmly.

Week Five

Place:

If at this point your dog is not offering to get on the bed AND lays down, without assistance from you, they are not ready for the next step. Just keep on the previous steps until you get it. Remember, repetition is key here. If your dog is getting on the bed automatically and laying down this time, go ahead working on beginning stay behavior. This is where you want to decide what your criteria for “Place” is with your dog. Do you expect them to remain in a down on the bed? Do you not care about positioning, as long as they stay on the bed? Make sure that you have that boundary in place and are correcting or redirecting your dog to maintain that boundary. The focus this week is getting your dog to stay on the bed with you remaining stationary at the side of the bed for a full minute. Don’t rush this step. Reward and reinforce at random intervals (3 sec, 6 sec, 4 sec, 7 sec, 9 sec, etc.) until your dog can stay for a full minute without breaking. Make sure you are setting your dog up for success and not asking too much at one time. If your dog is “breaking” their stay more than one time out of 10, you need to lower your expectations and rewards/reinforce more often. We are not adding any distance or distractions at this stage.

Loose Leash:

As soon as your dog moves ahead of you and you begin to feel the leash tightening, turn 180 degrees and go in the opposite direction, pulling your dog with you as you do so. When your dog catches up to you, if he now pulls in the new directions, turn and pull him back in the opposite direction again. Praise and reward any steps the dog takes without tension on the leash.

Recall:

Once the skill is consistent with no distractions, start adding distractions. Remember to only say the cue once and then reel that dog in. Praise the entire time you are reeling.
You need to make recall more exciting than chasing/running/playing. So, make sure that you are throwing a party for fast recalls (even if you are reeling them in) and that you are using good treats.
Add in a long line this week and start expecting a Recall from further distances.

Stay:

I find its easiest to start Stay with your dog sitting in Heel, as there is way less bending down. Ask your dog to Sit and immediately tell them to Stay. I also use a hand signal (an open palm towards their face) at this time. Have them stay still for no more than a few seconds, and then mark, reward and release. Repeat, varying the amount of time you are asking them to remain still, but making sure to not ask too much too soon.
The goal for week one should be up to ONE minute with you directly next to the dog. Do not try to add any distance this week.
If the dog is breaking the stay more than about 1/5 times, you are asking too much too soon. Step back on your expectations and give the dog more time to understand what you are asking.
Don’t forget to use your Release Word every time.

Talking Points:

Passive Allowance:
- Passive Allowance. When beginning to expect more consistency in our dog’s behavior, we need to start holding them accountable for remembering the “rules”. If they break on a Stay, quickly give a verbal correction and put them back in place. If we instead used a treat, lured them back in place,and then gave them the treat for getting back on the bed, what did they learn here? They learned that “breaking” gets them extra treats. Is this going to discourage them from continuing to break? Definitely not and will have to opposite effect as its rewarding to break stay. The same concept applies to Loose Leash walking. If you just continue to let your dog pull you all over the place on leash and never redirect or correct, then you are allowing the pulling. Things to think about... the lack of a No is a Yes.

Stay Criteria
- Make sure we are ensuring that our dogs are successful Stayers by keeping our expectations small and not asking too much too fast. If your dog is breaking a stay behavior more than 1/5 times, you need to lower your criteria. Either be closer to them, reinforce more often, ask for shorter duration, lower distractions, etc. You may have to play around a bit to see where your dog is getting confused.

Verbal Corrections
- Verbal Corrections are a very important part of training. Wrong, Nope, Uh-uh, Buzzer sounds, etc. are all great options to communicate to your dog that what behavior they are offering isn’t correct.

Homework:

- Add some distractions this week. Have another dog running around, or children. If neither of these are handy in the household, then take that dog out somewhere public (Home Depot, Joann Fabrics, and Sportsman’s Warehouses are all dog friendly) and find a quiet corner. Work on getting a few repetitions of Settle in the store. Make sure you have a high value treat.

