Teaching & Training
The T is for Teaching & Training
Management · Environment · Education · See the full toolkit
You'll hear us use “teaching” and “training” almost interchangeably. Most people think of training as getting a dog to do something on cue, like sit. We like the word teaching better, because it covers so much more. Showing a nervous dog that the world is safe isn't really a training task. Neither is helping a dog live calmly and happily in a human household. That bigger picture is what we're working toward with your dog.
Jump to: Why it matters · How dogs learn · Consequence learning · Association learning · Common questions
Why it helps to know how your dog learns
You don't need to become a dog trainer. But knowing the basics changes what you see when your dog does something, and what you do about it.
Your dog is always learning. Not just during training sessions, but on every walk, at every meal, every time the doorbell rings. When you know how learning works, you teach on purpose instead of by accident.
“Bad” habits start to make sense. Behavior that keeps happening is paying off somehow. Jumping gets attention. Barking at the window makes the mail carrier leave, every single time. Once you see the payoff, you can change it.
You can avoid teaching fear by accident. Dogs connect whatever they're looking at with how they feel. A leash correction while your dog stares at another dog can teach them that other dogs predict pain. That's one reason we use rewards, not corrections.
Practice between sessions counts for more. Most of your dog's learning happens with you, not with us. Knowing why each exercise works makes it easier to keep going when progress feels slow.
Two ways dogs learn
Teaching is the T in your MEET toolkit: Management, Environment, Education and Teaching. It's the tool most people come to us for, but it works best alongside the other three. The plan your trainer writes for you will include training plans for the skills your dog needs most.
Dogs learn in two main ways:
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Consequences. What happens right after a behavior decides whether your dog does it again. Your dog sits, gets a treat, and sitting becomes a better bet next time.
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Associations. Dogs learn what predicts what. By your trainer's second visit, plenty of dogs greet them with a full-body wiggle. Trainer means good things are coming!
We'll start with consequence learning. For the best results, work through the five links below in order.
Consequence learning
Every behavior has three parts: something that prompts it, the behavior itself, and what happens next. Trainers call the prompt the antecedent. Sometimes we don't know what it is, but often it's a cue we give, like “sit.”
What happens next is the consequence, and it's the part that does the teaching. At Wiggle Butt Academy, we use consequences your dog actually wants, like food, play and praise. When a behavior pays off for your dog, they'll do it more often. Where we can, we also let your dog make choices. In our experience, dogs who get a say build confidence and learn faster.
Start here: cues and markers
We teach both spoken cues and hand signals, so your dog can understand you whether the room is loud or quiet. We also use a marker: a word or sound that tells your dog the exact moment they got it right, so they know what earned the reward.
1. Hand signals: the gestures we pair with each cue
2. Marker signals: how we tell your dog “yes, that!”
Foundation behaviors
These are skills we teach every dog, using consequence learning. They come in handy everywhere, from the front door to the vet's office.
3. Touch: your dog bumps their nose to your hand
4. Find It: a quick treat search on the ground
5. Leave It: turning away from something tempting
Association learning
Association learning is trickier, because it never switches off. Your dog is always learning what predicts what, and we can't control everything in their world, or how they feel about it.
A consistently kind approach goes a long way. But if your dog already worries about something, like strangers, other dogs, loud noises or being left alone, give us a call. Changing how a dog feels takes a different plan than teaching a sit. While that plan is underway, Management keeps your dog from practicing the fear, for example by walking at quieter times or covering a window.
For puppies, socialization is association learning. We want your puppy to learn that the world is safe and kind, and that new things predict good things.
If your dog is fearful, we add two more tools. Here's the background on each:
Desensitization and counterconditioning (DSCC)
Let's Get Happy: building a positive emotional response (CER)
What Teaching requires: a plan, and the right method. This page explains the methods. Your trainer brings the plan.
When practice isn't enough
Call us if your dog growls, snaps or has bitten, lunges or barks at people or dogs on walks, panics when left alone, or won't take treats around something new.
These are about how your dog feels, not their manners, and they need a behavior plan. Learn about our fear and aggression and reactive dog training programs.
Tools work together: a dog who jumps on guests
Teaching rarely works alone. Here's how all four tools handle one common problem.
Management: Put your dog behind a gate or on a leash when guests arrive, so jumping can't happen and can't pay off.
Environment: A sniff walk or a stuffed Kong before guests come takes the edge off extra energy.
Education: Jumping is how dogs say hello face to face. It's normal dog behavior, not rudeness, so we teach a better greeting instead of punishing a friendly dog.
Teaching: We teach a sit or a Touch for greetings and reward four paws on the floor. Over time, guests at the door start to predict good things on the ground, not faces to jump at.
Common questions
Will my dog need treats forever? No. Once a behavior is reliable, we switch from rewarding every time to rewarding some of the time, and swap in everyday rewards your dog loves, like walks, sniffing, play and your attention. Think of food as a paycheck while the job is new. Isn't using treats just bribery? A bribe comes before the behavior to get your dog to do it. A reward comes after, as payment for a job well done. We sometimes use food to guide a dog into a new position at first, then fade it quickly so the food isn't what prompts the behavior. How often should we practice? Little and often beats long and rare. A few one- to three-minute sessions a day work better than one long one, and fitting practice into real life, like asking for a sit before meals, counts too. Stop while your dog is still enjoying it. How often should we practice? Little and often beats long and rare. A few one- to three-minute sessions a day work better than one long one, and fitting practice into real life, like asking for a sit before meals, counts too. Stop while your dog is still enjoying it. Why don't you use corrections, like leash pops or a firm “no”? Corrections can stop a behavior in the moment, but they don't teach your dog what to do instead, and they can make dogs worried about you, the leash or whatever they were looking at. Rewards teach just as well without those side effects. Here's what the research says. Won't comforting my scared dog make the fear worse? No. Fear is an emotion, not a trick your dog chooses to do, so comfort doesn't reward it. Helping your dog feel safer, whether that's calm reassurance, more distance or a way out, is part of the solution. Read more myths about fearful dogs.
What happens next
Your trainer will pick the one or two skills that will make the biggest difference for your dog right now. Start there. Once those feel easy, you'll add the next piece.
Questions between sessions? Call or text us at 469-444-1474.