Dogs possess a fantastic nose and smells are a very important part of their life. Playing scent games can give you a fantastic insight in this side of their world. While you may associate scent work with serious activities such as Search & Rescue or working trials, which both require a very big commitment to training, getting started with scent work is actually very easy. Here is a simple and fool proof method to teach a basic game at home, without any special equipment and whichever breed your dog is. You will only need a helper to get you started.

Start in a closed room, hold your dog and ask your helper to show them a ‘prize’ such as a dog biscuit or a favourite toy. If needed, they may encourage the dog by shaking it in front of your dog’s nose and talking to them in an exciting manner. Then place the prize just out of sight, for instance behind a box or a piece of furniture, and take a few steps back. Release your dog saying ‘find it’. As they have seen where the prize was placed, they should go straight to it. When they do, praise them. Play with them for a short time if the prize was a toy. Repeat this once or twice, not necessarily with the prize in the same place.

The next step is slightly different. Your helper should still place the prize just out of sight. Then, instead of releasing your dog, either cover their eyes or turn them towards you so they can’t see what is happening. Your helper should then as quietly as possible move the prize a little further. Keep it simple at first, the prize should be on the floor and within a relatively short distance. When you release your dog remember to say ‘find it’ – they should go straight to the place where they think the prize is. They will be surprised that it is not where they though and start searching. Unless the dog stops searching or looks too confused, don’t repeat the command. I see many people who think they are encouraging their dog, while they are actually distracting them. Search and Rescue dog handlers direct their dogs during searches, but they also know when to shut up and let their dog work. Well, have you ever tried to concentrate on something while your colleague is speaking loudly on the phone or your teenager has put the volume up on their stereo? Dogs are not always a lot better at multi-tasking than men!! Oops, now I’m going to be putting men off reading the rest of this article!! But come on guys, you know you can’t talk while you’re shaving!

Coming back to our scent game, once you have done this a few times in different locations in the room, your dog should not need to see the helper place the prize to a ‘dummy’ location first. Instead, cover your dog’s eyes or turn them towards you from the start, have your helper hide the prize and then send your dog with a ‘Find it’. Always use the same cue when releasing the dog.

The dog will very shortly understand the game enough so that you won’t need a helper anymore, simply place your dog in one room, close the door and hide the prize in the next room. Open the door saying ‘Find it’ and watch your dog go.

Then the limit to how far you take this game is only your imagination, you can make your dog search one room, the whole house, the garden, the dog park… If you do not always use the same prize, then make sure that the dog is shown it first and has a chance to sniff it. Otherwise, you may be surprised what your dog will find for you!

There are many more scent games you can play with your dog. Why not check if your local club offers any scent activities or join a nose work boot camp? All dogs love scent work, it is suitable for all size and breed. Learn the techniques and take your relationship with your dog to a whole new level. People who have dogs who always seem to want to do more will get the added benefit of finally finding an activity that will tire their dog out. Scent games can even help with dogs who bark or get destructive when bored.

About Caroline Dunn

Caroline lives in Kent with her family and their hovawarts. She is the head trainer at Mind Your Dog, where she creates happy relationships between pet dogs and their owners. Caroline and her husband James are also members of NSARDA Cantech, a charity which provides Search & Rescue dog teams to assist in locating vulnerable missing people.

For more information about Mind your Dog events, including their scent workshops visit the Mind Your Dog website http://www.mindyourdog.co.uk/

Dogs pull on the lead for many different reasons:

If you allow your dog to pull, you are simply rewarding the behaviour, and if a behaviour is rewarded it is likely to be repeated. Collars can actually cause pulling because being held around the neck is very uncomfortable and a dog does not always understand that if he were to walk nicely the pressure would ease. Imagine that a person grabs you around the neck and pulls backwards - your reflex would be to pull immediately in the opposite direction. Therefore a lot of lead pulling is the simple physics of opposing forces - you pull, your dog pulls etc. Often, people teach their puppy to pull within seconds of first trying out a collar and lead. The tiny puppy who has never been held by his neck before, runs to the end of the lead and the person goes with the pup to avoid the pup hurting his neck. Bingo, the pup learns "run where I like and the two legged thing will come with me". Simply using a soft harness, a long lead and a few bits of tasty chicken to keep the pup by your side could prevent your puppy ever learning that pulling works.

