Introduction to Dog Training

Copyright © Dogswish™. 2012. All rights reserved worldwide. http://www.dogswish.co.uk
Introduction to Dog Training

Page 2 of 10
I. Preamble Page 3
II. The Human – Dog Team Page 3 - 4
III. Training Techniques Page 4 - 5
IV. Rewards Page 5
V. Punishment Page 6
VI. First Steps Page 7 - 8
VII. On The Leash Page 8
VIII. Further Training Tips Page 9

Page 3 of 10
I. Preamble
Dogs should be given the opportunity to sample as many experiences as possible from a puppy age
onwards. Dogs which join their family in as many activities as possible, while learning commands at
the same time, will show more comprehension in the long run. Also, those dogs are likely to
develop a higher eagerness to learn and obey than others.
II. The Human – Dog Team
The person who spends the most amount of time with the dog (either in form of exercises, games or
any other form of attention) are most likely to be the main attachment figure for it. However, in
the ideal case, the whole family should be involved in the dog’s exercise and training regime as this
will lead to better obedience as well as better relations between the dog and all family members.
The deep respect and true love of a dog does not depend on who provides the food or who gives the
commands, but the person which will invest to spend most of his/ her time with it and, above all,
who communicates with dog-logical authority.
If you have the feeling that there are issues in the communication
between you and your dog, take some time to understand how
your dog thinks:
Dogs have a distinctive expressive behaviour and to fully
understand your dog’s behaviour and reactions, it is crucial to
understand the canine communication processes.
Dogs do not think like humans and have, due to their genetic
inheritance, a completely different view on social hierarchies and
relationships.
The canine hierarchy is linearly structured and reigned by the
dominant members of the group with the so called Alpha male and
Beta female on top of the chain. In other words, a dog will either
act as the leader or the follower in his group.
With this in mind it is not surprising that this structure also translates down to the daily tasks – e.g.
the dominant members of the pack always eat first, select their own resting spots and – most
important – physically lead the other members as for when & which activities are executed.
And exactly this knowledge will help you to find the right communication level with your dog. Of
course, you want to be seen as the Alpha, but you will only achieve this by acting like one.
This, coupled with focusing on consistent obedience training including rewarding exercises, will
improve your relationship immensely.

Page 4 of 10
Attention is a privilege for the high-ranked members of a canine pack. Use this fact to introduce
yourself as the leader. To reinforce this, try to always be the one that decides on start & end times
of social contacts, games, petting and exercises with your dog.
Dogs have a keen grasp on a human’s amount of confidence. When YOU feel uncomfortable, your
dog is very likely to pick up this feeling and usually this will reflect on the learning progress as well
as results. If you are unsure about your dog carrying out the commands you give or you are afraid
that he will rather follow other impulses, there is a big chance that your dog senses this lack of
confidence.
Grow your confidence, love and pride for your dog by giving him the opportunity to follow your
instructions through regular exercises of commands and practise them in different situations.
A dog is usually willing to perform any behaviour laying in his nature and which is anatomically
possible for him, as long as he understands what he has to do and is sufficiently motivated.
III. Training Techniques
Classical – or also known as respondent - conditioning is a form of learning in which a response is
produced by a neutral impulse that previously had been repeatedly presented in association with
the impulse that originally produced the response. For example a primary or unconditioned stimulus
(US) for your dog is food. The reaction to a stimulus after learning about it is called secondary or
conditioned stimulus (CS). Food (US) naturally results in your dog to salivate - an unconditioned
response (UR). After conditioning a dog to respond, for example, to the sound of a bell, while
ringing the bell every time the dogs is presented with food, the bell will soon be considered the
conditioned stimulus (CS) and the salvation to the bell the conditioned response (CR). This means,
after a while, your dog will learn that the ring of the bell means food and start salivating by the
sound of it.

