Building confidence

Guide dog puppies are exposed to a variety of novel environments throughout their puppyhood. We try to give them a positive experience with many different stimuli. However, part of puppy raising is making sure that the exposures are purposeful, appropriate for the individual dog, and keeping the pup’s confidence up. Building confidence takes time, and recognizing signs of stress is important. Not every dog will exhibit stress in the same way, and sometimes puppies gradually become overwhelmed; knowing how to support your pup and assist him through exposures will help make socialization an enjoyable experience.

When the puppy first arrives home, focus on routine first. Take a few weeks to get the puppy used to your home, the block in front of your house, your family members, the eating and busying schedule, your workplace, and some basic, light obedience. Do not take the puppy to stores, restaurants, or around traffic. Just focus on being at home and bonding with your puppy. You want to know your puppy well and have developed a relationship before you start working on exposures. Your puppy should be used to the leash, responding to some basic commands, and eagerly walking before you start adding potentially stressors. Some puppies slow down or stop entirely when a walk ventures a little bit past your house; if your puppy exhibits this behavior, he is not ready to go on exposures yet. Focus on building his confidence with short fun walks on the familiar area in front of your house and allow him to tell you when he’s ready to move on.

When your puppy has indicated that he is comfortable walking around your neighborhood and he is listening well, begin taking him to quiet exposures, such as a drug store or a coffee shop. Build up exposures very gradually, and develop a routine. Work on attention in the parking lot before you approach the doorway. If the puppy hesitates at the door, don’t worry about a “sit” at the door at that moment. Walk around the building and allow the puppy to get comfortable outside first. Do not go inside until your puppy is willing to approach the door. If he doesn’t seem to be making progress, take him home and try again another day. This applies whether it is his first exposure or his 200th. Your puppy may charge through every doorway, but may suddenly encounter something he deems unusual or he may just be having a bad day; whatever the reason, if you see hesitation on his part, respect his concern and slow everything down.

When the puppy is responding well to your local drugstore and coffee shop, then you are ready to progress to a short grocery trip or a longer meal at a restaurant. If your puppy is not ready to go grocery shopping, leave him at home in the crate. He will benefit from the quiet time and will learn to be alone. Be sure not to push him past his limits; if there is any doubt about his confidence, or if your priority is actually getting grocery shopping done in a timely fashion, the pup should stay home. Set aside time for the first shopping trip where you can focus on the puppy. Practice obedience and attention in the store. Keep it brief and fun, and work that trip into your regular routine. Then longer shopping trips and busier stores can follow.

You or your AC may also feel that your puppy would benefit from a “staycation”. When a dog gets overwhelmed, has a stressful event, or builds stress over time, it can take several days for the pup to return to normal hormonal levels. While cortisol levels are heightened from stress, even regular exposures can become worrisome for dogs. The puppy may need a few days off to just relax and settle down at home, rather than to continue to go on exposures. Even if you’re not seeing a problem, occasional “staycations” can be beneficial.

Dogs show stress in a variety of ways. The benefit of having a relationship established with your pup before taking him on an exposure is that you’ll be familiar with his standard body language and better able to recognize any changes. Some dogs activate when they are stressed, meaning they increase their activity level, speed up their movements, and even may become frantic. Other pups may shut down under stress; they become very still and compress their bodies to appear smaller. It can be easy to mistake activated stress for hyperactivity and disobedience. By the same token, a shut down puppy can appear to be well behaved and accepting. Dogs can also develop physical reactions to stress, such as diarrhea. It is important to take exposures slowly and pay attention to your puppy’s demeanor and body language. If you see some of the signs below, and they are only appearing in distracting or novel situations, you are witnessing signs of stress.

