Hands Full Dog Training

If you’ve got a lot of dog and only a little time, this pod’s for you. Each week, get three actionable tips from a professional dog trainer to help build harmony between you and your pup.

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Hands Full Dog Training

Episode 3: The Dog Magnet

February 08, 2022 • Kathrine Christ, Owner of Hands Full Dog Training • Season 1 • Episode 3

We’ve all been there. The clock is ticking and you need to leave the dog park, or go to work, and your dog is dancing around merrily ignoring all of your attempts to call him back. It almost FEELS personal, like he doesn’t want to be with you, or like he’s choosing to defy you. How do we unwrap this tangle of our emotions and our dogs’ behavior?

In Episode 3: The Dog Magnet, you’ll learn how to activate a super-strong invisible magnet to pull your dog back to you whenever you need to.

If you’ve got your hands full with a little more dog than you imagined and a little less time than you thought, the Hands Full Dog Training podcast has got you covered. Every week, we’ll give you three actionable ways to help you and your dog live in harmony - and all in 10 minutes.

Want to learn more about how to live in harmony with your dog? Check out Hands Full Dog Training Online at learn.handsfulldogtraining.com

In Family Dog Manners School online, you can receive one on one coaching from our kind and credentialed trainers while working through a professionally developed curriculum designed to solve the most common canine manners dilemmas.

Hands Full Dog Training

Episode 3: The Dog Magnet

Intro

Hi everyone! I’m Kathrine, a professional dog trainer, mom of 4, and CDBC with the IAABC. If you’ve got your hands full with a little more dog than you imagined and a little less time than you thought, I’ve got you covered. Every week, I’ll give you three actionable ways to help you and your dog live in harmony, condensed into short 10-minute bites you can chew on your way to the grocery store, out jogging, or working through that lurking pile of laundry.

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Episode Intro

In Episode 3: The Dog Magnet, you’ll learn how to activate a super-strong invisible magnet to pull your dog back to you whenever you need to.

Today I’ll explain why dogs DON’T come back when we need them to, and then give you three action items that will help you build an irresistible draw for a reliable and willing come when called

First, let’s talk about what you’re probably doing right. Many companion dog advocates understand that dogs need motivation, and when they start working on come when called, they have already tried methods like getting a treat bag out, calling their dog over, and rewarding them with lots of cookies and praise. They see their dog perk up and run to them willingly and happily. Now the dog is trained! She knows how to come! We did it!

The disappointment and frustration come later. You’re outside and call your dog to come away from the person he’s barking at. Nothin’. You’re ready to go to work and call your dog to put him in his kennel. He STUDIOUSLY avoids you. You’re ready to leave the dog park and your dog will come JUST within arm’s reach and when YOU reach out to leash her… off she goes in zoomies. Where did that perfect behavior go?

Lucky for you, it’s not a mystery. AND it’s something you have the power to correct! The core principle behind this puzzle will help you understand what to change to be more successful.

And that principle is predictability. ‘What predicts what’ influences behavior in many ways. One way is the animal being able to predict precisely when there’s an opportunity for them. So let’s discuss your cue for come when called. A cue is trained sensory input of some kind that signals to an animal an opportunity to perform a particular behavior for a particular result. In this example, the behavior is running all the way to you, and the result is a food reward. Sounds simple, right? But here’s where people can get tangled up. The DOG decides what the cue is based on what’s most obvious and predictable to them.

If you always pick up a treat bag, reach in and grab treats and then call your dog, your dog will learn that seeing the treat bag or hearing the bag rustle IS your cue. They see it as a necessary part of the stream of behaviors – yours and the dog’s – that results in them getting a treat. And the words you’re babbling – like humans do, ALL the time – seem much less important. Especially when sometimes you say those words without the treat bag present… and the dog gets a pat on the head instead of a yummy snack.

And you can see where this will come back to bite you. If you don’t have a treat bag on you and you call your dog, an important part of your cue is missing. It’s like if I asked you the question, “What’s 5 minus?” You’d be confused. 5 minus what? A necessary part of the equation is gone. To the dog, the sight, smell and sound of the food is MUCH more salient, or relevant, than a human word. And this is how we end up with the frustrated sigh of, “he ONLY does it if he sees a treat!” Because we made the treat the cue!

