Teach your dog to ‘Watch’ (1)

‘FOCUS’ Eye Contact is an essential behaviour for controlling your dog. ‘FOCUS TRAINING’ is essential for calmness, teaching correct heeling and ignoring distractions. The command I use is ‘WATCH’.

When your dog offers FOCUS eye contact, they are evidently ignoring everything else. They are ‘focused’.

I start asking for eye contact & focus from puppies as young as 8 weeks. ‘LUCY...WATCH!!!’

Feed time is training time.

I ask my puppies to work for their food, starting with ‘EYE CONTACT. This is foundational to successful obedience training. Put your dog on a leash and fit your treat bag. Be ready to take high value treats in both hands. I like to commence this training by positioning my puppy in front of me as I sit on a chair. 

Show your dog that you have treats in both hands. Let them smell your hands and the high value treats. Bring both hands up near your eyes. Say ‘WATCH’. When your dog makes even passing eye contact, MARK the behaviour saying ‘YES’ and ‘REWARD’.

I want my dog to anticipate the treat coming when they look at my eyes,...not looking at my hands with the treat.

The dog will look for a reward. Initially, your dog will look at one hand, and then the other, looking for the reward. The dog knows that there are treats in my hands.

Be sure that your dogs eyes meet your eyes, then immediately MARK / YES and REWARD. This is how you reinforce the behaviour.

Developing a confident dog.

To produce a confident dog you need to become their pack leader. And you will do this by teaching them basic dog obedience exercises: Sit, down / drop, come, heel and stay. Obedience exercises teach your dog that you are in charge and that you are the pack leader . With regular ‘reward based marker training’, your dog will trust you and be confident in your consistency. In your training, reward obedience with high value treats' to affirm your approval. This approval will build confidence and your dog feel secure. 

Routine and consistency are so critical to your labrador becoming settled, secure and confident. Resist the temptation to coddle your dog when they exhibit insecure behaviour. Reassure your dog with consistent and patient leadership and particularly during training sessions.
Direct your dog with decisive, calm and clear commands. Dogs get over their fears by finding success and reward in their obedience training.
When i’m working with an insecure dog I adopt an affirming communication even when I say ‘no’. ‘No’ must not communicate disapproval. I want ‘no’ to communicate that we need to ‘try again’. There is little benefit in giving a frustrated, angry or aggressive response to your dog and particularly if the dog does not understand. ‘No’ means ‘not that’, and ‘back to the beginning’.
In this way it is important that my dog knows that i’m not giving them a choice. We don't reason with our dogs even intelligent breeds like labradors because they have little capacity for logic. Dogs learn through action, repetition, consistency and reinforcement. Repetition builds confidence so it is important to keep working until your dog attempts to obey your direction. Repetition builds familiarity, builds confidence and teaches your dog how to be successful. Reinforce success with high value treats.Make your training sessions consistent but short and successful. Finish with success.

Teach your dog the recall ‘Come’. (2)

We all agree that a ‘solid recall’ is the most critical behaviour that your dog can offer you. They MUST come on que,..for their own safety.

By practicing the ‘lure, mark (yes) and reward’ sequence, you will ‘charge the marker’. In simple terms, this means that your command, followed by the ‘mark /yes’ & ‘reward’ has reliable meaning for your dog. When your dog understands the command - mark - reward sequence they will enthusiastically ‘anticipate’ good things.

This means that you have ‘charged’ your  command / cue - “Come”. And to your dog, the command /que now means that great things are about to happen. “If I obey, I won’t miss out”.

Now you should add ‘energy’ to your command, Lucy...Come”, with a enthusiastic voice. ‘Call your dog’,...’Lucy...Come!!!!’ And make sure that the reward is at least equal in value to the obedience offered. Give your bounding labrador a high value treat. I suggest sausage,  chicken, cheese.

I always repeat and keep repeating a new training routine 20 times each session. And always with ‘high value rewards’. Remember, your dog is not immediately thinking about obedience, just treats. They’re  just loving being with the treats,...and with you of course.

Now that you’ve charged your command and your marker and your dog understands, position your labrador at your left side, in the heel position. Immediately but calmly show your approval,...mark / yes and reward.

‘Heel’ is a position at your left side, with the dogs head adjacent to your left thigh, not in front or behind. The heel position is the standard training position when you are stationary and when you are moving.

It’s time to start training. Say ‘heel’ and step off with your left foot. As your chocolate labrador moves with you,...acknowledge this immediately,...’yes & reward’. Make sure your enthusiastic labrador understands this process. Keep repeating until they do.Your dog is now walking in the ‘heel’ position.

Now, with your dog by your left side, on leash, say “Come!!!!” in an enthusiastic voice and run away. Your dog will follow so that you and your dog are running together, in the same direction. Travel about 5m, stop,... mark /yes & reward you dog with a high value treat. If your rewards are high value treats, then your dog will find your commands irresistible.

