Puppy developing habits you don’t like? That’s why we have professional dog trainers and seek puppy training tips and advice from experts like Jordan Horak and Pat Burns.
Jordan Horak is a spaniel trainer, owns Cato Outdoors and designed the Cato Board—a training platform for all dogs. He also won the 2018 AKC National Open Cocker Championship and 2018 National Amateur Cocker Championship with his dogs, Cato and Breeze.
Pat Burns has more than 40 years’ experience as a professional retriever trainer and serves as a Purina Consultant for the company’s Sporting Dog Group. Pat also owns Elite Retriever Training and offers in-person and online training for field trial and hunt-test retrievers.
“If you bring home a puppy, you’re a trainer,” Jordan said. “You might be a bad trainer—but you’re a trainer. It’s your responsibility to take charge, be a problem solver and figure out how to get the behavior you want. If something is going wrong, ask: How can I help change this behavior?”
Better yet, strive to develop good habits and behavior.
“Develop the joy of being good,” Pat Burns said.
Jordan agrees and adds that plugging high-performance athletes into a domestic setting can be challenging, yet fun.
“We want our sporting dogs to be monsters in the field and calm, good citizens in the house,” Jordan said. “How can we set them up for success?”
Setting boundaries, being consistent and developing a relationship are key.
“Dogs want a leader,” Pat said. “Consistency is key.”
Pat refers to inconsistency as “the illusion of being kind. If rules apply one day and not the next, you’re setting them up to fail. That creates behavior that’s intolerable—and that’s on you, not the dog. Better to insist on the kindness of high, consistent standards.”
You can’t feed a dog table scraps and reprimand them for begging. You own what you condone.
Jordan uses praise and enthusiasm when a puppy does well.
“I also think a puppy needs to know when you’re not happy,” Jordan said. “I’m not saying you need to be angry or should make a harsh correction in anger, but puppies will look to you for feedback and you need to let them know when they’re doing something you don’t like.”
Jordan said a finished adult hunting dog only needs to know four or five things for success. In the retriever field trial game, Pat said that means “sitting until you send them, going when sent, stopping when you want them to stop and coming straight back with the retrieve. There’s a lot more to that, and there are no shortcuts. Once you establish and reinforce the rules, the rules become the habit.”
Pat and Jordan often combine dog training with food, using kibble as treats to train.
“You can teach the behavior you want through bribery,” Pat said. “You can teach a puppy sit, down, stay, come or place using a kibble or treat.”
Jordan uses feeding time as a training opportunity because puppies are food motivated.
“Say a puppy gets a cup of Pro Plan,” Jordan said. “I’ll measure a cup, put the kibble in my treat pouch and use kibble to teach sit, down or place. When I’m done training, I’ll put what’s left in the food bowl. The treats are the meal, and the training is a fun time the puppies look forward to.”
Jordan said his spaniels devour their food. He typically feeds his dogs in their kennel or crate where there are no distractions. “Their only job in the crate is to eat, and they usually eat well.”
Pat said a lot of retrievers require a puzzle bowl to slow down. “If you get a picky eater, feed smaller quantities more often. Get them in the habit of eating what’s there. Take the food away if they haven’t eaten it after a reasonable amount of time.”
Noise and barking in the crate?
Jordan advises putting the crate where there are no distractions and covering it with a towel or blanket.
“Make it easier for the dog to calm and settle down,” Jordan said.
Pat adds, “De-escalate the excitement and eliminate distractions. Dogs don’t tend to bark when lying down. So teach them ‘down’ and reward it.”
“Redirect bad behavior to something positive,” Pat said. “Address jumping by reinforcing and rewarding sitting. Reward calmness after it occurs. If your puppy is chewing on the coffee table, teach them to ‘place.’ Now they’re directed away from the object. You’re redirecting their destructive behavior to something positive.”
Food bribery is not a forever fix.
“I recommend a reward marker like 'Yes’ associated with food,” Pat said. “Eventually take away the food and use ‘Yes’ to reinforce good behavior. Show them the joy of compliance. Teach them it’s fun to be good.”
Jordan’s blunt advice?
“Don’t be a jerk to your dog,” he said. “If you try to make them sit one hundred times in a row, they’re not going to want to. Keep your training sessions short—five minutes or less. Go slow. Puppies want to be puppies. Make them want to be with you all the time. My dogs want to hang out with me because we do fun things together.”
Even bad trainers with good intentions can have great dogs.
