What is a High-Stress Environment for a puppy? Part 1

How do you determine whether an outing is appropriate for the puppy you are raising? How do you know when the puppy finds things too stressful?

As is usually the case in dog training and puppy raising, it depends on the individual puppy, the current state of the environment, and previous experiences. But there are some general guidelines you can keep in mind to determine if the pup should go or stay home.

Skill Building

Puppy raising is about skill building. You start laying the basic foundation of training and experiences for the puppy. Then you gradually build on those skills. So if your pup is well-behaved in Walgreens, and has a good established history of walking through the drug store on a loose leash, without scrambling across the linoleum floor or shrinking away at the automatic doors, great! You are ready to try Publix!

But what if you get to Publix, and it’s the shiny new Publix with the parking garage, elevators, and a large crowd? Maybe when you get out of the car, the puppy exits slower than with his usual gusto, and he is looking all around the parking garage, then jumps slightly as the automatic doors slide open.

That’s the point where you want to stop, take a note of the puppy’s reaction, and honor it by proceeding slowly. Walk around the parking garage with some treats, working on basic obedience. Go through the sliding doors to the main entrance, and play some fun obedience games. Even if the puppy appears “fine”, that may be a good time to call it quits and go home. The puppy has just had to deal with a lot of stimuli. Try looking at it from his point of view: the parking garage echoes, condenses the sounds and smells of vehicles, and may have dimmer lighting. The puppy is already on alert, and as you shut your car door, it sounds louder than it ever has before. So now maybe he is hyper-aware of all of the changes around him. Then you approach an automatic door, and while he’s seen the Walgreens door, he’s never seen THIS door, and the smell inside of the store is different than Walgreens. Plus, maybe a large family is exiting as you are getting ready to enter.

That is a lot for a puppy to take in, even a very confident and brave puppy! Spend 15 minutes socializing, doing fun obedience, and having a positive experience in the quietest part of the entrance you can find, and send whoever else you are with up to get any groceries you might need (many of you have heard me give this piece of advice: if you’re going alone to the grocery store with plans to actually shop, leave the pup at home… grocery store outings with the puppy should be about the puppy). Then go home.

The next time you visit that Publix, your pup will remember it as a place where some potentially scary things happened, but he had fun! And the scary parts didn’t last that long… so maybe this time, he is ready to try the elevator.

Ideally, a pup should not have an experience if he hasn’t learned the basic elements leading up to it.

“Exposures” is a mis-leading word

The purpose of taking a pup into different environments or introducing him to different stimuli is NOT to help him get used to it. Socialization really ends at 16 weeks; we complete a LOT of socialization in the puppy kennel, with a very carefully designed program. There are times in a puppy’s life (4 – 6 weeks of age) when they are naturally very curious and have little to no startle/fear response, so we break down the elements of important guide dog exposures and build a reference library for the puppy of sights, smells, sounds, and textures.

So during the age of 10 – 16 weeks, we’re looking to have raisers do some socialization with people, with household living, and small neighborhood exposures. The puppy can be a little more sensitive and likely to startle during this time, so keeping things positive, light, and fun is extremely important.

“Exposures” (I actually prefer the word “outings”) are really opportunities to gradually teach the puppy to behave and develop good habits, as well as to ascertain if the puppy shows any areas of concern.

Outings for the puppy should be gradual and based on his behavior. It is so important to be focused on the puppy when you are out and about because it is all about them. Bad behaviors can become habits very quickly; we cannot stress enough how important foundation behaviors and a good behavior history are. It is impossible to expose a guide dog puppy to every single thing that they might encounter as a guide dog. So let’s say you can’t get the puppy you’re raising onto a plane, maybe because you aren’t traveling anywhere that you could bring the puppy. If he has a history of being taught to walk nicely in crowds, focusing in spite of loud metal noises, settling nicely when riding on public transportation, and being obedient even when people try to talk to him, he is very likely going to handle his first airport as a guide dog just fine.

