When training complex behaviors, when training any kind of behaviors, it is important for the trainer to have several things in mind.  You must know where it is you are heading.  In other words, you must know the goal, what you want the dog to do eventually.  And certainly, you must not do things early on that will impede that goal later on.  If, for example, you do not want your Saint Bernard to loll and drool on your couch when he weights only-god-knows how many pounds as an adult, you must not let him up on the couch when he is a youngster.  Next you need to be able to break down the behavior into steps, steps your dog can comprehend and learn, and to teach those steps methodically, one at a time, stringing them together as is appropriate.  Thus the trick “Say Your Prayers” would start with “Paws Up” and only later on, would your dog do Paws Up while seated and then eventually would dip his head between his paws as if in prayer.  In addition, the trainer must understand how the dog interprets each step in his training.  This is not so urgent when teaching a trick, other than that the mood be jolly and the dog be jolly as well.  But for the service dog, this is crucial.

I have been told many times by people in need of a service dog that they had a dog they wanted to train, that the dog was one or two or even three, and that they went to work or on a business trip or out to dinner and left the dog at home.  How does the dog interpret this?  He thinks, “I am not needed.”  It is by being with his person 24/7 with as few exceptions as possible that a dog comes to see his work, that he takes on the responsibility being offered and that he takes joy in learning his job and in doing it well.

Everything you do is analyzed by your dog.  Ah, he thinks, he told me not to go on the couch, but he doesn’t seem to pay attention when I do.  Oh, he thinks, when she says sit, she means sit.  And so on.  Little things, big things, your dog is always getting the message, even if the message your are giving is not a conscious one, or even if the message is far from what you think it is.  Let your  dog take your favorite spot, get aggressive over a toy with no consequences, disobey your commands, protect his dinner, not come when called unless he feel like it, he’s got the message even if you don’t.  Show your dog appreciation for cheerful obedience when it’s called for, for the comfort of his body next to yours when you are in pain, for blocking a toddler from a fall, for cheering up a sad friend, for sharing toys with equanimity, for moving over when you want to sit near the lamp, he’ll get those messages, too.

He’s not just a wagging tail, a fetching machine, a kissing fool.  There is nothing, absolutely nothing, more important to him than to figure out what’s what in his own world, this philosopher, this interpreter of all he sees, this thinking being.

Of course I started by reading and re-reading the breed standard, the blueprint for making the dog.  And then I interviewed as many Whippet people as I could.  I backed up and thought about not only the breed, but the group the breed was in.  And then I studied and thought about the body of the Whippet, because the body of the dog will give you an enormous amount of information about who inhabits such a body, about potential abilities, likes, dislikes. And then I read the breed standard again.  And again.

I did a lot of my interviews at Westminster.  Because it is a benched show, I had access to nearly everyone who was showing a Whippet.  And before you jump down my throat, as some of you are already dying to do, if you know how to interview, you can get the answers you need.  Period.  It didn’t matter that some of the people I spoke with did not live with a Whippet.  It didn’t matter that some of them only trained their Whippet for the show ring.  What did matter – good to know if you are looking for a new breed for yourself – is that I first asked “What are the (insert any number) best things about the Whippet?” and then let them talk for as long as they wanted to.  And then I asked, “What characteristics of the Whippet might be difficult for an inexperienced owner?”  And, happily, because I’d let people tell me all the things that were wonderful about the breed, they were very forthcoming about what might be a problem.  During one of the interviews, I had a Whippet asleep on my lap.  And that also told me a lot of what I needed to know.

