Loose Leash Walking, Part 1

Loose Leash Walking (LLW) is a very important skill. It saves your arms, neck and back a lot of stress and strain. It saves the dog's neck, throat, trachea and shoulders a lot of stress and even damage. A dog that is pulling like a freight train is no fun and won't get walked except for essential business. You can start training loose leash walking as soon as you get your puppy at 8 weeks or whenever you get an teen or adult dog. If you've had your dog a long time, even if he's a veteran leash-puller, you can begin teaching loose leash walking at any time.

One of my clients started teaching her dog how to walk on a loose leash when the dog was seven years old. She was trying to get her dog to be certified as a personal assistance dog and walking on a loose leash was one of the requirements. Even at that age, after a lifetime of pulling, the dog was able to learn how to walk on a loose leash and is now a certified assistance dog.

LLW has been called both the easiest and the hardest behavior to teach. Its easy because its really a very simple behavior and any dog can learn to walk at your side without pulling (yes, even sled pulling breeds). Its relatively simple to teach a dog impulse control, the basis for loose leash walking.

Its hard to teach because life gets in the way or owners "forget" and randomly reinforce pulling on the leash. And, (if you read the entries on reinforcement you already know this) behaviors on a variable reinforcement schedule are the strongest and most durable of behaviors. Therefore, I recommend a three part approach.

• Management for those times when training is not feasible.
• Teaching impulse control with the "Walking With A Goal" game.
• Training loose leash walking as a lifestyle behavior.

What's the difference between Loose Leash Walking and Heeling?
Heeling is part of competitive obedience and requires the dog to stay in a perfect heel position. The dog has a very small area to stay in during a moving behavior, must be constantly focused on their handler, and must promptly sit squarely in position when the handler stops. While its beautiful to watch and fun to train, heeling is hard work for the dog and not suitable for a long walk. Loose Leash Walking is like gently holding hands and taking a walk. You can enjoy the walk and enjoy your friend without having to be totally focused for the whole walk. Heeling is far too formal and intensive for a long walk. Dogs that do learn to walk casually in LLW position and without pulling, get to go many more places than dog's that don't.

Management
The purpose for management is to keep your dog from practicing leash pulling. Practice doesn't make perfect; practice makes you perfect at what you practice, even if you are practicing doing it wrong. If your dog practices pulling on the leash, he'll get very good, even perfect, at leash pulling.

There are many excellent tools and techniques to help you walk your dog, when:

• you aren't prepared to train,
• training isn't feasible,
• there isn't time to train,
• you or the dog is too tired or distracted to work and learn,
• or you are dealing with an emergency.

Keep in mind that you won't be teaching your dog anything. These are tools and strategies to get you through those management times. Even after your dog is well trained in loose leash walking, there may still be times when management is the best option. You may have worked diligently to teach your dog how to walk on a loose leash and have also worked through every distraction you can think of. Still there may come a time when you will find a new distraction and not have time to train at that moment. Or perhaps your dog is frightened by something and temporarily forgets how to walk on a loose leash. This is the time to use management.

Head Halter
There are several brands and they work on the same principle as a halter on a horse. If a small person can control a 1500 pound horse with a halter, surely a dog isn't an issue. If the dog pulls, his head is turned toward the owner and where the head goes, the body must follow.

I once put a head halter on an unruly, untrained 2 year old Great Dane and within minutes the owner (post surgery and in a knee brace) had truly fingertip control. It's important to follow the directions to acclimate your dog to the feel of a head halter.

It is a key safety rule that you NEVER allow your dog to build up speed and hit the end of the leash while wearing a head halter. A head halter should never be used with any kind of flexi lead. Also any breed or individual dog with a pushed in nose, protruding eyes, or a very straight or arched face (without a "stop") is not a suitable candidate for a head halter.

Front Attachment Body Harness
The ring for leash attachment on this harness is located on a strap across the dog's chest. When the dog pulls, their own pulling action turns them back toward the owner. Ideally the owner should stop and wait for the dog to return to a more neutral position before proceeding.

A really large or especially powerful dog with a small owner, may still be able to pull, so the owner needs to use their own center of gravity to stop the dog. To do so, lock both hands into the loop of leash and keep the hands near your waist. When the dog pulls, move both hands to one side or the other at hip level and turn your body 180 degrees in that direction, while bracing against the dog (one foot in front of the other). By doing this you are using your best center of gravity to hold the dog, instead of trying to do so with your arms.

