The Lazy Guide to Dog Training

The Lazy Guide to Dog training by animal behaviourist (and lazy dog trainer!) Dr Jo Righetti…

This blog post is part of the 2018 #Train4Rewards Blog Party 

Why I call myself a Lazy Dog Trainer

I am NOT a dog trainer. Yes, I do help people with their pet’s behavioural problems. But I cannot call myself a trainer, as there are far more specialised and better trainers than I am. Training people to train their dogs, however, is part of my work. But, yes, I am a ‘lazy’ dog trainer!

My style of dog training may help you if:

• like me, you are (or aspire to be!) a lazy dog trainer
• you are a beginner at dog training and don’t need or want  to know all the scientific lingo that trainers speak
• you train others to train their dogs and perhaps get a little resistance or non-compliance from dog owners

Why have a Lazy Guide for Dog Training?

When I see clients for behaviour modification therapy, I am always telling them to reward the behaviours they desire in their pets. That part is often easy. The harder part is to set up the behaviours they desire in the first place. Since clients are generally even less expert at dog training than I am, we have developed the lazy guide to dog training!

Here is our step-by-step lazy guide to dog training

1. Behaviour: Decide on the behaviour you wish your dog to do. This should be a behaviour which prevents the unwanted behaviour occurring. It will be easiest if it is a behaviour that the animal already does.
2. Wait: Wait for your dog to perform the behaviour you desire. Yes, this requires patience! Lots of patience. And if your dog is performing less than desirable behaviours in the meantime, perhaps even dangerous behaviours, then you will need to control and manage your dog’s behaviour.
3. Reward: When your dog performs the behaviour you wish, then reward. Have your reward chosen beforehand, based on your dog’s motivations. Usually, this will be one of the following: food, praise, pats or a noisy toy. Food is by far the easiest for most people to use. Your timing is crucial and should be within one or two seconds of the desired behaviours being performed.
4. Commands: When you can, introduce a hand signal and a verbal command to use for this behaviour. Do not expect your dog to understand these at the start. Your dog will begin to associate these with the behaviour they are performing at the time. Your timing is crucial.
5. Repeat: Try to capture the desired behaviour as many times as you can and in as many different locations as you can.
6. Extend: Take this “training” out of your comfort zone. it is often easiest to train your dog where you are comfortable but this is not usually where they perform unwanted behaviours. Build up to the more likely scenario gradually.

Example of lazy dog training

Willard was a large 18-month-old Groodle who liked to mouth his owners for their attention. His owners, a young couple, didn’t mind but hated that he also did this to their friends. They decided it was time to stop Willard’s mouth on their flesh!

Since Willard’s use of his mouth was important to him, we decided that an alternative behaviour to mouthing humans could be using his mouth to fetch a toy and bring that to people. Willard loved food and so his favourite food – cheese – was reserved for this new behaviour. HIs family prepared tiny cheese nibbles and carried them around with them one weekend. Willard’s reward. 

Willard liked to play with toys but usually only when he was alone or bored. On this first training weekend, his family watched, and waited, Willard closely in his backyard and every time he picked up a toy, they threw him a cheese reward. He would then come running to them but they then ignored him until he got bored and picked up the toy again. The reward was repeated.

After an hour or so, Willard started bringing the toy to them. They then rewarded this behaviour and started putting this behaviour on command, using the verbal command “Toy” and the hand signal of pretending to throw a toy. While Willard has no idea what they meant, after a few throws of the toy, combined with verbal and hand gestures, the message sank in. The cheese reward helped.

They then brought Willard indoors, to extend the training, and repeated this behaviour, still rewarding with cheese. Then they repeated it in their front garden and finally at their front door.

The next day, one of the humans family went out and pretended to be a guest at the door. The other human kept Willard on a lead, to manage any unwanted behaviour, and answered the knock at the door. Cheese rewards were offered when Willard kept his mouth off the ‘visitor’. Of course, there was less excitement than a real visitor but it is easier to teach new behaviours when adrenalin excitement is not as high, as it is when a real guest arrives.

After a few repeats of this, the toy was then introduced as a game that could be played as the guest came in the door. The guest could even throw the toy and Willard would bring it back, for his cheese reward. By the end of the day, Willard’s toy was left in another room, and when a ‘guest’ walked in, he would run and fetch his toy.

The next weekend, the family repeated these exercises and then asked a real guest to visit. Willard was tempted to forget his training, but a quick cheese reminder helped him to remember. After a few different visitors had put him, successfully, to the test, the cheese rewards were lessened in frequency (intermittent rewarding), to strengthen the desired behaviour.

Why the lazy guide to dog training works

1. People are often daunted by having to change their dog’s behaviour. Working with what the dog loves and rewarding desired behaviours makes it easy for people to follow. They are rewarded by seeing their dog learn. They also start in their comfort area and progress to areas that take them out of their comfort zone – but with successful experiences behind them.
2. The dog enjoys the experience. Occasionally, some dogs and their owners have had absolutely no training and we need to show how to ask a dog to sit and offer a reward. This helps to get the timing right. Most owners are quick learners, especially when you reward them with a “Good Work” praise.
3. There is no explanation, unless desired, of training theory which tends to bamboozle people who often have no obvious desire to train their dog. Sometimes we do not even mention the term “Training”.
4. This lazy guide can be used again and again for more behaviours. If people show an interest in training their dog, then we progress to more formal training and I bring them into dog training terms and theory. Most people are happy staying lazy and their dogs are happy too!
5. This training, since it relies on natural behaviours and reward, can be used for other animals too – cats, guinea pigs, rats, fish!

Be lazy! Enjoy dog training.

More dog training advice:

Puppy training: A guide to canine learning and teaching your new pup
Annoying dog behaviour and training issues
Video help with training your dog
Training your dog: Which teaching/learning style do you use?
Clicker training for all animals
Do as I Do: Dog Training the effective way
Housetraining in dogs
5 Favourite Companion Animal Psychology articles 

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About the author: 

Dr Jo Righetti is a PhD animal behaviour consultant, helping people understand pets. Through her business Pet Problems SOlved, Dr Jo consults with pet owners, commercial companies, local goverments, universities, not-for-profit organisations and media. Dr Jo has a series of dog behaviour problem-solving ebooks.