Good Things Happen...

When I introduce a new rule structure to my dogs or to my clients dog, I make sure good things happen when the dog performs the wanted or desired behavior. We can all agree that consequence

drives behavior in all of us, but I really want you to think of the consequence as a positive and rewarding one.  It is not just that I believe it works, it is scientifically proven that if a dog does a behavior and what follows is rewarding, the behavior will be repeated.  This repeated behavior performed several times per day and continued over a few weeks becomes a desired habit.  Is that not what we all are trying to do?  Shape our dogs behavior into good habits?

Here are a few examples you might want to try:

1. Good things happen when you are on your mat! 

Good things happen when you go to a mat,
these two are chewing on stuffed kongs.

Simply have your dog near you with a handful of treats and your dog's mat.  Lay the mat on the floor and when your dog sniffs it, looks at it or step on it, say "yes" and drop a treat or two between his paws.  Ask your dog to get off the mat, pick it up and walk a few steps with it in your hand.  Repeat the process of laying the mat down and rewarding your dog for moving onto the mat.  You can initially walk around the mat and stop while facing your dog with the mat between you two.  When he steps onto it, say "yes" and reward generously.  Initially, put the mat away between sessions and play this game a few times per day.  When you see your dog get excited that you are about to lay the mat down, add a cue like "go to your mat" just before you lay the mat down.  Once your dog is walking on the mat quickly, wait on the "yes" and see if your dog offers you a sit, then say "yes" and reward.  Eventually your dog will offer you a down and then you can jackpot this behavior.

To maintain this behavior of "go to your mat" you will want to randomly reward your dog when you see him go to his mat without being asked.  This can be a good massage, kong time, bone time, yummy treat or a good scratch, whatever your dog finds rewarding.  I use this each morning as we enter the kitchen, each of my dogs will move towards their mat and I will eventually feed them while they are on their mat waiting patiently.  I no longer ask them to go to their mat, they know going to their mat predicts they will get fed, which is rewarding to them and nice for me not to have 12 paws under my feet!

How does your dog feel when he looks at you?

2. Good things happen when you look at me!
Training your dog to perform a simple behavior is nearly impossible without first having your dog's attention.  If your dog is not quick to look at you, teach your dog that looking at you is ALWAYS followed by a reward.
Again, begin with a handful of your dogs yummy treats and your dog near you, maybe on a leash if necessary.  Say your dog's name, and when he looks at you say "yes" and toss him a treat.  Wait a few seconds and repeat, saying his name, and marking the moment his head turns towards you and rewarding.

Another game that works well to get your dogs attention is to simply sit in a chair with some treats in hand.  Toss a treat on the floor and when your dog eats the treat he will most likely look at you to see if more food is flying.  When he looks your way, say "yes" and toss another over his head.  When he eats the treat he will come near you again and you can smile and say "yes" when he looks at you and repeat the process.  Your dog will learn that looking at you predicts Good things happen, and will repeat the behavior.

If you are reading this Blog, then I assume you have a dog or are thinking about getting a dog.  My hope is that you are a positive influence in training your dog and not one who feels they need to dominate a dog.  Consider how effective science-based training is, and how your dog "feels" when you are training.  I hope your dog feels good when you are near, when he looks at you and when you reach to touch him.  If not, read more of my blog to learn how to train your dog while also having a happy, healthy and trusting relationship.

Puppies First Impressions

When you bring your puppy home, you want to raise him or her to be the best Family Dog possible.  We all have good intentions when raising a puppy, however there are some mis-guided and uneducated people who will tell you that you need to dominate your dog so they respect you.  This is not only poor advice, once it is done, you may not be able to take it back.

I am bonding these small pups to
human contact.  

Imprinting is life long and can not be overcome; Dr. Konrad Lorenz first studied imprinting in birds, primarily geese in 1935, so this concept is not new.  What he found was that different species of animals have an early/critical period in their learning development which cannot be reversed.

Helping puppies associate hands as being gentle is
crucial for a soft mouth

In addition, Evolutionary Biologist Kathryn Lord at the University of Massachusetts Amerst suggests that different behaviors are related to the animal's earliest sensory experiences during the critical period of socialization.  This critical period in dogs is from 4 weeks to about 8 weeks; during this critical time, puppies begin walking and exploring without fear and will remain comfortable throughout their lives with environmental stimuli they encounter during this time with low levels of fear.  But as the period ends at 8 to 10 weeks, fear will increase and after the socialization window closes, new sights, sounds and smells will elicit a fear response.  

Imprinting establishes an individual animals preference for a certain species.  Hence, if a puppy in its later stages of his critical period is subjected to a traumatic event such as rough handling by its breeder, vet, or trainer, it may result in a defensive attack or behavior pattern when the animal is touched in a certain way -- even a year or more later in the dogs life.

Common to trainers is the puppy that is fine with Dad, but bites hard at mom or the children in the home.  This scenario is all too common when Dad has used his hands to reprimand the pup in a forceful way for biting (which is a normal way for a pup to interact).  While the pup does obviously require feedback on what to sink his teeth into, too often Dad holds the pups mouth shut, pushes his lip onto a tooth, scruffs the pup or holds him down.  All of these actions will make this puppy bite others in the family more often and with greater force.  Another negative side effect is the 10 month old puppy who cannot sit still for petting.  He is too nervous and worried to just sit, so he wiggles and wiggles his body in an "over the top" appeasement behavior pattern, all the while turing his butt towards the person and lowers his head to ward off the scary behavior which he had to endure as a young pup.

Now that you know how important First Impressions are to your puppy, always be a Positive influence in your puppies life.  Not only for the well being of your puppy, but for those who may be learning from your example also.

