SCIENCE-BASED DOG TRAINING (W ITH FEELING)

Day 1: How to prevent the many behavior, training and temperament problems that are
caused primarily in puppyhood yet are seldom manifested until adolescence and
adulthood — housesoiling, destructive chewing, excessive barking, separation anxiety,
fearfulness, dog-human and dog-dog aggression, hyperactivity, lack of attention and
compliance.
Day 2: How to use our voice to transcend laboratory-generated learning theory and
revitalize the spirit and soul of dog training in this sterile quantum world of clicks and
kibble and jerks and shocks
Day 3: The quickest and easiest way to teach reliable, off-leash verbal control at a
distance, with distractions and without the continued use of training aids
Day 1 — WASTING PUPPYHOOD!!!
— FAILING TO PREDICT & PREVENT ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS

History
Off-leash, puppy socialization and training classes caused a paradigm shift in
competition/working dog training
Pre 1981: Obedience vs. Pet Dog Training
— People
— Breeds
— Syllabus (goals)
— Six E’s — Ease, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Enjoyment, Efficacious and EXPEDIENT
Pet Dog Training has become a more dog-friendly and owner-friendly place but …
standards have dropped as we have moved away from quantification and assessment.

Wasting puppyhood!!! — Failing To Predict & Prevent Adolescent Problems

Nothing new — so old that’s it must become new again
Such obvious, yet neglected, common sense
Puppy socialization and training are both easy and enjoyable but pet dog training is all
about preparing puppies for adolescence, when everything seems to fall apart.
We are not doing one tenth of the training, one hundredth of the socialization, or one
thousandth of the classical conditioning required to provide puppies with the manners,
confidence and social savvy and to successfully navigate adolescence.
Not even close to fully capitalizing on the opportunities of early puppyhood,
yet we are still surprised when dogs develop utterly predictable and preventable,
behavior, temperament and training problems during adolescence.
Prevention is quick and easy but treatment can be difficult, time-consuming and
sometimes dangerous and of course, sheltering and re-homing is expensive and sad.

We must “PREDICT and PREVENT” Puppy/Adolescent problems

Behavior Problems:
Housesoiling, destructive chewing, excessive barking, & owner-absent problems
plus Separation Anxiety

Temperament Problems:
Lack of Bite Inhibition, Fearfulness & Aggression (Biting & Fighting)
Absolutely NO EXCUSES for fearfulness or dog-human aggression
Preventing Dog-Dog Aggression is becoming more difficult
as opportunities for off-leash dog-dog socialization become more and more restricted.

Training Problems:
Lack of Attention & Compliance
Hyperactivity

Dog may be taught manners at anytime

Socialization and acquisition of Bite Inhibition must take place in Puppyhood
Behavior Problems must be prevented in Puppyhood #1 Terminal Illness
Practical Stages of Development
Stage One: Birth – 8 weeks in original home,
Stage Two: 8 – 12 weeks in new home,
Stage Three: 12 – 18 weeks in puppy class
Stage Four: During adolescence (18 weeks –> 2-3 years) in the world at large.
Stage Five: Adulthood

Common and Predictable BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

Puppies need to be raised indoors with plentiful human contact

Developmental Stages One & Two:

Raised according to Open Paw’s Minimal Mental Health Requirements for Puppies
Comfort, Companionship, Entertainment & Education
Housetraining, chewtoy-training, socialization and manners training programs must be in
place as early as possible so that prospective owners may at least start with a
housetrained, chewtoy-trained and socialized puppy that at the very least has been
taught to come, sit, lie down and roll over on cue.

Long-term and short-term confinement schedule

effectively prevents the development of expected and common problems, including:
Housesoiling, Destructive Chewing, Excessive Barking
and Home Alone and/or Separation Anxiety problems.

Introduce the 1-2-3-4 of Lure/Reward training with:

Go to Bed/Crate on Cue
Pee/Poop on Cue
Off – Take it (chewtoy!) – Thank You on Cue
Woof - Shush on Cue (lures for shush — sniffing, chewtoy!)
SPECIFIC REDIRECTION: Outside! Chewtoy! Bed! Shush! Sit!