An activated dog will exhibit some of the following signs:
- Increased heart rate
- Panting
- Jumping up on, “climbing”, or pawing at the raiser
- Pacing or weaving at the end of the leash
- Speeding up walking pace
- Dilated pupils
- Facial muscles pulled tight
- Mouthing your hands or grabbing clothes
- Tail wagging rapidly while held low or tucked

A shut down dog will exhibit some of the following signs:
- Compressed body lowered towards ground
- Turning away from stimuli, “not wanting to look”
- Moving to a quiet, confined area (such as under a chair)
- Lowered tail and ears
- Panting or mouth shut tight
- Hesitancy or slowing of pace
- Stopping forward movement entirely
- Dilated pupils
- “Whale eye” (eyes widened so that the whites show)

Because guide dog puppies are generally a willing-to-please bunch (despite how it may sometimes seem!), the leash can often mask a stress reaction. The dog accepts the scary or stressful stimuli because the leash does not allow him to escape, and because he is so conditioned to work with his handler when leashed. Then when the dog has a choice, leading his handler in harness, the handler witnesses a more pronounced stress reaction. So a dog who regularly interacts with groups of children finds them overwhelming, he may simply shut down and get quiet while they pet him. He appears to be well behaved, but he may be panting with whale eye and a tense body posture. The signals are subtle, but he is still in a stressed state of mind. If he continues to encounter those groups of children regularly, he will only be developing a greater stress response and associating them with a tense feeling. Then when he comes in-for-training and begins to truly lead his trainer, he begins to avoid groups of children, making a wide berth around them or shying away.

That is why it is important to take exposures slowly, give the dog regular breaks, and to learn the individual puppy’s signals that may indicate that it’s time to end the exposure. The checklist of exposures is a great guideline to start with, but your central focus should be on developing positive responses to those exposures over time. If you start observing behaviors or signals that might indicate that the puppy is concerned, take a step back and work on the exposures in small increments, at a distance the puppy can handle.

Teenaged puppies

Dogs go through a “teenage stage” just like human teenagers. This stage of rebellion and hormones is often amplified when a dog remains intact (not spayed or neutered). Housing an intact dog comes with increased responsibility and there are certain training techniques that can make life more pleasant for both of you; however, even if your puppy gets spayed or neutered before the onset of puberty, these guidelines can still be applied to your training.

Male dogs tend to start puberty around 6 months of age; however, it generally begins to intensify around 10 to 12 months of age. If a dog remains intact, he will be more interested in scenting the ground, checking “busy” areas, and investigating other dogs’ posterior regions. He may also have a tendency to hold his head up high over other dogs and attempt to paw at their backs, or even mount them. This is not necessarily a sign of dominance; often, dogs will take turns exhibiting this behavior and it is commonly seen in dogs who are otherwise very submissive. Dogs may also hump inanimate objects; they are not trying to dominate their beds! Females coming into heat will often begin to mount, but some spayed females will mount as well.

Excessive “rear end investigation”, mounting, or putting a paw on another dog’s back can be interpreted by the other dog as rude and has the potential to lead to fighting. These are behaviors that are best interrupted and redirected. Because an intact dog has the potential to be evaluated as a breeder, we do not want to excessively discourage them or traumatize them, as these may become useful behaviors if they are chosen as a breeder! Calmly but firmly interrupt inappropriate behaviors and redirect the dog to another task. If necessary, remove the puppy to a time-out.

One big concern is marking behavior. Urine marking can occur in both males and females; some females will even lift a leg. With males, a general rule of thumb is to keep them away from vertical surfaces when they reach an age during which they are likely to mark. If you are walking your male past a tree or a post and he begins to sniff and position himself for marking, correct him immediately.

A male may lift his leg while relieving even if there is no vertical surface nearby. This is acceptable and not considered marking behavior; he is simply aiming. However, during a walk, it is important to not allow your dog to mark in any way. Marking does NOT just mean lifting the leg; it is a deliberate use of urine to define territory or let other dogs know that they have been there. Marking can occur even if a dog is standing or squatting. Whether or not it is marking behavior is determined by the context of the behavior.

For example, one raiser reported to me that her male liked pull over onto the grass to urinate small amounts at a time during the walk and that he wasn’t lifting his leg, but was still leaving his scent all over the neighborhood. Was that considered marking? Yes, that is still marking behavior that should be discouraged.

