Help a Shy Dog Blossom Using Targeting and Clicker Training

Shy dogs can be an especially difficult challenge to train because it is so hard for them to establish trust. However, training this kind of dog to target can help them develop confidence fairly quickly. You need to begin by establishing trust with a shy dog in order to be successful with clicker training. Once you have its trust, you can use clicker training and target training to teach your dog a wide variety of skills and to help its personality blossom.

Steps

Using Treats and Praise to Establish Trust

1. Be calm when you approach the dog. When building trust with a shy dog, you need to exude calmness in order to model good behavior for the dog. Use slow, deliberate movements and a calm, even tone when speaking to the dog.
   • Try not to act overexcited to see the dog. While it will show the dog that you are excited to see it, it could cause the dog to get overexcited and anxious.
   • Avoid direct eye contact, as this can be threatening to the dog.
2. Give the dog some physical space. Don’t try to pet or handle the dog right away. Leave a distance of about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} between you and the dog when starting training sessions.
   • When establishing trust with a shy dog the goal is to get the dog to willingly come to you instead of you coming to it.
3. Get treats to use to promote good behavior. Choose Dog Treats at your local pet store or from an online retailer. There are a wide variety of treats available that do not give your dog a lot of calories but that dogs tend to love.
   • Dogs have different likes and dislikes when it comes to treats. It may take you a few purchases to find a treat that your dog will be motivated to get.
4. Spend time with the dog on a daily basis. Building up trust with a shy dog requires some time for it to get to know you. Make time every day to play, train, or just spend time in the same room as the shy dog.
   • Even if you have a busy schedule, be sure to focus on interacting with the dog for about an hour every day.
5. Give a verbal command, such as sit and lay down. Since sitting is a natural action for dogs, it’s best to teach this command first. Say the word “sit” and then wait for the dog to do the action. Keep saying the word every few seconds until the action is completed.
   • Use the same word and tone for a specific action every time you give a command. This will help the dog understand what you want it to do.
6. Reinforce the action with treats and praise. Once your dog completes your command, such as sitting, give it praise and give it a treat. The treat and praise will motivate your dog to do what you ask of it going forward.
   • Doing basic training is a good way to establish a rapport with the dog and to work up to clicker and target training.Template:Greenbox:'''Tip:''' Don’t give your dog a treat unless it does what you have asked it to do. For example, if you say “sit,” wait until the dog actually sits before giving the treat. If the dog doesn’t complete the action, it doesn’t get a treat.
7. Don’t yell at or hit the dog. It’s important not to get upset if your dog misbehaves or doesn’t do what you ask it to do. Scaring it or hurting it will cause the dog not to trust you and could erase all the work you have done with it so far.
   • This does not mean that you can’t punish a dog for bad behavior. Being clear and calm while you tell it “no” and withhold praise, physical affection, and treats is a much more effective punishment for bad behavior than yelling or hitting.

Teaching Clicker and Targeting Skills

1. Pick out a targeting object. This is an item that the dog will go to when you tell it to. This could simply be a stick or a toy. It's particularly helpful to pick a toy that your dog likes to play with.
   • You will use the same target item for many training sessions, so make sure that you don’t lose it.
2. Use a clicker to reinforce commands the dog has already been taught. Give your dog a verbal command and then click the clicker right when it starts to complete the action. Over time, hearing this click when it does the right thing will reinforce the dog’s understanding of your commands.
   • The clicker helps you to have clear communication with the dog, which will give it more confidence and drive to interact with you.
   • For example, when you say “sit,” click the clicker right when the dog starts to lower its bottom.
   • If the shy dog is very noise reactive, you may choose to use a muffled or quiet clicker instead of a traditional dog-training clicker.
3. Introduce the target command by getting the dog to touch your hand. Once your dog is responding to the clicker, you can introduce targeting an object, which means having the dog go to an object and touch it with its nose. Start by putting a treat in your hand and holding it a few inches in front of the dog’s face with your fingers pointing down. Say a verbal command, such as “touch,” and click the clicker once the dog touches your hand with its nose.
   • After the dog touches your hand, give it the treat and praise its performance.
4. Repeat this exercise until the dog responds reliably. This can take multiple sessions over the course of several days. The amount of sessions it takes will vary greatly from dog to dog.
   • Targeting can be helpful for a shy dog because you can give it a command to target a new person or go somewhere specific, such as its bed. This can force the dog to meet new people calmly and to get the dog to leave situations you need to remove it from, such as if it’s misbehaving.
5. Remove the treat from the hand and begin again. When the dog sniffs and touches your hand, it will still get a click and treat but now the treat comes from the other non-target hand. If the dog is confidently reaching out to touch your hand, then start moving the hand a little so its nose has to follow it before the click and treat.
   • This is repeated until the dog can follow your hand around the building in all directions. Before moving on the dog should be able to "touch" repeatedly before the click and treat.
   • The "touch" to your hand should be a nice strong push, not just a soft touch.
6. Move on to targeting specific objects. Once the dog is reliably responding to the “touch” verbal command with your hand, move on to getting it to touch its nose to a targeting object. Place the targeting object at your feet, point at the object, and then say the word “touch.” Once the dog noses the object, click your clicker and give the dog the treat.
   • The dog’s inclination will be to nose your hand again. Simply repeat your command, continue to point at the object, and hold on to the treat until the dog noses the correct object.
   • For some dogs you may need to help them at first by going back to putting a treat in your hand. Rub the treat on the surface of target item and lead the dog's nose to it with your smelly target hand. Click when its nose touches the item.
7. Build up distance between you and the target item. When the dog gets the idea of touching the new object with its nose, you can begin to work on sending the dog greater and greater distances. Tap on the item you want the dog to target, walk away from it, give the verbal command, and then click and treat the dog when it touches the item.
   • Once the dog becomes hooked on touching its nose to the target, you can use this skill to help make it more social.

