Cesar Millan seminar

Hello judeeeth,

It is I, cesar milan, the dhog weeeesperer.

Judith Althouse wrote:
Elegy
In defense of Pit Buls

Peeet Boool are naturally dog aggreeesive, it's whaaaat they DO.

You have to know the nature of the breed, judeeeeth.

The Peeet Boool is only suitable for fighting kennels
like in the days of the dogmen whe brought us this
wonderful big hearted death machine. There really is
no place in society for them today. All they know is
keeel keeeel keeeel.

this does does not appear to be one.

Finding a non Peeet Boool that is dog aggressive
like a Peeet Boool certainly proves it's not only
Peeet Boools that protect their turf like the gangs
in the streets of south LA where the cesar comes from.

It looks just like a Rhodesian, but it comes from
Hog dog country so I would guess it is some mixture..??

Probably Peeet Boool a couple generations back as they
are naturally the most aggreeesive breed by nature chosen
by the great dogmen of yore.

but the same difference

It doesn't take much Peeet Boool blood to make a bloodbath.

I made a mistake in saying she tried to roll the dog

The alphalpha roll teaches RESPECT in the language of the wooolf.

You've heard the secret sound: "HOWECH!, today was a biting day".

You've SEEN the cesar demonstrate *(do not try this without
the personal guidance of a certified dog wheeeesperer) calmly
dominating the wooolf nature of the dog's personality by using
calm assertive attitude to establich communications and learn
the languages of the wooolf, particularly the language of Z teeeth:

From: (Michael Erskine)
Date: 12 Aug 2004 10:09:05 -0700

Subject: My GSD bit me.
The question:

I have a four year old male GSD. He growls at me sometimes.
When he growls at me he stares me in the face and lays his
ears back.

The New Skete books say that the dog should not be allowed
to do that. They suggest shaking down the dog by grabing
the dog on the sides of his neck and picking him off his
front feet, then giving the dog the same sort of treatment
the dog would give another if it were challenging him.

Namely getting in the dogs face and letting
the dog know you are the alpha dog.

Well, my dog bit me clearly he felt that I was not
convincing enough or he bit me out of fear.

Anyone got ideas on what to do with this dog that might
help him to decide that he wants to follow and that he
has nothing to fear from me?

----------------

From: Charlie Wilkes
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2004 17:21:14 GMT
Subject: My GSD bit me.

You need to improve your acting skills. Get a werewolf
suit with blood-drenched fangs and claw gloves and THEN
go after your dog.

Knock the **** out of him and don't be afraid to crack
some ribs. Then yank the mask off and shout "SURPRISE!
IT'S ME!" I guarantee you and your dog will have a new
relationship based on mutual respect.

Keep in mind that the monks of New Skete were pre-Lon-Chaney.

Charlie

-------

and it was not immediately after whatever it attacked to tried to...

Rehabilitation happens EVERY DAY judeeeth.

That's why your seeester must MAAASTER Z WAAAALK.

EXXXORCISE.

DISCIPLINE.

AN THEN EFFECCION, judeeeth.

Remember that, it's the nature of the wooolf.

Your own dogs could use the same leaderchips, judeeeeth.

She was sitting in the grass with the dog
and tried to roll the dog on it's side.

The dog needs LEEEDERCHIPS, judeeeth. Your seeeester should
roll on her side and peeees herself to DEMONSTRATE calm and
submeeessive behavior.

LIKE THEEES, judeeeth:

From: LeeCharlesKelley
Date: Sat, Oct 30 2004 8:36 am
Email: "LeeCharlesKelley"

Kelley: And if all learning is based on o.c., then
explain how praise can be used to stop a
dog's behavior as he's producing that behavior.

leah: Except for under certain circumstances, it can't.

That's a self-negating [self-contradicting] argument, Leah.

If all learning is based on o.c. then o.c. must be involved
when a dog learns to give up a behavior that he's praised for
doing, no matter what the circumstances are, right?

