Michelle Goldner, A Wag N’ Time Companion Dog Training I would like to begin this article with a disclaimer. While I am a dog trainer with a number of years experience handling many different breeds and types of dogs, I still consider myself just barely scratching the surface of understanding – truly understanding canine behavior. Additionally, training and working with assistance or service dogs is a new experience for me – one that I jumped full-force into after adopting a retriever mix to rehabilitate and at the same time taking on the training support role for a family with a 6 year-old autistic child and an adolescent female lab. For a number of years I have pursued a path to teach common, everyday pet owners that their dogs can be so much more than just the family’s pets. I feel very strongly that as a species, the dog is better suited than any other domestic animal to be worthy of a higher level of respect and understanding. Dogs it seems have always been a tool of mankind whether to be a hunting partner, protector, or just companion. In modern times, the uses of some dogs have gone even further beyond these simple roles, and have evolved into the very definition of freedom for individuals with physical or emotional disabilities. There are many disabled individuals whose lives have been enriched by their working canine partners. But for as many successful partnerships, there are far more instances where a dog may be spun from a program and/or family due to inadequate temperament or training, or for the lack of resources needed to raise, train and support one of these special dogs. The adolescent dog is the picture of health and energy. This is especially true when considering the special care that goes into breeding and selecting dogs that have the potential to become assistance dogs. Only the dogs of the soundest mind and body are given the training necessary to handle the tasks faced by a working dog. But what defines the “ideal” dog for an autistic individual will vary greatly from what defines an excellent canine partner for a physically challenged individual. Further, the path to a manageable adolescent dog must begin with the basics applied by the puppy raiser. This article will attempt to create a receipt for the creation of a completely trained dog. From puppy to young adult, a dog is a sponge that, with the right plan, can develop into an animal with a lot of scope and adaptability.

The Puppy, 8 weeks to 9 months The following is a suggested list of behaviors and the approximate time to teach them. By introducing a number of behaviors very early on, the dog’s scope of “learning to learn” is greatly enhanced. Further, while puppy raisers are normally well-intentioned volunteers, often times their grasp of modern training methods can be greatly enhanced by support from a professional trainer. Dog training is both a physical and cognitive skill. A handler must develop timing and attention focus, while at the same time making quick evaluations as to why a dog is exhibiting behaviors (good and bad) and learning to anticipate behaviors before they happen. Always remember, that one of the most important things you can do is ensure your pup is socialized to many different people, places and situations. A man with a beard or a lady with a funny hat can be very traumatic for a pup that has never seen this. There are many texts written about the stages of development for dogs. They go through an infant, toddler, pre-teen and teen stage just like humans, but they do it all in one year. Find a good source of dog behavior development and learn how a dog ticks…it will make training much easier and insightful. For the novice dog handler, learning to use the clicker, as a training tool can be cumbersome, however, it is time well spent. The clicker allows you to “shape” behaviors at a very early stage, and because it also uses a food reward, helps to get a puppy’s attention, quickly and in a concentrated manner. It is critical that puppy raisers “load the clicker” or teach the pup what to expect when the click is heard (a food reward) as soon as possible. It is not that the clicker teaches the pup anything in particular, more that the clicker helps the pup “learn to learn.” When you acquire good timing to mark desired behaviors, the pup can quickly and easily be taught to respond to an unbelievable number of commands. It all starts by breaking every movement down into baby steps, then chaining these intermediate behaviors together to get a finished product. 8 weeks to 12 weeks Supply list: A clicker A bowl of highly desirable treats A flat collar appropriately fitted to the pup’s neck, with care taken that it is not tight A short lightweight leash for the pup to drag around A desirable toy with a squeaky (for breaks and play time) Take advantage of the puppy’s “window of opportunity.” Until they are about 16 weeks of age, puppies are a very clean slate. They respond extremely well to lots of stimuli (when it is presented in a reasonable manner) In this time frame, the pup should be taught to sit, come to its name being called, down and begin learning to wait. All this can be accomplished through clicker training. Practice sessions should be 10-15 minutes and should only introduce one new behavior at a time. Once the pup has begun to master several commands, previous learning sessions can be reviewed before introducing a new behavior.Sit – show the pup you have a food reward, put the reward near the pup’s nose and slowly bring the hand back over the pup’s head forcing him to follow the movement back. No command is necessary at this stage, and gravity and physics will actually do the work of teaching the pup to sit. As he continues to follow the treat, his tail will go down and his shoulders will come back. Once he has achieved the sit position, click and deliver the treat. Repeat these steps a number of times until the pup will sit with just a small hand movement, or as soon as the food is presented. At this point you can begin to verbalize the sit command so that there is a spoken command, then a click for doing it right and finally the delivery of the food reward. Down – once the pup is sitting reliably on