Training a dog can be an amazingly joyful or an unbelievably frustrating use of your time. What separates these two experiences is one thing and only one thing and that is your dog’s immunity to distractions.
Truth. The biggest saboteur working against reaching your goals in dog training is how attracted your dog is to the distractions in his environment. These distractions are nothing more than expressions of your dog’s drives and arousal states.
Depending upon the individual drives of the dog’s distraction can take on many different forms. His attention could be diverted by a sudden movement, an exciting noise, an intriguing scent or the existence of higher value reinforcement elsewhere in the environment.
A dog training program rich in reinforcement is the best pathway to help create immunity to all that may distract a dog. The lower the quality of dog training education…the less resistance a dog is given to the power of distraction!
Take for example a completely uneducated “pet owner.” This is the person who has done absolutely nothing to contribute in a positive way to his dog’s education. He believes dogs should just understand his spoken word as if the animal is nothing more than a furry little creature born with a deep desire to do all that their humans ask of him.
Now, this dog has absolutely no immunity to distractions. In his own house, he is overly aroused by company, will knock them over with his greeting or frantically shove his nose up their backside. The dog pulls his owner on his daily walks, bolting off with his nose down frantically charging after every scent he catches or bounces and barks wildly as another dog passes by across the street. Of course, you can imagine what the dog is like at a park with squirrels, other dogs, kids on bikes or water nearby. No immunity to any distraction whatsoever.
Just like a virus, a low dose of controlled exposure to a pathogen will help us to develop an immunity. That is what good dog training does for our dogs. That is what a great “working relationship” gives us. It gives us a dog that has become immune to any distraction in his environment. He only has eyes for you and his work. We would never take a new rescue dog or a wee puppy to a bunny farm and expect him to keep focus for us, would we? But with a great working relationship, anything is possible and nothing is a distraction.
Over my more than 20 years of training my dogs and helping others to achieve amazing results with their dogs, I have developed a progressive training plan that helps to build a dog’s immunity to distractions one layer at a time. Fifteen years ago I put those foundation layers into a chart I called my “Puppy Pyramid.” If you look to the left of this paragraph, you can see what it looked like all of those years ago. Of course as more dogs came into my life, that pyramid evolved but the basis was the same. Laying down layers of understanding, to help my dogs become resistant to any type of distraction. Each segment in the pyramid is a game. Often an interactive game of choice for my dogs. Several years ago I strategically arranged those games to become what is now my Recallers program. Today those Recallers games are the foundation of every dog owned. These 40 Recallers Games build in 40 foundation layers for my dogs preparing them to start learning their skills for life and for sport.
There is a synergy between those 40 Recaller Games and the rest of the skills my dogs are taught. This synergistic relationship is what creates the amazing immunity against distractions that these dogs develop. In work, out on a walk or romping in the fields. My dogs are constantly aware of what I am doing and what I expect from them. All attained through those 40 layers of Recaller games, followed by layers and layers of skill-building games.
That is why students who have taken my Recallers course have gone through such an amazing transformation with their dog training. The program creates an unbelievable inoculation against distractions. Resulting in a dog with an amazing focus for work, an incredible relationship between dog and handler, a bond formed through games and reinforcement based training. If you have that now, you will know exactly what I mean.
Watch some of our students’ incredible transformations: Click Here to for Recallers Videos
Hello, I have a 3 month old pit male puppy who has started recently having separation anxiety. Is there a video in the free it’s your choice that covers this issue?
How can I get a copy of the puppy progress pyramid? I can’t find a copy that is readable anywhere
thanks
I looked at some of the recaller videos and they looked great! Those dogs were really focused on their people. It is so important to have control over your dog!
I love it how you put it, it is just like we develop immunity from viruses.
Our dogs need to develop the same kind of immunity from outside factors but also from the inside. Thye need to be focused at a task at hand, that’s how a good trainer does it
I totally agree with your view on crate Vs pads! Allowing a puppy to wee inside just confuses them and dramatically slows down the process in my experience.
I have rescued a Chow-Chow mix and so far he has learned to sit and lay down on command. Until about 2 months ago, he has picked up a very bad behavior in which he growls, snarls and attempst to bite my husband in the face. After I watched this I now have a whole lot better understanding of my dog’s natural instinct so now we can try and move forward in gettting him trained to be a good boy.