In other words, you just said that all learning isn't based
on o.c. -- it depends on the circumstances. So which is it?
And what exactly are the "certain circumstances", in your mind?

Leah: No, I didn't say that all learning isn't based on o.c.
I said that praise will not stop a dog's behavior as he's
producing that behavior, except under certain circumstances.

Which implies that under certain circumstances the rules of
operant conditioning aren't involved in the learning process,
which in turn means that this type of learning *isn't* based
on operant conditioning.

Kelley: Also explain how a dog can a learn a new behavior
once, with only a single reinforcement at the exact
moment he learned it, and will never forget it and
will always reliably produce that behavior on command
for the rest of his life.

Sorry, I just don't believe you.

Even though you've seen dogs, and cats, and birds,
learn this way on their own, right under very nose,
every day? snip part about the fact that dogs learn
this way naturally, without being given commands, etc.

Nope, haven't seen it.

Really? How many repetitions does it take to teach a
typical puppy the behavior of drinking from his water
bowl when he's thirsty? 10? 12? Even 2? How many
repetitions does it take to teach a dog to empty his
bladder when he has to pee?

Or how about Oscar, the chocolate lab puppy who exhibited
another typical puppy behavior: he learned how to chase his
housemate Ricky, a Persian-mix cat, and playfully grab him
around the neck on the first try.

There was no learning by trial and error, no need for repetitions,
no learning by association. The first time he saw the cat go
running by he chased him and grabbed him by the neck.

And (back to the previous topic) why did praising Oscar while
he was grabbing Ricky by the neck make him stop the behavior,
while he was in the act of doing it?

And why did he give up the behavior entirely after being praised
while doing it three or four times, even though he'd been chasing
Ricky and grabbing him by the neck for 8 months and had always been
corrected by his owner for doing it?

Leah: If you don't work with puppies, then how do
you even have the nerve to pretend you know
how they learn and don't learn?

I work with puppies all the time, I just
don't do it in an assembly-line fashion.

LeeCharlesKelley

----------

The more she tried. The more Sweetie resisted.

Your seeester must maaaaaster z waaaaalk.

What does she want from the dog?

We all want calm submissive behavior and RESPECT
for our leeeederchips, don't we, judeeeeth.

My guess is dead!

No judeeeeth. Your seeester is willing to DO ANYTHING
to make her dog calm and submissive and respeeectfulness
of her LEEEDERCHIPS. It is you who wants the dog DEAD on
account of that's your human nature, the nature of a
natural born coward and victim of child abuse and dog
and child abusin mental case, judeeeth.

But, she feels some sort of attachment or responsibility I guess?

You mean on account of she doesn't want to MURDER SWEEETY, judeeeth?

As I said, I am I am not her.

Lucky theeeng sheee don haff a pure breeeed Peeet Boool, eh judeeeth?

I do know she went to great lengths the first
few years to learn about prey drive etc.

INDEED:

"Elizabeth Naime" wrote in
message
...
Quoth Handsome Jack Morrison
on Sat, 20 Nov 2004
02:15:55 GMT,

What's the difference between making, say, a
hard-charging field-bred retriever (say an equally
independent Chessie) "reliably do something that is
completely contrary to its wiring," e.g.,

SNIP

Couple of years ago by now, a woman with fox
terriers wrote about training a recall on the
clicktrain list. She had used a long line and
proofed for distractions per Koehler; yet the dog
knew when he was on a line and when not, and
would ignore her when there were squirrels to chase.

She had used an e-collar under the direction of a
professional, who said he had never met a dog who
could tell whether he was wearing the real thing or
the dummy collar, as her dog seemed able to.

Heck, they're terriers. Chasing squirrels or other
irresistable prey, they'll scramble through thorny
bushes, tumble down rocky hills, and the prey could
always bite back (though I'm thinking more of badger
dogs -- the Cairn Terrier, the West Highland White
Terrier, and the hunting Dachshund -- badgers are
reputed to be pretty tough critters). And none of
that diminishes the fun. What's a few scratches and
lumps and bruises? And what are corrections
from a long line or an e-collar in the face of such
delightful temptation?