verbal command, begin to teach down. With the pup in a sitting position, draw a line with the bait hand from the pup’s nose, down his chest (slowly) toward the floor. Once the bait hand reaches the top of the dog’s paws, draw the line out over the floor away from the pup. If during this process the pup crouches to reach the food, or puts a paw forward, click and reward. Continue to click the crouch or the forward paw for several tries. Once the pup will consistently crouch or put a paw forward, move the bait hand out a bit further. If the pup gives up or stands, replace the sit and start over. If the pup crouches a bit lower, reward again, until that level of crouch is consistent. Finally, pull the bait further away until the pup fully lies down. Depending on the dog this may take several minutes, or even several training sessions. Once the dog understands however, the handler will find that the dog will quickly lie down as soon as the bait hand begins to draw the down and out pattern. When the pup is consistently offering the full down, begin to add the verbal command. At this point, you can have the pup go back and forth between the sit and down by luring with the food and clicking the proper position. As far as I am concerned, the most important basic command is come. Not only that, it is the easiest thing to teach a little pup, and the worst thing to teach an older pup or adult dog. My favorite game is “Puppy in the Middle.” Recruit friends and family, load them up with very high value treats and a clicker, and everyone takes turns calling the pup and clicking and treating when he shows up on cue to his name and the word come. Easy! Additional practice is done in different places in the house, yard and as the pup matures in unusual areas (of course if there are no barriers to contain the dog, a long leash is used to make sure the exercise remains safe) Finally, no matter how aggravating a puppy may become, and no matter how many accidents you allow the pup to make (see where the blame is placed?) under no circumstances are you to call a dog and follow that compliance with anything but lots of praise and a food reward. It only takes one or two negative reinforcements or punishments to ruin the recall forever. Wait – there are so many uses for this command it staggers the mind! Wait to follow me through a door, wait to get your dinner, wait to get into a car…the list goes on. The two methods I use with very young pups include waiting for dinner and waiting to go out a door. Armed with a meal and a clicker, ask the pup to sit. Either have a helper lightly hold the pup’s collar, or the handler can do it herself. Verbally tell the pup to wait – remember, he has no clue as to what this means – put the bowl of food down, and as the pup pulls forward to reach the bowl, restrain him gently. Repeat the command wait and pull gently back on the collar to position the pup back into a sit. At some point the pup will relax, take a deep breath and sigh, or just stop leaning on the collar. This is when you click and say OK to allow him to eat his meal. Practice can be done by placing one treat at a time in the bowl, however avoid placing food on the floor since it is critical that a service dog not become a Hoover vacuum cleaner and understand that only food handed to him or in his bowl is his for the taking. Other things a pup should be learning in this time frame: biting at hands, feet, etc. is not acceptable at any time. Remove the temptation and either ignore the pup, put the pup in his crate, or substitute the undesirable target with a toy. Teach the pup to ask to go out, and to relieve himself quickly and in a contained area. Also of note, try to encourage the dog to relieve himself on a variety of surfaces, grass, rocks, concrete etc. Teach the pup to quietly accept being crated. Make sure the pup is only released from the crate when his is quiet and not asking (or screaming) for release. To be fair, make sure that relieving himself is not the cause of the noise. Let the pup drag a leash around where ever he goes. A service dog will spend most of its life on lead, so must accept this as part of everyday life. If there are cats or small children in the puppy raiser home, make sure the pup is discouraged from chasing, hunting and pouncing behaviors. All of these suggestions should be followed through the first year of the pup’s life. 12 weeks to 6 months If a trainer has spent the time teaching a pup the nuances of the clicker, and has gained solid control of the aforementioned behaviors, the pup will be prepared to move on to more serious training. It is important to note that developing a well-trained dog is a minimum of 6 months to a 1 year process…assistance dogs require even more training beyond this point to produce a safe, reliable assistance partner. Also important to remember, a pup is a baby, then a teen through this growth period, and as such needs a break from regimented training once in a while for play. Play is a critical part of teaching a young dog that interaction with humans is fun, rewarding and worth his time! By this time, a pup should be well acquainted with, and accepting of the leash. Going forward, a trainer must remember, that the leash is not a “slave chain” to drag the pup around with, but a tether to help the dog understand that’s its place is near the handler. To prepare for leash work, the trainer should have the following tools: A six-foot lead, preferably made of leather with a solid clip A flat collar A Gentle Leader or Halti head collar A fanny pack or bait bag with a supply of high-value, small training treats A clicker Lessons first begin with introducing a new tool to the pup, the head collar. Because these collars fit over the dog’s nose and around the ears like a horse’s halter, some dogs find them very distracting. To get the pup accustomed to wearing (and ignoring) this type of collar, begin by placing the properly fitted device on the pup during meal times. Just before putting the bowl of food down, place the collar on, and as soon as the meal is finished, remove it. Spend about a week or more if necessary allowing the pup to associate the collar with the rewarding act of