Dogs and people see the world differently, for example:
Person thinks: My dog has pulled all the way to the beach as usual, thank goodness it's time to let him off.
Dog thinks: Pulling on the lead is what gets the lead taken off

Allowing your dog to pull is actually teaching him or her that this is what they must do to get to where they want to go. Pulling on the lead is extremely rewarding, don't allow it. Some dogs who have been subject to harsh jerks on lead, will often avoid a loose lead because a loose lead immediately precedes a jerk

How to teach your dog to walk on a loose lead

Harnesses

Give some serious consideration to walking your dog on a good quality harness, both for training and long term. Leads attached to collars can actually cause a dog to pull in the first place and pulling on a collar can cause long term neck, back and throat problems. A good harness can be a real asset to training and your dog's long term health.

Don't allow your dog to pull – ever!  *(see notes below if you are training a sled dog)  That can be a scary thought for owners of dogs that pull like mad, so do some planning as follows:

Learn a positive reward based training method for teaching your dog to walk well on the lead,. There are many excellent techniques to try and a good dog trainer will be able to teach you the right technique for you and your dog because no one technique will suit every person. In fact a good trainer should be able to tailor a different technique for everyone in their class if needed. It is possible to learn a lot from books and the internet but serious lead pulling is best dealt with by consulting a professional. There is no instant fix, it takes time and effort.

Every time your dog is on lead must be a training session. Allowing pulling some of the time will undo your hard work and confuse your dog.

If you use a long line or extendable lead, make sure you ask your dog to sit and wait before allowing them to run free, this way they won't learn that pulling makes the lead give way.

You could consider setting aside a whole day or a weekend or even a week off work to give your training a flying start.

Lead walking and Maturity

Most dogs are not fully mentally mature until they are about three years old. This may differ slightly with breed. It is only at this age can you expect your dog to know how to behave, and only if they have been taught positively and consistently from puppyhood. A two year old dog that has always pulled, may take until he's three, but it's more likely it will be longer as he will need to be rehabilitated.

Management and Training

In a perfect world, you would train your dog to do all the things you want him to do in an environment with No distractions. Then you would train him to do the same things with very low distractions. Next you would train the same things with slightly higher distractions and so on and so forth.

But at no time would you ask him to perform any aspect of his training in an environment where the distractions are too high – Would You?

If you do this, it is much like a driving instructor asking a pupil who has only just learned the controls, to drive through town in rush hour!

Therefore you can only expect your dog to sit, or lie, or come back or walk with a loose lead when the distractions are within his current level of training.

There will be times of course when you need your dog to go into more distracting environments than his current level of training, and that is when you need Management.

Good management is about preventing your dog from learning the wrong thing. Here are some ideas:

Avoid walking your dog where the distractions are too great completely. Use the car, choose different walks.

If it is safe to do so, don't use the lead.

Kerri Bee holds a Foundation Degree in Canine Behaviour and Training from the University of Hull. This particular qualification included a very strong element of practical dog training, teaching and counselling people and canine behavioural work as well as a high level of study in all things canine. She is also a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (no.0999) and runs training classes and one-to-one consultations in West Pembrokeshire. Visit her website. http://www.windrushdogsforlife.co.uk

Editor's Note * This would not be the case if you were training a sled dog, as you would want such a dog to pull, but it is useful for the dog to know when he is in work mode, ie pulling and when you want him to loose lead walk. My own husky is loose lead walked wearing a harness with 2-points-of-contact with a high point of influence, whilst for work she wears an x-back harness with the connection at the base of the tail. This way she know exactly what is expected of her.

Recommended Products

Walking Harness

Training Lead

Clicker

These days there is an almost overwhelming choice of equipment available, all claiming to help us walk our dogs easily and safely. Tellington TTouch practitioner Janet Finlay who is also a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers UK (no.01046) looks at the benefits of using harnesses.

A wealth of different designs of collars, head collars, and harnesses. All have their proponents who feel theirs is the right tool to help you train your dog not to pull on the lead. So how do you decide what is the best for you and your dog?