Another male puppy was walking behind another pup. The pup in front pulled over into the grass to urinate. The older male puppy walking behind him sniffed the air, then very subtly pulled behind his raiser to urinate into the grass on the opposite side. Even though he wasn’t urinating over the spot the first pup had chosen, was that still considered marking? Yes; the sight and scent of another pup “busying” made him want to mark his turf as well. To give further context, this same pup has begun urinating on the sidewalk during walks occasionally, especially when he passes a tree or another heavily marked area. He is not lifting, but he is still engaging in marking behavior in response to smelling urine.

Why is this a problem? It is annoying, even with “just a pet” dog, to have to stop repeatedly. This leaves the dog in charge of the walk and encourages repeated marking behavior. Guide dogs need to relieve on command, in particular appropriate places, and on a schedule. It is not necessarily whenever they choose. The guide dog needs to focus on keeping his handler safe; if he is more worried about reading and sending “pee mail”, he is putting his handler in a dangerous situation. Dogs who mark at will on fun walks are also more likely to mark in unwanted places; remember that dogs don’t generalize very well! So you might go to Selby Gardens, which is outside and has nice areas where a pup might want to relieve... but you don’t want them to relieve there even though it is outside. Or you might take your puppy to a friend’s house where other dogs have previously had accidents... you don’t want your puppy to think that if he smells other dog scent, he is allowed to mark on top of it.

So if your puppy (male, female, intact or not) is of an age where they are housebroken and they have begun trying to busy on walks, give them more time before starting the walk and enforce a “no busying unless I give you permission” rule. This sets the dog up for good habits, no matter what his career is, and will make your raising experience more enjoyable.

If your puppy is lifting his leg on trees when off leash in your backyard, relieve him on leash before allowing him to run in the yard. He will never be entirely “empty”, but you can help teach him the appropriate place to relieve, and use the backyard as only a reward and play area. If he is obsessed with marking in the backyard, take him on a long leash to keep his focus on play and exercise.

Another side effect of adolescence is the sudden lack of compliance to commands. This is normal! This is where dog training becomes more of an art than an exact science. On the one hand, you want to keep up the commands and hold the dog accountable. However, you want to be understanding of his temporary loss of compliance and might need to widen his box of acceptable behaviors in the face of distractions. If your puppy won’t sit at the beginning of a puppy meeting, you might think that you must require compliance and use corrections/molding cues to enforce your command. However, you also might observe that your dog is “over threshold”, meaning that the puppy is over stimulated and learning is not occurring. Some dogs are agreeable enough and are eventually convinced to sit if you persist in molding them and popping up on the collar. However, he is not responding to your verbal command at that point. You do not have his attention; he is simply noticing your physical cues, but in all likelihood he is still staring at the distraction (the other dogs and people).

If the puppy gets “stuck” staring at a distraction, widen your box of acceptable behaviors BEFORE enforcing your command. Take the puppy on a walk and work on leash manners; keeping the puppy moving can often put his brain back in gear. Try a few recalls and “right abouts”. Then enforce him simply standing calmly at your side. He may settle down, then ratchet his energy level right back up if another dog arrives. Be prepared to start over and get him moving. Once he is able to stand relatively calmly at your side on a loose leash, THEN you can work on “sit”. It will be up to you to judge when the dog is ready to work on a stationary command, and to decide when he needs to get up and moving. You are looking for cooperation and teamwork, not just automatic compliance. Pass by the same distractions repeatedly until they become less novel; notice and encourage when the puppy checks in with you. Reward attention with a treat recall. You are looking to build on that brief moment of attention; without attention, you don’t have cooperation. You also don’t have a thinking dog. We want them to hear your command, think about it, and make a conscious decision to comply.

You may have to reset your expectations somewhat and that is okay. It is okay to say to the dog (without so many words), “I respect and understand that you are distracted right now and that it is difficult for you to comply with my commands. So I am going to ask that you simply give me some attention and calmly stay at my side; I am also going to ask that you come with me if I ask you to. I will reward you with praise and a treat when you respond to my recall command. If you stand quietly here with me, I will allow you to observe the exciting world around you. If you cannot stand quietly, I will remove you from the situation. Once you have calmed down, then we will work on the more difficult commands that I know you are capable of, and we will have fun!”

