The First Full Week The Training Begins…. Especially for Me!

Reading gave me access to information, sometimes valuable information, but if it stopped there, I would not have been any better off. For the information to be of value, I had to incorporate it into my mind and then allow it to affect my actions. At that point, the information became transformed into knowledge. That was a major milestone, but the information still had not reached the zenith of its potential. For that to occur, I needed to use that knowledge at the appropriate time, in the appropriate situation, in the appropriate manner. When all of those aspects were in place, then that information, which had become knowledge ultimately displayed itself as wisdom!

Cesar Millan says, “I rehabilitate dogs, I train people.” JayDee certainly did not need to be rehabilitated, but I quickly realized that I was the weak link in this two-man (actually one-man, one‑pup) team; I needed to be trained. I had to span the gap between acquiring the information and turning it into solid practice.

To demonstrate how difficult this transition from information to knowledge to wisdom is allow me to share the following experience. Several weeks before getting JayDee I was out in my backyard when a small black dog, barking aggressively, came through the Norway Pines that line our property. At that point I had watched every episode of The Dog Whisperer, and I had watched Rugaas’ Calming Signals, and had even read her book, so I knew exactly what to do. The dog came about 8 feet away and challenged me. Although I did stand my ground, I made a number of mistakes, including making repeated smooching sounds, violating the no talk rule. I looked the dog directly in the eye, violating the no eye contact rule. I stood full face toward the dog, violating the rule to turn sideways. I had all of the correct information in my brain, but it had not as yet become physical behavior. Only later did I realize these various shortfalls. Correct practice was required for the behavior to become automatic. 

You know that she's going to have a beautiful face

Years ago I heard Zig Ziglar put it this way. There are four levels of performance. The first level is unconscious incompetence and that is when you don’t know that you don’t know. The second level is conscious incompetence and that is when you know that you don’t know. The third level is conscious competence and that is when you know that you know. And the fourth and highest level is unconscious competence and that is when you know that you know and you can perform without really thinking about it. Cesar Millan is an obvious example of the unconscious competent as he demonstrates this highest level of performance. For me, having read and watched and observed, I started at the level of stage three – knowing that I know, but having to think about it. Fortunately I was working with an almost blank slate of a pup, so I wouldn’t have to undo any of her bad habits.

For JayDee’s very first meal with us, I took the opportunity to use her suppertime kibble to “activate” the clicker. I served the entire meal by hand, one kibble, one click at a time. I’m sure that this was the longest it will ever take this pup to eat a meal! The next morning I dropped one kibble at a time into JayDee’s food bowl. Because it was stainless steel, the kibble made a “ping” as it hit bottom. As JayDee put her head in the bowl, I clicked.

On the second day of JayDee, my true love said to me… Since puppies eat three meals a day, I set aside all of the lunch kibble and used them as training treats throughout the day. All the experts seem to agree that many shorter sessions, are more effective than fewer longer sessions. Remembering back to my college psychology classes I think the terms are interval training as opposed to mass training. Studies show that interval training is superior both initially and over the long term. One great suggestion was to train the pup during the TV commercials. Since commercial breaks typically last three to four minutes and there are six commercial breaks each hour, this allows for a lot of short training opportunities.

Since I have a TIVO, (the kids chipped in and gifted me several Christmases ago) I was able to instantaneously skip the commercials. Therefore, retaining the commercials in order to time puppy training just wouldn’t make it for me. Secondly, having to train in front of the TV I found to be too restraining. I thought of using a timer, set for 3 minutes, was a better idea. (I use a timer for all sorts of things, especially when outdoor grilling; my guests make fun and laugh at me, but the food turns out predictably good!) I counted and found that a ½ cup serving of kibble, which is what JayDee got three times a day, was about 170 pieces. Karen Pryor says that 80 rewards was about all any subject would typically be willing to work for in a day. I realized that I needed only half of the lunch ration is satisfy this criteria. At first, I arbitrarily had the sessions last only 5 trials, one kibble per trial. At that rate I could conduct 16 sessions per day. It soon became evident that unless you are a professional dog trainer, there are not enough hours in the day to conduct 16 sessions, even if they are short. Therefore, it is no surprise, that by the end of the day I increased the sessions to 10 trials, again one kibble per trial and JayDee did not exhibit any deterioration in her performance.

