Sometimes the element of surprise is the best way to help your dog unlearn a bad behavior. Training disks are great at shocking a dog out of whatever they’re doing: drop the disks on the floor and they make a great clatter. It is so sudden and so surprising that the dog will be surprised enough to stop being bad.
Take the example of a sheltie that belongs to a friend of the family. That dog does not like having visitors to the house. She loves her family, but that’s about it. So when people come over, the dog makes a ruckus — barking and barking and barking at everyone.
Dropping the training disks (and giving a firm NO!) will shock her into silence. The sudden noise of the disks hitting the floor distracts her long enough to stop the barking. You can get pretty much the same effect from dropping a big ring of keys on the floor — anything that clatters and jangles and makes a noise the dog isn’t expecting.
Training disks work even better if you have taught your dog that the clatter means the same as a firm NO.
Let’s say your dog is constantly jumping up on visitors, and you want to teach her to stop by using training disks. Every time she jumps on someone, toss the disks and give a firm NO. Your dog will learn to associate the sound of the disks with the sound of you saying NO — and will learn that either (or both) mean she is doing something wrong.
Don’t use your training disks indiscriminately. If your dog gets too used to the clattering noise, she’s going to start ignoring it. The idea is to use the disks (and a firm NO) to help your dog recognize unwanted behaviors. Eventually, just the NO should be able to stop her from jumping up, or barking at visitors, or whatever bad habit you’re trying to break.