It is no secret that there's all kinds of information available on the internet.
The good, the bad, the ugly. It all lives there.
Your challenge as a new dog is owner though, is how do you know the difference?
So today we've come into our training facility and we're gonna talk to some
professional dog trainers who have helped thousands of dogs and their owners,
and we're gonna get to the bottom of some of the worst dog training advice on
the internet.
Ooh.
So when people talk about treats in dog training and making dogs overweight,
it is entirely possible that that could be the case for your dog.
What we wanna do is use meal rations as much as possible to help to sort of
subsidize your training. So when I'm working in a low distraction environment,
when I'm working in an environment where I'm not really challenged or conflicted
for my dog's attention, I will try to use their meal rations, kibble,
and then when I go out and about and the distractions start to increase,
that's when I will start working with high value treats.
And I'll also make sure that as my dog is learning,
when they give me pretty good responses,
they get kibble or something lower value.
And when they give me awesome responses,
that's when they get something a little bit more exciting,
like cheese or real meat.
Putting a knee into a chest for a lot of dogs is actually an invitation to play
a lot of our outgoing, rough and tumble. Dogs love that kind of reinforcement.
So if I give 'em a big shove, they say Yes, let's rock and roll.
I really discourage you doing that.
The best way to do is prevent the jumping in the first place.
If they do happen to jump,
have a leash or a line that you can safely transition them from on you off to
the ground and then give 'em a job to do like sit.
Um, dogs kind of live in the present moment. Um,
they do things because they either get satisfaction out of it, um,
it's self-rewarding for them. Um, but they certainly don't think that, uh,
the way humans kind of do, where they hold grudges or anything like that. Um,
there could be several reasons in the environment why your dog is choosing to go
to shoe and chew it, uh, chew it. Um, but certainly they don't hold grudges.
They don't think about what might happen in an hour from now and they
certainly are not thinking about what happened in the past. So no,
that's not true.
Turning your back on your dog when they are jumping and barking is quite often
not the best solution. Um,
some dogs might stop over time because they're not really getting anything from
you. That's the idea of that method.
But I know most dogs are simply going to continue having a party.
They're gonna jump on your back or come around on the front. Um,
jumping is a self-rewarding behavior so they don't need you engaging with them
in order to, uh, keep them going. Um,
so it would be much better to address the issue by giving them something else to
do that you can engage them with,
like asking them to sit or whatever it might be.
Ignoring them just doesn't work.
You need to give them clear information quickly so that you can actually get
your thing accomplished in a timely manner.
You know, some people still use pee pads and it really surprises me, uh,
because it means a lot of extra steps in training for me
and it can provide some confusion for the dog.
So if I need to teach my dog to go out,
adding that pee pad is actually making it rewarding for them to go in the house.
Because when a dog eliminates it's rewarding.
So by going inside on this soft surface like a carpet, um,
it's telling them that's rewarding. It's self-rewarding. So by taking,
controlling this with my dog,
getting them outside so they can be successful going outside,
I don't need that extra step. I don't need to retrain them.
And the dog just always learns going outside is the part that's rewarding.
Playing tug without rules could very well make your dog aggressive. However,
what you wanna do with tug is teach your dog how to play appropriately.
And it's a great opportunity to teach them some rules surrounding the game.
Chances are your dog is always going to show interest in items.
So it's really important to have an opportunity to teach them how to act
appropriately when they're tugging or when there's a toy in the situation.
It's really,
really important to give them an opportunity to learn that they can't snatch the
toy on their own will. They need to give the toy up when you tell them to,
and that the rules are consistent across the board when it comes to them using
their teeth.
And they need to be very careful to make sure that they keep those teeth on the
tug toy and not on your hand.
Teaching tug will be a great avenue to help your dogs learn all of those rules.
Yep. Dogs, dogs exhibit wagging their tails for many, many different reasons.
And it doesn't always mean that they're happy.
Could mean that they're a bit alert. Uh, they could be cautious about a,
a situation. Uh, it just depends on the environment. Um,
and also depends how they're holding their tail and wagging it.
Some dog's tails will be down below, uh,
their top line and still moving back and forth,
but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're happy about a situation.
So you really have to understand dog behavior in terms of the,
the exhibits that they're showing at that moment, that present time and,
and what's dictating that that kind of wagging their tail.
But it doesn't mean they're happy all the time. .
Some people won't train their very young puppies. Uh, I'm the opposite.
I can't help myself. I'm gonna start from day one. Now,
I'm gonna let my dog chill. I don't wanna apply pressure cuz even fun. Um,
and overdoing things can be a little stressful for young pops,
so I don't wanna overdo it, but I'm training every minute I'm with my dog.
When my little dog is coming into the house,
I'm making sure it's a safe experience. That's training.
I'm teaching my dog that you don't go running up on furniture.
I got a little house line on. I might encourage my dog not to pull.
I got my treats down on their nose,
so I'm teaching my dog right from the beginning. Being with me is wonderful.
Don't pull in the leash, don't run out the door. That's still all training.
If it's not a formal training setting.
We actually have students from over 60 countries across the world taking our
online programs.
So if you're looking for something a bit more structured for you in your
puppies,
check out the link in the description below to either our puppy essentials or
our life skills programs.
Oh, the old Alpha Theory. Um, you know,
really dogs thrive on good information and fair information.
It is not about saying, I'm gonna pin you to the ground and be all silly.
It's about showing our dogs what to do,
spending the time teaching them here's how to do things,
and then adding in some proofing,
taking them to different places and having the same expectation and fairly
following through so they achieve that.
It's not fair to just expect them to do something.
There are very few behaviors that are unwanted behaviors that your dog is going
to grow out of. As a rule,
these behaviors usually get stronger because your dog practices them rather than
actually going away entirely.
Try not to think about avoiding behaviors or waiting until your dog
outgrows them.
Try to think about what you can train your dog to do so that you can put that
bad behavior in the back seat completely and you can help your dog understand
for the rest of their life exactly what it is you want them to do.
, that's so not true. Uh, I, I'm very passionate about this because, uh,
I had an older dog and she ended up, uh, having a very weak kind end.
So I actually got a wheelchair for her to help her out.
And her mind was as bright as the day at eight weeks old when I brought her
home. So for her having, uh,
interaction and doing new tricks and teaching her new things,
it's like the elderly people,
if we're not keeping their mind sharp and using that part of our brains,
um, then I think they can deteriorate faster. Um,
so that is definitely not a myth.
And you can teach an old dog new tricks for sure.
So if your dog does something wrong and your solution is to take them and sort
of shove their nose in it or you know,
make them go back to the scene of the crime, that's pretty mean. ,
you know, it's, it's also not very fair for the dog.
Dogs learn within one second.
So if they make an error and then time goes past and we take them back and,
you know, berate them for something that they've done, um,
a lot of the time they look guilty and unsure,
but it's because they have no idea why you are so angry with them.
Because in their mind that happened eons ago. So, you know,
if you need to give them good information,
you need to do it in good time right when it happens so that your dog
understands what right and what's wrong with good clarity.
We don't need to be adding any stress and upset to dogs, um, you know,
just because maybe it makes us feel better in the moment.
Now that we've talked about some of the worst advice on the internet,
it's time for you to avoid the biggest mistake so that you don't make the
biggest mistake that new puppy owners make.
Watch this video right here on that note, I'm Ken. Happy training.