The bottom line is your dog needs dog walks no matter what. It’s part of his daily essentials and he relies on you, his loving and caring owner, to make sure he’s physically and mentally balanced. Your dog may not have proper walking etiquette or he might be so unpleasant you’ve cut back drastically on taking him outside. Whatever your reasons, these simple dog walking tips will help you and your dog get out the door in no time.

Dog Walking is your Dog’s Fundamental Birthright. He absolutely loves it and needs lots of it every day. Walking or migrating is your dog’s ultimate purpose in life. It’s his way of figuring out how the world around him works. Walking outside strengthens his natural predator instincts and skills. It also keeps his body and mind in top shape. Walking is the #1 activity that allows your dog to do his innate “doggy-things”. He also gets to carry out one of his much-loved activities, maintaining his social network and checking up on “Pee-Mail”. You know, like: “What’s the word on the streets?” “Who’s hanging around with whom?” “Are any of my furry peeps sick?” and “Who’s the new kid in town?” that sort of thing.

“When I go out, I just have to see,
If another dog has been at my tree,
I sniff it up and I sniff it down,
Gotta get a read on the dogs around”
- Author unknown

I promise that when you walk the dog, the experience will be pleasant and stress-free with these quick easy tips. You’ll also recharge your dog’s inner spirit and keep him ultimately happy and fulfilled.

Dog walking everyday will instantly eliminate roughly 80% of common dog behavior problems (such as barking and jumping) with an added bonus of general calm and happiness in your home.

The Uncontrollable Walking Dog

I can’t stress enough the importance of walking your dog. It’s an amazing energy burner for both you and your pet. But I completely understand that it can sometimes be a little tricky and oftentimes, totally embarrassing if your dog doesn’t have proper dog walking manners. The dogs in the following group are not the greatest walking companions:

Barking Buffoons

Barking Buffoons bark at passing cars, noisy kids, people on bikes and large garbage cans. They intimidate shrubs and trees, scary birds, cats and (of course) crying babies, older people and neighborhood dogs. Barking Buffoons might also bark at the wind, leaves, an empty water bottle rolling down the street, a gum wrapper in the way, more unknown dogs, strangers and let’s not forget, big frightening buses and dangerous butterflies.

The list is pretty much endless because each Barking Buffoon has his own bad habits. A good dog walk several times a week will immediately curb your dog’s energy and you’ll progressively notice the disappearance of his incessant bark. I will get to all that in just a bit.

OPP – Obnoxious Persistent Pullers

The Obnoxious Persistent Puller (the OPP) will stop at nothing to get the next step in. This type of dog will not mind you one bit. Even when he’s about to rip the arm off your shoulder, this guy doesn’t seem to care much about anything other than what’s going on in front of him. The pulling is tolerable if your bud is a cute cuddly 15-pounder. But if you’ve got a large Shepherd or a strong German Pointer, it can the OPP can be downright dangerous, especially if you’re a 120-pound female. Unfortunately, dog walking is almost impossible with an OPP.

I personally know a couple of OPPs in our neighborhood and we (rarely) observe them during our walks with Halle. I say rarely because the owners just cannot manage. Imagine that an uncontrollable baby elephant is constantly pulling you around. It’s not so cool. If you’re living with an OPP in need of training, I sympathize with you.

“You down with OPP? Yeah You know me!” } Halle

Bouncing Circus Dogs

Let’s not forget the Bouncing Circus dogs. This group is very light on their feet, ready to entertain at every corner of the street. Don’t bother approaching this dog unless you want a tête-à-tête greeting from a big boy. Again, not very pleasant if the weather is a bit mushy and muddy. You can say bye-bye to that nice clean outfit of yours. Jumping up on people at will is not very polite. I don’t care if your dog is a jumping puppy or a Weim; a dog bouncing up on you is not nice, period.

For the Barking Buffoons, the OPPs and the Bouncing Circus dogs, dog walking is not enjoyable, so their owners just don’t do it or keep walks to a minimal. I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t like it either.

There’s nothing more pleasant and lovely than walking a well-mannered dog. Everybody is happy. The dog gets to migrate and take care of his doggy-business and the owner gets to unwind and enjoy the present moment. It’s a beautiful peaceful thing.

Don’t despair if your dog happens to fall into one of the groups above. I promise you’ll have some super fun dog walks in your near future if you follow some of my simple dog walking tips.

First here are 3 extremely easy tips that will help you and your dog roam the neighborhood with a little more ease and a lot more confidence. Your number one goal here is giving your dog the important intellectual and physical exercise that he so desperately requires. Even when your dog is pulling you down the street, jumping on everyone or barking at everything in sight, your puppy needs his walk – pronto. He needs his exercise because it calms him down. He also needs some good dog training, which will do wonders FOR his overall behavior and wellness.

Once you’ve got your dog walking again, I highly recommend you check out our Dog Training section on HBD and get your pooch started with some clicker dog training. Including some quick training sessions (intellectual stimulation) throughout the week will serve your dog very well.

Three Simple Dog Walking Tips for the Uncontrollables:

1. Keep your focus on the walk. I want you to calmly gear up, clip the lead on your dog and open your door and just walk. Your ultimate goal is to take a 20-minute walk with your little troublemaker (no matter what happens) and come back home. Make it a mission. Ignore all the distractions, people, cars, birds and other pups and just resolutely walk your dog. Make sure he does his potty and then focus on what’s before you and walk. Your dog will try to cause his regular chaos but I want you to completely ignore him and focus on your goal. He will very quickly recognize that he has to keep up with your pace. It will be extra hard at first but your dog needs his walk and you have to do it.

If you’re dealing with an insecure barker or jittery boo, the key is for you to be extra confident. This means shoulders up and proud demeanor. Your dog will feel your energy and will learn to relax with time. Slowly build up the time you spend walking to a good hour or two per day.

2. Low-key dog walks. Another great tip is to walk your dog at certain times of the day when you can limit most if not all the distractions that make him lose his mind. Wake up a few minutes earlier in the morning when the streets are deserted. Or take your pup out later in the evening when all the house lights go out. Take advantage of those great quiet opportunities to enjoy a peaceful walk with your dog.

Also, try alternate locations, where there may be limited distractions, and go for a dog walk. Here are just a few that come to mind: any empty parking lot, an industrial area after hours, most rural areas, secluded waterfronts. As well, large parks may have a few isolated areas that are great and will allow you to get your dog walk in. Take some time to scout your neighborhood for nice quiet spots, even if that means taking some time and driving there. I promise your dog will be forever grateful and you’ll experience greater peace in your house. It’s all worth it.

3. Create simple distractions with treats, games and some quick power training sessions. During your walk, take a few breaks and practice some simple training commands like a series of sits or stays-and-downs then offer your dog his favorite treats. Bust a 30-second game of tug to burn some of your dog’s extra energy. This also works really well to redirect dogs that need a little more confidence or focus.

Remember to concentrate on your ultimate goal, the dog walk. It’s so easy to get distracted. You might notice a puppy on the other side of the street and you might start to panic because you know that at any minute, your dog is going to lose it and make you look like a complete fool. You must move forward and ignore everything around you. Change the side of the street and complete your mission because your buddy needs to get his walk on. Your dog truly depends on you. Don’t deprive him of this great natural pleasure just because he sometimes acts like a monkey.

Like I said earlier, once you’re done with walking your dog add some fun and easy dog training sessions to your week. Watch how quickly your dog will transform from an Uncontrollable to a very well mannered walking companion.

Look out for my second post on dog walking. Next, we’re going to help you build your confidence and willpower so you can hit the pavement with your dog in no time. If you’re having difficulty committing to walking your dog then make sure you check out my next article titled: “Don’t Over Think the Dog Walk, Just Do It”.

I really want to know if you happen to live with one of the Uncontrollables? What makes you cringe and what do you absolutely hate about walking your dog? Do you have any special tips and techniques that help you get that dog walk in? How bad does your dog get if he doesn’t go out for awhile? I definitely want to hear about your dog walking adventures.

If your dog is channeling his inner scavenger every time there’s food laying around a kitchen table or counter then you’ve got a problem on your hands. Dog counter surfing is usually the offspring of being rewarded for engaging in such behavior.

Dogs are insanely curious souls.

If your dog has been rewarded for being a snoop, especially with tasty foods and treats, then he’ll always be on the lookout for more opportunities to win awesome goodies.

If you punish and yell at your dog, then you can expect him to pull out all the stops when you’re not around or not looking. Overreacting or using aversive strategies won’t do much to resolve the matter in an encouraging way.

Before we get into how to deal with dogs jumping on counters, lets discuss some of the methods you can use to prevent this from happening in the first place.

Prevention & Maintenance

Whenever a puppy or new dog enters your home, you should always start by laying down the ground rules in a way that clearly shows this new member of your household how to behave.

You can do this very effectively by managing access and giving your dog a crash course on proper house etiquette. This is done primarily with some positive crate training and supervision when Curious George is out exploring his surroundings.

Your dog should never succeed at being rewarded for counter surfing. A few victorious attempts can be curbed with some quick training but, repeated occurrences can lead to bad ‘dog on counter’ habits that are very tough to kick. I will discuss how to deal appropriately with a professional dog counter surfer in just a bit.

Whenever your dog is crated, there are no worries. When your dog is out roaming (perhaps after a nice outdoor potty break) you should have your eyes on him at all times. Keep him leashed to your waist or tied close by if needed. Allow your pup the chance to play and explore but always in a manner than allows for constructive feedback from you – his teacher.

When your dog is around the kitchen or when you’re preparing food, always reward and praise whenever he is calm or resting close by and not obsessing over the food.

If you’ve already taught the down command, you can ask for it and reward with a nice treat and praise.

If he’s being really good and minding his business, you can occasionally toss a tasty morsel from the table or counter. Offering treats in the kitchen or at the table is perfectly fine if you’re reinforcing the right behavior. This should of course be avoided if your dog is harassing you or guests and stalking for kitchen table scraps. In this event, you’re encouraging your dog to harass for food.

If your dog jumps up or attempts to get a taste when it’s not appropriate, you can ignore it as long as he doesn’t succeed at grabbing anything. Then get right back to reinforcing the relaxed, down behavior with maximum rewards. If the behavior is excessive, you can opt to use a time out in a crate or keep your dog tethered close by where he can’t reach. After a short while, you can release him and treat for not jumping.

Using positive reinforcement in this instance won’t take long at all. You can have a fairly calm and relaxed dog, with no intention to counter surf, in a matter of days. It’s all about how effectively you reward your dog for showing good manners around the kitchen table and counters.

This is by far the best way to transform a dog on counter into a dog on four legs.

Leave It Cue!

This cue is really helpful with curbing dog counter surfing. You should setup a few training sessions with food in plain sight.

Keep your dog on leash and approach say, the coffee table with a sandwich on it. Get close enough and see what happens. If your dog looks at you for an ok or ignores the food, praise heavily and treat.

Repeat this exercise a few times and slowly incorporate the “Leave It” cue and keep rewarding for the right behavior output. Take the time to setup different situations with different foods to tighten up the response.

You can of course use whatever vocal cue you like, including “no touch” or “not for you” or “no, that’s not yours!” or any other easy command.

You’ll teach your dog that “leaving it” provides extreme benefits like treats and heavy praise.

“If I touch the Pizza, Mom and Dad won’t be happy and I might get a time out. If I wait patiently and let them eat peacefully, I usually get a couple of pieces of tasty crust. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” } Halle

This is also something you should keep working on. Don’t assume that a few successful trials will keep Fido off the Birthday Cake. It’s unfortunately not that simple.

Supervision is vital and several weeks or even months of good dog training and practice will yield the results you’re looking for.

Halle has learned to be really awesome around food for the most part. I wouldn’t necessarily leave food around her intentionally but she has truly exceptional dining table manners and is a real lady when she’s near our food. Her picnic etiquette is also pretty strong and that makes us really proud!

Dealing with an Obnoxious Counter Surfing Pro!

I’m not calling YOUR dog obnoxious. I’m calling his food stealing antics obnoxious. He just needs guidance, direction and a different perspective, that’s all.

If your dog has turned his counter surfing into a habit then you’ve got a little more work cut out for you.

Starting right now, you have to make sure you never leave any food or enticing items laying around for your dog to snatch. I’m very serious when I say NEVER!

Keep food stored, keep your counters extra clean, and garbages on wrap. Be extra vigilant when you’re preparing food. Keep your dishwasher closed at all times. You have to remove any and all chances for your dog to win any trophies as a counter surfing professional. He can play all he wants but No Winning!

This will naturally slow him down because your dog won’t enjoy playing if there’s nothing in it for him.

