Training Humans: Katz on Dogs

The #1 tip I took away from reading this book is never set your dog up to fail. I have incorporated that mantra in every dog training scenario that I’ve done since then.

Here are some of the other “takeaways” — my favorite points that Katz makes in the book:

I have a puppy whose intensity could easily have made her impossible to live with as a pet … We’ve struck a contract: I will show her how to live in the world; she will give back much more.

One only has to look at any park and see sheepdogs obsessed with Frisbees, frantic, out of control Labs, plus poorly trained rescue and shelter adoptees to know how enormous a struggle it is to live well with a dog, how easy it is to mess up these extraordinary creatures.

I’ve often screwed up, and still do regularly, and so do my dogs, but we never quit on each other.

One training study conducted by a veterinary pharmaceutical company found that of people who do attempt to train their dogs, more than 90% fail to meet their initial goals.

According to veterinary association statistics, only about 3-5% of Americans train their dogs at all. And those who do often quit along the way, and for understandable reasons. They are frustrated and confused.

All 3 of my dogs arrived knowing how to do many things – run, bark, eat, chew, squabble, chase. None of them knew how to do nothing, how to remain calm and at ease. To stay and wait. In some ways, that may be the most valuable thing I’ll ever teach them.

Some positive trainers consider it nearly abusive to ever yell at a dog. I probably yell at my dogs 2 or 3 times a day, depending on what drama is unfolding at the moment. I yell. They come. Yet almost all of my formal training is entirely positive, my instructions reinforced with praise and treats and much whooping enthusiasm.

I also accept some elements of pack, or dominance, training. I have to be the leader — not the boss — of my dogs.

Getting dogs to submit is not so difficult, I’ve found. After all, I control access to outdoors, food and treats, and toys, all the desirable things. I can dominate my dogs through rules and leadership.

I love psychologist and author Stanley Coren’s wise edict: Never give a dog anything for free. Before we go anywhere, before they get any treat, the dogs must lie down, sit, come, or stay, an organic form of training woven into our daily walks, meals, and routines. I see it as a toll; I charge my dogs for everything. Lie down outside the door, get a treat, then tear around. Lie down at the road, get a treat, then dash across on command.

When we go out in the morning, they lie down and wait until I’ve put my coat on. When I say, “Let’s go out,” if they rush toward the door, I stop, have them back up and lie down again; I wait until they are calm before we proceed. When I put their food bowls down, I first make them sit and wait. Maybe I make the coffee. Then I release them to eat. I’m not trying to be prissy or ironfisted, only to keep things orderly — especially since I’ve chosen to live with 3 dogs. When your dog is pushing, you have a training problem. Push back, clearly and consistently.

The point isn’t to have spit-and-polish dogs who obey with military precision; I certainly don’t. It’s to establish leadership and promote respectful submission by using the things they like to do as reinforcement for things I want them to do. I set the rules and they follow most of them and are rewarded, with minimal scolding, no shocking or whacking.

If our dogs — who have phenomenal hearing — aren’t listening, it’s because of what we’re saying or the tone and volume with which we’re saying it.

“Obedience” is a lousy word to describe training, which is mostly about communicating.

Dogs are not aware of time, even as a concept. So “Blue” couldn’t know whether she was being left for 5 minutes or 5 hours, or how that compared to being left for a movie 2 weeks earlier.

The more I’ve moved away from interpreting my dogs’ behavior as nearly human, the easier it is to train them, and the less guilt and anxiety I feel.

Before I ask a new dog to obey me, I want him or her to know, trust, and like me. That means weeks of asking little, offering much. Hand-feeding is one of my favorite techniques for encouraging bonding with a puppy or new dog. Simply, I feed the dog his or her food from my hand, a half-cup at a time, sometimes one individual bit of kibble after another. Usually I sit on the floor, holding food out. When the dog comes running, I hold the food up by my eyes, so the dog gets used to making eye contact. Then, while the dog is eating, I repeat her name. If you hand-feed a dog for a few months while saying her name (half the time, I put food in the dog’s crate to make her appreciate that, too), I can almost guarantee that the dog will know its name, pay attention to you, and be more receptive to what you ask.

Behaviorists say it can take up to 2,000 repetitions before a dog really understands a behavior. Very few people hang in there that long, underestimating the extended, consistent nature of good training. Americans are impatient, geared toward quick fixes and instant rewards.

Aren’t those wonderful “gems” of wisdom to remember when it comes to training dogs?

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