The Off Command Or Dont Touch That Thing Youre Thinking About Touching

By Suzanne Harris

The way you train "Off" is a perfect example of the positive reinforcement mantra: Any behavior will increase with reinforcement, and any behavior will decrease without reinforcement. "Off" is a lot of fun to teach your pup, and its very helpful in many situations.

Some people use the phrase "Leave it" instead of "Off", but it means the same thing. Use "Leave it" if you prefer. Either way, "Off" will get your dog to

* stop jumping on people
* get off the couch
* stay away from that chicken wing on the sidewalk
* wait to grab something until you give the OK

If youre training a young pup, youll be amazed at how quickly he learns "Off". As a matter of fact, most pups under 5 months pick it up in less than 10 minutes. Thats not to say they will respond to it in all of the various situations listed above in that short time. But if you practice the following exercise in a wide variety of situations, locations, and distraction levels, your pup will master even these in a matter of 3-4 days.

Dogs older than 6-7 months often take a little longer to get it, but dont give up particularly in your first few trials. If you, the human, are patient and follow these instructions exactly, youll see the same wonderful results even with your older dog.

"Off" means "Dont touch that thing youre thinking about touching." We will also simultaneously be teaching him "Take it", which means "OK, now you can touch it".

Step 1: The "Off" and "Take It" Exercise

Put about 10 pea-sized soft pieces of food in your hand. Any meat will do, or soft cat or dog treats cut into pea-sized pieces. Crunchy kibble pieces take too long to chew for this exercise.

Sit on the floor or crouch down to your dogs nose level. Hold your pup back from you with your non-food hand, and hold your food hand out 1-2 feet in front of his face at his nose level or below his nose level.

Now once and only once, command "Off" as you open your food hand and let go of your pup.

When your puppy lunges for your food hand (very likely), simply close your hand. Do not repeat the word "Off" or say anything else, and do not move your hand around. Your pup will likely chew on your food hand for a few minutes, trying to get at the food.

Simply wait silently until he gets distracted or bored or for any other reason stops touching your hand for an instant.

The instant he stops touching your food hand, quickly say "Take it" and deliver one piece of food to his mouth with your non-food hand.

Repeat this exercise 10 times until your hand is empty. You are allowed to command "Off" only once during each trial, so for 10 exercises, youll say "Off" a total of 10 times. Just remember not to speak at all after you have commanded "Off" the first time until he moves away and you say "Take it."

Your pup will chew and paw at your hand for shorter periods each time before he chooses to move his face away from your hand, allowing you to say "Take it" and give him a treat. This shows that he is learning that moving away from your hand is the fastest way to get a treat.

Over the 2-3 days, practice a set of about 10 trials (as described above) several times daily, each time in a different room in the house or better yet outside in a low distraction area. Each trial, add tiny (1/2 second to 1 second) increments of time to the time between his moving away response and your "Take it" food delivery. By the second day you should also be withholding your "Take it" delivery until he has moved at least 5 inches from your hand.

Note: Some pups will sit when you say "Off". This is OK for the first day or two, but we dont want him to think that "Off" is just another word for "Sit". After the first day or two, try to train him out of his sit response by delivering the Take It treat just before he sits.

He may also be sitting because youre holding the food too high. Your food hand must be at his nose level or below nose level.

Never give your pup a piece of the food while he is touching your hand, nor before you have said "Take it". You may deliver the food to his mouth only while he is not touching your hand.

Step 2: Adding Distance and Time to "Off"

When he can hold his "Off" for at least 5 full seconds in several different locations inside and outside, alter the exercise in the following way: Command "Off" as usual and wait for him to move away. Now wordlessly open your food hand without saying anything.

If he holds his "Off" while your hand is open for 2 seconds, say "Take it" and deliver several treats one at a time, praising throughout because he just accomplished something big: Learning that no matter whats in front of his nose, "Off" means "Off" until you say "Take it." Gradually add more time and hand distance to each trial.

If he does not hold his "Off" for 2 seconds while your hand is open, its because most pups think that when you open your hand, thats the same as you saying "Take it". It is not. So if you open your food hand and he lunges for the food before 2 seconds have passed, quickly and wordlessly close your hand before he gets to your hand and wait again for him to back off. Once again, open your hand and wait without saying anything. If he lunges again, quickly close your hand again. Do not let him reach the food! This may go on for a while - you open your hand, he lunges, you close your hand and wait, he backs off, you open, he lunges, you wait, etc.

After a while, a light bulb will go off in his head and hell figure out that he must hold his "Off" until you say "Take it" even though there is an open hand of food in front of him. When this happens, hell hold his "Off" for the 2 seconds, and you may say "Take it" and deliver several treats one at a time to reward this wonderful accomplishment!