eating. Time spent here will keep the pup from constantly trying to remove the collar in the future. Assuming the pup now accepts the head collar, begin by snapping the leash to the extended loop and letting the leash drag behind the dog. This feeling will be different from the earlier training period because now a slight weight will be felt from the pup’s nose. Ignoring the leash and any fussing the pup may be doing, begin training sessions by running through behaviors already mastered. Once you have the pup’s attention, pick up the end of the leash and place the loop over your wrist. Resist the temptation to steer the pup with the leash, and instead plan on using the lure of food and your voice to communicate. Exercises: Watch me, by heel, side, front, loose lead walking, turning wait into stay Exercise 1 – Watch me (eye contact) – This exercise should be very easy if the preliminary training has been consistent. Typically, each time the pup’s name is called; he should look to the handler for direction. The watch me command puts this behavior on cue and asks the pup to hold eye contact with the handler for longer periods of time. While a simple behavior to train, watch me can be critical to keeping the dog’s attention in highly distracting situations. Begin by having the dog sit or stand in front of you (Front is often used as a command to stand at attention in front of a handler for dogs who may work with wheel chair bound owners) Show the pup the bait and bring the hand with the bait up to the front of the handler’s face at the nose so that in following the bait the dog is also looking the handler directly in the eye. Once the handler gets the dog’s eyes to hold that contact for even a brief moment, click and treat. This exercise is to be repeated a number of times, and can in subsequent training sessions, be made more challenging by asking the dog to hold the eye contact for longer periods of time. Exercise 2 – By heel, Side and Front – These positioning exercises come in very handy when a handler is either lacking in the motor skills to manipulate a dog’s position, or in the case where a handler’s arms may be full (carrying groceries, a child etc.) In this exercise, use of the bait for luring will be important. It is also critical to note that although the leash can be used to position the dog for these movements, luring and clicking the right spot will result in a much faster learning process, and in a handler who is less dependent on the leash. Begin by luring the dog to a position in front of you…decide in advance whether this position will be sitting or standing and consistently reinforce that behavior. From where ever the dog may start, use the food and the handler’s body movement to position the dog straight in front, within about 6 inches of the handler’s knees. When the dog is in the desired spot, click and treat. To repeat the exercise, say the word release, move so that the dog gets up from its spot (or just moves in the case of a stand) and click and treat for moving on the release command. Then reposition the dog and begin again. When this movement is happening consistently, add the verbal cue, front. Once the front position has been mastered and the dog will reliably come and assume that position on a verbal command, move on to by heel. This is a very easy position and command to teach, however, it requires some fancy footwork on the part of the handler. Most novice dog trainers are so intent on “doing it right” that they refuse to use all the tools available to them in training…In this case your body movement is necessary to get the dog to understand how to achieve this position. Begin with the dog in the front position. Take the food lure in the left hand. Keep the right foot planted in its place, and simultaneously step back with the left foot and lure the dog to the left side of the handler. Once the dog is moving, use the lure to draw a circle from the left to the right (or think about reaching out to the left away from the body, then reaching slightly back, and around to end up reaching forward along side the body and bringing the feet back together) All this should be done in one fluid motion with the bait close enough to the dog’s nose to keep it following the hand. When the bait hand, and the dog reach a point even with the seam of the handler’s jeans, stop the forward movement of the hand, (be sure to keep it right at the dog’s nose) and then slowly lift the treat up and give the sit command. If all has gone well, the dog and the handler will be facing the same direction with the dog sitting parallel to the handler on the left side. Once the sit is achieved, click and treat. Repeat this exercise by taking a step forward, turning to stand toe-to-toe with the dog and repeating the movement. Don’t worry about the verbal command until the dog consistently walks to the handler’s left side, walks a circle turning in toward the handler’s body and stops and sits even with the seam of the handler’s jeans. Once the movement is achieved, begin adding the command By Heel. Finally to add the Side command, repeat the same steps used in by heel, in mirror image on the right hand side of the handler’s body. In traditional obedience training, it was not typical to work a dog on the right; however, a service dog needs the versatility to position itself wherever its handler needs it to go. Dogs are not good at generalizing, so both sides must be worked equally to achieve a well-balanced training session. Exercise 3 – loose lead walking – I am always amazed at how many dog owners never correctly teach their dogs to walk on a leash. One of my biggest personal pet peeves are dogs that pull their handlers around by the leash, straining for air because they have tightened their collars to the point of practically cutting off all air flow. This is where the Gentle Leader of Halti can really prove itself a valuable training tool. When wearing a head collar, if the pup pulls, all he succeeds in doing is pulling himself back around toward the handler and away from the target he is trying to reach…it seems that it on takes once or twice for the dog to give up this behavior. The most difficult thing about the