Setting up for Success
By Sass Levine, TheK9club@aol.com
"Setting up for success" in dog training, means that in order to get the desired behavior from your dog, you must create an atmosphere where that is likely to happen.
- Train a new behavior in a peaceful, low distraction area such as a bathroom or quiet hallway.
- Use a reinforcer (a consequence following a behavior,
 such as food/fun/activity/attention/praise, that increases the likelihood of the behavior being repeated in the future) This reinforcer must be easy to manage and timed immediately to the behavior.
- Break down the behavior into as many steps as you can along the way to the final goal, so that your dog builds confidence and enjoys the learning process.
- Try to only do 3 repetions of any one behavior then stop.
Ask yourself:
"How did it go?, Did I get the desired results?"
If not, change something. Do not repeat the same process when it has not generated results. Science has demonstrated that behaviors that are reinforced get stronger while behaviors that are punished will diminish.
Controlling these consequences in your dogs environment will give you the results you are looking for. Realize that there are many ways to teach your dog the same thing. We are experimenting all the time, trying to find just the right attitude; technique and equipment that will help us get the desired response.
Along the way, always remember that if you see your dog "get stuck" and not able to understand, just STOP and back up to where you had had previous success  and see what you can change to bring about success again as you move along. You might choose to adjust your attitude, maybe you are pushing too fast or too long, perhaps your choice of reward is not rewarding enough to your dog, or your equipment needs adjustment, maybe your timing is too slow and you are confusing your dog, maybe your dog is bored or fatigued or you might find that your environment has become over stimulating or too distracting.
Your dog should always be looking forward to your sessions as if they were "games" to play. Try to keep training sessions short and fun.. End them BEFORE he does.. Your dog should have a "happy tail and his attention should be on YOU. You cannot be successful if you see a dog that is depressed, annoyed or frightened or distracted.
Remember "Rome wasn't built in a day! "
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