Chapter 5. Getting Started

You may be eager to train your dog to do something—anything. Not yet. In this chapter, the dog is still not required to do anything, only to observe what is going on.

In the present chapter, you will use the Game-playing format to teach your dog the sounds, READY, GOOD and OUT—sounds that your dog must know before he does the exercises beginning with the next chapter, "Stay in Place." For details of the Game-playing format, see the section, Essentials of Game-playing in chapter 3 and in the present chapter.

The main features of the format: After you call the dog to play with the READY sound, do a number of trials each of which end with the GOOD sound and a tidbit reward. On the last trial of the session, end with the OUT sound and a grand reward.

In the present work, your dog will learn that:

• READY is followed by preparation to begin a reward-filled activity.
• GOOD is followed by a tidbit reward.
• OUT is followed by a "grand" reward.

The Game-playing trial

Training trials in the forthcoming exercises typically begin with a "wait" period. The wait time varies from one to five seconds. Three trial modes, still quiet, touch and motion, define what you do during the "wait" period.

• Still quiet mode: This mode is the optimal condition for learning the meaning of most sounds, signals and cues by the dog. In this mode, you will stand still and quiet during the wait—but do it with normal breathing. READY and OUT are the first sounds learned in this Mode. Sometime during the wait, say the GOOD sound and follow with a tidbit; or say the OUT sound and follow with a grand reward.
• Touch mode: This mode is used to adapt your dog to various kinds of touching that you and others normally do when physically examining, grooming, petting and handling the dog during a training exercise. See the section, "GOOD-tidbit pairing trials, done in the Touch mode," below).
• Motion mode: In this mode, the dog learns to ignore inconsequential movements that you may make during the training trials (see section, "GOOD-tidbit pairing trials, performed in the Motion mode," below).

Using the Game-playing Format

Do this work off leash. Allow the dog to be sitting, standing, reclining, or moving about during the session trials. To get the dog started in these early sessions, give him a few free tidbits (as you did during the Food-sampling Procedure). This will get him interested and attending to what you are doing. And, for convenience, a small dog may be placed on a table for this work.

The three sounds READY, GOOD and OUT are essential to the training system. At the end of the first week, you will know if your dog is prepared to begin the work of chapter 6 and later chapters: You will know he's ready when he remains eager to continue through the tidbit-rewarded trials; and becomes expressively elated when he hears the OUT sound.

A word of caution: If your dog frequently quits on you during the session, or does not bound about excitedly at the READY or OUT sound, then he is not prepared to undertake the work of the coming chapters. If he does not appear motivated, it might be that the tidbit foods and/or grand rewards are not enticing (tasty) enough. Also, if you did not do the procedures as described, your dog may not have gotten the proper experience to make the required associations between the sounds and the rewards that follow. Repeat the first week's schedule if you want to; your dog will enjoy playing the games.

Day 1 of training-week 1

Teaching the OUT/food association

On day-1 of week-1 schedule, do three sessions of OUT/food associations. GOOD/tidbit trials are not included in these OUT/food sessions. Choose from three different training procedures (see next) or, for variety, use all three Good/tidbit procedures. Then, start using the Game-playing format on day 2.

OUT/food association — one procedure:

1. Place a tablespoon of his favorite food into a pan. Keep the canned (or other) food on a table or kitchen counter out of the dog's reach.
2. Place the pan with food on a counter (or any other place that's out of reach of the dog).
3. Allow the dog to move freely off-leash—indoors or in any enclosure.
4. Stand still and face your dog for 3 to 12 seconds. You may hold your arms at your side or held still at midriff.
5. Say OUT while standing still.
6. Then, and only then, move to place the pan on the floor in front of the dog.
7. Go to action 1 to begin another trial.
8. End the training session after 4 trials.

Rather than the foregoing, you may use one of two alternate procedures (see next) for teaching the OUT sound.

OUT/food association—another procedure

1. Tie the dog to something firm, or, as an alternative, have another person hold your dog on leash.
2. Set a food pan on the ground just out of reach of the leash-restrained dog (about 2 feet away).
3. Place a tablespoon of his favorite food (a canned food is convenient) into the pan. Put the can of food out of the dog's reach.
4. Stand about 4 feet back from the pan (the pan is between you and the dog).
5. Stand still facing the restrained dog and wait 3 to 12 seconds. Vary the wait interval between trials.
6. Say the sound, OUT.
7. Then, and only then, bend down, pick up the pan and set it in front of the dog. Your movements should be deliberate, though not especially rapid.
8. Begin another trial with action 2 above.
9. Do 4 trials.
10. The session ends.