By the same token, if you are raising a puppy who gets overwhelmed by crowds, tucks his tail or startles at loud noises, or is unsettled on bus rides, that doesn’t necessarily mean he is out of the running to be a guide dog; however, that is important information to find out on your outings with the puppy, so the trainers can make an appropriate match later on. If the dog has that information recorded in his puppy history, they will not match him with someone who travels regularly on airplanes.

So “exposures” are really not about making sure the puppy gets around certain stimuli in order to “expose” him; it is actually about teaching him all of the basic behaviors, and also about gathering information.

Coming next month: What is a High-Stress Environment for a puppy? Part 2!

One thing at a time

Dogs are always learning. They tend to be very aware of actions and their consequences, good and bad, and will repeat behaviors that work for them. The good news is that a dog’s tendency to learn new things is what makes them great working partners. The bad news is that bad habits can take hold very quickly, without us even being aware of them. Dogs are being trained all of the time, whether it is by us or by the environment.

So that means that every time a pup pulls on the leash while the handler follows behind, the pup makes a mental (unconscious) note that pulling on the leash got him what he wanted (increased speed towards a distraction). The more “success notes” the pup collects, the more ingrained the behavior becomes.

On the other hand, if the raiser is very conscious of the pup’s tight leash and stops just about every time the pup surges forward, and changes direction if the pup is very persistent, the pup makes a note that pulling did not succeed in getting him to his destination faster.

Keep in mind that most of the behaviors we are asking our pups to learn don’t necessarily make sense to them, or even come naturally. So stopping when the pup pulls on the leash is great for preventing habit formation, but you will also have to teach him what you DO want. It often does not occur to pups to walk calmly and nicely on a leash even if they are excited, so we have to help shape that behavior.

But what about the times when you just need to get somewhere, and don’t have time to stop and work on leash manners? Proper leash manners are one of the core foundation behaviors that can and should be worked on at home, consistently, in low-distraction environments before true “outings” start. If the puppy you are raising doesn’t know how to walk nicely on the leash in a quiet neighborhood, he is not ready to try a grocery store.

When you are raising a guide dog pup, there are a ton of commands and expectations outlined in your manual. It is important to start with the basics though, and build slowly. Start at level 1 of leash walking: practicing in a quiet neighborhood with lots of treats and toys, for 5 – 10 minutes at a time, a few times a day. Leave with the pup wanting more. After a few sessions, try level 2: take a longer walk or try a different part of the neighborhood. Eventually you should get to level 3: reduce the treats and rewards, and maintain the good habit. When you feel confident that the pup has a good understanding of how to pay attention to you and respond to the leash, then try for an actual “outing”. Be prepared to go back to level 1, because of the new and exciting environment! It’s not fair to start training in a very distracting environment; instead, we want to lay a strong foundation at home or in quiet places. Then, when you and the pup arrive in a challenging environment, it won’t take long to establish those same good habits.

This same type of training structure can be applied to “problem behaviors”. I get questions year round about scavenging problems, but it seems to reach a frenzy right around acorn season. If the puppy you are raising tends to scavenge on leash or in coat, whether it is food or acorns, continuing to take him out without directly addressing the problem causes the habit to build quickly. Often, we tend to correct and then move on. But the problem tends to persist when no direction is given; remember that dogs make mental notes, and if scavenging occasionally works out for them, they will continue to make attempts. By the same token, if you spend all of your time scolding the pup and pulling acorns out of his mouth, he may start to get hand-shy or avoidant of you when he has gotten hold of a “prize”.

So take the pup on a walk around some acorns. When he starts to lunge for them, stop and wait; be sure that the pup cannot actually grab the acorns. When the pup looks at you (or at least stops trying to get the item of his desire), reward him! Then walk away and try it again. Eventually, build up to changing directions a few times before he gets the treat; then try to walk past the acorns. Then end your training session. Repeat this same sequence later in the day. Don’t take the pup on long walks in areas densely populated with acorns until you have worked on this skill. Frequent short walks that are heavy on the mental workout (in this case, acorn avoidance) do actually make a dog tired, and they help to establish the foundation for good habits. There is no quick fix; it takes some work to teach a retriever that everything doesn’t belong in his mouth!

