Dog Training

The four pillars

Name recognition

1. Say the dog's name once, clearly, at normal volume.
2. The instant eyes find you — even a glance — mark it ("yes!") and treat.
3. Repeat in easy settings first, then add distance and mild distraction. The name becomes a switch that means "look up, good things follow."

Sit, down, stay

1. Lure a treat from nose up and back — the rear folds into a sit; mark and reward.
2. Lure straight down between the forepaws to the floor for down; mark and reward.
3. Add stay in half-second doses: cue, pause, mark, reward, release with a word like "free." Build duration before distance, distance before distraction.

Come

1. One step away, crouch, say "come," celebrate wildly when the dog arrives — party, treat, jackpot of several pieces.
2. Practice dozens of times indoors where success is guaranteed before any yard work.
3. Never call a dog to do something it dislikes (baths, nail trims, ending play) — go get it instead. Every poisoned recall costs weeks to repair.

Loose leash

1. Start in the boringest room of the house: reward position at your side every few steps.
2. Outside, the rule is simple — leash goes tight, you stop and become a tree; leash slackens, walk resumes.
3. Reward eye contact and heel position generously on walks. Pulling must be more boring than staying close, which takes consistency, not force gear.

Positive reinforcement doctrine

Problem behaviors

Root cause first — the response follows the cause

Behavior	Usual root cause	Response
Jumping on people	Greeting excitement, historically rewarded with attention	All humans turn statue-silent for four paws on the floor; greet only calm dogs. Reward sit-for-greetings relentlessly.
Pulling on leash	Opposition reflex plus pulling works — it gets the dog forward	Stop-and-tree every tight leash, reward loose-leash laps around you. A front-clip harness helps while training does its work.
Excessive barking	Alarm, boredom, or attention-seeking — diagnose by when it happens	Manage the trigger (block window views), burn energy before alone-time, reward quiet on cue, and never yell mid-bark — it joins the noise.

Working-dog extras

• Guarding tendency is a liability, not a feature. A dog that guards property can guard the wrong thing — guests, delivery drivers, children playing rough. Honesty: most households want a dog that alerts freely and defers to you instantly, which is trained, not bought.
• True protection work is professional territory. Sport and personal-protection training requires experienced handlers, controlled environments, and insurance awareness. Never encourage defensive behavior in a pet.
• Living with livestock is a different job. Herding breeds chase chickens; livestock guardian breeds (Great Pyrenees, Anatolians) bond to and defend them but need purpose-built upbringing. If poultry are in the plan, read Raising Chickens for the predator pressure that makes a guardian dog worth having.

Emergency obedience

A recall that works across a field, past squirrels, saves lives. It is built on a ladder, one rung per week or slower:

1. Rung 1 — indoors: perfect come from another room, jackpotted every single time.
2. Rung 2 — fenced yard, long line dragging: practice with mild distractions; reward like it is the greatest event in canine history.
3. Rung 3 — 15–30 ft line, real distractions at distance: call once; if no response, go collect gently without anger, reset closer, try again easier.
4. Rung 4 — proof it: new places, other dogs nearby, food on the ground — always paying generously, because someday the reward for coming may literally save the dog's life.
5. Standing rule: the emergency word never means punishment. Even a dog that just committed a felony gets a party for coming back.

Puppy vs adult rescue — how the path differs

Puppies arrive as blank slates: short sessions, socialization windows closing near 14–16 weeks make meeting people, surfaces, and sounds urgent, and house-training runs on schedule supervision rather than scolding. Adult rescues often come pre-trained — test quietly before assuming — but may carry gaps or fears from their history. With adults, expect two weeks of decompression before heavy expectations, rebuild basics with the same reward system (it works at any age), and give fear-based behaviors patience and distance management rather than flooding. Older dogs learn slower and retain beautifully.