1) saboteur, 2) synergy:) Using my vocabulary logs as a good reason to be reading over blog posts again…:) Muhahahahaha:) Thanks Susan!
Hi everyone!
Susan, thanks a lot. You are super, i like this blog and i think i learn a lot from it. My question is: :-))
I want to take place in your program (Puppy Peaks or Recallers. I have 7 months year old kelpie pup and we have problems with selfcontrol on some thinks (choldren – she loves chasing them and barkong on them, some animals and some people – barking and chasing, too). And agility, when other dogs run, ….when my friend´s dogs run away and hunt.. I also want to build drive for a toy, learn her I have a toy we´ll play, sometimes she don´t really want to tug. Please, which one (of your two programs is better for me now? I am also looking for a way where we can start, i was on positive motivation lesson here but it wan´t how i expected and it didn´t help us, your methods is more better! I also want start as soon as possible..
So thanks and MERRY CHRISTMAS YOU ALL!
Would it be possible to have a readable version of the pyramid?
I’ve learned a lot of tricks dog training, maybe your video showed me another trick.
I believe I’m too late for the webinar, although do you think this distraction technique would be beneficial for potty training? It makes perfect sense, particularly for newer puppies who are so overwhelmed to the world around them. Keeping them focused on potty training would be ideal.
doggyfan
http://www.doggielawn.com
What happens after 17 months of Puppy Peaks? I’ve signed up for another year, but wasn’t sure if there were going to be more videos after the promoted 17 months were up (which would be 4 months of new videos since you already graciously gave us a bonus of month 13 in the first opening of PP).
Hi Megan! If you were an alumni and signed up for 12 months, you’ll have an option for a yearly “maintenance” package, which will allow you to renew your membership for the next year for a highly discounted rate. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Crate Games
Working on crate games this morning with my puppy. She was progressing really well thru sessions 1-3. But what do I do when she lays down in the crate, even thought she had been sitting and doing really well? Do I need higher value treats, was the session too long?
When she did this I closed the crate door and then waited a minute and opened the door and put e treat up high in back, she lifted into a sit, I gave her the treat. Was this ok or should I have done something else? Thanks!
I was just wondering how many different games i can practice at the same time without confusing my pup? I mean, before moving to a new game. I see that the first month is divided into weeks but I’m guessing it takes longer then a week to teach these games,
About how long do think it will be before the next round of Puppy Peaks opens? I really want to join Puppy Peaks, but unfortunately, I am unable to afford it right now.
Hi! I’m so happy to join you all, guys 🙂 I also have a question – about dogwalks with a 3 months puppy. Sometimes my puppy (leashed or unleashed) stops, just sitting and looking around. Both in places she knows well or sees for the first time. And I’m wondering what to do when this happens. I’ve started to work on RZ and it’s getting better, but I still don’t know how to react when this happens at the street (I don’t want to make her go, show her a cookie etc…) Thanks, greetings from central Europe! 🙂
How does one stop a normally friendly, but excitable, 4 year , CGC, dog, when inside the car from high alert barking and yelling swear words, bouncing around, when passing a dog, or jogger, on local roads. (Not so much out on the main road, tho will alert only, if passing dogs walkers). And of course I can’t stop the car and chat when passing a friend with a dog. I cannot aim a squirt bottle properly from drivers seat. Car too small for crate plus second dog (who is very quiet & mellow).
She escalates too fast for me to try to distract her with food and is too totally distracted for normal food/treat avoidance attempts.
Forgot to ask- I am interested in participating in a workshop next summer, it you have one. Will I be able to participate in a more advanced training level using this Puppy Peaks/Recallers as my foundations course? I noticed last summer that was a prerequisite. Thanks!
My first attempt to recall a Welsh Terrier on a 25 ft. leash,off a scent. It was a long wait, then she came. So, I gave verbal praise, and wondered- How do I restrict her environment? I had her
walk 5 min. with 2ft of leash as a heal position. This is all during a hour walk on a bike path, and she knows I have tasty treats! My second attempt, she returned quicker and she got several pieces of hotdog!!