Building Social Skills

1. Have the dog target another person it knows. To get your shy dog to be more social, start having it go to other people. Pick someone your dog knows at first, so that it trusts you when you tell it to target another person.
   • This could be another person in your household that the dog interacts with on a regular basis.
   • Do the exercise as you did with objects, first giving the verbal command and then giving a click and treat when the dog completes it.
2. Start with exposure therapy if the dog is nervous around people. Find how close someone can be before the dog reacts, then have someone stand just a little further away than that. As soon as the dog sees the person, give it a high-value treat before it has time to react. Then, when the person disappears, stop giving treats. That way, the dog will come to identify new people with something positive, rather than with fear.
   • For example, if the dog lunges or cowers when someone comes within {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of it, have the person stand {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} away, and treat the dog if it doesn't react.
   • Consider having the person give the dog the treat. However, they should toss the treat behind the dog—that way, they don't have to enter the dog's fear zone.
3. Enlist a stranger to practice targeting with your dog. Your shy dog should be confident enough at this point that you can try making a new person target. They should not make any eye contact but remain relaxed with the dog. Have the stranger sit in a chair with its hand down and palm outwards. Put a treat in the stranger’s hand, so the dog can see it. Keep the dog on a leash and advance toward the stranger. Don't click until the dog takes the treat.
   • If you have built up trust with your dog, it should listen to your command and ignore its fear of strangers in order to complete it.
   • The handler should still do the clicking and the stranger should do the treating.Template:Greenbox:'''Tip:''' The stranger who is helping you should completely ignore the dog: no eye contact, no reaching to pat, and no talking.
4. Target outside in public with another volunteer stranger. Start somewhere safe, such as your yard, and then go on a walk. Have your new volunteer walk along the sidewalk towards you. Have the volunteer stop several yards away and then have your dog target their hand.
   • As before, have the volunteer hold a treat and don’t click until the dog takes it.
   • Remember, when you're first training in a new environment you may need to go back to the first step for awhile until your dog can perform the behavior reliably.
5. Transition to target training without giving a treat every time. Stand still just looking and calmly talking to yet another volunteer stranger. Give your verbal command and wait for the dog to touch the stranger's now empty palm. Give a click and treat for the touch. However, as soon as the dog finishes its treat, ask for a touch again. If the dog goes to the stranger's palm, click and give the dog only verbal praise.
   • Repeat the pattern of treating the first time and not the second time several times.
   • Move on to only giving praise when you feel that your dog will still reliably respond to your commands.
6. Have your dog target a variety of stranger's hands. Try changing the posture, location, gender, and race of the strangers your dog interacts with. Practicing targeting makes contacting strangers a comfortable behavior that provides your dog with a positive way to have social interaction.
   • Teaching your dog to target and getting it really hooked on it will give you a tool to deal with fearful episodes.

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References

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• Train a Dog
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• Train or Help a Puppy Stop Crying when Locked up or Outside
• Train a Puppy Not to Bite
• Train Your Service Dog Without a Professional Trainer
• Train Puppies

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