8DPCVOD

The final skill in the communication trinity is manding or asking for things. And it's one of the most important skills for any social creature. By default, puppies will mand by jumping up and pawing at us. [DOG WHINING] This is one of the chief behaviors that dog owners complain about. So for the puppies very first training lesson, we're going to teach them the core concept that if they want something, they can ask for it or mand by sitting instead of jumping up. Jumping is correct and appropriate puppy behavior. Jumping up says to adult dogs, I'm small. I won't hurt you. Please play with me, feed me, or pay attention to me. Unfortunately, people don't speak dog, and they wear clothes that have to be dry cleaned after muddy paws get on them. So our job is to change the cue of a human presence to mean sit instead of jump up. We do this by presenting a cue, in this case, a human. And then clicking and treating the puppy for sitting. The behavior of jumping on you is not a bad behavior. It's a stereotypical behavior. It's the software the puppy came with when he was born. So all you're doing is deinstalling what you consider a bad behavior and installing a good behavior. But the real profound part of it is, is that you're teaching the dog to talk to you. At first we click puppy even if he just backs off from jumping on us. But once he seems to understand that, we ask for more and wait until the puppy is actually sitting before we click him. We're not training the puppy to sit on command in this session. We're training the puppy to sit automatically when a human's in front of them. Therefore, we will not be adding a verbal cue, such as sit or off. The presence of a human is the cue for the puppy to sit. At first, this puppy tries his automatic response of climbing up, but quickly learns that sit is the behavior that pays. Good boy. Good boy. So we're watching some footage of four-week old puppies being taught to automatically sit. And you may think to yourself, I mean, it's a cute thing, but really, I mean, is it necessary? Is it necessary to put all this effort in with these tiny, baby puppies? If you don't take anything else away from this, I want you to understand that dogs have needs, and they communicate them through behaviors. The need to be heard is a deep, emotional need for all social animals and that your job is to give your puppy a voice so he can speak to you and communicate his needs. And in this simple exercise, what we are doing is taking the most primal need for a four-week old puppy, which is social interaction, which he is preprogramed to do a behavior which most people would not like, which is jump on you. And we're saying to him, you have a voice. I'm going to listen to you, but I'm going to show you how you can speak to me. That is so profound for a tiny, baby puppy, and it is something that will be carried with him for the rest of his life. That he matters, and he is heard. So again, give your puppy a voice. And do it during the critical period where it will form part of his cultural understanding of the way the world works. On the other hand, if you chose to let this go and then just correct the puppy, not too harsh, but correct him. Stop him. Prevent him from jumping on you. You would have shut down his voice. The dog no longer has a way to communicate his need to you. And it has been proven time and time again in scientific experiments that to deprive a social animal of a voice is incredibly damaging psychologically. And I think that most people through the absolute best intentions and they love their dog will suppress a dog or correct problem behaviors because they think that's what they should do because that's what they've been told a good dog is. But what I want you to understand is you need to stop thinking about it in terms of preventing or stopping problem behaviors, and think about it in terms of teaching your dog how to talk to you.