Does breed matter?  Indeed it does.  Training a Whippet is not like training a Beagle or a Mastiff or a Border collie.  Training any dog means first understanding who he is and who he isn’t, how he moves, how he plays, whether or not he hunts and if so how, what he was bred for in the first place, what he feels like to your fingers, how sensitive he is, how he feels about his person.  Why just yesterday, a very nice man walking along West 23rd Street in New York City, where I was walking with my Border collie, Sky, asked if he were a Border collie.  ”Yes, she is,” I replied.  ”I can see,” he said.  ”She’s herding.”  I smiled and continued on my way, not in the mood to tell a stranger something he probably didn’t want to know in the first place.  Sky was not herding me or anyone else.  In fact, what I saw as we headed home was not “eye” but tail as she used her sweet pointy nose as a wedge to cut through the humanity out walking on a beautiful day and make room for us to walk at her preferred speed and not just meander with the crowd.

So the lesson is, don’t stop at the most obvious fact you learn – Border collies herd.  Instead, dig deep.  I wrote my column and got more positive response than I expected, including a letter from a Whippet breeder in Florida who wrote, “Dear Carol, You must have been hiding in the bushes while I was training my dogs…”

Breed matters.  Studying the blueprint, the history, the body, then carefully observing the individual, always prepared to be surprised as you find out more and more about your best friend, your student, your sidekick.  The secret to training many, many breeds, as professionals are asked to do, is to do your homework and then allow the dog to fill in the blanks.  After you learn all you can, approach the dog empty, being open to what he can teach you before you jump in and start to teach him.  Individuals differ, but so do breeds, and that’s important to know before you begin to train.

I still have never trained a Whippet, but I feel the research I did and the observations I made would make a good beginning for a friendship that would lead to mutual education.  The better you understand your student, the deeper the friendship will be and the more he will be able to learn and to teach you back.  But don’t forget that generous praise…

Drawing from DOG SMART, The Art of Training Your Dog

It’s best, of course, since our languages are not our canine friends’ natural languages, to start with one word at a time.  Begin with a name, short, simple, not embarrassing (the clever joke might not seem so clever years hence).  Once your dog knows his name, you can begin to teach the basic commands that make life safer for him and saner for you.  Sit is a good place to begin, but always say sit when that’s what you mean, never Sit Down, which is, after all, two commands.  And don’t fancy things up with unnecessary additions, adjectives, phrases, tirades.  Let your dog concentrate on a word and quickly come to understand that that sound means something, something you want him to do.  To ease his learning, let him know he got it right.  A simple “Good!” or “Good dog!” will do the trick.  As you may know already, I am not a gadget trainer.  I like things to be personal.  I like my dog to understand clearly that I am pleased with what he just did.  Or not so pleased with what he just did or didn’t do.  A simple “no” works fine for the latter and no, it’s not a crime.  It’s education.  It’s clarity, something dogs crave.

Onward.  As you teach the skills that will give your dog a larger life – allow him one day to be off leash in the park, visit friends with you, take wondrous journeys to parts previously unknown to both of you, hang with his friends and leave when it’s time to go, take food without biting or grabbing, lie down next to the table when you are eating, ride nicely in the car, etc. etc. etc. – you will find that things go more quickly as you continue to teach.  Bravo!  And then you will find that sometimes when you are speaking to another human, your dog reacts as if he understands.  That is because you have taught him slowly and carefully how to pay attention to words.  Now you may start to say “Find the ball,” or “Do you want to go out?” and you will see that light in your dog’s eyes that says, “Mmmm, got it.  And, yes, yes, yes!”

Still, you shouldn’t over-talk to your dog. Dogs appreciate quiet time and more than that, walks where they aren’t told to do much of anything special except to be themselves.  Even when your dog is a very, very good dog – he has, say, just done something you wanted him to do for the first time – he only needs to be told “Good.”  OK, “Good!!!” if it’s something special.  He doesn’t need a speech or a sandwich.  Here’s the thing, fellow dog lovers, he knows when he gets it right and he knows when you are pleased.  He might enjoy a little praise, but not a brass band.  Dogs are contemplative creatures.  They like to think about the world and about you.  They are life long learners and love to master new games, new tricks, new commands.  But most of all they like the kind of conversation that has no words, the kind that says “Let’s do something interesting now, you and me.  I’m going to think my own thoughts and you can do the same.  But don’t let that fact make you think I’m not paying attention to you, or that I don’t love you to Pluto and back.  Because I will and I do.  Get your leash.  We’re out of here.”  All without saying a thing.  My favorite kind.