What did work for her, at last, was chasing
squirrels with the dog. I believe she used a harness
with a long line and a snapback, not to correct the
dog, but to ensure that during training he simply
wasn't able to enjoyably chase squirrels without her
cooperation.

Each time he focused on her rather than a
nearby squirrel, the reward was that they
chased the squirrel together.

The fact that his best friend and fellow squirrel
chaser was a bit clumsly and let the squirrels
get away didn't bother him... apparently the
chase was the best part.

Once he got the picture (not long at all) the dog took
to running over and stepping on her foot when there
was chasable prey about... which pretty much took
care of the squirrel chasing problem, as she was
then able to pick him up and/or reward him with a
joint chase when appropriate and not too
embarassing.

A good while after this training success, she found
that he would run and touch her foot to alert her to
prey *she* hadn't seen yet. Which gave her time to
pick him up the time he saw the chicken first...

There are limits, obviously. You can't chase deer
with your dog; ain't proper and the game warden's
not gonna be happy with it.

However, I think there's a lesson here for all trainers,
about the dog knowing what's reinforcing and what's
not (treats ranking lower than squirrels for this dog)
and about modifying "drives," setting rules and limits
rather than trying to "put a stop to it" entirely.

So the retriever gets to chase and retrieve birds,
the scent hound gets to use his nose, the terrier
gets to chase the prey, the greyhound gets to lure
course (or, squeamish though I personally might be
about it, open-field course)... on the handler's
terms.

----------------------------

My thought is what Suja said perhaps the dog has brain damage.

suja's dogs got the SAME SAME SAME SAME PROBLEM, judeeeeth.
IN FACT, suja's dog BROKE HER ARM boltin after a creeeter.

rom:
Date: 28 May 2005 02:12:55 -0700

Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 09:04:10 -0500
on 2005-05-26 at 09:57 suja @panix.com wrote:

I'm not sure how long Lucy would have to
fling penny cans at a human-aggressive
dog before she got a clue that just maybe
there's something deeper going on there.

INDEEDY! We don't NEED to make a distraction
and praise for aggression, dog lovers. ALL
aggression is FEAR. ALL FEAR is CAUSED BY
MISHANDLING and THAT goes away soon as you
learn HOWE to NOT CHOKE and SHOCK your dogs
and PRAISE them IN ADVANCE.

Of curse, you don't want to BELIEVE THAT.

But they could easily check it themselves. For
instance, when shelly's dogs give each other
The Evil Eye.

Bonnie was always barking furiously at a female
dog that was chained in the yard of a house we
were passing by during our walks. She used to
show her teeth and bark, bark, bark, as if telling
the other dog (which was twice her size) that she
really meant to kill her at the first opportunity.

Of course, the other dog responded with the same
kind of angry bark and teeth showing.

The first time I praised Bonnie just as she was
preparing to start barking at her enemy, she looked
disoriented for moment, hesitated, made a short growl
and then walked by without even looking at the other
dog. No problems, ever since.

Lucy.

-------------

Perhaps it's you an suja who got the BRAIN DAMAGE, judeeeth?:

"LeeCharlesKelley" wrote in message
lkaboutpets.com.

snip examples of puppies learning to drink and pee

Leah: Drinking and peeing are instinctive. No teaching
necessary.

I wasn't talking about teaching a behavior, I was talking
about the way an animal *learns* a behavior. If you recall,
I told you that there were everyday things a dog learns
instantly, on his own, without the need for repetitions.

Remember? You said quite flatly that you had never observed
any instances where an animal learns something without the
need for repetitions. So, I gave you the simplest of numerous
examples of how this kind of learning takes place.

snip story of Oscar learning the behavior of chasing Ricky the cat

Leah: That's called prey drive. Remember that?
Again, it's instinct.

Good. So now we agree that a dog can learn something once,
just once, with no need for repetition, association, or trial
error, as long as the prey drive is activated, right?

Now do you get it? Finally?