OUT/food association—and yet another procedure

1. Hold the dog on leash. Set a food pan on the ground.
2. Place a tablespoon of the dog's favorite food (a canned food is convenient) into the pan. Don't let the dog get at the food—hold the dog by the collar as you bait the dish. Place the food can out of the dog's reach.
3. Lead him away from the pan.
4. When you are about 8 feet away, turn to face in the direction of the food dish, and halt. Hold the dog on a short lead.
5. Stand still and wait 3 to 12 seconds—vary the wait interval between trials.
6. Say the sound, OUT. Say it emphatically, but without startling the dog.
7. Then, and only then, jiggle the leash forward and unfold it to full length. Walk rapidly to the food dish. Let the dog eat the food.
8. Bait the food dish again, etc. The session ends after 4 trials.

Day 2 of training-week 1

Still-quiet-mode in the Game-playing format

On day-2, do six training sessions, using the Game-playing format. In each of these sessions, schedule 8 GOOD/food pairing trials and one OUT/food pairing trial.

The call-to-work and session preparation:

1. Say the call-to-work READY sound before you begin your training session.
2. Pause a scant instant after you say READY before you start your move to begin the session preparation.
3. The dog must not get any hint that the sound, READY, is about to come on. However, you may look at the dog when you say it.
4. After READY, go to where you keep your training gear and foods. Your movement must be deliberate, but there's no need to rush—the dog will have no trouble learning "the routine" that follows this sound.
5. Carry the training gear and foods to where the work will be done.
6. When you reach the workstation, put a tablespoon of canned dog food (if you are using that as the grand food) into the dog's food dish. Set it aside out of the dog's reach (on a countertop or table, for instance). The grand food is used on the last trial of the session.
7. Take ten tidbit foods in your hand (for small dogs, take half the number of pieces and break each in half).

At the start of several early sessions, give the dog a couple of free tidbits to get his attention.

Either hold all food tidbits in your closed hand during the training session, or put the tidbit pieces in a dish on a table close-by. Tidbit food in a dish: After you say the GOOD sound, reach for one tidbit from the dish and give it to the dog. The action of reaching for the tidbit and making tidbit-delivery movements do not have to be done rapidly, but done only with deliberate motion. Remember to start your food-delivery movements after the GOOD sound.

GOOD-tidbit trials in the "Still-quiet" mode

1. Clasp both hands and hold them still in front of you at waist level. Clasping your hands in this way comes to be perceived by the dog as "the sign of the feeder." It helps the dog to know that the training session is still on, and to know who is going to feed him whenever you have others helping you (Team Training is discussed below).
2. Stand motionless, relaxed and breathe normally while you begin a one-to-five-second wait in this mode. Make no movements that will draw the dog's attention. Also, do not fiddle with yours hands during the wait period.
3. Say GOOD. Be sure to say the GOOD sound while still in the fixed pose.
4. Continue the motionless stance for a fleeting moment after you make the sound. This will ensure that you will not start your movement to deliver the food before the sound.
5. Then pass the food tidbit promptly to the dog.
6. Go to action 1 and begin another trial, etc.
7. Continue the "GOOD-food" pairing trials until you've delivered all of the tidbit foods.

The last trial of "Still-quiet" mode session:

1. When you no longer have any tidbits to give, do one more trial. The dog doesn't know that you are out of tidbit foods.
2. Wait several seconds in a motionless stance—hands at waist level in front of you.
3. Say OUT.
4. After the sound, move to deliver the grand reward—that is, set the dog's dish on the floor in front of the dog. These moves need not be hurried, just deliberate.

Do not initiate any food-delivery movement just before you say the OUT sound, otherwise the dog might use the change in movement to know when the grand reward will appear, rather than to listen for the OUT sound.

On the first several training sessions of the first day, do the trial actions even when you don't have the dog's attention. Then, beginning on the following day, when the dog starts to attend often enough, you can wait until you get his attention before doing the GOOD-food or OUT-food associations.

5. Wait at least one minute before starting another session.

Days 3 and 4 of week 1

Continue to do 4 training sessions in the still-quiet mode feature and add 2 training sessions with the touch-mode feature—both modes are performed in the Game-playing format.

The Touch-mode in Game-playing

The call-to-work and session preparation:

1. Say the call-to-work READY sound before you begin your training session.
2. Pause a scant instant after you say READY before you start your move to begin the session preparation.
3. The dog must not get any hint that the sound, READY, is about to come on. However, you may look at the dog when you say it.
4. After READY, go to where you keep your training gear and foods. Your movement must be deliberate, but there's no need to rush—the dog will have no trouble learning "the routine" that follows this sound.
5. Carry the training gear and foods to where the work will be done.
6. When you reach the workstation, put a tablespoon of canned dog food (if you are using that as the grand food) into the dog's food dish. Set it aside out of the dog's reach (on a countertop or table, for instance). The grand food is used on the last trial of the session.
7. Take ten tidbit foods in your hand (for small dogs, take half the number of pieces and break each in half).