Next, let’s talk about the opposite of opportunity – the potential for something unpleasant. In order to have this conversation, we must think in terms of the big picture. Sometimes we humans hyperfocus on small pieces of behavior. It’s time to leave the dog park, we call our dog, he knows come, so he should come for his treat! But dogs are a little smarter than that. Because what happens AFTER he comes to you? That’s right – you leash up, and you leave the dog park! Removing something pleasurable can feel very punishing. Imagine if you’re at Disneyland, or a classic car convention, or whatever piques your interest, and someone ushers you over and gives you a 5 dollar bill. Yay! You happily accept it. Then, they immediately open a side door and eject you onto the street. Was that 5 dollars worth it? What would you do next time you saw them?

Your dog understands the big picture, and they will start to predict when less desirable consequences might happen. For dogs who love playing, leaving can be a disappointing enough event that they will do their best to avoid it. And if come when called *leads directly* to leaving, you can see how your recall word can turn into a cue for running the OTHER direction instead of towards you.

This also means, of course, that if your dog runs away and you fiiiinally catch him, as a companion dog advocate, your job is to reward him enthusiastically for letting himself be caught – not to get upset or punish him for running off.

The core message here is that behavior isn’t something dogs “know” and then “do” like executing a computer program. It’s an active process, vulnerable to change, and it morphs and flows toward the MOST desirable consequence in the moment based on the dog’s best prediction of what will happen next.

This may sound discouraging or confusing – it’s not as simple as you’d like it to be! Or, you may already be deducing how to re-program your come when called training based on these principles. Maybe you’ve figured out that what sound like disadvantages at first are actually things we can use to build a STRONGER behavior.

If you want to challenge yourself, pause this podcast and try to think of 2 or 3 ways you could use them to your advantage. Then, listen to the rest and let’s see if you were on target.

Okay, are you back? Here are 3 training hacks based on the principle of prediction that will help you develop a powerful dog magnet that draws your dog in whenever you call him.

Number 1. The surprise party. Ever planned a party? You know there’s more to it than the guest walking in the door. You need a cake, streamers, little honky noise thingies, and you need to invite guests ahead of time. You’re going to plan a party for your dog so that he knows that when he hears you call him, walking in that front door is the BEST place he could possibly be in the world.

First, plan the party games. You now know that getting treats out and crinkling the bag can overshadow your words. So instead, set up your rewards in stashes around your house. Put a cheese stick in the fridge, a tea tin full of freeze dried liver, baggie of jerky treats on a high shelf by the back door.

Next, the invitation. Imagine getting 7 different invitations for the same party. Would that be confusing? Now think of how you call your dog - “Here boy!” “Piper!” “Come!” “Let’s go!” or “Get over here!!” Let’s make it as easy as possible to predict the party. Start with always using ONE specific word or phrase to call your dog.

Last, the order of events. It would be REALLY weird to start a surprise party by texting the person and saying, “Can you please come to your surprise party at 7pm tonight?” Well, let’s not do that to our dogs. We’re going to call them totally out of the blue. This makes your come when called word the MOST obvious predictor of the party.

So now it’s planned. Here’s what to do. As you go about your day, look for a moment when you and your dog are awake and relaxed. Out of the blue, say your come when called word! “Heere!” Then, it is YOUR job to immediately start the party. You don’t expect your guest of honor to host his own event. Run to one of your treat stashes, open it up, get 4-5 treats out, and feed them to your dog while telling him what a good dog he is. Then close the treat stash up and go back to your normal routine.

This may feel weird at first. We’re not trying to “make” your dog do anything. We’re trying to help him predict that when he hears that word, being right next to you is the best place on the planet. So repeat these parties 5 times a day for a week. Switch up where you are and which treat stash you pull from. Give him the chance to learn that the absolute best predictor of the party is the magic word – your come when called word. Now you’ve truly trained your dog to respond to your cue instead of the sight and smell of food.