There are other variable and factors of course. I recommend reading our thorough Stop Puppy Jumping article for some in-depth insights on how you can prevent your dog from jumping on counters and furniture.

Then, depending on your situation, I would recommend praising your dog and offering treats whenever he settles down around food. Because we’re dealing with habit, the very first good reinforceable occurrences might take some time. Be patient and stick with it. Once you’ve rewarded the appropriate behavior a few times, your dog will slowly shift his behavior in accordance with your expectations.

If he’s just too much too handle, then keep him close, tethered to your waist, so you can kindly instruct him on what you expect of him now that you’re actively working on this problem. Never punish or lose control. Be calm, patient and instructive. Whenever your dog is resting around you or when you’re eating or preparing food, praise and treat. Let him know how proud you are of his progress.

You should also seriously consider using some of the techniques I mentioned earlier to teach a “Leave It” command. This will be golden to help your dog learn to change his ways.

But when all is said and done, here are the 3 most powerful rules to kick your dog’s counter surfing habit:

1. No more prizes! Remove all food and items that might encourage your dog to engage in counter surfing. Don’t leave anything to chance and make sure the entire family is on board.

2. Your dog should always be under strict supervision so that you can provide feedback and rewards for behaving the right way.

3. Keep using positive reinforcement to improve your dog’s manners tenfold. You want to use really high value treats and lots of praise whenever your dog behaves in a way that is in line with house rules.

You really have to stick to it! I can assure you that your dog WILL come around. Take the time to sit down with your family and create a game plan that incorporates the 3 rules above with consistency.

We know how annoying a counter surfer can be! There’s nothing like a vanishing sandwich or precious dessert that ends up in your dog’s belly when you look away. Speak your mind in the comment section below and share your stories.

Who doesn’t want to stop a puppy from jumping at the wrong times in all the wrong situations?

I will outline some very effective methods to help encourage your dog to stop pouncing around like a kangaroo when it’s not appropriate.

I’ve written extensively on puppy potty training, but it’s safe to say that puppy jumping and biting are common problems we all face in the early stages of puppy development.

First, let me point out that none of these are actual problems in the first place because they’re all normal puppy behaviors. Puppy jumping can be a hassle and annoying but it’s very normal and can be addressed using positive training techniques.

Dominance – Excuse Me?

First off, forget everything you’ve heard about your puppy jumping to exert dominance. I cannot believe how much information there is out there stating that if your dog is jumping on you then you have to call martial law and prepare your home and family for a calculated canine takeover.

Let me get this straight. You want ME to show my little 15-Pounder who’s the boss and devise a strategy to put him back into his sub-ordinate role before his plans to control my life come to fruition?

Give Me a Break!

In extremely rare cases a dog might mount or jump on another dog to display dominance. A dog that is an alpha will clearly let other dogs know he’s dominant. Furthermore, he’ll take down any dog that might question his dominance. Jumping around to be bossy hardly fits the equation.

I know many that will disagree with the above. I’m NOT saying dogs can’t be dominant or that your dog isn’t dominant. It is very, extremely unlikely! It would be ill advised to tag puppy jumping as a dominance issue, which encourages you to use all kinds of negative methods that are detrimental to your pup’s well being.

Rest assured that your puppy is not going to take you down or dominate your family! You don’t have to BE the boss but you do have to let your puppy know there are inappropriate times to jump and other times when it might not be ok. You should definitely be a good role model and a loving teacher.

You simply have to present some guidelines and rules to help them behave in a manner that is acceptable inside your home, around your family and others.

No Punishment, No Pain and No Misconceptions about Doggy Dominance.

The Jumping Puppy Agenda

Puppies jump because they’re excited, eager and love to greet us with bunches of love. When it comes to greeting rituals, dogs are something else!

Dogs are pack animals and love being in close proximity to their social circle. However, the modern human-dog relationship is filled with separation. Most of us separate and reunite with our dogs several times during any given week, which only adds more oomph to greeting time.

This might explain why they can sometimes get out of hand when they meet and greet their loved ones.

There’s absolutely no question about it – Jumping Puppies are Very Cute! We tolerate and even encourage it when they’re very young then we try to nip it in the bud when they get older.

“I had a Jumping Up marathon that lasted several weeks when I was growing up and I’m Proud of it!” } Halle

Once you have a full grown pup on your hands, random jumping or annoying leaping is not so cute anymore, especially with larger breeds.

Here are just some of the not-so-cool consequences of a manic four-legged jumper:

- Soils or Might Damage your Clothes.
- Dangerous – knock a Child or Elderly person over.
- Really Annoying if you’re trying to Do Something.
- Not Respectful if Strangers or Visitors enter your Home.
- Makes Outdoor Activities Difficult.

But what about jumping on furniture and kitchen counters? The reason is generally associated to a history of reinforcement or a lack of something better to do.

The jumping puppy agenda is not filled with dominance, but with honest reasons for engaging in such behavior. Before we explore ways to deal with this matter, let’s go over actions you absolutely need to stray away from.

Unnecessary Solutions

Saying there’s a lot of bad advice on this topic is an understatement! Here are 5 techniques that are definitely NOT HBD Recommended. Let me point out that many of them DO work but can be incredibly dangerous and harmful to your puppy.

1. The Knee Block. Putting your knee up to block and potentially harm your puppy is never a good idea. You can seriously injure your dog, especially with deep-chested breeds like Weimaraners and Boxers. You might read about justified knee blocking without kicking but as long as your knee is up and blocking you can hurt your dog.

2. Yanking the Leash. This when you Keep your puppy on leash and abruptly yank your dog for jumping up when it’s not ok. Directing and gently pulling on the leash is ok, yanking with anger or to enforce you leadership is not required.

3. Paw Pinching. Squeezing or holding your puppy’s paws to initiate an undesirable behavior is pure punishment. Imagine doing this, then trying to train your puppy to allow you to trim his nails.

4. Loud Noise Containers and Yelling. Doing any of this does nothing to offer your puppy any instructive feedback. Yes, they’re a different species but there many ways to communicate with your puppy without abusing their sensitive ears with loud noises.

5. Spray Bottles and Water Guns. Again not necessary and very negative! Also very archaic if you ask me!

Like I mentioned, many of the traditional and popular methods above WILL work but are completely unnecessary and can cause all kinds of damage. There are of course other punitive methods but I think I’ve covered some of the most common.

If you’ve used any of these methods in the past or using them now, don’t fret. I don’t blame you. Most of the information you find on this topic seems to revolve around these methods. All you have to do is stop using them and start using what I’m outlining in this article.

As a responsible dog owner, you should always use positive techniques that require no pain to achieve desired results.

Priming your Puppy!

Before we get right into the solutions, let me say that teaching your puppy a few simple cues like ‘Sit’ and ‘Down’ will help a great deal in achieving successful results. If you haven’t started training your puppy to offer behaviors on command, then the time is now. There’s nothing quite like it plus it only takes a few days at most to prepare and teach your puppy to do a few simple behaviors.

I highly recommend reading our Clicker Training for Dogs articles if you need input on where to start. Plus clicker training will help you establish a ‘no-reward’ marker which will only help broaden your communication spectrum when it comes to dealing with a puppy that is jumping up all the time.

I’m going to be referencing some cues like ‘Sit’ or ‘Down’ in this article since they are a wonderful alternatives to jumping. One of the smartest things you can do is teach your dog behaviors that are completely exclusive to jumping. Please get hooked up with some clicker dog training tools and some high-value treats. Devote a few days to getting your puppy sitting and lying down on cue.

Once you get better with your training skills, you can also teach your dog to jump up on command, which will do wonders for helping your furry friend control the behavior of jumping.

Keep in mind that working with jumping puppies is obviously a lot easier than working with full grown dogs. Starting when they’re young is key! Consistency is also vital. It’s never too late to work with your dog and positive changes can be achieved fairly quickly if your approach is right.

It’s time to dig into how you can actually stop a puppy from jumping.

Puppy Jumping Answers

You might believe your puppy is jumping to annoy the hell out of you but in all honesty, puppies jump because there’s something in it for them. We might not see it but they generally jump because something makes it worthwhile.

They might jump up on you and others for love and attention. Puppies might jump to bite – in order to satisfy the urge to mouth when teething. They might do it to grab something or to even pass the time when they’re bored.

The general rule is that there is an underlying reward for their action.

This goes for many of the reasons why puppies and dogs do what they do. This is also why understanding and harnessing the power of Positive Reinforcement in Dog Training can help a great deal in resolving undesirable puppy jumping.

Your best course of action is to tip the scale and make No Jumping more rewarding than Jumping.

Puppy Jumping up on You…

Whenever you enter your home or re-connect with your puppy, be calm and ignore any inappropriate behavior including any jumping up to incite a greeting from you. If you praise, touch, use eye contact or acknowledge, then you’re rewarding the behavior. You want to wait until the puppy is chill and relaxed so that you can reward the desired action.

If you’re working with a new puppy then the process of teaching your newbie that jumping does nothing will be fairly quick. If you’re dealing with an older pup or veteran hopper, you’ll have to be persistent and patient. It might even take upwards of 10-15 minutes before the dog stops trying. Either way you wait until the puppy is calmly sitting or quietly waiting for some kind of acknowledgment without jumping.

If you feel the need to react physically or if you’re getting bombarded with jumps you might want to cross your arms and turnaround or move around to avoid being stuck brewing in one spot. Go on with other tasks. Do whatever you would normally do after entering your home until the puppy is calm and relaxed.

Once you have the desired behavior, you can give your dog a very tasty treat followed with some hugs and petting. You can also use verbal praise. You should scooch down to your dog’s level to discourage the need to jump. In the beginning, don’t overdo the praise or you might excite your puppy into jumping. Just very nicely reward the behavior and keep it moving.

If you’ve got your puppy working for markers, you can ask your puppy to sit or lie down when you arrive home to earn a treat and praise. If they jump, you don’t reward until they’ve delivered the requested behavior on cue. If your pup is being excessive you can gently say “oh-that’s-no-good” or “no-no” to let them know they’re off the mark. This will enlighten your furball to sit in order to earn rewards. This will teach your four-legged buddy the awesomeness of a veritable Treat and Great!

This is the beginning of the Four-Paws on the Ground Rule! You never accept anything less and never reward or give in to jumping when it’s not appropriate. This is sometimes easier said than done but essential.

Jumping on Others…

Most dog owners have no problem graduating from getting their dog to stop jumping on them. It’s jumping on others that is often very difficult to tame.

The key for other people is that they must follow the same puppy jumping rules I’ve outlined above. Ignore the jumping and reward the non-jumping.

The problem usually stems from friends and family that won’t adhere to the jumping puppy policy. You have to be strict with your fellow humans. Consistency is everything! There should be no grey-zone for your puppy. If jumping doesn’t work for you, it shouldn’t work with others.

Ask your guests to ignore the puppy until the puppy sits or waits. At this point, they can bend down and greet or offer a treat. Remember that getting down low for greeting enables puppy kisses without having the puppy hopping to reach high. You can also treat your dog for being good when guests arrive. All of this helps your puppy understand what you really want from him.

You should also take this a step further and set up training sessions with friends and family. Have them come over and give them high-value treats. Ask them to leave and come back in say 5-10 minutes. Upon return, they ignore and wait for the puppy to sit or be calm at which point they kindly treat and offer praise.

A few planned training sessions can do wonders to reinforce the desired behavior. Planned sessions are also far better than unprepared and unexpected visits that might throw a wrench into the teaching process.

If needed, you can also tether your pup to your waist or keep him on leash. The leash is not intended for yanking. You can use it to kindly direct him off if he jumps on guests. You can or might have to use timeouts, which we’ll discuss in a bit.

Once your puppy stops jumping with a few other people, you’ll notice a shift in his behavior whenever just about anyone comes over.

Please remember that all of the above is a process. It can take some time but it works and is the ideal way to get your puppy to calm down without hopping around whenever people visit your home.

Jumping Up on Others Outside…

Using well timed rewards will do wonders to help your puppy use better judgment when meeting other humans.

Right before you allow your puppy to greet someone, ask or wait for him to sit. You can use a treat to get his attention in the beginning but eventually just being able to greet someone will be reinforcing enough for your dog to offer a sit automatically.

This too can all be done with planned exercises in a controlled setting. A few minutes of training with a friend can yield great results.

Say you meet someone and have your dog sit calmly before meeting. Say you then stand around and have a discussion with your friend while your puppy chills or explores the surroundings. Then all of sudden, your puppy gets excited and jumps on your friend.

Jumping After the Greet…

First off, any random jumping after the meeting can and will happen especially with excitable puppies.

