Category: Commands and Training

One of the reasons it’s important to remain engaged and aware of your dog’s behavior is because you’re trying to build a model to base future training on. For your current dog and the next. To do this, you have to spend time thinking about it, writing it down, and ensuring that you actually understand it. Otherwise the lessons will be lost and you’ll make the same mistakes again.

As a result, this particular insight is not something for the first time dog owner since it requires future knowledge. The insight is: the ideal strategy behind all dog training should be to mitigate issues before they even arise. You need to know where certain behaviors lead and either avoid them or control them to ensure your dog behaves properly. Thus the title of this post, “not even once”. I have another blog called Nothing Definitive where I’ve talked about this before on the human side specifically in relation to unhealthy eating and other willpower-based life improvements.

If you’re unable to stop a bad behavior, you need to recognize it right away and develop a strategy. Don’t shrug it off and don’t wait for it to happen a few more times. Behavior can set in quickly if you’re not careful. Recognize the behavior and the associated body language or triggers and catch it in the moments before it happens. Most people tend to scold after the crime is committed, but this is an amateur approach. You need to recognize the subtle elements that lead up to a bad behavior and intervene in those brief seconds. This will break the sequence and the dog will succeed at altering its behavior in a positive direction (assuming you give it one).

Unfortunately, this is hard to do as a first-time dog owner or a dog owner that didn’t pay close attention the first time around. You’ll make mistakes and be forced to deal with the fallout, but that’s perfectly natural. There are numerous behaviors that Ellie does that I should have stopped earlier on, had I known. Many of them seemed innocuous or even cute at the time, but  actually lead to behaviors that weren’t ideal. This is why it’s important to pay attention and ruminate on what you observe.

Increasing survivability over time by creating emergency commands and cultivating a cautious mindset

The first emergency command I taught Ellie was a bird call I mentioned briefly in the Off-Leash Training article. By cupping your hands and blowing air along the gap between your thumbs you can produce a very unique and loud sound. It alone should grab your dogs attention and curiosity. Once they come over, give them a luxurious and uncommon reward. It needs to outweigh whatever they’re engaged with and a normal treat won’t do. What’s especially useful about this command is that you don’t need anything special except your hands and a lungful of air. Making it ideal for an emergency situation where you might fumble trying to pull out a whistle or hit the button on your radio collar.

The second training exercise is what I refer to as “emergency mode.” I suddenly become serious and use a hushed, but urgent voice with Ellie. I attempt to “plead” or “reason” with her in a tone that humans would use in an emergency situation where they’re trying to escape a looming threat. This sudden switch sparks Ellie’s curiosity and she becomes surprisingly complicit as we quickly exit the park. I haven’t fully trained this behavior yet, but what I’d like to accomplish is an “emergency” command which results in a rapid exit from wherever we’re at without getting distracted. No stopping to sniff, no socialization, just a concerted effort to put distance between ourselves and some danger.

The third is a tool that falls more under “safety,” but I still wanted to mention it. I purchased a cowbell for off-leash training and hikes. It’s a lot louder than the jingle from her collar and helps keep me aware of her position. Often times when off-leashing she ends up behind me and the cowbell alerts if she were to chase or disappear from sight. It was also useful indoors during the puppy stages when she would get into trouble more often.

Last up is a safety related style of training. I am intentionally severe about certain indiscretions because I am considering both the present moment and future possibilities. I demand a level of compliance because I can imagine situations in which disobedience could result in serious injury or death. In a particular slice of time it might seem overly controlling, but when you switch your focus to long-term goals it’s fitting to set strict boundaries. This applies primarily around busy streets, exploring outside acceptable areas, not returning to “come” or the emergency call above, etc. It’s about being cautious and thinking ahead. An example is the seriousness with which I take chasing small animals. It’s a serious offense because she could potentially chase them into the street when we’re off-leashing. I don’t actually care if she chases them, but I am forced to train her to avoid future consequences.

UPDATE 2016-11-07: Ellie lost track of me in the park tonight and ran away. It was scary, not only because I lost complete control of her, but because it was so unusual. She’s never done anything like that before and for a few seconds I thought I might not be able to catch her. Fortunately, it occurred to me as I chased her, that I had designed an emergency call for this exact situation. I cupped my hands and blew and saw her come to a halt a distance in front of me. I blew it a second time and knelt down like I used to when she was a puppy. She beelined back to me and I breathed a sigh of relief. I believe this call worked because it’s entirely unique. Ellie has never heard anything like it and it has only ever originated from me. Unlike her name, yells, whistles, and other noises, this call has a specific meaning to her and usually a high food reward. In the dark of night, when visuals are unclear and sound can bounce around, this call stopped her in her tracks and returned her to me.