Teaching your dog the recall, 'Come'. (1)

A solid recall is far and away the most important behaviour we can teach our dogs and particularly our labradors . It’s not the end of the world if your dog won’t sit, drop or stand, but you cannot have a dog that will not come when called.

The stronger the recall, the safer our dog is when off-leash. 
When you are teaching the ‘recall’, make sure you have your dogs attention before you call them.Say their name first and then the ‘cue / command’. “Lucy,...Come”. Don’t call your dog when they are unlikely to come. This will teach them “learned irrelevance” meaning that your recall cue is meaningless. You’ve ruined your recall cue and you’ll have to start again with a different command.
When you hit a difficult phase, increase the value of your treat. Bring out the high value treats or a toy if your dog loves to tug. Make sure that your rewards are meaningful to your dog.
Always take care not to reinforce any behaviours you don’t want. If your dog doesn’t comply with your command, simply say ‘no’, without energy or emotion and start again.
I like to start with ‘Restrained Recalls’. This requires 2 participants. Both of you need to stock up with high value treats or toys. One of you needs to hold your dog while the other one calls,..’Lucy Come’. Each person marks & rewards the dog when they arrive. Now do the same thing, recalling back again. There is nothing more satisfying to a handler than a dog that ‘comes’ as fast as they can run in response to the recall cue.
The recall certainly come more naturally to dogs like labradors. For others, it’s a more difficult behaviour to teach. This can be the result of high distraction, low food drive, lack of desire to please or apathy and low motivation.

Five minutes of dog training at feed time.

Always insist that your labrador puppy participates in a 5 minute training routine before giving them their food. If you feed twice a day then you’ll have 2 training sessions. Start at 8 weeks of age. They’re never to young or too old.

An 8 week old Labrador pup requires 3 feeds a day to guarantee that they get the proper intake. You’ll have 3 opportunities to train your labrador pup or any breed for that matter. More short length training sessions are preferable to 1 long session each day. A young labrador will lose focus fairly quickly.

For this reason, I like to do ‘focus work’ with my 8+ week old puppies. I hold a ‘treat’ in each hand and ask them to ‘watch’. The instant the pup make eye contact with me I ‘mark’ the obedience - ‘yes’ and reward. If they have learnt to focus on me, I know that when their attention is lost, I have over extended the pup. Keep you training sessions positive and successful.

You might prefer to tether you dog on a 2-3m line. This simulates off leash training. Other wise you’ll attach you training leash.

The first goal in training a Labrador of any age is to establish the ‘reward marker’ - ‘yes’. Once you labrador puppy understands their ‘reward marker’, they will begin to problem solve and offer a response in the hold of gaining the ‘reward’.

The second goal is to ‘lure’ your dog so that they will follow you. Draw your puppy into a game, making the treat in your hand a ‘target’ for them. Lure the puppy in any and all directions. Finish short routines with ‘yes’ and ‘reward’.

The third goal is to commence teaching you dog specific positions. My dog trainers recommend that you start by teaching the ‘sit’ command.

The History of Chocolate Labradors

The Labrador Retriever was originally referred to as the St. John's dog & Newfoundland dog. It is speculated that the Greater Newfoundland dog and the French St. Hubert's dog contributed to the cross that brought about the original St. John's dog. The Labrador is the traditional waterdog of Newfoundland, Canada. The Earl of Malmesbury was the first to refer to a 'Labrador'. In 1887 he wrote, referring to his Labrador Dogs.  The Territory of Labrador is Northwest of Newfoundland.   In the 19th century people referred to the whole land mass by one designation, and to Labradors as dogs from that area.  Labradors were first used as duck retrievers and fisherman’s working offsides by English fisherman who had settled in Newfoundland in the early 1500's. The breed development coincided with the advancement of the fishing vocation . The English migrant fisherman in Newfoundland used the St John's dog to retrieve fish and to drag fishing lines through the water. They were considered to be "workaholics" and enjoyed their retrieving work in the fishing environment.

Labradors would work long hours with the fisherman in the cold waters, then be brought home to play with the fisherman's children. Both chocolate and golden labradors have been identified in the original St. John's dogs from the Newfoundland. 

The breed were first noticed by English aristocrats visiting Canada in the early 19th century. These gentry returned to England with fine specimens of the early labrador breed. In 1807 a ship called Canton transported some St. John's dogs intended for Poole, England, as breeding stock for the Duke of Malmesbury's Labrador Kennel. The Canton shipwrecked and two dogs, one black and one chocolate,  were found and believed to have become part of the breeding program that produced the 'Chesapeake Retriever'. The recessive colors the yellow/golden and chocolate appeared in early litters from time to time. As part of the earliest breeding programs these were regarded as 'off colours' were usually culled'. English breeders standardised the breed characteristics during the 2nd half of the 19th century. The Labrador Retriever breed was first recognised by the England Kennel Club in 1903 and by the AKC in USA in 1917.  

