RAISING AND TRAINING APUPPY FOR SERVICE WORK:

Part One

PART ONE

SUMMARY

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In this first video, we talked about a concept I learned from the amazing trainers at Service Dogs Inc. inTexas called advanced beginningsand the 5 key pieces of a strong foundation.  Make sure to watch thevideo replay for training demos with my own puppy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Right now you might think basic obedience is the foundation for service dog training. But here’s the ting: It’s not, or it’s at least not the only important piece of a strong foundation. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve worked with a client, having some big challenge withtheir dog, whose dog DID NOT know how to sit or lay down on cue.   See, a good foundation will help prevent problems with focus, problems with heeling, problems withpublic access, but those basic obedience “behaviors” and whether or not your dog knows them have verylittle to do with preventing the most common problems we have when training service dogs.Things like proper socialization, teaching your puppy how your training system works, creating a puppyyou can live with, and YOUR skills are what make up a solid foundation.   For me, my dog’s early training has very little to do with WHAT behaviors I teach, and everything to dowith HOW I teach those behaviors. I may be able to teach a behavior faster using one method, but will thatmethod help my dog later on when we get to something more complicated? I get this may be pretty different from what you’ve heard before about building a foundation.  So let’s talkabout what I think really goes into a foundation and what makes up this advanced beginnings concept. Advanced beginnings is the idea that, by capitalizing on early training sessions, we can turn our dogs intoadvanced learners.  So what is an advanced learner?  Advanced learners: - Understand your training system, recognize when you’ve increased your criteria, attach cues to newbehaviors quickly, and are easily reinforced with all kinds of things (no picky eaters or food dependentdogs here).- They are confident, focused and calm.- They want to train and they are good problem solvers.

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Advanced learners aren’t defined by the behaviors they know, they are defined by that x factor, that calmfocus, that eagerness to learn. They are fluent in with their training system the same way I am a fluentwith the English language. This concept of advanced beginnings is something that has continued to evolve within my owntraining.  Every puppy I raise, every owner trainer I work with, every SDiT I meet influences how a lay thefoundation on my next puppy. Right now I find these five things to be the most important when it comes to foundation training: 1.    Your training skills and knowledge.Your ability to use a marker (remember to click, pause and then treat) and your understanding of thescience behind dog training.Remember this, a marker is happening in your training, whether you’re doing it on purpose or not. Sinceit’s going to happen anyway you really should learn to use a marker on purpose, it’ll help your training gomuch smoother. 2.    Teach your dog how your training system works.It amazes me how many of us (and this is something I am guilty of in my past) try to teach a dogsomething with a system they don’t even understand yet.  If you want to teach me a new skill, you have use the English language, it’s the only one I know.  If youwant to teach me a new skill in Spanish, you’ll have to teach me Spanish before you can teach me thatskill. Your dog isn’t any different.  You want to use a lure? Your puppy needs to learn how a lure works.  Youwant to a clicker and shaping? Your puppy needs to learn how the clicker works and how to offerbehavior.  And, he needs to learn these things before you try and teach a specific behavior. 3.Creating strong reinforcement strategies We tend to think about reinforcement as a thing.  A treat, a toy, a word.  But really, reinforcements arebehaviors, it’s eating a treat or playing with a toy.  Those are behaviors and behaviors can be taught.Just like your training systems, you have to teach these reinforcement procedures before you can usethem in your training.

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Some dogs will give you reinforcement procedures for free, others will make you work for them.  Eitherway, reinforcement procedures need to be protected because (and if you only remember one thing let itbe this) you cannot teach your dog anything if he isn’t paying attention and you don’t a way to reinforcehim. I like options, so I like to be able to use food, play, and anything else I can think of as reinforcers, whichmeans I have to train those behaviors. 2.    Socialization Here’s the thing about socialization.  It’s not about exposing your puppy to as many things as possible. It’sabout teaching him what “normal” looks like. Normal for a service dog does not include running up to everyone he sees.  It includes being calm,confident, and focused in new places, around new people, and in the face of new distractions.Don’t get be wrong, teaching your puppy to be social is important, but it’s only part of the picture. 3.    House mannersHouse manners, things like chewing, play biting, house training, and being left alone, are an importantpiece of your foundation because you have to be able to live with your dog. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now when it comes to these five pieces of foundation training there are two important things that mustunderpin everything you do: Science and your relationship with your dog. There is a science behind how dogs learn, use it to guide your training decisions, but before you make adecision based on that science ask: will this help or hurt my relationship with this dog? Your relationship with your dog is of huge importance; we want you to be a source of fun, reinforcement,safety, and trust.  We want your dog to not only look to you for guidance and reinforcement when out inpublic, but also as someone who can be trusted.

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Happy Training!

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