INTENTION CANINE

In my opinion, there are two basic strategies that we use when teaching / training a dog.

The first method puts the trainer in the position of encouraging the puppy to perform behaviors by rewarding the desired behavior or an approximation of that behavior. This technique is often referred to as “positive reinforcement.” I call it the “Incentive Method” since the trainer adds an incentive to encourage the pup to perform the action. At its core, it is a “Do” method.

The “Don’t” method asks the trainer to offer a warning (usually a verbal or sometimes a visual communication) when the puppy is about to break a rule or boundary. If the puppy stops the unacceptable behavior when it receives the forewarning, nothing more is required. However, if the pup continues to press towards the undesirable behavior, then the trainer delivers an appropriately timed consequence at the proper level to teach the puppy that the unwanted behavior won’t be tolerated and will result in the negative experience. It’s very important that the correction is delivered sans anger, frustration or disappointment energy. It’s a teaching moment, not a chance to impart shame, infuriation or exasperation regarding the pup’s behavior. It also leaves intact a VERY important condition for the dog. Using the “Don’t” method means that the dog exists with Free Will paired with Self-restraint.

Dogs do not communicate social expectations using the “Do” method. Rather, they execute the “Don’t” method with exceptional timing and without adding negative emotional tags, excessive harness, or at a level that doesn’t match the “crime.” This training begins when the mama dog initiates the weaning process around five weeks old.

In videos posted a day or so ago on this channel, you may view examples of where I’ve used the “Do” (Incentive) method to each our current puppies a variety of behaviors. Any time from about six weeks onward, puppies can learn to perform many behaviors in exchange for a desired reward. There’s no guarantee that the puppy will perform the behavior, and this must not be referred to as “obedience.”

For behaviors like nipping, biting, jumping up or respect for a boundary (like the crate door before exiting or the backdoor before entering the house) we will use the “Don’t” method to communicate our standards to the younger puppies. But for more training that doesn’t have to happen until the puppies are mature enough to truly understand our expectations, we usually hold off until puppies are about six months old. That’s because a balanced pack of dogs typically permits pups under four to six months old to get away with otherwise anti-social acts like stealing a toy, eating first out of a bowl, pulling on an adult’s dog’s ear etc… Dogs permit their puppies to, well, be puppies until sometime around 4-6 months old before they truly lay down the laws.

To avoid many typical “naughty” behaviors, we prefer to use management over training because puppies aren’t yet equipped for such high-standard obedience. We exercise our puppies in a fenced yard along with some older dogs that will typically address any seriously unacceptable behaviors. We don’t see value in taking puppies under four to six months old on leashed walks, where they will learn to pull on the leash before we want to implement the Social Compliance method with pairs a correction with the unacceptable behavior of pulling on the leash.

At 22 weeks old, we begin the process of teaching the puppies about proper leash etiquette which means NO PULLING and no balking or “follow on a loose lead.”

From the time of about 8 weeks old, the puppies learned how to assume a sitting position for a treat (“Do” method) which is a behavior that they completely control based on whether they want that treat. Now, they must learn that they are required to sit (without a treat incentive) and they are introduced to the concept of “stay sitting,” which is communicated using the “Don’t” strategy (as in “don’t get up.”)
It’s the trainer’s responsibility to Pay Attention and provide a negative consequence before the puppy gets up out of the sit. By employing exceptional proactivity, that consequence doesn’t need to be very extreme. In my experience, the skill of calmly yet attentively observing the pup (so that the correction can be very light and still meaningful) is essentially missing from most dog owners and yet, it’s not that hard to learn. Reacting after the puppy gets up out of the sit is usually paired with frantic energy, loud voices, disappointment and sometimes anger and isn’t very successful at teaching expectations for behavior. That sort of energy is likely to lead to a frantic, disappointed puppy and isn’t very successful at teaching expectations for behavior, either. Remember; it’s just a puppy wanting to learn. It’s not your adversary.

Here’s puppy Canon.

Here’s puppy Rock.