Watson was the first dog Flash met on our first trip with him to Paris over a decade ago.  They each had a ball to retrieve, but as it almost always is with dogs, one object mysteriously trumps another, even when they seem to be identical, and as it turned out on this sunny day, the only ball either dog wanted to fetch was Watson’s.  And so two strangers worked out a deal that specified the rules and restrictions of their game of fetch.  Both dogs would run for the ball every time and since the area where they were playing was vast and the person throwing the ball, Watson’s “dad,” had a good arm, the run was long and exhilarating.  Then, whoever got the ball got the ball.  Last, both dogs returned to the place of origin and waited watchfully for the next throw.

Not all dogs get along, but all dogs know how to communicate their intentions clearly.  They even try to do so with us, though, alas, not all of us are paying enough attention to take note.  Even if you are new to dogs, you probably have read that they communicate via body language.  And this is true, down in the front, up in the rear means “I want to play.”  Tail tucked, ears back means “I am frightened.”  Ears forward, tail straight back, eyes hard, hackles up means “I don’t like you!”  And so on.  For Higher Education in body language, hang out at the dog run and ask yourself, why did that dog do that?  What did it mean?  Why did the other dog react as he did?  And so on.

While we can play bow and use postures in other ways our dogs will understand, there’s more to talking than crouching down to look friendly and standing tall to be taken seriously.  Dogs will note, for instance, your breathing pattern.  That may be how they know so much about us, when we are excited, sleeping, faking sleep, ill, angry, happy, feeling downright silly.  You can intentionally use your breathing patterns to communicate with your dog.  In fact, since dogs sneeze when they are happy, you can have a sneezing conversation.  When your dog does something you like, you can sigh.  Oh, boy, I’m relieved.  When your dog is pulling or eying your pizza, you can inhale sharply.  He’ll get the message.

Dogs converse with their eyes and, in this case, for us humans, practice makes perfect.  The more you look, the more you will see and understand.  How do I know when my dog catches my eye that she wants to play, needs some water, is bored because I have stopped to talk (and talk) to the lifeguard after my swim, needs to go out or isn’t feeling so hot?  Practice.  That’s how.

And more than this, dogs think in pictures and since we do, too, at least in part, sometimes they seem to get the very same pictures we are creating or we seem to get the pictures that constitute their thinking.  Voila!  We know they’d like to play ball or they know we are planning a walk without them.  Boo hoo.

It may take a leap of faith to deepen the conversations we have with our dogs, but it’s a leap worth taking.  There are things dogs know about the world that we do not, things worth knowing, and if we pay attention, these are things they will tell us. They do not, as you know, reveal our secrets, but they are happy to share theirs with us any time we take the trouble to pay attention.

So – how would you like to be the dog of someone like this?  Your dog, of course, would know everything there is to know about you, at least everything a dog could understand, which is quite a great deal.  But you would know nothing about your dog.  Alas.

If you have adopted your dog from a shelter or rescue group, no doubt they told you what breed or mix of breeds your dog is.  No doubt they lied.  Everything black and white is part Border collie.  Everything big with floppy ears is part Lab.  No dog, no matter how broad his head, no matter how muscular, agile, strong, is part Pit Bull.  Every dog is a something-poo, already house trained, just waiting to love you to pieces.  But your dog is not an appearance or a color.  Your dog is his behavior.  So no matter what the nice person in rescue says and no matter what the DNA test says, you will need to carefully note your dog’s behavior – how he plays, how he moves, what he finds exciting, what, if anything, he loves to chase, how and when he barks, how and when he is or isn’t protective.  It is from knowing your dog that you will, well, know your dog.  Pretend you can interrupt that blowhard and say, “What would you like to know about me?”  And then pretend your dog has asked you that question.  Because there is nothing finer between friends than truly knowing each other and it is from this that love comes, that empathy comes, that permanence comes.