Please note that while I have used the pronoun “he” throughout this article, that is only because I have male dogs myself. Female dogs are just as likely to go through an adolescent phase of behavior, although marking is not as common of a problem. No matter what your dog’s gender or reproductive status, it is important to be prepared to work through adolescence using a combination of patience, consistency, and a willingness to try different techniques.

The Power of the Nose

A dog's strongest sense is the sense of smell. It is the primary way dogs explore the world and is a way to gather information. Sniffing can also be used to relieve stress, to send calming signals to another dog, or to locate someone.

It can be hard for us to imagine how a dog uses his sense of smell. We tend to focus on specific visual information, while smells get lumped together. For example, imagine walking past a full dumpster. You might smell one single, foul odor that you associate with trash. But a dog will walk by and be able to sort through individual smells, such as rotting banana peels, tissues, cat litter, grass clippings, and on and on. You would have to visually distinguish each individual item.

So when a dog sniffs the grass, he might be gathering information about various animals that have passed through the environment: squirrels, raccoons, bugs, etc. When he checks where other dogs have "busied", he is gathering information on age, sex, and hormonal status. He can tell if a familiar person walks by in the distance (if the wind is right), and can also smell chemical changes in people (emotional and physical).

When greeting another dog, a pup's preference is to "say hello" by sniffing rear ends, rather than greeting face-to-face. They gather information about each other this way, and also do not end up in a staring contest. Head-on meetings can be perceived as a challenge, so in order to diffuse a situation and break eye contact, a dog might begin sniffing the ground. In that case, sniffing becomes a "calming signal", rather than indicating that something smells supremely interesting. You may observe sudden sniffing behavior when play has gotten too rough between two dogs; if there is a scuffle and someone's feelings get hurt, the dogs may separate and become intensely interested in smelling the ground. This allows them to de-stress and resume playing once tensions have been resolved.

These are just a few examples of the complex world of the dog sense of smell. You can apply it to dog training in several ways; my favorite is to use scenting opportunities as a reward.

If we are on a fun walk and we pass a field that my puppy is eagerly air scenting, I might pause to give a command, then allow the puppy to "take a break" and enjoy smell nirvana. After a few minutes, we resume our fun walk (whether the dog is ready or not). By putting sniffing "on command", it becomes a reward that I can control, and the dog will make the effort to earn the reward. It also makes it clearer that there will be times when sniffing will not be allowed, such as when the dog is in coat or performing a command. Sniffing as a reward should always be out-of-coat (unless the puppy is having fears or anxiety issues; talk to your AC if you think that is the case). If you want to allow a sniff-fest, make it a point to take off the coat first. This again helps to define the "rules of sniffing".

If your pup tends to have its nose to the ground while on outings, but it is still following your directions and is maintaining a straight line of travel, it is not a major concern. Some pups are "trackers", and the habit often is broken when they come in for training and we throw obstacles in front of them. It is more important that the pup be confident and work in a straight line rather than nit-picking. However, if that nose to the ground is leading to trouble, in the form of scavenging, weaving, or starting/stopping behavior, then it is a behavior that should be corrected. Work on leash management skills by becoming more unpredictable: change directions suddenly, make sharp turns, and work by the same "smelly spots" over and over again until the pup is focused on you. Cheer the pup on when he is in the correct position, correct when he begins to fall out of position. Try a treat recall in distracting areas until you have regained attention. Work on "stays" around distracting smells.

Scent can be a tough distraction to overcome, but understanding how it motivates dogs and using it as a reward can help you better communicate with and instruct the puppy. You don't want to eliminate it entirely; rather, see it as a tool which you can use both as a teachable distraction and a fun break.

