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 the dog looks at you, mark and reward. If the dog doesn’t look at you, don’t say the dog’s name again. Take a few steps back and as soon as the dog 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.

Hand Targets:

Present the palm of your hand in front of or slightly to the side of your dog’s head no more than 6 inches away. 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.

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.

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 to avoid them bumping into us as they get more proficient.

Games:

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 dog. As soon as they come around to look for more treats, mark and toss another treat on the ground. Turn your back to your dog 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.

Talking Points:

Leash Handling:
- This website has some great info that expands on what we talked about this week.https://www.simpawtico-training.com/how-to-handle-a-leash-properly/
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.

Week Two

Name Recognition:

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

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.
Do not use a command yet, We are waiting for more consistency first.
Aim for 40 reps this week, or as many as you can, helping them to be right every time.

Hand Targets with Movement:

If your dog is making consistent contact with your hand on cue, start moving your hand further way and encouraging your dog to move to make contact.
Change your hand’s elevation and positioning often, to make this more challenging.

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 dog leashed and the 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 pay attention.
Do about 10 reps of this a day for the first week.

Doorway Manners:

Start making your dog “Wait” at the doorway and work towards being able to touch the doorknob while your dog remains still behind the door. Make sure the dog is leashed so they can’t wander off or dart out the door.

Games:

101 Things to do with a box:
- http://www.clickertraining.com/101-things-to-do-with-a-box
- Check out more tips on how to play with the link above.
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.

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.

Week Three

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 bum 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.
We are not using commands yet. Remember to wait for more consistency.
Aim for 40 reps this week, as many as you can, helping them to be right every time.

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 oris pulling or 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 leash and teach them that being out of that position gets them further away from where they want to go.

Leave it:

Goal this week is to pick a new NON-food item every day. Remember to make sure your dog is leashed and that the leash tight enough that they don’t grab it right away. 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”.

Doorway Manners:

Keep having the dogs wait at the door. Your goal this week is to get the door partially open and then closed without the dog breaking their Wait.

Talking Points:

Be Fun and Engaging!
- The more fun and engaging you are with the beginning of loose leash walking, the more successful you will be at keeping your dog’s attention. My recommendation is to try doing this off leash this week. You have to be WAY more fun to keep your dog’s attention when they have the option to opt out and walk away. Obviously, for safety reasons, do this indoors unless your dog has a solid recall or is in a fenced area.
Passive Allowance:
- As we begin to expect more consistency in our dogs 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 in position, 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. Great reminder "the lack of a no is a yes".

Week Four

Sit:

Lure the dog in front of you and start working a sit in front position. You can use a separate cue for this.
I highly recommend luring with a treat in both hands at belly button level to help keep your hands centered. This will help keep the dog centered and straight.

Down:

Keep working the same motions this week with the chair 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:

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.

Doorway Manners:

Keep having the dogs wait at the door. Your goal this week is without the dog breaking their Wait, to get the door open and then exit, releasing the dog to follow behind you.

Cooperative Care (Grooming and Health)

The goal here is to be able to have a stranger examine or groom your dog. We will be working on having the dog allow brushing, allow us to look in ears and mouth, and have its feet touched.
- Start by picking up one of your dog’s paws gently. Give them lots of soothing calm praise. See how they react to you handling their paw. You do not have to pick up all four in one practice session. If your dog really does not like having their paws picked up, then feed them a few treats while you touch one paw. Feed more treats and touch their other paws. Slowly work up to lifting one paw at a time.
- Start working the ear behavior by gently massaging your dog’s ears. If your doesn’t like this, try feeding them treats while you do a quick touch of each ear. The goal here is to be able to look inside both of your dogs ears while they remain calm and cooperative.
- To start working on allowing your dog to have its mouth inspected, gently lift a lip and then immediately mark and reward. Work towards being able to get a visual of all their teeth.

Games:

A to B Game:
- Walk towards something that is attracting your dog’s attention, slide your hand down the leash towards your dog, turn around and walk away. As you do so, feed multiple treats in quick succession to your dog.
- The motion of your hand sliding down the lead is the trigger for your dog to disengage from what is ahead. You can put a verbal cue on this, but I find the hand sliding down the leash is an adequate cue to disengage.

