Food-Lure Obedience Training
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Teaching sit
Teaching down
Westwood
Obedience Classes
FOOD LURE OBEDIENCE TRAINING
Obedience training is important for all dogs. The best way to get the job done
is to start early in the pet’s life, use positive motivation and avoid harsh
physical techniques. This will help ensure quick learning and make the training
process more fun. If you begin the pet’s training when it is a puppy, you’ll
find that early obedience training can be a big help in establishing leadership,
socializing your pet and controlling unruly behaviors.
An easy, non-force method for teaching obedience commands involves the use of
small bits of food for training lures and reinforcements. Most dogs are very
motivated to take food, so the best choice for a food lure is the pet’s own dry
food. If this is not sufficiently appealing, try small, quarter inch pieces of
semi-moist dog treats or freeze-dried liver. An excellent time to train the pet
that is picky about treats is just prior to its dinner time, since the dog will
be more focused on the food and quicker to respond.
You will use the food to lure the pet into the response you want as you give the
command, and then immediately following the response the food will be given as a
reward. The food will gradually be phased out as the pet learns the correct
response. You’ll do this by picking only the best responses (best position,
quickest response, etc.) to reward, and withholding food rewards for less exact
responses during subsequent training sessions. One of the advantages of food
lure training is that your pet will learn two cues for each command. Since hand
movements with the food lure accompany the verbal commands, the pet will also be
conditioned to respond to hand signals. Learning a double signal (verbal and
visual) will make the pet twice as likely to respond to you.
To help ensure that the pet learns with a minimum number of mistakes, avoid
training when it seems overly energetic or has a shorter attention span. Work in
a quiet area; keep the training sessions short, and stop before the dog begins
ignoring commands. When the pet’s response to commands becomes dependable, you
can gradually take the training to environments with increasingly stronger
distractions. Be patient, take your time and make sure the pet knows one command
well before proceeding to the next.
Your tone of voice is important. Use a happy, high-pitched tone of voice when
teaching, “Come,” “Sit” and “Down.” An upbeat tone will help motivate the pet to
move. Use a deep, commanding tone that is more likely to cause the pet to hold
its place when teaching the “Stay.” You should avoid repeating a command over
and over. If you do this frequently, the pet will learn that it does not have to
obey the first time you ask. Whenever you give a food reward, always say “Good
dog.” The pet will learn to associate the words with food and the words will
eventually become a valuable secondary reinforcer to sustain the response as the
food is gradually withdrawn.
Recall on command
This is a fairly straightforward command to teach. Say the dog’s name so it
turns and makes eye contact with you. Extend your hand toward the pet with a
piece of food in it. Wave your hand with the food toward you and say, “Come” as
the pet runs to you. Give the piece of food to it as you say “Good dog.” Take a
few steps back. Show the pet a second piece of food, say its name, and repeat
the recall for food. The pet will learn two cues to come on command, a verbal
cue and a visual cue.
Sit on command
With the pet in a standing position, hold a small piece of food in front of its
nose. In a steady, slow motion, move the food over the dog’s head. The pet’s
nose will point up and the rear end will ease down to the floor taking it into
the sit position. Say, “Sit” as the rear hits the floor and give the food. Avoid
holding the food lure too high over the head or the pet will jump up instead of
sit. It won’t be long before you’ll notice that the dog will go into the sit
position when you sweep you hand in an upward movement, even without food. As
soon as the pet learns this command, you should ask it to sit before it gets
anything it wants. By doing this, you teach the pet that you have control.
Down on Command
Begin this lesson with the dog sitting on a smooth surface. Quickly move a piece
of food downward from in front of its nose to the floor directly next to its
front paws. As the front end of your pet slides down to the floor, say “Down”
and give the food. You must make sure that you keep the food on the floor close
to the pet’s paws. Otherwise it is likely to stand up and walk toward the food
lure. Eventually, a downward sweep of your hand by itself will cause the dog to
go into the down position. This command may take a little more patience and time
than the first two. Only use the word “Down” when you are teaching this command.
If you use the same word to tell the pet to stop jumping on people or to get
down off counters and furniture, it may be confused about its meaning.
Stay on Command
The Stay command is probably the most challenging command to teach a young dog.
Don’t even attempt to teach this command unless the pet is calm. A helpful
strategy is to wear the dog out with a long walk or play session just prior to
training.
Ask the pet to “Sit” without using a food lure. The second the pup sits, lean
toward it, look it in the eye in an assertive manner, extend the palm of your
hand toward it and say, “Stay” in a firm tone. Wait only one second, then
approach your dog, calmly praise it while the pet is still sitting, give a
release command, “OK,” and hand it a small food reward. Repeat the command,
adding a second to the stay following every five or more repetitions. Once the
pet can stay for at least twenty seconds, you can begin working on distance. Ask
the pet to “Stay,” and take one step away from it. Gradually work from a one to
a twenty second stay at this position, then move back two steps and repeat the
process. In no time at all, you will have the pet staying for longer periods at
a significant distance.
Common causes of failure to teach the “Stay” command include attempting to make
the dog stay too long or at too far a distance too quickly, as well as
attempting to get the response when the pet is too active or distracted. Try to
anticipate when the pet will become bored with training and stop well before
then. If the pet’s eyes start to wander or it seems like it might move too
early, calmly repeat “Stay” in a serious tone of voice, make strong eye contact
and lean toward it. Maintain the stay for just a few more seconds, and then
quickly release the pet.
Heal On Lead
The goal is to teach the pet to walk without pulling on a slack leash. Before
training, try to wear the pet out with some aerobic play. The initial training
should be short and held inside without distractions. Later, training can be
moved to the yard, and then to sidewalks. If the pet is incorrigible about
pulling, use a head halter for more control.
Begin the training session by asking the pet to “Sit”. Stand on the pet’s right
side, facing the same direction. Take the leash in your left hand, holding it
about two feet from the pet. Show the pet a treat or toy held in the right hand.
Say “Heal” and walk forward, keeping the pet’s attention on the object in your
right hand. Take a few steps, stop, ask the pet to “Sit” and reward it with the
food or a pat on the head. Repeat, gradually taking more steps between each
“Sit” command. Use an upbeat, animated tone to keep the pet’s attention. Say
“Heal” and reward the pet with praise and/or a treat whenever it walks along at
the same speed and the leash is slack. If the pet begins to pull forward,
immediately turn and walk in the opposite direction. When the pet catches up,
ask it to “Sit” and repeat the above exercise.