Hi Susan. First I want to tell you how much I have enjoyed Puppy Peaks. Thank you so much for offering existing members a wonderful extension offer. I did not have a puppy when I first joined Puppy Peaks but I found the videos so helpful in training my older dogs. We went back and filled in some of the gaps in our foundation training and I found myself having a lot more fun playing with my dogs. Sometimes my husband would say to me, “You sound like Susan Garrett out there”. I considered that a compliment and an indication that I was headed in the right direction. Four months ago I got a BC puppy and I went back to the beginning of PP, as well as Crate Games. I have been working through skills with him and having a blast. We have encountered some icebergs, such as not enough value for RZ and retrieves where he drops the object just short of me instead of bringing it to my hand. I am using the very handy index to go back to the appropriate videos. There are two problems that I do consider quite serious. First, Pippin’s recall is not reliable when faced with distractions. We live in Florida and he too often finds lizards more interesting than me. Will the Recallers 4.0 Replay be available for continuing members? We really need some help. Finally, I see some early signs of fear aggression. Pippin, now 7 months, is really a very calm, sweet natured dog but he can be fearful at times. We have had several occasions where he seems to misread another dog’s body language. If the dog barks or stares at him Pippin’s hackles will go up, he will start growling and pulling on the leash toward the other dog. It always takes me by surprise and I am not quite sure how to handle it. Any advice?
Hi Susan. Thanks for all the videos, I appreciate people trying to help spread real positive training methods.
I have a 15 months old male lab I have been trying to train since the first day we got him, but even though I try very hard, I cannot build real value (more than other interesting stuff). And this fails recalls, engaging him with toys etc.
I tried many games for this, I took courses but I couldn’t reach the point I Want. (Courses were really helpful for understanding training, and helped other students a lot, but didn’t really help me with Mickey).
My question is about your money back policy. I am really interested in more exercises I could do to make him value me more, as well as interaction with other dog owners who value their dogs as much as I do. But the puppy peaks membership has a considerably high price, and I want to know if I feel it won’t be any more help than what I already do, I’ll have the option to quit.
Also, is it possible to extend the entry deadline until mid October?
In the cameo video of 10 week old Moss learning the retrieve, you stop the reinforcement when he gets sticky and show eye. What repercussions would it have in training having a dog that has somehow strong eye, and the issue has not been addressed early on? How would you work to fix it?
Hi again, will this webinar be avialble not live? it’s 1 AM over here in Israel when it’s 6 PM at Toronto.
and a question: when i’m not actively training my dogs, not palying, not trying to make them understand, how should i react when unwanted behevior presents itself? for example: I have worked with my BC not to chase our oh so nice cat. it went well, we are at the point where the cat can sit on me and i’m petting him without being herd by the BC. the BC is at my feet sleeping and i’m rewarding him for that. and then, for few days I don’t reward him, because of, well, life, and i go outside and sit with my coffee and the lovely cat comes to sit on my lap and all of a sudden the BC tries to chase him again, and i’m like “dude! you have already learnt to be nice to the cat!” in other words, how do i know when my BC learnt the right behevior for good and what to do when there are little fall backs? do I live my coffee and go get the treats?
Puppy Peaks and Recallers are life savers – literally. I had just started Recallers 1.0 with Tux a BC and my heart dog, as well as Majik a Golden Retriever. Unfortunately Tux soon lost his battle with epilepsy. About 2 weeks after losing Tux I was at a meeting for our state 4H dog project. My friends immediately asked me what was wrong with Maj. It was then that I realized I was not the only one grieving the loss of Tux. Recallers helped Maj and I reconnect and find joy again in training. Together we over came our grief and for me, dealing with depression. With Puppy Peaks Maj got to learn new, fun games before succumbing to cancer two weeks shy of his 11th birthday. So these are more about relationship building and finding joy with your dog – the recalls etc are an outcome of that. Thank you Susan and Say Yes.
I have a 1 year old rescue Jack Russell only had him 3 weeks would Puppy peaks be suitable for him?
My question is about the high arousal – “I can’t hear you/I can’t see you/I can’t do it” response I get from my young Border Collie sometimes. I’ve worked lots of impulse control games, his ability to work under high arousal, but I still have trouble getting a prompt and attentive sit in RZ in front of agility equipment. It’s as if I don’t exist – he stands, or hovers between a sit and stand, or creeps to a position in front of me, not RZ. Can you describe the process of working through this (in case I am missing a step or lumping)?
I am interested in what system you use for tracking your progress with each dog. Are you able to keep it all in your head, even for multiple dogs? I have tried for years to devise a system (either in hardcopy or on the computer) to keep track of lesson plans and results, recap thoughts and such but haven’t hit on a magic solution for myself.
