MasterPlus®PRO does not work by magic!
It distracts the animal but the actual training
is up to you.
4. How to use
MasterPlus®PRO?
For the best results, follow these
guidelines:
1- Let the dog get used to wearing the
collar without the battery for a few days
(a week), so that it becomes a part of
his usual environment.
2- During training, make sure the collar
is ready to work at all times.
3- If the dog is not already wearing the
MasterPlus®PRO collar, put it on at least
20 minutes before the exercise
session, so that he does not associate
the collar with the walk or the
exercise.
4- Whilst training your dog, have one or
two daily sessions of no longer than
30 minutes each, so that neither you
nor the dog becomes stale. For
retraining, you can either organise
sessions during which the behaviour
to be discouraged is specifically
“provoked”, or you can wait
for the misbehaviour to occur
spontaneously. In either case, the
collar must be ready for use at all times.
Surprise and reward
5- The collar has different settings of spray.
Use these variations to surprise your
dog, so he does not get used to them.
However, if the dog is difficult to distract,
use a stronger or longer stimulus.
6- Using the “tone” button
- The tone can be used as a pre-signal:
when your dog is about to commit a
discouraged behaviour, press the tone
button immediately followed by one of
the two spray buttons, this way the dog
will quickly associate the sound with
the spray. After a few sessions, he will
react to the TONE button without your
having to use the spray as well. Indeed,
the dog will understand that if he doesn’t
change his bad behaviour as a result
of the tone, he will be sprayed.
- Just as the tone can be used as a signal
for impending punishment, so can it also
become a rewarding signal. Of course
you need to decide in advance which
role you want to assign to the signal:
as a warning that the animal is about
to be punished by a spray, alternatively
as a signal that the dog has performed
the correct behaviour.
To train the reward association, follow
the same principles that are now
well-established in the world of clicker
training. This is to offer a treat, and at
the moment he takes it, activate the signal
on button number 1. Repeat five or more
times, offering food from your hand.
Now move back and toss the treat
towards your dog, each time pressing
the signal button as he picks up the treat.
After 20-50 such pairings of the signal
with the treat, your dog will reliably
associate the signal with reward.
You can now apply this learned
association by linking your dog's
obedience to easy commands such as
to "sit" or "down" by sounding the tone,
and again offering a titbit. Later you
can use more difficult or problematic
obedience commands such as "come"
(which from time to time dogs ignore).
When you have gained your dog's
attention and he is running towards you,
sound the signal as he is moving closer
towards you. Repeat two or three times
as he makes the journey in your direction.
You now have a device that can
provide pleasure to match the punishment
of the gas.
7- When you trigger the spray, try to ensure
that the dog does not see you holding
the remote control. It is better he forms
the impression that the burst of
spray comes “out of the blue”.
Otherwise, he could think that he has
to behave only when you are there.
You can achieve this by keeping the
remote control in a jacket pocket, looking
away from the dog and ignoring him
when you trigger it. Do not always adopt
the same pose, because dogs are very
sensitive to body language and will soon
be able to predict when you are about
to press the button! The dog should
not know that you are activating the
collar.
8- Activate the spray as soon as you see
the dog beginning the chain or
sequence of misbehaviour. The earlier
you act, the easier it will be to distract
the dog and interrupt the chain.
It is difficult to stop a train running
at full speed! When your dog pauses,
get his attention straight away by calling
and enthusiastically encouraging him
to play with you. Your demeanour should
suggest fun, so produce special toys
that you have brought along as a play-
reward. Play with him for a few minutes
and then go back to the area where
he is prone to misbehave.
9- If the stimulus was not strong enough
to completely distract your dog,
increase it to the maximum setting,
and distract him with another game.
Improve your dog’s behaviour:
10- As your dog’s behaviour improves, you
should take him to places where he is
more and more prone to misbehave.
This way, you will be able to control him
in the worst situations, and to go
anywhere with him.
5 - Why should you want
to change your dog’s
behaviour ?
Rather than punishing your dog, a
disruptive stimulus distracts him for the
moment and makes him receptive to a
new, alternative activity. However, unless
you take full advantage of this brief moment
to put him back on the right path, he may
go back to his previous misbehaviour. In
other words, dogs learn not to misbehave
if there is a desirable alternative available.
This alternative is generally a behaviour
desired by the master. To encourage him,
you will have to reward this good
behaviour frequently. There are several
ways of rewarding a dog.
Enthusiastic congratulations or games are
the best, but it may be necessary, especially
with a young puppy, to combine them with
treats and physical attention. If the choice
of food rewards has been made, it is advised
to give them out after the rewarded action
progressively so that your “authority” does
not become totally dependent on them.
In any case, do not forget: if the reward
is given immediately after the action, your
dog will establish the relation between
his behaviour and your encouraging. If it
is given out much later, he could be led
to believe that you are rewarding him for
the next thing he does.
6 - Canine training guide
1- Basic training
The reinforcement of basic commands
(“Heel”, “Sit”, “Down”, etc.) can be
undertaken using MasterPlus®PRO from
the age of 4 months. If your puppy is the
right size, he can become accustomed
to wearing the MasterPlus®PRO collar in
a short space of time. This will allow you
to interrupt him whenever he is in the
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