Week Six

Place:

This week start the Clockwork Drill.
- Picture your dog as the center of a face of a clock. Start by having your dog Place.
- Take one step to the left. Immediately step back in front, mark and reward.
- Now take one step to the right. Immediately step back in front, mark and reward.
- Now, back to the left, 2 steps this time. Return, mark and reward.
- Now, back to the right 2 steps.
- Repeat this swinging motion until your dog will allow you to work the clock both directions all the way around the dog.
- ALWAYS RETURN TO THE SAME SPOT BEFORE YOU TREAT YOUR DOG. NO EXCEPTIONS! This will help keep them from breaking their Stay.
If you dog breaks their stay in Place, grab their collar, lead them back to where they were and back into position. Firmly remind them to Place.
It sometimes helps to apply slight upwards pressure to the leash, as this will help the dog remain in position.
If your dog is doing well at this, take one step back from your bed before you begin your Clock. Working towards being 6ft away and being able to work all the way around the dog. I recommend not adding more than one additional step away a day.
The entire goal this week is to add predictable distractions to your stay behavior. Distance is secondary.

Settle:

Add some distractions this week. Have another dog running around, or children. If neither of these are handy in the household, then take that dog out somewhere public (Home Depot and Sportsman’s Warehouses are dog friendly) and find a quiet corner. Work on getting a few repetitions of Settle in the store. Make sure you have a high value treat.

Loose Leash:

Take this on the go and work in a new location. Be prepared to step back to a reward every step or two with new distractions. If the dog is too distracted, try adding more distance to whatever it is distracted by. Parking lots are my usual goal this week.

Leave it:

Try using a cracker for this, or something equally boring but still food. Place the food on the ground (remember to have that leash tight enough that they don’t grab it right away) and make sure your dog is leashed.
Remember, you can’t reinforce this behavior without a leash. Let your dog get close enough to be interested in the food, but not close enough to snatch it. Tell them firmly “Leave it” and immediately create distance from the food distraction. The dog should never be allowed to eat the food distraction off the floor, so be paying attention.
Do about 10 reps of this a day for the first week.

Greeting Manners:

Have your dog Sit/Stay in Heel position. Have a person approach the dog, while you remind the dog to remain in Stay.
If the dog breaks their stay, have the person back up until you have the dog under control again.
Continue this process until the person can get close enough to be within 3-4ft.
Reward your dog for maintaining their stay. Release your dog with a Greeting Cue to say hello.
If you have an insecure or reactive dog DO NOT have people approach closer than about 6-8 ft. Work on rewarding your dog for ANY appropriate reaction to the person from a distance (Just looking at them, remaining calm, etc.).

Stay:

This week start the Clockwork Drill.
- Picture your dog as the center of a face of a clock. Tell them to stay and then step in front of them. Immediately return to heel position, mark and reward.
- This time, tell them to stay, step in front and then one step to the left. Immediately step back in front, then return to heel, mark and reward.
- Now tell them to Stay, step in front and then one step to the right. Immediately step back in front, then return to heel, mark and reward.
- Now, back to the left, 2 steps this time. Return, mark and reward.
- Now, back to the right 2 steps.
- Repeat this swinging motion until your dog will allow you to work the clock both directions all the way around the dog.
- ALWAYS RETURN TO HEEL BEFORE YOU TREAT YOUR DOG. NO EXCEPTIONS! This will help keep them from breaking their Stay.
If you dog breaks their stay, grab their collar, lead them back to where they were and back into position. Firmly remind them to Stay.
I sometimes helps to apply slight upwards pressure to the leash, as this will help the dog remain in position.
If your dog is doing well at this mid-week, add more than one step in front when you begin your Clock. Working towards being 6ft away and being able to work all the way around the dog.

Talking Points:

Advocating for your dog:
- Dogs, especially insecure ones, don’t need people they don’t know in their space. Your job as an owner is to ADVOCATE for your dog. I’m not saying you should never let a stranger pet your dog…. But there’s so many reasons not to and your dog isn’t part of a petting zoo. Whether you’re working on not jumping, teaching them to be calm around people, they’re nervous of strangers, reactive, just prefer to not be touched, or you just feel like saying “no”…. Remember “no” is a full sentence and you have every right to say it. Dogs who are forced into interactions with strangers over and over are WAY more likely to develop reactivity issues. My rule of thumb is, “If the person (or strange dog) isn’t going to be relevant to my dog’s life, then they don’t need to meet”.

Week Seven

Place:

The goal this week is adding some distractions to the room while your dog stays in “Place”. Try tossing a toy (preferably not their favorite) or have someone wave their arms, clap their hands or wave something around. If the dog breaks their stay, just grab their collar and immediately return them to the bed and firmly remind them to “place”. Once your dog can stay with distractions with you right next to them, start adding distance.
A good goal this week is to cook dinner without your dog leaving the bed. If you need to move the location of the bed to make it easier to see the dog, do so. Use a verbal correction if the dog starts to leave the bed, if you don’t catch them in time, walk them back to the bed and firmly remind them to “Place”.