Standard Harness
If your dog is small to medium, a regular harness with the leash attached to a ring at the back is a viable management strategy. Yes, the dog is pulling, but not against its collar. To a dog, that is a clear and readily understandable distinction.

Gimme here: I am learning canine nosework and tracking. I have learned that I can pull all I want when I wear my pretty blue tracking harness. I've also learned that I can't pull when the leash is attached to my collar. I'm sure your dog is smart enough to understand the difference just like me. I'm just saying...

TTouch®  Balance Leash
If your dog is medium to large size, the balance leash technique might be the way to go. I recommend that you try this indoors first to sort out how to do this, to determine which style of Balance Leash works for you and your dog and to get comfortable with the technique. Also, you can go to youtube and search on "Walking In Balance with TTouch". Select the video by trainer Jenn Merritt.

Using a regular leash, attach it to the dog's collar. With the dog on your left side and facing forward, grab the leash with your left hand at a comfortable resting arm position. Your thumb should be pointed toward the back of your dog's head. In simple Balance Leash, you would just loop the rest of the leash in front of your dog's neck, holding the other end with your right hand.

If your dog tends to back or spin out of simple Balance Leash, you can solve that by letting the front loop go down just behind his elbow and then come up between his front legs and up along the right side of his neck. If your dog is a expert at spinning out of Balance Leash, you can slip the handle end up through his collar as well. In Balance Leash you can use two hands, like the reins on a horse, or when the dog is not pulling, you can put both parts of the leash into the left hand. It is easy to switch back and forth between one and two hands as needed.

Carry the Dog
If your dog is on the small side of medium or smaller and you just need to go a short distance - then pick her up and carry her. This is a good approach when you only need to get to the car or into the veterinarian's office.

Lure the Dog
In a pinch, it is perfectly acceptable to lure your dog a short distance to prevent letting him pull on the leash, so you don't have to worry about practicing leash pulling. You can lure your dog in a few different ways.

• You could put a hot dog or a stick of cheese right in his face and let him nibble on it all the way.
• You could buy a Go Toob from a camping supply store and fill it with tasty goodies, such as peanut butter, regular butter, cream cheese or baby food meats. Flip the top open and let your dog lick at it as you lead him to where you need to get to. You will need to refrigerate between uses, except with peanut butter (Gimme's personal favorite).
• You could lure your dog over a short distance with a favorite toy.
• You could play tug all the way.

The key to all of these is to pick one or two tools/strategies and try them out to see which works for you. Then be prepared, so when life intervenes, you can get your dog safely from one place to another, without undoing your work on Loose Leash Walking.

Jackpots

What are Jackpots?

A Jackpot is any reward that is unexpected from the dogs point of view.  It may be unexpected because they are used to doing the behavior without being rewarded.  It may be unexpected because its special either in amount of reward or quality. 

When to use a Jackpot

There are four basic times when you might jackpot your dog, they are:

1.  Maintain motivation
2.  Emphasize something
3.  Create a good association
4.  Special reward for special effort

Maintaining Motivation

When your dog is well trained, some behaviors just don't get rewarded anymore.  Its like when you were a kid, your parents rewarded you for brushing your teeth, because you were just learning.  Now that you are grown, no one is rewarding you for brushing. 

Like a slot machine, sometimes rewarding in an unexpected way keeps your dog motivated to keep doing that behavior.  Your dog may have done this behavior a thousand times without reward and wasn't expecting one.  Rewarding now and then when its not expected, keeps the dog's enthusiasm up.  It may be a long time before you reward that behavior again.

Emphasize something

If your dog is having trouble "getting" something and they have a momentary breakthrough, you will want to emphasize that moment with a special reward.  If you don't emphasize it, the dog will likely just offer the same behavior he was doing before.  If you make the reward really special the dog will think "Hey!  That was really cool.  Now what did I do to make it happen?  How can I make it happen again?"  This helps your dog focus on what he just did to get you to pay up and makes it more likely he'll do it again.

If your dog is stuck and at a plateau of learning, where the rate of reinforcement is falling low, he might feel like quitting or be making less effort because what they are getting isn't worth the effort.  Giving an unexpected jackpot will keep your dog in the game.