Temporarily content

 I first shaped the Sit behavior, without any vocalization, using a food lure to generate the behavior and the clicker to mark the event. By evening, JayDee was Sitting predictably without a food lure, just responding to my arm-movement signal. That evening, Daniel had several of his friends over, and Allison and her husband dropped by too. Everyone was amazed to witness an 8-week old puppy, on her first day with her new family and the first day of “training” could Sit in response to an arm signal. I had each one of our “puppy socialization” guests take a kibble and the clicker and JayDee Sat for each and every one! The next day, I began using the vocalization of “Sit” just before the visual signal and this pup is smart! She is some Sitter (careful how you say it!). This clicker approach is amazingly fast!

On the third day of JayDee, my true love said to me… I started trying to shape the Down behavior, and this proved to be more difficult. When I would try to lure her Down from a Sit, she would Stand to get her nose down to the treat. After two sessions without success, I tried a different tact – JayDee would get a pig’s ear and lie down to chew it. Therefore I watched and waited, and as soon as she did that, I clicked and treated. She preferred the kibble to the pig’s ear so I took the pig’s ear and tossed it a foot away and repeated this 10 times! A couple of hours later I was able to lure her into a Down and ended the session after 10 kibbles. Later, I did a second 10 kibble session and the Downs were coming faster!

Later that day I e-mailed Jenn Craig to thank her for all of her hard work and wonderful results particularly regarding JayDee and told her of our progress. She replied that another, easier way to get puppies into the Down position is to sit on the floor and have one leg curled under you and the other leg bent so that the pup would have to crawl under your leg for the treat. She related that Down was a tough behavior to teach a pup because the pup considers it to be a very vulnerable position.

On the fourth day of JayDee my true love said to me… I added a hand signal to the Down and by the end of the day, JayDee’s performance was so predicable that I added the vocalization “Down”.

If it sounds like bragging, then it’s bragging about the process and the pooch. As the trainer, I was in training myself. The rule is to establish the behavior and then add the three D’s. First add Duration – the pup maintains the behavior for longer periods before receiving the reward. Then begin to add Distance – between the trainer and the pup. Finally add Distractions – people, places, and situations. 

Esther and JayDee - stunning

 Once JayDee was Sitting predictably, I silently counted 2, then 3, then 5, and then 10 seconds; increasing duration in one day. Mistake! Once I got to 10, although JayDee would Sit, she began to jump up after a couple of seconds. I realized that I had violated the rule of raising expectations too quickly. No permanent harm done, but a typical novice error. I admit it, I’m a novice, and one excellent way to improve is to learn from my mistakes. Back to kindergarten, that is, go back to less stringent criteria and work back up. I decided that increasing duration over the course of days instead of minutes was more appropriate. Later in the week as I reviewed my notes and reference books, I noticed that to a puppy, 1 second is long, and 5 seconds is an eternity. Oops! 

On the fifth day of JayDee, my true love said to me…I started to shape the recall (Come) behavior. On Gary Wilkes DVD he shows a “Hansel and Gretel” technique – so obvious once someone else shows it to you!


Reminds me of a story about Christopher Columbus – I don’t know if this story is even true, but the point of the story is valid none the less. After returning from his initial voyage, “discovering” the New World, Columbus met with a group of his investors at a banquet feast celebration. During the discussions afterwards, the investors showed reluctance to actually pay Columbus his previously agreed upon commission for the voyage. The investors reasoned that what Columbus had accomplished wasn’t all that extraordinary. After all, the New World was just sitting out there and anyone could have found it. Columbus sat quietly listening and then requested an egg be brought from the kitchen. He asked if anyone could make the egg stand up on end. Each of the investors tried, and of course, no one could accomplish it. Columbus took the egg and by gently tapping the end of the egg on the table, he deformed the shell, creating a flat spot, and the egg stood without tipping. A chorus of investors cried out, “that’s so obvious, anyone could have done it.” Columbus replied that of course it was obvious, once he had showed them! Back to the Hansel and Gretel technique, once I showed JayDee that I had treats, I would back away from her several feet, put one down and click her when she got to me. My visual signal was to go down on one knee, slightly sideways to her, with both arms spread wide in a “welcome” gesture. My goal was to ultimately fade the signal so that I would be standing upright, squarely facing JayDee, arms by my side, and turning my hands from along my sides to palms facing forward.

On the sixth day of JayDee, my true love said to me… I took out my trusty clicker and kibble treats and when JayDee gave me a Sit, I treated with a kibble that she took, but then she let it drop to the floor. Did I hear “strike for higher wages?” Pam saw this and started to laugh. Hey, what’s happening here? JayDee my dear, listen up, I’m trying to accomplish something of merit here, and you are going on strike! Fortunately I found that string cheese became the treat de jour. 