7 Day Challenge

Many clients ask; "How do I train my dog?"  First and foremost, to train a dog, you must have the dog's attention!  Can you get your dog to sit for one minute without a leash on?  If so, then you have already

Puff in a down stay, I
rewarded him with food about 6 times in 1 minute
to help him build duration in this behavior.

learned how to get your dogs attention -- wonderful!  If not, then I ask you to take my 7 day challenge!

I ask that you hand feed your dog every meal for 1 week, every meal, and see how your relationship changes in just 7 days.  You might keep a journal and really see your dogs attention on you grow with enthusiasm and duration in many different behaviors.

If your dog can already sit and stay in your home, then I suggest you take your training on the road and

Focus here at 4 months. 

see if your dog can perform the same behaviors in your front yard, down the street, and at the local park.  Training in environments with lots of stimulation takes practice, tasty motivation and often lots of patience.  If your dog cannot sit and stay in your yard, then you simply are not ready to ask for this emotional control at the park.  Set your dog up for success and begin developing good habits in just one week!

Ideas for training:  come, come/sit, shake, down, leave it, touch, roll over, high five, speak, sit/stay, down/stay, wait, watch me, you get it!

Outdoor Adventure dogs have good focus.

What if my dog will not look at me?  Simply use his meal mixed with some yummy treats and sit down in a chair.  Toss a treat on the floor near your dog, while he is eating the treat, say his name in a happy tone.  When he looks at you say "yes" and toss another treat.  Continue playing this game for the entire meal. The next day you can try playing this game outside or add different criteria like "Fido come" when he is eating the treat and reward by tossing another treat away from you.

After training!  

Have fun, motivate using your happy pitch and smile at your dog every time he looks at you.  If you are frustrated and using a firm tone, he may comply but I'd bet he avoids looking at you.  I want your dog to offer behaviors such as coming to you because it makes him feel good, not come to you to avoid a correction.  There is no relationship building in correction training, as the dog is simply performing a behavior to avoid the punishment -- Life is Not Good for these dogs!  So, try rewarding with every meal for 7 days and I am sure you will see a new relationship building and love it!

Friends or Not?

I recently went to a home with a sweet male terrier mix who barked all the time according to the owner.   As I approached the front door I realized I was not feeling safe based on the body language and rapid barking which was being sent my way through the screen door.

I took a step back initially as the dog began to jump, bark, snap and lunge at the door, my presence was clearly a stressor.  When I felt as though the dog may push the screen door open I raised my hand to
brace the door just above the door knob.  Instantly, the dogs bark changed from rapid to fierce with a show of teeth and higher lunging and snarling.  I looked away from the door, but continued to hold it shut knowing quite well that this little dog and I were FREAKING each other out.

Dogs growl at people to warn them to go away, which is very normal dog behavior. I highly recommend you comply until you are able to earn the dogs trust.  I would never recommend correcting a dog for growling at a human, or even a child, as the dog may not give a warning growl next time and simply bite as a way to make himself feel safer.    

This is a very good warning to respect.  Correcting a dog for being
afraid of people never works, building the dogs confidence is the only
long term solution.  Unless you simply keep him locked away which I do
not recommend as an option.

To avoid being bitten by a growling dog, it is best to rule yourself out as a threat.  Help this dog see you as a person that brings yummy treats, avoids eye contact,  avoids entering his personal space and he will soon settle in your presence.  Be ready to toss treats again as you begin to move about as your movement may be seen as a threat to this dog.

My point here is to help you know what to do when you find yourself being barked at by a friend's dog. Simply take some time to earn the dogs trust by taking some cheese or cooked chicken.  I do not recommend you hand feed a snarling dog, but with the owner present and the dog behind a gate,  toss a treat behind the dog and leave the area, repeat 8 or 9 times or until the dog begins to settle.  Your friend may be embarrassed by his dogs reaction, but you can let him know you understand that this dog is simply afraid and it is nothing to be embarrassed about.  Making an owner feel bad about the dog he or she loves is what you should not do.

sitting calmly while tossing treats

It took me 20 minutes to make friends with the little terrier that acted like he was going to eat me when I arrived.  By approaching the gate he was behind and tossing some chicken behind him and then walking away, repeating this 8 or 10 times using the phrase "find it".  I then sat down and they removed the gate and the little guy came and stared at me, so I continued to toss food behind him, then I proceeded by walking about the house while playing the "find it" game and eventually ended by playing "touch" and hand feeding the terrier.  Only because I could read his body language, and am confident not to threaten him in any way, I was able to progress so quickly.  There is no timeline for building a trusting relationship; safety is the most important focus!  When the owners teared up at the sight of their dog being "normal", I was thrilled to begin to work with this family and help their terrier become a happier dog.

Enjoy the July 4th Weekend - No Sat. Classes

Just a reminder we will not hold Classes on Saturday July 6th as I understand many of you

Signs of stress in a home.

are re-connecting with family and friends.

Enjoy the holiday activities and please take time to have a plan in place to be sure your dog is safe from the overly stimulating and noisy events.  While your dog may not have any sound sensitivity YET, if they become overwhelmed during loud firework displays, they will have a greater chance of developing sound and thunder storm fears.  Keep in mind you may not see the changes in your dog until the next trigger.  Trust me, just one loud boom could change your dog forever and not in a good way.

4 pups enjoying kong time

So, again, have a plan to keep you dog in a safe place free from scary sounds and free from small strange children running into their space.  

Setting your dog up for success starts with a plan, soft music, his favorite mat or crate, a super yummy Kong and a favorite chew toy.  

Happy July 4th and keep everyone safe, pups included!