Latest / The Puppy Training Podcast / Episode #239 Why “No” Isn’t Training: Teaching Alternative Behaviors That Stick

Transcript

Episode #239 Why “No” Isn’t Training: Teaching Alternative Behaviors That Stick · The Puppy Training Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Saying no might stop your dog in the moment, but it doesn't teach them what to do instead.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: In this episode, we dive into why no isn't actually training and how to shift your approach to create lasting behavior change.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Puppy Training Podcast.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: I'm Amy Jensen, founder of Baxter Bella, the online puppy school.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Here we are all about helping you create the best possible experience raising a puppy, from training tips to practical tricks, all aimed at fostering a happy, well-behaved dog who truly feels like part of the family.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: So if you are ready to enjoy the journey and strengthen the bond with your dog, let's get started.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Hey you guys.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: How are you today?
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Today, I hope you're doing great summertime here in utah and my doors are open.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: I'm hearing outside sounds.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Hopefully, you can't hear those in the background.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: I should probably check that, but it is beautiful weather.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: We are so thankful for it and my dogs are loving it as well.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: It's a little hot, so they're definitely looking for the shade trees when we're out playing, and they are definitely more active in the morning and evenings, for sure, but I hope you're enjoying your summer wherever you live.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Today, we are talking about the word no, whether your dog is jumping on guests or barking out the window or chewing on your favorite shoes, your gut reaction might be to shout no.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: But here's the truth.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: No isn't training.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: It might interrupt the behavior and, yes, it can be helpful at times, but it doesn't actually teach your dog what to do instead.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: So let's talk about how to stop unwanted behaviors by replacing them with functional, desirable ones that your dog can succeed at.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: So first off, let's talk about why saying no falls short.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: When you say no to your dog, you might get a momentary pause, and sometimes that's needed.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Sometimes we do need to interrupt, but unless you've taken the time to teach an alternative behavior, your dog is still left thinking I don't know what I'm supposed to do.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: They're a little confused.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Think of it like this If you told a child don't touch that, but never explained what they couldn't touch or why, the behavior might just come back or they'll try something else.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: That also isn't working.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Dogs thrive on clarity.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: No is pretty vague.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: It's a stop sign with no detour.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: So we do like to use it as an interrupter.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Just recognize it's not good enough just to teach your dog no.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Does that make sense?
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Your dog will still be confused.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: They'll still be wondering what they can do, so let's teach them.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Let's show them what that looks like.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Next, let's talk about teaching the what to do instead.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Let's flip the script.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Instead of focusing on what you don't want, ask yourself what do I want my dog to do instead?
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Here are a few real life examples that might help you understand this concept.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: So, jumping on guests we can teach our dogs to sit to greet or go to your mat Maybe your dog's barking out the window.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: We could teach them look at me or go settle.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: If your dog is chewing on the furniture, we could provide a designated chew toy and reward chewing on that.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: The formula is we want to interrupt, which you might use no for.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Then we want to redirect and then we want to reinforce the right choice.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: We're not just stopping behavior, we're teaching better habits.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about functional behaviors that work in real everyday life.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Functional behaviors are skills your dog can use in many different contexts.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: They're simple, reliable and easy to reinforce.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Some of my favorites would be a simple sit.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: This is a great replacement behavior for jumping or demanding attention.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: Anytime I want my dog to ask for something, nicely, I would like them to sit.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: So we teach what we call a sit to say please, here at Baxter and Bella.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: The next behavior I like to teach my dogs is a down or settle.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: It's essentially the same behavior.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: You can use either cue.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: We want our dog to be able to lay down on the floor and relax.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: I like to use this for calming overstimulation or giving your dog a job when guests are over.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: I have my dogs in a down or a settle right now while I'm recording this podcast, because I just want them to be still and quiet so you don't hear all their background noise.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Another cue I teach my dogs is touch, so this means I want them to target my hand with their nose.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: I use this for redirecting their focus or if I need to lead my dog away from distractions.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: That's a simple cue that they know exactly what to do in the moment.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: And because it's such a simple one, I do use it a lot and I can reward that, and it's a simple thing that they can choose to do in a lot of different contexts.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: Another one would be go to place or go to bed, go to mat whatever you want to call it, but this is a good one for managing when people come to your door or if you're sitting down to have a meal as a family, or you just want to prevent chaos in the kitchen.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: Maybe you're walking around your kitchen cooking or prepping the meal meal and you don't want your dog to be caught up under your feet.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Then go to their bed or go to their mat would be ideal.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: And then, lastly, a leave it.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: This is ideal for stopping your dog from grabbing things they shouldn't, but only works if taught clearly and consistently.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: Now, leave it means take your attention away from that item and give it back to me.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Once I have their attention, I'm then redirecting them onto something better.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: So make sure that you're not just saying leave it and they stop.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Okay, but now what right?