You can do this same exercise with food, socks, tissues, crumpled up papers, or any other number of things that the pup is tempted by. But be sure to remove the opportunity for failure as much as you can. If scavenging at restaurant tables is a problem, stop taking the pup to restaurants until you work on the problem at home, with your own table and purposely dropped food. When you decide the pup is ready to try a restaurant again, go out to eat with the mindset that this is a training session; you eating warm food may have to be secondary until the pup settles. If your puppy steals socks out of the hamper, physically limit access and make sure that all socks are picked up, so that you can lay out deliberate set-ups. It isn’t about “catching the dog in the act”, but rather giving them a clear choice and showing them the right answer. It is not fair to correct a dog if he hasn’t been made aware of what the appropriate behavior should be.

Martingales and collar response

Martingales may be new to us as a standard collar, but they have been popular in the dog training world for years. There are several benefits to martingale collars: they are nearly impossible to put on backwards, they are very adjustable, a puppy cannot back out of them, and best of all, they are very safe and comfortable for the dog.

The Greyhound world popularized martingales, because the Greyhound’s sleek build made it easy for them to slip out of traditional buckle collars, but chain collars could easily cause discomfort or injury to their slender necks. Now, martingales have increased in popularity and are usually easy to find. Also known as a “limited slip collar”, martingales hang loose until pressure is applied; with pressure, the collar tightens to a limited degree. A “slip collar” (the chain training collar), will continue to close until it hits resistance (the dog’s neck). The thick width of the martingale creates a more comfortable and safer fit for the dog than you would find with a slip collar.

Martingales have a main loop that goes around the dog’s neck and a secondary loop that the leash fastens to, allowing for loosening and tightening. The secondary loop can be made of fabric or chain. It is personal preference as to which you use. A properly fitted martingale, when tightened, will have a small space between the two rings. There should not be a gap between the collar and the neck. A pup in our program can wear this collar as early as 16 weeks old. Size of the puppy should be taken into account when deciding to switch to a martingale. Pups with delicate necks may benefit from wearing a buckle collar longer.

It’s important to remember that one of your jobs as a handler is to work on leash management and collar response. Puppies and dogs tend to respond to a tight leash by pulling harder. The following exercise can help teach a pup to respond to a tight leash with attention, rather than hard pulling. It takes practice and repetition, and is best started at a young age.

1. Leash the puppy and start your walk. However, the walk should NOT start if you have an over-stimulated puppy. If you’re trying to get out the front door, and the puppy is sitting but ready to launch, wait until the puppy settles before releasing him to go outside. This may take time; patience is important! If he launches out the door, stop and redirect him to come back inside and try again.

2. Starting and stopping can be a very powerful motivator. Dogs want to continue walking, so often just stopping and becoming boring can help. When the leash goes tight, stop and wait. When the puppy loosens the leash, either by accident or because he’s turning to look at you, praise him happily and start the walk again.

3. Stopping and starting using praise alone will work well for a lot of puppies. However, with a particularly excited puppy OR in a very distracting environment, the pup may entertain himself by sniffing or scavenging when you stop, instead of worrying about the leash. In that case, shorten your leash so the puppy cannot self-entertain, and stop and wait. When the puppy, accidentally or deliberately, loosens the leash, use your marker word (“Yes!”) and give a treat.

4. After several repetitions, you should notice the puppy quickly looking up at you every time the leash tightens. Reward this every time initially. You should not initially be picky about the puppy’s position; in front of you is fine at this point.

5. Begin weaning off of frequent treating; deliver the treat after the puppy has looked up at you, then has walked on a loose leash for several steps. Now you only want to reward the puppy when he is at your left side and walking or standing.

This technique can be done in just a few minutes at a time, and is useful in many environments. The goal is to install a quick response of attention when the leash tightens. Start in a low distraction environment, and then “warm up” in new, distracting environments by starting over with this technique. The puppy should learn to generalize and have an improved response to the tight collar. It may seem like you use a lot of treats in the beginning, but initial frequent use of treats followed by a gradual weaning off helps to “set” the behavior. Once you have shown the puppy the “right answer”, commands and expectations make more sense.

