Your homework for this week is to build on the foundations set in week one, as well as introducing the basics of recall and understanding how important play is and the different ways we can use it to enhance our training and to build our relationship with our dogs.

Settle Progression: Hopefully you have been able to build the time your dog can stay on their settle areas (blanket or beds). If not still work on steps 4 and 5 of the settle exercise outlined in Week 1. If you are ready to progress, your goals this week are to work on steps 6 to start increasing the time between dropping treats as your dog learns to relax. Another goal is for you to work on steps 4 and 5 in different areas of the house or outdoors, such as the garden or a quiet outdoor space where there will be limited distractions.

Attention to name: Start working on step 4 of this exercise outlined in Week 1 by building your dogs response to you in different environments outside of the house. Again, start in quieter areas, then slowly build it at a large distance from distractions. This will also link with this weeks ‘check ins’ in our loose lead walking exercise.

Sit progression: Work through the sit progression with duration exercise outlined in this week’s guide. Your aim for the week is for your dog to be able to stay in the sit position for at least 2-3 seconds. There are no expectations, but if you can build beyond this, then see how long you can build your dogs sit to. This will help you in week 3 when we build distance.

Loose Lead Walking Progression: Continue to build your steps and reduce your treat ratio. This week you will start to progress your walking in a quiet outdoor space, such as a garden. This adds a level of distraction, but it is still a controlled environment. Start from step 1 in week 1’s guide and build it until you can walk around your garden with minimal treats. Use this week’s Loose Lead Walking Progression guide for key tips to help you build your lead walking, as well as the ‘Check ins’ exercise. You can also start to increase your loose lead walking training from 30-60 seconds to 45-90 seconds when our on a walk. We will be building the distractions over the next couple of weeks, so really cement the foundations of this exercise.

Drop: If you dog does not have a reliable drop, then work through the drop exercise and training plan in this week’s guide. You can take as long as you want working through the stages. We will not specifically revisit this exercise during the course, but it will be very beneficial for you to use during other exercises such as recall.

Swap: Practice this exercise during play and use it until you have taught a reliable drop. You can practice during play by using another toy or food for them to learn to swap what is in their mouths for what you have dropped on the floor. This exercise is to be used any time your dog takes something you do not want them to have until the drop exercise has been taught.

Recall: Work through steps 1-6 of the recall exercise to set the foundations of a solid recall. Next week we will be adding distance and slowly adding in distractions.

Play: This one hopefully won’t be too much work! I want you to play with your dogs and find out what they really enjoy. Typically when they are distracted/excited by other dogs, a food lure may not work as they are not wanting food from that other dog.. they are wanting to play! So why would they care about running over to play with other dogs when you can offer them the best games and play with yourselves! By finding out what they enjoy playing with and their play style, we can add this to our ‘reward toolbox’, which will really enhance our training.

Reward toolbox

This is essentially all the different things you could use to reward your dog with to keep engagement and the want to work. Training is essentially work for our dogs that they should be ‘paid’ for. It’s the same with us when we work, we expect to be paid. If we enjoy our work and get paid more, in theory we would work harder and keep showing up for work, it’s the same with our dogs. If the environment/ distractions are more rewarding than us, then why would our dogs want to work for us?

It is also important to mix up our rewards so that we don’t become boring and predictable. If a bouncy, playful dog enters the field and our dog knows all it will get is one treat if we recall them, what will they choose? Having a mix of different rewards can keep our dogs guessing, which makes the recall even more exciting and rewarding. Sometimes it could be treats, different foods, other times a toy, stick or fun training exercises your dog enjoys. If you also consider why our dogs run over to other dogs or people? It’s not for food, it’ll be for engagement, fun, attention or play. So, we need to show our dogs that they do not need to sprint across a field to get that. The more our dogs can ‘self-reward’ in their environment, the less valuable we are.

Regarding toys, think about what your dog enjoys or what their natural instincts are that you could use as a reward. For example, chasing things, you could use the flirt pole, ball on a rope, tug of war rope etc. Use toys that your dog could chase and tug on, but also engages the two of you. Throwing a ball can be fun, but it loses the connection and joy being around you very quickly, therefore could become boring, whereas playing a game between the two of you when you are connected, and your dog doesn’t know when they might win keeps the game exciting.

This week we are building on the foundations of a sit. We are adding the length of time (duration) that our dog can hold the sit for. This can be useful for when you ask your dog to sit before crossing the road for example. Adding duration to the sit is also key when progressing to adding distance for other exercises such as doorways or a ‘wait’.

As always we start as easy as possible, then we build it as our dog is successful.

Ensure your dog has learnt the ‘sit’ exercise from week 1 first before progressing to this stage.

