Look at this adorable face now. This is Mac, our 12 year old border Collie.
When he was about nine years old, he came into our family.
Now even though Mac had some training previous to coming to us,
we knew that we needed to give him motivation to listen to us.
We needed to teach him that we were worth listening to.
Now if you've got maybe a shelter dog or rehomed dog,
maybe a rescue dog or maybe you have an adult dog that you really want to start
some training with,
there are a few exercises that you can do with them to give them a good
foundation for learning. In today's video,
I'm going to show you three separate exercises that you can do to build
motivation,
to get more control and to really show your dog that you are worth listening to.
I'm Ken Steepe. This is Mac. Welcome back to McCann Dogs.
Here at our training facility,
we've helped more than 90,000 dog owners to overcome the same dog training
challenges that you have. So if this is your first time on the channel,
make sure you hit that subscribe button and click the bell for notifications so
that you don't miss out on the training that you really need.
We get all kinds of questions on our YouTube channel asking about when someone
should teach their dog a specific skill or how old their dog needs to be before
they can move on to their dogs next level of training.
The reality is after about 16 weeks old,
you can start to focus on all of your adult dog training skills. At that point,
you really need to shift your focus to your dog's level of understanding rather
than how old they are.
But there are a few really important things that you want to begin with because
when your dog has learned these skills,
you'll start to see that their obedience training goes a lot more smoothly.
Having a solid foundation of understanding about how to learn will really speed
up your training process and the whole thing will make a lot more sense to your
dog. So let's get started.
You really want your adult dog to understand that it's rewarding just being
around you, checking in with you,
paying attention to you and recently Kayl and I a dog sat for a friend and
because we had absolutely no relationship with this new dog,
there were a few quick exercises that we did with him and these are exactly the
same exercises that you're going to begin with with your adult dog training.
Yeah,
we're currently babysitting your dog sitting this little border Collie puppy
Final.
He's four months old and I want to make absolutely sure that I can get control
of him at any time, especially since he's not my dog.
So we're going to talk about three things that are going to make things a little
easier.
One of the most important ways to get control of your dog is being able to reach
down and take a hold of their collar if you need to pick them up or hook their
leash on,
and it's really common when you go to reach your hand down that the dogs will
play. Keep away on, they'll jump away from you.
Just sitting out of that arms reach.
So I'm going to work on teaching Final to actually choose coming close to me in
order for me to take his collar and I want to make this a really enjoyable
experience. So I have some really tasty treats in my hand,
which he is pretty keen about.
I'm going to put them on his nose and then I'm going to first draw him towards
me. So you'd ever want to reach out and grab your puppy?
That can be a little bit intimidating.
We're going to work the opposite direction.
I'm going to put the food on his nose,
I'm going to draw him in close and while he's snacking away,
I'm going to slip my hand underneath.
Take a hold of this collar once my hands there. Yes. Good boy. Yes,
I'm going to yes and reward multiple times. And as soon as I'm done feeding,
I'm in a let go because I want the most special part to be when my hand is
actually in that collar.
Now it's really easy to forget not to bring the dog close in.
So one of the little helpful hints we can give you is think about drawing your
hands so closely your body that your hand actually touches, touches your knee.
That way I can be sure that he is as close as he possibly can get before I go
ahead and take control. Good boy. Yes.
Now there's going to be a lot of times where I need Final to pay attention to
me.
So what I need to do is build a lot of value for his name's that when he hears
his name, he knows really good things happen.
So this is a super easy game that Tarley takes any time to do that really
teaches the dog to have a great association with their name.
So I have several pieces of food ready here and I'm literally going to call out
his name right while he's sitting here in front of me.
And then I'm going to feed him one second later. So it looks like this Final,
Final, Final good boy Final.
So it's really important that you say the name first and then you feed one
second later.
So what I'm doing is I'm associating his name with something really delicious.
I think he really wants to play this game again. Final,
Final man. Final good boy.
So the next thing that we're going to do is we're going to work through this
with distraction.
So Final is convinced that there is something good that there is something
delicious on the grass.
So I'm going to practice calling his name and I expect him to stop sniffing and
pay attention to me. And if he does, I'm going to yes in a word very generously.
If he doesn't, I'm going to help him out with some of these treats. Final. Yes,
I was just so, so I'm going to see what happens again. Final. Yes. Good boy.
Good. Okay. I'm going to make it a little bit harder here.
I'm going to throw some of these treats in the grass and purposely distract him
Final. So that was a pretty lousy response. So I'm going to help him out.
Final. Yeah, it's good boy.
So once I was sure that he was going to be engaged with me,
it took me a second to get his attention on the food.
I then said his name and then drew his attention directly towards me and again,
I'm not testing his name and crossing my fingers and hoping that he responds.
I'm saying his name and then showing him what to expect of him.
That was a good boy. You want to try it again? I'll check that out. Final. Yes.
Good boy. You figuring this game out. Yes,
and you'll notice I'm feeding several times. He's very close to me.
