When training your dog,don’t discourage enthusiasm

DEAR OLD TRAINER: I just adopted Max, a 1-year-old yellow Lab. I never trained a dog before, but I followed your method exactly. He did fine with “sit” and will always do that on command. He learned “stay” and “come.” But now when I say “stay” his ears go up, he cocks his head and starts racing a circle around me barking and playing. What should I do?

A: Congratulate yourself on having a smart dog. Max learned the sequence of commands, decided to skip “stay” and go directly to “come” – which is a lot more fun – and is training you to do it his way.

Too many trainers misread this type of positive response from a dog. They think it is a lack of concentration and scold the dog, the opposite of what they should do. A dog who shows interest in being trained should be rewarded.

Still, you have to show Max that while you appreciate his initiative, his job is to obey commands in the order you give them.

Start by showing him he has to focus on you on command instead of just when he feels like it. Order him into the sit position and tell him, “Look at me.” Grasp his muzzle and turn his head to make him look at you if you have to.

When he does it for five seconds, pet him and praise him, take him out of the sit position, then do it all over again. Repeat the exercise five times each session. Hold five sessions a day with play time and rest between sessions.

Be patient – Max is still a kid – but be relentless. Each time he sits and focuses his full attention on you, pet and praise him. When he has that down, teach “stay” and “come” all over again, but when you say “stay” stand right next to him so you can use your hand to make him stay until you say “come.”

Make sure he looks right at you on each command. Praise him and pet him when he stays, even if you are using your hand to restrain him. The petting and praise is the important part because it shows him “stay” is as much fun as any other command. If he loses concentration, go back to “sit” and start over.

Training is an easy job when you and your dog have fun. Max isn’t refusing to learn or ignoring training rules; he’s having a good time and letting you know how he thinks you should do it.

Use his interest as a training aid and make a game of it. You know he wants to skip directly to come, so play around and act like you can’t remember what command he is waiting on. Say something like, “what comes next Max, what is it you want me to say? Oh, wait, I forgot the command, what can it be?” He’ll figure out the game from your body language and tone.

Max will keep doing things the way he wants unless you outsmart him, and it’s not easy to outsmart a dog smart enough to skip commands he doesn’t like and go right to the one he does like.

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 2:29 PM with the headline "When training your dog,don’t discourage enthusiasm."