Create a good association

The idea here is to create a better association for the dog about something that may be yucky or neutral.  Any time you give a lot of treats for little effort from the dog, they will be scanning their environment to figure out what makes this special.

Gimme here:  When I was little I got sick and had to go to the doctor.  I didn't feel good to begin with and it was not a fun experience.  My person knew I wouldn't want to go there again, since that was only my second time being there.  So she took me twice a week for several weeks.  At first I was a little scared because I remembered how bad it was.  We sat in the waiting room and I got lots of treats for being brave and cute, and then we left.  This happened many times and I learned that this place was a great place to get treats.  Then one day she took me in the little room and put me on the table.  People came in petted me and gave me more treats.  We visited there and I got to stand on the table for treats and petting.  I like my doctor now.  He is nice to me, gives me yummy things to eat, and says I'm beautiful and smart.  He's very smart.  I'm just saying...

This is classical conditioning and is used in both desensitizing and counter-conditioning.  It can even be used to increase the value of a place the dog already likes - especially if you know that might be a distracting or sometimes stressful place.  It may not even be a particular place, but instead something in the place that is worrisome to your dog.

The idea is for the dog to recognize the environment or see the icky thing that makes them worry and instead of feeling bad, to see that thing and anticipate a big payoff - so they feel good instead.

Special reward for special effort

If your dog makes a special effort, you want to reward them in a way that recognizes that effort.  Perhaps your dog does well while you are training in a very distracting environment.  This combines both motivation and emphasis into one reward that helps the dog learn and perform.  

Its like getting a bonus at work.  If you put in extra hours and work extra hard on a project and your boss gives you a bonus for your special effort - you will certainly be more likely to put out a superhuman effort next time around.  Your dog responds in the same way.  When your dog realizes that he'll get special compensation for special effort, he'll be more likely to give his best, even in difficult situations. 

How to Jackpot for Best effect

• Your dog will think they are getting more reward if you dole out several treats one-at-a-time than if you give them a handful in one gulp.  I like to count out loud and really emphasize each one, one after another. 
• A special reward that is used infrequently will really catch your dog's attention.  For instance, Gimme loves peanut butter, so I use that.
• Rewards that have an element of pizazz are good - like getting to put their head in a bag of popcorn and get a whole big mouthful is a memorable experience.  Running from where you were working to where the treats are adds a playful moment to the experience.
• For the category of creating a good association, usually you want the treats to come one right after the other, as fast as the dog can gobble them up. 

Martha & Lily

Martha asks: We rescued Lily, a Yorkie, from our local humane society. She is about ten months old and the reason given for surrendering her was "lack of time". She was spayed by the humane society and we have since learned she was in season at the time of the spay. Our vet said she will be fine when her body recovers from the hormone changes. We have noticed that she is dribbling urine from time to time. She’s had some real accidents in the house, all in one spot, but the dribbling is happening as well. I did see that at the humane society before the spay. When I say dribble, it is tiny spots in a line, as she walks. She is adjusting well to us and the other two dogs. She does scratch at the door to go out and we take her out frequently. Why is she dribbling and what can we do to get it to stop?

There are a number of things that can cause urinary incontinence and they fall into two categories: behavioral and physical.

Behavioral -- Many dogs, especially young meek dogs, do what is called "submissive urination". Some will roll over, belly up, while peeing, while others just dribble as they walk or may do a squatty kind of walk. Although its called submissive, some dogs that do it are overly excited, not fearful.

If its submissive urination, it will happen most often when the dog is approaching a person or being approached. It may also happen if something scary is happening, such as yelling or other loud noises. If its over-excitement, it will happen when the dog is very excited. So your first action is to observe Lily for a few days and see if the times when it happens fits either of these patterns. You might want to take notes and see if you notice any other pattern.

In most cases, dogs grow out of this behavior, provided they gain confidence as they mature. Its very important that Lily never be corrected for this, since she isn't aware that she's doing it. Plus, correction undermines confidence and actually makes the problem worse. This is not a house training issue, so you have nothing to correct in any case. You will want to use all reward based training, specifically geared to increasing Lily's confidence. If you think she is generally fearful or uncertain, I recommend following the approach outlined in Leslie McDevitt's book "Control Unleashed" or Leslie’s new puppy book.

In the meantime, whenever you call Lily or when she approaches you, turn your side to her, so she isn't approaching you face-to-face. You can also squat down to her level so you aren't as intimidating. Naturally you'll want to try to make these approaches outside or on linoleum.