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We can leverage this by using command-words, whistles, clicker etc., followed by praise & food
treats to condition the dog to an unconsciously executed or reflex- action. For example, if your dog
sits down by himself, firmly say “SIT” and praise him with a small food treat and/ or lots of petting.
If you continuously follow this regime, you dog will soon connect the command “SIT” with the
physical action of sitting down.
Operant – or better known as instrumental – conditioning is a form of learning in which a response
that releases either a reward or a punishment is caused by a certain stimulus (learning through
natural consequences). However, you should always enforce motivational and rewarding training &
behaviour amendment methods as these act as positive affirmations for the relationship with your
dog.
IV. Rewards
First of all – you should always keep an eye on your dog’s food intake and weight. Throughout
intense training phases, you might want or need to amend your dog’s usual food-portion, depending
on how much food treats your training sessions require.
Alternatively, some dogs also respond great to toys as rewards. Additionally this can be a great way
for the dog to let off steam, gain some physical exercise and reduce mental stress.
Another two very important rewards are verbal praise and stroking – not only to praise for correctly
executed commands and training sessions, but especially for bonding between you and your dog.
After a while, remember not to reward every single time after a successful exercise, especially
when your dog is already able to master it to a hundred percent. This will help to keep the exercise
exciting and surprising for the dog.
Also, it is important to reward the dog in the right situations and at the right timings so that the
dog connects his action with the reward. Otherwise your dog may link the reward with the wrong
action.
Studies have shown that the scope of linking rewards to actions can lie at a short time such as only
1 second! Therefore keep in mind that your dog will always connect his last action with any
immediately afterwards received reward or punishment.

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V. Punishment
First of all, dogs do not have a bad conscience. Even when it seems like your dog would, he is
simply feeling your anger and intimidated by your voice and body language. Additionally, it is very
illogical for your dog that he gets punished for a misdeed that happened hours ago and is unlikely to
connect this punishment with his actual action back then.
A direct method of penalisation is to punish a dog physically, which in most cases will result in
immense fear and aggressive behaviours.
A more sensible way of punishment is the indirect method which doesn’t affect the dog physically
or verbally. Ideally, a trap for the dog is set, so that the punishment does not depend on your
presence. This might be a construction such as some empty tins that fall on him as soon as he tries
to steal something from the table. As your dog won’t be able to explain this shocking experience
else wise, he will assign it directly to his action and in future refrain from it. Methods like this are
usually more effective as the punishment is timed and controlled by the dog’s misdeed.
However, any form of attention, also punishment, can present a success for the dog. Therefore
ignoring your dog often is one of the most effective punishments. If certain behaviour doesn’t lead
to success, it won’t be motivating for your dog and therefore he will – sooner or later –stop doing it.
It’s simply uneconomical for him.
Furthermore, it is always beneficial to train and implement correction-words like “No!” or “Leave
it!”. This can support you in helping your dog to make the decision of being well-behaved.
If, for example, he bites on your shoes, you could let him carry out the “Leave it” exercise,
followed by a retrieve game with one of his toys and hand him a chew bone afterwards.

Page 7 of 10
VI. First Steps
You should always plan in enough time for your training sessions and most important, not expect
too much from your dog in the beginning. Establish a relaxed and comfortable situation e.g. when
your dog seems hyper or tensed, go for a short walk before you start the training exercises.
As for a time guideline, a fully grown dog should not exceed more than three times of 20 minutes
(spread over a whole day) of obedience training and for younger dogs it is recommended to half
these times.
Commands can be separated into 3 forms:
Verbal commands
Visual commands (like hand signs or even body positions)
Tactile commands (through touching your dog)
The verbal and visual commands are most common due to that dogs mainly communicate with each
other via their body language and voice signals. It is advisable to link any visual signs additionally
with voice commands as there might be situations where your dog does not have direct eye-contact
with you.
It is essential to firstly just give your dog the command once and speak with a clear and
understandable voice. Then wait to see if the dog is going to execute it. If he doesn’t, you should
give the command once again and ensure that your dog pays attention while you do so.
Always speak voice commands clearly and with the same pitch as dogs will remember the sound of
the word, but usually not the word itself.
By repeating commands that won’t be executed by your dog, especially when combined with
continuous shouting and whistling, often the so-called cow-bell-effect will start to develop.
This means that your dog will interpret your shouting as a sign for signalising him where you are –
similar as if you would wear a bell on your neck.