As a TTouch practitioner I always want to choose equipment that will help the dog to succeed, so I start teaching loose lead walking by fitting a good harness – one that doesn’t tighten on the dog and that has at least chest and back attachments – together with a double-ended lead.

This may seem counter-intuitive. After all, anyone who has seen a team of huskies, knows that dogs can pull pretty hard into a harness. But it is also the best tool I know to stop a dog pulling. Here are six reasons why.

1. It takes pressure off the neck.

A dog pulling into a collar around the neck pulls himself off balance and he therefore has to use you (pulling back against him) to balance himself. Pressure on the neck also restricts breathing, reducing the oxygen that reaches the brain, increasing anxiety and reactivity and reducing the ability to learn. Not to mention the risk of physical damage to the neck and spine and to the soft tissue in the throat from pulling hard into a collar. So the first thing we need to do if we want to teach a dog to walk on a loose lead is to get that pressure off his neck! A good harness means that we can take all pressure off the neck, connecting instead to the chest and/or back.

2. It allows two points of connection.
When you attach the lead to one point on the dog, when the lead tightens, the dog’s opposition reflex will mean that he pulls into it. This is the case whether the attachment is to the collar or the back of the harness, which is why attaching to the back of the harness only, encourages a dog to pull. When a dog has not yet learned to walk on a loose lead, the lead will tighten simply because his natural pace is faster than ours. But a good harness has at least two connection points, one on the chest and the other on the back, and we can connect to each of these with either end of a double-ended lead. Then, if one end of the lead tightens, we can meet that pressure and then release it, while taking up the other connection. Alternating between connections in this way means that there is nothing for the dog to pull against and the opposition reflex is not triggered.

3. It positions the dog naturally at your side.
If you want your dog to walk on a loose lead, the ideal place for it to be is beside you, matching your pace and direction. Attaching a lead to a collar or the back of a harness, positions you firmly behind the dog – in the perfect position to encourage pulling! But when you add that front connection to the harness, with two points of connection, the dog moves naturally to be positioned with his shoulder at your side. This is a much more comfortable position to walk in and does not encourage pulling, which brings us to our next point.

4. It is more comfortable for your dog.
Harnesses distribute any pressure across a much larger and less sensitive body area in the chest and flank, than the alternatives where pressure is concentrated in the neck or face. A well-fitted harness is therefore more comfortable for your dog than being led by a collar or wearing a head-collar. Combined with two points of connection, a fixed harness does not put unpleasant pressure on the dog, which makes the dog more relaxed and therefore less likely to pull. Note: harnesses that tighten on the dog work by creating an unpleasant sensation when the dog pulls, which is not comfortable and not recommended.

5. It gives you better influence and communication.
Two points of connection on a harness give you much more influence on your dog’s behaviour than a single point, and it increases your ability to communicate what you want to your dog. It can be helpful to think of the connection at the back as your “brake” and the front connection as your “steering”. If you want your dog to slow down, a gentle lift upwards (rather than backwards) on the back connection, will slow your dog without unbalancing him or triggering the opposition reflex. Direction can be communicated very clearly using the connection at the front. This allows you to use the lead gently to reinforce your verbal communication, as a cue or a signal, rather than a correction.

6. It encourages your dog to walk in balance.
Ultimately, to set your dog up to succeed in learning to walk on a loose lead, he first needs to learn to walk in his own balance, without leaning his weight against you through the lead. As we have seen, using a single point of contact on a collar works against this and encourages the dog to pull forward, putting the dog (and you!) out of balance. But using a harness with points of connection on the chest and back, encourages the dog to move his centre of gravity backwards so he is more balanced. And a dog that is physically balanced will also have better emotional balance and will therefore be better able to learn.

Once he is in that balanced position beside you, you can start to reinforce the non-pulling behaviour you want. Select what you want to reinforce – the lead being loose, your dog being in a particular position at your side – and use a clicker to mark that behaviour. You will find that it happens much more naturally and frequently using a harness in this way and he will be able to learn quickly and easily, because you have set him up to succeed. Tomorrow I will talk in more detail about the particular harnesses that work best for this.

So that is why I like to work with harnesses but what about you? Do you use harnesses? Or do you have another approach to loose lead walking that you like better? Let me know in the comments section.