Owner-absent Problems
Physically, Functionally & Mentally Absent Problems
Separation Anxiety — Jekyll & Hyde environment
Differential Diagnosis cf. Owner-Absent Problem

Neuroses, Stereotypies, OCDs — nb. self-medicating

#1 BITE INHIBITION
Not that urgent but sooooo important
Four Stages:
1. No Pain
2. No Pressure
3. Mouthing OK until requested “Off!”
4. Dog may never initiate mouthing

Severity of Biting Classified by Wound Pathology — 6 Levels

Severity of Fighting Classified by Fight:Bite Ratio

Prognosis for Rehabilitation of Biting and Fighting Dogs

Easy and harmless or difficult and dangerous?
Temperament Tests? Reactivity or danger? Killing/adopting wrong dogs
Bite Inhibition/Socialization Quadrant

#2 SOCIALIZATION & HANDLING BY PEOPLE

The puppy must be maximally socialized and handled & Gentled at each stage before
entering subsequent stages:
Stage One: Birth – 8 weeks in original home,
Stage Two: 8 – 12 weeks in new home,
Stage Three: 12 – 18 weeks in puppy class
Stage Four: During adolescence (18 weeks –> 2-3 years) in the world at large.

By eight-weeks of age, the Critical Period of Socialization is nearly two thirds over
pups should have been handled/trained by at least 100 People, especially children and
men. Socialization is quite safe provided that the puppies are indoors and family
and visitors leave outdoor shoes outside.
Neonatal Handling & Puppy Handling — COLLAR, 2 ears, 4 paws, muzzle, goolies,
hugs and stares. SIMPLY NO EXCUSES!!!
Puppies must be well-socialized before they go to their new home. Puppies need
to meet another 100 People during their first month at home so that they are super-
socialized before attending puppy classes.

Puppy Classes are not intended for socializing asocial or antisocial puppies, rather they
are intended as a safe forum for socialized puppies to continue socialization.
Puppy classes should be taught entirely off-leash to maximize dog-human and dog-dog
socialization and the acquisition of bite inhibition and owners’ off-leash verbal control.
Puppy classes should include pups of all shapes and sizes. Any signs of bullying or
fearfulness must be resolved during the first session, since behavior and temperament
will become more resistant to change as each week goes by.

Puppies must be ultra-mega-super-socialized before encountering the world at large as

adolescents. Even though the pup may appear to be Mr. Sociable, classical
conditioning is the name of the game to enable the pup to successfully navigate
adolescence and become a confident adult dog. Without heavy-duty socialization and
classical conditioning, the socialized pup may lose confidence and become fearful and
aggressive surprisingly quickly.
BITING
Objectively Classify Wound Pathology 1-6
Quickly resolve Levels 1 & 2 (NON-problems) via CC and basic manners
Think about Level 3 (The dog is puncturing the skin!) Experience & Expertise?
Level 4 only if dog owned by compliant dog professional
SAFETY! Location, Assistant, Sacrifice, Protection,

NO FOOD BOWLS!
Use of food Mandatory as LURES and REWARDS
Feed only by hand for:
— Classical Conditioning
— Progressive Desensitization
— Basic Manners
Basic Manners, Behavior Problems & Temperament Problems

Classical Conditioning — food as REWARD only — home, walks, parks

Take time and do it every day until resolution
Otherwise DOG FORCED TO FACE BIGGEST FEAR EVERY DAY

Much quicker — using food as LURES and REWARDS

Treat n Retreat
CH-S + Treat
Stay-Retreat-Approach + Treat

HANDLING! HANDLING!! HANDLING!!!

now by Progressive Desensitization — basically, shaping classical conditioning
e.g., Nails clipped

Food Bowl Exercises & Valued Objects

Nb. Chelsea food bowl. The treatment is the Cause!

