Okay.
Getting a new puppy or dog is a very exciting time.
And I look forward to the time when I can go out and explore the world with that
four legged family member.
There's nothing I like more than being able to simply go for a hike,
let my dog enjoy these wide open spaces and go for a run, no leash,
just letting them sniff, enjoy the world. But the moment that leash comes off,
they're free to make all the decisions.
Oftentimes in our haste to give our dogs too much freedom too soon,
the dogs don't have the skills to understand how to listen.
When they're out in the big wide world, without that leash attached.
In today's video,
I'm going to give you three skills that my dogs must have before I ever think
about unclipping that leash. I'm Steve. Welcome back to McCann Dogs.
In our minds, we feel our dogs will just stay with us. I mean, they love us.
We give them food. We give them great comfy beds,
but the reality is dogs don't actually work that way. Dogs are self-serving.
They do. What's most rewarding to them in the moment.
That's one of the great things about them. If it feels good, they just do it.
The problem is some of those things that feel good can either put them or you in
danger and having the ability to redirect them and get refocused on you is key.
Before I ever give them that kind of freedom We've all seen or experienced that
happy-go-lucky dog running towards us,
full steam with that owner behind them calling their name frantically over
and over and finally yelling. It's okay. He's friendly.
As he comes over well-meaning to say hi to you and your dog Having a solid
response to name is the first skill that my dogs must have before I ever think
about unclipping that leash.
So how can you develop a great response to name with your dog? Well,
let's head inside and I can give you some tips on how you can start building
that great response to name, right?
Good
dogs.
Teaching your dog to respond to their name.
Every time is all about associations and creating a positive association with
that sound because that's all it is to the dog.
It's a sound so saying your dog's name and then giving them a reward and saying
your dog's name and giving them a reward and repeating that over and over and
over is going to help them understand there's value for that sound.
Rewards come in all sorts of forms. You can use food to reward your dog.
You could use a toy to reward your dog or your praise in your pet or play.
All of those things are things that are motivating to your dog and your dog may
prefer one over the other. Oftentimes though food is a great currency to use,
to build quick response and keep dogs engaged. Now let's look around.
I am in a sterile environment with very few distractions with one of my dogs who
yes is already trained. But here's the thing. To all you people who say,
well, of course, it's a trained dog and there are no distractions.
That's exactly the point.
Good dog training is all about setting up your dog for success and then
repeating that success over and over and over again. And that's,
what's going to solidify their understanding of what to do when they hear those
commands.
So what's our first step creating an association of value with that response to
name. So Final's here. I've got him on leash. I've got some great treats.
I'm just going to say his name and feed him.
Final. Yes. Good final. Yes. Final. Yes. Good final.
Yes.
I have food in my hand. He knows I have food in my hand,
but he's starting to pair it together. That when he hears his name,
good things happen. Final. Now I can do the exact same thing with the toy.
I've got his toy here. He absolutely knows I have it again. That's the point.
I'm going to say his name. He's already looking. I'm going to say yes.
And we're going to have a party. Get it, get it, get it. Good boy.
Excellent job. Good. Good.
Yes. Good boy. Yes. Good. Excellent job.
Yes. Good boy.
Now obviously he's not actually responding to his name. He's looking at me.
He is just learning that good things happen. When he hears that sound.
So how do we make it harder? Well, after a few repetitions of that,
I'm just going to let them look around the world and the moment his eyes leave
me. I'm going to say his name. Of course,
because of the association I built through those earlier repetitions.
He's going to go wait a second.
I know that sound and I know that good things happen. The moment he does.
I'm going to say yes, I'm going to get up my food and reward.
I can get out my toy and reward or I can just take off and run and play with
him.
All of those things are going to build his understanding that good things happen
when he hears his name.
Yes. Good boy. Hooray. Excellent. Good boy.
Good boy. Yes. Good boy. What a good puppy dog.
Hooray. Good job. Okay. Final. Yeah. Oh, good try. Okay.
Here's a perfect example of what often happens.
So there was something he looked out over there and I said his name and he kind
of checked back with me,
but then looked at that distraction again and almost didn't respond.
It's important how we follow through at this point.
I don't want to keep saying his name over and over and over again and give him
the opportunity to ignore that.
So all I'm going to do is repeat his name one more time and then either give him
a little touch or a little bump on the leash.
And then I get yes and I can back away and I can praise.
What I'm not going to do is repeat his name and not do something to ensure that
he does respond. How I'm going to help him though,
is I'm going to move a little bit further away from whatever that sound was or
that thing that got distracting to him to help him be a little bit more
successful. Again,
good dog training is all about setting up your dog to be successful more often
than not. So take a couple of steps away.
Final. Yes. Good boy. That's what I want. Excellent boy.
Good job. Hooray.
