You cue your dog to stay while you walk away then turn around to face them and pause.  You call your dog to come, then cue them to lie down half way to you.  You then call your dog to come and they sit in front of you.  You cue your dog to go to heel position, and they sit there.  You reward your dog.

You cue your dog to search.  They search the room, locate the hide, get as close as they can to it and freeze.  You say your marker word and reward them.

Often we focus on what our dogs are doing that we don't want.  But here is a secret - if you can define what you would like your dog to do in that situation, and the steps to teach that, you will make more progress towards your goal.

Recently I was reminded of this in my own life, as adolescent Liv started barking more and more when it was time to go outside first thing in the morning, and when I got home at night after teaching classes.  I did the usual shushing her, and as you can probably guess, it didn't do anything.  It wasn't until I stepped back and put on my dog trainer hat that I saw change.

One of the most common concerns people have is wanting their dog to come when called.  It makes sense that this is the case because our dogs have their own interests, and often the world has many fun interests to compete with our call.  To compete with that, we need a plan to first teach our dogs that coming to us when we call is an a great thing to do, and to then challenge them with achievable challenges to improve their ability to respond even when distracted.  

The biggest tip I can give you is to make coming to you amazing.  Make it fun and enjoyable for your dog, and do so repeatedly so that your dog develops a strong history of responding to you being a great deal for them.  This foundation creates an almost automatic response because your dog doesn't need to think about what comes next, they know it will great.  And that is what causes them to return even when there is something else they are interested in.  There are a variety of games that you can play with your dog to establish this foundation, and in private lessons I can help you choose and tailor games to your dog's specific preferences, but here are some common ones you can try.

I love going hiking with my dogs, but there are some things that make that experience more enjoyable for us both.

I find hiking so much more enjoyable when my dogs aren't pulling me down the trail!  Although it can be frustrating when you just want to go on a hike, I highly recommend taking the time to train your dog to walk nicely on a loose leash.  These two things aren't mutually exclusive, I taught Tristan how to casually walk on a loose leash on trails, however, I had to go out knowing that I'd be stopping and turning if he pulled so I wouldn't cover as much ground, or if I stuck with a predetermined route, it would take us longer to complete it.  Consistency is the key here - if your dog gets to explore by dragging you along behind them, that's what they'll do in the future.  

Here is how I taught Tristan not to drag me down the trail: