At My Dog’s Got Class, we love to give people who are passionate about their relationship with their dog some simple tips to strengthen that relationship! We start by assessing what we can do to help our dogs understand us better. Sometimes frustration from both parties in the relationship stems from not speaking the same language… and it’s true because we don’t! As humans, we may find it difficult to get our dogs to understand us when we speak in a language that they do not. So, at My Dog’s Got Class, we try to help people learn how to speak the language of dogs.
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The most useful tool in dog training is something that every dog parent has in their toolbox; it’s our own bodies! Dogs learn and understand things more visually than auditorily; so when trying to get your dog to do something, we recommend thinking about what your body is saying first. In group classes at My Dog’s Got Class, when we teach something new to the dog, we always start off silently. We make sure that the dog understands our hand/body cues first before we add the verbal cue. In teaching ‘Down’, for example, we lure the dog into position nose to toes first, over and over. While doing this we make sure that our hand cue looks the same when there is a lure in it, and when there is not so when the time comes to remove the lure, our hand cue has not changed. Then, we practice many times without the lure to make sure the dog really understands that hand cue. Once the behavior is patterned with the hand cue, we can then add the verbal cue. The reason we wait to add the verbal cue is to ensure the dog completely understands the hand cue and then it can be paired with the auditorial cue. If the understanding of the hand cue is not present, the connection to the verbal cue cannot be made. Once the connection between visual and verbal is made, the next step would be to start removing the visual cue. If the connection does not happen, this is when we find ourselves repeating verbal cues and getting frustrated. We can simply remind the dog with our visual cue for success!
Another way our bodies are a useful tool in training is for ‘Recalls’. As humans, it is a simple instinct to run after someone or something that we are trying to catch; however, dogs are very aware of spatial pressure. If we run after them in hopes of trying to catch them, we often find ourselves initiating a chasing game. This is because when we run after them, we increase our spatial pressure onto them. Instead, we should run the other way or shuffle backward while facing them. This encourages them to follow us and come play our game instead. The backing up of our bodies decreases the pressure and actually makes them want to come towards us! Once they are on their way to us we can start getting our treats ready to reward them when they get to us.
There are many other ways we use our bodies in training whether it be for visual cues or for spatial pressure. For ‘Stay’ we use a stop sign hand as a visual, for example, but for jumping, we would use spatial pressure. Come to a group class to learn more tips on how you can use your body as a tool for training! Our current class schedule can be found on our website: www.mydogsgotclass.com
DOG TRAINING
My Dog’s Got Class, 830 Rte. 202/206 Bridgewater, NJ 08807
908-334-1043