Training — The Pug Dog Club

PUPPY TRAINING

Dog Show Exhibitors often say to me “your Pugs just do it”, well they don’t, they were trained. This is how “they just do it…”

Understanding the way in which puppies learn helps the handler to train more efficiently. Puppies do not associate words with actions unless they are taught or ‘conditioned’ to do so. So, you can repeatedly ask your puppy to ‘stand’ or ‘sit’, but unless they have been taught the action first, they will not associate the action with the command. Puppies initially learn through a combination of ‘trial and error’ (Operant conditioning) and positive reinforcement. This is the case with any behaviours, to repeatedly display a behaviour there will be some form of reinforcement. Examples of this can be: Barking at the postman; the postman appears, letters arrive, dog barks, Postman goes away. The postman leaving is the reinforcement.

Timing

When we train, the handler rewards with whatever motivates the puppy. Most like food or a toy. When puppy displays the desired behaviour, initially do not use a command. Let the puppy offer the ‘stand’ or ‘sit’ but be ready to reward the action immediately. To really embed this, I find it useful to have a few treats or the puppy’s biscuits in a pocket, so if they randomly stand, or whatever action you are teaching, you can reward them immediately. Timing of the reward is absolutely the key to ‘marking’ the behaviour. If you’re too late and the puppy has moved, this is when not to reward them. Rewarding or reinforcing too late can mark another behaviour. For example; puppy stands but by the time you realise and take out a treat, the puppy has sat down. In this instance I do not reward, I just ignore the behaviour completely on that occasion.

Verbally marking

When puppy has started to associate what to do to get a reward, this is the time to put a word to it. As the puppy stands add the word ‘stand’ to the action (or ‘sit’ or ‘down’ if that is what you are teaching). I find this more effective than adding the word as you reward. I have done it both ways, and have found that if I have used the word ‘stand’ as I reward puppy, later on in the training the puppy gets over excited as they are expecting the reward immediately rather than waiting for it. Gradually you can start to ask puppy to stand and they will offer that action (Classical conditioning).

Shaping

Shaping a behaviour or action is basically refining what you are asking, for example; asking puppy to stand for a longer period or eventually adjusting the puppy within an action (such as not standing correctly). I don’t attempt this until the puppy is around 14 weeks old, and only if they are understanding their ‘training’.

I ask puppy to stand, but count a couple of seconds before the reward. This is gradually built up until the puppy understands they need to wait in that position for the reward. I go back to adding a word to this. Personally, I add in ‘wait’ and a hand action simultaneously to signal to the puppy they are correct in their behaviour, but they have to wait for the reward. Eventually you can take it a step further and signal through body language, but I think that’s for another day.

Exposure. Once puppy understands their command, do it everywhere! Carry a few treats in your pocket when you’re out for a walk, on different surfaces; gravel, grass, by a busy road, in and around other dogs. I only recommend this at the point where puppy really understand what you are asking. Don’t be tempted to do it constantly as puppy may become bored, but randomly and reasonably regularly. I find training with other things going on in the background is a great way to train puppy to focus on you. I play music or have the TV on loud when training in the house, or train on my drive with traffic passing drive with traffic passing.

Lead/ show training I do the majority of the above work off the lead, and mix it up with putting puppy on a surface and rewarding, so they associate being on a table with a reward. You can gradually ask puppy to stand on the table as their confidence grows. Occasionally I put a show lead on the puppy (from about 12 weeks) and ask them to stand, walk and be rewarded with the ‘special lead’ on. All my Pugs go crazy when they see a show lead as they associate it with fun and food! Whilst we are aiming for a sensible stand for the show ring, or a sensible sit. It’s important for the puppy not to think the whole exercise is boring or frustrating. If puppy jumps into their stand or sit and wags their tail, and is overly enthusiastic, you’re winning! Don’t be tempted to do it constantly as puppy may become bored, but randomly and reasonably regularly.