Page 8 of 10
Avoiding this will also present an advantage in emergency situations when your dog is not used to
loud spoken or screamed commands. He will then be more likely to be alarmed and refrain from
what he was going to eat or do.
The learning and mastering of commands can be divided into 3 Phases:
Phase 1 - > Explaining the command
Phase 2 - > Training the command (in every possible, and also in unfamiliar, situations)
Phase 3 - > Mastering the command
In phase 2, keep alternating the locations of where you train the command, so that your dog
doesn’t connect it to a certain place or situation. Disobedience and misbehaviour often arise when
owners speak out praise or reprehension at wrong timings or for incompletely performed
commands. Look out to not strengthen them by repeating those mistakes – rather start over at
phase 1 and take it from the start. Also remember that your dog will always learn and not only
during exercise times!
VII. On The Leash
First of all - Never use the leash as a punishment tool.
Some dogs are likely to start fights with other dogs while they’re on the leash. The reason for this is
not that your dog feels superior with you as a co-fighter by his side, but because his alternatives
are minimised (as he can’t flee on the leash) so that particularly insecure dogs often chose defence
through aggressive behaviour as the only exit out of this situation.
In nature this would be prevented as both dogs would stand free while they face each other, which
gives them the opportunity to either get in touch or make way for each other.
However, following this approach in domestic dogs can end in serious trouble – especially if both
dogs have dominant characteristics and are prone to fight each other.
Therefore, special training techniques to help your dog walking calmly beside other dogs while they
are on the leash are always recommended. Hereby dog-holster, different leashes, toys and food-
treats will be helpful supporting tools and act as motivations during your dog’s training sessions.

Page 9 of 10
VIII. Further Training Tips
Dogs are classed as basic obedient when they are able to master all elementary commands e.g.
“Come here”, “Sit”, “Lay Down”, “Stay”, “Heel” or “Leave it” – as well as the ability to walk
behaved on the leash.
Implement some training lessons into the walks. This will show your dog that he will get special
attention from you, but at the same time set the boundaries that he still can’t do whatever he
wants.
Don’t use a monotonous voice while you teach and give commands. Motivate your dog with a
high-pitched tone of voice; use an ordinary tone (firm, but calm manner) for instructions and a
low-pitched tone to reprehend.
Try to vary the places & timings of when you give commands and mix up the exercise routine
with different training combinations to keep the training exciting!
If you train a new command, avoid places that offer a lot of distractions & remember to keep
training times shorter in the beginning so your dog does not get overwhelmed.
Don’t be resentful – your dog isn’t either! Try to forget any fault or misdeed your dog may have
made immediately and if you have trouble doing so, let your dog make an exercise for which
you can definitely reward him. This will make him & you feel better straight away!
It is very likely that you will give different commands to your dog out of your specific exercise
and training sessions. Therefore, try to focus on strengthen the commands your dog can already
master well throughout the whole day and in different day-to-day situations.

Page 10 of 10
Dogswish™
Pia Offord Dip.dog.psy.MOC.MSFTR
The founder of Dogswish™, Pia Offord, grew up with 7 Siberian Huskies, parents who were highly
engaged in dog agility and a father who served as a professional dog-handler within the guard-and
security business and could therefore gain prominent knowledge and interest in canine
behaviourism already from a young age.
Voluntary work in veterinary practices and kennels helped her to develop an excellent in-depth
view in behaviour management as well as in basic animal handling & medical care.
Her passion for animals, people and experience gained from years of leadership, including
management, training and development of staff, helped Pia to understand basic learning abilities
and approaches, which are closely linked between human as well as canine / feline creatures, and
encourage her to consistently study this specific field further.
Contact
Dogswish™
Caterways
Brighton Road
Horsham
West Sussex – UK
RH13 6PP
Tel: +44 (0) 140 389 1821
Fax: +44 (0) 872 111 3554
E-mail dogswish@dogswish.co.uk
Web site http://www.dogswish.co.uk
Blog http://dogswish.wordpress.com
Our aim at Dogswish™ is to develop the knowledge and understanding of dog-owners relating to
their dogs behaviours and help them to achieve a balanced, happy and fulfilled life together.
All contents Copyright © 2012 Dogswish™. All rights reserved worldwide.
No part of this document or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any
means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of
the author. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is strictly prohibited.

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