What you’ll need:

Treats or their daily food, marker word, your dog to understand a basic sit.

Sit Duration Step by Step:

Step 1: Say your dogs name, ask them to sit, then once they have sat, use your marker word and reward with a treat. This is their warm up.

If they find this difficult, move to a quieter and less distracting area, up the value of their treats or revisit the basics of the sit using the learning theory.

Step 2: Say your dog’s name and ask them to sit. Now pause and wait silently for 1-2 seconds, then say your marker word and reward with a treat. Repeat for 3 successful goes. Reset your dog into the sit each time.

Step 3: Say your dog’s name, ask them to sit, now pause and wait for 2-3 seconds. Say your marker word and reward with a treat.

TIP: Try to use your marker word and reward before your dog moves. As you build the time in the sit it will become more difficult for your dog, if you see they are getting distraction or restless, then mark and reward it before they move, even if you haven’t reached your desired time. If your dog struggles, for example they move and stand up before the 2-3 seconds, then reset and go back to 1-2 seconds where they were successful. Do not push for more time if they cannot cope with the smaller times. You will get more success if you take it slow and only add 1-2 seconds at a time as you build the sit duration.

Step 4: Add 1-2 seconds to each successful sit on the next go to slowly build the length of time without your dog becoming confused or frustrated. Every 3-4 reps, do a smaller length of time to keep your dog engaged and focused. For example, you may practice your dog sitting for 5 seconds, you then reset and ask them to sit for 7 seconds, the next time you may ask them to sit for 9 seconds, then go back to 5 seconds and again build back up to 9-10 seconds.

The longer your dog can confidently hold the sit for, the more impulse control they will learn and the more time you have to work with when building distance in the next week.

Remember:

• Only add 1-2 seconds each time to ensure they understand and to reduce frustration and failure.

• Reset the sit every go, therefore encourage them to stand or walk around after each go to be able to reset the sit.

• Train little and often to ensure it doesn’t become boring and they don’t loose focus.

This week we were building step 3 of the Loose Lead Walking exercise written in the week 1 guide.

We were adding in more steps to less treats ratio building from 1 step, 1 treat, to 2 steps, 1 treat and 3 steps 1 treat etc.

As your dogs stay within your loose lead space and focused on you as you build your steps, you can also build your loose lead walking practice time and build the distractions. In class we will start to build their focus and steps away from the barrier zones and around the distraction of the other dogs. However, at home you build these distractions by practicing in different locations and by using family and friends to act as small distractions in the home.

Key tips to building your loose lead walking:

• As you build your steps with fewer treats, engage with your dog by talking to them and giving them verbal praise. They may not understand what you are saying, but your positive tone of voice and energy will make them feel good and will give them that feel good feeling being by your side, even with less treats.

• Remember to keep your hand at shoulder height when not giving a treat (see picture for reference). This ensures your dog learns to look up at your, not just follow food. This repetition will come in handy for check ins when we have significantly reduced the treats.

• Using the learning theory, when your dog is reliably staying by your side, phase out to stage 2 of the learning theory and do not have the food in your hand, but still use the hand signal of bringing your empty hand up to your shoulder after you have given your dog a treat. Then before you reward with another one, go into your bag, pocket etc to get the next treat. As the walk becomes more natural and you have build the steps where they are staying by your side, you can phase out the arm being at your shoulder height. This is simply there for quick treat delivery in the early stages and to encourage your dog to check in on you and not just the food.

• Do not practice in difficult environments before you are ready, trust the process and work your way up. Start from step 1 in each new environment, as this ensures they understand and will be the key to your success in loose lead walking.

Check Ins:

As your progress your loose lead walking in your home, home outdoor areas and quiet areas on a walk you will build your dog’s focus on you. As the steps build and your dog is remaining by your side, every now and again say your dog’s name, mark and reward. This reminds your dog that you are still there and keeps them engaged on you. It will also neutralise them to you saying their name when a distraction comes along. Sometimes when triggers or distractions come along, we repeatedly say our dogs name for their attention, however this can have the opposite effect as they understand that something is nearby and instead of looking at you, they are searching around for why you want their attention. Therefore, by regularly saying their name when there’s nothing around and rewarding them for ‘checking in’ they will respond quicker each time building their focus and attention to name as we progress around distractions.

Play is a brilliant way to build our bonds and relationships with our dogs. It can also be used for training rewards, fun and for teaching them how to appropriately react around us when excited. Play allows us to build our reward toolbox so that we aren’t always so reliant on treats and gives us a backup for when our dogs aren’t interested in treats are they aren’t hungry.

