by Kate Allert

Any domestic animal, particularly a dog, with no training or manners is a positive liability; a risk to itself and others. To fit into our highly sophisticated world, our companion animals need a set of boundaries that they can understand and accept – and it's our job to teach those to them.

The good news is that animal training has come a long way in recent years and techniques have been developed that allow you to communicate with your companion animal simply and effectively.

Two amazing women deserve much of the credit for this evolution: Jan Fennell, known as the Dog Listener and Karen Pryor, who developed clicker training into a system that works for dogs, cats, birds, horses, dolphins and even human babies!

Their websites are excellent. Check out www.janfennellthedoglistener.com and www.clickertraining.com . They have both produced a number of great books and videos you can order direct.

Here's a summary of their systems, which I have found to be highly compatible.

Jan Fennell's Amichien Bonding System gives you a set of ground rules for interacting with your dog. This allows the dog to accept you as boss with none of that physical dominance malarkey that can be intimidating and dangerous for both canine and human.

Accepting you as boss brings about big changes in your dog's behaviour. It will be more relaxed, bark less and be chilled out around other dogs and people. As Fennell puts it, “they can now relax and enjoy life” because the pressure of trying to lead is gone.

Basically, the dog will start to take its behaviour cues from you – if you are calm and relaxed in any situation, your dog will be too. Here are her main points, although there's plenty more to learn in her books.

THE FIVE-MINUTE IGNORING RULE

When you see the dog after an absence, even a really short one, totally ignore it for five minutes. This apparently is what the top dogs do when they return to the pack. After five minutes (and no less!), call your dog to you and give lots of affection and praise. Stroking the head and neck is recommended as that also gives you status.

If your dog really resists being ignored then it's extra important that you keep it up. This dog thinks it's boss and any recognition from you will confirm its opinion. Don't even make eye contact! You'll be amazed how quickly the dog will settle. Ask your visitors to do the same.

DOORWAYS OR NARROW SPACES

You are pack leader, so it's your job to lead. That means when leaving or entering the flat, you, and any other humans, always go first. The same applies to inside doorways and any narrow spaces or stairways that you come across when you are out together and your dog is on the lead.

Again, the more resistance you encounter, the more vital it is that your dog is kindly and gently put in its place. I find that, rather than pulling the dog back, it works well to just stop your dog and then step in front of it.

DOMINANCE AT DINNER TIME

This one doesn't need to be done all the time but we find that doing it every couple of weeks or so reminds them who's boss.

As you get your dog's food ready, put something you want to eat on a plate right next to the dog bowl on the counter. Then, before you give the dog its food, slowly and calmly pick up your food and eat it in an obvious way. Pack leaders always eat first! One of our dogs finds this one very hard to accept but his behaviour truly improves once we've done it.

DEALING WITH BARKING

Adopting the techniques above should quite soon stop your dog barking so much. In addition, the way you behave when your dog does bark affects how quickly it stops. Usually the dog will bark to warn the pack that it has heard something potentially threatening, or exciting. As pack leader, your role is therefore to calmly thank the dog and tell it “That's enough”. If your tone of voice stays calm, the dog soon stops.

SCARY SITUATIONS

Whatever your dog is afraid of – fireworks, VVs, bicycles or thunderstorms – the most reassuring thing you can do is act normal. Trying to calm or comfort your dog will have the opposite effect, your dog just thinks that the leader is acting funny so there must be something seriously wrong.

Ignore the scary thing a few times and your dog will start to do the same.

TONE OF VOICE

Just remember that shouting or high pitched yelling will make your dog think that you are encouraging whatever it's doing at that moment and it will do it even more enthusiastically.

It's a low, strong tone of voice that lets the dog know you are not happy with its current behaviour. On the other hand, when you are praising, a high pitched tone lets your dog know you're really pleased.

As you can see, these rules are very straightforward - the main thing is that you must be consistent with them. I have found that our dogs, which were both rescued as adults from long-term abusive environments and have their mad moments, notice immediately if we slip up and start acting up accordingly.

Those of you with dogs on Lamma who have seen me struggling to hold them back as they try to eat your dog will know what I'm talking about.

Karen Pryor's clicker training techniques allow you to “shape” specific behaviours that you want your dog to do. The clicker is a little device with a piece of bendy metal that clicks when you press it. You can get them cheaply from the website plus we're hoping to stock them in the Welfare Centre soon.

The animal quickly learns that a click is followed by a treat. For most dogs, this means a little bit of something delicious to eat, though a few respond better to praise and stroking. Timing is of the essence – the minute you see the beginning of the behaviour you want, you click and treat. The dog soon has an “Aha!” moment, when it realizes that by doing that action, it can get more clicks and treats.

Clicker training works best in short bursts, as most dogs lose concentration quickly, especially at the beginning. Also, if you're starting to get annoyed, stop at once. You want to keep the dog enthusiastic about the process and you can always try again later.

A simple example such as training your dog to sit would take place over several sessions. Hold the treat in one hand, the clicker in the other, and extend the treat hand over the dog's head. As its head goes up to look at your hand, its bottom automatically goes down. As soon as the bottom starts to go down, click and throw the treat so the dog has to get up again to get it.

Repeat the above, without any words or other gestures, and gradually get more demanding before you click. Finally you want the dog sitting down and staying seated for a second or two before it is rewarded. It's at this point that you add what's called the cue – either the word “sit”, or a hand movement. Keep going until the dog will sit on your cue, without you having to extend the treat over its head.

You can also click to reward the dog for not doing anything, believe it or not. If you're trying to encourage calm, relaxed behaviour, click the dog when it's lying down minding its own business. Do that often enough and it will soon realize that running about manically never seems to earn it any clicks or treats.

How about training your dog to only poo in the bush, away from the path? There's almost no limit to what you can teach your dog with clicker training. People have had great success training working dogs, show dogs, care dogs and maltreated dogs with this method. Clicker training is used increasingly in animal shelters to create a calmer, happier environment and dogs that are much more homeable.

The SPCA runs affordable dog training courses based on clicker principles here in Hong Kong. To find out more, contact Behaviour and Traning at Advice Line Hong Kong Tel: 3144 5027 or e-mail to bt@spca.org.hk

If you have any training success stories, or tips that have worked for you, please let me know. Also, if you're having specific problems, we'd like to help if we can. You can contact us at info@lammaanimals.org .

Good luck with your training and I wish you and your dog fun and success.