Old Trainer: My adopted dog is tough to train, what should I do? (Part 3)

The last two weeks we covered direct training, the most difficult—and frustrating—of the various ways of training a dog. It requires time, patience and effort. You practice, then practice some more, till he gets it right.

The two types of training we discuss today require no effort at all. I love both types and use them every day.

The first is Indirect Training. All you do is go about your daily routine, say a word describing the act you are doing, and let your dog figure it out.

Dogs understand words faster than a Rhodes Scholar as long as the words describe something they like to do. There’s no limit on what a dog will learn if you take the time to say the same words every time you do the act.

Dogs want to do every single thing the person they love does, no matter how minor, so they learn the words that describe the task, then listen for them so they can do it again. It’s so easy you don’t always need a word. A sound will do, which is why he heads for the door the instant he hears the jangle of your keys.

I try to add at least one command a week for my pack. This week I added “bed time” to describe the last trip out to the yard. They love that last trip and get restless as midnight approaches so by the third day they jumped up ready to roll as soon as they heard the words.

People are shocked my dogs know “left” and “right,” and refuse to believe they learned it with no direct training at all. I just said which direction I was going each time we made a turn and they learned it with ease.

Same with “turn around.” No training at all, I just said it every time we turned around on our walk and they learned it on their own.

In Reverse Training your dog does something you like, you apply a name to it, then brag on him for doing it. That’s all there is to it.

You’ve likely used Reverse Training and not realized it. The most common example is the “shake” command. Lassie raises her paw to get Timmy’s attention. Timmy says, “oh, you want to shake,” grabs Lassie’s paw and loves on her. Lassie thinks, “hey, when I need attention I just raise a paw and I get loved on. What a deal!”

Works for more difficult commands too. Dixie, my Golden/Heeler mix, rolls in the grass more than any of the pack. All I did was say “roll, Dixie” every time she did it, then love on her and repeat the words. Before long she hit the grass as soon as she heard the word. Sometimes I wonder if maybe she is so smart she figured out a way to do what she already wanted to do, plus get me to love on her for doing it.

These methods make training easy, but the commands your dog learns are as vital as those learned using Direct Training. Every time your dog obeys an order and pleases you it makes the bond between you stronger.

As always, the love and praise you give your dog is the most important part of the training.

The Old Trainer has been a trainer for three decades and has rescued, trained, loved, and placed more than 4,000 dogs. Send questions to: theoldtrainer@gmail.com