When this occurs, don’t completely ignore it but don’t worry too much about it. Your puppy is young and needs times to learn good manners. If you stick to everything I’ve mentioned so far, he will grow out of random happy jumping. He might also need more physical or mental exercise to calm the spirits and channel all that wonderful energy. Don’t get upset or punish your pup in any way.

One thing you could do if the jumping persists is, in a kind tone, let your dog know that jumping up is a “no-no” and (if needed) shorten the lead or take a few steps back so that the person you’re talking to is not within reach until you’re done chatting.

Jumping on Furniture…

Again, positive reinforcement for not jumping is key. You should ideally never give your puppy free run of the house in the beginning so that you can slowly cultivate good house etiquette. This can be done by crate training your puppy and slowly easing your pup into other situations, including how to behave around furniture.

In the early stages of puppyhood, your mini beast is just exploring and learning about all of the wonderful stuff that humans possess. Sofas and Tables are really cool and interesting. Your job is to teach the boundaries and limits within your home.

The best approach is by tethering your puppy or keeping him on leash. Reinforce desired behavior with treats and praise. If the puppy jumps up on a table or sofa that is not permitted, gently direct them off.

Always Reward Handsomely for Doing Anything Right!

Your puppy will understand what you expect of him if you’re clear and reliable with your instructions. This goes for everyone in your household. You can’t make exceptions and expect your dog to decipher what is right and wrong.

If you’re dealing with an older puppy that isn’t crate trained and enjoys jumping up all over the place, then you should seriously consider crate training your pup and slowly introducing him to your upgraded version of house etiquette 101! You can also just keep your pup on leash and reward with treats and lots of praise for appropriate behavior.

You can also remedy the jumping with practice training sessions. Keep your dog on leash and approach the furniture that is prone to incite hopping and see what happens. If the dog jumps, say “that’s-no-no” and gently lead him off. If he doesn’t jump, reward with praise and treats. Allow for the dog to have a moment to decide what he wants to do. This will help him learn what works by his own free will. Make it fun, make it a game. Your puppy is eager to learn how to become a productive member of the household.

Sit down with everyone that lives with you and devise a plan on what is acceptable and what is not acceptable and stay consistent. You never have to punish, hurt or yell at your puppy. All you have to do is provide clear information and instructive feedback combined with rewards for doing the right thing. Then all you need is repetition, consistency and patience to complete the equation.

If your puppy is jumping up to snatch goodies or steal food from kitchen counters, then you have a little more work cut out for you.

Stopping the Springy-Legged Bandit!

Puppies that jump and find things are a tough to train because they’ve usually had a strong history of being reinforced in two major ways:

1. They’ve managed to find and chew a treasure (household item) or eat something tasty that they weren’t supposed to eat. Finding valuable stuff is pure gold to a puppy.

2. They get to play “Catch me If You Can” when YOU find out, which is a lot of fun. This game is so fun, that it’s definitely worth jumping up and grabbing more stuff to initiate games on their command. The puppy has pretty much training you at this point.

If you’re dealing with any of the above, you have to clear out any of the hot spots from paper items to food and household goodies that might be encouraging your puppy to jump.

You want to ensure 0% success at being able to reach or grab anything. This might seem difficult but it’s only temporary to help solve the matter.

See what happens.

If your dog grabs something, don’t chase. That’s what he wants. Ask him to give it up or walk towards him or strategically corner him (without scaring him of course) until you can calmly take it back. You can also use a cue like ‘Drop’ (if he knows the cue) and praise him when he does. Of course, if you do this enough times, you might end up with a puppy that grabs stuff just to drop and earn rewards. Choose your steps wisely and never punish or scold your dog.

Again, you can focus on controlling the environment, giving access to a couple of rooms and using crate training to establish nice house manners. You should also integrate healthy physical and mental exercise to keep your puppy from falling into bad habits.

I know I’ve made a point about training with markers a few times already but I can’t tell you how much it can do to strengthen the bond and communication you have with your dog.

Please take a moment to read our articles on Positive Reinforcement and Clicker Dog Training.

Always remember to ‘keep the four-paws on the ground’ rule in full effect at all times.

Backup Plan

What do you do if you’ve got a puppy that tends to spend the better part of his day on two feet after you’ve done a lot of the above? He understands what you want or has had some reinforced training sessions and for the most part, seems to grasp that jumping up in your home and on humans is not acceptable. Yet, from time to time, he pushes a little too much or doesn’t seem to want to give in or listen.

The first course of action with notorious jumpers is to adequately exercise without over exercising or stressing his growing body. You must give your puppy nice long walks and training for mental stimulus. As well, provide healthy chewtoys stuffed with goodies, anything to keep him calm and happy! This will help take the wind out of those bouncy legs.

Another thing you can do when needed is kindly instruct your puppy or use timeouts. Instruction can be a vocal “that’s-a-no-no” or “that’s-not-nice” and if necessary gently direct your puppy to a crate or designated timeout spot for a few minutes.

I would only recommend doing this if you’ve had some successful jumping related training sessions or see improvement in your puppy’s jumping etiquette. The reason being that if you give timeouts and your puppy has no idea why, then it’s kind of pointless.

We believe that fair timeouts can be a priceless training tool that will not physically or mentally harm your puppy. YES you never want the crate associated with anything negative. But for peaceful timeouts – it’s Fine! Your dog will not dislike the crate after timeouts if she’s already crated trained.

Again – don’t use timeouts unless you have a good working relationship with your puppy and have had some history of positive reinforcement during your no-jumping trials.

When all else Fails…

If you’re in dire need of hands-on help, don’t hesitate to contact a dog trainer or canine behavior specialist in your area. Always look for professionals that specialize in positive reinforcement and modern training methods. You might want to re-consider any trainer that encourages the ‘Unnecessary Solutions’ outlined above to stop puppy jumping.

98% is as Good as It Gets!

Remember that all behavior is conditional to many variables. Once your puppy is all good, you may find that he occasionally jumps for no readily apparent reason.

Maybe, you haven’t had a chance to train, play or walk your dog for a few days and he might find other ways to pass the time. Maybe he’ll get so excited at the sight of a new toy that he might bust a jump. All of this is normal and expected.

“Every now and then, I get so excited when family comes over that I do a half-hop-jump-banana-twist to greet even though I’m not really allowed. It Feels so Good!” } Halle

You just have to keep working and helping your dog learn to master his jump control. Not much more too it. I can assure you that any sudden jumping is not an attempt to dominate your or your home.

If you tune into all of the methods I’ve outlined in this article, you’ll be able to completely solve or at the very least, see huge improvements with your puppy jumping woes within just a couple of weeks.

Good luck with your mission to keep Four Paws on the Ground!

Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Are in the middle of jumping puppy madness? What’s your ideal strategy for dealing with a jumping puppy?

I genuinely want to help you potty train your puppy as quickly as possible, using the most efficient tools and methods, so you get the job done with the least amount of problems! This is the principal reason why I took a few weeks to write this very special e-book.

The 67+ page puppy potty training manual is a Free Gift to you to say thanks for supporting and joining our Free HBD Updates Newsletter!

“I didn’t read the e-book but I know the system works because Mom & Dad taught me to do business in all the right places in just a few weeks. I know – I’m too good!” } Halle

Sure, puppy biting, jumping and chewing are all close seconds but housetraining is always at the heap of the pile of things that require immediate attention!

With or without help, most new puppy owners eventually get there, either succeeding at teaching their puppy to “ask for the door” when it’s time or even better, deliver the goods on command when the location is right. It’s an interesting process with many hurdles but success comes with enough persistence and patience.

There are also some owners that find a way to cope or live with a “not-completely-house-trained” puppy. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve heard something along the lines of:

“We’ve had our puppy for almost a year and he’s housetrained… well almost housetrained. I would say 90% potty trained, it’s going great!”

Shooting for 90% in a lot of things is wonderful but not ideal or desirable when it comes to how and when your puppy goes potty.

You don’t want your puppy half-assing his business, trust me!

Head of the Class!

What you truly want is a 100% or at the very least, 98% potty training puppy within 4-8 weeks and you want to achieve this with zero punishment or unnecessary stress on all parties. This can all be done! It’s not easy and it does take work but it can all happen with positive modern methods that really work!

There are many online sources that offer puppy potty training tips, which can be very useful and helpful, but if you want to successfully potty train your puppy with the least amount of problems, then you need a more than just tips, you need a Complete System that works and works very well.

You know, I said most eventually get there in some way, shape or form. Generally, new puppy owners rely on past experiences, different sources, their vet, professionals and sometimes even unqualified hearsay to achieve success. Some owners even give up and just cope!

This is all good (giving up not included) unless the techniques you are using are knowingly, or unknowingly inappropriate, unnecessary or punishment-based.

Supreme Strategies for Positive Puppy Potty Training…

I’m giving you the nuts and bolts mixed with a little puppy psychology to help you understand the entire potty training process on a deep level. I’ve taken inspiration from 3 of our most popular puppy potty training posts:

1. Crate Training Puppies Walkthrough
2. Potty Lessons with Puppy Training Pads
3. How to Potty Train a Puppy without the BS!
- Plus, I’ve added more than 30 Fresh New Pages of material to bring you the complete potty training system for your lovely puppy!

All you have to do it sign up for Free HBD e-mail updates at the top of this page and we’ll send you a Free Copy! Your subscription also includes a Free copy of our other wonderful e-book by Asia titled:

Give Your Dog an Official Holistic Life Experience!

The FREE e-book also includes a very special “21 Questions” chapter with answers to some of the most common puppy potty training questions we get all the time.

Enjoy…

We encourage the practice of Positive Reinforcement in many of our articles and posts. We often quickly reference it and realize that many of our readers might not precisely grasp what we’re referring to. We figured it would be a great idea to create a post dedicated to explaining this very important component in behavioral science and how you can utilize it when training and interacting with your dog. This page will serve as a quick reference on Positive Reinforcement principles with practical examples that just about anyone can process.

The term – Positive Reinforcement is often thrown around in dog discussions and open forums. It is of course, very commonly used with Dog Training. We often refer to it as part of Positive Training or Training with Positive Methods. We all have a good idea of what it means and implies. Yes – Treats, rewards and all that good stuff, but also much more. It’s associated with good things and gives you a nice fuzzy feeling whenever you say it. The thing is if you specifically ask someone to provide a definition of the term or explain what it actually means; you’d be surprised with some of the answers you might receive.

I’m going to do my very best to keep this article fresh, fun and insightful so that you can fully grasp the concept of positive reinforcement and how you can use it to shape your dog with modern training methods. It’s vital to know the definition and understand the role it plays when communicating with your dog. Essentially how it REALLY works. What you won’t find here is an extremely detailed thesis on the subject because we’ve got wonderful references like Wikipedia for that purpose.

Much More than Just Treats and Love!

Positive Reinforcement is about much more than offering your pup super treats and loving everything he does. Love, affection and food rewards are all primary reinforcers but are only the tip of what positive reinforcement principles are all about.

Modern positive training principles are fundamentally based around behavioral science credited to acclaimed psychologist and professor B.F. Skinner. Reinforcement and Punishment are critical components of behavior psychology, also known as Operant Conditioning.

One of the things anyone can truly appreciate about positive reinforcement dog training is that its fundamentals are based on decades of research and not from hearsay or potentially erroneous sources like much of traditional aversive-based dog training.

Operant Conditioning offers a better understanding of how you can not only teach your dog, but shape and mold desired behaviors with positive techniques.

Putting Positive and Reinforcement Together

For example offering a high value dog treat (stimulus / event) when your dog sits (behavior) nicely.

“A reinforcer is the stimulus, event, or situation whose presentation is dependent upon a response.”

There are two types of reinforcers – Positive and Negative.

1. Positive Reinforcer is something your dog desires like food, praise and play. This of course varies from subject to subject.

2. Negative Reinforcer is something your dog would like to avoid like an unpleasant sound.

There are of course, many variables at play like, for instance, the type of reinforcer. This can vary from food to praise to play. That’s why we always recommend trying different tasty treats to determine which ones are most effective and being creative when training. Remember that every dog is different. There are many factors at play. It’s very obvious that the dog in the photo above finds the blue ball extremely reinforcing. Quick play sessions with that ball can be just as powerful as a treat reward when teaching or nurturing desired behaviors. Fundamentally, once you understand that positively reinforcing dog behavior naturally produces more behavioral output, you’re on your way!

Many traditional dog training methods DO work but rely on punishment and aversives that can cause unnecessary wear and tear on your dog. The negative psychological side effects related to punishment based training are substantial. Punishment will stop a behavior in its tracks but negatively affect your dog’s temperament. This is why Reinforcement is far superior to Punishment. Smartly practicing positive reinforcement guarantees results with no detrimental side effects.

