The good news is that you can teach your dog to enjoy wearing a coat… or at least to “warm up” to the idea! In this video, KPA CTP Breanna Norris is teaching her dog Robin to wear a jacket. Breanna begins by showing Robin the coat and offering plenty of his favorite training treats. The goal is for Robin to associate the presence of the coat with good things. Over time, Breanna uses small approximations until she can place the coat’s opening near Robin’s head. As demonstrated in the video, Breanna then uses a behavior that Robin knows well—hand-targeting—to teach Robin to place his head through the coat’s opening. Robin is now ready for the arrival of winter (even if the rest of us are not!).

For more ideas about how to get started training your dog, check out our blogs and the Dog Trainer Foundations course! The Immersion version of the Dog Trainer Foundations course offers an even more personalized, structured learning experience, plus five hours of coaching to help you get to the next step!

Happy Training!