He's paying attention and I can even take a little of his collar to incorporate
that first game into the mix. Yes, that was so good, buddy. Good. Final!
Good boy. Now this particular dog loves treats,
but he also really loves to play with toys,
so I can also practice these same exercises using a toy as his reward.
We can play a little game of tug,
letting him know that I absolutely love what he's doing. Now,
you may have noticed that while we've been practicing these exercises,
I have this insanely long line on Final's collar and this is to ensure he can
have a little bit of freedom in my yard, our yards pretty big back here,
but then I still always have control so when I let him out to go to the bathroom
or I just want to come out and play with them, maybe play Frisbee,
I have this long line attached so that he can get about 25 feet before I need to
start to panic and then from there I can practice my response to name.
I can draw him in, take his collar, but this allows him to have some freedom.
But again, it makes sure that I'm always in control of my dog.
Another common mistake that people often make is they run towards their dog and
try to tackle them or catch them when they're not listening and we actually
suggest that you do the total opposite when you want your dog to come towards
you back away from them.
That will ignite your dogs chase drive and they'll be much more likely to run
after you. It's
Really important that your dog sees you as a good leader,
someone who's worth listening to it and not because they have to,
but because they want to. And to be a great leader for your dog,
you need to be three things. You need to be clear, consistent, and fair,
and doing stationary exercises, like teaching them to wait.
It's not only skill that you're going to use often,
but it's the kind of exercise where you have lots of control and these kinds of
skills are going to teach your dog to have a little bit of emotional control
with a reliable wait.
Your dog can sit in position as you go through the doorway or you go up the
stairs. Let's take a look at how you're going to teach this skill.
And this is the method that we're going to try to level up your wait training.
So this is the kind of wait that you're gonna use to keep your dog from barging
through doors or maybe in the parking lot.
You're going to ask your dog to wait before you let them out of a car or you
know, at any point in your walk you can ask your dog to wake,
wait while you pick up something and this is what you're about to learn next.
I talked a little bit about the city and start position in one of our earlier
videos and I'll link that above. But for this exercise,
you're going to start with your dog in at your side.
And we really want to build this wait for on a foundation of success.
We want to, in the early stages, we want lots of successful repetitions.
I want to make it easy for Funkee. So here's what we're going to do.
I'm going to tell her to wait and then I'm just going to wave my hand in front
of her face.
I'm going to step in front of her toe to toe so that she can't be wrong and she
can't go anywhere and I'm going to yes and reward her. Good girl.
Maybe I'll even move back while I remind her to wait. Good girl. Yes.
And I can reward her again for not moving.
Now what's really important about using this wait is that your dog has a
definitive ending. So when I'm done practicing my wait this first,
after this first repetition, before Funkee decides to move,
I'm going to use her release word, which is okay.
And that way Funkee knows when her job is over.
And I want you to be using that every single time you're working on this wait
exercise with your dog. After you've practiced that a couple of times,
you can make it a little bit more challenging for your dog.
So with Funkee Monkee,
maybe I'll tell her to wait and I'll step out a little bit farther out.
I can praise her from here. Good girl. Good wait. And then stepping, yes,
good girl. And reward her for a job. Well done.
Other things you might be able to do wait is wiggle your leash,
provide a little bit of distraction. Yes.
And then I can step back in and reward Funkee for remaining in that wait
position. And then when we're done, as I mentioned earlier,
I'm just going to tell her, okay, so that she knows she can move.
So now we've got a few repetitions in where I've returned back to side and she
knows how valuable it is to remain there in that waiting position.
Now with our wait using the McCann method,
we'll use a stay if we want our dog to not move ever until we get back to them.
But with our wait, we want to be able to release our dogs remotely.
So I'll ask Funkee in this case to wait and then I'll step away from her a
little bit. And now at any point, if she's made a great choice,
a tough distraction goes by, I can, yes, step back in and reward her.
But ultimately I want her to know that if I step out here that I can release her
at at any point in time. Okay, she comes to me,
she gets very excited when she hears that release word.
Now as we start to increase the challenges in the real world for our dogs,
it's really likely that they're going to make mistakes.
So this time I'm going to ask Funkee Monkee to wait,
but then I'm going to secretly lure her out of that waiting position.
What's really important is that if she makes that mistake,
I don't pull food out right away and lure her back to where she was sitting.
Remember,
we've spent so much time teaching our dogs that them making the right choice
gets them a food reward.
So I'll show you what happens when Funkee Monkee makes a mistake. Wait,
good girl. Good. So I'll just lure her out.
I say Mark that moment with my voice and I'm just going to guide her back to
exactly where she was. I'll show her how to be right. What a good sit,
good girl. Wait, and in the next time I'm going to make it a little bit easier.
So I have a moment to reinforce that. Good behavior, good wait, yes,
good girl, and now I can step in and use my food.
It's really important.