And next time you meet someone who is all about himself, no matter what your mother taught you, it’s okay to walk away.  After all, it’s more important that you spend your time getting to know your dog than getting to hear all about someone who doesn’t love you and never will.

You don’t.  Labels, in this case names, can hurt dogs, too, because they color how people see the dog.  Name your Doberman “Killer” and you’ll see what I mean.  I once had a Doberman in class named “Master.”  But I digress.  Naming a dog is a serious issue.  Perhaps the dog himself will not get the joke in a joke name.  Perhaps he doesn’t know the meaning of Killer or Bullet or Gangster or (shudder) Master.  But he will “get it” when you react to what you’ve named him.  He will get it when he reads what’s really behind his name.  So then what?  What if you name your dog Muffin or Lady or Lady Muffin?  Will a cute name hurt a cute dog?  Will you see your dog’s full potential despite a colorful name?

Like our own names, families sometimes choose to name a dog for a long ago canine (or sometimes human) relative, a name that brings with it good memories and a sense of being connected.  Others name dogs after favorite ball players, musicians, characters in fiction, names with an aura of talent, of achievement.  Some of us use human names, plain names like Jack or Sam or Lily, short names that are quick to say.  We use dog names, too, names that may reflect a personality trait or a quirky appearance, names, at best, that are easy for a dog to learn.

A dog should have a name that suits him, not a name that pigeonholes him.  A good name for a good dog requires lots of thought.  But sometimes, after you have chosen the perfect name for your perfect pup, your dog may disagree.  Some dogs prefer to choose their own names, and if you listen carefully, they will let you know what they’d like to be called.

I think I’ll call him Buddy…

You want to teach your dog to sit and stay.  She already knows “sit” because you’ve been telling her to do so before you put her dinner bowl down, before you hook on her leash, even before you toss a ball.  Stay, you think, is going to be harder.  It’s going to take longer.  You know that a leash is a good idea when teaching a new command, so you hook on the leash.  You tell her to sit.  You use your voice and a hand signal to tell her to stay.  And since this is going to take a while, you sit down.

And your dog breaks.

No matter what’s in fashion now, dogs are still dogs and they still respect size, seriousness, posture.  They are readers extraordinaire of where your attention lies, of mood and, yes, of status.  So while my ultimate training goal is to be able to get a cheerful, prompt response to a basic command when my dog is off leash and I am lying on the ground, I don’t start out that way.  I use everything I have that my dog will pay attention to to get and hold her attention and to let her know I mean what I say.  I stand tall.  I use one or two word commands (but never “sit down”).  I keep my attention on the task at hand.  And so does my dog.

Have a comfy seat and think about lunch when training your dog?  Not such a good idea.  Using posture, voice, attention, intelligence, seriousness and a deep understanding of when your dog is stressed, excellent idea.  Knowing when enough’s enough.  Good enough.  Knowing how to say “Good dog!” from the bottom of your heart?  Perfect.  Just perfect – you and your dog both.

All animals can read the intentions of others.  It’s how they survive, and in the real world, in nature, survival is everything.  Understanding what’s real, what’s underneath, what is coming and what’s not, our dogs know when to raise their hackles and when to play bow, when to offer help with pain and when to bring a favorite ball, when they are going out with you and should rush to the door, tail wagging, and when they are going to be left at home and should go into their crates or lie down, with a sigh, on the living room rug.  It’s why the moose Sky woofed at in Alaska did not charge us or run off. It’s why the birds I feed in my city yard, the sweet, little sparrows we love so much, do not leave the table when the dogs are out.  It’s why, sometimes, you get a creepy, crawly feeling when some people approach and feel open and comfortable with others.  Animals know what’s real.  We do, too, until we learn to speak – and then, sometimes, not so much.  Alas.  Reading intentions is part of Mother Nature’s grand and glorious plan for all of us.  It’s about survival.  And survival is everything.