“My Super Brain is starting to hurt! Can we talk about something else?” – Halle

I highly recommend you read our series of clicker dog training articles which demonstrate and teach ways to use positive reinforcement to start training your dog RIGHT NOW! It doesn’t matter how old your furry friend is, you can begin with the basics and keep building your knowledge on modern dog training methods that work. The series covers all the variables, methods and tools you need to explore dog training with markers.

This pretty much sums up Positive Reinforcement and what it specifically means in terms of working with your dog. The entire behavior analysis equation also includes positive punishment and negative punishment which we’ll cover in a future post. There’s also different levels of reinforcers – Primary, Conditioned, Tertiary and so on which are covered in our clicker training articles.

Remember that these rules don’t apply to just dogs. All animals, including Human Beings, are susceptible to the laws of behaviorism.

The next time someone does something you enjoy, reinforce the event with something positive – a compliment or gesture. If your delivery is timed right and reinforcing enough for the other party, you’re likely to enjoy more of the same goodness in the future. It just makes sense.

Now lets take a look at how using Positive Reinforcement can help in solving some of your doggy problems.

Positive Reinforcement to the Rescue!

Here are two quick examples to give you an idea on how you can tap into the power of positive reinforcement to shape your dog’s behavior. This is a very brief overview and there are, of course, many variables at play that effect behavior output or end result. The following simply illustrates how positive reinforcement can be utilized in a practical everyday sense when communicating and teaching your dog. Please keep in mind that some problems require a lot of time and patience to overcome. As I mentioned earlier, you can only positively reinforce behavior that IS OCCURRING. You want your dog to be doing something specific before you reward with a reinforcer. Then, in the most basic sense, you build on the behavior by gradually increasing the criteria required to earn the behavior. This approach will ultimately help your dog reach the end goal using the wonderful scientific principles of behaviorism.

1. Let’s say your dog is hesitant about jumping into your car. You can start by waiting for him to approach the vehicle to mark and treat. Reinforce approaching the vehicle with high value treats. Then you can treat for sticking his nose into the vehicle. Since your properly reinforcing each action, you’re dog will naturally take the behavior a step further. You patiently keep building until the dog is hopping into the car to earn his super snack! This might require multiple mini training sessions.

2. We’ve talked about using positive reinforcement to acquaint your dog to a toothbrush in our dog teeth cleaning article. You present the toothbrush and reward for sniffing it. After a few repetitions, you reward for allowing the brush to make very quick contact with the teeth. No toothpaste or gel. We’re simply encouraging your dog to like the idea of the toothbrush. You then can brush 2 seconds at a time and treat. You slowly progress into being able to brush for a minute without issue. Now you can do IT for REAL using a cleaning product since you generally can’t give your dog food or treats for a short time before and after a cleaning.

In a nutshell, this is how you can use positive methods to train your dog. The dog is never experiencing any unnecessary anxiety or stress – that’s the key! You’re simply reinforcing offered behaviors and letting your dog learn and naturally augment his behavior output to a desired level. It’s a natural process. This isn’t ho-hum wizardry, this is science and it works.

“You mean those markers and rewards are actually shaping my behavior and I don’t even know about it? I knew that!” – Halle

There’s no stopping your dog training adventures once you truly understand what using Positive Reinforcement means and how incredibly powerful it can be in teaching your dog new things.

You must enlighten yourself and enlighten others to the world of modern dog training. A world without punishment techniques and unwarranted corrections, without false notions of doggy dominance & doggy slavery – it’s quite evident that Positive Reinforcement really does Rule!

Please take a second to leave a comment, there’s no minimum word count, we always love hearing from you even if it’s just a simple shout-out.

Learning how to potty train a puppy actually begins with learning how to train yourself to properly potty train a puppy! The recipe is simple, once you understand how it’s done and devote yourself to getting it done, you’ll have a potty trained puppy in no time. This is my no-nonsense article to help ensure you understand how it’s done – with positive methods that don’t require punishment, reprimands or other extra, non-potty-training hooplah.

First let’s get a couple of quick common questions out of the way.

Ahh, this is the question most new puppy owners and owners-to-be have on their minds – often asked out of educational interest or because they’re smack dab in the middle of puppy potty training turmoil and need some reinforcing support. Knowing how long it takes might calm the nerves but won’t help get the job done.

The honest answer is it depends on the puppy and the puppy owner. The real question should be, “How long does it take to train a puppy with a good understanding of puppy housebreaking and using the correct techniques?” That question is a lot more accurate, yet the answer’s still the same – it depends on the puppy and the puppy owner.

I’m not playing with you. It truly isn’t a numbers game. There are too many variables at play. I will say that if you follow everything we teach at HBD, it won’t take very long. You will see REAL results in a couple of weeks and be well on your way within a few weeks. If it helps to know – we used the Crate Training System and had Halle crate trained and house trained in less than a month. It can be done even quicker or it can take longer depending on how much you stretch and bend the important parts. If you’ve got a concise plan and plan to do it the right way, go in expecting a time length of 2-3 solid weeks. You won’t be too far from your desired goals after that so there’s no point in looking beyond that period. Motivate yourself by making it a 2-3-week mission and see where you and your puppy stand. Make the minor adjustments or stick to the plan a little longer and you’ll be reinforcing potty in all the right places in no time.

Again too many variables at play! Keep reading, take important notes and apply the information I’m sharing with you through this post and key articles I recommend reading.

5 Puppy Potty Training Principles

1. If your puppy does business in the wrong place, YOU have to take all responsibilities. You should NEVER punish, hurt or get upset at your puppy for making mistakes. Your puppy truly doesn’t know any better or could have learned that it’s the safest place to go given past punishments. You need to ensure that all associations with you are positive associations. Punishment is counter-intuitive and your puppy is likely to have no clue why he’s getting punished.

2. Control the environment. Don’t give your puppy any more space than he needs. You definitely don’t want to give him free run of the house during the potty training stage. Using a dog crate and creating a puppy safe space in your home is vital. You have to be in control of the environment so you can take control of the double P’s – peeing and pooping! Always keep a watchful eye and be sure to get your puppy out to the desired location so you can reinforce the ideal outcome with a reward – praise and treat.

3. Praise and Treat like a crazy person. If your puppy does business in the right spot whether it’s in a designated indoor area or somewhere outside, praise and treat with gusto. Get high pitched with your voice and really make sure your puppy knows you’re extremely proud of his actions. This will help reinforce the behavior and ensure the outcome re-occurs more frequently until it becomes a wonderful habit.

4. If you catch your puppy making a mistake – not after the fact but as it is occurring – you can peacefully interrupt the behavior and rush your puppy to the desired spot and reinforce successful potty with praise and treats. Don’t panic or scare the puppy. Simply redirect your puppy to remind him where champions do their business.

5. Don’t take accidents personally. Don’t think your puppy has some agenda or spiteful attitude towards your expensive shoes or designer rug. The material things that we value have no equal significance to a puppy. The puppy is just looking for a safe place to let it out and your job is to teach your puppy what is safe. Toss your human rules and expectations out the window and learn techniques that work with puppies. Learn the sweet science of puppy potty training. Besides, why did the accident occur in the first place??? Please re-read principles 1 through 4.

Learning how to potty train a puppy the positive way using the sweet science and logic is serious business. It takes a solid understanding of not only the key principles I’ve outlined in this article but of the entire process. It requires dedication and practical application from you, the dog owner. We like to think of potty training a puppy to be a healthy mix of time, patience, labor, love, with a tiny dose of turbulence. It can go really smooth at times and can also be hectic. Minimizing the headaches and unnecessary stress is what separates the knowledgeable puppy potty trainers from the confused ones. I’m not trying to shock you or anything, I’m just telling it like it is – no BS!

Don’t fret, HBD has puppy training covered. The good news is that everything you need to know about how to train a puppy to potty train is available right here.

We realize how important housebreaking your puppy is and we understand that for many, it’s one of the biggest hurdles when it comes to training a puppy. Nobody wants a messy, untrained puppy yet many folks get all messed up in the process.

Crate Training and Potty Training are like Ying and Yang. That’s why we spent hours writing our complete Crate Training Puppies walkthrough. It’s packed with more than 6000 words offering you a play by play on how you can successfully potty train your puppy with all the important considerations in mind. We’ve explained not only how it works but why it works so you can be confident it will work for you. Once you’re done with this article, make sure you give that one a careful read. If you have any questions, just post them in the comments.

If you’re planning and maybe already using pads to housebreak your puppy be sure to read our Puppy Training Pads article. Though we’re all for crate training, puppy pads can be used for establishing a suitable potty area in your puppy safe space when you have to be away from home and/or your puppy.

Don’t think twice about housetraining your puppy with a crate. There are countless reasons why crate training is your golden potty training ticket. If you’re doubtful about crates or don’t like them, please get over it. The methods are positive and humane and will not harm your puppy or require punishments or other unpleasant tactics.

Remember that taking a little time to learn how to potty train a puppy before getting your puppy will really help establish what works for your family and eliminate most of the second guessing. This will help your puppy eliminate without worry in all the right places.

Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to leave a comment!

The process of crate training puppies consists of essentially getting your puppy to accept, enjoy and behave when confined to a crate. Puppy crate training is, under most circumstances, associated with housetraining and with good reason. Utilizing a crate to teach your puppy potty manners is in many ways, the most humane and efficient way to get your puppy housebroken.

My plan for this super post is to get you and your puppy to love the crate and create a positive crate training system. Your puppy will be doing business in all the right places without unnecessary heartaches. The one thing you simply cannot take for GRANTED is that it DOES require time, patience, diligence and a clear understanding of crate training puppies with a proven system that enables maximum efficiency in a gentle way.

Puppy crate training will transform the dog crate into an incredible dog den that will help your precious puppy develop positive habits through healthy confinement. The process will flow naturally when done properly, without any punishment or poor housetraining methods.

Crate Haters & Understanding

I say haters with love! Some folks just don’t like the idea of using a crate or can’t stomach the idea of their cuddly puppy confined in a crate. Rest assured that using a crate to housetrain your puppy is a positive experience for your furry friend. Dogs are den animals and innately love the idea of having a little cozy spot where they can retreat, rest and chill, away from danger. Dogs are not humans and definitely not babies.

Oftentimes peeps don’t like the idea of crates because they might have been around dogs that are terrified of crates. Others might have a skewed sense of the importance and utilitarian purpose of puppy crate training based on their perception of what a plastic box or wired cage might feel like from a human perspective. If you’ve witnessed dogs being pushed and dragged into a crate or afraid to frequent their doggy den only to be physically forced into them then you HAVE NOT witnessed the use of a crate in civilized positive manner.

I’ve always loved this quote I believe I read in a dog forum once:

“Stop thinking of the dog crate as a Puppy Prison and start thinking of it like a Puppy Hilton” } Unknown Author

Exactamundo!

Asia and I like to think of it as our puppy’s little bedroom. Kids have their own rooms, why not your puppy?

Even if you’re not fond of crates, they aren’t necessarily intended to be permanent and can be phased out of your dog’s life. Keep in mind that phasing out the use of a crate should be done very gradually. The crate can also be a healthy part of your dog’s entire life if you choose.

If I can’t convince you to train with a crate, you will probably end up giving your puppy free run of the house or a room. This might be sensible at first, but there’s a very good chance you’ll be looking for ways to confine your puppy once the innocent and natural terror begins. Just start off on the right foot and please use a crate.

If we’re talking about zero punishment potty training, I haven’t really come across anyone that has housetrained their puppy in a matter of weeks, with minimal accidents, without the use of a crate. Unless you’re watching your puppy 24/7 and have devised a plan to keep him under militant supervision, it’s just not possible. I stress without reprimands and few mistakes.

Crate training puppies has numerous other advantages like having a safe puppy time-out lounge, teaching healthy chewtoy habits, soothing separation anxiety and learning to be stress-free when confined. All of this will serve your entire family, puppy included, for years to come in all types of situations.

If you want to quickly housetrain your puppy the right way or if you’re an inexperienced dog owner, you owe it to yourself and your pup to try out the techniques and rules I’ll be outlining in this article. Crate training your puppy will prevent a lot of headaches and create a fun and safe dog haven in your home environment.

“I’m crated few hours a day when Mom and Dad are working at home. I’m a sticky Weimaraner. It’s the only way they can keep me away from them. It’s perfectly fine, it gives me a chance to chill & recharge my batteries.” } Halle

Halle was put through the crate training system the day she entered our home and was potty and crate trained in a matter of weeks. She stills uses her crate daily and enjoys spending time doing many of the crazy things that she does inside of the crate. You should see how comfortably this dog naps or sleeps in her crate. Upside down, showing off her belly, heavy and snoring without worry. It’s incredibly adorable and very silly at times. ;)

When friends, family and others visit, some don’t quite understand the concept behind the crate or why our lovely Halle enters on cue and chills inside without protest. They all think it’s pretty damn cool to see a dog cherish and interact with her crate as much as she does.