Janet Finlay is a TTouch Companion Animal Practitioner 2 and a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (01046). She lives in Cardiff with her partner and her two dogs, Jake, a Smooth Collie, and Mirri, a Lurcher. website http://www.canineconfidence.com

Checkout the Xtra Dog harnesses and TTouch harnesses, ideal for this work both recommended by Janet Finlay 

TTouch Harness 

"Designed by TTouch instructor Sarah Fisher, this is an H-style harness with front and back connection rings. The back piece is shorter than most H-style harnesses, keeping the connection further forward to balance the dog and discourage pulling. Both the neck and body straps can be unclipped, so this is a great design for those dogs that don’t like things going over their heads. The harness is very adjustable, allowing adjustments on either side of the neck, on either side of the body and on the chest, and it comes in three sizes, so can fit most dogs comfortably. It comes in green and black webbing."

"I use these harnesses regularly with my own dogs and with clients and can highly recommend them. Whichever one of these harnesses you choose,  you won’t go far wrong!"

 Click The Clicker to order yours

What is Clicker Training?

Clicker Training was first developed by a B.F. Skinner, arguably the most celebrated psychologist since Freud. He first fully defined reward based training in 1938 and his work, while based on human education, went on to influence animal learning (most teachers have heard of Skinner!).

Clicker training is completely punishment free, it is easy to learn and enjoyable for humans and dogs and can be applied in any canine situation. Clicker training is used for puppy training, rescue dogs, dogs who have been mistreated, dogs with aggression issues, show dogs, competition dogs, working dogs, assistance dogs—the list goes on and on.

The click of the clicker means three things to a dog

• You got it right
• A treat is coming
• You’re finished

The clicker therefore, acts like a camera to the dog, taking a snapshot in his short term memory of the exact moment he achieved the correct behaviour. Once a dog understands that, if they value the reward enough, they are then motivated to repeat the behaviour and continue learning.

Why use a clicker, why not just titbits?

It is easier to get the timing correct with a clicker when practised and timing is critical to a dog’s understanding of their training. Dogs relate the reward to what they are currently doing or what they have just done – before doing anything else.

• The clicker is more precise than a verbal marker like ‘good dog’ and there is emerging scientific evidence to suggest that the sound is processed more effectively by the brain.
• The clicker is ideal for distance work, also for children to learn and for people with physical disabilities as one doesn’t need to be right near the dog to reward the correct behaviour.
• The clicker is distinctively different to other sounds so cannot become diluted by daily language like ‘well done’.
• The clicker is consistent in tone and pitch and isn’t subject to moods like owners!
• Clicker trained dogs tend to be happier, more enthusiastic and bright eyed and have great self confidence, as well as a closer bond with their owner(s).

Do I always have to use the clicker?

The clicker is for teaching new things, you only need it to teach your dog what you want and what that is called. When your dog responds to the word you are teaching reliably and quickly, you can fade the clicker.

Do I always have to use food?

It is very important to continue the training process, until your dog will respond to all the verbal cues (used to be called commands) automatically and everywhere. Training often fails because people don’t continue the training process as follows:

• Teach with the clicker and food (or play)
• Fade the clicker, continue with verbal cues and food
• Gradually fade the food so your dog works harder for less food

Won’t praise be enough?

Not usually, most people are motivated to work for money and whatever they get out of their job (friendships, satisfaction etc), dogs are no different. Not many people work for the love of the job alone and those that do are highly motivated by whatever they get out of the job. It’s all about motivation and most dogs are motivated by food and play. They enjoy praise of course, but it’s not usually enough on its own, but equally don’t forget to warmly praise your dog as well as feed him and play with him.

What happens when my dog gets it wrong?

Dogs have no concept of right and wrong, only rewarding and not rewarding. They don’t have morals, and therefore can’t look ‘guilty’. There is a positive solution for any canine behaviour that conflicts with what people want.When actually training, clicker training involves nothing negative whatsoever, not even verbal reprimands. Any form of punishment is in conflict with the scientific principles of clicker training. The worst that can happen for the dog is that the click, and therefore the treat, doesn’t come. The lack of reward will discourage repetition and encourage the dog to experiment and try out new things, without fear of reprisal, which in turn fully develops his or her personality.

