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Week 1 Notes, Homework and Videos

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     NOTE 1:  ALL TRAINING SHOULD BE DONE WITH TRAINING COLLAR AND TRAINING LEASH ON. NOTE 2:   DO NOT LEAVE TRAINING COLLAR OR TRAINING SLIP LEAD ON WHEN YOU ARE NOT ACTIVELY TRAINING YOUR DOG. NOTE 3:  PLEASE PUT ON YOUR TRAINING COLLAR CORRECTLY.  ALSO BE SURE TO HOLD THE LEASH CORRECTLY. This is a link to a leash article on our business blog.  Leashes How to Hold Them and How to Fold Them . NOTE 4:  EVERYTHING THIS WEEK SHOULD BE DONE IN LOW AND EASY DISTRACTION (INSIDE IN A QUIET AREA). NOTE 5:   THE GOALS ARE PLACES TO WORK TO IN THE FUTURE.  IF YOU DON'T MAKE THE GOAL, DON'T WORRY AS LONG AS YOU PUT IN THE WORK TOWARDS THE GOAL.  PLEASE REMEMBER THAT YOU CAN CALL OR EMAIL ME WITH ANY TRAINING PROBLEMS THAT COME UP IN BETWEEN LESSONS. NOTE 6:  IF YOU DON'T GET THROUGH ALL THE EXERCISES IN ONE DAY, YOU CAN JUST BE SURE THAT THE EXERCISES YOU DID NOT GET TO ARE DONE THE NEXT DAY.   THE MOS...

Week 2 Heeling on Leash and Release Word

PROPERTY OF MANNERLY MUTTS DOG TRAINING AND ROBIN RUBIN. WE ONLY ALLOW PAYING CLIENTS TO COPY THIS MATERIAL FOR THEIR USE ALONE. THIS MATERIAL MUST NOT BE DISTRIBUTED TO OTHER NON-CLIENT PARTIES OF MANNERLY MUTTS WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION. Heeling Begins Equipment needed: -6' Leather Lead -Training Collar ****NOTE, IF THE LONGE LINE HOMEWORK HAS NOT BEEN DONE, BEEN DONE INCORRECTLY, OR DONE INCONSISTENTLY DO NOT START HEELING. IT IS NOT FAIR TO THE DOG TO DO THIS, AND YOUR DOG WILL MOST LIKELY NOT BE COOPERATIVE. Explanation and Goal of Exercise: To teach the dog to walk in an exact position for convenience of the handler. The Longe Line Work has started the commands of heel, come, and future off leash behavior. It is also a method to teach the dog never to pull on the leash. However, a dog is still able to get under foot at times or not be in such a convenient position when they are out and about with you. The goal of heeling is to have your dog in an exact position for ease of...

Week 1 First Two Steps of Place

   THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE PLACE (STEP 1): STEP 1:   Position your place equipment in the middle of the room. STEP 2:  Start walking your dog around the room. STEP 3:   Walk  with your dog over the place area.   When all four paws are in the place, say "place". STEP 4:   Repeat step three from every angle of the place mat or bed (remember dogs can totally interpret something as "just from this direction", so help them to learn to generalize the command by doing this). STEP 5:  After several (15 or so) repeats of this, stop short of the mat, and see if the dog is ready to step on themselves.   SEND TO PLACE (STEP 2): STEP 1:   You still have a leash and collar on your dog.   The place (board, mat, dog bed) item is in the middle of the room so you can walk around it, and use all sides to place your dog (so that they do not generalize). STEP 2:    Now as you a...

Week 1 Molded Sits and Release Word

Equipment needed: 6' Leather Lead Training Collar Explanation and Goal of Exercise: This method of molding the dog into position, teaches the dog to allow our hands to mold and manipulate various parts of their body. The handler is also teaching themselves how to determine if a dog's muscles are relaxed with trust OR tense with distrust. Additionally, it is possible to detect a physical problem by touch as you mold your dog down. This also prepares your dog to sink into a sit readily when given the correction later on (if the correction is even necessary).  A sit is when your dog's upper torso is upright,  front leg(s) on the ground/floor, and bottom area is on the ground. Hand Drills (practice until your moves can move swiftly through the motions without the handler needing to think about it, before practicing with the dog): Practice these without the dog for a few minutes prior to starting. Your left hand will hold leash, transfer to your right hand (g...

Week 1 Sit On The Dog

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Exercise: Sit on The Dog (do not confuse with the down exercise later on) Equipment needed: Metal Training Collar (for puppies a flat collar will due but be sure they can't slip their head out if it's too loose), 6' leather lead, chair for handler to sit on that they aren't too worried about (IE an antique chair would not be a good idea, especially for a dog that might try to chew something other than their toy while you aren't watching, but a good metal folding chair will do), silence which means no verbal commands, praise, or corrections. Also no conversations of any sort with your dog. Objective and Goals: This exercise starts the leadership portion of dog training in a very non confrontational way. You are defining the space and activity that the dog will inhabit while you are engaged in other activities. It starts the process of showing the dog how to quiet themselves down during certain times of day, and employ self control in distracting situations. ...

What Are Corrections and How Are They Used?

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  Dog owners tend to wince at the suggestion of using a correction.   So many dog owners associate the word "correction" in dog training with punishment or treating their dog harshly.  This is not what is meant by most dog trainers or dog sports enthusiasts. My definition of a dog training correction is to further advance a position, speed, or behavior through communication the dog understands to mean what they had just done is not what was wanted and therefore offers another option or stops something. Some examples of corrections are verbal markers, spatial pressure, and the use of some training equipment.   Please note that corrections should not be used, generally speaking, until the dog has started and advanced through the f irst stages of dog training , which is teaching.    Once a performance can be reliably predicted to a standard, then you are ready to correct errors or non performance. NOTE: CORRECTIONS ARE NOT USUALLY USED IN DOG TRAININ...

Why Are There So Many Different Dog Training Methods and Techniques?

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  If you have ever looked into finding a complete dog training plan for your dog, you probably found a confusing amount of information out there.  Some of one method's rules probably contradicted another's method rules. Does this mean some people are using methods and training and that don't work?  Why can some methods be so different, but still seem to get great results for the dog training team? I have put a list of dog training definitions used, and the way I have interpreted them to help you if you find yourself stuck on a term that is not familiar to you.   Please go to   this post . Just because a method is different than another, does not mean it does not work on it's own merits.  It is really about how the plan came together, the logic of the plan, if the plan has been proofed, and what the results are for individual teams.  A well crafted method or dog training plan takes into account the strengths in particular of both dog and owner....