Trainability

Chocolate Labradors are very eager to please which means that they are very trainable. And their retrieving abilities make them ideal as hunting and sporting dogs.  Labradors will often work beyond their physical abilities. In warm conditions, they may overheat and become exhausted. 

The obvious physical and temperament breed characteristics remind us of the Labrador's original purpose. Their short thick weather-resistant coat was preferable because the coat of the longhaired retriever was iced as it was coming out of the water. In its ancestral homeland, a Labrador accompanied a fishing boat to retrieve the fish that came off the catch. The Labrador’s natural instincts as a retriever, with a coat suited to the cold waters of the North Atlantic made them the ideal working dog.

The Labrador's thick, tapering, 'otter tail' is a powerful rudder that helps them swim and turn. The otter tail is a clear breed characteristic along with their famous temperament. The chocolate labrador is energetic, outgoing with a friendly nature and very eager to please. Under normal conditions (the absence of abuse) labradors are not aggressive towards humans and other dogs or animals. The Labrador's popularity can be attributed to their temperament, intelligence and adaptability making them the ideal working dog, sport dog and family pet.

Since 1991 the labrador has had the highest number AKC registrations and has been America’s favourite breed since then. In 2019, labradors are the most popular breed of dog in Australia.

Show Labradors and Working Labradors

'Show Labradors' are referred to as 'English Labradors'. 'Working / Field’ Labradors are referred to as 'American Labradors'. The 1960s was the beginning of the popularity of the chocolate labradors, in the show ring, as working dogs, as sport dogs and as pets.

The Labrador Breed has a dense, short coat that repels water and provides great insulation to the cold and to water. Labradors come in 3 colors; black, yellow and chocolate. In Australia, the Golden Labrador is the most well known however, this colour has the most recorded breed specific problems. This may have been promoted by the long term over use of 'inbreeding' to produce 'true to type features'.

Across all 3 colours, 'Show Labradors' - (English Labradors) are more heavily built, slower and physically less agile than their ‘Working Bred’ counterparts.

English (Show) Chocolate Labradors can grow to 50kg without being fat while American (Working) Chocolate Labrador Retrievers are a lighter body weight and very agile.

American Working Chocolate Labradors have a more intense ‘retrieve and prey drive’ than the 'English' show bred variety. They are physically faster with a more athletic build. These American Chocolate Labradors are more ‘sensitive’ and responsive to training. The 'Working Chocolate Labrador' is very eager to please and more dependent upon their handlers approval. The more serious nature of the American Chocolate Labrador doesn’t necessarily mean that they are more intelligent but they are certainly less distractible, more focused and therefore easier to train.

With Chocolate Labradors, the difference in the temperament, behaviour and trainability within the American Working Labrador variety is a feature of 'blood lines' and studious breeding rather than colour.

Breeding at Pawlinglabs

At Pawling Labradors our chocolate labradors are predominately from American working lines.

Some of our Chocolate Labradors are darker than others. However the variations between individuals are small.

Of the 3 colours, Chocolate Labradors are the least likely to have degenerative joint disease or dental problems. As a breeder, I have never seen or heard of a Chocolate Labrador with any kind of skeletal problem where studious 'outcross breeding' was employed. Working labradors historically. have 'outcross breed vigour' which progressively eliminates the recessive factors that produce faults. This is true for all 3 colours if 'outcross breeding' rather than 'inbreeding' is employed.

Outcross Breeding of chocolate labrador retrievers is the practice of mating two labradors with no common ancestors for 4 generations of pedigree. The genes, including recessive genes affecting the progeny are concentrated in the first four generations.

Outcrossing brings into the specific labrador pedigree, characteristics that are not obviously present in the line. Outcrossing builds strength into the pedigree and it reduces the concentration of faults promoted by homozygous recessive genes. Outcrossing promotes vigor, disease resistance, skeletal strength and promotes fertility. Outbreeding reduces the effect of inbreeding depression (apathy), eye / retinal disease, skin, intestinal, vital organ and skeletal issues.

Outcross breeding produces labrador puppies which are genetically dominant and meet high labrador breed standards.

'Working Chocolate Labradors' are usually 'outcross bred' with the goal of promoting vigour and robustness rather the 'show dog features'.

Outcross Breeding Labrador Puppies

Outcross Breeding labrador retrievers is the practice of mating two labradors with no common ancestors for 4 generations of pedigree. The genes including recessive genes affecting the progeny are concentrated in the first four generations.

Outcrossing brings into the specific labrador pedigree, characteristics that are not obviously present in the line. Outcrossing builds strength into the pedigree and it reduces the concentration of faults promoted by homozygous recessive genes. Outcrossing promotes vigor, disease resistance, skeletal strength, promotes fertility. Outbreeding reduces the effect of inbreeding depression (apathy), eye / retinal disease, skin, intestinal, vital organ and skeletal issues.

