"No" as a command

Most people think of "No" as something you shout at a dog to stop it doing something, a negative.

But if it's used properly, "No" can be a very positive aid in training your dog. It can speed up the training cycle immensely by blocking undesired behaviours. I had to think about the word I used there quite carefully. I didn't want to say bad or inappropriate behaviours, as what I'm talking about are just behaviours that you just don't want at a particular place and time. At other times they may be perfect. It's a bit like what's the difference between a weed and a flower? A weed is just a flower that's growing in the wrong place. Similarly a "sit" is a great behaviour from a dog greeting people, but not what you want when you teaching a dog to roll-over.

Our dogs are trained using positive, reward-based methods. The exact reward depends on the dog. Kira, our Labrador, will do anything for food. Enya, our collie, on the other hand has been known to politely take food and then spit it out - but will do anything for a thrown ball.

So where does "No" a seeming negative come into this? When your teaching a dog a new command, sometimes they will get it right, in which case they get the reward. Somethings they get it wrong, in which case they don't get the reward and we encourage them to try again until they get it right and we can reward them. This rapidly builds a characteristic of dogs that have been trained by positive reinforcement - if they are unsure about what you are asking them what to do they "offer" behaviours that they think might get them the reward. It's not uncommon in a reward based class, to see a puppy offer it's entire repertoire of actions in rapid succession to get the reward.

So what we do, is use "No" as a marker to indicate the behaviours that are not going to get the reward - this lets the dog know that it should "offer" us a different behaviour immediately. It speeds up the process. If I was trying to teach a stand and my dog does a sit, I would say "No" and wait. OK, the dog knows a sit isn't going to hack it, so it doesn't stay in the sit hopefully staring at the treat, it tries a down. Another "No". OK the dog now knows that I'm not after a sit or a down so it has to try something new. The dog stands up - Bingo! Reward time. OK, this is slightly contrived example and I wouldn't actually teach a stand like that, but you get the idea. I haven't had to wait for ages while the dog stays hopefully in a sit until they finally give up, and the dog hasn't got frustrated.

So how do you teach it? Just as I've indicated above. In your training sessions if your dog gives you a behaviour that isn't the one you want, mark it with a "No" and wait. Then reward the correct behaviour. Your dog will rapidly pick up that "No" means "try something else".

My reason for blogging about this now?

I did a training session on weaves with Enya this morning on 2x2s. We're on two sets, so she has to go through the first set, then the second set, in the right order and the right direction.

First time, she missed the first set out - "no". She didn't wait for the toy/reward, but immediately arced around for a second run. This time she got the first set but missed the second - "no". Again that immediate arc around and re-try. Third time she again got the first but missed the second - "no". Fourth time round she nailed it! Ball - reward - play!

This whole process took less than 30 seconds. So in less than 30 seconds we went from failure to success. Enya wasn't bored, wasn't frustrated, worked really well and was throughly reward, and all because I can say "no" to my dog :-)

Some pointers:

Don't use No in a harsh way. When I'm training my dogs, "No" is used in a very soft, everyday voice. The same voice as I would say "sit" or "weave" in. Don't use "No' in a telling-off voice. If you find you can't do that, just use a different word. People I know use "Opps" or "Cheater" as alternatives.

Always reward your dog at the end. If you've offered a reward to the dog you must give it to them. If all goes pear-shaped, get the dog to do something very simple like a "sit" or a "down" and reward that.

If you find your having to say "No" more than two or three times in a row you've almost certainly made the challenge your offering your dog too hard. Re-think it and try again, remember the training maxim: Always set your dog up to succeed.

If everything is going wrong and your starting to get frustrated, and your "No" is becoming harsh. STOP IMMEDIATELY! You will do yourself and your dog no good if you try and train in this state of mind, and you will de-value your "No" command. Have a break. Have a cup of tea. Do something else. Once your back in a positive frame of mind, try again.