Hand Signals

Hand signals are a great way to train a puppy.  Dogs communicate primarily through body language, and giving a hand signal in conjunction with a verbal command makes your instructions clearer.  It also ensures that you have the puppy’s attention before giving a command, as the pup has to be looking at you in order to see the signal.  Here are the standard hand signals we would like incorporated into puppy raising obedience. Note that in these photos, the signals are very exaggerated.  You can make the signals more subtle as your dog begins to understand what you are asking for.

Sit 
With your palm facing up, move your flat right hand in an upward motion.  While the puppy is learning the command, you can give the hand signal right at eye level; eventually, you want to build up to giving the signal while standing completely upright.

Down

Raise your right palm up, then make a downward motion that concludes with your fingers pointing towards the ground.  Initially, you can reach down close to the ground, but gradually progress to being able to give the downward-motion signal while standing completely upright. 

 

Stay

Cross your right hand across your body and face your flat palm in front of the puppy’s face.  Pause your “stop sign” hand for a moment while you say “stay”, then remove your hand.  The puppy should not be dependent on your hand remaining out; however, on a long or distracting stay, you may repeat the signal briefly as a reminder.

Forward

Start with the puppy seated or standing in heel position.  Extend your right hand from your side out in front of you in a quick motion while commanding, “forward”.  When you are initially teaching the puppy, you can give the hand signal and step forward to encourage the puppy to step out.  As the puppy gets the idea, wait for the puppy to start walking first; you can apply light forward leash pressure to encourage it to start moving.

Call to heel

The signal is to swing your left hand out from your side in a quick, sweeping motion.  While teaching the “heel” command, you will be starting with the puppy in front of you, then using backwards motion as well as leash cues in order to teach the “horseshoe heel” motion.  Begin to wean off of the backwards steps but continue to sweep your left hand out while holding the leash.  That will become the primary signal that can be paired with the verbal command.

What Older Dogs Teach

There is just about nothing cuter than a baby puppy. Floppy ears, soft fur, razor-sharp fangs… well, I suppose every rose has it’s thorns. Part of the responsibility of puppy raising is to help mold this wiggly, mouthy, bouncy ball of clay into a happy, eager dog who looks forward to going to “work” and can control his puppy impulses in public.

Within puppy raising, there is one teacher that sometimes appears whose value cannot be understated. An older dog with appropriate social skills can often communicate in a way that is so much clearer than anything us bumbling humans can come up with.

There are, of course, potentially negative interactions a dog can have, and not every dog can serve as appropriate teacher. I am in no way suggesting you let your puppy into a pack of furniture-destroying, carpet-soiling, socially inept dogs. That would probably have an adverse affect, although I suppose miracles do happen.

But a well-behaved dog can help influence a puppy’s behavior. An older dog can show the puppy where the door to the backyard is, and also influence their door manners. If the older dog waits calmly for the door to open, a puppy will have an easier time learning to stay at the door. An older dog who busies outside leaves scent that can help clue the puppy in to the correct potty area. A puppy also can observe that the resident dog keeps the home area clean, and that tends to speed up housebreaking. The puppy can also get an opportunity to eat around another dog and learn manners around food.

Probably one of the biggest benefits of an adult dog though is the social interaction. This can be achieved even in single dog households by allowing the puppy to visit with a responsible older dog. A well-socialized dog tends to be very patient with puppy silliness; they will interact, play, and allow the puppy to expend some energy. They also, however, let the puppy know when he is biting down too hard with little baby teeth, or when the puppy is getting too wild. As the puppy ages, his “puppy card” will begin to run out, and the adult dog’s tolerance for inappropriate behavior lessens. With baby puppies, some adult dogs will simply turn their head away or stand up to avoid the onslaught of chomping. But as puppies grow, the adult dog may begin to use corrections.