Train early, rigorously, and exploit the benefits of puppyhood – it doesn’t last forever

I adopted Ellie between 7 and 8 weeks of age started with off-leash training immediately. This meant she had freedom in the park to run and play while also learning commands and boundaries. It was important to do this as a young puppy for a few reasons:

1. Puppies are easy to manage – they can’t go far, they’re generally more timid and will stick by your side, and they’re just easier to manage overall. This means there’s inherent trust and you don’t have much to worry about it while training. It allows you to stay focused on what you’re trying to accomplish without thinking they might bolt or disappear.
2. I was especially energetic and motivated to train – I’ve wanted a dog for a long time and getting Ellie was an exciting new chapter in my life. I made sure to exploit those positive emotions by training, socializing, and learning everything I could during those first couple months. Off-leashing was a great part of this because I was patient, confident, and accepting of failure.
3. It builds a foundation – Ellie learned what was acceptable and off-limits within a safe setting during those early months. This would have been much more difficult to train later on when she was faster and more independent. Take advantage of it before it’s too late.
4. As a bonus, park rangers didn’t seem to care that she was off-leash. Puppies seem to get a free pass because they’re so awesome and adorable. Take advantage of that as well.

Between all these things, those first months are basically the golden age for off-leash training, but off-leashing isn’t always a good idea. Ellie has gone through phases of varying obedience and after 4-5 months of age she started to become more independent and I could no longer trust her. This lasted for awhile, but eventually through all the other training we did, she became trustworthy again. During that period though I tried a few partial off-leash options. Initially it was simply a second cheaper leash that I allowed to drag on the ground behind her. It served as a possible life-line I could grab or step on if I thought she was about to run. That worked for awhile, but eventually she became too fast, wanted to explore too far, and was running away too frequently. So I purchased a 25-foot lunge line which gave me more time to catch her. It also has a rubber stopper on the end which means you can step on it and stop a runaway dog in their tracks. Please note however you should absolutely NEVER do this with a collar. She wore a harness from day 1 to avoid neck injury and stopping a dog in their tracks with a long leash could be very dangerous.

Ellie is now a little over 1 year of age and, for the most part, those early months of training helped instill the basic lessons of good off-leash behavior. Unfortunately I don’t off-leash at the park much anymore because, once your dog grows up, park rangers are much more inclined to warn and cite you. Instead we’ve turned to off-leash training in quiet neighborhoods (which is a bit of a challenge in the heart of Denver, but they do exist). I would be really uncomfortable off-leashing without those initial months of training and having to start fresh on sidewalks would seem much more dangerous. The major point to walk away with here is that without that initial foundation it would be highly risky to start training off-leash capabilities on sidewalks. I needed to instill those initial lessons with her in a wide-open safe environment like a park before I could trust her on sidewalks with cars passing by.

How can I achieve successful off-leash training?

Choose an ideal time to train – The ideal time to train off-leash is after your dog is worn out. For instance, Ellie may only off-leash a small portion of our walk to the dog park, but a high portion on the way back. She’s tired and well socialized so a dog across the street won’t seem as appealing. This isn’t a permanent thing either. You’re exploiting their low energy to teach them basic lessons and eventually you will be able to off-leash in both directions without worry. I also off-leash any time vehicle and foot traffic is low. Sunday mornings, certain holidays, right after a rain storm, or during a snow storm we off-leash like crazy because there a few distractions and dangers.

Teach “cross” and the danger of roads – Another helpful lesson to teach is the importance of a “cross” command and the off-limits nature of roads. The “cross” command happens at crosswalks and is very strict. Early on it meant she must sit before we cross the road. Sometimes this meant standing awkwardly at a corner waving on cars as I stubbornly insisted Ellie sit and give me eye contact. Eventually I lightened up as she got better and now we comfortably pause at crosswalks and proceed once I give the signal. I’ve also made sure to scold any walking into streets and especially if she runs across them. All the fun ends immediately and she is crated if she runs across a street. There is no room for error and it must be taken seriously. These lessons have helped stop Ellie in her tracks when approaching roads and even stopped her from chasing another dog into a road (luckily there were no cars). I also learned a good addition to the “cross” command by bringing out a treat on the other side of the street, leading her 10-20 paces beyond the road (down the sidewalk) and rewarding at that point. The idea being that “cross” doesn’t end right away, it ends when there’s distance between her and the street.

