Three basic phases of obedience training your dog;
Below I have tried to break down the "training stage", that you and your dog have entered, into three phases of training. The three phases are; shaping, correction, and distraction. For each command that we introduce to our dog, we should keep this outline in mind and not take "shortcuts" to achieve quick results.
Shaping phase - This phase of training introduces your dog to the common obedience commands of sit, stay, heel, down and come. We begin by offering a treat to the dog in an attempt to "bribe" him into performing the requested command (i.e. for sit we show the treat to the dog and assist him into the sit position by holding the treat above his head and using our hand to apply pressure to the rear of the knee joints.) Once the dog is in the desired position, we immediately reward with the treat and a "yes" re-enforcer. The use of the verbal "yes" re-enforcer is the same concept used by clicker trainers. We have simply replaced the click with a yes.
The dog, through repetition and good timing, learns that his butt on the ground equals completion of the task and gets his reward (you will see the time it takes for his butt to hit the ground decrease, as he learns the object of the game.) This process is repeated for each command. Once the dog consistently performs the command without physical assistance from us we are ready to begin to "wean" the dog off of the treats. This is done by simply rewarding every third or fourth time the dog performs the command instead of every time. Verbal praise may be substituted as a reward in place of the food.
Correction phase - Once the dog has been weaned from a treat every time, we can begin to use the chain collar to start re-enforcing our command. It is important that our corrections are not too severe for the dog. This collar is commonly referred to as a "choke" collar, however, the dog should not choke when this collar is used. It should be used, instead, to "jolt" the dog, much the same way his mother corrected him after birth. During this phase, the dog will learn to respond to a command through respect and to avoid a correction.
Distraction phase - When the dog is consistently responding to our command with only an occasional correction, it is time to begin the distraction or testing phase. There are a variety of distractions we can use in this phase to test the dog. Having someone bounce a ball, working in a building or park with lots of people, and working around other animals are examples of common distractions. We must remember that a solid foundation is a must before we can advance to this phase. If your dog doesn't listen to your commands without distractions, he certainly won't with them.
All of the above phases are done with the dog on-leash. Once we can work the dog with distractions, on-leash, we can then go back to no distractions and begin working the dog off-leash.
Remember, your dog must have a solid foundation in each phase before moving ahead to the next phase.