We can also use play to teach them that we can have fun, play tug, grab things we their mouths and be rough when appropriate, but with the right items. Play can also be used to teach them to drop items and to reduce resource guarding by teaching them to share and that giving us items really pays off.

As well as being a great reward you can use play to teach two very important training exercises in a fun way that will help you in all kinds of potential stressful situations. These exercises are drops and swaps. You can introduce these serious training exercises in a fun way, which you can then apply to when you need them to release something that you do not want them to have.

Drop

This exercise is to ask your dog to release an item that is already in their mouth. You can use two toys or a toy and some treats for this exercise.

What you will need:

Treats, multiple toys (suitable size for breed)

Toys: such as ball on a rope, tug of war rope toy.

Exercise step by step:

Step 1: Play with your dog with a toy of your choosing, such as tug of war, making the game fun. This is a toy that is big enough for you both to hold onto and play with. You can also let your dog win by letting go of the toy, if they bring it back, continue the game.

Step 2: When you would like your dog to let go of their toy, make the toy go ‘dead’ and very boring stopping the play. You can also let go of the toy so that there is no longer any tension on the toy that makes the game fun.

Step 3: Once that toy is ‘dead’ and no longer in play, bring out your second toy and make it appear very exciting and fun OR if you are using treats, place a treat directly on your dog’s nose.

Step 4: When your dog releases the toy in the mouth, say your marker word as soon as they let go of the toy.

Step 5: Reward your dog by playing with the second toy, tell them how super they are and have a good game with the second toy OR reward them with the treat on their nose.

Step 6: Repeat stages 1-5 until your dog is letting go of the toy for the second toy or treat quite quickly.

Step 7: Time to add in the word ‘drop’ (or whatever word you’d like to use as a release). Remember stage 3 of the learning theory. Repeat stages 1-2, then just before you use the second toy/treat on your dog’s nose say your release word, for example ‘drop’. Only say it once and wait for your dog to release and drop the toy.

Step 8: Repeat stages 4 and 5.

Step 9: You will know when your dog has understood the word ‘drop’ when they start to predict to let go on the toy in anticipation for the reward after they hear the word ‘drop’. For example, they will release the toy as soon as you say the word ‘drop’ before you have introduced the second toy or treat. This means they have connected that the word drop means = I let go of item in my mouth and I get a great reward for it. Continue to reward them for letting go of items when being asked to ‘drop’ to keep building on the training for when they grab items you want them to release immediately.

Tip: Only say the word once, then wait patiently for them to release the item/toy. If you repeat yourself, they will become confused and think the word is ‘drop, drop, drop’, and you will have to repeat yourself every time you want them to drop something. Remember they don’t understand words, so they do not understand the meaning to the word yet and repeating it will slow down that understanding. Say it once and wait.

Make sure there is no tension or pressure on the toy you want them to let go; else they will still think it’s a game.

If using toys outdoors/on a walk, rotate the toys in the home, or have special outdoor toys to make them extra valuable to match the exciting outdoor world.

Training plan:

Stage 1: Start somewhere with minimal distractions, perhaps your living room or dining area. Make sure you get a solid 3-5 perfect goes before moving onto the next stage. If it becomes too hard, go back a stage.

Stage 2: Repeat the exercise with different toys so they learn to drop all their toys and builds positivity with the word.

Stage 3: Repeat the exercise in the garden, kitchen and hallways. Once they have understood the drop in the home, practice outside of the home.

The swap or trade is for when the drop exercise is still in progress and for those valuable items your dog may take for a ‘game’ of chase or would typically not want to give you. Your dog may run away and hide with it, or want you to chase them, or if you tried to get it, they may guard it and growl, lunge or bite to keep it. If any of these behaviours occur, the swap/trade is the go-to.

This is a management and prevention method that will ensure this behaviour is not encouraged, practiced and will avoid any negativity between you. In a dog’s world, if it’s in their mouth it is theirs. This exercise will also help to break the cycle of them taking your things in hopes for your attention, such as your socks, shoes, toilet paper etc.

Exercise step by step:

Step 1: If your dog has taken something you do not want them to have, completely ignore them.

Step 2: Calmly go and get some treats or tasty food that they will not be able to resist from the cupboard or fridge (chicken, cheese, sausage, ham etc).

Step 3: At a distance from your dog, make sure they are looking, but still do not say anything to them, drop the food on the floor and move away. Make sure you drop enough to make it irresistible and a fair enough trade for them to drop what’s in their mouth.

Step 4: When your dog drops the item in their mouth and goes to eat the food, you can go and pick up the item and put it somewhere your dog cannot get it.

Tips:

• Try your best not to react as this will encourage them to want to be chased/hide or to swallow the item.

