Article & Images Submitted by Shannon MacBeth, Owner & Trainer, Shakespeare's Legacy Labradors
If you’ve been following along with our Salt and Pine training methods, you’ve now ensured your dog knows their name and is coming to you when called, not begrudgingly, but with enthusiasm and a wagging tail. The next step is to have them stay with you, staying engaged with you, in an area with distractions. It will take a few steps, but together we can get there.
Let’s start by looking at the Salt, or the challenge, you’re facing with your dog. You’ve taken Scout to your child’s soccer game and all he wants to do is chase the players and the ball. He’s pulling to the extent of his leash, barking excitedly and those around you are staring and thinking your dog is a “bad dog”. Or you and your precious Mabel out for a walk and that one dog that drives her mad is approaching with their owner. We know what is about to happen, the growling, the barking, the pulling and the embarrassment because your dog is not behaving as per societal expectations and acceptances.
These, as well as similar situations, can be very frustrating if you don’t know how to handle them resulting in doing all the wrong things. We tend to bargain with treats, which is actually rewarding the unwanted behaviour or we try to soothe them which tells them their fearful behaviour is warranted or lastly we apply negative pressure by scolding, pulling at them and allowing our embarrassment and frustration to take over.
Now comes the Pine, or the training, portion of the Salt and Pine training method. We need to get to the root of the situation before we can help our dogs grow past it.
Let me start with this, reactive dogs are not bad dogs, they are fearful dogs and we’ve placed them in a situation that is making them uncomfortable and afraid without the tools to help them build their confidence and security. We need to ensure our dog is safe in the environment. Once they are, we are going to become the most boring thing in the room.
The strategy is called “sitting on the dog”. No, we aren’t actually going to sit on the dog. We are simply going to attach a leash to their collar or harness, sit ourselves in a chair as well as on the leash while we wait until the dog has calmed and settled at our feet. No words, no eye contact, no emotion. They need to figure out how to self soothe and self calm, similar to handling a toddler who’s throwing a fit at nap time.
This is something that should first be trained at home before taking the training into the real world. Remember to move slowly, start at a distance from their triggers and slowly move forward as their confidence and ability to self soothe grows. This can make or break your training so start small. You need to watch your dog closely to ensure they aren’t crossing their tolerance threshold. Once this happens, your training is done for that session as they haven’t been able to self soothe or regulate. Put distance between your dog and their trigger and as they return to calm, slowly decrease the distance.
To test if they are within their threshold parameters, as them for a few basic cues such as sit or responding to their name. As soon as they begin to struggle with offering these known behaviours to stop moving forward and instead return to a trainable distance. As time passes, the distance will continue to decrease until they are, hopefully, able to move past their trigger without any sort of reaction.
Remember to reward the calmness each and every time your dog offers it to you, especially in a setting with distractions.
Please keep in mind the harder the request, the more value the treat will need to be. The kibble that works at home with no triggers is not going to have the same result when facing more distractions and triggers. Training should be quick, simple and painless. If you are feeling frustrated, rushed, etc., save the training for a time you both are calm and ready. If training starts well, but suddenly goes sideways, offer one last reward for the attempt and end the session.
There could be many factors that go into a training session that doesn’t seem to be working, so it’s best to just shut it down and try again later instead of allowing frustrations to increase on both parts. This type of training will not be a quick and easy process. Consider it as taking root and helping your dog grow into the dog you know they can be. It takes time, but the results are worth it.
If you’ve been following along with our Salt and Pine training methods, you’ve now ensured your dog knows their name and is coming to you when called, not begrudgingly, but with enthusiasm and a wagging tail. The next step is to have them stay with you, staying engaged with you, in an area with distractions. It will take a few steps, but together we can get there.
Let’s start by looking at the Salt, or the challenge, you’re facing with your dog. You’ve taken Scout to your child’s soccer game and all he wants to do is chase the players and the ball. He’s pulling to the extent of his leash, barking excitedly and those around you are staring and thinking your dog is a “bad dog”. Or you and your precious Mabel out for a walk and that one dog that drives her mad is approaching with their owner. We know what is about to happen, the growling, the barking, the pulling and the embarrassment because your dog is not behaving as per societal expectations and acceptances.
These, as well as similar situations, can be very frustrating if you don’t know how to handle them resulting in doing all the wrong things. We tend to bargain with treats, which is actually rewarding the unwanted behaviour or we try to soothe them which tells them their fearful behaviour is warranted or lastly we apply negative pressure by scolding, pulling at them and allowing our embarrassment and frustration to take over.
Now comes the Pine, or the training, portion of the Salt and Pine training method. We need to get to the root of the situation before we can help our dogs grow past it.
Let me start with this, reactive dogs are not bad dogs, they are fearful dogs and we’ve placed them in a situation that is making them uncomfortable and afraid without the tools to help them build their confidence and security. We need to ensure our dog is safe in the environment. Once they are, we are going to become the most boring thing in the room.
The strategy is called “sitting on the dog”. No, we aren’t actually going to sit on the dog. We are simply going to attach a leash to their collar or harness, sit ourselves in a chair as well as on the leash while we wait until the dog has calmed and settled at our feet. No words, no eye contact, no emotion. They need to figure out how to self soothe and self calm, similar to handling a toddler who’s throwing a fit at nap time.
This is something that should first be trained at home before taking the training into the real world. Remember to move slowly, start at a distance from their triggers and slowly move forward as their confidence and ability to self soothe grows. This can make or break your training so start small. You need to watch your dog closely to ensure they aren’t crossing their tolerance threshold. Once this happens, your training is done for that session as they haven’t been able to self soothe or regulate. Put distance between your dog and their trigger and as they return to calm, slowly decrease the distance.
To test if they are within their threshold parameters, as them for a few basic cues such as sit or responding to their name. As soon as they begin to struggle with offering these known behaviours to stop moving forward and instead return to a trainable distance. As time passes, the distance will continue to decrease until they are, hopefully, able to move past their trigger without any sort of reaction.
Remember to reward the calmness each and every time your dog offers it to you, especially in a setting with distractions.
Please keep in mind the harder the request, the more value the treat will need to be. The kibble that works at home with no triggers is not going to have the same result when facing more distractions and triggers. Training should be quick, simple and painless. If you are feeling frustrated, rushed, etc., save the training for a time you both are calm and ready. If training starts well, but suddenly goes sideways, offer one last reward for the attempt and end the session.
There could be many factors that go into a training session that doesn’t seem to be working, so it’s best to just shut it down and try again later instead of allowing frustrations to increase on both parts. This type of training will not be a quick and easy process. Consider it as taking root and helping your dog grow into the dog you know they can be. It takes time, but the results are worth it.
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