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)

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 same exercise pattern should be achieved with the dog in a down position as well.