Getting your Puppy to Love the Crate

There’s a good chance you or a family member has witnessed an unhealthy dog-crate relationship. I’m referring to puppies and dogs that fight, growl, bark and flee at the sight of a crate. The crate is not the source of the problem. Remember it’s normal for a dog to make that crate their very own little safe den. The problem lies in the association the dog has made with the crate due to owner mistakes and poor crate integration.

Instead of teaching their puppy to love the crate and use it when the family is home, many folks never put the puppy in the crate until they decide to leave the house. The puppy has no idea what this thing is and has to figure out why he was left out? This can be very stressful, confusing and extremely unhealthy, leading to all types of behavioral problems. Other owners might use the crate as punishment or physically shove their dog into a crate when the dog isn’t ready.

Your job is to make sure the association your puppy has with the crate is an unequivocally positive one. That means you don’t yell or punish your puppy before placing him in the crate. You don’t force or bully the puppy into the crate. The crate is not a punishment zone. It’s a happy home. I simply can’t stress that enough.

There’s plenty of creative ways to get your puppy acclimated to a crate. I got three for you, either of these should do the trick. Just remember to be patient, don’t get angry or take any of your puppy’s actions or reactions personally.

Numero Uno. You can throw some treats inside the crate and see if your puppy gives. Many will go right in without thinking twice or with little hesitation, gobble the treats, sniff around and trot back out. Do this a few times without closing the crate. Do a few sets at different times throughout the day and then start closing the door while the puppy is inside for a few seconds at a time, then minutes, then say 10 minutes, progressing to you leaving the room without the puppy going into a full blown panic attack. You’ll eventually have your puppy chilling in the crate for a much longer amount of time without issue. For longer periods, make sure your puppy has a valuable chewtoy stuffed with treats to keep him occupied.

Deux. Take a super chewtoy (we recommend anything Kong or Orka), stuff it with solid tasty treats and show it to your puppy. Let your puppy know this Super Loaded Chewtoy is awesome. Then kindly dump it into the crate and close the door with the puppy on the outside. Your puppy will be very interested and eager to find a way into the crate. Sniffing, pawing and pondering. Give him a few minutes then open the door. Once the puppy is in, close the door and follow the time procedure from Numero Uno until you and your puppy are very crate happy.

Three. Getting your puppy to go into the crate is golden. Getting him to go on cue is platinum! You want to make sure your dog is all good with the crate as a whole before you begin this. Using some of the tricks above should help you achieve that initial acceptance of the crate.

You basically toss a treat into the crate and wait for your puppy to enter and claim it. Then invite the puppy out and do it again. After a couple of successful trials, say your cue or command and repeat. There should be a second between the cue and tossing of the treat. We like to use “Go to Bed”. You can use whatever you like whether it be, “Go to Crate” or “Sleepy” or “Housy” as long as it rolls off the tongue. After a few successful trials, give the cue and wait. Do NOT throw in the treat. Have it hidden in your hand behind your back and away from the puppy. When the puppy enters, instantly praise and deliver the treat. Timing is very important. You puppy is likely to go in without thinking twice due to the previous repetitions. After a few on cue entries, wrap up the session. Wait a few hours, stand next to the crate, try again this time only using cue and waiting for puppy to enter. When puppy goes in, praise and give treat. You must reinforce this with a high value treat and lots of praise. Repeat a few times and call it a day. Try to fit in a couple of five minute sessions spanning two or three days and your puppy will be rushing into the crate on cue. You can then try the cue from different distances and keep building.

If at anytime you feel the puppy loses interest or isn’t responding, you’ve most likely gotten a little ahead of yourself. Just start over or kick the process back a few notches and work your way to the desired outcome. Never punish the puppy or assume it knows what you want based on a few successful results.

I highly recommend our Clicker Dog Training articles in order to understand this process a little more and get your puppy eagerly working for markers. A more in-depth post on going to crate on cue might also be warranted. The above is a simple yet straightforward blueprint that should work without a hitch most of time.

More Crate Loving

One of the additional things you can do to enhance the crate loving game is tie a chewtoy on the deep end of the crate so the puppy has to enjoy it from inside, open door or closed.

If your puppy ever enters or chills inside of the crate on his own will, praise, treat and reinforce the behavior the best way you can. This will infinitely help cultivate the positive association to the crate.

Remember that you don’t always have to close the doors during the practice runs and during out-crate time. Just having the puppy enter and leave at will is a wonderful thing and creates a variation other than the crate being solely used for confinement.

Another one would be to feed your puppy in the crate. Crate is usually not a problem when there’s a bowl full of yummy food inside. You don’t have to do this forever, just to get your puppy to love the crate even more.

And most importantly, never let your puppy out or give into barking and howling protests when you’ve decided to confine your puppy for a healthy period of time. You never want to reinforce behavior you consider unacceptable. Provided of course, the puppy is fed and has had a chance to do its business in the designated potty area. More on all that in just a bit.

Using the methods above to get your puppy to ease into the situation is much better then obviously going cold turkey and dumping your puppy into the crate and walking away with your hands in your pocket. This might and will desensitize your puppy but can have other negative effects. A gradual process only takes a couple of days and will yield much less complaints and protests from your puppy which will truly facilitate the entire process. It will also preserve your puppy’s high spirits. Though with most puppies, some level of complaint and protest is inevitable.

Puppy Crate Training Principles

The single most important principle that makes crate training puppies the method of choice is that puppies will innately avoid soiling their dens. Puppies (instinctively) will not do business where they sleep so the crate is an extremely valuable tool that encourages your puppy to wait and hold for a suitable location. Please note that what’s suitable for you will not be naturally identifiable as suitable for your puppy. Don’t ever get that twisted. You need to teach your puppy proper manners. We’ll get to that. The thing you want to remember is that they are not likely to soil their quarters, at least if they can help it.

You can use any suitable plastic or metal crate, whatever works for you and your puppy. Make sure your dog has enough room to sit, stand, turn around and lie down comfortably. For a puppy, it’s always best to get a crate that will be suitable for adulthood and if you’re not 100% certain on size always go one size up to avoid having a crate that is too small when the puppy is all grown up. The big metals ones are also often easily collapsible for easy on-the-go crating. The plastic carrier models are great for dogs that love feeling extra covered and secure though you can easily re-create that relaxing feeling by covering the top of the big crates with something like a blanket.

The key component for crate training puppies is that your adult-sized crate should come with a divider so you can control the living space inside. Look for models that offer this perk. If you don’t have one then you can create a makeshift one using any non-porous durable material. Get as creative as you like but make sure the puppy only has enough room to sit, stand, turn around and life down. No extra space.

The first mistake most novice crate trainers make is give the puppy too much space which inevitably results in the puppy going to the furthest side or corner and letting it all out. That’s what you don’t want.

You can include a blanket, pillow or anything else to make the crate more comfortable though it’s definitely not essential and can be dangerous depending on your puppy’s habits. A blanket might not be best in very early stages due to its porous nature which might incite your puppy to soil. Halle was good with blankets for a couple of months until she learned how tasty and fun they can be with the right amount of destructive jaw action. No blanket since. Sure she protested a day or two with a couple of five minute bouts but she soon forget about it and never has one in her crate. She does occasionally get a blanket outside of the crate and has learned some blanket etiquette, to a degree I might add. Do what you feel is best but be careful and monitor.

What you DO want in the crate is at least ONE solid chewtoy, often if not always, stuffed with goodies, especially during puppy phase. This will keep your dog busy, calm and relaxed. Halle has an extreme Kong that has been named her “bed-buddy”. Having something to chew on is also a sound alternative when barking and fussing doesn’t work.

You can keep the crate in a quiet location or a busy one. You can also keep it close to your bed at night and in a main area of your home during the day. We keep Halle’s crate very close to the main hub of the house so she’s part of all the action and when she was a puppy we never brought the crate into the bedroom at night. We left it downstairs in the same busy day spot cause we didn’t necessarily want her to create a dependency of always having us around or in sight. It worked wonderfully yet she’s still very dependant – Weimaraners are very sticky breeds. The good thing is that she can happily sleep in another space on her own. She now sleeps out of the crate wherever she likes at night but we do put her in the crate once in a while to switch it up. Our bedroom door is always open, yet she always sleeps on the stairs. Night separation as a puppy was valuable for several reasons plus it set the stage for some incredible morning greeting rituals.

The puppy might and will make mistakes in the crate, maybe because of the luxury of too much space which is usually the result of the size being upgraded pre-maturely. Mistakes can also happen if you don’t do your job and push your puppy’s bladder beyond the tipping point. Mistakes can also be accidental. Whatever the reason make sure you clean the crate accordingly. A quick wipe will not suffice as you don’t want a scent trace of the mistake which might trigger even more mistakes. General household cleaners will NOT do the trick. There are products on the market that will remove odors and clean efficiently though we highly recommend just making your own super “mistake cleaning” solution. We keep a bottle handy and it works great. Never punish or reprimand your puppy for accidents. Clean the crate thoroughly to remove the scent and trace.This is very important should an accident occur. Leaving a trace can increase the chance of more accidents happening in the same spot.

HBD Mistake Cleaning Solution

1 Cup Vinegar
15-20 drops of Tea Tree Essential Oil
5 drops of Sweet Orange Essential Oil
to 1 Litre of Water
(keep handy in a recycled spray bottle)

Final Key Principle – you never give in when the puppy protests inside the crate. Doing so will only teach the puppy that barking, howling, whining gets your attention or gets the puppy the desired result. Will cover puppy protesting in the system below.

Crate training a puppy is intensive but doesn’t have to be difficult. So your puppy has no personal beef with the crate. The crate is in check, location has been decided, awesome chewtoy has been designated, your cleaning solution is ready and you understand that you should never give into behavior you don’t want. It’s finally time to dig into the system of housetraining your puppy.

Crate Training Puppies – The System

Your job is to help your puppy connect the dots and understand that the acceptable place to urinate and defecate is outside or wherever else you specifically prefer. This might be obvious to you but not so obvious for the puppy.

You never punish or reprimand the puppy when he makes a mistake because you shoulder all responsibilities for housetraining accidents. Scolding your puppy doesn’t teach him anything. Your puppy won’t even associate any punishment after the fact so you need to chill with the yelling. Most folks who punish do it out of frustration, confusion and a lack of understanding. The puppy has no idea why it’s being punished even if YOU feel it’s easy for him to understand. Don’t use your puppy as a scapegoat for your housetraining errors. You want any and all associations of doing potty in your presence to be positive. Punishing your dog won’t help one bit and will only increase the likelihood that he will locate special hidden spots to get it done in order to avoid punishment. The problem isn’t that the puppy is doing it in your face. The problem is that he is doing it in the WRONG PLACE. It’s never personal. It’s not about you or the puppy. Just follow the system and believe that scaring, and scolding your puppy is not conducive to smart effective puppy housetraining.

When you’re home your puppy should be in his crate with just the right amount of space for just the right amount of time. The crate should have a chewtoy to pass the time. At about 8 weeks you can leave your puppy in for about 45 minutes (though you might want to start off with 20-30 min and get a feel for your puppy’s bladder time) which is an acceptable amount of time before he’ll need to do some business. Remember if the space is just perfect for sitting, standing, turning around and lying down, your puppy will instinctively resist doing business. The time the puppy can hold bladder will increase slowly which will permit a little more safe crate time. You can bump the time up about 15-20 minutes every couple of weeks without EVER going over say 3 straight hours until your puppy grows 5 to 6 months (20-24 weeks). At night you can overnight crate the puppy but it’s ideal to make a couple of night stops outside to maintain the flow. It’s cumbersome but priceless. I can tell you all kinds of stories on how Asia and I did crazy night shifts with a sleepy, adorable, bladder-full Halle.

In a nutshell, you need to set everything up so you can easily predict when your puppy needs to go and take him to the correct location where you can reinforce the ideal outcome.

Once the allotted crate time is up, your puppy’s bladder will be full and ready to unleash. You take him out of the crate and quickly rush to the desired location. I say quickly because some pups can’t even hold it to the door in the early stages in which case you might want to carry the puppy. But don’t make a habit out of carrying to avoid any kind of dependency. Wait outside for anywhere between 2-5 minutes. When your puppy delivers, praise and kindly offer a tasty treat. Don’t be shy with praising, be dramatic, be super happy almost amazed that he did his business in the right spot. This is your chance to reinforce the behavior you’re looking for. Once your puppy connects the dots, he’ll slowly learn to wait until he arrives at the magic location where praise and treats are abundant. You could and should also put potty on cue which is covered in one of the next segments.