If an adult dog corrects a puppy, it is usually by a hard stare, a growl, or even a snap. An appropriate correction (versus aggression) will occur during or after playtime. Sample scenario: the dogs are playing together fine, the puppy chomps down on adult dog’s tail, and adult dog snarls. The puppy backs off and lowers his body, wagging his tail and trying to appease the adult dog. The adult dog accepts the “apology” and play can continue, or sometimes the dogs will separate and do their own thing for a while. Either scenario is appropriate. There is also a possibility that the puppy will decide not to respect the adult dog’s signals and will continue with the irritating behavior. That’s the time to step in and separate the dogs, so the puppy learns that his behavior resulted in the end of playtime, and the adult dog can have some peace.

Dogs communicate mostly by body language, and an older dog can help a puppy develop appropriate social skills. It is important to allow your puppy to have interactions with other dogs in order to “learn the language”. However, it is important to pay attention to the body language dogs are sending off. The onset of puberty can create some tension between dogs who have previously been friendly together, and too much stiff, upright body language means it’s time to end the playtime. There are times when adult dogs can overcorrect puppies, and there are also times when puppies are bold enough that they feel like fighting back. Those are negative interactions that should be interrupted before they escalate.

Finally, an older dog can help instill confidence in potentially worrying scenarios. A puppy might show a fear of blow-up holiday decorations, for example. Bringing a more confident dog along for a fun walk can help the exposure become successful. If the puppy sees that the other dog is unconcerned and willing to investigate, the peer pressure can help the puppy work through his fears.

Extinguishing and enforcing behaviors

Dogs do what works. A behavior that gets a desired response is likely to be repeated. A behavior that gets no response will likely be extinguished. This is important to keep in mind when raising a puppy, because even accidental rewards will reinforce a behavior.

So consider the following situations:
 
A young puppy is teething. His gums itch and ache, especially after he’s been chewing on a hard toy. He wants to chew on your legs, but you correct him and mold him into a “sit”. This frustrates him, so he snaps out of resentment. This makes you pull away and he finds relief, because you’ve stopped correcting him and trying to make him “sit”. Now he is more likely to snap next time, and will likely begin to escalate if he feels he needs to increase his efforts.
 
Your mostly housebroken puppy has been earning more freedoms. She’s made some mistakes and you’ve corrected her when you’ve caught her in the act. She’s loose in the house and has the urge to “busy”, but is not sure how to get your attention. She goes to the door silently and waits, but you don’t notice. She paces and paces, then sneaks away and “busies” under the dining room table. She feels immediate relief, and because you don’t notice, she does not get punished. Now when she feels the urge to go, she quietly leaves the room and makes a mess where you will not find it until later.
 
An adolescent pup is playing and romping in the backyard. You call him to “come” so you can go to work. He starts to head towards you, but then notices an enticing clump of grass and grabs it. You call him again, and he freezes, staring at you. Then he leaps into the air and begins to play with the grass clump. You start after him and he bolts around the yard, adding a delightful 15 minutes of playtime to his own schedule and making you late. Now he’s learned that the “come” command is optional if he feels like he has better things to do.
 
Your pup is happy to see you when you come home and hops up to greet you. You hug and pet him before telling him “off”. A few months go by, now your puppy is 70 pounds, and has just been out in the muddy backyard. You come home and your giant puppy with muddy feet clobbers you and hits your nose with his giant, blocky head (if this has ever happened to you, you never forget that kind of pain). 

All of these are examples of behaviors that were reinforced unintentionally. Behaviors that the dog finds beneficial easily can become habit. Dogs are always unconsciously trying different behaviors and seeing what the result is. If the dog is in the crate and wants to be let out, he may circle, sit down, paw at the crate door, whine, and then bark. If he gets let out when he barks, the circling/sitting/pawing/whining behaviors will quickly be extinguished, and he will move right to barking.
 
