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Overcome Your Puppy's Natural Resistance To Training.

The information you are about to receive could be the most important dog training information you will ever read. This information is important because it is designed to construct a solid foundation between you and your dog. Without this foundation anything you teach from here on will be fraught with problems.

Stated simply; we are going to teach your puppy to stay in place. But the complicated truth is that this simple session will also teach your puppy to accept discipline, understand human language and move past its natural resistance to training.

► Puppies Are A Little Like Children

Dogs no more want to be trained than children want to brush their teeth or go to school. Parents quickly learn to recognize that children often resist authority. Those parents that are able to effectively handle this resistance raise well-mannered children, while those who don't, raise juvenile delinquents.

Genuine learning can only take place when the student moves past his resistance to the teacher. In a grade school setting, teachers establish their authority by asking the children to sit in their desks and to raise their hands when they wish to speak. Day after day, week after week, year after year, as children adapt to classroom rules, most of them move past their resistance to the teacher and accept learning as a part of life.

When confronted by a resistant child, adults deal with the resistance in a number of ways. Some parents stand firm in their thinking and demand that children do as they are told, while others try to sidestep the resistance and bargain with their children.

►Marsha

Marsha, the mother of two identical twins, asks her nine year old daughters to go to bed every night at 8pm and she runs into a wall of resistance every night.  After twenty minutes of serious debate Marsha finally breaks down and promises to give her daughters two dollars each if they will go to bed. The daughters smile happily and jump into bed. Marsha leaves four dollars in their room every night.

►Sandy

Sandy is the mother of triplets: three boys! Every night at 8pm she asks her sons to go to bed. They all kiss their mother goodnight and dart off to their rooms. Sandy smiles and thinks that she should make them a special breakfast when they wake up in the morning. She is thrilled to have such well-behaved children. She makes a special breakfast almost every morning.

As it turns out Sandy and Marsha are good friends; they even work together at the local elementary school. Sandy teaches grade five, Marsha teaches grade four. Every day during lunch break Marsha complains about the terrible kids in her class. "They refuse to listen to me." She laments. Sandy, on the other hand, loves her classroom of kids. "They are all so respectful." She boasts.

►What Proves Effective In The End?

The difference between Marsha and Sandy is that Marsha has not learned how to move her children ( at home or in school), past their natural resistance to authority. Sandy, on the other  hand,  has become an expert at helping kids overcome resistance.

When confronted by her dissatisfied daughters, Marsha is quick to pay her children so that she can avoid any further conflict. Rather than deal with their resistance by helping them focus on all the reasons why they should go to bed, she distracts them with money. In the end, every night when her daughters go to bed, they fall asleep thinking about how they will spend their money. Worse, Sandy is also teaching them that their resistance to her authority gets them paid. "When we fight with our mother," they think, "we get money."  Although Sandy is able to effectively deal with the 'here and now' problem, she is not addressing the underlying issues that cause the problem (nightly arguing), to occur in the first place.

Sandy would no more pay her children than she would expect them to pay her.  When her sons argue with her, she silently listens to what they have to say and then tells them that they have a choice. They can go to bed on their own and sleep well, or she will pick them up and carry them to bed. The choice is theirs. Nine times out of ten they choose to walk themselves to bed. Over time her children have learned to listen because there is no positive reinforcement to be gained from fighting with their mother.

As a puppy owner you will need to address resistance in your puppy. Most dog trainers are like Martha. They do not address resistance head on, rather, they avoid conflict by distracting dogs with treats. This resulting in mature dogs that routinely resist their owners.

A stubborn dog is not much fun, and the only reason they are stubborn is because they have never learned to work though their resistance. It is vital, absolutely essential, that you take the time and teach your puppy to respect your authority and to understand that the sounds you make (human language), have meaning.  And you can accomplish all of this by simply teaching your puppy to "Stay" on command.

►Teaching Respect And Understanding With A Simple Word.

In the whole of your dog's life the most important word you can teach is "Stay". However, the many benefits of this simple word will be lost if you teach it with food bribes or harsh corrections. This incredible, yet amazingly simple word, is best taught with the utmost of patience and something comfortable for your puppy to "stay" on.

The goal of this training step is to reach into your puppy's brain and help him understand that your different tones have unique meanings. While doing so you are going to meet your puppy's resistance and conquer it. Once conquered, your puppy will view you as a leader and a teacher.

Before I proceed I would like to explain why I use the word 'conquered' here. By definition the word 'conquer' could be defined as, to overcome by force. It is important for you to understand that the only force that we will use is the necessary amount of force required to keep your puppy in place. You should never use more force with your puppy than your puppy is using with you. If you subjugate your puppy with massive amounts of human power you will unwittingly cause it to fear you. And that will open up a can of worms that none of us wants to eat!  So, as we proceed here, always remember to stay cool.

