When you open the front door and your dog is at the end of the leash, asking for a perfectly calm walk is probably too much to ask. It is easier to teach loose-leash walking if you don’t consider the whole walk an exercise in loose-leash walking. There are parts you can practice before you…
Your dog can learn to follow a treat in a fraction of a second. Hold the treat by the nose and raise your hand. Your dog sits. Move it toward the floor and your dog goes down. It’s a good way to teach a new behavior, but if your dog only moves when the treat…
Have some small treats easily available, and ask your dog to perform a simple behavior, like sitting. As soon as the dog’s bottom hits the ground, mark it (with either a click or your verbal marker), and give the treat immediately. This simple process is one of the best things to practice in the initial…
For example, you ask your dog to sit. Your dog doesn’t sit, so you say “sit” again. Then you say it one more time, louder. And then your dog sits on the fourth request, and you reward her. That feels like a good thing from your perspective, but from your dog’s point of view, she’s…