(And by the way, since Oscar never gets to complete his prey
drive, what is his reinforcement for the behavior? And why
does he give up the behavior when he's supposedly reinforced
for doing it?)

Leah: I find it ironic that you call my methods "assembly
line" when you're the one who's promoting one-size-
fits-all.

Like everything else you've said, that is based on your own
misperception of what you think I've said (or else it's an
intentional mischaracterization). When have I ever said that
"one size fits all"?

Seriously. I said that there is basically only one way of
learning. You don't agree with my model, but still claim
there is only one way of learning: conditioning.

When I said there was only one kind of reinforcement I was
simply correcting your misunderstanding that food, praise,
contact, and play are all reiforcements, when they are
actually only tools or instruments that may be used to
implement the actual reinforcement, which is always, always,
always the reduction of emotional tension.

Remember?

I quoted Pavlov? And he agreed with my position.

Positive emotions are the reinforcement, whether you're using
food, praise, play, or contact. You seem to think I have a
one-size-fits-all mentality because I say that the most optimal
way of reducing emotional tension in a dog, and, therefore, the
most optimal way of learning any behavior is through the prey drive.

And that's true. You have absolutely no experience in doing
this so you have no way of being able to verify what I'm saying.

But it's true.

And have you totally forgotten the whole, long thread about
drives and whether the dog searching after the bitch in heat
is reinforced by the smell or stimulated by it?

You spent a great deal of time and space trying vainly to
argue that the smell was reinforcing the dog's behavior.

The ultimate conclusion of that thread was basically the same
one Keller Breland came to when he "discovered" instinctual
drift in conditioned animals. And these animals were conditioned
in a laboratory-type environment, where everything was constantly
monitored, and daily and even hourly reports were written up about
every single change in the animals' behavior.

This was not a puppy class.

You think everything is operant conditioning? Fine.

The least you could do is try to comprehend *that*
before you try to comprehend what I'm saying.

---------------

Date: 5/22/03 11:24:35 PM Eastern
Daylight Time
From:
To:

Well, let me tell you, your Wits' End
Dog Training Method works.

My dog, Dasie, Loves to chase chameleons
around the barbecue on the patio. I
used this system on four different occasions.

When she went out today, she looked
everywhere else but the barbecue.
Amazing, just amazing.

I will write to Amanda about the video.

I am really excited to learn more, and
understand. Maybe just a little reassurance
that I am going about it the right way.

Thanks again
Paul

The OBJECTIVE of scientific conditioning is to CONDITION the
critter to CON-TROLL HISSELF, not to have the CON-TROLLER
punish and FORCE CON-TROLL FOREVER like HOWE you jerk
choke bribe avoid and shock collar fanciers PREFER.

From: "lindalee"
Date: 21 Jan 2006 18:34:10 -0800

Subject: Chasing squirrels

I have not posted to the group for awhile but want to share my success
of teaching my dog Sunshine, who has a very high prey drive, to not go
after squirrels when on a walk. It took a few trials but he can now
walk right past squirrels running up a tree or in a yard.

Using Jerry Howe's approach I used a sound to get his attention when
he saw a squirrel and then praised him and kept on walking past the
squirrel. Where we live in Michigan we lots of squirrels and he was
always wanting to chase them up a tree. Jerry's approach of sound
and praise really works.

I think the people who discount his methods have never tried the
method because it works everytine. Sometimes it takes a little
practice to get the sound from different directions but I was able to
change Sunshine's behavior in just a week after we moved back to
Michigan.

Sunshine is a very sensitive dog so any physical corrections just won't
work but using sound and praise he is a really great dog who opens
doors, picks up things I drop, and and helps me a lot. If you have a
behavior problem with your dog get a copy of Jerrry's manual and
solve your problem!
-----------

She consuted a specialist (Vet) that dealt with
agression and they tried several things...

From: Paul B )
Subject: Dog vs cat food (stealing cat food)
Date: 2001-03-03 22:18:03 PST

It's possible to teach a dog not to eat out of a cat bowl
without too much difficulty.

