#1 Dog Training Video

Look at this. I went to youtube.com this morning and typed in dog training, lo and behold, your friend The Amazing Dog Training Man was numero uno. Number one out of 12,500 videos.

Here take a look:



Big thanks to youtube.com and a BIG THANKS to all of you who have watched my videos.

Your friend,

Eric

P.S. To see all of my videos on youtube.com Click Here and subscribe to my channel.

Who Else Wants To Learn A Little Known Dog Training Secret Inspired By A Former Russian Special Forces Instructor?

On a beautiful spring morning a few years back I found myself sitting in a small classroom listening to “The Evil Russian,” Pavel Tsatsouline discuss flexibility training.

There were about 25 people in the room and they were all there to learn techniques that Pavel used to train the elite Russian Special Forces Unit, Spetznaz. Everyone listened intently as Pavel shared his secrets with us, but one person, me, was really amazed at how some of what he said applied to dog training.

What Makes The Difference?

Have you ever wondered, as I have, what makes such a dramatic difference in the way a dog behaves? It isn’t always the person training the dog. It isn’t that one person wants a well behaved dog and the other doesn’t.

The difference lies in how well the person understands a few basic techniques about training dogs.

It’s important for us to understand that we do NOT want to reinforce the behaviors that we don’t like. One of the biggest problems for about 90% of dog owners is jumping and unruly behavior.

We need to make sure that we are not un-intentionally reinforcing the unruly behavior. When a friend comes over and your dog starts to jump, the typical scenario goes something like this: your friend pushing your dog or petting your dog, while you are trying to pull your dog back and yelling, “down,” “get down.”

This all reinforces the unruly behavior. Unintentionally, but still reinforcing.

What The Evil Russian Taught Me

During the seminar that I attended, Pavel made a comment that applies to all of this. As he was discussing stretching he used the term:

Forced relaxation

He added that only the Russians can come up with a term like “Forced relaxation.”

It struck me because that is exactly what we need to do when we are dealing with a young dog that likes to jump and become unruly. We need to force them to relax.

The easiest way to do this is with a leash on your dog. Here’s how it works: when your friend comes over the house, before you let your friend in put a leash on your dog. You then step on the leash to prevent your dog from jumping.

With all your weight on the leash you force your dog to relax before your friend approaches and gives your dog any attention. Your dog only gets your friend’s attention when she or he relaxes.

If your dog is too strong for you, find a place in your house where you can secure the leash to something sturdy. This way your dog is out of the area where he can jump and get unintentional reinforcement.

I'll be adding a video showing how to do this to my website: Amazing Dog Training Man

Forced relaxation is a great way to teach calm behavior. The calmer the dog, the easier and more enjoyable it is to be around your dog. Your friends will like you and your dog much better when they come over to your house and your dog does not jump all over them.

It’s hard to believe, but not everyone is a dog lover like you and me.

Peace,

Eric

The Power Of The Premack Principle, How To Use Grandmas Law To Boost Your Dog Training Efforts

Do you remember as a kid when your Grandmother would tell you that you had to finish your vegetables before you could have any ice cream?

If your Grandmother or anyone else has ever said that to you, then they were using the Premack Principle, also known as Grandma's Law.

Basically, the Premack Principle is this: "If high probability behaviors (more desirable behaviors) are made contingent upon lower probability behaviors (less desirable behaviors), then the lower probability behaviors are more likely to occur."

Or to put it simply: "You can't watch TV until you finish your homework."

So how does this apply to dog training?

The Premack Principle works great when you are trying to teach your dog to come when called. You see, when your dog is outside there are more desirable things to do than to come back to you.

If your dog is outside and sees a squirrel, the chances of coming back to you decrease dramatically. Chasing the squirrel is much more desirable than responding to your command "Come."

But...

Since we now understand the Premack Principle, we can set up training situations where your dog learns to respond to the command "Come" before taking chase.

Here is an exercise that I teach:

With your dog on a 10 to 15 foot leash, throw a treat about 20 feet away. Let your dog see you throw the treat.

Now let your dog go to the treat but stop her about two feet from the treat. Your dog will be interested in the treat and probably ignore your command "Come." Give your dog just a slight tug on the leash and back up a few feet.

Once your dog comes to you, hold your dog's collar, praise your dog, and then let your dog run back and get the treat. You have just used the Premack Principle with your dog.

Your dog wants the treat (very desirable to your dog) but can't get the treat until she responds to the command "Come" (less desirable behavior), you are now teaching your dog to respond to your commands in distracting situations.

At first you need to use the leash to get the less desirable behavior to occur, but over time you'll find that your dog will start to respond to your voice command and you'll need to use the leash less and less.

Start using the Premack Principle and you'll be amazed at how much better your dog responds to your commands.