Outcross breeding produces puppies which are genetically dominant and meet high labrador breed standards.

A breeder who mates distantly related dogs or dogs with no common ancestry in their breeding program, will get a desirable diversity in the progeny and particularly in the 2nd and 3rd litters from the labrador bitch.

A successful outcross will progressively reduce the imperfections in a bloodline that have resulted from inbreeding. As suggested above, in breeding, as an historic practice has promoted many faults like skin, vital organ and skeletal structure failures in the labrador breed and indeed, many other breeds.

In my opinion, the chocolate labrador is the strongest example of the labrador type, in terms of general health and physicality. I have never seen or heard of a chocolate labrador with any kind of skeletal or vital organ. I conclude that these problems are aleviated by studious outcross breeding.

Outcross breeding progressively eliminates the recessive factors that produce faults.

Superior breeding results are obtained in 3 litters of an outcross breeding from a bitch and sire. At Pawlinglabs we rehome our bitches and continue the line with the progeny.

The progeny of first-generation, outcross breedings are usually quite uniform in appearance.

As breeders, we must be concerned about recessive faults rather than meticulous adherence to physical conformity to a ‘theoretical labrador type’.

When outcross breeding, a desired characteristic, not present in the line, could be obtained by servicing a bitch with a stud dog with the characteristic, and related at the 4th or 5th generation of the pedigree.

Outbreeding produces very high quality puppies, particularly with a prepotent stud dog, with a history of siring outstanding progeny. Semen testing a stud dog is an absolutely essential step in determining potency as preparation for successful breeding. Prepotent stud dogs pass on dominant genes.

Successful labrador outbreeders understand the history of their stud dog through the 2nd, 3rd 4th & 5th generations in the pedigree line.

A successful outbreeder understands the strengths and weeknesses of their stud dogs through to the generations of the pedigree. The breeder must know where good and bad traits came from if they expect to retain the good and eliminate poor traits.

Labrador Breeders who practice random & casual breedings, will not consistently produce the desired quality of the labrador breed.

A Pawlinglabs (Pawling Labrador Breeders) we meticulously select good breeding stock.  Pedigree analysis is essential if we are going to continue to produce the best labrador puppies.

Big is not best

Smaller pups are always confident because they learn to compete with the larger siblings from the beginning. Consequently, small pups are full of enquiry, personality and they are wonderfully trainable. They have learnt to problem solve from day 1 in the  face of big bruisers pushing them around. Assuming that a litter is healthy & strong, I have never seen an inferior small Labrador pup. Size is completely 'relative' to the average weight / size of the pups in any given litter. And it is not uncommon for the smallest in one litter to be the equal weight of largest in another litter. And, of course, in some litters the pups are very similar in weight and size. In other litters, there is a greater weight / size range. Small pups / dogs, and particularly  males are much more suitable for families with children under 12 and for older people. Larger Labradors can be like run away trucks, particularly if they are not 'puppy pre-schooled' & 'obedience trained'. Don't forget that Labradors are 'retrievers / working dogs'. There is no better breed for a family pet however they must be socialised and obedience trained.

All the best with you selections.

Teach your dog to “SIT STAY”

  In the beginning, I suggest you teach the SIT - STAY command with your dog on leash . Use a treat to lure your dog to sit in the heel position at your left side. Both of you should be facing the same direction. Reward you labrador puppy immediately they ‘sit’.

Wait 3 seconds  then ‘MARK’ by saying ‘YES!’ Then reward again immediately with a treat.

Wait 4 seconds and repeat the process. Add duration in 1 second increments until you dog can achieve 20 seconds sitting in the heel position at your left side. After every 4 seconds say ‘good’.

‘GOOD’ is your ‘duration marker’. ‘YES’ is your ‘reward marker’. When your dog has achieved a short duration, mark with ‘yes!’ and reward with a treat. But this time “JACKPOT” by presenting 4 treats. Mark and reward by saying ‘YES!’ then treat, ‘YES!’ then treat, ‘YES!’ then treat, ‘YES!’  then treat.

When you are satisfied that your puppy can sit for a ‘duration’, add the “STAY’ command to ‘SIT’. The next level sees you saying ‘SIT - STAY’  then taking a step to the side and back.

When your puppy can remain in the seated position for 3 seconds, step directly in front of your dog and turn to face them.

Set your dog up for success and don’t be too ambitious.

Step slowly but directly in front of your dog, turning to face them. If you dog remains seated for this short duration, count to 3, say ‘YES!’ and reward. Then step back to the dog’s right side. Steadily increase the duration up to 20 sec. As the duration successfully increase, say ‘GOOD’ as your ‘duration marker’ very 4 seconds.

Having achieved a 20 second SIT - STAY immediately in front and facing your dog, you can now take 1 step away, still facing your dog. You can slowly progress by take several steps backwards and away from your dog.