Delinquent Waiter Routine (Counterconditioning & Troubleshooting)

Hand comes to give, not to take

OFF - TAKE IT - THANK YOU

With dumbbell, plastic pipe, chewtoy/hollow bone on string
-> stuffed chewtoy or stuffed bone -> pig’s ear

Fetch and Tug

Makes dog more aggressive? Games with Rules

Off – Fetch - Thank You with tennis ball and Frisbee

Off – Take it – Tug _ Thank You with Tug Toy

DOG-DOG SOCIALIZATION
PREVENTION by off-leash puppy classes, dog parks and walks
— 3 unfamiliar dogs per day

Core Social Group

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING — essential from late puppyhood, throughout

adolescence and well into adulthood. CC essential and most effective while
puppy/adolescent is still friendly. Don’t wait for problem to develop at 6-8 months.
One-on-One
Stationary
On Walks and in Parks

JOLLY ROUTINE

Plus Behavior Pacifier

2 Steps backwards, CH-Sit and …
Watch (Stimulus Blocker) — Face, Hand, or MEGA SECONDARY

GROW L CLASSES
— To Control Dog in company of other dogs
— Classical Conditioning and re-socialization
Day 2 — SCIENCE-BASED DOG TRAINING W ITH FEELING

Learning theory — The study of tirelessly consistent computers training rats &
pigeons in cages
Severe constraints when inconsistent humans train dogs with options.

History
Thorndike’s Law of Effect
Learning Secrets vs. Methodology/equipment

Laboratory-generated learning theory — tirelessly consistent computers training

rats and pigeons that paw and peck (few hobbies) in cages (limited options)
What’s the Relevance? for inconsistent people training dogs with multiple interests
and multiple options

Please don’t panic, I am not being heretical. Our little book of learning theory is valid;
several hundreds of thousands of laboratory experiments cannot be wrong. Existing
learning theory is absolutely valid for when
Consistent computers use non-instructive, quantum feedback (kibble and
shock) to train rats and pigeons in laboratories.

Should we even try to emulate computer-generated learning theory when training dogs?
First, we cannot, and second, surely we can do better
Many laboratory schedules of reinforcement and punishment simply do not work
that well when people apply them to train animals (and people).
However, we are cognitively smarter than computers, (didn’t we build computers?)
and so, we can devise practical reinforcement schedules that are even more
efficient and effective and we can make non-aversive “punishment” work extremely
effectively

Computer Pros
Strict parameters, rigid criteria
Consistent monitoring
Consistent feedback — complicated reinforcement schedules & PUNISHMENT
Ongoing computing
Some Reinforcement Schedules highly effective at maintaining behavior
Punishment highly effective at inhibiting behavior

Computer Cons
Lacking in qualitative assessment
Some Reinforcement schedules cause inconsistent maintenance of behavior
Most Reinforcement Schedules cause little improvement in behavior
Feedback quantum and non-instructive
Feedback primarily consists of quantum rewards (clicks and treats) and/or (but much
too often, or), quantum punishments (shocks)
No relationship training
Learning Theory of caged animals w limited interests and options — practical
application?
People Cons — so many!!!
Unrealistic or unclear Criteria & Rules, e.g., dog’s name, or Sit (tomorrow)
Inconsistent (or lack of) observation
Inconsistent (or lack of) feedback — 2 per minute
Lack of ongoing computing power — cannot count fixed schedules let alone compute
variable schedules (later)
Hung up on Aetiology Why? Instead of What? eg. Aggression nb. Medical Model
Hung up on Terminology Psychogenic polyphagia, Idiopathic aggression, negative
reinforcement, positive punishment
Hung up on Theoretical “Discussion” sometimes in lieu of Training
Emotional discussion of REWARDS VS. PUNISHMENT
Has lead to Sectarian Fundamentalism, hence no binary feedback
Belief has become more important than Fact

People Pros
Qualitative assessment – pinache and pizazz
Instruction prior to task
Instructive analogue binary verbal feedback
Relationship with trainer and others (Classical Conditioning)
SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT

CR
Quick learning initially
but poor maintenance of behavior and no trial-to-trial improvement of behavior
Danger of behavior becoming food dependent with inconsistent responding,

Intermittent reinforcement (fixed and especially variable)

prepares dog to work a number of trials without reward

FI scalloping of quantity and quality of behavior

FR quantity up but quality down and Striking
WORLD’s WORK FORCE on Fixed Schedules!!!