Also be careful when you talk to her or when others talk to her. Tiny cute dogs like Lily just naturally cause people to say "Ohhhhhh, isn't she cute." When we make the "Oh" sound, our mouth gets small and round which closely resembles an offensive pucker, a threatening canine expression. Some dogs are very sensitive to that expression and may think you are threatening them. Remember, dogs don't speak English. So try to use wide mouth smiles instead. If you think that expression is an issue for Lily, its possible to teach her with counter-conditioning that the expression is a good thing, predicting treats.

If your observations don’t identify a pattern that suggests submissive urination, then you will need to consider physical causes.

Physical – Two very common causes for dribbling are spay and geriatric incontinence. These result from lack of certain hormones. Geriatric incontinence can also be caused by weak muscle tone. Of course, neither would apply in this case.

The next most common cause is Sphincter Incompetence. SI is fairly common, occurring about three times as often in females as in males. It can also be a matter of degree. Some dogs have truly impressive bladder control and can hold their urine for really long times (although they shouldn't have to). Other dogs need the opportunity to relieve themselves more often than normal. In its simplest form, this is easily controlled by medication.

There are many other physical possibilities, including: diseases that cause frequent urination, birth defects, bladder infection (acute or chronic), partial blockages, stones, tumors, geriatric diseases, senility, and even brain injury.

Your veterinarian can evaluate Lily and determine if there is a medical explanation and what the best course of treatment is. Once you have observed Lily for a pattern to her dribbling, you will be better able to answer the vet’s questions. You may want to call ahead and ask if you should wait awhile for her body to recover from the spay and hormonal changes before scheduling an appointment.

Mary & Grafton

Mary asks: My dog Grafton likes to jump up and grab my arm when he wants to play. I know he doesn't mean to, but he's big and sometimes it hurts. I’ve tried turning my back on him, walking away and coming back after 5 minutes, but he hasn't stopped. What do you suggest?

Always remember, dogs do what works for dogs. So if this behavior doesn't work, then he'll stop. Even better, teach him an acceptable way to ask you to play with him.

When he jumps on you, cross your arms as you turn away, but don't walk away. Instead, just keep turned away and look up and to the left or right, so its clear you are shunning him. Start with just waiting 20 seconds before turning back to him. If that doesn't work, you can increase the time. Be neutral when you turn back, not forgiving or the "make-up-sex" could be worth it.

You will also want to teach him to bring you a toy when he wants to play. Its always a good idea to give them a better behavior to replace the one you want to get rid of. The fastest way to teach this is to watch for him to interact with a toy and then call him to you and join in the play. He will figure out that coming toward you with a toy gets you to play with him.

Gimme here: I've learned that my person is really delicate, so I don't put my paws on her except when she says I can. When I want to play I bring one of my toys to her. I drop it in her lap or on the keyboard several times. If that doesn't work, then I dance around in front of her playing with my toy and showing her what fun it is (and what fun I am)  . Most of the time she just can't resist and stops what she's doing to play with me. We have a lot of fun playing together.

Also, it might be worthwhile to teach him a "stop that" cue. I've taught Gimme "enough" and interestingly for the same reason - mugging me for play. I'd say "enough" and take her by the collar and hold it for 30 seconds - thus removing any possibility of a fun interaction. Since we already have a strong history of collar grabs being fun and rewarding, this won't teach her to avoid my hands on the collar.  If your dog is soft temperamentally, the collar hold might be too much like a correction. To teach "enough" to a soft dog, simply say "enough" as you turn away to begin the shunning.

Go To Mat

Go to mat is a useful behavior requiring both distance and duration. Once your dog has a solid go to mat behavior, you can take her anywhere, without having to cart a crate along. You don't have to use the same mat either, you can teach the dog to use any mat, towel, dog bed or dog hammock you designate as their mat. You could toss down your jacket for a mat. You could teach your dog that a leash laid in a circle serves as an impromptu mat.  Waiting on a mat is an easier than stay because its less formal and because dogs are more secure with a mat to mark their waiting area. Go to mat as a great tool for resolving unwanted door greeting behaviors.

You will need a mat. You can use a dog bed, towel, carpet square, or jacket. Use the same mat for a few weeks and later you can transfer go to mat to other mats.

