| One Simple Command Stops So Many Behavior Problems by Andrea Arden September 2000 Sam, a 3 -month-old German Shepherd Dog mix, won the most recent "Sit-Happiest Puppy" title in my New York City puppy training class. I’m not sure who was more surprised by this - his owner, Sean Flynn, or me. When Sean came to his first class, he seemed more exhausted and frustrated than typical new puppy owners. "I can’t move without him pouncing on me" he said. "I can’t have friends over without them getting pounced on, and I can’t walk him down the street because he bounces all over the place and tries to pounce on anybody that passes us. All the trainers agreed Sam was among the most active pups we had seen and felt a bit sorry for Sean, who had his hands full. But, we were optimistic about helping Sean gain control. Sean is a busy and sociable person, so we devised a training plan that would get quick results. We focused on teaching Sam one trick: to sit promptly on request. No other command is as easy to teach and prevents as many behavior problems. There is no command or trick that is as easy to teach and prevents and solves as many behavior problems. A dog that sits willingly and promptly won't jump on people at the front door, pull on leash, rush out of the car, be hyperactive and so on. Learning to sit solves all these problems. These three simple, fun steps will quickly produce a sit-happy dog: 1. Go for a walk: Take your dog out with its dry kibble in a bag. Every 20 yards or so stop and wait for your dog to sit. When he does, reward with a piece of kibble. Then walk on and repeat the process. You will find that by the time you pause, your dog will sit immediately without your asking and wait for another chance to earn the food reward. The more you practice, the more walking by your side and sitting automatically when you stop become a habit. Before your know it, you have a dog that walks nicely on leash even in very distracting situations. 2. Invite 10 friends over for a training party: The party will help improve your dog’s reliability around visitors and enhance its social life at the same time. Your guests should be prepared to help train your dog. First, deal with one of the most annoying doggie behavior problems: Jumping on visitors. Give each guest a doggie treat bag filled with your dog's dinner kibble and a few extra special treats if you choose. Have your dog on leash. When the first person arrives, ask your dog to sit. If your dog is so excited that he ignores you, simply ignore the dog (make sure your guest does, too) and wait for him to figure it out that nobody is going to give him any attention until he sits. The dog will sit eventually and when he does have your guest offer a piece of kibble. Then have the person leave and come back again. If every guest leaves and comes in again 10 times, that’s 100 front-door greetings. You'll soon find that your dog sits quickly to greet your guests, because he anticipates receiving a reward. It’s as if the dog has learned it’s easy to train visitors: All you have to do is sit, and then they reward you! After the first training party your guests can randomly reward your dog so that he constantly guesses when and what he will get. Sometimes he may get a treat, sometimes an ear scratch, sometimes a "Good dog!". While you have guests, make the most of this training opportunity. Walk your dog around the block clockwise, and have your 10 guests spread out and walk counterclockwise. This means you are going to meet the same ten people each lap. Each time you meet a person, ask your dog to sit. When he does, feed a piece of kibble. Again, your dog will quickly learn to sit whenever a friendly person approaches. 3. Use sitting as a way to have your dog say "please" for everything he wants throughout the day. Ask your dog to sit before you snap on his leash to go for a walk, step out the door together, set his food bowl on the ground or toss a toy to fetch. Sam’s sit-happy progress was rapid. In fact, two of three trainers in class pegged him as the winner by the second week. By the third week of class, the decision was unanimous. In an acceptance speech on the last day of class, Sean glowed with pride as Sam sat by his side wagging his tail frantically. |
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