Now,
I'm gonna give him two or three treats for that because he worked really hard at
that one. So again, I'll move a little closer Final.
Yes. Good boy. That's what I want. Good job.
Excellent work. Ha. That's better good job.
Yes. Good boy.
Step that we make from here is a really, really important one.
And this is where most training falls off the rails.
People think because their dog responds so well in these quiet and
distraction-free environments that they can go outside and they're going to get
the exact same response from your dog. That's just not the case.
We've got these distractions out here on the floor.
And as we were working through these early stages,
we added a new one each time to add a little bit more level to the distraction
while keeping the dog successful every time.
And you may find that's a little give and take. As your dog is able to respond,
adding a few more distractions. That's getting a little bit too difficult.
Move a little bit further away or.
Remove some of those distractions. But it's important.
Now we take this foundation and apply it in much more distracting environments
outside.
We've done some of that foundation training inside in a really quiet environment
at the time to make it harder. Now we've done a couple of things.
I've gone to a space that's still quite controlled. It's a fenced yard.
You can use any sort of area. And I'm also using a long line.
Now I want to give my dog a little bit of room to explore,
but still be able to work closely if need be.
So I'm going to let him explore final. Yes. Good boy. Good puppy dog.
Excellent job. Now again, he got distracted by the world. I called his name.
He turned, yes.
And then I can praise and reward and I'm going to adjust that as he can be
successful. So if he gets a little too distracted, I'll work a little closer.
If he was successful, like he was there.
I'll let them have a little bit more freedom.
Okay. Let's go final.
Yes, good. Excellent boy. So again, one call. He turns,
I yes. We have a little reward.
Okay. Final.
Yes. Good boy. What a good job. Good. Get it. Get it, get it good.
He had a great response on that one. I'm going to have a little party with them.
I'm going to have him a little tug and play good.
Basically as he's more successful Final.
The more freedom he gets and I'm helping them to be successful each and every
time.
Yes. Good boy. Good boy.
Good boy. Hooray. What a good puppy dog.
Still a very interesting things to your dogs and being able to use your voice to
redirect them away from those things is really crucial and their safety and
their ability to function in the world.
Things like animal droppings and garbage or even sticks.
If the dogs get into them can be pretty darn dangerous,
teaching a solid leave it, which means turn away from what you're looking at.
And check back in with me can really help in those moments when they do get
distracted by things out in the real world.
So I've got my two dogs here back on leash.
We literally just talked about distractions in the world and we've come across a
part in this field where there's a lot of activity.
It looks like a lot of coyote activity and it looks like they've had a little
meal over there.
So this is stuff that can come up when you're out with your dog. And again,
the moment that leash is off they're free to make those decisions.
There was obviously a deer that was here at one point.
So being able to use my voice to redirect them away from these distractions is
so important when they're out in the world.
It's not always the distractions that you can predict.
It's stuff like this that is just going to happen. How do we teach?
Leave it with this high level of distraction?
Well that teaching doesn't out here.
It starts inside with some really basic distractions.
Leave it as another command that might August really need to understand 100%
before I ever think about taking them off leash and letting them run free.
I want my dogs to be able to respond to my voice and turn away from things that
they shouldn't get. You know, we saw it in the park. There,
there are things that will come up in your dog's life that you really need them
to turn away from. Whether it's a little dog or a big dog, like skye here,
it's really important that we teach them these commands.
I especially focused on this with my big dogs because let's face it.
If she wants to do something, there's not much I can do to prevent her.
She's 130 pounds of big, strong dog.
And if she wants to pull on a leash and yank me somewhere, she's going to.
So I really focus on these foundation exercises and these quiet environments to
help her understand what to do out in the real world.
So what can you do to start teaching your dog? Leave it right now? Well,
we're in this again, very quiet environment with very low distractions.
And I'm going to set some things that are somewhat interesting out to her.
And I'm going to show her how to respond to that command.
I've got some great food with me. This dog really likes food.
I'm going to let her look at these distractions.
And then I'm immediately going to give her that we'll leave it command.
And I'm going to turn her away with the food and reward her and move away.
This is again, building the association that when you hear this command,
here's what?
Leave it yes. Good. Excellent girl. Good job.
Good girl. Hooray. What a good puppy dog. Leave it, yes. Good. Leave it.
Yes.
Now I want to highlight something really important there that time I got the
"leave" out and her head was already starting to turn around. She went, Oh,
wait a second. When I hear that I'm supposed to turn and move with the person.
That's exactly what I want from her. We condition the response. Two, three,
four times.
She starts to anticipate that the reward is coming when she hears that command.
Dogs will start to pick it up quickly if you're consistent about it.
Obviously Skye is a trained dog and she understands this command,
but I've worked on this since the day that she came home.
The point I'm trying to make here is doing these steps with your young dogs is
what's going to show them what to do.