When your dog has successfully achieved the SIT STAY at the full length of your leash, you can progress to a ‘short line  ie 3m’ or work off leash.

At the end of all ‘duration’, work don’t forget to Mark and Reward with a generous JACKPOT. Then enthusiastically praise your labrador for the great self control they have displayed.

Gradually increase your distance away from but still in front of the dog. Increase the duration before you increase the distance.

IF YOUR DOG FAILS the distance or the duration, Say ‘NO’ without communicating frustration or anger. Simply go back 1 or 2 steps and continue.

Strengthen and reinforce the Sit-Stay command by employing it every time you meet your labrador.

The command to "sit stay" is a cue, meaning a ‘longer duration sit’.

As you progress, you can use the hand signal when you say SIT, ,...’raise your flat hand, palm up, 1 second after the verbal command.

When you say "stay", your can use a hand signal.

When you are standing BESIDE of your dog, use your flat hand, fingers horizontally. Swing your forearm until your palm is facing your dog, about 300mm from your their face.

If you are standing IN FRONT of your dog, use your flat hand, fingers up, palm facing your dog, about 300mm from your dog's face.

Teach your did to Sit

Teaching your labrador puppy to ‘sit’ is easy and very rewarding. You’ll need some high value treats in place free from distractions with your puppy on a loose leash.

Lure you puppy with a high value treat, positioned between your thumb and middle finger.

Raise your hand (palm up) over the dog's nose so that they follow the treat and look up. As your pup looks up at your hand, they will automatically sit. When their backside hits the floor say ‘yes’ and release the treat.  If I give the hand signal with my right hand, i’ll generally offer the treat from my left hand. This tends to stop my puppy from anticipating and chasing the treat.

For the first 20 repetitions, simply ‘mark’ your dogs behaviour with ‘yes’ and immediately (1 second) reward them the treat. After 20 reps your dog will have worked out the relationship between the ‘lure’, ‘sit’, ‘yes’ & the ‘reward’.

When your dog is reliably following the lure into the ‘sit’ position, continue to lure them into the sit position and add the "sit command" just as they start their movement.

With this degree of progress, you can continue to use the same motion but now, with an empty hand, palm up and say "sit". If they sit, mark the behaviour and give a ‘jackpot’ of 3 treats.

This is the ‘hand signal’ and will be the que for your dog to sit. Be sure to say sit before your give the hand signal.

Practice the ‘sit’ at feed time twice daily. And increase the duration of the sit. This is called the ‘ sit stay’.

Slowly expose your dog to the ‘sit command’ with increased distraction. For example, practice training your dog to sit when someone else is in the room.

You should advance to situations where other dogs or animals are nearby.

Teach your dog to Generalise

Generalising simply means, the ability to perform particular behaviours, in different environments.  Dogs do not generalise as well as humans. They do not easily transfer a behaviour into different situations.

Dogs learn and acquire knowledge by associating and connecting events with cues. These cues are visual hand signals and body language. And they are verbal directions, affections and commands . A dogs learning is increases by cause-and-effect. A positive experience with food rewards promote a positive training experience. Dogs instinctively take into consideration how their current situation compares with their past experience. Generalisation expands your dogs positive experiences and increases their aptitude for training and learning.

This inability to generalise can have serious consequences if we take our dog into a new and vulnerable environment assuming that they have solid foundation of training and particularly the “recall”.

Generalisation can be described as transferring a behaviour from a familiar situation to less familiar. For example, your dog may understand the command to “Sit” and do so easily when they have been rewarded inside your house. However, if they were commanded to sit outdoors there is a good chance they would not understand the command and what is expected of them. The “sit” behaviour has not been generalised to the unfamiliar situation.

Eventually, we ask our dog to transfer a behaviour they have already learnt to a different environment away from where they were initially taught.

To begin generalising you must be satisfied that you have a solid behaviour. ‘Proof’ the behaviour to the necessary level. Only then is it time to move to different locations, with different distractions, and with you in multiple  positions.

Lower your expectation when you begin to generalise a behaviour in a new environment or different position.  And reinforce them for offering the behavior even if it is approximate at first. 

I am in favour of approximations as a means of progressing your dogs training. Lure your dog with a high value treat. As your lure into position, you dog begins to understand you command and expectation.

Generalising is not difficult and youcan generalise  behaviours to any level of competence.  Teaching your dog to “sit stay” for a progressively extended duration is quite easy to achieve. Simply ‘proof’ the behaviour to the necessary level.

Remember that you should not correct your dog for any failure of behaviour that you have not taught or in situations you have not yet trained in. 

Always ‘proof’ and “generalise” emergency behaviours such as the “recall”. Teaching your dog to generalise the “recall” is perhaps the most critical behaviour that your dog learn.