So for the teething/snapping puppy, the reinforcement is the removal of the unpleasant stimuli (corrections, efforts to manipulate the dog into position). My recommendation would be to frequently have the dog on tie-down or leash, so that if the puppy begins to throw a “tantrum”, the puppy can be restrained calmly. I like to give the puppy a short length of leash so that he cannot continue to physically work himself up; I calmly hold the puppy’s muzzle. If the puppy throws a whining, screaming tantrum, I hold on, or at least keep the puppy leashed. It’s important to make sure that the corrections are firm but CALM. The puppy is already energized and feeding into it will only make it worse. If I am frustrated as well, I just put the puppy into time-out until I am better prepared to deal with the attitude problem. I consider this behavior to be pushy and results-oriented; it in no way represents the puppy’s temperament currently or in the future. It does tend to occur more in excitable, high-energy dogs, and sometimes in dogs who actually have a little bit of anxiety and insecurity. So while you may be thinking the puppy is trying to dominate you, it’s usually more of a case of “the schoolyard bully” syndrome. The puppy is insecure and has figured out how to be intimidating and “big and bad”. Sometimes, the best cure is regular interactions with adult dogs or older puppies who are skilled at letting puppies know their limits. There is no better puppy raiser than a savvy dog who communicates well with other dogs.
 
For the puppy regressing in housebreaking (or other house manner issues), don’t be afraid to go back to basics. Put the puppy back on tie-down, leash, or in the crate. Remember, we advise our graduates to keep their guide dog leashed to them AT ALL TIMES for two months after they go home. Preventing self-rewarding behaviors is the best way to set good habits. The dog can gradually earn more freedoms as it shows that it is trustworthy. Then, in case of regression, the dog can go back to restriction. I like using tie-downs a lot because when the dog feels the need to busy, they often circle, pace, or whine in “that certain way”. They don’t have the option of wandering off into a hidden corner to relieve themselves, so they express a little bit of frustration. This becomes their way of telling me that they need to be taken out, and I don’t miss the signal.
 
For a dog who decides the recall is optional, my answer will always be the same: put the dog on a leash. Leashes come in many lengths, which is useful for recalling a dog at a distance while still being able to enforce the command. I use my Scorch frequently as an example. He is five years old, and my only “off leash reliable” dog. I did not consider him reliable until he was about three years old, at which time he had matured, shown a high level of responsibility, and had been neutered. I called him off of pursuit of a rabbit recently, and he turned around and came without hesitation. That level of reliability was achieved by thousands of on-leash recalls. Sometimes I would be holding the leash, sometimes he would be dragging the leash, and I constantly varied the distance I called him. We practiced in the backyard, in the house, on walks, and around distractions. I hardly ever called him out of a “stay”; I called him away from distractions and, because of the leash, he never learned that he could blow me off or choose to ignore me. I was always able to enforce the command. Of course, I made it worth his while with a randomly-given food reward, which we have now worked into our puppy raising program.
 
For a jumping puppy, I cannot stress this enough: START EARLY. When a puppy is little, I set them up frequently with attention games. I go crazy over the pup (“PUPPY PUPPY PUPPY!!”) in my trademarked, high-pitched voice. The second the puppy’s front feet leave the ground, I immediately cut off all attention, fold my arms, and look up at the sky. When the pup puts its paws back on the ground, I resume the crazy attention, usually at a slightly less frenetic level. When the pup consciously resists jumping, I lavish them with attention (or even a toy or a special tidbit). It’s much easier to do this with a baby puppy rather than a giant. I progress to “sit and say please”; if the pup wants my attention, it has to respond to my “sit” command first. If you are very consistent about ignoring the puppy at a young age, the jumping behavior will be extinguished. If the puppy thinks the behavior doesn’t “work”, then the behavior will not be repeated. This is often why some of our puppies will never jump on the raiser, but will happily leap up on strangers; if enough strangers reward the “cute” behavior, it will be repeated. Since it is impossible to train everyone who wants to meet your puppy, I advise using “four on the floor” as acceptable behavior in your young puppy. If the puppy jumps up while someone is petting it, I back the pup away a few steps (or do a treat recall) and then try the approach again. The pup learns that it is taken away from the attention as soon as it jumps. It is still attention-removal training, but you’re not relying on a random stranger to have good timing.
 