The two elements of that that you need to keep in mind are marking that moment
with your voice,
especially as you're getting farther away and that you show them how to be right
rather than pulling out a piece of food and guiding them back to where you think
they work.
You show them exactly where to be and then you can reward them after they've
spent a couple of seconds in that position. Now at the top of the video,
you saw us have the dogs lined up a few feet away from their food bowls and they
were all sitting in a wait in. Maybe that's a tough distraction for your dog.
So we're going to set that up and while you're training all of these exercises,
whatever you think is a tough challenge for your dog,
make sure you hang onto the leash.
The last thing we want to do is ask Funkee to wait,
put a bowl of food down and then she breaks the wait and then goes in,
gobbles down most of the food before we have a chance to interrupt that
behavior. So let's try this one. Wait and I'll go put the food down.
I'll try to make it as enticing as I can. Wait, good girl. Good. And again,
I talked about the timing of our yes, good girl. And then I can step in.
Remember with those dogs who really,
really love something like food or love to barge through the door,
you want to reward them in that stationary position more often than you let them
out. I'll show you what I mean. Okay, fine. Can you sit, wait, good girl.
And at the beginning you might even make it really easy. Yes. Good girl.
Just take one foot out the door. Good. Wait.
Yes. What a good girl. Good job buddy.
But it's really important that Funkee finds it just as valuable for her to
remain wait on the inside of the doorway as it is when she comes out.
Okay, good girl. Now,
one thing that all good dog trainers know is that taking advantage of natural
training opportunities throughout your day is really important.
Adding a little bit of a training exercise into the things that you're already
doing with your dog means that you can do these exercises more often.
More importantly,
your dog starts to learn that training doesn't only happen when you put on your
special leash and put on your bait pouch. On a side note,
we now have our McCann dogs,
Bait pouches available on our store check out McCann Dogs dot store to get
yours. But training can happen at any time in any location. For example,
I want you to portion out a little bit of your dog's meal,
maybe the breakfast or their dinner,
and work on this rule out exercise with them with a little bit of repetition,
you're going to start to see your dog making better choices when it comes to
using food in your training.
If you have a dog who you know leaps out to grab a cookie, for example,
when you're going to give them a treat this is a great exercise for them.
You can put the cookie in the flat, in the Palm of your hand,
and if your dog moves toward it, just close your hand.
And then when they offer to sit or they offer to back away a little bit,
then you can open your hand.
If they remain in that position or they sit or back away or you know,
take that pressure off, then you would yes and reward them.
It really is a great way to teach your dog to make good decisions.
It's actually something that we use in our training classes to reinforce it
down, for example.
And I thought using beyond your bed would be a great way to show off, you know,
relatively relatively stationary way.
How this game works and all you really need is a,
a bed in this case your dog of course, and some kibble or some food.
Here's how the rule of game is gonna work.
I've taken some kibble in my hand and I take it from Slam's ball and I'm going
to present it to him just like this.
And if Slam decides he's going to get up off of his bed to get those treats,
I'm going to close my hand.
When Slam decides to sit back and lie down and relax,
then I can open my hand again. If he remains in position,
I'm going to reward him.
Now if you have a dog that's super motivated by food it's hard to say what that
distance is going to need to be for you to find success.
But I wouldn't open your hand and immediately shove it in your dog's face cause
they're probably going to break.
But you do want to find the point where they need to think about it,
where they need to remain in position. You know,
maybe even check in with you as you're holding the food and then you can reward
them at that point. But I'll show you what I mean.
My first time that I'm going to show Slam this food, I'll just hold it out here.
Yes, good boy. And then they can reward them with that other hand.
I'll move it a little bit closer.
Oops.
Good boy. Very nice buddy. Good. So he's doing a really great job.
Now keep in mind I've chosen the lowest value food I know there is for Slam with
this kibble. So it's making it a little bit easier. But let's try it again.
Let's get a little bit closer.
Now Slam's trying to paw it. Yes. Good boy. What a good choice buddy. Very nice.
Oops. Yes,
he needs to remain in position. Yes, good boy. Oops.
I didn't make that much easier.
Now you'll notice Slam was having lots of success when I had my hand up nice and
high. When I brought it down to his eye level or even beneath his eye level,
it made it a lot more difficult.
So keep that in mind when you're introducing this game to your dog.
It's a lot easier for them to maintain position when my hands way up here.
But it's a lot harder when my hands Wade down beneath their eye-level cause it's
easier for them to get in and it almost looks like I'm presenting him with a
treat.
Now that you're off to a great start with your adult dog training,
you really need to switch up that in mindset.
Your training process isn't just about the great choices they're making.
It's also going to be about the good choices you're making and being a great
leader for your dog is a really important part of dog ownership.
I want you to check out this video where Kayl talks about some leadership tips
that you can make little changes you can make day to day for your adult dog
training or for your puppy training,
but these kinds of changes are going to make a huge difference in your dog's
listening skills. On that note, I'm Ken Happy training.