We encourage you to obedience train your dog in a class. Visit several instructors without your dog and watch the classes. Try to find an instructor that uses methods compatible with your dog and your personality. Each dog is different. What works for one dog may not work with another dog. Seek out an instructor who is flexible and uses creative teaching techniques.

We hope you find this information useful, and please let us know of any other questions you might have that we can add to the Obedience FAQs. What is of interest to you is certainly of interest to others.

How can I keep Fido from jumping up on me when I walk in the house? He just goes nuts. I hate to scold him because he's just so happy to see me.

Fido doesn't know what else to do except jump on you because he has found that behavior to be successful. He gets petted, doesn't he? Oh, you may yell at him to "get down" but he still ends up getting your wonderful touches.

First of all, you must teach Fido some other behavior that brings about success for him. I would suggest teaching him to SIT with all four paws on the floor. Once he sits, even if for just a couple of seconds, lavish praise and petting. But do not let him jump up again. Only praise while he is actually in the sit position. If he jumps up, just turn around and walk away. I know this is difficult with a 90 lb dog jumping on you and gnawing at your arm but do your best.

Some dogs are very hyper, and you cannot get real excited in your praise. If you have one of these dogs, keep your voice very calm and your petting strokes very gentle. You may not be able to touch him at all depending on how he reacts. Your touch may put him over the edge. If this is the case, limit to verbal praise. Or you may have a dog that you can touch but does not handle the verbal praise. Make adjustments for the personality of your dog.

What you are doing is showing your dog how to be successful. He wants to be petted, and you will only pet him when he is sitting. Keep at it, and keep in mind that this is a family project. If one member of your family does not get on the bandwagon, the learning process will be difficult and confusing for your dog.

And use your imagination. Teach him other behaviors that get your approval and petting. Teach him to go to a designated spot where he gets petted. Or teach him to retrieve something or roll over. He will start pushing you with all the right behaviors once he has an idea of how to be successful.

Yipes. My yard is a mess. The holes are so big, I might as well put in a swimming pool. How can I stop him from digging?

Well, you really can't. Digging-according to some experts-is just part of being a dog. It's like eating, drinking and scratching.

Is all lost? No, there are some things you can do that really work. You must make a decision to confine your dog to a generously sized dog run. You can lay some re-enforcing wire or strong wire mesh over the entire area of the run. Over the wire or mesh, place several inches of small gravel. Fido will dig a little, but it will not be very pleasant for him and he will soon stop. Now, he will figure out real fast that only his dog run is off limits, so expect more digging if you just turn him loose in the yard unsupervised. Another plan is to give him a designated digging place. If your yard permits, give him his own sandbox and teach him that digging here is acceptable.

I have heard that dogs tend to copy their masters. Scary, isn't it? If he sees you dig, he will want to follow suit. I honestly do not know how much credence there is to this notion, but it may be true. I know our first German Shepherd did a much better job in digging holes for our new plants than we were able to do. She caught on real fast. We tried all the "conventional wisdom" of the day including putting her droppings in the hole. This does not work, but it sure stunk. We also tried filling the holes with water. What a mess.

Try the wire. It's a bit of trouble, but it works.

I'm trying to teach my dog to STAY. He just keeps getting up and does not seem to learn. Help!

Teaching Fido to STAY is a step-by-step process. If you jump ahead too fast, Fido will make mistakes and regress.

You need to communicate to him what you want. He must learn that STAY means he does not move from that spot whether he's in a sit or a down. How to do this? Very young puppies have difficulty with STAY commands because their attention span is so limited. I would not start teaching a STAY until the pup is a few months old. This varies with the breed and with the dog. My Siberian Husky was a lost cause until she was 2 years old. Just kidding. Actually I did not understand how to teach her. I was instructed to correct the snot out of her if she moved. This is what I did-faithfully, although my heart was not in it. What I created was a very insecure dog that continued to have STAY problems until she was happily retired at 8 years old from the world of AKC obedience.

Again, this is a step-by-step process. I start out teaching the SIT. When my young dog is readily sitting which only takes a session or two, I don't release. I simply continue feeding while repeating the word STAY or SIT. In Schutzhund, you are not allowed to give a separate STAY command. Once you give your dog a command such as SIT or DOWN (Platz in German), they must remain in that position until you release them or give them another obedience command.