Teach “no chase” and “leave it” training for critters – One area of foresight I had early on was to teach Ellie not to chase squirrels, birds, and other critters. The original idea was that one day we would go hiking and I didn’t want her chasing animals into the woods. However, it became rapidly apparent that this training was even more useful off-leash. Now Ellie doesn’t chase or pull towards critters and I always make sure to continually train her to leave them whenever they cross our path. You might think it’s mean to block her instinct to chase, but on the flip side we’ve had some really fascinating interactions with small animals. We’ve gotten within 2-3 feet of squirrels and geese, a few paces from rabbits, and made some feline friends as well and Ellie just stares curiously at them without lunging or barking. In my mind the trade-off of not chasing is well worth it.

Be stern, be clear, be confident, and be vocal – when you’re off-leash training you need to be especially loud and clear. You need to pay attention and confidently express yourself. Off-leash training should be taken seriously and be a deliberate training exercise. Say “no” and mean it. Set boundaries, be cautious, and be preemptive. If you suspect they might run, chase, or become frightened, trust your gut and leash them quickly. Don’t take chances, it’s not worth it. Don’t let your dog fail off-leash either because failure, despite how we conceptualize it as humans, may become learned behavior for the dog. For instance, a dog approaches and you don’t catch yours from running up and saying “hi.” You brush it off, but it happens a few more times, and now the dog has learned that this is an OK behavior. This is a dangerous path and you need to be strict and set unbreakable boundaries. I also recommend training your dog to sit and let other dogs pass-by without interaction. This will help them learn that you alone get to decide who they encounter and will be more willing to accept a safe signal then making the decision for themselves.

Always reward “come” and passive returns – before seriously off-leashing your dog you should be training the “come” command. If your dog doesn’t want to come back to you off-leash training is much more dangerous. Work on that first. I also reward passive returns where Ellie comes to me without being told to. Just being by my side is “good” behavior regardless if I asked for it or not and she’s rewarded for it. I also instruct her to come off-leash to show that I want her near me, but it doesn’t always result in getting leashed back up. This is another important point to drive across and bleeds into theoretical territory. I have a theory that being on and off-leash regularly makes her more complicit because she knows that more off-leash freedom will happen. I also give her lots of freedom on and off-leash to explore and be herself and I think that helps make the dog want to come back to you, more willing to obey, more willing to leash up, etc.

Emergency call – I also taught Ellie an emergency call I make by cupping my hands and blowing air through them. It sounds like a bird call and is unique to us. Every call is rewarded with the best treats I have and I strictly reserve it either for training or for what it’s meant to do: save her life. During our training sessions with it, I’ve managed to stop her in her tracks and return to me because of the special high reward nature. Hopefully I’ll never have to actually use it but it’s nice to know it’s in my arsenal.

Using commands off-leash – It’s important to train like normal when off-leashing. This will drive across the importance of obedience regardless of whether they’re leashed or not. It also helps keep their attention on you and improves eye contact from a distance. Ellie actually “checks-in” with me regularly when we’re off-leash to make sure I don’t get too far or to make sure I’m still following. You should also be cognizant of your dog’s current mental state. There are times when Ellie is very obedient and off-leashing is easy. There are other times when she’s hyper or in her own little world. You can test this by issuing random commands during a walking session to make sure they’re listening. Gauge their response and try to determine whether off-leashing is a good idea. The random commands also test this along the way and if they start to become more disobedient, then it’s time to leash up.

Pretending to off-leash – If you’re nervous about off-leash training you can test in the middle-ground by pretending to off-leash. This simply means keeping the leash loose, chasing your dog to avoid it restricting them, and instead issue commands to convince them to comply. If they listen and work with you without being forced or pulled around by the leash, that is a good sign that maybe you can trust them off-leash.

Lastly, off-leash training provides a useful metric – once you unclip your dog and let them run free you will quickly realize how well trained your dog actually is. When they’re on-leash you can’t necessarily tell this and how well they’ll respond to commands, come back, stop from a distance, etc. It helps expose those weaknesses so you can focus on training them.

Off-leashing is a wonderfully positive experience for both dog and human. Walks are fluid, unrestrictive, and free. I find them to be significantly more positive than leashed walks and it’s generally more fun and playful. Learn to recognize when off-leash training is optimal and begin working with your dog to increase trust. Start slow and work up so you have realistic expectations about what will happen. You shouldn’t unclip them and not know what the next minute or two will bring. It’s a serious training endeavor with excellent rewards if you’re willing to bear the responsibility.

Disclaimer: Ellie is a fairly lazy and timid dog. My off-leash experiences may differ from your own. I also have a fairly good grasp on dog training overall and may have other knowledge and insights that make our particular case more successful. Be smart about off-leash training. It can be dangerous if not taken seriously. Even though Ellie does really well, I NEVER off-leash her near busy streets. I am extremely attentive and cautious when off-leashing and you should be too. Protect your furry friend because they don’t know any better. You have been warned!