Equipment

Naturally, a collar and lead is required for steering and brakes. Whilst there is a huge variety to choose from, I find puppies do well to start with a soft material collar. For show training I progress onto a half check collar. It gives you a bit more control, and is less likely to slip off. The weight of the chain makes it easier for the handler to judge when the puppy is moving on a loose lead.

Harnesses

Harnesses are becoming more popular, and fitted correctly can be useful under certain circumstances, and only used when the Pug is properly lead trained. Trying to control a puppy on a harness is very difficult, and I think it’s important to consider that harnesses were designed for the dog to pull against. Harnesses are useful for older Pugs, if you want to avoid putting pressure around their neck, or I have used them following an injury. A harness should be properly fitted and ideally fit the base of the neck and between the front legs, not straight across the Pugs point of shoulder. Obviously, harnesses can’t be used in the show ring.

Show leads

There are lots to choose from, but most popular for showing Pugs is the half check (sometimes called Martingales). As above, it gives the handler more control than a plain collar or terrier type show lead. Full check chains or Snake chains are sometimes seen in the ring but should only be used on dogs that are trained to show on them. Used incorrectly, chains can be quite dangerous.

Progress Calendar

8-10 weeks

Taking treat from right hand

Introducing wearing a soft collar

Feeding in a crate with door open

Sleeping in a crate

10-12 weeks

Clicker/reward

Walking on a soft lead in the house/ back garden (after vaccination)

Rewarding on a table

Starting ‘stand’ or ‘sit’ training

Introducing a show lead

14-16 weeks

5/10 minute walk on a lead

Standing with lead on in different environments

Visiting different places/ meeting strangers

Travelling in the car

4-6 months

Training class/ Ringcraft

Extending stand time

Table examination

Practicing show patterns on a show lead

6-9 months

First shows

Revisiting any issues

Keep it fun and varied, and bear in mind that some puppies learn quicker than others. This is

a basic overview that I have found to work pretty consistently. No magic wand here…

By Sophie Farnworth

PUG TRAINING - PART I

It seems to me that every little puppy is born with an inbuilt ability to train gullible humans! It's probably why they get on with us so well. As for Pug Puppies - they are born with a Master's Degree in human training and over the years they have skillfully managed to convince us that they cannot be trained and they will do just as they please.

The art of modern dog training is not to try to impose your will on the beast but, by skillful training, con

him into believing that what you want him to do is exactly what he intended to do anyway. Pugs (and many other supposedly difficult breeds) can be really eager to please if only you show them what is wanted and make training fun with plenty of praise and rewards. IF YOU'RE NOT ENJOYING IT YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG (That's Rule I). It's a pity that many people think of training as waiting until their dog misbehaves and then shouting. This is most unfair - he may stop what he's doing but won't really understand why you are shouting. Thus confusion starts and the owner may perceive the dog as wilful, dominant, stupid, even spiteful. It is not possible to teach in a "How do I stop it?" situation. There are no quick fixes. Much better to train some simple actions which he can be asked to do in place of his unwanted behaviour, eg. a jumping up dog can be asked to sit; a dog pestering for attention can be told to go and lie down, though I suspect the pug will end up on your knee!

Training does have to be done as 'lessons' first before you can hope for obedience in everyday situations. So, how do you get started?

The basic essential may be snuggled up on the settee with you right now - a dog who loves human companionship. If he loves food and enjoys playing that's good too. If he's a puppy all the better but it is never too late to start. You will also need some very small but tasty food rewards which may be part of his daily food ration as you don't want him to get too fat. You cannot teach anything much unless your pupil is paying attention so work on this first. If he is used to being part of a gang you will have to separate him. Dog training is a one-to-one affair and you don't need the distraction of his friends butting in. Talk quietly but animatedly and when he looks at you tell him how wonderful he is and offer a treat. Repeat this regularly. Next decide what you want him to learn. Training provides mental stimulation so the more things you teach the better. Lots of people enjoy teaching tricks and this is fine too as it's fun for dog and owner (Remember Rule I).