STEP ONE:

• Position yourself near the mat, so that when the dog is near you he is likely to step on the mat. How close you are will depend on how close to you he naturally stands. Sit or stand and wait. Any time he steps on the mat (even one foot), click and treat. If you need to, you can toss a treat on the mat to get the game going. If he stays standing on the mat click and treat in place five times. The sixth time, click and toss the treat to the side, so he has to get off the mat.
• For the second round, click and treat your dog for standing on the mat three times in a row, then the fourth time toss the treat to the side. Then two on and toss. Quickly transition to tossing the treat aside every time. You want your dog to realise that its getting on the mat that is making the clicks happen.
• Note: If your dog sits or lays down on the mat at any time, click and treat that with a jackpot.

STEP TWO:

• Now you will start shaping the dog to understand that he should put all four feet on the mat.
• Lets say your dog has been putting two feet on the mat consistently. The next time he gets on with two feet – just wait without clicking. When he gets on and isn't clicked he will look at you as if you've lost your marbles. It’s the look that says, "Hellooooo I'm standing on the mat!"
• When you still don't click, your dog will get a bit frustrated and offer an exaggerated version of what he'd been doing before. If that exaggeration is more feet on, you are in business. Click and treat that third foot on the mat. Very quickly shape your dog to get all four feet on the mat.

STEP THREE

• Now start adding distance between you and the mat. The key is to step away (or move the mat away from you if you are sitting) a very small amount so that your dog doesn't really notice it at first. I recommend no more than six inches.
• Repeat the click/treating sequence in round two of Step One. If your dog has difficulty with the distance you added, step in closer, cutting the last distance increase in half. So if you added 6 inches and the dog seemed uncertain, step 3 inches closer and see if that works. Then make your next few distance increases the smaller 3 inches. As your dog regains confidence in the behavior you can try a larger increase of six inches and later 1 foot. That being said, its better to go slowly and maintain confidence than to rush.
• Repeat the click/treating sequence in round two of Step One every time you increase distance.
• Your initial goal is for the dog to move 5 feet away from you to get on the mat. Later, to make the behavior really useful, you'll want to increase the distance to 15 to 20 feet.

STEP FOUR

• When your dog is confidently moving at least five feet to get on the mat, its time to shape an automatic down on the mat. You will use the same process as you did shaping your dog to get all four feet on the mat.
• Simply stop clicking and wait for your dog to offer you more. Your dog may pounce in a crouch or if you have a solid default sit already, offer a sit. Click and treat ANY behavior that is somewhat closer to a down position. Perhaps the dog will stand there and lower his head, looking at you through his eyebrows - that is an effective place to start shaping.
• Just so you know, frustration is your friend in shaping, since your dog quickly learns to offer you a variation when you stop clicking what you were clicking before.
• If your dog doesn't seem to understand to offer you a new behavior or isn't offering something that works toward getting closer to down, you can teach this by cueing a down every time your dog gets on the mat. As the dog is stepping onto the mat say "down", then click and treat when he does. If you repeat this sequence often enough, your dog will begin to anticipate and start laying down automatically. As soon as you see that, delay saying down and if your dog lays down anyway, click and treat it. You may still say down if he's slow, but quickly you can leave out that cue.
• When your dog understands that going to the mat (at least five feet away) and automatically laying down is the desired behavior, its time to add a cue.

STEP FIVE

• Follow the directions in the blog entry Putting Behaviors On Cue to put the go to mat behavior on cue.
• Good cues to use are: mat, bed, place, go rest, or take a break. Of course, as with any cue, you can use any cute or clever cue you want.

STEP SIX

• Follow the directions in the entry Adding Duration to increase the amount of time your dog stays on the mat, without being told.
• Remember, when you make ONE thing about a behaviour more difficult, you have to make everything else simpler. So when you add duration to the automatic stay, you will want to work closer, so the dog is more comfortable with the new behavior. See the entry Getting to Generalisation for more information.

ADVANCED WORK
Get that greater distance to go to the mat and increase the duration as much as you can. You can hide the mat in strange places so the dog has to go looking for it, thus adding a game element. And remember you can teach the dog to stay inside a leash circle, treating that area as his mat.

Sit to Say "Please"

Sit seems such a basic behavior, that we often take it for granted. In reality, sit is the very beginning of self-control. Dogs that control their own impulses are a joy to live with, unlike those dogs that were never taught and it becomes the owner's responsibility to maintain control 24-7. Self-control of a dog's natural impulses doesn't come naturally.