Verbally marking success

Humans are a very verbal species. We are chatty and communicative, using words and descriptions to get our point across.

Dogs are equally as communicative, but are not so verbal. Their primary way of communicating is through body language and scent. So they have to learn to focus on our verbal output for information. 

 

The use of your voice in raising and training a guide dog is important to be aware of. It can be easy to talk too much at certain times, and too little at others. It’s common to witness raisers (as well as pet owners!) cheerleading a puppy through an obedience exercise, giving a constant stream of praise and information, only to switch to radio silence and reliance on the leash when the puppy is distracted on an outing.

So there is a fine line between talking too much and giving too little information. The downsides to too much “cheerleading” are that the dog learns to only pay attention if you’re constantly chattering, and/or he learns to tune out your voice. Then when you find yourself in a real-life scenario where you need the dog’s attention, he fails to comply either due to the lack of verbal encouragement or because he has learned that what you say is not of importance.

Praising and encouraging the puppy is, of course, a good thing, but there is a little trick that can add clarity to training. Use of a short marker word, such as “Yes!” or “Good!”, the moment the pup is successful is a clear and concise method of teaching. After the marker word, you can heap on the praise.

Establish the marker word by pairing it consistently with a treat. So if you tell the puppy to “sit”, mark the moment his rear touches the ground with a “Yes!” and immediately deliver a treat. What is so wonderful about establishing a strong response to “yes” is that if later you are delayed in delivering the treat, or if you don’t have treats on you, that marker word still allows you to give very clear information to the dog.

I often use “yes” when the dog just makes a conscious choice that I like. So if we are at group obedience, and the excitable puppy I’m handling stands by my side watching a dog go by instead of lunging, I’m going to tell him “yes” and possibly deliver a treat.

Some things to be careful of when using treats:

• The marker word doesn’t mean anything other than “you were successful and that behavior will likely result in a treat.” It is not used to get his attention or to get a specific command, such as sit.
• If the puppy changes positions after you say “yes”, do NOT give the treat. For example, it is very common for a puppy to default to a “sit” in order to get a treat. So if the puppy was laying down or standing at your side when you say “yes”, do NOT deliver the treat if he moves into a sit. Either wait until he gets back into the desired position or give him another cue. This is EXTREMELY important for guide dogs, as we do not want “sit” to become a default behavior. This can result in sitting at curbs or at obstacles, which is not good guide dog behavior.
• For lower energy dogs, a perky, excitable “YES!” can be a good choice to help boost them up. For higher energy, distractible dogs, keep your “yes” low and steady.

When you have established a marker word, keep it in mind when you are out and about. If you find that the puppy is misbehaving and that you are struggling to control him, be sure to give a clear, concise command and use your marker word if your dog makes any effort towards the behavior you want. Do not keep nagging or repeating commands. Give a command, pause, and see what the puppy does. Give him help if necessary by moving him away from the distraction, or even take a deep breath to calm your own energy. When the pup turns towards you, relaxes the leash a bit, or slows his efforts, mark that with a quiet, calm “yes”. It can be akin to playing the “hot and cold” game; the “yes” lets the pup know that he is on the right track.

Excusing behavior

We all know that every one of us is raising the best, smartest, and most talented puppy in the world.

Excusing behavior is an easy habit to fall into, especially when dealing with behaviors that are perceived as negative for a potential guide dog to exhibit. It’s important to remember that we are not making judgments on the quality of the dog as an individual; if he doesn’t make it as a guide dog, he is not a failure or a “bad” dog. He just isn’t a match for the type of work guiding requires.

One common scenario is the fearful or uncertain puppy. It can be tempting to try to pinpoint a particular event as the cause for fears. However, fearful tendencies don’t just appear out of nowhere. A single event might be enough to bring out the more obvious signs of fear and may intensify future responses, but the foundations for a fearful response were already present, and the previous signs may have been more subtle.