When the puppy goes potty, you don’t rush back home. This will only teach your puppy that going potty completely kills the outdoor experience. Puppies love to go outside, where exploration is fun and everything is new. Following successful potty, take a minimum 3-5 minute walk to reward your puppy before returning home. This will also teach your puppy that going potty not only gets praise and treats but walk time. As your puppy gets older, he will learn to take care of business immediately in order to kickstart each walk.

When you come back inside you can take advantage of an empty bladder to cuddle, play and love your puppy. Not too much as playing and excitement leads to know you what (accidents) but a nice little amount of play time. Then return to crate for the right amount of time and repeat.

If you play for a longer period of time, then please take your puppy out for a quick potty before returning into crate so you know the bladder is all good. We call this safety playtime potty insurance. Always praise and treat for going potty in the right place.

You never give free run of the house or leave your puppy unsupervised. Even supervised play should be in a contained environment you know is safe and void of any chewing hazards.

Given your puppy has been taught to love the crate, you never give in to protests. If your puppy complains, barks, whines, cries, howls and yelps when crated, you do not respond. You don’t go see the puppy. You don’t feel sorry for the puppy. You don’t let your feelings get in the way of the system.

Remember, your puppy has a chewtoy to keep him busy. You’ve taken him outside for potty and he’s gotten a little play time. Your puppy can also take a nap or relax calmly if he doesn’t want to chew. It’s only for a certain period of acceptable time. Given all of these conditions and important needs are met, why is the puppy complaining? To get your attention. This problem will only increase to dramatic proportions if you give attention and reinforce this behavior that you truly do not want. In fact, if you wait long and still give in, it will only get worse given the new precedent. This is guaranteed.

When you talk to puppy and dog owners, they all know THIS yet they still give in. Puppies are very cute and are extremely good at making you question the system. This is where most people fold and it’s truly unfortunate because it’s vital for a peaceful and mindful crate trained dog. Don’t get soft! It’s time to be a lionheart no matter how much the puppy cries. Again, if his needs are met and the puppy is healthy then he’s trying to win your attention. He’s not specifically hurting in any way. Giving in will only get you further away from your end goal. Babies and kids do the same thing, parents know this but still manage to give in creating all sorts of problems.

You can go see your puppy when he’s quiet or has been quiet for a couple of minutes following a failed attempt at protest. This is a great time to walk up to the crate, praise and treat. Puppy is going to figure that quiet gets you to come with treats in hand and making a ruckus does absolutely nothing. Keyword – ABSOLUTELY. This should be VERY clear, thus you never go see the puppy when it’s being fussy. Remember it does get better with time and if you’re aware and persistent, it will improve very quickly.

Halle protested 2 or 3 nights at 8-9 weeks for about 15-30 minutes. We had her downstairs in a crate in the main living space. We never folded. After that we had some minor experimental attempts of whining or complaining which quickly faded when they didn’t produce results. Whenever she was quiet for a few minutes we would go down and treat her. I can’t imagine what would have unfolded had we given in as much as our hearts wanted to. Of course, ALL of her needs were met. The positive puppy crate training system was in full effect.

There can be the odd instance of justified protest where you might leave your puppy past his threshold or for many reasons the puppy has to go in the middle of crate time. If the puppy is complaining and you think this MIGHT be the case, then you take the puppy outside for 3 minutes and see what happens. If the puppy delivers, praise and treat if not than go right back inside and back into crate. This might have been an attempt at sabotage. Re-think your crate schedule and timing to ensure you don’t get played often or puppies will take advantage of this. I’m mentioning this because it can happen, though very rare if you don’t keep your pup in for longer than it can hold and don’t over-play or excite the puppy before going back into the crate.

If at times you don’t wish to use the crate when you’re at home, you can tether your puppy by tying the leash to your waist or belt so he’s always in close proximity where you can keep an eye and go outside when needed. You always have to be vigilant and avoid mistakes.

Whenever you puppy is roaming, keep an eye out for signs that might indicate that he has to unload. Pacing, whining and sniffing are good indicators. Get ready to bring him to the desired potty location.

If, and only if, you catch a mistake as it’s occurring, you can urgently but nicely tell the puppy “Nope. Out. Out” or something of that nature to interrupt the mistake and immediately get to the desired location and reinforce delivery. Don’t sound angry or scare the puppy. Lovingly interrupt and direct your puppy. A few carefully calculated interruptions will really drive the desired location home. Trust me, your puppy wants to know where he can go safely just as much you want him housetrained.

If you missed the accident or catch it even seconds after, you clean it up and keep moving. If your pup makes a mess in the crate, you clean it up and keep it moving. We always recommend cleaning the mess when the puppy is out of sight or when the puppy doesn’t see you cleaning it so it comes back to a nice clean environment. Remember to use an appropriate cleaner or the quick recipe I shared above. You want to remove all traces of the accident.

The success of this puppy housetraining system relies on doing everything in your power to avoid mistakes. Every mistake in the house is a potential for few more bumps along the road. Every reinforced pee and poo in the right place is a big stride in the right direction. Predicting and avoiding mistakes is your job. Mistakes can and will happen in which case you clean up and get back on the system. If you’re vigilant enough, you’ll be able to quickly and safely interrupt mistakes as they’re occurring, which will only help you and your puppy reach the end goal.

When you are NOT at home you follow procedure for long term confinement. This procedure entails creating a Puppy Safe Space. What’s that you ask? You’re in luck, please keep reading!

Gone Long? Puppy Safe Space!

It’s always ideal and highly recommended that you take some time off work or plan puppy arrival during a vacation or in a home that has helping hands available at all times whether it be family or a pet-sitter. That being said, we can’t escape the fact that many new puppy owners have to go to work and leave the home for long periods of time without compromising the puppy crate training system.

You CANNOT under any circumstance confine a puppy in a crate for more that say one or two hours. For anything longer you will need to setup a designated pen or isolated area that is suitable in catering to some the puppy’s primal needs.

You can get a wired pen of a suitable size or designate a room in your home, whether the kitchen or the laundry room. You can also use baby-gates or a divider to designate a limited safe space for your puppy.

Puppy Safe Space Must Contain:

- Bowl of Water
- Bed or Open Crate for resting
- Acceptable and Safe Chewtoys stuffed with treats
- Suitable Potty area furthest away from resting spot
Read Lessons with Puppy Training Pads.

Puppy Safe Space Must NOT Contain:

- Anything that might be unsafe for the Puppy
- Household objects or any other items that might be chew-worthy
- Porous flooring like carpet

It’s your job to make sure the chewtoys and environment are puppy-proof and safe. Don’t leave anything to chance and plan hard.

You can also engage in exercises when you’re home to acclimate your puppy to this Puppy Safe Space. This will also allow you to reinforce your puppy when he chooses to do business in the proper indoor potty area. This will tip him off to where to go when you’re away.

Using the specially created spatial den is also great for when you are too busy to be catering and closely watching your puppy. Though you want to keep that to a minimal since every indoor potty occurrence is another missed chance at reinforcing an outdoor potty.

When your puppy is left alone, you cannot guarantee where he will do his business. Without someone available to reinforce proper soiling or interrupt/redirect inproper soiling you can only hope for the best. If the space you’ve designated and equipped for the toilet area is suitable, everything could and should work out as planned but will not technically housetrain your puppy. The “Puppy Safe Space” is just your best available option if you need to leave your puppy alone.

When you come home, the following THREE things are substantial:

1. Don’t punish the puppy or scold it for not doing what you might have expected. Clean up any messes and don’t complain. Be happy to see your puppy. He’s going to be damn happy to see you.

2. Take him outside for a little potty and walk.

3. Once you’re back home and available for your puppy, go right back to the above crate training system where you anticipate every aspect of the game. Control playtime and reinforce proper potty behavior.

Remember using long term confinement with an indoor designated potty area can slow down the process of getting your dog trained to go outside but will not hinder the housetraining process – the system – if done the right way using the specifications outlined above. Crate training puppies is the only solid way to get your puppy to develop bladder control. He’s learning not to go whenever and wherever he pleases.

I would highly recommend having someone cater to the puppy’s needs during housetraining, like a pet-sitter or a family member. Coming home during breaks or lunch might also be a suitable option. You have to be as flawless as you can with getting your puppy out on time when required without having the puppy do ANY of it’s business inside the home. That being said, the puppy safe space is an option for long term confinement. In fact, it’s the only appropriate lifeline available to you if you have to leave the puppy alone for a prolonged period of time.

The key is to toggle between the Puppy Safe Space and utilizing the all out puppy crate training system when you or someone else is available.

Simon Says – Go Potty Please!

Whenever you take your puppy to the desired outdoor location, you should use a word like “Go Poopy” or “Pee-Poo” before your puppy does its duty to slowly but surely put Potty under cue. Halle responds to “Business”. We take her out when it’s time and say “Business” and she normally delivers within a couple of minutes.

This is great for times when you need to get results on the fly, in different locations or under time and weather restraints.

Just use the cue right before you know your puppy is about to go based on the predictors and situations I’ve already outlined earlier. You say the cue, wait for the goods and then praise and deliver a treat for doing the right thing. With enough reps and consistent reinforcing your dog will learn to offer the behavior on cue.

Special Considerations

If your puppy is having problems getting his business done or seems to be soiling at an alarming rate, be sure to get him checked by a vet. There’s a very good chance there are other powers at work and you want your puppy’s health to be optimal if you want proper potty etiquette.

Crate training is also crucial if you ever need to travel or if your puppy needs to stay overnight at the vet or guardian. A crate trained puppy will be much calmer and well behaved in some of life’s unexpected situations.

Remember that a solid understanding of the system and the principles that make crate training puppies so wonderful is key to success. Housetraining a dog is one of those things many pet owners fear or don’t prepare for adequately. If it’s done right, with extreme patience, positive methods and consistency, you will start to see results very quickly and can expect a housetrained puppy in a matter of weeks. Every dog AND owner is different and the estimated time frame can vary a great deal. Yes the weeks will be exhausting and trying but priceless in the long run, especially if it’s done the right way. It’s all worth it in the end.

When your puppy is all grown and housetrained, he will only have to go out for potty at most 3-4 times a day.

Before we wrap this, make sure you read our series on Clicker Training for Dogs to get you on the right path to training your puppy using the principles of positive reinforcement.

I never expected this article to be this long but truly felt the need to lay it all out. I did my best to break it down into fun sub-sections. I hope it wasn’t too daunting to read. :P Successfully crate training your puppy is a very important first step that will set the tone for a healthy, safe, stress-free and remarkable companionship. I truly hope this article serves your family (puppy included) well.

Where would we be without your stories, thoughts and input? Please leave a comment or post a question below. Thanks!

Getting hooked up with the right clicker dog training tools is really easy. The actual dog training supplies that you’ll be using during your clicker training sessions are quite simple and very affordable. I figured it would be a great idea to write this post to give you an overview on what we typically use and what options might be available to you. You should really consider what you feel most comfortable with and what works best with your dog in order to train effectively. Being at ease with yourself and at one with your dog is crucial in establishing a positive attitude and solid partnership during training. Selecting the appropriate clicker dog training supplies can, in many ways, help you feel good about what you’re doing – especially if you’re a little peculiar about that sort of stuff.

“Peculiar? What in the…are you talking about?”

There are a lot of articles out there on how to train dogs by wonderful talented people who do exactly that – train dogs. My goal is to help train you to train your dog by reading my articles and hopefully applying some of the things I’ve taught you. Training humans to train dogs requires a different understanding of the complexities that make us who we are.

Some of us will be naturally gifted, almost right at home when we begin training our dog. Others will feel uncomfortable or stiff or even confused by all the little steps – timing and adaptation required during training. The best way to get on track is with practice and by carefully applying each small step. Some people need the setting to be just right. You can curb your natural unfamiliarity and possible discomfort from a psychological standpoint by working with dog training tools that make you feel good about what you’re doing. This is something not every trainer or non-trainer understands but it can be moderately, or in some cases, extremely important to certain individuals.

Think of an athlete that might need specific gear before hitting the playing field or an artist that paints with a special brush. When I’m in trainer mode, I like working with a comfortable blue or black clicker and a quick snap treat bag rather than a neon bag equipped with a zipper. That’s just me. This works for me. Call it Superstitious Behavior!

I’m NOT saying you should shell out for the most expensive dog training supplies and I’m NOT saying that the color of your clicker matters or makes a difference because it really doesn’t. It’s about how you truly feel when you’re kitted and ready to go, whether you’re working indoors or training outdoors. All I’m saying is that you should definitely fashion your dog training tools to match your personality and taste. If you don’t care about any of that, then that’s your taste. Capiche?