When your dog wants a share of your lunch, its his natural inclination to jump on you and try to snatch a bite. When your dog wants your attention, its her natural impulse to jump up, trying to get to your face, probably putting dirty paws on you in the process. When your dog wants to go outside, he thinks its perfectly acceptable to scratch at the door and woodwork until that door opens. When your dog wants inside, he'll do the same thing again. And when you arrive at your destination, your dog sees no reason to wait before making a mad dash to get out of the car, leaving scratches on your leg as she goes. All of these are natural and normal behaviors for a dog; however, they are not much fun to live with.

You can teach your dog to sit on cue quite easily, using capturing or luring. More important is to make sit a "required" behavior to get whatever your dog wants. I don't cue the sit (either verbally or with a hand signal). Instead I stand there and wait for the dog to figure out each time how to get something, so she thinks its always her idea and thus is very motivated to sit.

When I picked up my puppy, we had a long flight ahead of us, so I ate a light lunch of crackers and cheese before the long drive to the airport. My puppy repeatedly stood up with her paws on my leg begging for her share. I pretended to ignore her, but in reality 90% of my attention was on her. After several minutes of begging, she happened to lose her balance and fall back into a sit. I instantly popped a piece of cheese in her mouth and she ran off to enjoy her treasure. Minutes later she was back, wanting more. Again, her paws came up on my leg and I waited. In less than 30 seconds she sat again, this time tentatively, but on purpose. Again cheese appeared in her mouth and thus was born, the default sit.

Before we left on the first flight of our trip, Gimme had discovered that sit worked to get her all kinds of things besides cheese. She learned to sit when she wanted attention, when she wanted to be picked up, when she wanted me to pet her, and when she wanted strangers to pet her. By sitting instead of doing what came naturally, Gimme was already learning self-control and was on the way to becoming a pleasure to live with.

In the first couple of weeks, she learned to offer a sit to go outside, come inside, get treats, get meals, get out of a crate, get out of the car, have a ball/toy thrown, initiate training - really everything. Over time, I adjusted the length of time that she had to remain in a sit, to increase her self control. Then when I thought she was ready to learn a formal stay, it was very easy. It only took only one gentle reminder for her to understand what I wanted, because she'd already been practicing an easier version in her self control exercises.

Gimme here: I have to tell you, humans have a real weakness for a dog that sits and looks pretty. I can get my person to do almost anything when I sit and cock my head to one side. I think it’s the best thing I ever taught her. Its been very useful.

I have to warn you that there are times to ask for that default sit and times not to. For instance, it would be foolish to wait for a default sit first thing in the morning when your puppy or young dog probably has an urgent need to potty.

See separate entries on how to teach your dog to sit on cue and about other impulse control exercises to teach your dog.

The Basic Sit

When we talk of "teaching the dog to sit" we really mean that we are teaching the dog to sit when we want them to sit. Every dog knows how to sit. There are two basic ways to teach a sit – capturing and luring. You can also free shape a sit, but I usually reserve that for special cases, such as retired racing greyhounds which have often been punished for sitting.

Capturing a Sit
This is very easy to do and my favorite way to teach sit; its simple and has a special side benefit. Get some treats and your clicker, sit yourself down and watch your dog. At some point the dog will sit on its own, you click, and immediately follow with a treat. Chances are the moment you click the dog will stand up, especially if she already knows what click means. That's okay, just hand over that treat and go back to waiting. Every time you see your dog sit, click and treat. Very soon your dog will realize that sitting pays. Then your dog will start sitting on purpose to make you click and treat.

          This is a very special moment. Your dog has just made the leap
          from casually happening to sit, to consciously choosing to sit.
          Your dog has just become "operant". An operant dog realizes
          they have the ability to make good things happen. Operant dogs
          are more confident than they would be otherwise and they
          participate in training as a willing teammate. Non-operant dogs
          (including all dogs trained with methods that feature punishment
          as standard fare) don't have the understanding that they can
          make good stuff happen.  Non-operant dogs  participate in
          training because training is something that is done "to" them
          and to avoid bad stuff.

When you are willing to bet $10 that your dog is going to sit right now, you can start adding the cue. See the section on adding a cue below.