“Proof” the ‘recall’ by training in as many different scenarios and locations as possible.  Will your dog “come” when someone else is feeding him? Will they “come” when there is a cat in sight or when they are playing with other dogs?

When you are teaching your dog to generalise, practice the behaviour in the familiar place before moving to the new location.

Use high value rewards and respond to your dogs success in a very excited manner and particularly in the new place.  Don’t make the mistake of assuming that your dog will be able to perform the behaviour easily in the new location. Just keep going back to the beginning. When you are teaching a new behaviour, revert regularly to easy behaviours that your dog knows already. Build confidence and build success. Wait until your dog is calm and not distracted. In a new environment, give your dog time to adjust, familiarise and settle.

Generalising behaviours is a critical aspect of dog training not least Labrador Retrievers. And it will become easier and more natural for a dog if they are given sufficient variety and repetition in their training. Remember that the success of each session can depend on factors like how hungry or tired your dog is.

Make small and gradual advances, taking time to let your dog absorb a behaviour before moving forward.

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Walking on leash

You can commence loose leash walking as soon as you take your new puppy home. I recommend the use of a “Flat Collar” or “Gentle Leader” to prevent pulling and to help your pup to understand your expectations. And particularly if your new pet is a ‘Chocolate Labrador’. For healthy mental and physical development Labrador Retrievers should begin obedience training and particularly ‘leash walking’ immediately. 

To commence this discipline, fit a flat collar or gentle leader to your pup and allow them to walk and drag the leash. This will allow your pup to become familiar with the sensation of ‘neck/ collar pressure’.

The use of a ‘gentle leader’ allows for greater control when loose leash walking in high distraction environments. I suggest that you wear a ‘treat bag so that you can quickly refill your hand with high value treats. A quick delivery of the food ‘rewards’ gives you a high rate of reinforcement for the pup's loose leash walking. A high rate of food rewards will set your expectations and reinforce the routine in you pup’s mind. This will make it very easy to transition to a flat collar as your pup matures.

Your dog’s awareness of collar pressure is essential for teaching the controlled ‘onleash walk’.
Position your pup to walk on your left side, at ‘heel’, on a loose leash with a flat collar or gentle leader. There should not be any leash tension or pressure on the dog's neck.

To commence, take one step forward and if the pup follows, say "YES" and reward the pup with a treat. Your pup might become distracted and get out of position. Lure your puppy back to your left side and start again. The lure and reward will help you pup to memorise the routine.
Continue taking one step at a time and mark the pup’s behaviour by saying YES and immediately reward with a treat.

You should teach your pup to relieve the pressure on its neck by giving them a short range of movement on the leash.

If you hold the end of the leash your pup has much available movement before they feel tension.

Hold the leash in a comfortable position with either hand and in a position that keeps the pup close to you on your left side without tension on the leash. Holding the leash closer to the pup's collar allows you to respond quickly if the pup adds tension to the leash.

When you commence this training, your pup will be inclined to pull.

Don’t allow your pup any sniffing, scavenging, pulling, lunging, or leaping up when they are on leash.

If your pup is distracted and pulling, be patient.  Stop and be stationary. At this point, don’t redirect their attention, pull them back, give them a leash correction, or lure them into position. Your pup will eventually release the tension. When the pup releases the tension by stepping back, turning their head, readjusting their body, ‘mark and reward’ them. Mark the desirable  behaviour by saying YES and reward, then continue walking. Your pup will quickly learn  there is no benefit or reward in pulling on the leach.

When you teach your puppy loose leash walking, you are teaching the dog to respond to leash pressure. If your puppy offers a behaviour that adds tension to the leash, immediately stand still and wait. You can turn 180* and walk the way you came. You will generate leash pressure when you walk and this will teach your pup to release that pressure by following you.

Advance your pup when they are following in the heel position without lunging.

If ‘you’ add leash pressure, reward your pup when ‘they’ relieve the pressure themselves.

Dogs like to sniff and explore their environment, but we must teach them that this is unacceptable. Loose leash walking teaches your dog self-control. 

Crate Training

Crate training your dog will be useful in many situations. Firstly, the crate will be a safe home for your dog. As a breeder of black labrador and chocolate labrador puppies, crate training is essential. You can crate train any breed of dog, at any age. It’s never to late to condition you dog.

A crate is a safe way to transport your dog. Likewise, a crate is a safe place when your dog may not be able to run freely.  When you properly crate train your dog, they will be happy to spend time there.

Crate training usually takes just a few days. Your puppy must consider their crate to be a home not a punishment.

Your dog's crate should be just large enough for them to stand up and turn around.

You can locate the dog crate in any area of your house particularly if you attach an exercise pen. I put a soft blanket or a carpet square in the crate. Remember...nothing that the dog can shred!!!

I place a blanket or fitted sheet over the dog crate to create a cosy den for my dog. 

Encourage your dog to enter the crate.

Call you dog to their crate and give them a treat. Give him a command and point into the crate with a treat in your hand. 