I just want you to be 100% comfortable and feeling happy about dog training, especially if this is your very first time with clicker training. Whatever dog training tools work for you and of course, your furry friend, those are the tools you begin with. Nothing like getting started on the right foot and paw!

If you haven’t considered training your dog with a clicker using positive reinforcement, you really need to read my article on Clicker Training for Dogs.

On With Dog Training Tools

Like I said before, acquiring the dog training supplies you’ll need for clicker training is as easy as getting your dog to eat peanut butter. It’s all pretty straightforward, however I will try to give some insight for each point for those of you that are like me and prefer a little more input than the default – “All you need is a Dog, Clicker and Treats!”

Here’s what you need to get started:

1. DOG

You’ll need a subject, a trainee which will obviously be your lovely dog. You can get started with puppies as young as 8 weeks old and with virtually (considering special predispositions & history of course) any dog at any age. Dogs are very happy souls that love to learn and have lots of fun. Once you engage, zero in and get your dog to participate and understand what clicker training is all about, you’ll be quite amazed!

2. CLICKER

Your clicker is the event marker, what will become your conditioned secondary reinforcer. This dog training tool will enable you to mark the precise behavior you’re looking to enforce with incredible precision. As I mentioned in my Clicker Training For Dogs article, you can have different types of markers, including your voice or a whistle but for starters, stick to a clicker. Clickers are affordable and work like a charm.

There are quite a few models of clickers out there. The i-Click is a very popular clicker dog training tool and will run you an easy $2 to $5 – highly recommended! If you want a super basic clicker, that’s fine too. A bargain clicker definitely gets the job done, though it might be a little less refined or clunkier. There are also some premium clickers with features like variable clicker sounds or a finger strap for extra easy manipulation. These will run you anywhere from $5-$15. They’re all great and dandy but the extra perks are not essential.

We use one (featured in the pic at the very top) that has an adjustable variable clicker sound (soft, medium, loud). We picked it up a few years ago for just under $10. Was it worth the price? Not at all. We keep it on one setting and never think of changing it. Do we regret buying it? Of course NOT. It’s our favorite clicker ever! We love it because we’ve used it so much and it’s quite comfortable but aside from that, no different than a basic clicker. Our clicker doesn’t have any special powers or anything. If I had the choice, I probably wouldn’t buy it again. In fact I would use the $10 to pickup a nice quality simple clicker (i-Click) and a bag of natural high value dog treats.

OK. Next on the list of clicker dog training tools…

3. TREATS

The treats are the rewards. Choosing the right treats is very important because they will be reinforcing the behavior! This means, your dog has to find the treat reinforcing (yummy and super tasty) or the occurrence of the behavior just might come to a halt, chiefly during the learning phase. This is why you need to use high value treats, treats that your dog will happily work for. You also want to make sure that the treats are small and easy to gobble up in about a second. You don’t want a treat that takes your dog 10, 3 or even 2 seconds to down or you will be negatively affecting the flow of your training sessions. Remember the smaller the better, as long as it represents high value to your dog and keeps him engaged in your clicker training sessions.

Some examples would be Cheerios (we recommend organic cheerio shaped alternatives or other healthy cereals), hot-dogs (very popular but not our personal favorite for health reasons though Halle might disagree) or cooked chicken breast cut into tiny pieces. Dried liver or chicken divided into micro portions is very often used for training dogs. There’s also a ton of ready made brands of packaged treats (always opt for organic or holistic) available at just about any shop tailored for training. Tiny pieces of cookies, cheese or even carrots also make great dog training treats!

We’ve tried all of the above and Halle’s ideal treat of choice for clicker training sessions is definitely Paws Gourmet. We love and appreciate that they’re made using human-grade food ingredients with no preservatives, cornmeal or fillers. They’re soft, moist and perfectly proportioned for quick rewards. The Peanut Butter Molasses is pure MONEY for Halle! We also occasionally use dried chicken or dried liver cut into tiny pieces.

That’s basically all you need in terms of treats. I can go on and on talking about treats and treats selection but I’m gonna save it for another post. In some cases you might have to use a toy and/or praise to reinforce a behavior. All this and more will be covered in the “Clicker Training Fundamentals” article I’m working on. You’re new at clicker training. You’re eager to get started. Figure out which treats work best with your dog and you’re good to go. You don’t need to worry too much about alternative positive reinforcers. Trust me, your dog is very likely to work for the right food rewards!

Dog Training Tools – Gimme Some Mo’

So you got your trio of dog training tools in check and still want more?

I don’t blame you. You’re anxious to manage your treats or facilitate the manipulation of the clicker. Take a few minutes to consider the following complimentary clicker dog training tools:

Wrist Coil or Neck Strap

Very cheap and highly functional. Clip your clicker to yours and keep it close and handy when not in use. What more can I say? Get ‘em at any dollar store.

Treat Bag or Bait Pouch

I can’t imagine training without one, especially outdoors. There are quite a few models out there. The Karen Pryor Choice Treat Bag is quite nice and has all the perks you might look for. There are so many different ones on the market. Just find one you like and you’ll be fine.

Our favorite one, which we use and always recommend, is the Snap Open Bait Bag – quality build and highly functional. Opens and closes with ease, super easy maintenance. We just love it!

Targeting Stick

This is an important and useful dog training tool that will help with directing your dog to a certain location or object. You won’t need it for many basic behaviors but it will be essential for others. You can use anything lying around the house, attic or garage that is long enough and versatile enough to perform the task of targeting. If you want to buy one you can opt for a basic Pocket Target Stick.

There’s also the innovative Premier Clik Stik which is kind of neat. Clicker and extendable targeting stick in one. Worth a look!

Clickerleash

Just stumbled on the Clickerleash very recently. It’s interesting to say the least. You can click and walk your dog at the same time, plus the handle looks quite comfortable. I searched high and low and found two quality reviews if you’re considering this dog training tool. The first one’s at Life on the Leash and the other is by Dog-Owned Life. They’re both hands-on reviews which are much more valuable than your usual product plug.

Clicker Training Starter Kits

If you want to get started and don’t wish to buy the dog training tools individually, you might want to pickup a Clicker Training Starter Kit, which basically has all the essentials to get you started on the right foot. You might end up with stuff you don’t necessarily need but there’s definitely no fuss to getting hooked up with your basic clicker dog training tools.

Karen Pryor has a nice selection of Clicker Training Starter Kits that range anywhere from $20-$30 depending on what’s included in the kit.

That just about does it for this one. I’ve highlighted the key dog training tools and served up anything worth serving, which I hope you find useful in some way. You really don’t need anything else aside from what’s outlined in this post, particularly in the beginning stages of marker training. The tools you use are of course important but not as important as how you apply the principles and techniques of reinforcement training.

One you’ve got your dog training tools and supplies in check make sure you read our post on Clicker Training for Dogs. Or, if you have a good understanding of marker training and want to get started, read our Clicker Training pre-production phase article which talks about introducing your dog to this training method. They’re both jammed with everything you need to get started with your dog training mission!

What tools do you plan on using and if you already train, what have you used? Any additional input is really appreciated, especially on any of the items I mentioned above. Please post your comments, thoughts and suggestions below so we can all benefit from all the goodness – Thanks!

I’m assuming you’ve read our post on Clicker Training for Dogs and have a clear understanding of how clicker dog training works and what it’s all about. Do you feel ready to get started? All you need to get going are the right tools and of course – a DOG!

Before you bust out your clicker and expect your dog to perform all kinds of neat stuff for you, you have to introduce your dog to the clicker. We call this loading or charging the clicker. This important step will transform the sound of your clicker into a conditioned enforcer. This, in effect, is what we like to call the pre-production phase of clicker training and the single most important first step. The great news is that it’s super easy and anyone can do it. Really, it’s a no-brainer and best of all its super fun!

Before we continue, setting up your clicker in no way assures your dog’s participation in actual training sessions. Getting your dog motivated and driven to train with you is a whole other ball game, a game that can be interestingly challenging with some dogs and even more so with some dog owners. This article is strictly focused on setting up your clicker. Your dog will very likely participate in this initial important step. Just remember that it is just that – a first step.

Set aside about 5 minutes. Get your super clicker and ‘bestest’ treats ready. Be calm and positive. Make sure your surroundings are suitable for some meaningful interaction with your dog. Now click and treat. That’s it! You basically click the clicker and give your dog a treat. Do this about a dozen times the right way, creating the right outcome and you’re all set.

Told ya it was EASY! ;) OK let me explain…

During this step, what you’re doing is communicating with your dog and letting him know that a click means he gets a treat, which basically means a reward – a positive outcome. The dog doesn’t have to be doing anything specific. You just click and treat. The dog might walk over to you or look you in the eyes – click and treat. Even if it’s not doing anything in particular – click and treat. Be consistent, clear and effective – click pause for a second and treat.

When I say consistent, clear and effective, I’m not saying click and treat simultaneously. I’m not asking you to click, happily mumble some words to your dog and force-feed a treat. Don’t click several times and don’t expect anything from your dog. I’m saying be cool and steady with it. Even better, before you start, take a moment and simulate the action of clicking, pausing for a second, smiling and kindly giving your dog a treat without actually being in the presence of your dog. This little exercise is great to calm the nerves and get you acquainted to the click and treat action. You want to be calm, relaxed and in a positive state of mind, even if this step is a relatively simple one. Here’s is where you start putting theory into practice. This is your dog’s introduction to clicker training. Sure, your dog doesn’t know that but YOU DO, so why not start with the right attitude?

Hold the clicker in one hand and the treat in the other or have your treats handy in a pouch or treat bag attached to your waist. Whatever works best. For this part, we generally just keep a hand full of treats and dispense one by one. When we get to teaching actual cues and engaging in clicker dog training sessions, we use a treat pouch. It’s very convenient and many times, very necessary.

I’m assuming we understand each other:
Click, pause for a second and give your dog a treat.

Do this for a few minutes, 10-25 times or so should suffice. With Halle, we did a quickfire clicker training session on one day and another the day after before we actually got started teaching her basic moves and commands. 20-50 repetitions over two days is optimal – though a one-time session is more than enough with most puppies and dogs.

It won’t take long before your dog associates the sound of the clicker to a positive consequence (yummy in my belly treat). Once your dog makes that association, your clicker will have value. The sound of your clicker will become a conditioned reinforcer which will be paired with a primary reinforcer, in this case treats. This essentially, is the foundation on which you can start teaching your dog.

“Positive Outcome or nothing at all? The clicker always knows.” } Halle

The sound of the clicker is a wonderful event marker because it’s clear and concise and always sounds the same every time. This is great because consistency and clear communication are key components in productive dog training. The clicker is the tool that will enable that clarity and consistency.

How do you know your Clicker is charged and loaded?

Here’s how it usually always plays out.

At first your puppy dog has no clue what that sound is or what it means. After a few clicks (remember this doesn’t take very long) your dog will anticipate the reward when it hears the click. When you feel your dog is truly anticipating or expecting the click, wait for the dog to look away and click. If your dog quickly turns to you expecting something – BINGO – Clicker is charged. Repeat a few more times to seal the deal.

Once you see your dog’s light bulb go off and make the association you’ll feel pretty darn good about it. It’s a wonderful thing!

Always remember that in dog clicker training, your furry friend gets a reward (positive consequence) for earning a click, in other words for exhibiting the precise behavior you’re looking for. No click means no reward, which translates to incorrect behavior or behavior that does not warrant a positive consequence. Your dog will connect the dots pretty quickly. There’s no correction or punishment. The result of not doing the right thing is no click, no treat.

In this pre-production stage, there is no specific behavior you’re simply giving the click a MEANING to your dog. You’re not marking an action. You’re simply clicking and treating. You’re letting him know – hey, this click sound is very valuable.

Keep in Mind.

When setting up your clicker, make sure your dog is not doing something it’s not supposed to be doing like chewing on a plant or your socks or barking for no good reason. Make sure you start the exercise before you feed your dog and right after you take it out for potty, usually a clicker training puppy requirement. ;) Don’t click on any unwanted behavior. As long as your dog is all good and not doing anything you deem as negative, click once and give your dog a treat.

Also if you click by accident, always treat. If you click unintentionally, it’s basically your fault. Don’t think twice. Just accept it and dish out the goods immediately. Once your dog has established an association between reward and click, don’t miss a reward or it can confuse your dog. You never want to dilute the meaning of a click once it’s established. A dog that understands the meaning of and anticipates a click is priceless. Not rewarding when clicked, even if you click by accident, can put a dent into your dogs click trust. ;)

Once you’ve charged your clicker, you’re ready to go. There are quite a few things you need to understand and be clear on if you want to train the right way. Many people get a little ahead of themselves and don’t quite understand or grasp all the ins and outs of clicker dog training. This can cause the whole process to backfire or be stunted. Sure you can teach your dog to sit and go down pretty quickly with a clicker but trust me, understanding and executing with all the variables in mind, makes a huge difference in the long run. It’s also very common to be nervous since this is a new experience. It might not feel natural at first. Stalling or confusing your dog when clicker training, primarily when you’re starting out, can take a lot longer to reverse. So be sure to take it a step at a time.