For this reason, I say SIT over and over. Aaha, you say. You are thinking that in all of your previous obedience classes, your instructor taught you to say the command ONE TIME and enforce if your little dog did not obey. Yes, this is correct once you have taught the exercise. But we are teaching, right? We are teaching a foreign language to your dog. All he knows is doggie language-we are teaching him English. So we must say the word repeatedly in the initial phases while continuing to feed and praise.

How long should you be keeping Fido on a SIT-STAY? Start with 2 seconds. Then work up to 5 seconds and up to at least a couple of minutes. This will take time, so be patient. Always release your puppy while he is being successful. It is much better to release your dog while he is doing things right then trying to get a few more seconds in on the STAY when you know he is going to break.

You teach the DOWN-STAY the same way. But initially I would concentrate on either the SIT-STAY or the DOWN-STAY. Later on your dog will be able to do both STAYS in the same training session, but initially teach him one or the other.

One point I would like to make that applies to all teaching and training. There is no room for temper or anger directed at your dog. If your dog makes a mistake, he does not understand, and YOU need to do a better job. Anger makes the dog insecure and frightened, and no one can learn in this state of mind.

You keep talking about "releasing" your dog. What do you mean?

While your dog is on command, he is working. DO NOT GIVE A COMMAND UNLESS YOU INTEND TO ENFORCE IT IF HE DOES NOT OBEY. This is the biggest mistake new trainers make. I have seen many people try to show off their dog's obedience by giving a command and watching their dog ignore it and them. Don't do it!

Your dog needs to know clearly when he is working and when he is not working. When you give him a command (Heel, Sit, Down, Come), he is "on duty." How does he know he's off work? How does he know it's fine just to hang out and relax. He can't punch a time clock. You must tell him. After your puppy has done his SIT-STAY for 2 seconds, say a release word with enthusiasm such as OK or FREE DOG. I personally like FREE because I use "OK" too much in my normal conversation.

Be sure to say this release word with a strong and happy voice inflection so your dog is clear that he's released. And PLEASE, don't immediately place him on command after you have released him. Give him a few seconds of praise, play and relaxation. I do not necessarily feed treats after the release. I generally feed while the dog is doing what I have asked him to do. If you feed only on release, you are rewarding the dog for being released and not for performing the command. After the dog has learned an exercise, I might feed on the release or give him a toy as a reward for doing so good.

ALWAYS release your dog from an obedience exercise, and ALWAYS use the same release word so you are consistent.

My dog will not come to me when he is called. I don't know what to do.

This is probably the most common question asked. I know it's the reason I started training dogs almost 20 years ago. My Siberian Husky would not come when called, and when she went to doggie heaven at close to 15 years of age, she still did not come. But when she ran away, she was so old and slow that I could catch her.

I honestly think there is no easy answer to this question. Some dogs just hang with you and naturally come when called. They have a stronger bond, and they are not so independent by nature. When evaluating puppies you can sometimes tell which ones are going to be a little more independent. I personally prefer the puppy that wants to be around me, but some people like a more independent dog. Ask the breeder of the litter. They should know the inclinations of the puppies in that litter.

Let's start with a basic dog training rule. NEVER DISCIPLINE A DOG VERBALLY OR PHYSICALLY WHEN HE COMES TO YOU. I don't care if he has destroyed your back yard or your favorite pair of shoes. If he comes to you when you call, always praise. If you don't, you will have a problem throughout your dog's life. If your dog has done something wrong and you catch him the act, you can give him a harsh verbal correction. If more than a couple of seconds have passed since your dog did the bad behavior, forget it. Your dog already has forgotten, and he will not have a clue about why you are fussing at him. You'll only create a stressed unsure dog that will not want to come to you.

So what are you going to do if you have one of those "independent" dogs that shoots you the paw when you call him or acts as if he has a major hearing loss as he continues to sniff some stinky spot on the grass. Well, you can put him on a long line or a flexi-leash attached to a pinch collar. When he ignores you after you call him, give the lead a snap (not a pull) and praise, praise, praise as he comes to you. When he gets to you, give him a toy or wonderful treat-something special. If you have a very independent dog, you may not be able to ever let your dog run free. You will always need to have him on a leash as we did with our Husky.