My dogs don't touch the food in the cat bowls although
Roz licks up any bits that have been dropped around
the bowls :-)

I used a can with stones in it to create a distraction
anytime the dogstried to eat the cats food, followed
with immediate praise. It worked a treat.

The cats bowls are down all the time, usually there
is food left over but the dogs don't eat it, even if we
go out and leave the dogs with access inside through
a dog door.

Obedience and affection are not related, if they
were everyone would have obedient dogs.

Paul

---------------------

Perhaps again, Pavlov's comments serve us:

"Postitive emotions arising in connection with the perfection
of a skill, irrespective of its pragmatic significance at a given
moment, serve as the reinforcement."IOW, emotions, not outside
rewards, are what reinforces any behavior.

Disciple Paulie Sez:

"No One Understands How Wits End Training Really Works,
They Assume It's All Nicey Nicey And don't Realise It's
A Very Disciplined Method That Deals With Any Situation
And The Foundation Is Built On Trust And Understanding.

I've never forced my dogs to do anything, I tell them they
are good dogs and they seem to follow me, once I told them
they were bad dogs and they ran away from me, now I only
ever tell them they are good dogs and they always are, always.

Trust your dog, ask it to do your request and say "good dog"
sincerely at the end of the request and I bet you'll find
your dog thinking then responding everytime.

A bit of respect works wonders, the same rule applies
to every aspect of the relationship with your dog.

Obedience and affection are not related, if they were
everyone would have obedient dogs.

I have found giving dogs "payment" in advance i.e. "Sam
sit goodboy" makes the dogs want to respond, after all, all
dogs want to be "good dogs" and if you tell them they are
good then they feel an obligation to obey your request.

Telling Sam he's a good dog AFTER he sit's apart from
been too late is also a gamble because if he doesn't
sit then there's no positive interaction.

Paul


Subject: Counter Cruising must stop

7From: LeeCharlesKelley
Date: Fri, Oct 29 2004 11:51 pm
Email: "LeeCharlesKelley"

"LeeCharlesKelley" wrote:
Tell a die-hard o.p. [sic] person that all dogs learn differently.

"Nope," they'll say, "it's all about reinforcement."

Leah: Of course. But what is reinforcing to one dog is
not necessarily reinforcing to another.

You keep missing the point. I don't know why I even bother with you,
Leah. What is reinforcing to one dog -- the release of emotional
tension
-- will always be what is reinforcing to all other dogs. Always. No
matter what breed, no matter what temperament, no matter what past
treatment the dog has had. There aren't any *different* types of
reinforcement. There is only one.

Sometimes a food reward may reduce emotional tension, sometimes acting
dominant will. Most often, however, the surest way to release
emotional
tension in dogs is through their prey drive, because it's the dog's
wild,
innate, predatory emotions that are most inextricably linked to
sociability and learning.

If a dog doesn't seem to *show* any prey drive, then you need to work
to
bring it out in him (as I did with Fred when he was having panic his
attacks). And when you *do*, truly miraculous things will happen that
are
not dreamed of in your philosophy, Horatio. (Such as a dog learning a
command once and never forgetting it, or praising a dog while he's
producing an unwanted behavior to permanently extinguish that very
behavior.)

Even Pavlov himself said, "Positive emotions arising in connection with
the learning of a skill, regardless of its pragmatic significance at a
given moment, serve as the reinforcement."

Food is a blind alley. Clickers are the o.c. version of a TV remote,
giving people the illusion that they can click a dog's behaviors on and
off. Dominance is based on a fallacy. Yet they all work some of the
time. Why? Because under certain situations, with certain dogs they
facilitate learning through the release of emotional tension, despite
their intent. However, ALL DOGS LEARN BEST THROUGH THE PREY DRIVE. It
provides the most optimal level of learning and obedience because it's
geared toward the dog's natural way of doing things. Counter-surfing
is
not natural. A border collie who follows you from room to room is not
natural. A Rottweiler killing a small dog at the dog run because his
"prey drive kicked in" is not natural. Dogs who are truly trained
through
their predatory emotions do not need emotional release in these
unnatural
ways. They get it in their obedience lessons.

