Let the Dog Decide: The Revolutionary 15-Minute-a-Day Program to Train Your Dog - Gently and Reliably by Dale Stavroff

Introduction: Letting the Dog Decide     xv
Preparing to Train     1
To the Dog's Understanding: Why Training Succeeds or Fails     3
Dogs in the Wild
Dogs and People
Classical Conditioning
The Difference a Collar Makes
Do You Really Want to Be Alpha?
Operant-Conditioning-Clicking to the Next Stage
A Better Way: Combining Covert Control with Overt Positive Reinforcement
Training with Covert Control and Overt Positive Reinforcement     21
Covert Control and Overt Positive Reinforcement
Teaching Behaviors with Operant-Conditioning
Building Benevolent Eye Contact
Compassionate Compulsion: Using the Bench
Clicker Conditioning and Dominant Dogs
Choosing the Right Dog     39
Dog Groups and Breeds
Who Are You?
Show Lines and Working Lines
A Closer Look at the Groups
The Seven Groups of Dogs
Choosing a Puppy
The Older Dog
The Shelter Dog
Breed Rescue Groups
You've Chosen a Dog, What's Next?
Low-Stress, High-Result Learning     55
Mood and Its Meaning in Training
Manipulating Mood in Training
The Best Mood for Training
Visualize Your Dog: Happy, Confident, and Cooperative
Delighting the Dog, or the Virtue of Reinforcement on a Random Schedule
Releasing the Dog from Training Work
Day-to-Day Handling and Informal Training     67
Making the Dog at Home     69
Dog-Proofing the House and Yard
Training Tools Checklist
Chews and Other Toys
Toilet Training, Meals, and QuietTime
Crate Training
Entering and Leaving the Crate and the House
Don't Let the Dog Do Anything Now That You Won't Want the Dog to Do Later
General Control and the Use of the Long Lines
Dogs and Furniture
Making Yourself the Focus of the Dog's Positive Associations
The Right Treats for the Right Occasion
Formal and Informal Signals and Control
Hand Signals
The Fetch
A Day in the Life
Children and Dogs
Introducing the Dog to the World     93
Walking the Dog
The Halti Head Collar
Socialization and the Dog Park
Socializing the Dog to People
Socializing the Dog to Other Dogs
Dog Friendships and Rivalries
Recognizing Dominance
Formal Training     105
Building Benevolent Eye Contact     107
The Training Schedule
Establishing and Building Benevolent Eye Contact
Saying Yes to Benevolent Eye Contact
Using the Clicker     117
Teaching without Commands
One Lesson at a Time
Naming Behaviors and Strengthening Benevolent Eye Contact     123
Naming Behaviors
Strengthening Benevolent Eye Contact
Climbing the Bench     129
Bench Work and the Traffic Safe Dog
Training Behaviors on the Bench     137
The Sit on the Bench
The Down on the Bench
The Stand on the Bench
Stays on the Bench in the Named Behaviors
Intermediate Training on the Gronnd     147
Beginning to Train on the Ground
Building Reliability by Delighting the Dog
What to Do If the Dog Balks
Working without the Leash
The Stays
Don't Lean on the Leash
Training Behaviors under Distraction     159
The Recall
Introducing Distractions
The Heel     167
Heeling in a Straight Line
Turning in the Heel Position
The Spinning Game
Special Concerns     173
Having More Than One Dog     175
Acquiring Two Dogs at the Same Time
Introducing a New Dog into an Established Single-Dog Household
Difficult Dogs     181
The Dominant Dog
Characteristics of the Dominant Dog
Assessing Dominance in Puppies
Training the Dominant Dog
The Active Resister
Characteristics of the Active Resister
Training the Active Resister
The Passive Resister
The Trouble with Belly Rubs
Characteristics of the Passive Resister
Training the Passive Resister
The Fear Biter (the Sharp Shy Dog)
Characteristics of the Fear Biting, Sharp-Shy Dog
Behavioral Problems and How to Solve Them     195
How Covert Negative Reinforcers Are Used in Training
Rummaging in the Garbage
Jumping Up
Paws and Praise
Empowering the Dog to Solve Its Own Behavior Problems-Part 1
Pulling on the Leash
Empowering the Dog to Solve Its Own Behavior Problems-Part 2
Aggression to Other Dogs
Aggression at the Door
Mouthing and Nipping
Begging at the Table
Making Sure Baby and Dog Get Along
Conclusion     217
Resources     219
Acknowledgments     221
Index     223