Luring a Sit
Many people teach their dog to sit by luring and it has one distinct advantage – the luring motion to get the sit behavior, becomes the hand signal for the sit. The drawbacks are that you miss the opportunity for your dog to become operant, you risk becoming dependent on luring and you have to work through moving your hand away from the dog's nose.  Also, the things you have to do with your hands (to avoid becoming lure dependent), while not awkward, can be confusing.

The first step is to hold a treat in your left hand and the clicker in your right.  You can certainly reverse your hands (treat in right hand and clicker in left hand), but you'll have to reverse these directions.  Hold the treat just in front of your dog's nose, then gradually move the treat slightly up and to the back of the dog's head. Gradual is important, since you want the dog to follow the treat with his nose. As his nose tips up and back, his rump will go down into a sit or near sit. Click that sit and give the treat. Repeat this luring motion with treat in your hand and click/treat – for a total of five times.

Troubleshooting:  If your dog lifts its front feet up, you are raising your hand too much. If he doesn't follow the treat with his nose, you are probably going too fast.  If your dog seems especially resistant to sitting, you may have to break this into pieces and start by clicking for him lowering his rump and then ask for more and more in each repetition until the rump hits the ground.

Now its time to get the food out of your luring (left) hand. Hold the treat and clicker in your right hand and lure with the left hand that just had food half a minute before and still smells like food. When the dog sits, click. Then very quickly and smoothly use your right hand to deliver the treat into your left hand, without the left hand moving away from the dog, and then give the treat to the dog from the luring left hand. Repeat this process – for a total of five times.

Now you can repeat this again using an empty luring hand, holding clicker and treats in the right hand. Do the luring motion, as the dog sits, click and then use the left hand to take the treat from the right and give it to the dog. Repeat 5-10 times.

Troubleshooting:  If your dog tries to follow the luring hand as it moves away to get treats from the othe rhand, try moving more quickly.  If that doesn't work, your right hand may have to meet the left hand halfway to start with.

If your dog is reliably and smoothly sitting when you make the luring motion, its time to begin fading the proximity of the hand signal by moving it gradually away from the dog. Instead of having your fingers an inch from the dog's nose, try two inches, then four. When you can cue the sit with a hand signal from two feet away, its time to add a verbal cue. Hand signals are nice and they certainly look cool, but it does require your dog to be looking at you.

Adding a verbal cue
Adding verbal cues is a process that follows the same pattern every time. The more behaviors you add cues to, the quicker your dog will learn verbal cues each time.  To begin with, you will do each step 15 – 30 times, depending on how quickly your dog demonstrates understanding. Later you can do less repetitions per step. For an experienced dog, you may only do 5 repetitions per step. For a very experienced dog, it may be only 5 repetitions altogether. Remember to click/treat for every repetition.

1. Say "sit" as your dog is sitting, 15 – 30 repetitions
2. Say "sit" as your dog is starting to sit, 15 – 30 repetitions
3. Say "sit" just before your dog starts to sit, 15 – 30 repetitions
4. Test by saying "sit" and then wait to see if the dog sits. If he sits, the cue is attached, if he doesn't sit, repeat step 3 and then retest.

Adding a new verbal cue to a behavior on a hand signal
If you are using a hand signal, your dog already knows a cue for sit, so you are going to attach a new verbal cue to it. Remember to click/treat for every repetition.

1. Say "sit" just before you give the hand signal – about a quarter of a second before – repeat 15 times.
2. Say "sit" about one half second before giving the hand signal – repeat 15 times.
3. Say "sit" about one second before giving the hand signal – repeat 15 times.
4. Gradually increase the time between giving the new verbal cue and the old hand signal in one second increments, repeating 10 – 15 times each time.
5. When your dog starts to sit after hearing the verbal cue and before you start the hand signal, then you can test his understanding. Say the verbal cue and wait. If the dog sits, click/treat. If the dog doesn't sit, continue the process following up with the hand signal for another 30 repetitions and then test again.

Gimme here: I was part of a demonstration to show how to attach a special cue to my go to mat behavior. When my person says "mat" I run to my bed and lay down.  The instructor wanted to show how to teach a dog to go to mat when the doorbell rings. So they made the doorbell sound, my person said "mat" and I got clicked and treated for doing what I was supposed to do. By the fifth time, when the doorbell rang, I just ran to my bed and laid down. I already knew what it meant. That's because I'm very smart. I'm just saying…