Simply throw some food treats or a favourite toy inside the door and  your dog will walk into the crate to get the food. When your dog enters the crate, close the door while they eat the treats.

When you feed your chocolate labrador their kibble in the dog crate it will create a pleasant association with the crate.

Once your dog is standing to eat,  you can close the door and leave the door closed for a few minutes. Increase the duration longer each time. If he begins to whine do not let him out until he stops or you will inadvertently teach them that the way to get out of the crate is to whine and they’ll keep doing it.

When your dog is eating their meals in their crate, you can progressively confine them for longer periods.

Initially I suggest that you sit near the crate for 10 minutes. Next time, go out of sight for a few minutes. Repeat this process at feed time, gradually increasing the length of time you leave them alone in the crate and you're out of sight. When your dog can stay comfortably in the crate with you out of sight, you can begin to leave them crated while you are gone for short periods. Remember that a toilet trained puppy generally has bladder control for 1hr for each month of his age, ie 6hrs at 6 months of age.

I crate train my dogs in conjunction with an exercise pen attached thus providing a courtyard perimeter. This way, they do not accidentally soil the crate. My pups sleep in an open crate from 8weeks of age. When we take a mature dog away from home, they will sleep in a crate.

Training & Learning speed

Just like people, all dogs and including Labrador Retrievers have different learning speeds and abilities. Some dogs learn quickly, some slowly, depending on many factors including the degree of difficulty in the behaviour you are teaching them. Learning speed is not necessarily an indication of intelligence.

Spend time with your pup and watch how they learn and develop.

10 minutes a day is sufficient to establish a “reward marker” and a training program. With an 8week old puppy, I train for 5 minutes, 3 times/feeds a day. If necessary, I use high value treats.

Distraction is the most obvious difficulty you will encounter as you commence training your puppy. Watch for willingness to work with you.

Watch for stubbornness.

Watch for sensitivities.

And you should identify your dogs response to food / treat rewards after a behavior. Get to know their personality and their food drive.

There will be times when it seems like you dog is learning very little, even going backwards. This is quite normal. Take your pup back a stage or two. And continue to be consistent.

There will be times when your dog will be distracted. It will seem like they have decided not to obey. Of course, this is not so. Don’t get frustrated and certainly don’t be cruel.

Redirect the attention of your labrador puppy back to you with a high value retreat. If you are training in a place with distraction, go to an isolated environment.

Even smart dogs like Labradors can encounter difficulties which slow their learning.

Remember we are always training, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 52 weeks a year. New behaviors need repeating many times to become a habit. I always repeat a particular training behaviour 20 times.

In your normal day to day life, always stay consistent with your commands, even when you are not formally training. Everything you do & every word you speak to you dog is teaching them how to behave and the expectations you have.

A puppy learns pack order from week 5 to week 8.

As Dog Trainers and Breeders of Chocolate and Black Labrador Retrievers people ask us why a puppy cannot be released before 8 weeks of age. The answer is simple. A very young pup needs to learn ‘pack order’ and be socialised among its litter mates from week 5 to week 8. During this period a puppy learns how to be a dog.

We start feeding solid food to a litter from week 3. The litter eat together 3 times a day. And from this time we watch the emerging ‘pack dynamics’ around the food bowls. It becomes apparent which pups are dominating.

As early as week 3 and certainly by week 5, a bitch will begin to remove herself from her litter so that the pups will wean. From this time, the pups are living constantly with litter mates and they are learning ‘pack dynamites’. A pup learns to ‘play fight’ in the litter as part of emerging pack order. The pups will wrestle,..bite ears,...bit tails. A puppy learns how to adjust its bite by playing with the other puppies in the litter. This is a critically important period in the puppy’s development. If a puppy does not learn to ‘play fight’ it will not learn how to be a dog. The pup will not learn how to read the body language of other dogs, nor will it be able to demonstrate appropriate body language in return. If a dog doesn’t know how to socialise with other pups it will develop degrees of anxiety & have conflict depending upon its personality and temperament.

Obviously, this will be a problem which will need care and attention as unsocialised behaviour emerges. 

During the 5-8 week period in a puppies life, we give them small tug toys along with obstacles to climb on. we are looking to emerging confidence in every pup regardless of temperament.

Lure, Mark and Reward Dog Training’ method

Blog 19/3/19

The Lure, Mark and Reward Dog Training’ method is the best way to teach your dog new behaviors. 

I begin this training when a puppy is 8 weeks old. They are a ‘blank sheet’,...a sponge for learning.

Contrary to the saying,...

‘you CAN teach an OLD DOG new tricks’.

It is certainly the best way to teach your pup, infact, any dog, to walk at heel. And it’s never to late to try this dog training method.

The ‘Lure, Mark and Reward Dog Training’ method uses a ‘treat’ to lure your dog into different positions. Hold a treat in front of your dog’s nose, then slowly move your hand to manoeuvre your dog into any position you want.

