Lesson 3 Homework | Audax K9 Academy

Lesson 3 Homework

Teaching the Bed/Place Behavior
The process of teaching new skills
Luring the sit, the stand and the down behaviors
Teaching Duration
The 3 D's: Duration, Distance, Distraction
Bonus Material
Continued Practice
Tricks, Tips & Equipment recommendations

Step #1: Teaching the Bed Behavior

I want my dog to think their Bed is the BEST treat button ever. I shape this behavior solely through positive reinforment. I use NO leash or e collar pressure in the teaching phase. I want my dog to LOVE this and view it as their safe place. Down the road, I can proof my bed behavior by applying correction for leaving and getting off the bed. However, there are generally DO NOT correct my dog while they are on their dog bed.

Example: Say I cue my dog to go to their bed and then I cue them to do a down. My dog gets on the bed, does the down and then pops up. I generally will not correct my dog for breaking the down. I can address this off of the bed at a later time. In this example, I can communicate to my dog that their change is incorrect ("No") but I would not leash correct or e collar correct my dog here. If you do, you can poison your cue and your dog will likely start to avoid the dog bed and view it as a place of punishment.

The Process of Teaching New Skills

Download this PDF for step by step instructions on the order of operations for teaching any new obedience skill utilizing the process of luring.

Push Ups are the down and stand position.

Step #2: Teaching Positions:

The 3 positions covered in class are Sit, Stand and Down.

Sit
Stand
Down

Remember, when teaching the down, your dog must be standing up and we lur them nose to toes into the down.

I put a stand between every sit and every down my dog executes until it becomes natural. I do not ask my dog to go from a sit to a down without luring the stand in between. This strengthens my dog's core, creates good form and reduces the risk of injury over the life my dog.

The work is worth the reward for me and my dog.

Remember to shape the behaviors by having your dog follow the lure in your hand.

Focus on achieving the correct behavior each time before adding the verbal cue before your lure.

Speak. Then Act.

Step #3: Teaching Duration In Each Skill

Remember the steps:

Good (then food),

Good (no food),

Good (then food),

Yes and then chase for the food.

The 3 D's in training

Duration
then
Distance
then
Distractions

Teaching an Implied Stay, Using the Three D's

Food For Thought:

I frequently get asked, why obedience? with the implication that obedience is boring or unnecessary. Many people want to move on to their frustrations and their dog's problem behaviors. Before we can address the big problems, we must first have reliable communication and reliable obedience. Once we have these two things, we can use them to teach our dogs to do obedience behaviors to replace the problem behaviors. This is significantly easier than trying to punish away unwanted behaviors.

We can also communicate when they are doing something naughty. What behaviors does your pup do that may frustrate or annoy you? How can you use obedience behaviors your pup knows to stop the rehearsal of the frustrating and annoying behaviors? Need help figuring it out? I would love to help. Shoot me an email or ask at our next class.

Bonus Material

Shaping Basic Obedience Skills

Step #4: Continue Practicing

1. Continue conditioning your "Yes" marker.

2. Practice straight lines with the nose push into your palm

3. Practice building duration in the sit and now on the bed.

Good (then food), Good (no food), Good (then food), Yes and chase for the food.

4. Don't name it until you love it. Save the verbal cue.

4. Practice the focus exercise. Reward each rep from your face.

5. Add movement and chase immediately after your yes marker.

6. Non Reinforce unwanted behaviors. Think: “Be Boring”
No means nothing for up to 10 seconds. No Food. No Toy. No Reward. No Lure!

Recommended Equipment

Flat Collar for identification, normal wear and learning new skills
6 foot lightweight leash: Biothane or leather is our preference
Tug toy
Training Collars are valid for many dogs. What equipment we recommend depends upon the dog in front of us. We will guide you through the best match for you and your dog and then teach you how to correctly use it.
All dogs still need a flat collar
Training rewards (food initially)

Tips, Tricks & Favorites

We prefer using our dogs' kibble as their training rewards in low distraction, easy situations, like at home.
For high distraction situations (like class), we move to higher value rewards like Pet Botanics Training Rewards, Happy Howies, Beef Liver, a tug toy, etc.
I prefer to teach new skills on a flat collar so my dog is more willing to try. Remember, we are teaching the dog to follow the food in your hand, not to withstand leash pressure. The leash is a tool to keep your dog from leaving the training session. The leash is NOT a tool to make your dog to the obedience at this stage in the teaching process.