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Take them into that.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Now what space.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: So remember, dogs do what works.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: For example, if jumping gets them attention and attention is what they want, even if it's negative, they'll do it again.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: If sitting calmly earns treats and affection, guess what?
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: They'll repeat the sit.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Training isn't about perfection on the first try.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: It's about repetition and reinforcement.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: Dogs need hundreds of repetitions to really learn a behavior.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: So what we want to do is try to catch our dog doing it right and reward that behavior.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: If we can set them up for success by managing their environment.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: That's going to help them get more of those rewards, which means that repetition and that learning is going to happen faster.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: I also like to practice the alternative behaviors, often in different locations and situations.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: We want to prove these behaviors that we're teaching them, not just having them sit in my living room.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: I want them to know how to sit on cement, on grass, when people are around, when kids are running through the house, right.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Lots of different situations.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: We want to make sure that they understand the cue in these different contexts.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: The more our dog learns that this behavior behavior A equals good things, the more they're going to choose it on their own, which is a really fun thing to see.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: When you're training a dog, you can see their wheels turning like how do I get that next?
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Yes, or that reward from Amy, oh, I remember.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Sit to say please works great.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: And then, instead of them demand barking at me, they just come to my feet and sit.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: So here's your takeaway for today.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: We want to try to replace no with here's what you can do instead.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: Now, if you want to use no as your interrupter, great fine.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Just don't stop there, right?
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Don't think that.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: Oh, how do I just teach my dog not to do that?
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: No, we want you to think well, what do I want them to do instead?
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: And teach an action or a behavior that they can do and that they can get rewarded for, and they'll choose that behavior more often.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: So training isn't just about stopping behavior.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: It's about teaching our dog what to do and reinforcing it so it sticks.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: Remember, they're dogs and we're expecting them to live in a human world which they don't know about.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: It's not natural or instinctual to them to do human behaviors.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: They do dog behaviors, so we have to show them.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: This is actually how I need you to behave in this moment in a human world.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Now, a well-trained dog isn't just one who avoids trouble, right, we're not just managing, but we're going to teach them and show them what we want them to do and reward them for it, and then they're going to start making better choices.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening today.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: If you found this helpful, share it with a fellow dog parent or leave us a review.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: It helps more families build better behavior from the beginning, and the earlier you start, the easier it is to change these things or to just prevent them from happening in the first place.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: But hey, we are all in different places of our training journey.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: So if you have an older dog or maybe you just got a rescue dog that's a little bit older as well and problems crop up, we can help you at any stage of the training process.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: So feel free to reach out to us with any questions that you come across.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: And remember, training our dogs is a conversation.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: We don't want it to be a confrontation.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: Let's keep that conversation going.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Until next time, happy training.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in to the Puppy Training Podcast.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: I hope today's tips help you feel more confident and excited about raising your dog.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Remember, with a little patience and consistency, you can create a loving bond and a well-behaved pup who's a joy to have in your family.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, leave a review and share it with fellow puppy parents.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: For more resources, visit Baxter and Bella online.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: Until next time, happy training.