VI & VR
great at maintaining behavior but no sufficient human computing power to be practical
Computing DEMO

RR Wonderful for human trainers!!! Great at maintaining behavior but no improvement

DR is the way to go!

Great at maintaining behavior AND speed and quality continually improve.
TEST — How many Responses rewarded out of 10 training trials?
CR, FI, FR, VI, VR and RR all reward as many below-average responses as above-average

PUNISHMENT
Criteria to protect us form our inconsistencies

1. Effective — Tautological nb. Command:Punishment Ratio

2. Immediate
3. Instructive
4. Punishment fit the crime
5. Must know appropriate behavior (previous training)
6. Warm first
7. Only ONE RIGHT WAY therefore more efficient
8. CONSISTENT EACH AND EVERY TIME

Plus DogCon (tomorrow)

ICONIC QUADRANT vs. BINARY FEEDBACK

Basically, Feedback is Binary

primarily, with Positive Reinforcement & Positive Punishment

Regardless of whether the stimulus is added or taken away (negated),

from the TRAINEE’S VIEW POINT, things get BETTER or W ORSE.

Negative Punishment & Negative reinforcement are rare and special cases.
Requiring longterm positive reinforcement or longterm positive punishment beforehand
therefore, THREE learning points
— Onset (positive), Duration and Offset (negation)

Negative Punishment
e.g., Time Out
Danger of onset of long-term reinforcement reinforcing inappropriate behavior
Danger of uninterrupted long-term positive reinforcement becoming distraction and
causing unruly behavior (necessitating negative punishment)
Usually negative punishment for grabbing dog’s collar
Wasted training time in solitary confinement
Positive punishment from dog’s point of view

Negative Reinforcement
e.g., horse whispering, ear-pinch retrieve, leash-dogs, torture
Danger of onset of long-term positive punishment for grabbing ear
e.g., trainer on Oprah
On thin ice with dog’s temperament with long-term positive punishment
Sometimes negative reinforcement when dog screams, struggles or bites

ID
Binary Feedback: R+ : P+ @ 10:1 or at least a 5:1 ratio
With occasional non-aversive R- (later)
And very occasional and extremely short P-
NON-INSTRUCTIVE QUANTUM vs. INSTRUCTIVE ANALOGUE FEEDBACK

WHY did we come to rely so heavily on non-instructive quantum feedback

(clicks, treats, jerks and shocks)? Of course, computers had to because they couldn’t
talk to, cuddle, or stroke their trainees. But just because computers had to use kibble
and shocks doesn’t mean we have to follow suit.

Whereas computers are brilliant at objective quantification and consistent immediate

feedback, computers lack the heart, mind and soul for complex qualitative
assessment and instructive analogue feedback.

We, though, have an eye for quality, cuteness, panache and pizzazz.
And we have LANGUAGE. We may teach dogs the meaning of words
to instruct them what to do and
SPECIFICALLY REDIRECT or REPETITIVELY REINSTRUCT them when they err.

Instruction gets dogs back on track QUICKLY

Eliminating FRUSTRATION, and AVERSIVE PUNISHMENT and ABUSE

Moreover, Verbal Feedback is ANALOGUE.

Allowing us to inform a dog:
1. Whether he gets it RIGHT OR WRONG
AND 2. How W ell he did or the Relative Danger of the failure to comply.
By using our voice in training,
WE MAY TRANSCEND THE TRAINING ABILITY OF ANY COMPUTER

Technical training is precise and wonderful (in a laboratory)

And it has its place when teaching technical skills and precision … but it is sterile.
“Give them a scalpel and they would dissect a kiss.”

