The Rules of Dog Training?

Unless you've just recently subscribed you'll know I got a new puppy in July. Having him around has once again hammered home to me just how different dogs all are. If you're still on your first dog you've yet to find that out for yourself, but I'd be prepared to bet that if you've had two or more you'll have noticed big differences between them.

I'm not talking about the obvious differences between say a Yorkshire terrier and a borzoi. One has a long 'Roman' nose and can clear five bar gates with ease while the other's got a short stubby nose and can disappear down a fox hole if it wanted.

No, no, no!

I mean differences in temperament, and differences in how they react to external stimuli. How do they behave when it's windy or rainy? What's their reaction to loud noises, or strangers coming to the door? What do they do if you're out for a walk and they see another dog? When you walk with them off the lead do they race about in excitement or do they stick so close to you that they keep bumping into your feet?

Are they enthusiastic eaters that wolf down anything vaguely edible or do they fuss and pick over their food like some sort of prima donna?

Do they like to pick up and carry things? Do they like to dig? Are they quiet or noisy? Extrovert outgoing types that seem to brush off scrapes and knocks? Or quiet introverts that yelp at the slightest little fall or mishap?

There are endless ways in which dogs vary from one another. They're just like kids in that respect. No two are the same. If you look at pedigree breeds they'll nearly always have certain characteristics that are typical of the breed.

The only two pedigree breeds I've owned have been deerhounds and Chesapeake Bay Retrievers; my other dogs have been lurchers. Deerhounds are typically very laid back, gentle and good natured. That's certainly a fair description of both the ones I've owned. Yet the two of them were like chalk and cheese in terms of their individual temperaments. Even though they were half sisters, both out of the same bitch.

Chesapeake Bay Retrievers are renowned for being fiercely loyal and protective of their family, and extremely territorial of home. That description fitted my bitch like a glove. But temperamentally she was unlike any other Chesapeake I've ever come across. Come to think of it, her temperament was unlike that of *any* other dog I've ever come across.

And Tufter, my new pup, is unique in his own way too. He's the first puppy I've ever had that had no accidents at all on his first night. He was only 7 weeks old when I got him and I came down in the morning to find he hadn't left even the tiniest puddle. I could hardly believe it!

I've just a few days ago begun teaching him to 'sit'. I always teach my dogs a 'release word'. That's a command which tells them it's OK to stop doing whatever it was I just told them to do.

I use the word 'alright'.

So I say "Tufter, sit". As he goes into position I praise him. Then when I say "Tufter, alright" that's the signal for him to get up off his backside and do whatever he wants. The release word works with *all* commands that involve the dog doing something for a set length of time. For instance 'heel', 'down' etc.

By teaching a release word it completely avoids the need to teach 'stay'. The dog learns right from day one that whenever it's put in a sit or told to heel, it must keep doing it until it's released.

With every puppy I've ever taught before you have to take the 'sit' command nice and slowly. To start with you only want them to touch their backside to the ground very briefly and that's enough. Gradually you make them wait longer and longer before you give the release word and allow them to move.

So once they're happy holding the sit for one second you make them do it for two. Then three then five, then ten and so on. Gradually you can work up to half a minute then a whole minute. There's no limit to how far you can progress with this. My last dog, Ripple, would happily sit in position for up to about 90 minutes (after about two years of training to get to that point I should add).

Every puppy I've trained before wants to be out of that 'sit' position as soon as possible. As you gradually extend the length of time you make them hold the position for you're constantly watching them like a hawk as you know they could break the position at any moment. The very second you give them the release word they leap up in excitement, delighted to be free to dash around again.

But with Tufter he's completely unconcerned about being put into a 'sit', and shows not the slightest interest in moving. The problem I've got with him is not getting him *into* position, rather getting him *out* of it. He seems so comfortable when he's sitting that he really doesn't want to have to get up again thank you very much!!

I'm having a real challenge getting him to respond to the release word. This is the first time I've ever come up against this situation and it means I'm having to think on my feet and come up with completely new ways of handling it.

All of which brings me to the whole point of this article.

If you've read one of the 'standard' books on dog training that tells you the way to teach a dog to do X is by doing such and such, and the way to teach a dog to do Y is by doing so and so, then I urge you to tread warily!

The suggested techniques *might* work. And they certainly will for some dogs. But they almost certainly won't work for *all* dogs.

A 'one size fits all' approach just won't cut it. You absolutely *must* try and get into your dog's head so that you understand what motivates it. Only then can you begin to work out how best to teach it. Just from the few short weeks I've had Tufter I know that if I tried the same techniques on him that I used to train Ripple it would be a complete disaster. His temperament is so radically different that I've got to approach his training from a totally different angle.

There are no hard and fast rules - you just do what works for your dog. So long as you can make the dog understand what you want, and you can do it in a way that hits all the right buttons for that individual, that's really all that matters.

My book "Dog Training Blueprint To Success" isn't a standard 'one size fits all' type of book. It gives you lots of different suggestions of how to teach each discipline you want the dog to learn. So if one approach isn't right for your dog it gives you other ideas you can try instead.

But more importantly it teaches you to understand how dogs think, so you can begin to understand for yourself just what makes your dog 'tick'. So if, like me with Tufter and the release word, you come up against an unusual challenge you'll have the confidence to think for yourself about how best to handle it.

Recommended reading "Dog Training Blueprint To Success".

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