The Next Step In Relationship

Posted on May 15, 2012 by admin

It’s great when you can get your dog to sit, down, stand, and watch-you. But this isn’t a Relationship. These are tasks – a basic starting point in getting your dog’s attention, which is the starting point in creating a Relationship. Once you have his attention, you can start changing the dynamic in your house and asking new things of him. Changing the dynamic, and being consistent in that change, and reward is how you build Relationship.

(Remember that this goes for a negative Relationship too! – the more you ignore, punish, physically enforce, and communicate in a frustrated manner, the more you will establish a negative Relationship!)

Think of it this way:
If you have been working on the basic commands for a few weeks, and your dog will only respond to you for a treat, you don’t have a Relationship.

If your dog responds to your commands, gets his treat, and then immediately shifts his attention to something he considers a priority, you don’t have a Relationship.

Relationship means that your dog is looking to you for direction, with or without a treat. He’s looking for you to be in control of your surroundings when you’re outside your typical comfort zones (such as in class, on a walk, at a “play date,” etc). We use a treat in the beginning because it’s the easiest way to get his attention, and therefore the easiest way to create a success that we can reward. The easiest way to create a positive Relationship is with reward. The more positive we can make it the happier everyone is, and the MORE we can reward. This all creates and reinforces a positive Relationship with your dog.

So how do you change the dynamic in your home? Refer back to Leadership 101 – becoming a Leader has a lot to do with creating a Relationship. We started with “off the furniture,” “Leaders eat first,” and “Leaders go through doorways first” because these are the easiest changes to understand when we’re learning all these new, complicated concepts. They’re the easiest things to change. When in doubt, always make sure you’re doing these things.

Then we moved on to taking away jobs, understanding canine behaviors from a canine perspective instead of a human perspective, and turning those tasks above (sit, down, stand, etc) into training – asking something of our dog. We focused on creating positive outcomes, and rewarding those outcomes.

These concepts can be harder to grasp, and therefore harder to implement. But no matter how long it takes you, don’t give up! Keep showing up, keep re-reading prior blog posts as they’ll have a new meaning for you over time and eventually you’ll have that light-bulb-A-HAA! moment.

HOMEWORK:

Take time every day, and consider your established perspective on something. For example:

You see your dog staring out the window. What is the first reason that comes to your mind that he’s doing that. Now STOP, and reconsider what his canine perspective might be. Write it down, bring it to class, let’s talk about it!

Or, he dug a hole in the back yard. Why do you think he did it? Now reconsider it from his perspective!

It’s not always obvious, and this is a hard mind-set to change – you have to actively participate in the change. And you may think you’re wrong in the beginning – so what?? You’ll never know if you don’t do the consideration, right?

When we have a better understanding of their behavior from a canine perspective, we can learn a better understanding of the jobs we give them. When we can take the jobs away, we demote them and allow them to be dogs. Then WE do the jobs, which elevates us. Then things start to shift. We battle less, we get along better, we all feel calmer and more secure – the dogs AND us! ALL of this is related to Relationship.

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Doggie Doors

Posted on May 7, 2012 by admin

Doggie Doors are convenient, especially if you have a dog that you trust. They come and go as they please, they take themselves out at any hour when they need to potty, they charge outside on their own to chase away an unwanted critter in the back yard, and they have access to their whole, comfortable house when you’re not home.

Doggie Doors can break down your Leadership and Relationship for all these very same reasons.

Especially in the beginning, we focus on consistency – be consistent in your expectation; only allow situations that allow your dog to be a dog, and you to be the Leader: Off the couch, you eat first, you go through doorways first, he always gets in the back seat of the car, etc (see Leadership 101 for a refresher!).

So especially in the beginning, a doggie door un-does all the Leadership you’re working on.

Think back to food – Food is their number one survival necessity. So if it comes from you, that makes you extra important, more valuable. If you leave food down all the time, your dog doesn’t associate you as the Food Provider and you are less important.