"Off" Generalization

The goal with "Off" is to get him to back off no matter what the item is and no matter where he is. Once he can hold a solid "Off" for 10+ seconds with your hand 10+ inches away at or below nose level in a wide variety of locations inside and out, youll start to lower your food hand toward the floor, 1 inch per trial, until he can hold a solid 10 second "Off" with your open food hand on the floor.

When hes mastered that, its time to try "Off" with food on the floor that you are not holding. This starts out the same way as before but now you simply put the treat on the floor instead of holding your hand open. The first few times you try this, dont stand up. Remember to practice this in a wide variety of locations inside and out before you move to the level of standing up which food on the floor. Its also a good idea to vary the distance between your dog and the food each time.

If he lunges for the food while its on the floor, hurl your entire body on top of the food to prevent him from getting it. Yes, Im joking here but dont let him get to that food before you can clamp your hand or foot down on top of it! We cant have him learning that hes faster than you are, can we?

Add distance from the food and add time from the food. Whenever you feel your pup has accomplished a very difficult feat, dont hesitate to reward him amply with several treats delivered one at a time with great praise and fanfare - he deserves it!

When Can I Use "Off" for Jumping, Couches, and Chicken Wings?

Once youve accomplished a 5 foot "Off" for 20 seconds, his response should be reflexive and you have earned the right to use the "Off" command for jumping, couches and chicken wings on the sidewalk. Congratulations!

"Off" is also excellent preparation for "Stay", which is also trained by showing your dog that the profit arrives when he displays self-control. As a matter of fact, Ive trained many dogs the "Stay" by simply combining a strong "Off" response with the command "Off-Stay" and gradually fading out the word "Off", but thats the subject of another article, here or at http://www.dogdaysUSA.com.

For more great dog and puppy obedience articles, go to http://www.dogdaysUSA.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Suzanne_Harris

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Training Your Dog To Come On Command

For the next couple days start randomly saying the word “COME” in an upbeat happy voice anytime your dog looks at you and quickly give him a treat. Then go about your business again and ignore him. The idea is to teach the dog to associate the word “come” with something good, hence the treats.

Once your dog is eagerly anticipating his cookie after you command “COME” then start doing this when he’s not looking at you, maybe even a few steps away. With any luck he’ll whip around and start looking for that treat he’s expecting. Good! He’s got the idea. Take a few steps back which will encourage him to come toward you then reward him with the treat and go about your business again.

It’s a good idea to always touch the collar first before giving the treat. If your dog gets loose outside you’ll want him to easily accept you taking hold of his collar when he comes to you.

Now we can start adding a little more distance and distractions to the mix. Call your dog when he’s across the room, then in another room, then move on to calling him when he’s slightly distracted. Always be sure to reward him when he gets to you, and mix up the treats every once in a while to keep him on his toes. Varying the amount of treats he gets upon his arrival to you is also a good idea . If he’s not sure if he’ll get one treat or three then he’s more likely to rush over to you quickly each time you call.

Start with low expectations and then raise them as your dog progresses. It’s unfair to expect a dog who’s only being in training for a week to come when called off leash when outside and distracted. If he hasn’t been trained in such conditions, then he won’t respond. Start in low distraction environments like the living room and then work up to more distractions as your dog becomes more and more successful.

But shouldn’t he be coming to me just because I call, not because he wants food?

In the beginning it’s up to us to teach the dog what the word COME means. Using food treats for this make the process go much faster and helps the dog to learn easier because he’s more motivated to focus. After your dog is reliably coming when called every time, even around distractions, then you can start to wean him off the treats and only offer them for extra quick responses or when he’s highly distracted.

Important Points

Use a leash! This will give you greater control over the situation. It’s a good idea to let the dog drag around a six foot lead so if he decides to ignore your call you can simply pick up the lead, give it a gentle tug and encourage him to come to you.

Never give a command you won’t enforce. If you command him to come, then you better make it happen should be choose to ignore you. Allowing him to do so is only teaching him that he doesn’t have to obey your commands every time. Either help your dog to make the right choice if he is still learning by backing up a few steps to encourage him, or pick up the lead and give a gentle tug to let him know that come means come NOW.

Practice make perfect. Plan on doing at least fifty repetitions at each stage before moving on to add more distance or more distractions. Don’t rush it, make sure your dog is consistently responding before moving forward and expecting more of him. Asking too much to soon will only cause frustration for both you and your dog.

Use small treats. No need to break out the big milk bones for this exercise. Small, smelly treats should do just fine. The smellier, the better. Tiny pieces of beef jerky work very well and are easy to keep in your pocket.

Ann Griffin runs a pet resource website at CentralPetz.com, a place for pet owners to find dog training articles, contests, dog forums and more.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ann_Griffin

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Dog Training Command

Dog training command: How to speed up training results from home. Dog training command to teach Your Dog The Right Way. Dog training command is the importance of drive and temperament. Dog training command "Its like having a whole new dog!” But now enough from this highlighting and take some more informations.

Training

Training is about communicating with your dog. Training your pet to stay will help in numerous situations – often combined with the “sit” command that is shown in this article. Training your dog to obey commands is an important part of pet ownership. You have to take it seriously.You have to be the Boss of your dog.

Command

The dog training command you give your dog must be short, clear and defined, as well as well articulated avoiding words that end the same way which would end up just confusing the dog. And that is not what we want. The dog should understand what you want to tell him.

Here is an example for a dog training command:

Sit: While facing the dog with either hand extended and palm faced upward, flip up the fingers with a quick wrist motion.This command tell your dog to be in sitting position. Sit and Stay are used in conjunction with many other commands.

Teaching these dog training command will help you to take control over the dog, although there must always be a cordial communication between you and your dog so that the “the best friend” does not feel afraid and turn into some type of "robot" that does not show or get affection.

Owners often make the mistake of showing their dog that it is acceptable not to come back to them if he is busy sniffing and exploring the environment.

Dog training commands are essential in taking charge of your dog and becoming the leader of the dog or even you have more than one dog. Dog training command enrolling your dog in a training class or train him at home is a vital part for your dogs education. More Infos to traain yourself klick here

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Dog Training Teaching Command Words

Command words:

Make your command words have meaning. Dogs have the ability to learn a lot of language. It is important to know that when you begin your obedience program you save certain command words to be used only when the dog is on leash and when you are planning on backing up the command should it fail. The reason being is that you want these words to have a lot of meaning to your dog. If you tell your dog to come while they are off-leash somewhere (before they have been off-leash trained) and they do not come you have just destroyed the meaning of that word to your dog because they know you cannot catch them. You can of course use these command words off-leash after you have completed the obedience program and have a dog that is off-leash trained. But when your dog is just now learning the words they have to have a serious meaning to them.

Bottom line is that if you want your dog to listen to that command you would have had to very consistently made that command have meaning. In order for that command to have meaning you begin to use that word only when they are on-leash and you are doing a training session and teaching them in that moment. Use another word to call your dog to you should you find yourself in the early stages of training and your dog is off-leash but not yet trained well. For example, say something like: "hey pup" to get your dog to come rather then use the word "come" because we are saving that word for use only when we have our dog on-leash to back up the word should they not come. That way, whenever they hear the word "come" they know that that is a serious word that they ALWAYS have to come for, no exceptions.

When we use our command words only for the times that we are going to make sure that command is completed then we have now made those words have a lot of meaning to our dogs.

Commands where you say dogs name first. You always want to say your dogs name to gain their attention onto you before saying the following Commands: (because here you are asking them to do something so you want to gain their attention and keep their name positive)

1. "Sit"

2. "Down" (this is for laying down, not for jumping on you)

3. "Stay"

4. "Come"

For example if your dogs name is Fido, you would say, "Fido, Sit".

Commands you do not say the dogs name first DO NOT say the dogs name when disciplining or trying to stop a behavior because you do not want the dog to associate their name in a negative way:

5. For example...say "Quiet!" When trying to stop barking but do not say name first.

6. Say "Off"! When dog is jumping on you.

7. "Leave it"- use this command for things you NEVER want your dog to take in its mouth.

Adding words to the "No" command.

It is a good idea to add words to your no commands so that you are not only saying the word no. Examples: "No Bite" "No Chew" "No Sniff"

Other Commands:

"Give"- say this command when you want your dog to drop something from their mouth and give to you.

"Release"- this command is used when you are telling your dog it is ok to end their obedience and they can be free until you ask them for something again. This is a very important command because it distinguishes between when they are to be serious and listening to your commands and when the lesson has ended. (I have a whole article on this for you to read on my website: www.webdogtrainer.com)

Dogs can learn many words so keep them challenged by adding more and more. You can give all your dogs toys, balls, bones, etc. names. When giving your dog the item, make sure you use a name to describe it every time so they can learn it. For example: "Find your chew bone!" "Go get your duck". "Get your ball". "Find your Kong".

Have fun with your dog and teach them lots of language!

Julie Bjelland Lokhandwala is founder of webDogTrainer, LLC. and has created the interactive Online Dog Training Guide and Consultation http://www.webdogtrainer.com

You can ask Julie any dog question!

"Julie had an immediately calming effect on us as dog owners. She can explain the canine perspective and how we as humans can interact with our dog in a positive way, even when disciplining. Julie was super patient with all of our questions and even fielded our email questions after training ended," said Sina and Ed of Fremont, California.

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