Your courses are structured to help you succeed

Welcome the home of dog training.

Success in training your dog begins with you!

Yes, you heard correct, that is you as the handler/owner.

Your training adventure starts here.

When training with Norfolk K9 your courses and classes will be structured to help you succeed towards you training goals. You will learn all about when, how and what techniques you need for training your dog.

Our goal is to help you break the barriers of communication and to show you the fastest, easiest, most comfortable and effective methods of training your dog. We will do this in simple and easy to understand terms so that everyone can benefit from the information and experiences found in these practical sessions.

Just as in a dog’s world, simplicity is the answer and the key to most situations and questions; keeping it simple is always the best way to learn!

Remember our acronym: KISS = Keep It Short & Simple.

Reward Structure in brief.

Effective use of rewards in dog training

It is possible to train a dog to a very high standard using only rewards.

If those rewards are chosen and delivered carefully.

We need to follow a few simple rules.

The rewards chosen need to be

Valuable to the dog
Delivered at the right time
Delivered with the right frequency
Delivered at the right intervals.

Getting the reward value right

Different dogs value different things.

Recognising this fact, and judging accurately what your dog finds valuable, is very important

Some dogs value certain activities more highly than others.

Some dogs value praise and attention more highly than other dogs do.

Most dogs value certain foods more highly than others.

Getting reward values right is all about empathy. Put yourself in your ‘dog’s shoes’ and figure out what he really finds attractive. You can read up on choosing the right rewards in this article: Choosing rewards to use in dog training

Getting the delivery of the rewards right

Timing of rewards is crucial.

A behaviour will only be reinforced if the reward is delivered at the right time. This means whilst the action you want the dog to take is still in process.

Using an event marker can help with this, as it enables you to deliver the reward shortly after the behaviour has finished.

An event marker buys you a little time and helps your dog to identify what he is being rewarded for. Check out this article to find out how to use an event marker: Event markers in dog training.

Different Treats for Different Jobs

The good news is today we have a number of different options of. These options are needed for a number of reasons:

The treats my dogs love may not be the treats your dog love.

All treats carry a different motivational value to your dog. It’s your job to constantly think about your dog’s reaction when you use a specific food treat.

Learn to read your dog’s reaction to them. Some treats have so high of a value they cause a dog to stop thinking. Some dogs can’t focus when they know you have a high value treat on you.

Treats with a value given to them

These high value treats cannot be used as a motivator on complex tasks that requires a dog to think a lot. New trainers would think that a difficult task would require the best treat available — not so. A difficult task requires the dog to focus on what he is doing and not focus on your food reward. Difficult tasks need a mid-level value treats.

Some exercises require lower value treats. Trainers need to be aware of these exercises and then be prepared to use the treat with the correct value for the work you’re doing.

I will reward my dog for coming to me when on a walk. In that circumstance I don’t mind if the treat is crunchy and take a couple of seconds to eat.

Training Techniques in brief.

Luring a dog behaviour

Luring a dog behaviour is a dog training technique to get your pet to do something, without having to push him around or use a lead. This method is highly effective to teach dogs basic commands in just a few minutes.

Luring a dog behaviour is the best technique for beginners because your pet will happily follow you. It doesn’t require a lot of skill, although some practice will improve your efficiency.

This method was popularized by renowned dog trainer Dr. Ian Dunbar and is one of the best positive techniques to train a family pet dog. It is even easy enough for most kids to try with their canine friend.

Once you become comfortable using this dog training method move on to something more advance, like Capturing and Shaping. These will give your more flexibility to train advance behaviours.

Shaping

When you’re luring, make sure that you click the appropriate muscle movements! Don’t click when the dog is standing still. If you are teaching your puppy to sit, click as his legs fold. If you are working on “Spin,” click as your puppy takes steps in the turn, not when your puppy has stopped spinning and is standing stationary in front of you.

Shaping dog behaviour is a training technique that builds on Capturing.