You are going to need your long leash and a dog bed, old cover, or pillow. It is also important that you start this training in the same area where you keep your puppy's crate; just in case you become bewildered and need to remove the puppy away from your swelling frustration.

▪ If you own a very young puppy, (8 to 18 weeks), follow the instructions below to effectively boundary train your young dog. Your boundary will be the area on the pillow/blanket.  However, if your puppy is older than 18 weeks please use the inside of its crate as your first boundary area.

► Follow These Training Steps Carefully.

ONE - Attach the long leash to the puppy's collar.

TWO - Place your puppy on the pillow (or blanket), that you prepared for this training session.

THREE - Have a friend or family member hold the puppy on the pillow while you extend the long leash along the floor. The snap of the leash should remain attached to the puppy's collar while the handle is extended out as far as the leash will allow.

The long leash is attached so that you can easily catch your puppy if (and when) it attempts to dart off away from you. The worst thing that can happen to you during this training is that your puppy gets the upper hand by darting off around the house. Please use your leash to prevent this from happening.

FOUR - Once you are sure that your puppy is securely attached to its leash, the real training will start. Do not touch the leash!  That's right; drop it and leave it on the floor. Only use the leash if you must catch the puppy after it has darted off.  The goal of this training session is to help your puppy connect with you, not the leash in your hand or the treats in your pocket. To successfully establish this connection you must train naked (so to speak). Use your hands and your voice as your only two active training tools.

Walk up to your puppy and while doing so, ask your friend to let the puppy go (you will only need another person to help you with this training the first time you try it).  If your puppy runs to you simply take it back to its pillow, but do so without using the leash. If your puppy is small you can simply pick it up and place it back down on the pillow. If the puppy is large you will need to be inventive. That's ok so long as you use your naked hands to guide your puppy back to where you want it.

FIVE - Now that you have your puppy back on the pillow you can ask it to "stay", however, do not undermine your puppy's intelligence by using monosyllabic words. Talk to your puppy with clear sentences that express what you want to happen. Say things like, "Stay there Buster," or "I do not want you to move."  It is not important that you use a consistent word. Dogs understand tones and moods. However, you must be as expressive and animated as possible.

If you have been taught that dogs only understand simple words, please click here before you move on to Step SIX of these instructions.

SIX - Once you have asked your dog to stay in place, slowly back away from him, but watch him carefully. Very carefully. If you are astute you will be able to see when your puppy thinks about moving. Yes, you can read your puppy's mind. How?  Puppies do what they are thinking about, this is especially true if your puppy is not trained or very young. The moment a puppy thinks about moving, it will act on impulse to move.  If you are able to see the subtle changes in your puppy's body posture before it moves off the pillow, you can then correct your puppy before it has a chance to dart off.  Always remember, when dealing with dogs their actions, however unwanted, are never the problem. The real problem with disobedient dogs rests in the impulses that cause the actions to occur.

So there you are, watching your puppy sit on the pillow, as you slowly back away from the pup. Suddenly the puppy tries to walk off the pillow, or looks like it is going to walk off the pillow.

Six - A )  If you were able to detect the puppy's movement before it actually moved, say "STOP!" in a firm abrupt tone. You can even clap your hands together as if ringing and alarm. Quickly move towards the puppy and move it back to the exact spot where you first placed it. You should reposition your puppy even if he stops moving when you say "STOP!"

Six - B)  If you were unable to stop your puppy from moving before it actually started to move, say nothing at all. Zip the lips. Not a word. Here is where you work in complete silence. Without saying a word, rush towards your puppy. Pick it up (if it is small), or take hold of the collar and quickly guide it back to where it was first placed. You must move fast. If you are able run, if you are disabled limp as fast as your wooden leg will carry you. Just get the puppy fast and place it back on the spot where you left it.

Here is where the real training starts. Be warned, the repetition that is about to follow can be exhausting for you and the puppy. In a few seconds your puppy's natural resistance is going to bubble to the surface like an overflow of molten lava. The second your puppy understands that you want it to stay, it will try to move. It will dash, dart, zip and zoom in every and any direction to get away from you. And when you think the zipping is bad.... hold on to your halos ladies, the nipping can be awful.

Don't break down or take the easy way out. When confronted by a puppy that vehemently wants its own way, most modern trainers pull out their bag of treats. Remember Marsha, the mother who paid her children to go to bed?  You don't want to act like Marsha here. You need to address the little devil that lives inside your puppy. The only way to address this devil is to call it to the surface. The devils name is resistance... and you need to perform an exorcism.

When your puppy moves off the pillow. Put it back, and keep on putting it back until. . . bingo!  the penny will drop and you will have trained your puppy to stay in place. 

For More Great Puppy Training Information Check Out...
The Puppy Prophecy.
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