In short

Get the behaviour (lots of ways to do this)
Mark it with the clicker
Reward it

Before Getting Started

Points to be aware of:

• The click is the action of pushing and releasing the clicker so it is actually ‘click-click’.
• A click guarantees that a treat will follow, even if you click by mistake or at the wrong time.
• One reward, one click, never multiple click. Give multiple treats for an extra special response, but only 1 click.
• Never use the clicker to get the dog’s attention - this could adversely affect all of your training efforts.
• Timing Counts – your dog will learn much faster if he can count on you to mark the right behaviour.

Organising Training Sessions

• Choose times when you have as few distractions as possible, to begin with.
• Choose a time when your dog is awake and alert.
• Choose a place in the home where he is comfortable to begin with (see below).
• Make sure you have everything you need to hand.
• Make sure your dog has been to the toilet and hasn't just eaten.
• Make sessions very short to begin with – literally 5 minutes at a time, but several times a day.
• Build up the length gradually, always finish the session with your puppy or dog wanting more, never leave it till he's bored and wanders off. There can be seconds between full attention and boredom.
• Don't overload him. Be aware of all the other things he is learning as well, like house training.
• Teach one thing at a time in each short session to begin with and only practise different cues in one session when he has fully mastered each one.
• When he has got the idea, practise in different rooms in the house and when confident, move into the garden.
• Next move farther afield, slowly adding in distractions. Visiting friends, going for a walk etc.
• Don't progress too quickly, or add in too many distractions until he can cope and don't allow him to fail!

Release Word

A release word is invaluable in training. It just means, 'exercise over', or 'go and play'. Choose any word or phrase that suits you e.g. 'ok', 'good' and replace the clicker with this when you are ready to phase it out.

 Kerri Bee is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (no.0999). She runs training classes and one-to-one consultations in West Pembrokeshire. Visit her website. http://www.windrushdogsforlife.co.uk

 Editor's note ... American, Karen prior a well known dog trainer was one of the major pioneers of clicker training. She started out as a dolphin trainer and found that using a whistle with marine mammals was a fantastic way to shape their behaviour and she developed the work with other land based animals using the clicker. Her book Clicker Training Dogs (ISBN: 978-1860542824) is a fantastic introduction to this method of dog training. Also checkout her website www.clickertraining.com

Check out Emily Larlham video and see clicker training in action

 Reward based dog training is based on the simple truth that if behaviour is rewarded, it is more likely to be repeated. This is true of humans as much as dogs, after all, how many people would go to work if they didn’t earn any money?

If you think of all the reasons why you as a human do anything you should find that it all comes down to motivation. Motivation however, can be created by the threat of something unpleasant as well as the promise of something pleasant. This applies to so many things in life, for example we generally clean our homes to be rewarded by living in a pleasant environment but there is also the threat that if we don’t, germs will take over. It’s how we feel about these motivating factors that affects our relationships.

How does this affect dogs? Well, dogs don’t really do things just to please us and even dogs that appear to do that will be motivated by other factors – you just have to look more closely. The key is how we motivate them which determines how our dogs (and cats and children and......) feel about us.

Positive reward based training develops trust and loyalty between dogs and people. It also helps develop your dog’s personality rather than suppress it like traditional methods. Dogs really enjoy this kind of training because it taps into their natural love of learning and it stimulates their brains, making for happier, well behaved pets and therefore owners.

This kind of training is fun, positive and quick because dogs and people learn best when they are relaxed and happy. You can learn how to teach your dog anything without even raising your voice. In fact shouting or physical force of any kind are strictly prohibited in class, because such punishment teaches nothing and is therefore unkind and since there are positive ways to teach, there is simply no need.
Dogs learn by simple association. If they sit and receive a food treat at the same time or immediately after they are likely to be motivated to sit again. Dogs cannot understand our language without help, so in order to learn a word for an action they must hear the word a number of times at the same time as performing the action, before being able to perform the action when asked.
One way to train dogs (and nearly all animals) is with clicker training.

Using Rewards in Training
The kind of rewards, the variety, and how they are used in reward based puppy and dog training is essential to success – rewards are wages!