The leash commonly masks concern or uncertainty, especially with a dog that is particularly willing to please his handler. So a dog may walk into a crowded mall dozens of times and appear to be okay. However, his pupils may be dilated, his breathing increased, and he may have a change in pace (slowing because of uncertainty, or speeding up in a “panic pull”). He also may change his personal space boundaries, either by staying close and constantly touching the handler, or wanting to keep a steady distance. He may curl up into a tiny ball when you stop to sit on a bench, or he may have trouble settling. All of these are subtle signs of discomfort. So when the puppy later has a mall exposure that results in him fleeing from a sudden noise, it can be easy to attribute it to that single noise event. But in reality, that noise was just the final straw that resulted in a more obvious behavior response. 

While not every startle or jumpy response from a dog is cause for concern, be careful not to dismiss it either. Try to take notice of the dog’s behavior, posture, and movement before and after the “scary” event. Many dogs who end up afraid of loud noises, children, or other common “canine concerns” show early signs but soldier through the discomfort; often, it’s because they rely heavily on the handler for confidence. This becomes a problem (and often surprises raisers) when the dog is asked to make decisions without handler input and lead as a guide dog. Without immediate feedback, the dog’s stress increases and they choose avoidance or flight.

Negative responses to people or other dogs are often blamed on single events as well. This is most commonly seen in rescue dogs (“He was clearly abused by a bearded man in a hat, because he is afraid of bearded men who wear hats.”), but we hear similar assumptions in the raising world as well. Dogs will react to strange or novel silhouettes simply because they haven’t had exposure; however, their temperament will determine how fast they recover, if at all. If a puppy spooks at a bearded man, watch for the puppy’s entire reaction. If he will approach for a treat and then leans in for a snuggle, he is probably recovering well. If, however, he streeeetttches in for a treat, keeping his feet planted at a distance, and then retreats, he has not recovered. He may accept petting or an approach, but if he is not soliciting attention or willingly approaching, he has not recovered. This is important to note and modify future greetings to offer the puppy support and a positive experience.

It also can be confusing if a puppy presents as confident, bold, and feisty most of the time, but then has a few incidents where he appears fearful. Remember how some puppies “activate” in the presence of stress? Don’t excuse responses that concern you just because you are used to a revved up dog.

I’m not immune to this type of excuse-making, so don’t think I am excluding myself here! My border collie Scorch and I encountered our worst nightmare on a walk when four dogs burst out of a house and attacked him. It makes it easy to dismiss his fearful, snapping responses to dogs, especially of a certain breed. However, the event did not CREATE his fearful response to certain dogs. As he became an adult dog, long before the attack, his tolerance for pushy, in-your-face dogs was very low. He inherited that tendency from his father, who was also a dog with little tolerance for “rude” dogs.

In contrast, a graduate that I trained encountered a similar situation, where her dog was attacked on a route. He was always stable and extremely tolerant of other dogs. After the attack, he remained tolerant and stable. The incident was enough to briefly slow him down or make him hesitate, but he remained friendly and confident.

So if you are seeing a behavior that concerns you, or if you want to see how your puppy is reacting to a particular exposure, there are a few ways to verify what you are seeing: 

• Start training yourself to observe behaviors, NOT interpret behaviors. “He loves children” calls up a different image than “he approaches children with a low-wagging tail, lowering himself to the ground and crouching, then leaps up, rapidly licking at their faces.”
• Bring in an objective eye: have another raiser handle the dog while the AC observes. Adding the stress of an unfamiliar handler will often uncover hidden behaviors and responses.
• Handle your dog on a long leash. Give the dog the option to approach or leave from the exposure. Do not correct or try to direct the dog. For example: if the puppy has spooked at men, have a male neighbor approach you on your walk. Give the puppy enough leash to back up or move forward. Shake the neighbor’s hand and have a conversation and ignore the dog. Then have the neighbor offer a treat. It will be the puppy’s choice to approach, without the leash or handler influencing him.

Recording the dog’s reaction effectively allows us to come up with a plan for helping the dog to progress. It also allows you to keep a log of reactions, and possibly identify a common trend. The dog may react to sudden movement, or loud noises, or crowds. Understanding who the dog really is can help you and your AC manage an exposure schedule for the puppy to set him up for success.