I like to start by teaching young puppies basic positions of sit, stand and down, and also work on getting a prompt recall. Maybe you've been told that you mustn't teach your "Showdog" to sit as he'll sit in the ring, so let's get this one sorted out first. Dogs sit, stand, lie down and move all by themselves - these are natural actions. When you train all you are doing is putting in words of instruction to ask your dog to do these things when you want him to. When he is in a controlled situation a trained dog will do them only when asked, ie; when you want him to so if your dog sits in the ring it's because you have NOT trained him. I teach Sit and Stand within the same lessons using food rewards. I reward both positions but make more fuss of a good stand and finish the lesson with a well rewarded stand. I would be quite happy to change this round for a few days and reward the sits more if I felt my dog was showing reluctance to sit.

Whatever you aim to teach do it first at home without distractions, being very consistent with your commands and actions. Don't babble - your dog will be confused and will not be able to listen. Praise cheerfully and reward as soon as your dog does what is wanted.

The most important principle to remember is that YOUR DOG LEARNS BY BEING SHOWN WHAT TO DO AND BEING REWARDED FOR DOING IT (That's Rule II). Timing of commands and timing of praise are essential training skills, eg. for a simple Sit you can encourage him into position with a titbit. The word "Sit" should be said AS HE IS MOVING INTO POSITION, not before. The praise and reward comes immediately WHILE HE IS STILL SITTING, not after he has moved. If he moves, encourage him back into position before parting with the reward.

When he is doing well with training at home you must repeat the lessons in lots of different situations with gradually increasing distractions and at last off lead. If you fail at any stage (you almost certainly will) stop and think why - DON'T BLAME THE DOG (That's Rule III). You are probably going too fast. Lessons can be very short so you need dedication rather than hours of time. You can teach your puppy to sit and stand or to lie down while you are waiting for the kettle to boil.

There are many different methods of training and you should choose an enjoyable and fun one that you feel comfortable with and stick with it. The "I've tried everything" approach always ends with a confused and frustrated dog and owner, and so Rule IV is STOP TRAINING IF YOU FEEL ANGRY - re-check Rule I!

In Part II of this article I will tell you how I teach these important basics and later will tell you about some training games you can play to increase your pupil's keenness.

By Maureen Taylor

PUG TRAINING - PART II

Part I (in the previous Bulletin) gave some basic training ideas to think about. Let's re-cap "The Rules" before going on.

Rule I - If you're not enjoying it you're not doing it right.

Rule II - Your dog learns by being shown what to do and being rewarded for doing it.

Rule III - Never blame the dog.

Rule IV - Stop training if you feel angry.

BASIC SIT, STAND AND DOWN TRAINING:

Get a small tasty treat and get your dog's attention with it. Hold the treat securely just in front of his nose then take it back slowly over his head. Keep it near to him - do not move your hand up into the air. Don't say anything, just let the treat do the work. As he follows it he will eventually move into a sit. As he moves into position say "Sit" in a pleasant quiet tone then quickly praise and feed the treat before he moves. At this stage he is likely to get up straight away. That's OK. It gives you the opportunity to repeat the sequence. If your timing is good he will soon get the idea that getting his rear onto the ground is what persuades you to part with the treat, and he will gradually begin to associate the Sit command with the action. At this point you can pause for just a second or two before parting with the treat. Don't add any other command such as "Stay" at this stage as it tends to confuse and slows training. Mastering this very basic Sit usually occurs fairly quickly so you are now at the stage where you need to get him up so you can practice the whole thing again. It's time to work on the Stand command. Do Sit as usual, praise quietly then move the treat very slightly forward keeping it at nose level - not above his head. He may follow it and if he does say "Stand" and praise and reward. If he's unsure about what is required use your other hand to gently stroke his stifle and carefully encourage him into a stand. It is worth spending time on this as you want him to be relaxed and happy while standing. Whether you wish to show or not it is a useful position for grooming, drying, vet examination etc. You can now practice sits and stands alternately, always praising when he moves into position, but as you progress you don't need to food reward every time. It often makes a dog keener to keep trying if he doesn't know just when he will 'Hit the Jackpot' and get paid. When he's happy to Stand on command run your hand along his back and over his body. If this makes him sit keep.