Most dogs are motivated by food and toys to different degrees. With toys, it is the games that people play with them that make them exciting or with toys such as Kongs, it is the food they are stuffed with.

We usually start with food treats to teach a dog new behaviour because most are motivated by food and small easily eaten food treats make the training process quicker and easier to understand. Toy rewards are useful at the end of sections of training and in more progressive training where the dog has built up a desire for the toy.

Food treats must come thick and fast to start with to cement the learning, and then as the training becomes more automatic the food can be gradually phased out. It is a good idea to continue to treat your dog occasionally, even when he knows the cue well. It will strengthen the bond between you in the same way that an occasional word of thanks for doing the dusting, works for you!

What treats to use
It is well worth making a list of your dog’s top ten treats, bearing in mind that your dog although strictly an omnivore (eats anything!), he or she is mainly a carnivore and so meat will probably forms at least six of her top ten. Her daily kibble may or may not be in that top ten.

Liver cake is loved by about 99% of dogs I meet. It’s cheap and easy to make, but quite yucky, so I often sell some in class. To make it, liquidise a packet of liver, add an egg (optional) and enough wholemeal flour to make it the consistency of cake mixture. Pour into a tin lined with foil and greased and bake until it’s firm. When cool cut into squares and freeze – you can defrost as much as you need.

Tuna and other fish can be made into cake as above if your dog likes it as many do.

Cheese good for vegetarians, dogs love it, keeps well, easy to use – try cheap mild cheddar. Use in moderation with young puppies and don’t over-rely on it for any dog. Cheese is so easy to use it can get boring and too much may upset tummies - variation is the key.

Chicken - a top favourite. Save scraps from your meals, cut them small and freeze in pots. Cook cheap portions in stock, so it doesn’t shrink as much.

Beef doesn’t have to be expensive. Again, bits from your own meals, cooked or raw cheap mince and sandwich meat. You could try whizzing up cheap mince, an egg and flour and baking – this makes it go a lot further.

Sausage is a big favourite but they are usually full of salt so use your dog’s fondness for them sparingly by adding one or two tiny bits to each handful of treats – it will add incentive. Try Tesco smokey bacon cocktail sausages!

Sandwich meat can be really convenient as it is already sliced. Dogs like garlic sausage, chicken roll, all that kind of thing.

Commercial Treats are liked by many dogs but usually come nearer the bottom of their Top Ten, making them useful for ‘ok’ responses whilst reserving the top treats for new work and ‘wow’ responses. Choose ones that list meat as the first ingredient and look out for added salt, sugar and artificial ingredients, especially colours.

How to Maximise the Benefit of Treats
Treats need only be very tiny to work for your dog, chop up food small and use a treat bag to keep your pockets clean.

Always use the top treats for new behaviours and to progress training i.e. if your dog sits nicely in the living room for a ‘Number 6 treat’ she will probably need a ‘Number 8’ when she first sits outside. Similarly, your dog will probably need a lot of very tempting treats to work effectively in class due to all the distractions.

Variety is also needed to maintain interest – after all even I get bored of chocolate at Christmas and Easter!

Be aware also of how you feed treats; make sure your dog feels your pleasure at his success. Try teaching your dog to catch treats, this can be really useful and fun too. When you start feeding jackpots (an extra special reward for something really great), try feeding them slowly and praise lavishly at the same time.

Don’t forget to reduce your dog’s food by the amount of treats he has in a day and remember you won’t always be a walking dog treat machine if you follow the full training process!

Do also please remember that your dog just won’t work as well for dry biscuits as they do real meat or cheese. They may be happy with it at home but in class they need something that will keep their attention, especially if other people have tastier treats. Dry foods are also far more likely to get stuck and they take longer to eat slowing your training and therefore the learning right down.

Using Toys

Try to develop a habit of playing tuggy or retrieve or chase after each segment of training. It reinforces the training more and allows your dog a quick break before re-starting training.

Kerry Bee is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (no.0999). She runs training classes and one-to-one consultations in West Pembrokeshire. Visit her website. http://www.windrushdogsforlife.co.uk

Marie Miller, author, behaviourist, TTouch practitioner and a founder member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (UK), looks at how to stop your dog pulling using TTouch ground work and a double ended lead.