It is an advanced method because it requires the trainer to pay attention to the dog’s movements and have excellent timing when rewarding him. It is also a higher-level training system because the result is a complex dog command. The nice thing about it is that it breaks down the complex behaviour in smaller, easily achievable parts for the dog/trainer team to succeed.

Capturing

Capturing a dog behaviour is the best training method to use with your pet. It requires the animal to “think” about the situation and it uses only behaviours freely offered by your canine friend. It also
depends upon your patience and skill…

This method is based on the concept of operant conditioning, is how animals make an association between their own behaviour and a consequence. In this case the consequence will be a reward.

For this technique, you wait for your hound to do the desired
behaviour and then instantly reward it. The key is to have great
timing, be very consistent and repeat until your dog starts doing the behaviour as soon as he sees you.

Capturing a dog behaviour is how most people, without realizing it, tech their pets to sit for them to place the food bowl on the floor. They wait until the dog is sitting, and only then they lower the food bowl for the dog to it.

Linking exercises

It is vitally important that you teach yourself to link things together and to look at thinks from a dog’s point of view. By breaking exercises into segments for training we are making sure that the dog understands every set part of the end exercise.

If the exercises are to be performed with enthusiasm and to maintain the want, the dog needs to see each section as a stepping stone leading to the conditioned response of the next step that we need. The ability to link without causing anticipation is the sign of a good dog trainer. Toys, play and the techniques that we have dealt with to achieve ‘the want’ will help you to learn how to link.

Keeping the enthusiasm bubbling and the dog’s full attention on you will help to make sure that the dog puts things together in the way that you want him to. If you do not maintain full attention, then the dog will miss the next signal and therefore the link. If you wish to keep your dog’s full attention you must learn to give yours to the dog. This is often difficult if you are receiving instructions, but if you watch the best handlers, they never ignore their dogs at any point, even at the end of an exercise. If they are demonstrating with a dog, they will give him a release word before turning to the audience.

Therefore, the dog learns unless told to finish, there is always something interesting about to happen and he is motivated to keep his attention on the handler.

If you are distracted it is not unreasonable to expect the dog to be distracted to. The more this can happen, the less likely you can maintain a link between exercises or even segments of an exercise.

Overall, linking is also about joining parts of exercises and incorporating static basic routines into on the move action. For example, take a static taught left turn and put it into fluid heel work in such a way that the dog can understand, then execute the turn with precision and confidence. This again can be taught with your training aids, guiding and linking each part together over-emphasising moves to make it obvious to the dog. Always leaving the dog wanting more, not switched off or lethargic with boredom or confusion.

Brief Notes on Developing the Foundations

Our training methods are all about getting a new behaviours established.

In stage one we get the dog into a position, such as SIT or DOWN.

Or we get the dog to carry out an action, such as running towards us.

No verbal commands yet

There are no ‘verbal commands’ involved in the inital stages of training. No words, and no names.

You are not going to say ‘sit’ and then force your dog to ‘sit’.

You are not going to say ‘come’ and then yell at your dog if he doesn’t.

Easy and fun for you and your dog

No obedience is required at this early stage. That comes later.

This is easy, and it’s fun!

There should be no pressure and no stress involved in this process.

Now it is all about helping your puppy make sense of what you say. Of pairing the action, you have taught him, with the English word that will trigger that action in the future.

The language barrier between man and dog

There is a language barrier that exists between man and dog.

Before we can begin to expect ‘obedience’ from a dog, we need to overcome that barrier.

People and puppies have very different communication styles.

The importance of body language to dogs

People like to communicate using speech. Dogs on the other hand, like to communicate through body language.

Fortunately, dogs are clever enough to learn to understand our spoken language

At least in a limited way, and they do it, quite like we do, by pairing actions or object with sounds or visual signals.

Welcome the home of dog training.

Success in training your dog begins with you!

Yes, you heard correct, that is you as the handler/owner.

Your training adventure starts here.

Above is a brief explanation of some of the training skills you are going to acquire.

NEXT PUPPY FOUNDATION COURSE STARTS IN:

9th June, 2019 the countdown has begun ......................

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