The treat acts like a target for your dogs nose. And their body will follow their nose. For example, if you want him to ‘sit’, move the treat up and over his head. As they look up at the treat, their rear will go down, to the ground.

It works for positions like ‘drop/down’. And for movements such as ‘stand’, ‘finish’ & ‘spin’.

If you want your dog to ‘spin’, move the treat counter clockwise in a circle. After your dog completes the behaviour, mark that behaviour (yes) and reward them so that they know they did what you wanted.

I suggest 20 repetitions with a food reward and your dog will get it. Your dog is beginning to understand ‘behaviour & reward’. If you are patient, you will see your dog beginning to ‘think’. And the best thing is that you will be able to measure and track your dogs progress.

As a labrador breeder and dog trainer, I swear by this dog training method.

Luring is the beginning of dog training

In my opinion, ‘luring’ the most useful technique for us to use in the beginning of a training program with a young dog.

A ‘lure’ enables us to move a dog into different positions without having physically moving your dog in any way.

Luring establishes the foundation of reward for  behaviour.

Luring enables us to quickly teach behaviours that many dogs initially resist without the reward incentive .

A  lure is a ‘high value treat’ presented to your dog that it the can target & follow with its nose.

Once we have established the position or a behaviour that we want,  the lure is replaced with a ‘reward marker’ immediately preceding a good reward.

The lure is of no use if you allow the dog to snatch it from your hand.

Your dog will quickly identify the difference between your hand holding the lure,  and your hand offering food reward.

LURE YOUR DOG TO WALK AT HEEL

The 'HEEL' position is behind the line of your left thigh. Walking in the HEEL  position is taught separately to sitting at HEEL.

LURING your dog to walk at HEEL is a very easy exercise. 

I always begin to teach my chocolate labradors this luring exercise beside a wall, preferably inside the house where there are no distractions. The wall ensures that the dog stays square to your position. Your dog is between you and the wall. And this will also ensure that your dog learns to stay close to you.

I commence all new training routines 'indoors' before venturing outside and to a park. The dog needs to learn a routine without exposure to distractions. You can progressively introduce distractions.

CARRY A TREAT POUCH. You'll need a lot of treats.

Remember that the 'heel' position is behind the line of your left thigh.

Place a piece of food in your left hand between your index finger & thumb. Position your left hand adjacent to your left thigh with your palm open and aligned to the rear.

Hold the treat under your thumb.

Your dog will ‘target’ the food in your hand and automatically position its nose in the palm of your hand.

Give the command, ‘Heel’, then commence walking and ‘lure’ your dog. The food is the ‘target of the lure’.

Walk 3 paces, then ‘mark / confirm’ the behaviour by saying 'YES'. Then,... promptly release the food, not before 1 second.

'YES' marks & confirms the successful behaviour and the dog begins to anticipate the treat. This is the essence of ‘Reward Based Marker Training’.

'YES MEANS TREAT'

Repeat this exercise, like all training routines, a minimum of 20 times each session. Progressively increase the number of steps you take. If the dog loses concentration, reduce the steps / shorten the distance / reduce the time duration.

If your dog gets ahead of you, reverse your direction 180 degrees and repeat the lure.

As your dog advances, you can vary the routine by turning left, right, side step, figure eight, saying 'heel' at every turn.

The sit position will quickly become automatic when you stop. Soon, you will not need to give the sit command.

Learn to lure your dog

If you want your dog to walk at heel, luring will be your best training option.

When you first lure your dog, it will quite naturally assume that you are offering something to eat.

It will naturally try to take the food treat from your hand. You will want to use this 'drive' to direct your dogs energy into a training exercise. 

If your dog is 'food driven', a piece of kibble as a 'low value reward' may be sufficient as the 'target'. Otherwise, a small piece of sausage or cheese should be adequate as a 'high value reward'. 

Think of a lure as the trail and the food treat as the ‘target’,... and 'reward'. If you want your dog to follow your lure, you need to give them a signal.

Stand either beside or in front of your dog and approach the dog’s nose with your left hand to commence the lure.

Offer the food treat from the flat of your hand, holding the food between your thumb and forefinger.   If your dog is very food driven and tries to snatch the treat food from your hand, withdraw the food by closing your fist, and moving your hand away. 

To commence the 'lure', move your left hand towards the dog’s nose then move the 'target' a short distance. When the dog approaches your hand,...'Mark' (confirm) the movement with 'YES' & reward the dog with the treat. 

The first step is to 'lure' your dog to follow the 'target' and move his head towards your hand.

Mark and reward your dog Immediately when it moves its nose in the direction of the target. 

YES is the reward marker by which you let the dog know that they are doing the right thing.

Follow the marker with the (treat) reward within 1 second of marking the behaviour. Mark and reward any behaviour you want from your dog.