As always I look forward to your comments.

Your friend,

Eric

P.S. If you like this article you'll love reading "The Amazing Dog Training Man,"

Whats Everyone Talking About?

"Thanks, Eric...our dog really needs this and has a few issues - I plan to try this out soon"!

"Wonderful tips to train puppies" :)

"Very, very helpful. Thank you"!

"Good idea. I used this on my dog and in no time he knows how to stay".

"Thanks for the good advice".

"Such a great video tutorial. Thanks a million. I have two puppies; 9 wks and 17 wks... definitely could use the help in this area". ;)

"Absolutely outstanding article that solved the problem we had. Thanks"!

"Thank you"!

"Nice video".

"I just tried this with our lab...it worked! Thanks" :)

"Superb article. We have seven dogs, we are the alphas, and it makes life very pleasant for all of us. With the exception of the sock/leash behavior, this is exactly how we achieved peace within our "pack," which includes a dobie, rat terrier, two labs, a shepard, a large short-legged guy we have no clue about, and a pit".

"This is going to help my family deal with this problem with our 5 dogs. Thanks"!

"Very accurate and helpful. Thanks"!

"Nice article, super stuff".

Those are just a few comments from the articles that I have posted at ehow.com. You can check them out by clicking on this link:

http://www.ehow.com/Search.aspx?s=eletendre&Options=0

All the best,

Eric

P.S. You can still get the Good K9 Manners Mini-Course. It's a video course that will help you understand problem behavior and what to do about it. Get the course here: Good K9 Manners

Happy New Year

Rachael and I decided to go to New Hampshire and spend the weekend with her sister and brother in law. We packed up the dogs and here we are in snowy New Hampshire (the dogs are having a blast).

We came up on Saturday to watch one of the biggest games in NFL history. The New England Patriots take on the New York Giants - WHAT A GAME!

We all went out to see the new Will Smith movie "I Am Legend". I won't spoil the movie for you but there is one scene that is very, very difficult to watch and made me choke up...but the movie was very good.

Anyway, we have some great stuff planned for the New Year. In 2008 we are planning on more videos, articles, and answering your questions.

We want to improve on The Amazing Dog Training Man website:

http://www.amazingdogtrainingman.com

We are very excited to continue helping people better understand their dogs through positive, real world training solutions and by providing quality information to as many dog lovers as possible.

Happy New Year!

Eric

I Was Missing The “U”

Woke up this morning and opened up my email. This is one of the emails that I received:

Dear Eric and Rachel,

I want to send you guys this email from the cold country of Germany with all my warmest regards. What you have put up in the internet is the most helpful thing for me and my dog (we are working on leash aggression) I have read many books, have done much on research. You were saying something about cross association and bingo! I understand I can help my dog; I was missing the "U" in M.U.T.T.

I have spent lots! of money on private so call dog trainers, who worked with adverse methods and really goofed me and my dog up. I need to get my hands on your book!! How is it with shipping and handling overseas?

THANK YOU ERIC!!

Serena

I love getting emails like that because my website and info have helped someone thousands of miles away.

In the email she mentions using the M.U.T.T. Method. This is an acronym I developed to help people understand and deal with behavior problems. For too long dog trainers have tried unsuccessfully to deal with behavior problems by using force and punishment.

I have said for years that punishment can be a very effective form of behavior modification – but here’s the rub. Very few, and I mean very few trainers know how to use punishment correctly.

In order for punishment to work properly four steps need to be followed – EVERYTIME.

Do you know what those four steps are?

I’ll explain them in a future blog post.

Anyway, using force to overcome behavior problems can make the behaviors worse!

That is what happened to Serena’s dog. That’s why I teach positive methods. When you use positive reinforcement there are no adverse side effects.

When you use negative reinforcement there are always side effects. A little while back I did a video newsletter describing my M.U.T.T Method. I have included it in this blog for you to view.

M.U.T.T. Method Video

If you have problems with this link you can watch it on youtube.com:

YouTube.com M.U.T.T. Method Video

All the best,

Eric

P.S. Have a great weekend!

Attention Please! Get Your Dog's Attention

Just got an email from a new puppy owner. In the email the puppy owner asked if he should start by teaching sit, down, or stay first. My answer was simple. I wouldn’t start by teaching any of those commands.

In fact, when I’m teaching an obedience class I always have the dog owners start by teaching their dogs ATTENTION.

85% of the time when your dog does not perform the command, there is a good chance that your dog is not paying attention. So always start by teaching attention. I like to just say the dog’s name to get his attention. Some people like to teach “Watch Me” or “Watch.”

Here’s a video of me teaching attention.



So remember, get your dog’s attention before you give a command.

All the best,

Eric