GOOD-tidbit trials, done in "Touch" mode.

1. During the wait period, touch or handle your dog as you would for examination or training trials. For example, on some trials, you might examine the dog's ears, on another, examine his foot pads; his mouth; his skin. You might lift his front feet off the ground; push down lightly on his hindquarters, … But whatever touch or handling you choose, continue doing that particular one for the duration of the wait period. Vary the wait period from 2 to 5 seconds.
2. Say GOOD at the end of the wait period. Be sure to say the GOOD sound while still handling or touching the dog.
3. Continue the touch and handling for a fleeting moment after you make the sound. This will ensure that you will not start your food-delivery movement before the sound.
4. Then pass the food tidbit promptly to the dog. Start your food-delivery movements after the GOOD sound.
5. Go to action 1 and begin another trial, etc.
6. Continue the "GOOD-food" pairing trials until you've delivered all of the tidbit foods.

The last trial of the session:

6. When you no longer have any tidbits to give, go to action 1 and begin one last trial of the session. The dog doesn't know that you are out of tidbit foods.
7. Say OUT. After the sound, move to deliver the grand reward—that is, set the dog's dish on the floor in front of the dog. Your moves need not be hurried, just deliberate.

Remember, do not initiate any food-delivery movement just before you say the OUT sound, otherwise the dog might use the change in movement to know when the grand reward will appear, rather than to listen for the OUT sound.

8. Wait at least one minute before starting another training session.

Days 5 and 6 of week 1

On days 5 and 6 do all three trial modes—Still-quiet, Touch and Motion, each done in separate sessions. Do a total of 6 to 8 sessions per day (choose any mode for any session). A single session of 10 trials takes only a minute or two to do.

The Motion-mode Session.

This is virtually the same procedure as the Touch-mode, with this exception: Replace the touching that you did in the 2-5 second wait period of the Touch-mode with a motion action. The motion in this mode can be a stretch exercise, various calisthenics, walking in a circle… The GOOD (or OUT) is sounded while still in the motion. Also, remember that the dog is not required to respond in any way yet—he still only observes what is going on.

Say the call-to-work READY sound before you begin your training session (see "The Call-to-work and session preparation" under "The Still-quiet-mode in the Game-playing-format," above).

The Begging Problem

Some dogs beg during these procedures. If your dog noses your food-containing hand or playfully jumps on you, you must allow it. A normal impulse might be to say NO, or to move your hand out of the dog's reach. Suppress the impulse. For one thing, if you were to give the sound, NO, the dog might be confused what it's to do or not do. For another, moving your hand out of the dog's reach prevents the weakening of the nosing/begging response. The response will disappear only if the dog has a chance to do it without getting rewarded for doing it. The correct procedure is to wait until the dog is no longer nosing your hand, or jumping up, then proceed with the trial. If there is a chance that your dog's jumping about might cause you discomfort, or even injury, you may turn away to avoid the jump. Then stand still again.

To restate, ignore the begging during the trial. The dog will soon stop doing it without your intervention. However, the dog is permitted to beg after he hears the reinforcing sound, GOOD or OUT — just before he gets the reward.

Team Training

In Team Training, two or more persons (Team Players) get involved in training a single dog at the same time. You share training-trial actions (events). It's a way of training that can be applied to any or all of the exercises in this course. Early on, Team Training helps you do timing and sequencing of trial events correctly. Team Training is especially helpful when the dog learns more complex skills. Doing training this way with others can be fun and dogs tolerate it—if not also enjoy it. The following is one way that Team Training can be used to perform trial actions.

Basic Game-playing with Team Training.

Team Player 1 performs these actions: calls the dog to work with the READY sound; does the preparations for training; says the reinforcing sounds, GOOD and OUT during the training trials. To begin, She:

1. says READY (the call to work).
2. does the preparations for training.
3. places one tablespoon of a tasty canned dog food into a food dish, and places the dish out of reach of the dog. The dog gets this reward after the OUT is sounded on the last trial of the session.
4. gives the required number of food tidbits to Team Player 2, or places them in a food dish on a table nearby.
5. makes herself comfortable close to the dog. She may sit or stand, but must be still, so that she doesn't give the dog a hint or clue, ahead of time, what is about to come next.
6. waits one to five seconds while Team Player 2 performs one of the trial modes, still quiet, touch or motion (see mode descriptions earlier in this chapter).
7. then says GOOD.

Note: If the dog is begging, she holds off saying the reinforcing sounds until he ceases.