"All animals learn best through play." -- Konrad Lorenz

--------------

I know meds were one.

That's MAS MUY MUCHO LOCO, judeeeth:

From: LeeCharlesKelley
Date: Fri, Oct 29 2004 9:02 am
Email: "LeeCharlesKelley"
Groups: rec.pets.dogs.behavior

Diane S.: There are multiple approaches to teaching people, and
some will work better than others for any given person.

Dogs aren't people. Human beings have far different cognitive
abilities
and are able to grasp information via concepts, symbols, language, etc.
But to some extent, even with human beings, the underlying learning
process is always the same, no matter what approach you take.

Diane S.: Ditto for dog training. No failure nor flaw of
method is involved - that's just acceptance of reality.

First of all, I didn't say that there was a flaw in the method,
though anyone is welcome to make that leap. I said there was a
flaw in the underlying philosophy and its model of learning.

And it's funny that you believe that no one besides me (and
others like me) think there's a "one-size-fits-all" philosophy
of learning, because according to operant conditioning all
behavior is learned through a process of reinforcement.

Tell a die-hard o.p. person that all dogs learn differently.

"Nope," they'll say, "it's all about reinforcement." And according
to the alpha theory all dogs learn to adjust their behavior in
respect to their ranking in the social hierearchy, and if they don't
learn they need to be made aware of your higher position, etc.

Do these approaches to training work some of the time (approximately
40%)?

Yes, but that's because roughly 40% of all dogs are adaptable enough to
supply the missing piece of the puzzle themselves. What's the missing
piece? Finding a way to reduce emotional tension. You can look at
this
through an operant conditioning lens and say, "Well, if that's really
the
case, then the dog is learning due to reinforcement, because reducing
emotional tension would provide the dog with a positive experience, in
other words, reinforcement." An alpha theorist would tell you that a
dog
feels less emotional tension when he knows his place in the pack's
social
structure, etc. But the underlying principle -- that dogs learn
through
their emotions -- is always the same, no matter what form of training
is
used.

My point is that it's better to know how learning really takes
place and approach it from that angle than to go about it in a
hit-and-miss manner, using various philosophical approaches that
don't give you an accurate picture of what's taking place when
a behavior is learned.

--------------

I fear for my sister's life, but she swears she is safe.

INDEED?

I am not one to give up on a dog...

Of curse not, that would be MURDER wouldn't it judeeeth,
knowin all what we know about the leadership of the wild
wooolf and calm assertive attitude, EXXXORCISE, discipline,
zen breathing, dog wheeeespering and unconditional love
trust and respect.

but this one???

Perahps he just needs the Illusion collar and
some LEEEEDERSHIP attached to an airplane cable
behind an ATV for fifteen miles a day and the
N.I.L.I.F program, make heeem WORK for EVEEERYTHIN
includin water.

I ask her to put her up when I visit.

What haaaapen to you CALM ASSERTIVE attitude of
the mother wooolf, judeeeth? Perhaps you should
take a five mile hikd and do some Zen breathin?

I think Cesar would not even give it a try,

the ces would turn your knees to jelly, judeeeth.
Your dog NEEDS fifteen miles of EXXXORCISE EVEEERY
DAY to CALM his DOMINANCE natures, judeeeth. Can
you rollerblade, judeeeth?

if he did it would make one Hell of a Tv show.

Theees dog sounds like he needs the full alpha treeetment.

Be Free.....

INDEEDY! Americas is muy beeeuteeeful pueblo, eh judeeeth?

Judy

You mas mucho amigo friend me, the ces.

From: LeeCharlesKelley
Date: Thurs, Aug 12 2004 9:42 pm
Email: "LeeCharlesKelley"

You didn't answer my question. How do you teach a dog to sit?