With an older dog how long would you work on a specific skill in one session before backing off and accepting RAP (not consistently)? The example I’ve been struggling with is nose touches. No matter which of the troubleshooting techniques I’ve tried, I keep getting licks–the dog seems to believe that is what I want, and will go to amazing contorions to give me a lick, and she gets frustrated when she doesn’t get reqarded for the behavior (I some how haven’t made it clear) and then she shuts down (training isn’t fun).
I took Puppy Peaks the first time around, and I’m in for the repeat. It’s also my second time at recallers. I have a fear aggressive female border collie that was afraid of everything, and wouldn’t take food or treats. We went from not being able to walk in the street during daylight, to competing in sheepherding trials and we just begun trialling in agility. She is still afraid of everything, but her focus for work and for me override all the scary stuff during training and competition.
I can now take her to places with people, and although she is not dog, or people friendly, she remains calm and focused on her work.
I still have a problem in my backyard with a colony of stray cats. She will loose it if they come around, and chase them, getting away from the property, and being totally irresponsive. This is a behavior she has rehearsed and gotten really good at. What part of our foundation work do we need to revisit?
(If we find stray cats on the street during our daily walks, or any place other than the backyard, she doesn’t have problems, and will not chase them. She has 4 cat siblings that she adores.)
Transformation
I took Recallers with my now 21 mo old BCx. I have seen a hugh improvement since we started!! In August we went on vacation to a place in NY called Glen Highland Farm where your dogs can be off leash. I wasn’t confident that he would be successful…just wasn’t sure his recall had improved enough to temp fate. When we arrive we were taken in by the beautiful surroundings and the rolling meadows to romp in. One of the staff members was helping us unload our vehicle and asked me why Peyton was still on leash. I told him I was not sure Id be able to get him back. He told me to “let go”! He will be fine and he’ll be a different dog by the end of our stay. I was about ready to have a panic attack at the thought of how I’d be searching for him when I remembered “Recallers”, find the joy….I unclipped the leash and held my breath. He trotted away then turned and looked at me…I called his name and he came bouncing back to me!!! I found the Joy! I then told him to “go play” and off he went with my friends dog…but not far. We had a fantastic week, I learned to let go, have faith and he came back to me every time I called him. We even played hide’n go seek on the tails (he found me every time. I had so much fun just watching him. What a crackup! Thank you Susan and Staff!…I’m so grateful for all the hard work you have put into making these courses. Looking forward to Puppy Peaks with Twister, my new BC pup and brushing up on more skills with Peyton, Mya & Daisy.
Sorry this is so long!
No need to apologize Naomi beautiful!
Thank you.
One of our biggest Struggles:
Our 5 yr old 8lb Yorki-Pom, has been very successful at Master JWW in AKC and after attending a few USDAA trials is doing well in Jumpers, Snooker & Gamblers.
The problems is she won’t go over contacts in competition… she hasn’t even earned one Q in Novice Standard (AKC). So recently we’ve held off competing in any classes with contacts. In practice she races over her contacts and even when we’ve taken her to other fields she has done very well…but in competition…she refuses go up the contacts. She may put both feet on, she may go up an A-frame but that’s about it. She is very food motivated and is improving on her tugging. Very frustrating! We are hoping by taking PP and working her thru Recallers we can fill in some of the holes. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Hi,
Our family of 5 added a new puppy to our household recently. My 3 children (aged 15, 12 and 9) are eager to participate in his training however many of the local puppy schools have discouraged children under 15 working with a dog.
When completing the Puppy Peaks program is it recommended that there be only 1 trainer or can all the family participate in the games? I want our puppy to respond to the children as well as my husband and myself!
Hi, I have registered and I’m very excited to get started. I have 1.5yeo BC and 5mo Gordon setter puppy. my questions are: a. what is the most importent thing I should teach my dogs in order to move forward? b. my dogs mostly come when I call them, but sometimes I have to call more than once or even WAIT for them to finish sniffing that very interesting grass, how to react to those “sometimes”? I understand that every dog owner is a trainer if he wants to or not, but unlike the susan garretts of the world, I have no idea what is the right way to response to an unwanted behevior in everyday life with my dogs. I mean, what to say/do if I just want to say “no! don’t jump on the sofa!” how do I make it a yes? walk with treats on me all day long so they will understand what I do want them do to?
thank you
Does puppypeaks and recallers depend on the use of a crate as part of it’s foundation? As I’m quite interested in signing up, but we don’t use a crate for my 2 year old dog as when we got him at 14 weeks he had terrible separation anxiety which we have largely overcome but one of the solutions to it was not to use a crate but a bed instead.