What’s first?  A “Follow Me” game.  You want your puppy focused on you.  That focus helps create the bond that makes living with a dog not only delicious, but makes training easier and life with your dog more rewarding.  So, take a walk, in your house, and entice your pup to follow.  You will not need to use a leash and pup does not even need to be wearing a collar.  Just walk from room to room (or back and forth if you live in a studio apartment) and see if the puppy follows along.  If not, if he starts and stops, if he gets distracted along the way, no problem.  You can whistle, chirp, call him by name, sing “puppy, puppy, puppy, GOOD puppy.”  You can carry a little squeak toy and give a squeak when something else catches the pup’s attention.  You can move faster.  You can flop to the floor and let puppy catch you for kisses.  All in all, a few minutes is plenty, but try this game a few times a day.  This simple activity will teach the pup to keep his eye on you, a necessity before you teach anything else.

A simple game or teaching one new command, working for five minutes or less at a time at first, may tire out a little pup.  Working his mind will tire him more quickly than working his body and it’s just as important.

To help your new pup become more focused, more bonded to you, easier to train and smarter, a little game of follow the leader will do the trick.

Where do we go from there?  Easy.  I’ve got you covered.

If this all seems confusing, if you’d prefer one definitive answer, well, there is none.  Not on this blog.  Not in real life.  Dogs are complex, intuitive, thinking beings and they will all happily accept the rewards you offer and also invent and intuit some of their own.  So keep some things in mind as you work with and live with and love your dog.

Your dog’s mother gave him the absolutely most powerful rewards any dog was ever given.  Her teaching, much of it aimed at his safety, was precise, thoughtful, effective and humane and was almost always a done deal in one shot.  Your dog’s mother never gave or withheld food as a learning tool.  Instead, she rewarded him with a lick, a sound, her pleasure.  Translating the lick to a pat, these tools are available for teachers of another species to use.  Still, tidbits have a use – in animating a dog during trick training, to encourage a dog who is fearful out of doors, for teaching a dog to play catch and other games.  For the basics, I prefer to work as my dog’s mother did, with posture, voice, changes in breathing patterns, petting.  This keeps my dog’s focus on our relationship rather than on a disposable reward anyone could give her.

If your dog is doing something you don’t want her to do, say, barking on and on at the door, and you choose to extinguish that behavior by ignoring it, as is sometimes advised, please keep in mind that some of the behaviors we find annoying dogs find pleasurable.  And when that’s true, when the behavior you dislike is self rewarding, you can ignore it until the cows come home without extinguishing it.  Better to offer a replacement behavior and reinforce that with praise, a favorite game, a pat on the head.  Allowing behavior approves of behavior – so if you want to stop a bad habit, replace it with a good one.

Training in a way that leans on the bond you and your dog form with each other increases that bond.  So you can not only reward your dog with a long hike, you can train your dog on a long hike.  What better way to teach than to integrate the work with your daily life – practice the sit when ready to put down the food bowl, practice on, over, under, off using the benches in your local park.  Teach your dog to be attentive by signaling him with a hand or a nod of your head which way you wish to go when there’s a fork in the road.  Offer a great variety of venues for your adventures together and to make sure your dog will pay attention when you need him to, practice what he knows and teach new things in all those venues.

A reward is anything your dog enjoys – a word to the wise: even barking at the door.  By watching your dog and seeing what animates her, what pleases her, what she understands, and what keeps her mind on the job at hand, you can add variety not only to your training venues but to your rewards, telling her “Good dog,” when she’s some distance away, petting when she is close by, sighing with pleasure when she’s really close.