Backchaining is a process that occurs in a dog training sequence when you train a dog to do a series of activities by teaching the last one first. This is effective because the last one is the one that has a reward attached to it as you teach it.

For example, for many years I have taught all my dogs that they have to hear me say “Okay!” before they can eat their meals. They have to sit and stay before I say okay. Eating the meal is such a strong reward that every dog has quickly learned this sequence of sit, stay, and wait for the magic word. I don’t even have to ask them to sit with a word. Often they sit before I can say it or even glance at them.

So… recently Lola got an abcess on her belly, and it began draining before our vet saw it. The veterinarian gave us an antibiotic cream in a small tube, which we were to poke into the hole in her skin and squirt a bit, then rub some into her skin. When she said to do it twice a day, we decided it would be easiest to remember if we did it before meals.

Lola didn’t much like being messed with that way and at first we had to chase her around the house. But by the third day, she was staying in the dining room as I got the food ready before I did the ointment. The next day, she started lying down and even presenting her belly for her treatment, and so it continued for the week we had to do the procedure. It didn’t matter whether I was feeding or my husband was, the routine was the same.

The week passed but I’m sure you can see what’s coming… we now have a new part of the meals ritual! Lola presents me with her belly and I rub it.

Who’s training whom? This is not the first time that I have wondered that, and it’s a great reminder of the power of back chaining. I would have to say that Lola has taught me the belly-rub part!

How can you find time for dog training? I have two tips on that today.

That question came to me as a comment on my review of Nicole Wilde’s excellent book, Don’t Leave Me, which is on separation anxiety. It led me to an AHA moment, which I’ll get into further down.  First, here is the comment:

I borrowed a copy this book from a friend of ours. It’s a great resource and very comprehensive. My ONLY criticism is that – as is the case with most training guides – it doesn’t allow for owners whose lives are necessarily short of time. Read the rest of this entry

Here is a really, really good article on dog training: Watching Alex. I was drawn into what the writer, Tamara Dormer, was doing with dogs in general and one called Alex in particular. I guessed that she might work at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, so I googled her name and indeed she does. Read the rest of this entry

This was offered to me to put on the blog, and even though I generally prefer to do my own writing on dog training here, this was fun and I’m no graphic artist! It’s quite long so click through to see it… I didn’t want it to take up the whole homepage of the blog!
Read the rest of this entry