Before we get into some of the basic cues and commands, we’ll hook you up with a complete overview of all of the clicker training variables and fundamentals along with all the things you should study and keep in mind before you embark on training your dog with a clicker. We’ll do our best to be as descriptive as possible so you don’t have to second guess the steps and if you ever have questions, just scroll to the bottom and post them up.

Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to know about the next articles in this Dog Clicker Training series as they go live. We also have a variety of useful dog care and training articles on the way. Meanwhile, pick up some training tools (a clicker) and get it charged up! And if you haven’t read the first post in this series about Clicker Training for Dogs, make sure you do! It’s got a lot of useful tidbits for the novice clicker trainer.

Got clicker dog training questions? Don’t hesitate to leave your comments below. We do our best to answer all of them and if we don’t have the answer, we’ll point you in the right direction!

Clicker training for dogs is a wonderful way to teach your four-legged friend all kinds of very fun and useful commands as well as establish a healthy working bond. If you’ve worked closely or shared a deep connection with dogs before, you would know exactly what I mean. If you haven’t had the chance to foster a deep partnership then training your dog with a clicker is definitely a step in the right direction. Taking the time to train and work with your dog will lead you to an unprecedented level of communication that can build trust and respect between you (the trainer) and your dog. Once you’ve harnessed the power of clicker training, you can use it to teach your dog just about anything using the principles of reinforcement training.

I want to make it clear and enforce that virtually anyone can do this with the right tools and techniques. It does require extreme patience along with the ability to adapt and carefully apply all the different things we’ll be covering in this series of Click Training for dogs articles.

This post is a long one – I had to cover some important bases before getting into the clicker action phase. Yeah, it’s a little wordy but every detail is important, especially for those of you that are completely new to clicker training for dogs.

Super Clicker

The clicker is basically a small device that will run you at most a few dollars, in some cases less than a dollar for a bare-bones model. It’s usually made of plastic with some metal inside that “clicks” when pressed. It’s basically a tiny toy that your dog will happily learn to love. It’s really amazing to know that such a tiny magic tool can help shape your dog in incredible ways.

There’s no magic in the clicker itself. The sound of the click is basically an event marker. Clicker training for dogs is also often referred to as Marker Training. You can just as easily use a word or make a sound in order to mark a behavior. The thing with clicker training is that the event marker should be clear and consistent. Many of us regular folks aren’t as reliable on how we deliver speech compared to a clicker, which produces the same exact sound every time. This doesn’t mean you can’t use your voice or an alternate event marker, it just means that for several important reasons, a clicker should be your ideal choice.

When we’re training Halle, we personally combine the clicker with the word “YES” expressed vocally as a marker. Halle has learned to accept both and clearly understands us when we use either marker. Once your dog understands the clicker training process and becomes your super training partner, using other types of markers (vocal) will become a whole lot easier.

If you’re starting out, we truly recommend a clicker as it really helps establish consistency while you learn and utilize other aspects of training. There are numerous important variables and critical cues to consider to be effective when clicker training your dog. Once you read over our series of posts and get ready to start your first session, there’s a very good chance that you will feel a little off your axis. You might feel a bit overwhelmed buy all the tiny steps. Some of you won’t have this problem but the feeling is very common. I would recommend you worry about the really important things and leave the event marking to the sound of a trusty clicker.

Later on, you can always introduce a word, as it can be very helpful in situations when you don’t have your clicker handy. But again, if you’re starting out, we recommend you start with a clicker. A clicker can be purchased just about anywhere for a couple of bucks and is quite indispensable. We still use one today for teaching Halle new commands and tricks. Halle loves it when we pull it out of the drawer and responds extremely well to it. It signals super fun training time with rewards and always marks with precision.

“As soon as I see the clicker, I immediately pick my brain and start offering my favorite tricks and behaviors hoping for a reward. I can’t help it!” } Halle

About Clicker Training

The great thing about dog clicker training is that you can get started almost immediately with a puppy as young as 8 weeks or work with an older dog that has never had any formal training in its lifetime. You might hear some say that you should wait until the puppy is a littler older. We disagree. There’s a wonderful advantage to collecting clicker training puppy points that will pay off later on! Puppies are very intelligent and receptive little buggers that can pickup basics very quickly which in turn, creates a number of benefits for you and your puppy as it grows.

All that being said, if you’ve got a dog at home that has never been trained it’s time for some clicker action. If you’re planning on bringing a puppy into your home, don’t think twice about clicker training. It’s awesome!

We started when Halle was about 12 weeks old and have been pretty much blown away by the level of communication and bond it’s helped us establish with our Weimaraner. Dog clicker training has definitely allowed us to use positive reinforcement to teach our dog many useful and fun commands. It also gave us an opportunity to interact, engage and communicate with our dog in a way that we’ve never had the chance to with any of our previous furry friends.

One of Asia’s previous dogs, Rudy the beloved German Shepherd, was trained in a dog academy with teachers that used unwarranted corrections and fear tactics to get dogs to obey. This method of training destroys the dog’s will and character. It establishes an unhealthy relationship between dog and trainer. The dog will comply but is afraid and distrustful of the trainer. Rudy was very well trained and extremely obedient in militant fashion but always on edge. He was unfortunately always afraid of being punished or doing something wrong – a firecracker with low drive and misguided aggression. Being punished for every wrong move is not the proper way to teach a dog anything.

The difference between Rudy and our clicker trained Halle is like night and day. Asia was in her late teens and this was the family dog. I always hear stories about how loved he was and how amazing his spirit was. If Asia knew what she knows now, Rudy would have been a much happier and balanced German Shepherd.

These traditional types of training are still very common with many trainers and dog training schools because they work. The dog is corrected until he does what the trainer wants. Not because he wants to or because he was allowed to figure things out, but because he has no choice. It obeys out of fear. These methods produce results and are very popular but can have a profound negative psychological effect on the dog.

Karen Pryor, an expert in marine mammal biology and behavioral psychology, introduced clicker training for dogs. She became the authority on clicker training after working with and training Dolphins using similar methods in the 1960s. The entire concept of clicker training is based on operant conditioning (first discovered by B. F. Skinner) – which for the sake of keeping things simple is the science of making an association between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior. This all leads to what clicker training is mostly about: Positive Reinforcement.

Clicker training dogs with positive reinforcement is a great way to teach your dog that good behavior is rewarded and unwanted behavior is not. The dog is never punished or forced. Because of the true nature of clicker training, the dog also learns to solve problems, build confidence and try things without the fear of an unnecessary correction. Training your dog in a positive manner also creates a lasting bond with your dog that is built on trust and fairness. Your dog will be eager and excited to learn and please you. Clicker training will quickly turn your dog into the super training partner you never imagined you could have. It’s a win-win every way you look at it.

Clicker training for dogs in its essence does not require punishment or forced corrections. We have learned and firmly believe that corrections, if done properly, can be important and very useful in building boundaries and consistency in a learned behavior. I stress the right way because you should never mistreat your dog, be abusive or do anything to affect his psychological wellbeing. By experience, we’ve learned that if a correction is delivered the right way at the right time, it can really take your training to a whole new level without degrading your dog’s temperament, personality and drive. In MANY cases (depending on several factors including your needs and the needs of your dog) corrections have no place at all. This is something we’ll discuss at some point in the distant future and has absolutely NO place in the learning and establishing phase of any command or behavior.

I just wanted to make this clear since many folks we talk to seem to feel that you should never discipline or correct your dog, which doesn’t entirely make sense to us. There are many schools of thought on this topic. It’s been debated a million gazillion times. You might equate a dog that knows a ton of tricks and commands to a well-rounded and balanced soul but that, more often than not, couldn’t be further from the truth. Dogs, in their very nature, need discipline, boundaries and structure to be innately happy.

Clicker Training Action in a Nutshell

Clicker training is used to train all kinds of animals – birds, cats, horses, dogs and many more. It’s used to mark a behavior. When you mark a behavior with a click, you’re basically giving your dog a mental snapshot of what was going on when you delivered that click. This snapshot has no purpose until you connect the click with a reward. Then things start to get interesting. Once the dog learns that a click means they get a reward, the animal will start to pay a lot more attention to the mental snapshot that resulted in a click. If you click and reward on a specific action, with enough repetition and preciseness, your dog will understand what it is you’re expecting it to do.

Basic Play-by-Play

1. Dog enacts a behavior you want, alone, or with your direction.
2. You mark the behavior by clicking the clicker. Timing is key.
3. You reward the dog with a special treat, toy or praise.
4. You repeat until the dog connects the behavior to the reward.
5. You and the Trainee work to establish the desired behavior.

This is how your dog makes the association between a behavior and the consequence for that behavior. In the case of a tasty or fun reward, the consequence is obviously a positive one.

Before you get started you have to begin pre-production which involves setting up your clicker and learning to get your dog to participate. The yummiest treats (which differ from dog to dog) are usually the best way to get your dog’s attention. In most cases, it’s best to have proper pack structure and leadership in place before you can entertain the idea of training your dog on your own. Working to establish the desired behavior (Step 5 in my Basic play by play) comes with extra baggage that you need to carefully understand and learn in order really grasp how everything comes together. Knowing precisely when to click or when and how to treat are also quite crucial.

Whoa! Hold your Puppies!

There’s definitely more involved with each step and many things to consider and apply to be effective at clicker training dogs. We’re going to do our best to cover everything we know on HalleBalleDog and give you all the tools and information you need to start training your dog with positive reinforcement. We’re also working on an article that will cover the tools we recommend for your clicker training mission.

We plan on delivering much more than a crash course. There’s a lot of material out there on the subject of clicker training, including many simple articles and thin blog posts that don’t teach many of the principles, variables and methods that come into play when clicker training with dogs. We like to dig deep but keep things simple, we want to give you all the tools and information you need to avoid some of the problems many clicker training rookies face by starting the process prematurely. I truly believe that the best way to clicker train is by practice, hands-on, since much of what it entails goes way beyond theory. That being said, knowing what you’re doing and doing it the right way is very crucial in the long run.

Don’t fret, as it’s all pretty basic and doable. Sure, there are clicker training masters out there that can put us all to shame. But you don’t have to be a master to get your dog conditioned to a clicker. Even if mastering every aspect of clicker training can take a hell of a long time, almost anyone can get started and yield the benefits of dog training with a clicker.

Please Be Mindful

Clicker training is not the only component in cultivating and nurturing a healthy partnership with your dog. Proper and fair leadership, establishing pack structure, walking with your dog and taking care of your pet the right way all go hand in hand. Clicker training is just a great way of teaching and communicating with your dog.

Judging a dog merely by the tricks it knows is no different that judging someone by the car they drive. There are many factors that lead to a balanced dog life.

You always have to remember that just because your dog does a few tricks and expresses itself on command, that doesn’t mean it respects you. There’s a big difference. Almost any dog can learn a few tricks. True love and respect is earned through solid leadership – which is what your dog needs and wants above all. The use of clicker training for dogs can have an added powerful effect on the relationship you have with your four-legged friend if the proper mutual respect is already in place. In the case of a puppy, pack leadership must be worked on daily completely aside from clicker training. Pack structure and leadership is vital and we’ll be discussing them more thoroughly in coming posts.

The best part about clicker training for dogs is that it’s pretty easy to get started. Understanding the overall concept isn’t very difficult. The tools required are also pretty basic, though we plan on covering some of the options available to you along with what we use and recommend. Getting ready and actually engaging in clicker training is something most of us can do, even at a simple level.

Mastering clicker training is a whole other thing and takes time, patience and a clear understanding of how the process is applied and how to troubleshoot when needed. You don’t have to be a master to teach your dog some basic tricks but the more you work with your dog, the better you’ll get. You’ll slowly start to pickup some of the cues and intangibles that truly make clicker training amazing on so many levels.

We’ll cover the basics and help you get started in the very next entry on HalleBalleDog, which will focus on the pre-production phase of clicker training starting with setting up your clicker. Once you have your clicker ready to go, you’ll be well on your way to training your dog the right way. You’ll soon discover how rewarding clicker training for dogs can be.

Post your questions, thoughts and comments. We love hearing from you and hope to keep exploring some of things I’ve presented in this article. Thanks for taking the time to read this!