Before I answer the question I have to tell you that getting a dog to
sit
on command is not all that difficult, and doesn't necessarily require
high
levels of prey drive to be in play before a dog can learn it. In fact,
in
some respect it requires lower levels of drive than what you'd need for
teaching other commands. That said . . .

Firstly, all behaviors that we want from our dogs, whether it's sitting
or
staying or walking next to us or coming when called, are already
hard-wired into them as part of their prey drive. It's simply a matter
of
knowing how to stimulate the predatory emotions necessary to make the
dog
produce the behavior naturally, on his own, then making him feel that
the
behavior has been successful at satisfying his drive.

A dog will naturally sit when he has a medium level of attraction to
something but doesn't know how to take action to connect to what
interests
him at that moment.

Sitting is the least difficult behavior to train and it doesn't matter
that much what method you use as long as force and punishment aren't
involved in the process. Using force (of modeling, or manipulation,
whatever you like to call it) always creates a natural resistance
response
in the animal. This is not initially or readily apparent in all dogs,
but
the resistance is always there on some level, and you never want to
create
resistance on any level when the dog is first learning any command.

I teach the sit by showing the dog a desirable object, either a treat
or a
toy, then teasing him with it. Once his attraction to it has increased
sufficiently, but not overly so, I move it slightly over his head,
causing
him to sit voluntarily. Some dogs will try to jump up and grab it. In
that case you move it out of his reach and keep him interested in it,
then
move it back over his head slightly again until he finally sits. As he
starts to move into the sit position, softly say "And . . ." then as
soon
as his tush hits the ground, say ". . .sit," in a louder, but inviting
tone, then immediately praise him while at the same time allowing him
to
either take the object in his mouth or chase it. (It's preferable to
throw the object, even if it's a treat, and let him chase it, praising
him
as he does.)

Using a treat should only be used for the first few times and should be
replaced with a toy for the next sessions. Adding the word "And..."
before the command will act as an emotional trigger, preparing the dog
emotionally for the behavior. It's not strictly necessary, but it's
helpful in the long run. Later the dog will sit without the emotional
trigger word being used first.

The sessions should only take 3 repititions, followed by a bit of play,
then 3 more, then more play, then 3 more. That's it. 3x3x3--session
over.

In the beginning it's important to always give the command after the
dog
has already "obeyed" it, not before. After a few of these brief
sessions
the dog will learn to sit when the command is given first. (It sounds
backwards but it's more effective when done this way.)

Then, once the dog has learned the command in relation to throwing the
toy
as a reward for sitting, he'll sit quicker even when there's no toy or
treat involved. A good way to insure this is to teach the dog to jump
up
on command. Once the dog has learned this, give the sit command and
when
he obeys, give him the "up" command as a reward. Jumping up always
creates strong, positive social emotions, which are very rewarding for
the
dog. Jumping up should also be used in connection with teaching the
dog
to heel and to come on command (read Patricia Gail Burnham and Kevin
Behan). Don't overdo it, though. Keep him guessing as to what the
reward
will be. Let him know (and feel) that praise is just as satisfying as
the
other rewards you use. Soon, sitting on command will feel so
satisfying
to him that he'll feel like obedience is its own reward.

Later you can (and should) teach the dog to only jump up when the
command
word is given first. This will also increase his reliability on the
sit,
and will create the same feeling of satisfaction he gets from jumping
up.

When you get to the "proofing" phase, the dog needs to learn to sit
when
the command is given, no matter what distractions there are or where
his
focus is. This requires using whatever the dog is focused on (such as
another dog, even going through a door for a walk) as the focal point
and
reward for producing the behavior. (Use the least compelling
distraction
to start, then slowly increase the level of distraction as you bring
him
along.) When he sits he gets to say hello to the other dog, or to go
through the door, or to complete whatever action his impulses and
emotions
are telling him to take.

I hope this is helpful to you. As I said up top, teaching the sit is
not
that difficult, nor is it the best example of how Natural Dog Training
differs from, and is more effective than, other training methods.

LeeCharlesKelley

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