NOW FOR THE DOWN.

Use a food treat as before to move him into a sit but don't bother to say the sit command as he moves. Immediately, take the treat down to the floor just in front of him. He may follow it down if you are lucky. If he doesn't keep it at floor level with your hand over it and let him root around trying to find it. If his front end goes down that's good and you can try putting your other hand gently on his croup region to encourage the rear to follow. Then do exactly as you did with the sit but use the command "Down" as he goes into position and let him take the treat. A very few dogs are resistant to the down. If so, for the first few tries only, I would reward the half way stage of the front end going down. calm and quiet (Do Not Shout NO!) and just encourage him back into a stand.

COME BACK WHEN CALLED.

A really important one - puppies are usually happy to do it and you must cash in on this though you can re-train older dogs too. Decide what you are going to say. "Come-on" is a No, No! We all say it all the time and expect our dogs to interpret it into whatever we happen to mean. I like to use the dog's name, followed by a clear command of "Come". This means that I would like you here right now please and you will be rewarded. Don't use it if you are going to do anything unpleasant, eg. putting in eye or ear drops. You just have to steathily go and get him for this.

Start recall training on a loose lead so he does not have the option to run off and ignore you. Walk forward a short distance, treat at the ready, and if he's out in front of you all the better. Say his name in a happy excited voice and as he looks round say "Come" and walk back repeating the word Come excitedly and using the treat to encourage him. Keep the treat in front of you (not out to your side) as that is where you want him to come. Reward immediately and repeat frequently. Many dogs are put off coming quickly by being told firmly to Sit when they arrive. It's not necessary at this stage - a treat and a big fuss is what is needed.

Recall training needs to be done on lead at first. Calling a dog who has no intention of returning is actually teaching it not to come. However, when practising the above Beginner Recall you can add the following which will avoid the bad habit of grabbing the titbit and dodging away before you can put on the lead. As you offer the titbit gently move your other hand around his head and get hold of the collar. Done consistently, you will have a dog who takes for granted that you get hold of his collar when feeding his recall treat. As you progress every recall must not result in the end of freedom. Sometimes you must call, reward and release him again to play.

All your initial training must be done where there are no distractions at all but it is now time to Take your Show on the Road and practice in lots and lots of different places.

I know the explanations are long but the doing of them actually happens very quickly so you don't need hours of time. Two minutes here and two minutes there is a much better way of training anyway.

There are of course lots of other methods of training and numerous books on the subject. Whatever you try, pick a method and stick with it. If you fancy Clicker Training I think it works well for pugs but you need to do some study of the theory behind it first. I am not proficient enough to attempt to write about it. There are many books. For a starter try Don’t Shoot the Dog! by Karen Pryor. Another book which may totally change your thinking about dogs is The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson. I loved this book and the method described for teaching Stay using food worked well for my pugs.

Next time I will tell you about some training games you can plan to increase your pupil's keenness to train.

By Maureen Taylor.

PUG TRAINING - PART III - GAMES FOR PUGS.

If the thought of 'training' fills you with horror try some of the following ideas. All are fun - they can be used to brighten up boring on lead walks or can be done in the house or garden if you prefer. All you need is your pug, a lead, some treats and toys and a human who isn't afraid of playing silly games and having fun. The big bonus - while playing your dog is learning to listen, to be attentive, and is enjoying your company - in other words he's being trained!

Let's start with a really easy one. How about a game of Hide the Carrots? Why carrots? Well, I use them, and other crunchy raw veggies as treats and fillers for greedy dogs who never think they have had enough dinner. Use more tempting morsels or a portion of your dog's daily rations if you wish. Of course you can just hand the food out in chunks but with very little extra effort you can exercise your pug's nose and his brains as well as his jaws. Cut up the carrots, show them to him, them leave him in the kitchen while you hide them behind chair legs, under tables, in corners etc., around your living room or hallway. Release your eager dog who can spend a few minutes of fun finding them. Obviously he may need a bit of direction at first but will soon catch on to what to do. The game brings it's own reward but there is no harm in praise and encouragement from you as well because the point of games playing is for you and your dog to interact together. Pugs may be a bit slow at nose work so play with one dog at a time at first and make the initial hiding places very easy. Later on you can play with two dogs if you hide plenty of bits. You may need to cheat discreetly to help the slower dog to find his share. Don't have a conscience - your dog will cheat like mad given half a chance!

