So this was a video I made for a client early on with my pup, Max. I am giving him the treats “off-base” so that he has to stand-up again then we can repeat the drill. So that might be helpful to some of you that can’t get your pups to stand back up again. Max is like...”I’m sitting...I’ll save you the trouble and get right to the point - I'm here.”

So this is a training concept... Say we have a “behavior chain”... Basically it’s one total item that we break into parts to make it easier for the dog/person/subject to learn. So what happens is we give four step let’s label it “A-B-C-D” (Each step corresponds to a letter... step A, Step B etc) When we teach the dog, generally it’s a progression to go through each step to get from step A to D. Step A is usually the cue (sit, etc) and step D is the final behavior. Steps B and C being the intermediate steps to facilitate understanding the process to get from the start to finish.

Once the dogs get a whiff of understanding they don’t want to bother with intermediate steps if they can help it. Hahaha!! Once the cue is given, they want to get to the behavior the gets them a treat. And they will run the behavior chain, without cues - and skipping step if they can... these guys are smart. They understand the last step is food. Hahaha.

So when you are trying to repeat, sit, sit, sit... and your dog gets stubborn and won’t stand up... that’s a smart cookie - you pup is like - “I’m here... I’m right here. I don’t need to stand up and sit again. I’m already sitting. Boom. Feed me!!”

Thus - give the treat off-base.

I generally say - where you reward is as important as when.

If you get a little “lazy” and ask your dog for a “down”. But then reward you dog mid-jump because you don’t want to get down to reward... you might be encouraging your dog to jump... just saying. When you are training - you have to be in it to win it. Understand that you have to commit to be ready to engage physically because that’s a huge communication tool for your dog. I hear all kinds of chatter about this and that - well, look on the bright side. You pup is helping you overcome some of these issues and giving you 5-10 minutes per day to systematically work on getting stronger. Another huge benefit to being a dog owner. You both get to train and get better. How cool is that!! Do this for your furbaby so she can learn and understand your world and she will be helping you get stronger too!! Whoohoo!! Do it for her!

And here this one is easy!! So easy! Max is tethered behind me. And he’s learning to listen to me.

Dogs read us. When I figured out that these dog were all just reading our body language and that was a huge form of communication for each other... wow!! I was dancer my whole life and seriously in my 20’s - so I can read movement well. I realized I could enter a dog park and get almost any dog to sit. I could ask them to jump. I could get them to follow me and walk next to me - the precursor to walking loose leash. I could call the dogs and I could get them to stay with adequate instructional control in a busy dog park - strange dogs... I never met - puppies - in the middle of the day - with plenty of activity. Needless to say - this “parlor trick” made my business boom!!!

So I learned to speak dog. Then I got more troubling cases, some I had to refer out because they were too much... so sad. But I had to learn to listen and understand what the dogs were saying back. I needed to know what the dogs were “saying” so I could start helping the dogs that were really scared and were really in trouble.

One thing that helped these scared dogs... was teaching them (after we had a trusting bond) what the Hoomans really mean (they don’t really mean to me scary... they just don’t know doggylingo).

Max has always been a pretty cool character. He speaks dog very well. In fact, I take him to meet new dogs. Since I understand Max and how communicates, he talks to the pups and I can get a read on the severity of the situation based on Max. Just like not all humans are well socialized and speak human well, same for dogs. Not being a dog myself. I can’t assume I can read all dogs because I am doing pretty good at reading a dog that speaks dog clearly. So he goes with me and tells me when the other dog is a mess... like Max is now speaking human enough that I think he rolls his eyes.

So... here is the maestro himself showing his ability to speak human without physical cue. I am looking for the video - but we do mix it up. Sit, down, yadda yadda. I also have a video were he can respond based on how I adjust my hips. When my weight is forward he sits, when i adjust my weight slightly back he sits... I found a video on twitter of a girl showing off her pups skills. Watch how often you lean into a sit request and away for a down. That’s mostly what your dog is looking at. Your hips communicate a lot about your physical movements. Between your hips (how you are carrying your weight) and your eyes (where you are looking) that communicates a ton to your pup. Make sure you are staying on message!!

Stay cool Max!! Good job!