8. begins another one-to-five seconds' wait mode after Team Player 2 delivers a food tidbit, etc. She repeats actions 6 and 7 until all tidbits are gone.
9. says OUT when Team Player 2 has no more tidbit food to give out. She remains still after she says the sound.
10. breaks from her stance after Team player 2 delivers the "grand" food at the end of training session.

Team Player 2 is the feeder. She:

1. takes tidbits from Team Player 1 (or keeps them in a dish nearby).
2. performs one of the trial modes. If doing a the Still-quiet mode, for example, she stands straight and still, so that she doesn't influence or distract the dog's performance in any way. She has both hands closed, and holds them in front at waist level.
3. tells Team Player 1 when she is ready.
4. hands a food tidbit to the dog when she hears Team Player 1 say GOOD.

If the food is in a dish, she stands still until she hears the GOOD sound, then and only then starts her movement to pick up a tidbit from the dish and hand it to the dog. Her food-delivery movements are deliberate, yet unhurried.

5. again assumes the motionless Feeder stance after the dog takes the food. She remains still even when the dog is nosing her food-containing hand. In time, this nosing will cease because the behavior is never rewarded.
6. assumes the same Feeder stance for the last trial when she is out of food tidbits,. She lets Team Player 1 know when she no longer has any tidbits in her hand.
7. waits a scant moment after she hears the sound OUT said by Team Player 1. She then hurries to where the grand-food is kept, and places the food dish in front of the dog.

When you use 2 or more players, the dog normally will fix his gaze on the Feeder, not the one who delivers the sounds GOOD or OUT — even when the Feeder happens to be a stranger to the dog. Don't do anything to change that.

If both Team Players are acquainted with the training procedures, then you and she can occasionally switch roles. She can now say the relevant sounds and you can be the feeder. Team Training is not only "fun and games" for the dog, but is a way that can be used later to control more complex task actions, and even help to alter undesirable temperament problems.

Afterword

You did not ask your dog to respond in any way during these startup trials. He just became preoccupied in what you were doing, in anticipation of an impending GOOD or OUT sound and a reward that followed.

A trial began with a wait of 1-to-5 seconds' duration, followed by a said GOOD (or OUT), and ended with a reward. Even such a simple procedure had to be done by you in a manner that was precise and disciplined, so that there was little chance of getting unwelcome learning by accident. In the Still-quiet mode, for example, you stood still in a relaxed pose, and faced your dog during the wait. You then said the GOOD (or OUT) sound. You were careful not to make any sudden moves or to begin the food-delivery movement just before you said it. You followed the GOOD sound with a deliberate, yet unhurried, delivery of a food tidbit—all done the same way on every trial.

When you replaced the GOOD sound with the OUT sound on the last trial of the session, you made sure that you did nothing different just before saying the sound— anything that would alert the dog that the OUT sound was about to happen on that trial. A grand reward always followed this sound.

It will be up to your dog to try to turn on these reinforcing sounds in the upcoming exercises.

Optional Training Innovations

The course offers two optional innovations that you are encouraged to incorporate into your training. Team Training is one (see "Chapter 1" for a general description, and this chapter to see how it might be done). Not only does Team Training help you become a more effective trainer, it's a fun way for two or more persons to get involved in a single dog's training.

The other innovation has one person training two or more dogs at the same time. The course allows you to do this in special instances: 1. When the dogs are not required to make a response (see early chapters and following example* and, 2. When an exercise ends in a Stay response (see example at end of Chapter 6—Sit and Rise).

*Multiple-dog training (Incorporate in "The Training Session" section above):

1. If using the Still-quiet mode, clasp both hands and hold them still in front of you at waist level.
2. Stand motionless while you begin a 1-5 second wait. Breathe normally.
3. Then, say GOOD.
4. Continue motionless for a fleeting moment after you make the sound. This will ensure that you will not start your movement to deliver the food before the sound.
5. Then, pass a food tidbit promptly to one dog, then to the other—no need to hurry the rewarding, the dogs will adjust nicely.
6. Go to action 1 and begin another trial, etc.
7. Continue the "GOOD-food" pairing trials until you've delivered all of the tidbit foods.

The last trial of the session:

8. When you no longer have any tidbits to give, do one more trial. The dogs don't know that you are out of tidbit foods.
9. Wait several seconds in a motionless stance—hands at waist level in front of you.
10. Say OUT.
11. After the sound, move to deliver the grand reward—that is, set a dish with food on the floor in front of each dog. Remember, do not initiate any food-delivery movement just before you say the OUT sound— otherwise the dogs might use the change in movement to know when the grand reward will appear, rather than to listen for the OUT sound.
12. Wait at least one minute before starting another session.

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