• Try and put a large enough space between the dropped food and your dog so they must move away from the dropped item for you to go and pick it up.

When the food is dropped, your dog will completely forget their objective of stealing the item and aim to get the food, therefore letting it go and moving away.

Recall is highly important if you ever have goals on being able to let your dog off the lead. It is actually against the law to have a dog off lead and not come back to you, even if your dog is the friendliest dog in the world, if it doesn’t come back it is classed as an ‘uncontrollable’ dog.

A solid recall keeps you and your dog safe. Please note it is not essential to have your dog off the lead, your dog can have plenty of fulfilment and fun by remaining onlead, but a recall is always beneficial to have just in case your dog does ever become loose or off lead.

A recall word essentially means come back. Their name means to look at you and their recall word means to come to you. Therefore choose a short and simple word you’d like to use for your recall. This can be any word, a few examples could be ‘here’, ‘come’, ‘me’ or you could use a whistle.

There are multiple things to consider when building a recall:

• Your chosen recall word, what is your recall word that means come back to me.

• How are you rewarding your dog, is it with treats, toys, a game. Think about what your dog really enjoys.

• How are you keeping your dog with you after you’ve recalled them? Putting a lead on, asking for a sit, heelwork or interacting with your dog. If rewarding with treats, you’ll often find you give your dog a treat, then off they go again. What is going to keep them engaged with you and stop them running off again.

• 3 D’s. Distance, Distraction, Duration. Think about where you are practicing, remember to start in easy environments, with minimal distractions.

What you’ll need:

Treats, toys, your chosen recall word and marker word. I would also recommend a Y-shaped harness and a longline for building distance when outdoors.

Recall Exercise step by step:

Step 1: When your dog is a short distance from you, Say their name (once), allow time for them to look at you or disengage with what they are doing, put your hand in the air with a treat or toy in the hand and drop it straight down to their eye level height.

Step 2: When they have returned to you, say your marker word and either give them a treat or play with the toy. Tell them how super they are and make them feel like they have just won the lottery.

Step 3: After some play time, drop the toy and let them win (or reset if using treats). You can then ask them to drop (if you are at that stage with your drop training, or swap to get the toy back) when you are ready to continue. If they get overexcited, you can use your settle management by scattering 2-3 broken treats on the floor by your feet for them to find. This will keep them by your side and calm them down from the play ready to be able to focus again. In time, this will encourage a rewarding recall as coming back to you is a fun game between you both and then ends in some tasty treats by staying by your side.

Step 4: Repeat at a small distance until your dog is reliably coming back to you and staying close to you each time. Switch up your rewards each time, different toys, different games, a stick and sometimes treats. When using treats, try using different values, sometimes their normal treats, sometimes surprise them with chicken, cheese, sausage, break them up to smaller pieces so you can offer ‘multiple’ at a time so that they stay with you and doesn’t run straight off.

Step 5: Repeat steps 1-4, but now transition to stage 2 of the learning theory by phasing out having the treats or toys in your hand. Use the same hand signal, but with an empty hand and then surprise them with their reward when they get back to you.

Step 6: Stage 3 of the learning theory, you can now add in your recall word. Say your dog’s name, say your chosen recall word then repeat the hand signal, when they come back to you, use your marker word and surprise them with their reward.

Step 7: Stage 4 of the learning theory will happen naturally, when your dog will start to travel towards you when hearing the recall word, before the hand action. If this happens then you can stop using the hand signal, but it is always good to have in case your dog doesn’t respond to the recall word when you build distance/distractions.

Management: If your dog isn’t responding, do not repeat your recall word as it will become less meaningful and ineffective. Make sure your dog cannot go further away (this is where a long line is useful when training). You can walk down the long line until you are with them. Do not pull them towards you or let them pull away. Place the treat or toy on their nose/in front of them and when you have their attention, lure them all the way back to where you first called them and then reward. Make the next attempt very easy to ensure success and maybe have a break or call it a day if you have been training a while. If it’s too distracting, move away to somewhere quieter make it easier. Practice in the home first.

Tips:

• Remember to take regular breaks so it doesn’t become too boring, hard, or tiring.

• Repeat each stage at least 3 times before progressing to make sure they understand. After 3 successful goes, move onto the next stage. Always end the session on a success and positive.

• Keep switching up the rewards to keep them guessing and the excitement of the unknown as they don’t know what they will get, but always hoping they’ll get a jackpot.

• Do not use your recall word if you know they won’t come back, decrease the distance between you, or manage it and go to them.

• We will progress distance and distractions in the next stage of the course, so focus on building a solid recall word. We will progress one stage at a time to ensure success.