The Power of Negative Language

Within the dog world, there are a few words and phrases that just refuse to expire. Many of you have heard me lament the use of the words "dominance" and "alpha"; my issue is that the terms are usually misused, and do not necessarily describe what is actually happening.

But I have another word that I would like to see eliminated from our vocabulary when talking about dogs: STUBBORN.

The dictionary definition of stubborn is "unreasonably unyielding". I have been uncomfortable with the use of the word to describe dogs for some time, but when I actually came across the definition, it became clear where my discomfort stemmed from. Describing a dog as "stubborn" implies that the dog is "unreasonable" in his failure to comply with your commands.

As I've discussed before, there are numerous reasons why a dog may not comply with a command you've given: he doesn't understand it fully, he doesn't understand it in context, he is distracted, he is overstimulated, he is stressed, he is hot, he is irritable, he is tired... or he just plain doesn't feel like it at that precise moment. None of that sounds particularly unreasonable to me, especially since many of our commands are extremely unnatural to dogs. How many dogs do you know that freely walk along the sidewalk in a straight line, without pausing to sniff or socialize? Or who wait patiently and quietly at doors?

 

This morning on my way to work, my attention wandered and I drove through a questionably yellow light. I know that the intersection has a red light camera, but I did it anyway. Now I am worried about the potential consequences (an expensive ticket in the mail); however, that was clearly not enough to deter me from making a poor choice at the time. I had the briefest moment of "should I slam on the brakes or chance it?" I took the chance. Sound familiar? A dog may "know better", but when faced with a choice and having only moments to decide on an action ("Do I lunge and try to play with that dog, or sit here quietly?"), it's not "unreasonable" that a dog will impulsively choose a behavior that lines up more with his instincts.

So when someone tells me that their dog is "stubborn", that does not give me very much information as a trainer. A better description might be, "He has a hard time following commands when other dogs are around." Or, "He doesn't like to be 'drilled' in obedience and will get bored after several commands in a row." Or, "He's going through adolescence and he's more interested in checking out the environment." Or, "When his nose hits the ground, he tunes me out." None of this is "bad" behavior. It just means you have to get more creative with your training. The traditional use of consequences may not be enough to convince a dog to ignore his instinct to get excited when a stimulus presents itself.

Understanding this is an important step in training a dog effectively, and with understanding. Give the dog a clear choice, but make the decision a bit easier for him if you can. So if you're practicing "stay", and you know your dog is distracted by tennis balls, don't try for a long "stay" all the way at the end of the leash while tennis balls are being bounced. Practice a brief "stay" with the pup at your side, so you can give effective feedback. GRADUALLY introduce duration and distance, rewarding the dog for successful efforts. If the dog breaks the "stay", make it a little easier, rather than correcting repeatedly. The dog isn't stubborn; he just finds bouncing tennis balls to be highly exciting and it is hard to concentrate on something as boring as a "stay".

If your dog gets "stuck" on smells, he may have a genetic predisposition to find smells extra-fascinating; he is not stubbornly ignoring your commands. Instead, he is so absorbed in odors that he forgets that he is attached to a human. Get his attention off of the smell when you can, and practice a heavily-rewarded "Let's go" around the scent-y area. Simply correcting him and moving on will not convince him not to smell next time; walk back and forth a few times in front of the odor to teach him what TO do instead. This will take a lot of repetition before he understands that he cannot be driven by odor alone, but through fair, consistent training, he can learn to turn his attention elsewhere.

If your dog looks at you blankly after the fifth "sit" command he's had to do, he may simply not see the point. Some dogs will go through commands 500 times, but others grow bored of repetition and don't find it particularly enjoyable or rewarding. For a dog like that, make obedience a game. Weave obedience and play together, giving the dogs lots of breaks and interacting in a way that the dog finds enjoyable. Use a toy or encourage the dog to chase you a short distance. Pat him on his side or roll him over for a fast-paced belly rub. Let him get a little worked up, then try some obedience again.