Once your dog can do surprise parties well indoors, try them outside. Yes, you’ll need to bring food along – wear a pouch and keep the food inside so it’s not too tempting or obvious. Take your dog on a walk around the yard on leash so he can’t get too far away, and do 2 or 3 parties over the course of 10 minutes. Ignore your dog if he begs for treats, and don’t reward for anything except your magic word. This keeps it super special and exciting. Your dog magnet is getting stronger.

Ready for hack number two? This one is called catch and release. Yes, like a fish. You’re going to turn your dog’s expectations upside down for ANYTHING that he thinks might predict losing something fun. Here’s how it works. First, your surprise parties have to be on point. Is your dog bouncing over happily looking for the party as soon as he hears the word? You’re ready for catch and release.

Go outside in a safe area with your dog and let your dog hang out. Try to stay very close to your dog. Now, pick a time when your dog is a little distracted – sniffing something, watching a neighbor, or barking at a bird. Say your dog magnet word and start partying - when your dog comes bouncing over, give them a treat or two, then kneel down and gently hold their collar while continuing to feed. Make sure to kneel and reach under their neck instead of looming over them and grabbing at the back of their neck, which can be scary. If you know your dog is very sensitive about handling, don’t touch their collar at all – instead, have them drag a leash, and pick it up to ‘catch them.’

Party before, during, and after you catch your dog, then tell your dog “go play!” and let them go back to whatever they were doing.

Start planning catch and release sessions around things you know your dog likes to do. Try calling your dog away from their dinner bowl, catching and releasing. If your dog has a sock or shoe, call them over, feed, and then release them BACK to it. What your dog is learning to predict is that coming to you does NOT mean they lose anything fun. In fact, not only do they get to keep the fun thing, they get extra rewards, too! Getting caught by their human just means that something good is going to happen. Now instead of playing hard to get, your dog will place themselves right into your hands.

As your dog gets better and better, practice calling them away from harder and harder distractions, like a ball you tossed or someone else petting them. It takes time to work up to really exciting situations, but eventually, you’ll astonish your friends and family when your dog pops right off that squirrel when you ask. And of course, in a real emergency, you don’t have to release – and sometimes, you WILL actually leave the dog park! But all those catch and release practice sessions will provide a learning buffer so your dog doesn’t always anticipate the worst.

Number 3. Last of all is a hack to disassociate two things that you don’t want to predict one another. Let’s call it something simple – dogs unchained. Think of a chain of events that starts with come when called but ends with something your dog doesn’t like. What was the potential negative consequence your dog was trying to avoid? Let’s figure out how to disconnect the two.

Here’s an example. You take your dog to the lake every weekend and he loves running around and swimming. He doesn’t run off. But when it’s time to go home, he won’t come back to you to get in the car. What can you do?

First let’s use the concepts of catch and release and a surprise party. Stash treats in the glove box. When you arrive, get out of the car and start setting up. Then go open the car door and get back in. Call your dog and then start a surprise party - praise and feed right away as soon as he jumps in, then let your dog back out and continue with your day. Repeat a few times throughout the day. Having your dog get in the car several times disconnects the behavior of getting in the car from the prediction of leaving the lake.

But you and I both know you still have to leave eventually! Let’s figure out a new routine that is less predictive. For example, an hour before it’s time to go, and before you start packing up, which will tip your dog off, do one last repetition and this time, leash your dog up while he’s in the car with you. Then, tether your dog nearby and give him something really special, like a new chewy. Now coming to you and getting caught immediately predicts something yummy and is disconnected in time from your departure. But, you’re still set up so that you don’t need to chase or bribe your dog when it’s time to go, and you can walk him straight to the car and get him to hop in and have one last party without poisoning your special recall word.

Whatever come when called issues you’re having – no matter how unique the situation – can be resolved by figuring out what your dog is anticipating, getting one or two steps ahead of him, and making sure the payoff for come when called is always worthwhile.

By following these steps, you can engineer a strong Dog Magnet that will help your dog be motivated to appear at your side whenever you ask.

Next week, we’ll cover another major concern – barking. Why do dogs do it, and how can we advocate for their needs while still keeping our eardrums – and patience intact? I’ll let you in on all the secrets. See you then!

Want more dog friendly, effective training advice? Visit my online Manners School for Dogs at learn.handsfulldogtraining.com