head collar is getting the dog to wear it without fussing. Make sure to do your preliminary work with the head collar before clipping on the leash. Once the dog accepts the head collar, begin taking walks around neighborhoods, shopping areas, parks, and other busy places. Make sure you always have some high-value treats readily available. Begin by placing the dog on the left. Put the leash and the clicker in the left hand, and prepare several bites of treat in the right. Begin walking by stepping out and giving a let’s go command. The dog should readily follow, and more often than not, will try to surge ahead. If this happens, stop, call the dog to you and walk backwards a few steps while at the same time bringing the dog back into the heel position in the same manner described above. Once the dog is back in place, begin again, only this time, put a treat right at the dog’s nose (near the seam of your jeans) and keep your hand there, allowing the dog to lick at, but not acquire the treat. As you walk, continue letting the dog have a bit of reward from time to time – don’t withhold the treat too long, or the pup will lose interest and surge ahead again. At regular intervals, plan to stop your movement, give a slight backward tug on the leash (only enough to warn the dog you are about to stop) then stop your forward motion. At the same time, move the treat (still right at the dog’s nose) up and back to encourage the sit. Give the verbal command for sit. Repeat this exercise daily, in many situations and incorporate many stops and sits. Eventually the dog will sit without the verbal command. Also practice this exercise on the right as well as the left. Exercise 4 – Turning Wait into Stay At this point, your dog should understand the concept of wait. Wait when a food bowl is placed in front of him; wait to walk out a door a step behind you, wait when told to sit or down. The critical difference between wait and the new command stay is your proximity to the dog. With wait, often you are directly next to the dog, where as in the stay command, the idea is to be able to leave the dog – for an undetermined amount of time, and have the dog understand that he is not to move until released by you. Begin teaching stay by placing the dog in either the heel or side position. Give the dog the stay command and either point to his nose, or push your flat hand up to, but not touching his nose. Take one step out, turn and face the dog so that you are standing toe-to-toe. Several things can happen in the moments between beginning this exercise and your arrival at your position in front of the dog: The dog stays put – excellent – reach down, click and treat and tell the dog “good stay.” Count to 3 or 4, then return to your position next to the dog, so that you are both facing the same direction; give the release command and reward the dog. The dog moves to follow you – this is an understandable mistake – up to this point you have encouraged the dog to move off with you, so asking him to remain in place is new. If this happens, stop your movement, tell the dog “oops” or “wrong,” repeat the stay command and hand signal and try again. Don’t punish, but don’t reward the dog until he will stay in position while you change yours. The dog stays while you position your self toe-to-toe, but moves once you are facing him – again, not a big deal at this point, however, if you don’t correct this reaction now, you will forever be battling the movement. If the dog moves while you are toe-to-toe, quickly say “oops” or “wrong,” and use your hand to lure the dog back into the sit, without repeating the sit command. It is important to have the stay command be that last thing you say to the dog. Once the dog is sitting, repeat stay, count to 4, click and treat if the dogs stays put, say “good stay” then move back into position. Chances are this dog will move again when you try to reposition yourself. Stop what you are doing, lure the dog into the sit, repeat stay and keep trying to move back to position. If the dog continues to move each time you do, a stern EH, EH and a light pop on the leash can help remind him to stay put. It is critical to react to the dog moving immediately…if you are slow, and the dog has time to wander about, you lose the effectiveness of the exercise. Once the sit stay is confirmed, begin making the exercise difficult by increasing the time the dog needs to stay still, and by increasing the distance between you and the dog. Your goal is to produce a dog that will stay up to 30 minutes with you sitting across the room. Note this is a far longer period then would ever be expected of a show dog, but it is a necessary component for a service dog’s training. Also of note, each time you practice this exercise, you must end the exercise by giving a release, or free dog command. Remember, when you allow the dog to get up, he should not jump and scurry about. His release should be low-key and organized. The same exercise pattern should be achieved with the dog in a down position as well.

Moving On The commands outlined above constitute the basics every young service dog should master before leaving the puppy-raiser home. More important, however, is that the dog performs these exercises anywhere at anytime and for a variety of handlers. To really proof your dog, make sure you allow all different types of people to handle him. Look for men, women and children with various tones of voice, size and skin color to help with your dog’s training. You have to teach the dog to be a generalist, a trait that does not come naturally. A young service dog must learn to trust humans, and must learn to learn. The successful service dog must also be non-reactive, and focused on his handler rather than the environment. Further proof of training needs to happen in malls, parks, other people’s homes, on public transportation, in offices and at public gatherings such as fairs and festivals. It is your job as a trainer to ensure that the dog will be comfortable and safe under any circumstance. Remember, this dog has the potential to provide freedom to a disabled individual and it is your job as a trainer to ensure the dog is always help and not a hindrance.