Modeled from the discontinued Treat & Train by Sharper Image

 Manners Minder Remote Reward Training System

Are you frustrated with your dog's unruly behavior — excessive barking, jumping and making a mad dash when visitors come to your door? Now you can get your dog to behave appropriately — not with punishment but with positive reinforcement; by rewarding alternate good behaviors. It's easy and fun, with Manners Minder, a remote-controlled kibble dispensing system.

This innovative device, when combined with a clinically proven training protocol and short, fun training games, will have your dog behaving beautifully in just a few weeks. He'll lie down calmly in a chosen spot when guests come to your door and in other situations where there are lots of distractions. Much more than a fancy treat dispenser, with this system you will be able to . . .

Reward instantly.
Two keys to success in training are clarity and timing. It must be clear — to the dog — exactly which of his behaviors triggered the reward. And clarity comes from timing, the speed with which the treat follows the desired behavior before any subsequent behavior muddies the waters; and before any extraneous movements or sounds confuse your visual or verbal cues.

The secret is the wireless remote control. It sounds an audible tone that signals to the dog that a treat has been dispensed into the tray for him to eat. With this push-button remote, there's no fumbling for a treat from your pocket; no reaching toward the dog; no need to approach or distract the dog; and essentially no delay at all between your dog doing exactly the desired behavior and the dispensing of the reward. This minimizes any confusion by your actions, and it works great. 

Scientific approach is fun.
The Manners Minder Professional Dog Training System was created by Sophia Yin, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, applied animal behaviorist, lecturer at UC Davis and the award-winning pet columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. Dr. Yin's current research focuses on barking as vocal communication in dogs; and on the use of positive reinforcement and remote-controlled treat dispensing for enrichment purposes and to address nuisance barking and other undesirable behaviors in dogs.

The included training manual and DVD have all you need to be successful using Manners Minder, with five "games" that can be played at convenient, low-stress times (such as during TV commercials) to progressively teach your dog to be very well behaved: (1) Tone Means a Treat Is Coming; (2) Target with the Nose; (3) Lie Down and Stay; (4) Run to a Rug and Lie Down on Cue; and (5) Lie Down and Stay with Distractions. At that point, you're ready to practice with visitors coming to the door. Anyone can do this! It's easy, fun and amazingly effective in a surprisingly short period of time; each "game" takes about five days to complete. The principles that Dr. Yin teaches apply to all kinds of animals for getting all kinds of desired behaviors; she even demonstrates her achievements with chickens!

How it works.
Manners Minder holds and dispenses your dog's kibble, replacing his old bowl and becoming part of Dr. Yin's program to make food a real treat and fun reward for good behavior. Kibble can be dispensed by remote control (which sounds an audible tone) or automatically in programmed intervals (e.g., later in the program when your dog's desired behavior is to stay quietly in one place). You'll learn to use Manners Minder's "tone and treat" techniques along with visual cues and verbal cues so your dog will clearly understand the good behavior you want.

What is the MannersMinder^™ system?

It’s a remote-controlled reward system that uses positive reinforcement for training dogs to behave at home and perform better in competition. By rewarding desired behaviors, the system can be an invaluable tool in helping redirect a dog’s focus away from barking at the door, jumping on guests, and begging at the table. The system can also be used to train behaviors ranging from down/stay to coming when called and agility skills such as contacts, place and go-outs.

What’s included in a MannersMinder^™ kit?

Each kit contains a battery-operated food dispenser with two (2) interchangeable kibble disks, hand-held remote control with battery, extendable target wand with removable base, detailed instruction guide, and comprehensive training DVD. The 4 D batteries required for the base unit are NOT included.

How can the system be used to train a dog?

By rewarding your dog for behaviors you desire. Dogs repeat behaviors that are rewarded or reinforced. To change or eliminate unwanted behavior, first determine what is reinforcing it, and change your behavior to stop unintentionally rewarding your dog for things you don’t like. The system can then be used to reward the good manners and behavior you prefer.

How soon can i start training a puppy with the MannersMinder?

Since this program relies on positive reinforcement, you can start puppies as soon as they can eat dry kibble and are weaned from their mothers.

Do you always have to use the machine? My dog might paw the machine. Will that be a problem?

In this program you will specifically reward your dog when he is standing with all four feet on the floor and avoid rewarding him for pawing the machine. As a result, all dogs being formally trained with the MannersMinder™, learn to get treats without pawing the machine. Dogs that are not trained to the MannersMinder™, however, may try to paw the machine. Since doing so never earns rewards, this behavior extinguishes or disappears. The MannersMinder™ is fairly rugged and can withstand moderate amounts of pawing and nudging.

Reward your dog’s good behavior instantly by remote control! Reward your dog even while you are out of sight. Automatically feed a treat every few minutes while you are gone,       the ultimate tool to help teach dogs to be alone or crate trained!

Teach your dog basic obedience. Teach your dog how to be calm when guests arrive. Teach your dog to use the crate. Teach your dog to be still for grooming.

Your own behavior is key.
Every interaction you have with your dog is a training session. With each head pat, cluck of disapproval or offer of a treat, your dog is learning something. Whether he is learning something you want is another matter! If you want a well-behaved dog, you will need to modify your own behavior in order to modify his. To do this, you need to understand how dogs think and learn. It has something to do with food!

Communication gap.
It sometimes seems like your dog knows English but "blah, blah, blah" is often all that "Ginger" understands. And while it's true that dogs can be expert at reading your body language, they're no more adept at reading your mind than anyone else. This owner-dog communication gap is easily bridged if we understand that dogs repeat behaviors that are reinforced. The Manners Minder system is built on the proven premise that in order to change behavior, we need to identify what is reinforcing the bad behavior and to remove that reinforcement; and instead we need to positively reinforce (or reward) an alternate good behavior. The main reward is food!