Some dogs will learn to come after the first encouragement on line, but some will continue to be a challenge. You need to know your dog and be honest about your ability to call him back before you turn him loose. We train dogs in many public places such as parks, and we always run into people who just let their dogs run free. We kindly ask them to put their dogs on lead to prevent a possible doggie confrontation, but they assure us that their dogs are under complete voice control.

I have trained dogs for many years, and I could not ever give that assurance with 100% confidence. There are always situations that could cause your dog to break a command or to disobey a command. Invariably the dogs that people have said are under complete voice control will come towards our dogs who are on leash. The owner tries to call them back but cannot. The owners tell us that it's OK because their dogs are not aggressive. Two head-strong alpha males and two testy bitches will fight. Please keep your dog on leash in public places.

Back to the question of how to get your dog to come when called. A common technique suggested in training books to get your puppy off to the right start is to hide from him. The idea is that puppy will start looking for you out of insecurity and be so happy to find you that he will always stay near and come when called. Maybe this works for some people, but we have not found it entirely successful. Yes, it does cause insecurity, and you will have initial success. But as the dog matures, it will naturally be a little more secure and will not feel the need to come rushing to you. Go ahead and try this method on your young puppies. It can't hurt anything, but make sure you do this training in a very secure place for your puppy. Don't take any risks that he will run out in the street while he is desperately looking for you. Some people swear that they have never had another problem with their dogs running away or not coming after using this technique. It apparently traumatized the puppy.

As a last resort, you can employ an electric collar. Many years ago a friend who also had Siberian Huskies trained with an electric collar so she could walk on the beach without her dogs on leash. This training was successful, but she confessed that she always had that little bit of doubt. One way to eliminate that doubt is to keep the electric collar on the dog while walking without a leash, but this is not always convenient. If you choose to use an electric collar, please seek help of a professional trainer who has extensive experience in this area.

I have seen these awful looking prong or pinch collars, and my instructor has told me to use this on my dog. It looks so cruel. I don't want to hurt my dog.

I felt the same way. It was many years before I considered putting a pinch collar on my dog. It was not until I read several articles from veterinarians about the dangers of slip or choke collars to the throat that I made the switch. If you have a dog that pulls extensively on the leash, please consider using a pinch. You will not be making a correction-your dog will be correcting himself when he pulls. Life will be easier for you and safer for your dog.

Every dog is different. Some I train on a pinch, some on their regular leather collar and some on the dead ring of a fur saver (a big linked type of slip collar). Use a collar that works for your dog. In my training classes, I do not have people purchase their equipment until I can evaluate their dogs. Even a small dog might need a pinch collar if it is very unruly and the owner cannot handle it.

If you need to use a pinch collar, have your instructor explain how it works. You do not yank or pull your dog when he is on this type of collar. You give a slight snap from your wrist coupled with lots of praise. Pulling, tugging or dragging your dog on a pinch is counterproductive.

I recommend a pinch for neighborhood walks if you have a large, strong animal that might pull you off your feet in search of a cat.

BE SURE TO REMOVE ANY TRAINING COLLAR SUCH AS PINCHES AND CHOKE CHAINS AFTER YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR TRAINING. There have been some tragic accidents when the ringed end of the choke collar has gotten caught and the dog chokes to death. The more he pulls to get free, the more he chokes. When my dogs are relaxing in the back yard or in their dog runs, they wear leather collars with their tags.

When is the best time to start training my puppy?

The best time to start training any puppy or dog is as soon as he comes to your household.

Dogs and puppies need to be taught the rules as soon as possible. They need to be shown where to potty, where to sleep, how to play and where to eat. They need very patient assistance in learning what is acceptable in your household and what is not tolerated.

In the case of formal obedience, you can also start very early with your puppy. You will find that most dog obedience classes require your puppy to be around 6 months of age. There are also puppy kindergarten classes available in many areas which are designed for very young puppies. Assuming the organizers of these classes are meticulous in their requirements for puppy inoculations, a puppy class might be a good choice. The teaching should be 100% positive--totally without corrections. Before taking your precious puppy to one of these sessions, ask if you can observe without your dog.