Stay:

Keep adding distance and distractions to Stay.

Start working on being less predictable in your movements away from your dog. These puppies are still young, so make sure to not move too fast in adding distractions and distance.

Hand Targets:

Present the palm of your hand in front of or slight to the side of your dog’s head no more than 6 inches. At the exact moment you feel the dog’s nose touch your hand, mark and reward.
If the dog doesn’t touch your hand, try putting it behind your back and then reintroducing it to the dog.
You can also try to encourage the behavior by tucking a small treat into your palm with your thumb.

Leave it:

Goal this week is to pick a new NON-food item every day. Remember to have that leash tight enough that they don’t grab it right away and make sure your dog is leashed. Remember, you can’t reinforce this behavior without a leash. Let your dog get close enough to be interested in the object, but not close enough to snatch it. Tell them firmly “Leave it” and immediately create distance from the distraction. The dog should never be allowed to grab the distraction off the floor, so be paying attention. Aim for 10 reps a day.
Use this to your own advantage. If your dog chews socks, shoes, gets on the counter, etc., use this as your “item”

Recall:

Once the skill is consistent with no distractions, start adding distractions. Remember to only say the cue once and then reel that dog in. Praise the entire time you are reeling.
You need to make recall more exciting than chasing/running/playing. So, make sure that you are throwing a party for fast recalls (even if you are reeling them in) and that you are using good treats.

Cooperative Care:

Your goal for this is to be able to hold your puppy to assist with vet checks, grooming, etc.
Get down on your dog’s level and hold them gently at the neck and waist, this should look like a hug, not a head lock. Hold for 1-2 seconds and then mark, release and reward. Work up to being able to hold longer.

Week Eight

Keep working on these behaviors.

Realistic goals for puppies under 6 months are:

Place: 5-10 minutes

Settle: Settle in multiple locations with minimal distractions. Be able to remain in a settle for a few minutes.

Sit: Quickly sit with a single cue

Down: Quickly down with a single cue

Stay: Maintain a stay in a low distraction area for 5 minutes with owner in sight. Maintain a stay in a medium distraction area for up to 10ft.

Loose Leash: Walk politely on a leash in low distraction areas.

Leave it: Leave it from food and non food items on a leash

Recall: Recall consistently with mild distractions. Recall 100% on a long line.

Name Recognition: Respond to their name every time.

Popcorn Game:

The Popcorn game is all about stacking behaviors to start working some Variable Ratio techniques to help your dog start to be less dependent on food rewards.
Start by asking for a sit. Mark and toss a treat to reset the dog. Now ask for a Sit, followed by a Down. Mark and toss a treat to reset. This time, ask for a Sit, Down, Stay and circle around the dog. Mark and reset with a treat, The object is to stack more commands without rewards (please praise for each correct behavior) so the dog is learning to offer more behaviors without getting a treat every time. When your dog messes up and doesn’t do a behavior in the chain, just start back at asking for one thing. This should be fun and engaging., so make sure to up your energy while playing this game.

Talking Points:

Weaning Off Treats and Reinforcement Schedules:
- Fixed Ratio
  - Dog gets a consistent number of treats (example: one treat per command)
- Variable Ratio
  - Dog gets a fluctuating number of treats (example: one treat per command, then per two commands, then 4 commands, then commands, etc.)
- Fixed Interval
  - Dog gets treats at a consistent interval (example: every 5 seconds)
- Variable Interval
  - Dog gets treats on a fluctuating interval (example: Treat at 5 seconds, then 7 seconds, then 8 seconds, then 2 seconds, etc.)
At this point, we have been mostly using Fixed Ratio and Fixed Interval training. At this point, we want to start using more Variable Ratio and Variable Interval rewards. This will help our puppies start to be able to anticipate a reward and not need one to listen.
Start replacing some of your treat rewards with a reinforcer word. I use GOOD. This tells the dog “I like what you did, keep at it”. This helps us start to reward with verbal praise and helps us to work away from needing treats.
Start varying location of treats. At first have them on your person, once your dog is 100% consistent, start having the treats in a bowl beside you, once you have that 100% consistency again, try having the treats on the table and walk over to grab a treat when rewarding. When you again have consistency, start having the treats up out of sight, having to go and get one to reward.