For me, training a dog is all about establishing a relationship based on

CLEAR COMMUNICATION
UNDERSTANDING THE DOG’S POINT OF VIEW
and giving REPRESENTATIVE BINARY FEEDBACK with FEELING
— The Tango of Training — enjoying learning doing something together.

Some people might want to argue forever that softly-spoken, repetitive reinstruction to
single-cue compliance cannot be defined as punishment and that they are interrupters,
DROs, DRIs, repeated commands, or mindless nagging.
Not merely interrupters, DROs or DRIs because they are SPECIFIC
Nagging?
Repeated Commands? Learned Irrelevance?

Regardless of the discussion, the process works quickly and …

gives dogs a better quality of life for life

HOW TO MAKE NON-INSTRUCTIVE QUANTUM PUNISHMENT INSTRUCTIVE

e.g., leash correction, leash jerks, electrical stimulation and shock.
NON-AVERSIVE “PUNISHMENT”

Whoooo Hoooooo!

Far too many trainers have become sectarian fundamentalists, only accepting,
believing and practicing one half of our little book of learning theory —
either quantum rewards only, or quantum punishments only.

Many owners and trainers believe that all punishments are aversive and not
wanting to frighten or hurt dogs, they opt to use only reward-based techniques
— positive reinforcement and maybe negative punishment.

Other trainers believe that punishments have to be aversive in order to be effective

and so, only use aversive stimuli for positive punishment and for negative
reinforcement.

So many people have blithely dictated, “punishment is an aversive stimulus” that

we have come to believe that it is true. Punishment has become synonymous with pain
and retribution. Similarly the terms “correction” and “reprimand” have become
tainted as aversive or unpleasant. However, nowhere in the annals of learning-theory
does it state that punishment must be aversive, it’s just that computer-generated
punishments were always shocking. Surely though, we are not going to adopt schedules
of computer-generated shock as our model for education?

Learning theory defines punishment as:

A stimulus that decreases the frequency of the immediately preceding
behavior such that it is less likely to occur in the future.

In actual fact,
Aversive Punishments are rare
punishment by people need not be aversive to be effective
Therefore, punishment by people should not be aversive

AVERSIVE
YES NO

YES AVERSIVE NON-AVERSIVE

PUNISHMENT PUNISHMENT

PUNISHING

NO AVERSIVE NON-AVERSIVE
NON-PUNISHMENT NON-PUNISHMENT
Harassment/Abuse Nagging
Don’t think about beating a dog, a horse, or a child. Instead, think about softly spoken
instruction to correct mistakes when teaching a child to read, or when learning how to
cook, play tennis, golf, ski, or dance. Think about educating children and employees. You
don’t just zap them for not doing it your way.
Instead you clearly
instruct them how you would like it to be done and then
instruct them as to how they did
via calm binary, analogue verbal feedback.

LEARNING THEORY Redux

Four Aspects of Training

1. Increasing & 2. Decreasing Frequency of Behavior
3. Putting Reliable Absence or 4. Reliable Presence of Behavior on Cue

1234 Basic Training Sequence of Lure/Reward Training

1. Request, 2. Lure, 3. Response and 4. Reward
*Stand Still w Verbal Cue and
*Timing btw. Cue and Lure

Three Stages of Lure/Reward Training

1. Teaching ESL as Instruction -> 134
2. Self motivated and internally reinforced via Life Rewards on DR -> 13
3. Compliance without Coercion
— Specific Redirection + Repetitive Reinstruction

Response Reliability %

Binary Feedback
Desired Response -> DR Life Rewards
Undesired Response -> Verbal Redirection or Repetitive Reinstruction
Day 3 — OFF-LEASH LURE/REWARD TRAINING

