Train The Dog In Front Of You

“Train the dog in front of you” is a mantra commonly espoused by trainers who don’t believe that any dog can be trained without force. They believe that some dogs or behaviours require a firmer hand, and that by embracing a wider range of techniques they are better adapting to the individual dog that they’re training. It’s unfortunately a common belief that force free training is “one size fits all”, and is only one viable method among many.

I think a lot of people don’t realise that force free training (or whatever other label you wish to use - reward based training, welfare driven training, or simply positive reinforcement training) is not simply ‘one’ method. There are hundreds of ways in which we can influence and change behaviour without ever having to use force, fear, discomfort, or pain. Good positive reinforcement trainers do absolutely “train the dog in front of them”, and my aim here is to give you just a few examples of how.

To start off, let’s look at how we might adjust a training approach based on the physicality of the dog we’re working with.

There are many breeds who, unfortunately, often have physical limitations that might make the use of a flat collar (and especially a slip lead or martingale collar) dangerous to use. These include most toy breeds and flat-faced dogs (such as pugs and bulldogs), but also some surprising characters like the Shiba Inu (which develops glaucoma at a shocking rate of 30%). Harnesses are our equipment of choice anyway, but they are even more critical to use with these breeds; even though we do our best not to rely on lead pressure in order to train, it’s just about inevitable that your dog will hit the end of the lead occasionally, and the last thing we want is to cause them harm.

There are some breeds who might find certain motions uncomfortable or painful - for example, a sit position for a greyhound or a dog with hip dysplasia. Repetitive motions, like repeatedly asking a dog to sit and stand, could be taxing on a dog’s joints or downright impossible for an older dog.

And more simply, the size of the dog we’re training can impact a few things. For instance, if you are training a chihuahua to walk at your side, it may not do your back any good to be constantly bending down to lure or reward, where you would have no problem doing so with a German Shepherd. For these dogs, we just think differently about how we deliver rewards - by tossing them on the ground, or first teaching our dogs to catch treats. If you are dealing with reactivity, picking your small dog up could be a viable management strategy, whereas for a larger dog you might positively condition holding their collar to keep them under control.

What about a reactive dog that doesn’t take food? Surely, if you’re a reward based trainer and you can’t reward, you’ll need to resort to something else?

Let’s take a step back for a moment. When we train, we are trying to build desirable behaviours through practice and reinforcement. So consider this: eating is itself a behaviour.

What does that mean?

It means that the ability to take and consume food can actually be considered a skill. Some dogs are very ‘fluent’ at this behaviour, and can easily practice it with a range of foods in a variety of contexts. Other dogs are less fluent - but they are still motivated by food, as it is a biological necessity. Therefore, we can build and practice the behaviour of eating in different contexts to make it easier to reinforce our dogs for the behaviours we want.

However, we can also consider the fact that food is not the only thing that you can use to reinforce desired behaviour. Many dogs who won’t take food in certain context will still go bananas for a toy, which is a perfectly viable option. Better yet, consider a functional reinforcer.

A functional reinforcer is something that the dog is already seeking with their undesirable behaviour. So, if we take the example of the reactive dog, we ask this: what is this dog trying to achieve by barking and lunging?

In most cases of reactivity, it’s distance. They’re trying to make the scary thing Go Away by seeming scary themselves. If distance is what they’re after, all we need to do is teach them that they can get it with new, more desirable behaviours. So, for instance, they learn that simply stopping to sniff or looking to us can make the scary thing go away.

There are so many different ways to reinforce behaviour and build the skills we need, these are just a few.

Now, let’s talk about separation anxiety!

When it comes to separation anxiety, there is technically just ‘one’ method that we use: systematic desensitization. Basically, that means taking an absence that your dog can handle and exposing them to that in manageable pieces. But even though this is just ‘one’ method, there is an endless list of ways that we adapt our strategy to the dog we’re working with, including…

• What is the dog’s starting threshold? AKA, at what point does this particular dog panic?

• What are the cues the dog’s humans give that they are about to leave?

• Which of those cues is the most salient (noticeable) to the dog?

• What is this dog’s exercise and enrichment routine?

• How fast does the dog escalate into panic once they start to worry?

• What is happening in the environment (storms, fireworks, construction) that could make an absence more difficult for the dog?

• Does the dog struggle more when a particular person leaves?

• What are the body language signals that this dog gives at their first sign of worry, when that worry escalates, and when they begin to panic?

• Where does this dog go during an absence?

• Can this dog see their parents walk or drive away through a window, and does that help or hurt their progress?

• Can this dog see other people and dogs through a window, and does that help or hurt their progress?

Every single one of these questions, and more, will inform how we build a training protocol. And not only does this guide our initial approach, but we make daily, personalised plans as we go. Each plan is dependent on the dog’s behaviour from the last session, constantly adjusting and molding to the individual dog and their needs. So even though it’s technically the ‘same method’, no two training plans will ever look alike. Ever.

Behaviour is the study of one. Every individual’s behaviour is a unique cocktail of their genetics, environment, learning history, health, and past experiences. Therefore, every individual is deserving of an approach that is tailored to them and accounts for each of those factors, not to mention their physical attributes.

However.

Tailoring our training to the individual in front of us never means that we have to resort to force, punishment, pain, or discomfort. There is not an individual on this planet, animal or human, who requires those things in order to learn. We are truly only limited by our own skill and understanding - and the great news is, there’s almost always someone who can help!

Whether you are struggling with separation anxiety or another behavioural issue, you never have to train in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, or that needs to be justified. And if you would like to reach your training goals without force but don’t know how, I would love nothing more than to help you.