You learned in class this week how to ‘sit’ your puppy by directing his head with a treat. ‘Trainer speak’ for this teaching method is “Luring”. It’s called that because your puppy wound up sitting while his nose was following the treat or the ‘lure’. He didn’t make a decision to sit, it happened by accident while his attention was on the treat.
The Accidental Trainer
You can train your dog to do almost anything by luring and treating, but you need to practice often. That’s because your puppy is sitting by accident, and he doesn’t understand yet it’s the sit you want. He didn’t make a decision to sit, so how would he know? It’ll take a little time for him to fully realize the sit is want you really want, and the more you practice the quicker he’ll learn because he’ll have more opportunities to connect the sit with the treat.
Competing Inputs
Dogs can’t think about some things because they lack frontal lobes, but the trade off is they perceive an amazing amount of detail, at all times. Dogs include this ‘situational detail’ in their learning processes. We don’t know for sure everything they’re taking in, but your dog is noticing all kinds of extraneous sights, sounds, and smells when you’re training your dog. To help your puppy focus on what you want, good timing is critical.
It’s All In The Timing
If your puppy receives his treat at the exact instant his tushy touches the ground, he’ll be better able to connect the two events. The longer the delay between the sit and his reward, the longer it will take your puppy to learn the two are connected. If you wait even a few seconds to reward your puppy his attention will wander to something else. He’ll eventually get it, but the better your timing, the faster your dog will learn what you want.
I Think I’m Getting It
Over time, you’ll be able to stop luring your puppy into position. He’ll begin to recognize the sit word and sit before you get the treat over his head. If he stops, or hesitates, lure him all the way into his sit, then give him the treat. Don’t accept a half sit, or that’s what he’ll offer you forever. If he gets ahead of you and sits before you finish luring, give him the treat immediately. Always deliver the treat when he sits, not before and not after.
You need to go through the motions of luring for as long as it takes for your puppy to automatically respond to your dog hand signal or verbal command. If he appears to forget or be confused, help him out.
Learning Roller Coaster
We’re trying to set your puppy up for success, so you should do whatever it takes to make him successful. Learning for dogs, and especially puppies, isn’t a straightforward process. They will occasionally forget what they learned. Just give him whatever he needs to remind him what he’s supposed to do when he gets ‘stuck’.
A Whole Different World
After you teach your puppy to sit in class, you’ll also need to teach him at home. Your puppy learned to ‘sit’ in class, and he understood it there, but only in that context. But it’s a whole different ballgame at home or out on the street. He needs to be shown that sit means sit everywhere. You should train him in the house, in the yard, on the sidewalk, and at grandma’s house. The more places you go together and practice your skills the better he’ll remember them.
Easy as 1 – 2 – 3
Now you know why timing and repetition are the keys to your puppy training success. If you’ve read my article on “Vision The Dog Language” you have all three ingredients you need. And you can follow these three easy steps to success:
- Lure your puppy into position
- Use hand signals
- Treat and repeat in various locations
Links to Puppy Class 101 articles:
- Welcome to Puppy Class
- Puppy Brain
- Vision The Dog Language
- Who’s the Big Dog?
- Doggie Sheriff
- Watching Your Every Move
- Doggie Math 1+1=1
- Time Out For Puppies