Most owners quickly master puppy socialization, beginning lure/reward training and
beginning clicker training but few manage to finish the job and produce a confident and
friendly adult dog that is under off-leash verbal control w.o. continued need of training
aids.
Few people phase out lures and few phase out food rewards

Three Reward Training Methods:

1. Lure/Reward Training, 2. All-or-None Reward Training, 3. Shaping (with Clickers)

Basic Manners — Foundation of Off-Leash Reliability — Emergency Distance Sit

Basic Training Sequence

The science of lure/reward training pretty much comprises:
1. Request, 2. Lure, 3. Response and 4. Reward.
When asked, how to teach a dog to perform a behavior on cue, we always know 1, 3 and
4. The art of dog training is discovering the most effective lure.

MUST NOT MOVE WHEN GIVING VERBAL CUE

VERBAL CUE MUST PRECEDE LURE BY 1/3 TO 1/2 SECOND
MUST PHASE OUT THE LURE PRONTO!!!!
Using same item as a LURE and a REWARD will come to resemble a BRIBE once the dog
develops competing interests nb. Lures, Rewards, Bribes & Distractions
Bribing is kind of like trying to reinforce a behavior before it has happened, which of
course is impossible.
WHAT IF DOG DOESN’T LIKE FOOD?

THREE STAGES OF LURE/REWARD TRAINING

1. To phase out food lures
2. To phase out food rewards and replace with life rewards
3. To increase reliability by calmly persisting and insisting

Stage One: Teaching dogs what we want them to do. Teaching dogs ESL — English as
Second Language — English words for doggy behaviors and actions.
Food Lures -> Hand-signals -> Verbal Commands
Food lures are phased out once the dog learns the meaning of hand-signals (in the very
first session) and hand-signals (hand lures) are then used to teach the dog the meaning
of verbal commands.
Once lures have been phased out, the basic training sequence becomes 1–3–4.

Stage Two: Motivating dogs to want to do what we want them to do.

Food rewards (and clickers) are phased out and replaced with Life Rewards.
More-for-less, i.e., more behaviors for fewer food rewards
Differential Reinforcement schedule from the outset — only rewarding the dog for
above-average responses with better responses receiving better rewards and the best
responses receiving best rewards.
Life Rewards — Food rewards are phased out entirely and replaced with Life Rewards
especially the Big Two — W alking on-leash or off-leash and Playing with other dogs
Big Two Interactive Games — Fetch and Tug
Putting the Big Seven Behavior Problems on Cue — High-frequency behaviors
(often viewed as problems) are put on cue and used Premack-style as mega rewards in
training rather than becoming distractions that would work against training.
1. Jazz-up (Hyper) / Settle Down
2. Woof / Shush plus Growl
3. Hug (Jump-up) / Sit
4. Pull on-leash / Walk on-leash On-leash Reactivity… Growl Class
5. Take it (Grab) / Off + Thank you
6. Slow / Fast
7. Chase (Run Away) / Come & Sit

Once food rewards phased out & replaced with life rewards, the basic training sequence
becomes 1–3 as the behaviors are self-reinforced and the dog is internally motivated.

Stage Three: Even though a dog may understand the meaning of the verbal command
and has been motivated to the max. to want to comply, there will be occasions when it
doesn’t. However, there are infrequent occasions when absolute reliability is essential
for the dog’s wellbeing and safety.
Before hastily resorting to Aversive punishment …
OBJECTIVE QUANTIFICATION of PERCENTAGE RESPONSE RELIABILITY
= # Responses ? # Cues x 100

1. Dog Forgets Household Manners

SPECIFIC REDIRECTION

2. Dog Does Not Comply

CALM Persistence & Insistence on reliable response following a single request
1. REPETITIVE REINSTRUCTION as NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT (RRNR)
UNTIL EVENTUAL COMPLIANCE.
2. Then, Repeating Exercise until response immediately follows a Single
Request
Acts like a PUNISHMENT but is NON-AVERSIVE!!!!
Quickly eliminates undesirable behavior
Complicated concept, but … “behavior is complex” Dr. Jon Bailey

3. Dog Does Not Comply during Crazy Times

Reliability increased by Counterconditioning & Troubleshooting especially during
hard-to-control situations such as, mealtimes, visitors at front door, on walks

4. DogCon System
To protect and maintain Performance Reliability and Precision
1. Allows dogs (and owners) to chill out and relax most of the time
2. With the additional option of On-Demand Reliability and
3. Ultra mega high-reliability, precision and pizzazz on-demand.