We feel that you can do most teaching yourself of the obedience basics during the first few months of puppy's life. There are some excellent books and videos available which tell you how to get started. Please drop us an e-mail and we will give you some suggestions on what to read and what to watch. You teach initially without any distractions; then you gradually introduce a few distractions. By the time your puppy is 6 months old, he should know the sit, sit-stay, down, down-stay, stand and recall. He should also be introduced to heeling, fronts and finishes.

You can get all the foundation work done real early. Then if you do decide to take him to class, you will actually be proofing his training with distractions and making the work more precise. Make sure you discuss your previous training with your instructor and explain that you want to stay consistent. Usually trainers are tolerant of other methods. Good training is what works with your dog. Find another class if the trainer insists on doing things only his way.

I notice that my puppy is always sniffing the ground. I would like to start tracking him. What do you think?

Dogs track naturally. In formal AKC or Schutzhund tracking, you are simply guiding and molding what they do naturally. For this reason, you can start "formal" tracking with your 8-week-old puppy. Let me just say that there are as many methods to teach tracking as there are trainers. There is really no "right" way, so stay away from any trainer that is not flexible and willing to consider other methods or answer your questions on why something is done a certain way. Also, make sure your trainer has had success in tracking and has "walked" the "talk." There is really no recipe for tracking, but we will tell you below how we like to start. But there are many successful methods.

We like to find an office park with excellent grass cover. This is a grass that will mash down and make obvious footsteps when you take a step. If your front or back yard has this quality, start there as long as the area is not one used by your puppy to play or potty.

You initially want your puppy to associate food with the grass disturbance you make when you stomp the area with your feet. There are a couple of ways to do this. Many trainers stomp out a 3-ft x 3-ft square area and place a lot of yummy food on the ground. They allow the puppy to find the food-laden grass square and then sniff and eat. Sometimes they feed their entire meal to the puppy in this manner.

We start a little differently, but there are many acceptable methods to introduce tracking. We actually introduce the concept of moving forward on the track with the very first lesson. We lay a large scent pad. A scent pad is a stomped triangular area about 3 ft wide with the apex leading to a straight-line track. We cover the scent pad with several pieces of food and initially use our finger to guide the puppy while saying "such" or "track." You want to drop the guidance real quickly or the puppy will continue to wait on your assistance rather than working on his own.

It's amazing how quickly they will get the idea. After they spend about a minute on the scent pad, use your finger to guide them to the first heavy foot print where you have placed a small piece of food at the toe portion. Continue guiding them with your finger to the next piece of food in the next step. At this stage you are stooped over giving the puppy direction. Try to stand up as soon as possible and allow your puppy to figure it out himself. If he is very hungry, his nose will soon hit the grass, and he will find the next footstep.

Your initial track should be no more than 8-10 steps or paces with a small jackpot of food in the last step. Don't get carried away with the jackpot where your dog simply runs to the end to get the big reward. Also, the track should be a straight line. In other words, your left heel should just be a continuance of your right toe, and your right heel should be a continuance of your left toe. There should be no space between steps at this stage. It is very unnatural to walk this way, but you are teaching principles and exaggerating so the puppy learns. If you have an older dog starting tracking, you can make more separation in the footsteps.

Puppy is so little at this stage that all you are teaching is that there are goodies in the disturbed grass, and if he moves forward there will be more goodies. Little by little, he makes an association between the scent of the disturbed, stomped grass and the food. You also want him to move forward in a straight line without swinging his body from side to side. You only want him to move his head. That's why you lay the straight-line track with no space. Later, you will move to a more natural walk, but now you are teaching.

Lay about 3 short tracks your first session. Remember this is fun and games. Absolutely no seriousness is allowed. Your puppy/dog will eventually be pulling you to the track as they find this activity very enjoyable. Dogs naturally love to scent, and what could be more fun than to do what they love AND to find wonderful treats.

As soon as the puppy gets the idea of moving forward which should be by your second session, we introduce corners. Many trainers wait until their dogs are tracking very long straight-line tracks before they start corners. We feel this method can cause problems for dog and handler because it makes the corners part of advanced tracking and an obstacle to overcome for the dog and handler. If you lay the corners correctly, your puppy will be handling them great from the very start.