If your dog is slow to return to you when called try some "Silly Throws". Maybe you can think up a better name for this one but my dogs respond to the phrase "Let's have a Silly Throw!" so I'm stuck with it. Play this one in the house at first, then use it to get better attention from your dog outdoors. If you're feeling weary and don't want to walk you can sit on a park bench and play from there. Allow your dog to move away and do his own thing, then call him excitedly. When he responds reward him with a treat from your hand and make sure he sees that there are others treat there too. Then saying excitedly "Wheee - Silly Throw!" toss a treat, letting him race out and get it. At first you will need to throw it carefully making sure he can see where it lands as pugs do not seem to have a good eye for this sort of thing but they rapidly improve with a bit of practice. Pause for a few seconds and repeat the game. Repetitions will result in a dog who is more willing to return to you in the hope of a rewarding throw game.

You can now progress into all sorts of other games. Getting your dog to use his nose for you makes for some of the best games of all. Toss the treat a little way into short grass at first, then into rougher grass areas where he will search happily to gain his reward. Start putting in the instruction "Find It" as he starts looking and always give lots of enthusiastic praise when he succeeds.

When he's good at this sit him by your side (on lead or hold his collar) and let him see you toss two treats. Encourage him to search for both. Mentally this is a huge step for your dog so don't make it too difficult at first. Next, after tossing two treats walk him round in a small circle away from where the treats are, then return to where he was sitting and send him in to search. This breaks his eye contact with the area so now he has to use his nose aided by just a vague idea of where he saw the treats land. Don't forget you must eagerly praise his success every time, otherwise you aren't joining in the game. However you should keep quiet while he is searching as nose work requires concentration. Progressing through these stages can take some time so don't confuse him by introducing new stages too quickly.

If your dog is happy to retrieve toys for you vary the game now and use these instead of food. You can help to make the transition from food to toy as follows:- Make a little pocket out of strong fabric such as denim and seal the top down with Velcro strips. Put smelly food (cheese, liver or sausage) inside and seal the pocket. Play retrieve with your dog in a restricted area where he can't run off with the toy. Remember it's all in fun so you must play too to keep him interested. Toss the toy in the air and catch it, hide in behind your back, etc., talking excitedly to him. Reward him with the food, making sure he sees where it is hidden. He will soon understand that the only way he can get this food is for you to open the pocket for him and this will encourage him to return to you with it. This has now become your search toy complete with food reward.

Now you are ready for a real search. Wait until your dog is paying no attention (that's the easy bit), pick a suitable spot and throw your toy a short distance. Then fetch your dog and send him to "Find It". You may need to encourage him, or even help him, at first, but try to avoid going right into his search area as once you've contaminated it with your scent it will be much harder for him to pick out the scent of the toy.. Use a Flexi-lead if you need it to encourage him to return to you when he finds the toy. When deciding where to throw the toy you can often use the wind direction to help your dog. The wind needs to be blowing over the toy towards the dog so throw into the wind. He can then catch the scent on the wind and follow it up to the toy. Each success will build confidence. Yes I know he's not a gundog or a hound but working over short distances you will be able to watch him develop his ability to use the wind to his advantage when searching. Perhaps because we can never learn to do this it is one of the most fascinating and satisfying things to watch.

These games should enable you to have some good fun with your pug and give him a chance to use his good brains as well as exercising him.

Try walking a few paces and placing your toy instead of throwing it and you may find your dog will track your footsteps in order to find it. This now makes a totally new game with potential to develop his tracking skills. Variations on nose work games, both indoors and out, are endless and you should be able to invent lots more to suit you and your dogs.

Have Fun!

By Maureen Taylor.