Never Set Your Dog Up To Fail
Here's how to "set things up" so your dog will alwayssucceed. Why?... Because when a dog fails at something, he is less likely to want to try it again. And when learning a new trick or behavior, no dog succeeds every time -- especially in the beginning. So it's up to you to make sure your dog succeeds from the very start. Here's how...
This could also be subtitled: How To Teach Your Dog "Stay" Guarantee That He Will Succeed Every Time!
As I mentioned earlier, the best thing I took away from reading Jon Katz's book "Katz on Dogs" is:
Translated: Your dog WANTS to please you... he often just doesn't know how. That's why, when training your dog, you must always "set things up" so that your dog will SUCCEED -- on the very first try. (Maybe even the 2nd and 3rd tries as well.)
Why?
For your dog to want to do a particular behavior, he must first view it as a positive or pleasing experience. The moment he gets a "bad vibe" from you, the less eager he is going to be to ever try that again.
Here's how teaching your dog to "Stay" illustrates this principle...
Teaching Your Dog To Stay
Let's say you try to teach him to "Stay". At first, he hasn't got a clue as to what "Stay" means. The very first time you motion to him and say "Stay", he will probably look at you like you're crazy! Most likely, he will immediately walk over to you... or lie down... or bark... or something in his attempt to figure out what you just shouted at him to do.
However, the trick to "setting him up to succeed" on his very first attempt at learning "Stay" would be to do this:
1. Have a tiny dog treat in one hand.
2. Use your other hand to motion "Stay" (the palm of your hand in his face)
3. Back up a half-step, and BEFORE HE HAS A MILLISECOND TO MOVE, you say "Good Stay!" and give him the treat.
4. He still hasn't got a clue as to what just happened there, but he knows that he stayed right there and he got a good reward for that.
5. Try it over again - Steps 1 through 3 - only this time wait TWO milliseconds after backing up before you say "Good Stay!" and give him the treat.
6. Do it again - Steps 1 through 3 - and this time back up a tiny bit farther, and wait a couple seconds longer. You get the idea.
The point here is... you are setting him up NOT to fail. Thus, you are setting him up only to succeed at learning this new command.
It's that simple.
With enough positive rewards from you for lots of small doses of success, he will eventually grasp the concept of "Stay" ...or whatever else you're trying to teach him at the moment.
Plus, since you never scold him during this process (you should simply IGNORE any unwanted behaviors & reward only the positive ones), he will begin to see "Stay" a good thing to do.
This way of thinking makes training a dog SO much simpler.
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