So once they're starting to get this sort of response and learn to turn,
when they hear the command, I'm going to test her a little bit. Okay.
And you can do this with your dog. Once you've done several repetitions of that,
leave it lure, come up towards these distractions and say,
leave it and see what happens if your dog responds,
which chances are they're probably going to,
because you've conditioned that response. You're going to say, yes,
you're going to have a party and you're to reward them.
Leave it. Yeah. Excellent. Good job. A good puppy dog.
Good girl. That's my girl. Leave it. Yes.
Good, excellent work. Good.
Obviously we are in a quiet environment and we're using distractions that are
really static. We can control how close and how distracting they are,
but she started to get a response and understand what I want her to do.
So this is when you can start to make it harder. And with you and your dog,
once you get to this point,
don't be afraid to make those distractions a little bit harder.
Try the same thing outside where again,
you're controlling the distance from the, and if.
It goes South, don't worry about it.
Move a little bit further away from those distractions and help your dog to be
successful.
Good girl.
Probably the most important command that my dogs need to have 100% before I ever
think about letting them off leash. Okay.
Is a recall or a come command and come has a very specific meaning to me,
it means literally turn on a dime the moment you hear it and run back to me as
fast as you possibly can.
God dogs right here. Excellent job here.
Get back here.
One of the foundation steps that you can do right now to help build your dog's
response to that. Come, come in. As I mentioned outside,
I have a very specific meaning for the word come.
It is my emergency command and it means run back to me as fast as
you possibly can. The moment you hear it.
And I can't tell you how handy it's been in my dog's lives over the number of
years that something came up that I didn't see,
or they got interested in and for their own safety,
they had to run back to me so that I could gain control of them. Foundation,
exercises,
or games that we play for our recall can really make the difference between one
that has the dog running back to you really, really quickly,
or just kind of ambling back on their own sweet time,
making it fun and making it a game is what builds the drive. Now, again,
we're going to use some food. You can definitely use a toy.
You can use whatever motivates your dog most,
but we're going to build an association with that come command.
Now it's similar in response to the hearing, the dogs, hearing her name,
but what I'm going to do to make it even more fun and build that drive is the
moment she does respond. I'm going to take off and run and never chase me.
And we're going to have a little party. Now. I've got food here, ready to go.
And I'm going to let her know that I have it. And I'm going to get her excited.
Are you ready? Are you sad? And when I feel she's excited and interested in me,
I'm going to say, come and take this hand away. I'm going to take off and run.
Nice. That's excellent. Good girl. Very nice. Hooray.
What a good girl. You get to get it, get it, get it, get it right.
Good. I'm going to move back. I'm going to do it again.
So I take a hold of her collar. Are you ready? Are you set?
Do you want this thing?
Yes, good. Excellent girl. Good job. Hooray. Very, very good.
And you can see, she loves this game. She loves to chase.
She loves to move with me and she's building that association.
And when she hears that command, she needs to get to me quickly.
[Inaudible].
If your dog happens to be more toy motivated.
Of course you can incorporate that into this recall game as well.
This dog loves to tug.
So I'm going to show the same thing and I'm going to take the exact same steps.
I've got a hold of her collar. I'm going to show her that toy.
And when she's good and ready, and I feel her pushing into me,
I'm going to say come. I'm going to back away and let her have a party.
Ready? I said, yes. Good girl. Excellent, good girl. Hooray.
Want a good puppy dog. And again, her reward.
Having this great tugging play.
Now that we've done some of those recall foundation games inside,
we're going to make it a little bit more distracting. Again. We're outside.
I've got a leash on,
but we're not out in the free world where he can go anywhere,
but the leash is there to keep him focused on me.
I'm going to get my great treats out and we're going to play that restraint
recall game. Are you ready? Are you set come? Yes. Good boy. Excellent.
Very good boy in there. Bring him in real close, move away and do it again. Oh,
you ready, buddy? Are you ready? Are you set? Come . Yes. Excellent. Good boy.
Hooray what,
and you can see how excited he's getting and learning to respond really quickly
and drive into me. It's important that you take the time to teach your dog.
At least these three skills have them really solid in their understanding.
Then you can afford to give them that kind of freedom.
There's nothing better than going for a walk and having your dogs go for a run
and simply enjoying the world. But it all starts with that foundation.
Training on those three important skills. As professional dog trainers,
we know the importance of teaching all of these foundation exercises so that
underdogs are reliable when off leash. And if you'd like one of our McCann Dogs,
instructors, to answer your questions and give you advice for your dog,
check out our life skills, online training program.
The link is in the description below. Now, if.
You have a young dog that you're still working on those.
Walking unleash foundation skills.
Check out that video right there,
where you can learn how to change the rules on your walking. And on that note,
I'm Steve. This is Jett. That's Final.
Happy Training.