by Brooke Steinbach: CPDT-KA
Impulse control is a vitally important foundational behavior. The more effort your dog puts into controlling himself, the less effort you have to put into controlling him. The following training sessions will help build your dog’s concentration skills, but also build trust between your dog and you. He will start to understand that you will give him good things, but that good things only come to those who wait.
Timing during these training sessions is important, so watch your dog closely. To begin, make sure he knows that you have a treat. It should be yummy enough to catch is interest, but not such a high value treat that he’s going to frantically hurt you to get at it. Some dogs will work for plain old dry dog food, some prefer it flavored with a little broth, others only work for dog training treats or real meat.
Hold the treat in your closed fist right in front of his nose. The moment his nose moves away from your hand for any reason, it can even be that he heard a sound in another room, click and drop the treat. While you are waiting for that nose to move away from your hand, your dog might paw, lick, nibble, or bite at your fist. If you are afraid that he will bite your hand, set the treat on the floor and cover it with your foot. When his nose moves away from your shoe (or maybe your steel-toed boot if you have one of those overly-enthusiastic dogs), click and lift your foot. One second after the click, drop the treat on the floor for your dog to eat it, rather than offering it from your hand, because soon you will be asking him to stay away from a treat held in your open hand. You don't want him to learn that an open hand is a cue to eat the treat. That will just confuse him.
Keep practicing until your dog starts to keep his nose away from your hand for a little longer time. When you have worked up to a couple seconds of duration, say “free” the moment before you click. That way, your dog will begin to associate the word “free” with his release cue. His cue to wait for the treat will be the word, “wait,” but when do you start to tell him to “wait?” Say it when you are pretty sure that he will actually wait for the food. When you know that he understands by your closed fist, that you are playing the “move-your-nose-away-from-the-food” game, say “wait,” then hold out your closed fist. He should know to move his nose away. Say “free,” click, and treat.
When you are confident that he can stay away from the treat held in your closed fist for at least 10 seconds, increase the difficulty of your lessons. Hold out your closed fist, then slowly open your hand. If he tries to eat the treat, simply close your hand and practice a few more times with your fist closed. Then try again. Keep practicing until he will keep his nose away from food held out to him in your open hand. Gradually lower your open hand until it’s resting on the floor, then try to place the treat on the floor. When he gets good at waiting for a treat placed in front of him, try setting it right next to his paw, then on top of his paw. When you get really good, try putting two treats in front of him, then advance to one treat on each paw. When kids come around, tell your dog, “Wait until I count to three, OK?” Then count slowly to three, but say “three” enthusiastically. Your dog will hear “free.” Kids will be amazed at how well your smart dog can count.