But above all, try to avoid thinking of your dog as "stubborn". Try to get to the root of why the dog is behaving the way he is, and modify your training technique to help the dog succeed. If I can't be trusted to be perfectly behaved at traffic lights, I'm not going to expect my dog to always make the best choices. Because of my mistake and it's consequences, I am going to be very conscious of my approach at traffic lights from now on... but will I eventually slip back into some yellow-light-running habits? There are certainly enough people with multiple speeding tickets who clearly didn't learn their lesson the first time. It's unfair to hold dogs to a higher standard than we hold for ourselves. In order to train a dog, we need patience, consistency, and rewards, not judgmental, unhelpful labels.

Attention, attention!

Anyone who has raised a puppy is familiar with how short their attention span can be; puppies usually have brief moments of brilliance and clarity interspersed with distractions, zoomies, and daydreaming. The ability of a pup to maintain attention in the face of distractions is part genetics and part training. Some pups will naturally be in tune with their handlers and are very agreeable, while others may be more engaged in the world around them. Either way, you still want to be sure that you are focusing on the dog’s attentiveness, and making sure that you are training with clear, consistent, and effective communication.

It is your responsibility as the handler to ensure that you encourage attention, but also that you check for attention before giving a command. It is not fair to give a “sit” command when your 6 month old puppy is excitedly straining at the end of the leash towards another dog. It also is not fair to expect a 9 month old, people-distracted pup to hold a sit-stay as a guest approaches him while cooing in an excited tone. Knowing your puppy’s highest distractions, and also what it looks like when your pup has tuned you out entirely are the keys to successful training.

The protocol of saying the pup’s name before a command exists to ensure that you get the puppy’s attention before giving them a command. The way that you say it matters. It is not “Wolfiesit!” Rather, the name is meant to check for or to get the pup’s attention: in a happy tone, you would say, “Wolfie”, followed by the command “sit” when the pup acknowledges you. If saying “Wolfie” does not get a response, do not give the “sit” command. Instead, figure out why the pup is not paying attention to you. Are there too many dogs or people nearby? Is the pup drifting off because he’s had a busy, activity-filled day? Try changing the environment or giving him time to decompress before you try again. 

Sometimes, just working on attention and “four on the floor” is a good way to build a pup’s confidence and to get them in a thinking frame of mind. Stand at a distance from the distraction, say your pup’s name, and when he responds, call him to “come”. Give him a treat when he responds. Repeat until you are easily able to get his attention. The rewards will motivate him and bring his attention back around to you. Once your pup is able to stand on a loose leash, with four feet on the floor, and is responding to his name, THEN you can start asking for more, like a “sit/stay” in the heel position, or a “down”.

Your pup may also look at you when you say his name, but may be slow to respond to your command. If you have attention, but not an immediate response, resist the urge to repeat the command or correct him. Sometimes these dogs operate on what we call “retriever time”: “She told me to ‘sit’… I know that means something… oh yeah, to put my bottom on the ground… oh she means right now?... OK, guess I better sit.” If your dog is looking at you and the wheels appear to be turning in his head, give him some time to respond. If we move faster than the dog does, they end up getting dependent on the leash to tell them what to do, instead of thinking through what we’ve asked them to do. If he’s looking at you and still not responding, do not give him a harsh correction; instead, give him help by lightly touching him or gently tugging on the leash. For example, if the pup is looking at you, but not responding to the “sit” command, save your correction for another time. Give him guidance rather than immediately choosing to tell him “no” paired with a collar pop. He could be confused, overwhelmed, or just not processing what you’re saying at that moment. Correcting him could potentially confuse him further and discourage his attentiveness.

The same can be said for other commands: if you call him to “come” and he looks your way, put some light pressure on the leash. Then, as he starts to move towards you, verbally encourage him. If you had corrected him when he looked at you, even if you meant to correct the lack of the recall, you would actually be discouraging his attention.

Corrections are more meaningful when they occur less often. Retrievers in particular can quickly become immune to most corrections, especially if they don’t truly understand why they are being corrected. It is important to have a good foundation of attention established so that you know the dog is attentive and thinking; we want the dog to be working too, not just the handler.