John, don’t let SA prevent you from playing Crate Games, they are so much fun and brilliant for dogs.
I have a dog who came to live with us with severe SA. We played crate games long before I could even consider leaving him in the crate. Such a simple concept opens up the doors to canine brilliance, I’d not like to see any dog miss out of the learning and fun opportunities offer.
As a returning puppy peaker – how do we buy access to recallers? I realise we have lots of extras and a very special price (grateful!!) but there are lots of references to recallers – eg in the puppy pyramid, and I don’t know what these games are. Although we may have done many of them in Contact Success…
I registered for Puppy Peaks a couple years ago when it was offered. I would like to go through it again because I have a rescue but don’t know if I can afford it. Might there be any discount for those of us that took it the first time around?
Absolutely Carla! Anyone that went all the way through Puppy Peaks the first time do not have to re-purchase it again, all you need is our “maintenance membership” Please contact [email protected] And let them know what email address you used to register for Puppy Peaks the first time.
Best of luck with your new puppy!
For a year now, we have been trying to teach our agility dog to jump slightly higher so he doesn’t knock bars down. I know we are frustrated, and I’m sure that is transferring to his own frustration. But we aren’t sure how to train better? We use shaping methods for all of the other obstacles, but we have never had a jumping issue before, so we are confounded. Ideas?
Question I have a Shitzu Poodle 7 yrs and a BC puppy 6 months the Puppy often picks on the small dog in an agressive way, the little dog is not at all agressive and even though he hates the unwanted attention he does not really fight back.
After going through some of your other materials (books and DVDs), I was eager to see more of the games the books talked about in person to see how you worked through them and Puppy Peaks was the answer. When I saw that the recallers was also being offered, I was even more excited!
I’m curious about recallers and what kind of pre-requisites there are for starting the course, and if there are games included to help get you there. With where Nova and I are now, I’m hesitant to take her off lead for any amount of time even in our fenced back yard any time soon.
Will you tape it and replay later for those, (Me), who can’t make it?
We can’t promise Jeanne but we will try.
Same question as Renee King: I have a 6 month old Brittany who is obsessed with bugs. She has some great behaviors she has learned, but even for very high value food, she will not take it when she is distracted. And yes, she is on leash.
I would love to be able to read that pyramid but when I zoom in on it the thing goes blurry. When I click on it I am taken to the Puppy Peaks sight. Is it possible to have it posted so we can read it Susan?
ooooopps! PLEASE and THANK YOU!
Hi K8–I assume that you’ll need to get into the courses to see the pyramid.
Deb
I don’t know if it will be the same this time around, but it was included last time for those of us who signed up at the first offering of the course. Susan is great at giving stuff like that away as extras.
I have the same problem as K8
Just not sure I understand when this starts and how it will be accessed, i.e. timeline. Maybe I need to go back and watch earlier posts.
I have great behaviors on my dog and a great working relationship. But what do I do if my dog doesn’t eat his food when it is presented to him (in his crate or when he is uncrated)? What if he just doesn’t find value in food(slow behaviors into crate and during crate games) even when I use even awesome treats? (Sometimes he will take them in his mouth and drop them). He will eat kibble during a working session, and go from tug to kibble when we are working. He just finds no joy for food when there is not work presented with it. Is this DWDH?
Thanks for doing the call!!! I can’t wait (I LOVE the coaching calls!!!).
“That is why our students who have taken my two online programs, Recallers & Puppy Peaks, have gone through such a transformation with their dog training. Together the two programs create an unbelievable inoculation against distractions. Resulting in a dog with an amazing focus for work, an incredible relationship between dog and handler, a bond formed through games and reinforcement based training. If you have that now, you will know exactly what I mean.”
Transformation would most certainly describe where my dog training has gone. Yes, I know exactly what you mean.
Thanks again, Susan!
This is a great deal to bundle the recallers with puppy peaks. While I can not afford it this time around, I hope next year to be able to zoom in on some of this.
Thanks for all of the suggestions and videos and help you have given to those of us wanting to switch to do land.