If we are making a right turn, we put food in the right toe as usual. Then we place the left food perpendicular to the right foot (right toe to left heel). I know there's a ballet step like this, but I can't remember the name. This cross step is seriously scuffed in but has no food. The next step will be in the new direction of your turn and will be laid as usual with your right foot with food in the toe. What happens is that the left perpendicular step "guides" or "draw" your puppy in the new direction. If you lay this turn correctly, your puppy will have no choice except to make the turn. You will probably not even need to help puppy. He will be pulled into the turn. You follow the same principles with the left turn. Make one right turn in one session and one left turn in your next session. Only put one turn in your track initially, and be sure to walk 10-15 paces in the new direction after your corner.

Trainers call the new direction the second "leg" of your track. Later on, you will be adding third and forth "legs" and introducing all types of other interesting variations such as curves and serpentines and step-offs, but this discussion is targeted strictly for puppies.

So, starting with the second session you want to lay a track with a turn along with a couple of straight-line tracks. Keep them short, and gradually lengthen them by a few steps each session if you are seeing progress.

The above information just gives you an idea of how to get puppy started. There are entire books and videos available on this subject. We highly recommend Gary Patterson's Tracking: From the Beginning.

My new puppy is biting me all the time, and those sharp puppy teeth hurt. What can I do to make him stop. I don't really want to hurt him, and I may do Schutzhund with him later so I don't want to inhibit his grip.

This issue causes so much consternation because you are dealing with a small puppy who does not know what he is doing and certainly does not know right from wrong. For those folks desiring to do Schutzhund, the bite is essential for the sport. So they do not want to do anything to inhibit this behavior.

What to do? Redirect, redirect, redirect. What do I mean? Greet your puppy with a pocketful of toys which are preferably suspended from a 4 to 5-ft string that you can swing around and create prey for the puppy. Most pups like to chase things, and they usually love to go after objects that move. Make it challenging for the puppy to get the object, but not too hard. If it is too hard, they will quickly lose interest.

Always let them win what they catch. Once they manage to get hold of the toy, let them have it. You might put a tiny bit of resistance on it depending on your puppy, but not too much or they will feel defeated. Some pups like a little resistance--this keeps things interesting for them. Praise puppy when he gets the object so he feels real important and strong.

We punch a couple of holes in a tennis ball and run a string through it. The puppies absolutely love to chase the ball. They really much rather do this than bite you. We also get some burlap (wash it first), roll it up and attach a string. You'll find that this will be one of their favorite games. Remember that the span of attention for a young puppy is just a few seconds, so don't be surprised if they quickly lose interest and focus their attention on something else. Just keep the toys moving and they will bite the toy rather than you. The string on the toy is useful because it removes your hand from the toy so there's no confusion with targeting.

There are occasional puppies who do not redirect easily. They persist in biting your flesh. Make sure you are not inadvertently making your hand the prey toy. When they bite and you quickly move your hand with an "ouch" they may think this is a great game and come after you again. And, of course, they'll get the same response--movement and even sound. Running around and playing with your new puppy is fine and normal, but make sure that you and your family are not running away when the puppy bites. This behavior might encourage your puppy to continue the biting because he gets this wonderful response.

If you have one of those persistent pups who love the taste of flesh, give him a quick neck scruff accompanied by a "phooey" or other negative sound. Then follow by giving him an acceptable toy to chew on and praise verbally. Another technique which we are told works very well is to take the back of your hand and "bump" the puppy's nose--his nostrils. It is not necessary to "bump" very hard, but add a verbal "no" or "phooy" so puppy will understand this is a negative.

I have one other suggestion for those stubborn puppies. Make the toy movement very active and get him excited. Make sure the animation is in the object and not you. Teach your puppy to bark for his favorite toy. You do this by moving the toy very rapidly and then stopping with the toy out of his reach. You are frustrating him. When he lets out any sound at all--even a squeak--make the toy move again or give it to him. All of these endeavors are designed to get his focus off of biting you and redirected towards biting acceptable toys.

Keep at it. It will work.

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