These are just a few, commonly-seen examples. The most important thing to remember is to start early, ignoring behaviors you don’t want to see repeated. Believe it or not, dogs don’t sit around scheming, however it may seem. If a dog counter-surfs when you’re not in the room, it’s because it has learned that the behavior doesn’t work in your presence, but it DOES work when you’re not around. Start looking at behaviors from a dog’s point of view, and find a solution by eliminating the self-rewarding aspect of the problem behavior.

Train the dog in front of you

Train the dog in front of you. It’s a mantra often repeated by dog trainers and instructors. But what does that really mean? I believe it serves as a reminder to be an observer, to watch behaviors and reactions carefully, and to see what the dog is actually doing, not what you expect them to do.
Let’s say you’ve owned dogs or puppy-raised for years. The dogs have been active, goofy, hard-necked hooligans. You’ve had to spend time teaching them not to jump on people, and maybe you’ve actually wiped a paw print or two off of the walls (or ceiling!). Exposures were a breeze, other than working on leash management skills. Then you pick up a new puppy. This puppy is softer in temperament and a little more sensitive. He’s quiet and serious. He lets loose a little bit in the backyard and in the house, but tends to flop down or pull back on the leash when going on walks or exposures. He doesn’t rush up to people, but instead wags his tail and lets them come to him.

I would not follow the same training and exposure protocols with this dog as I had with the others. I would take short, frequent strolls rather than long, energy-draining walks. I would start with a couple of very routine, low-stimuli exposures, such as work and the grocery store. I would save the mall or a crowded playground for when I felt the puppy was confidently striding through his routine. If a meeting is being held at a busy mall, and I feel that the 16 week puppy at the end of my leash is a little hesitant, then we’ll cut the exposure short.

Yes, it is important to make sure that these pups get everything on the exposures list. However, the QUALITY of exposures is what’s important, not the QUANTITY. When a young pup is being socialized, the puppy should CHOOSE to interact and should have the option to leave the interaction. As a puppy raiser, start training yourself to be an observer. If your puppy hesitates before approaching a group of children, slow down the interaction. Have the children stop (easier said than done, I know) and allow the puppy to approach them. Give the children a tidbit to encourage the puppy towards them in a positive way. Don’t assume that this puppy will be excited to meet every group of children; the last puppy may have loved kids, or this puppy may have even had positive experiences with kids previously. But if the puppy in front of you shows timidity, hesitation, or wants to back away, make sure that puppy has an option for escape. Be an observer and don’t take it for granted that your puppy is tolerant. The puppy will gain confidence and have a positive experience when they can make the choice to socialize.

If, on the other hand, the puppy is a whirling dervish when children appear, and tends to want to jump on them, you will also want to carefully manage the interaction. In this case, learn to observe the signs that your puppy is “revving up”. He may speed up his pace, start to tremble with excitement, or vocalize. Interrupt any interactions when you feel the puppy is getting over-stimulated. Walk the puppy away to calm him down. Practice some down-stays and then return to the interaction. If the puppy can’t handle the interaction at that moment, then skip it. There is always time to return to it later, when the pup is in a better frame of mind.

We’ll be talking more in-depth about body language and how to get a better read on the puppy. As much as you learn about various body language cues though, each puppy is an individual. Start paying attention and observing little clues. One weekend, Scorch and I had an out of town, two-day dog show. The days were long, and after the show was over, we went out to eat and visited an art festival. I was not paying as much attention to Scorch as I should have been, but I did notice that he kept circling and acting strange. I thought he had to “busy”, but despite multiple opportunities, he didn’t. When we finally got back to the car, he leapt into the back, grabbed a towel, and pulled it over his head. He was overwhelmed and just wanted to escape from the world. He’d been trying to tell me and I hadn’t understood his signals. Now I recognize the cues that he uses when he’s had enough and wants to curl up into a hiding place.

Observe when your puppy has had enough. They might get more active and intense, or they might withdraw and look for escape. In either scenario, learning will not happen when that puppy is in that state of mind. Give the pup a break or reduce the amount of distractions and stimuli surrounding the puppy. Be an observer of the behaviors the puppy is presenting, rather than interpreting behaviors based on what you expect.