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.
- 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 longline 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 kissy noises, call the dog’s name, etc. instead so you don’t risk tainting your new recall word.
Speeding Tickets:
- Do you 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 $1,000 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 that dogs do. Do you think someone would stop speeding if you would just ignore them? I would bet good money that the answer is no.

Week Five

Down:

Ditch the tunnel this week and start working on the mat just like we did with Sit on Week 3.

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 the dog 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.

Leave It:

This week add in some dropped objects. Drop toys,food, or random objects while walking with your dog. Keep moving and don’t allow them to pull to the end of the leash. Use a firm “Leave it” and keep moving! Loop back around and pick it back up, making sure to use Leave it if your dog tries to grab the object before you can pick it up.

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 (a 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.

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.).

Talking Points:

Remember Passive Allowance on those Stay’s! Your 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 for too much too fast. If your dog is breaking a stay behavior more than 1/5 times, you need to lower your criteria. You can 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.
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”.
Greeting Cue:
- I’m not saying to NEVER let your dog be petted or approached by strangers. I’m just saying do it in a smart way. I’ve taught my dogs a cue that means, “You can go check out and greet this person, if you want” I don’t force it and I still expect manners (not rushing them or jumping, etc.). I use the cue “Go Say Hi” with my dogs. This lets them know they are allowed to go towards the person if they want to. I still expect a Sit Stay until released though. This is a great middle ground and I recommend you each a Greeting Cue as well.

Week Six

Loose Leash:

Aim for 2 new locations a week to continue to work these skills. Don’t become complacent about leash pressure. There should be definite slack in the leash.

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.

Cooperative Care:

- Your goal for the feet today is to be able to pick up each of your dog’s paws without them pulling away today. Keep your progress slow and rewarding.
- Your goal this week is to be able to look into both ears and swab with a cotton ball/cotton round or something else soft. No Q-tips!
- Try to look in your dog’s mouth today and be able to move the lips enough to see all their teeth. If the dog is cooperative, try to gently open their mouth and look inside. Keep your progress slow and rewarding.
- Grab a brush and gently run a brush down their back. Lots of praise!

Sit for Exam:

With your dog in a sit/stay, have a trusted person approach your dog and have them do a quick touch to your dog’s head, shoulders and back. Immediately praise and reward.
Keep working this behavior until your dog can stay still from the end of your leash (6 feet away) and remain sitting while a person approaches and pets or examines the dog.
If your dog breaks the stay, have the person back up until the dog in sitting again and try again. Be consistent.

Game:

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.

Jumping:

- While your dog is rushing forward to jump, toss a small handful on treats behind them on the floor. Make sure they see it. A “Rolling Dice” motion works best for this.
- When they are done eating the treats and start to come forward again, toss another handful of treats behind them.
- On the third approach, most dogs will slow and wait to see if you are tossing more treats. Ask the dog to sit, mark and reward.
- Aim for as many reps of this as you can this week.

Week Seven

Recall:

If your dog is recalling on the long line without you having to reel them in, then you can start dropping the line and working them off the leash. I still keep the leash on, in case I need to run and go step on it. Keep your expectations the same. Don’t repeat yourself and expect that snappy return.
Lots of praise and rewards.
Once your dog is 100% consistent without distractions, then start adding in distractions and be prepared to take a couple steps back training wise.

Stay:

Keep adding distance and distractions to Stay.

Start working on getting out of eyesight. Keep the amount of time out of eyesight very small and build the time up as you go and your dog is more comfortable.

Loose Leash:

Keep being consistent in your expectations of a loose leash when walking. If the leash is tight, give a verbal correction and change directions. Make sure to praise when the dog is correct.

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.)

How to Wean off treats:

Right now we are mostly using Fixed Ratio and Fixed Intervals with our dogs. If your dog is 100% consistent with their cues with Fixed Ratio and Fixed Intervals, then now is the time to change to Fixed Ratio and Intervals.
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.
Treat Location
- 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.