Core Rules What are Core Rules? Core Rules are what we use to break down training. When a dog respects us, the only thing keeping us from completing training is whether they understand what we are asking of them. We use these Core Rules to troubleshoot problems and break down training. List of Core Rules

1. Positive / Negative / Distractions

2. A to B Rule and Super Proofing

3. Rule of 33

4. Premack Principle

5. Training Every Second - Am I training the dog or is the dog training me?

6. Energy Spectrum - Hyper vs Tired

7. Training Phase vs Management Phase

Explanation of Core Rules Positive / Negative / Distractions - They can either do a good or a bad behaviour at any second. Once the know they are rewarded for good and there is consequence for bad, everything else after is distractions and distance.

A to B Rule and Super Proofing - B is your goal level, A is your starting point. If they won't do your goal level, find the easiest level of that they can and work your way up. Super Proofing is when you train passed the level you will be happy with to ensure your goal level is easy.

Rule of 33 - Whenever you increase distance or distractions a dog will make mistakes. How do you know when they are being stubborn and require consequence or they just don't understand yet? The Rule of 33 will answer that. 3 questions you ask:

1. Have they done the command before? This is usually yes and that is why we are

feeling frustrated, but...

2. Distractions - Have they done the command at this particular distraction 33 times?

3. Distance - Have they done the command at this distance 33 times?

If not, it is much more likely they do not understand the command. This is why we often make them work for their food until they are hungry enough to do so to give us proof of concept that they understand the command at that level. If you make the mistake of thinking they understand when they do not and you raise your voice or start using consequence you run the risk of breaking spirit in your dog. If they cannot figure out what you want then they cannot get you to stop the consequence. This is where Force Training earned its bad reputation. Force Trainers often thought a dog should know better so they would add consequence. If they just didn't know, you would break spirit. This is why Alpha dogs faired the best as they were the most intelligent and the most likely to figure out what you were trying to get them to do so they could get the corrections to stop.

Some of these increases in distractions or distance may seem easy to us but they are not for the dog. We have a name for this, we call it "University Professor Syndrome". Have you ever met someone that was very intelligent but were terrible at explaining? It was so easy for them they just do not understand how to break it down. Same thing can happen for us. These levels can seem so easy we think they are being stubborn. We just need to break the levels down. (Note: I have worked with a number of University Profs that definitely know how to break things down, but we had to call it something :) Omegas and some Low Betas will really need training broken down. You have to be very patient with them. As an example: When we teach the Down command to 10 week old puppies. These are the general timelines we find:

1. Alpha - 10 minutes or less. We call this the Evil Genius Category. Any pups that

learn the command the way I teach down in under 10 minutes were much more

likely to have aggression issues later in life.

2. Beta - 15 to 60 minutes - We call this the A Plus Category. These dogs are smart

but not evil genius smart. Less likely to become aggressive later in life.

3. Omega - Will probably take the full day or longer. I have never met a dog in this

category that became aggressive later in life.

Premack Principle - This is just a fancy name for you take something the dog has never seen, is unsure of or doesn't like and you link it to something they like. An example would be associating booties on a dog to getting treats. This is the heart of Socialization. Take all of the things a dog will see throughout their life and link it to things like food, toys and your attention.

Training Every Second - Am I training the dog or is the dog training me? - Every second your dog will either be doing something good or something bad. You will always try to ensure the dog is doing something good. Use the Energy Spectrum Rule to try and keep your dog doing good behaviours. If you want to relax, ensure your dog is tired so they will relax too and not get into trouble while you are relaxing. Try to make the bad behaviours impossible to do. If you can't make them impossible make them difficult. If you can't make them difficult add consequence. Am I training the dog or is the dog training me? This can switch very quickly. It happened to me a lot when I only did reward training with smart dogs. In reward training when a dog does a bad behaviour you are supposed to redirect with a treat or a toy. Smart dogs can figure out this pattern. Therefore they can actually think they are being rewarded for bad behaviour. Therefore the bad behaviour gets worse. This is when the dog is smarter than you are :) An example is a Cocker Spaniel I worked with. The family that had him thought he was the dumbest dog in the world. When I got to their home I noticed the dad was a smoker. The dog would steal his cigarette lighter, run off with it. If the dad didn't notice, the dog would drop the lighter, bark to get his attention and pick the lighter up. The dad would walk to the cookie jar, the dog would bring the lighter back, give up the lighter to get a cookie. I said "He seems pretty smart to me!"

Energy Spectrum - Hyper vs Tired - There is a natural progression in your dog's energy. It is best to train behaviours that are suited to that energy level. Starting from really hyper to very tired this is an example of the order we would go through:

1. Recall, fetch, tug, tracking, agility - Do this when your dog wants to run around.

2. Heel - When your dog no longer wants to run but they want to walk, work on

heel.

3. Sit - If you notice your dog is getting tired from walking and wants to sit, work on

sit.

4. Down - If you are doing sit training and you notice your dog is getting tired and

wants to lay down, work on down.

5. Stay - When you can barely get your dog into a sit to work on down, they are

getting really tired, work on stay.

6. Greeting Guests - Some dogs get very excited when guests come over. Tire them

out as much as you can first so they calm down quicker when guests come over.

7. Separation Anxiety & Distraction Training - Both of these work best when the

dog is very tired. They will be too tired to notice you going too far so it works

well for Separation Anxiety. Distraction Training will be one of your biggest

categories of training. The more tired the less the dog tends to care about the

distraction, such as rabbits. But if they do fire up, they will often calm down

quicker because they are fairly tired.

Training Phase vs Management Phase - This rule is mostly for Betas and Alphas. Any tools you are using to manage good behaviour should continue to be used 1-3 months after of continued good behaviour.

1. Alphas - 3 months of perfect behaviour 2. Betas - 2 months of perfect behaviour 3. Omegas - 1 month of perfect behaviour.

The higher up in rank the longer the phase. The higher up the smarter they are and the better able they are to recognize patterns and manipulate so you want to really make sure the habits are set in place. Any use of tie-out points for greeting guests or training stay. Any long lines, training collars, bitter apple, etc. should be kept in use or close by for 1-3 months where during that time it was not needed. A common example is when you would see someone use a barking collar for a dog. When the dog barks something happens they don't like, it stops a lot of dogs from barking very quickly. The people often think the dog is then trained so they take the collar off. The dog may be quiet a day or two and then they bark. They put the collar back on and the dog stops. The dog will quickly become "collar smart" and know they only cannot bark when the collar is on but are free to bark when the collar is off. In this case when the dog has learned not to bark the collar should be kept on for 2-3 months where the dog didn't bark at all. This would also apply to the use of remote training collars, collars for invisible fences, and even long lines for training heel as well as tying the dog up for stay. Just because the dog knows the command doesn't mean they respect it and the habit is set.