Snuggle time - lots of lovins

The final day of the first week of JayDee, my true love said to me… our first, get acquainted visit, to the veterinarian was scheduled for early evening. I wanted to take JayDee in a crate in the back of the SUV. As mentioned previously, JayDee adapted to the wire crates in the house fairly gracefully. No she did not enjoy her loss of freedom at that point, but she did cooperate with minimal complaint. I bought two crates, one for the house and one for travel, but I was using both in the house. Once JayDee was fully housetrained, I hoped that one crate in the house would suffice but in the meantime, even though the crates were foldable and therefore portable, it was a hassle moving one in and out of the car, so I bought a third crate - this one a medium size plastic "travel" crate. I popped JayDee into the crate and took a short, slow drive around the block - a 2 mile excursion. She was not cooperative – yipping, yapping, even barking. Not a happy camper at all. When I pulled back into the drive, I waited until she quieted, even briefly, and let her out. Later I tried a second time, no improvement whatsoever. So I fed her lunch and supper in that crate - she ate the meal  and then the yips and frantic behavior started. Again I waited until she was quiet - not a long interval, and then released her.

What to do? What to do? Call in the experts! I e‑mailed Jenn Craig and her reply was rapid: “Hi “David - She is playing you: She has found out that you don't like it when she cries and she gets out of her crate then. Give her something to chew on and give her one of her toys and let her scream to her heart’s content. If she is still being a stinker, I would give her an AHHHHCCCKKK sound. If she still won't be quiet after that, I would tap the top of her crate. It is best to do this in the house and have her crate in another room - preferably in a room that you can walk out of and close the door. When she is quiet, go back in and tell her she is a good girl but do this quietly and you don't want to make a big deal about it. Then leave again. If she remains quiet, return in a few minutes and let her out and give her lots of praise.”

I modified my response. I pulled the SUV into the garage so that it would not heat up in the August sunshine. I opened all the windows and lift gate, popped JayDee into the crate and went into the house. She carried on, but not for too long. When I went back out to quietly say “Hello”, her response was not excessive or hyper, although she did whine a short bit after I turned and left. After 15 minutes of quiet I came back, praised and released her. An hour later we had a opportunity to conduct a “road test”.

Typically in the office, we scheduled the first full week of August for vacation. In the past, we have rented a beach cottage down the shore and filled the beds with the kids, their spouses, and a friend for each of the teenagers. I am not a beach person – I find the sand to be a major annoyance, but Pam and the kids love the beach, so we schedule that time for that venue. To me, if I can go the entire week and never step on the beach, or never go into the ocean, it is a successful week indeed!

This year, although we scheduled the week off from the office, we did not rent a cottage due to financial constraints resulting from recent house remodeling and pool and patio installations. Earlier in the Spring, my daughter Allison, who is a Dental Hygienist in our practice, noticed a need, and requested the opportunity to schedule patients. Because almost all of the staff had planned to take vacation, that left Allison, me, and Deana, our Office Manager on board. Dr Donald Wells, an Endodontist who practices in State College, PA, comes every Thursday and uses part of my office to treat his Williamsport patients. I had been showing the weekly puppy pictures sent by Jenn Craig to anyone who would sit still for them. Since this was a Thursday, everyone wanted me to bring JayDee to the office so that they could meet her. That’s the reason for the “road test”. JayDee did quite a bit better, not perfect, but much improved. Of course once she got to the office she wowed everyone with her loving but still calm disposition. The ride home was similar, as was the trip to and from the Vet’s. I ignored the whines and they did not last.

In addition to all of the above, I began to institute “door manners” but without using the clicker, treats, or vocalizations. I had JayDee Sit – using Brian Killcommons’ very gentle pressure on the hip bones whenever we would go in or out any exterior doorways. The concept that I was trying to institute was that “this is the way it is done.” 

I'm wore out!

Well, that was the week that was. A very special time, for sure. I had previously prepared a week by week "macro" schedule based on all of the books  I had read. As I began to reconsider that schedule, wow, I could see that this was going to take a lot longer than I had expected. I had been unrealistic in the timetable for goal achievement. Obviously, the length of time for accomplishing goals and objectives should be subject to revisions. If the quality of the foundational building blocks was good, then the super structure would stand. The length of time of construction, while still important, becomes secondary.

I began to realize that instead of a 6-week program, it might take 12 weeks or even 6 months, or even longer. I had the feeling that JayDee and I would be working together for years!

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Start at the very first post.