DogCon 1-2-3 is simple, pretty cool and extremely effective.

Seven Steps of The Process
Basically, we want to create a dog that wants to stay close and so walks nicely on-leash
or off-leash but also has an emergency distance sit or down and a bombproof stay.
1. List the Rules and Verbal Commands and define each one
2. Always teach off-leash, so that physical prompts never become a crutch
3. Encourage centripetal attraction, so that the dog to wants to stay close
4. Teach and proof body position changes rather than positions
5. Teach and proof distance position changes as an emergency sit or down
6. Proof stays to be bombproof
7. Teach walking on leash

1. Define Rules and Verbal Commands

Rules — furniture, where sleep etc.
Commands — Sit, Down, Stand, Roll Over, Come, Heel, Quickly, Slowly, Woof, Shush, Off,
Take it, Thank You + Dog’s 3 names

2. Teach off-leash
• Quicker to put response on cue
• Physical prompts (hands, collar and leash) do not become crutches
• Progressive increase size of area (distance) and distractions

3. Centripetal attraction
• Position changes — stay close
• Following — trails, courses & open field plus hide from puppy
• Back–up — recall a freebie
• Run Away (Chase) — come here and sit a freebie

4. Body position changes

• Teach position changes — an infinite number for each position
• Always work with a minimum of 3 positions — randomize w Stay Delays
• Proof signal-only and verbal-only, i.e., no food lures or rewards
• Distance Commands (1234 in play or Stay->Stay)
• Sit Test

5. Emergency sit or down

• Integrate Distance Sit or Down into walks and play
• FOUR options after sit: release, come, stay, and approach & put on leash
• Freeway Sit/Recall — volume and tone mean urgency and better rewards

6. Proof stays
• Duration, Distance & Distractions
• Progressive proofing — praising frequently
• Emergency distance commands for Instructive Reprimand

7. W alking on leash
• Following off-leash
• Heeling off-leash
• Heeling on-leash and THEN … Walking on-leash
Why Lure?
Training is all about changing the frequency of behaviors but especially, putting the
reliable presence (e.g., Sit) or absence (e.g., No Bark) of a behavior on cue — verbal
cure. Off-leash verbal control is what owners want and need to control their dog at
home, in parks or on walks.
Lure/reward training is by far the quickest way to achieve verbal distance control
without the continued need for any training aid. And that’s really what training is all
about.

• Since the behavior precisely predictable, the cue may precede the response from
the very first trial. Consequently, the dog may begin to associate the verbal
cue with the required behavior from the outset. Thus the trainer may
begin to teach verbal control from the very first 1-2-3-4 (Request-Lure-
Response-Reward) sequence, so that the dog learns ESL — English as a Second
Language — English words for doggy behaviors and actions. Luring enables the
dog to learn WHAT we want him to do much quicker than any other reward-
based methods, such as all-or-none reward training and shaping.

• The dog learns hand-signals within 6-12 trials and so the food lure is quickly
phased out. Hand-signals are extremely effective lures to teach verbal
commands.

• Since the behavior is precisely predictable, the dog starts with 100% Response-
Reliability and so the trainer may implement a Differential Reinforcement
from the second trail.

• Lure/Reward training enables the trainer to teach the verbal cues for two or
more behaviors at the same time. In fact, it is important to always work with at
least three behaviors at the same time to increase attention and speed of
acquisition of verbal commands. cf. other reward training techniques

• So much easier to phase out food lures (and food rewards) than hand,
leash, or collar physical prompts