The same is true with thresholds; the Leader always goes first, and tells the others when they may proceed. You have no control with a doggie door. You can’t go first, and you can’t make your dog work to come and go.

The convenience of doggie doors is an invitation to stop communicating with your dog if you’re not paying attention. BECAUSE he comes and goes as he pleases, it’s easy to stop paying attention, especially if you trust him not to wreak havoc in your house. Because you stop paying attention, you don’t know when he needs to go outside and you don’t know what he’s doing outside. When you stop communicating with him and paying attention to his behavior, you demote yourself. He has no use for you — you don’t ask anything of him. And then the next time you DO ask something of him – such as at class, he is more likely to blow you off.

This manifests in different problems for different people. Maybe in your case, he doesn’t come when called. Maybe in your neighbor’s case, this lapse in Leadership results in dog fights or fence fighting. Whatever the degree of difficulty, it’s important to acknowledge that the “freedom” of a doggie door plays a role.

Also consider this from a Jobs point of view. Jobs: things they are in charge of. Chasing the squirrels/ cats/birds/rats etc, barking at the mailman, fence fighting with the neighbor’s dogs, marking the fence-line, etc. Your job as the Leader is to take away these jobs, because they elevate your dog and make him think he’s important; in charge. Every time he uses the doggie door for any job, he self-elevates, which, again, automatically demotes you.

And finally, think about the amount of physical access he has. Part of taking away his jobs is limiting this access. Even if you don’t know what they are, consider that there are jobs in every room of the house and every section of the back yard. So if we limit the amount of access he has, we are limiting his jobs. This is especially important when we’re not home and therefore can’t pay attention to his behavior/jobs.

Example:
Your dog hears the mailman up the street. He runs, barking, to the front window, jumps in the chair and continues barking. Then he tears through the house, crashing through the doggie door into the back yard, barking all the while. He charges the fence, still barking, until the mailman moves along.

Chances are, even if you tried, you wouldn’t be able to break into this routine as it’s happening – he would continue on his path regardless of your attempts to intervene. In his mind, he is chasing this intruder away from his house. In his mind, this is his responsibility because he’s in charge.

Think about how much more you would have to communicate with your dog if he didn’t come and go on his own. Positive communication with your dog is the cornerstone of your Relationship. This is a lot of work, constant work in the beginning, but your foundation will crumble without it. For some of you, once the boundaries are clarified, there will come a time when a doggie door fits within your pack dynamic. For others, it will always be an immediate back slide into Leadership concerns. You’ll know where you fall on the spectrum once you have established clear, consistent Leadership expectations for your dog.

Posted in Human Interpretations, Relationship | Leave a comment

Accept Your Successes!

Posted on May 3, 2012 by admin

Whether you’re in class or just working throughout the week, training should be fun! It should be engaging! It should be educational, and a time for you and your dog to embrace and further your Relationship! Of course, the reality is we all have rough days, our lives get in the way, or we just have a dog that’s an exhausting amount of constant work. Sometimes we just need a break. That’s ok. Take a deep breath, remember why you started training in
the first place, and then come back.

Someone recently said to me – about something completely not dog-related that hasn’t been second nature to me! – “All you can do is show up and do the work.” What a true statement, about anything! Show up – absorb what you can and really make an effort to implement it. Take what resonates to you and leave the rest behind. Or leave it behind for now. Maybe that’s the information that will resonate with you down the road.
Training isn’t easy, especially when you’ve got a tough dog, and especially when you’re trying to do more than just “quick fixes.” The concepts we teach aren’t second nature to most people. Understanding behavior from a canine perspective (vs. interpreting as we naturally want to as a human) is hard and our natural instinct is to fight it!

So give yourself credit for showing up and doing the work!

Posted in All Star Dog Training | Leave a comment

When Do You Use Your Kennel?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

Clearly I’m a big fan of the kennel – from a safety perspective, from a Leadership perspective, and just from a simplification perspective. But the common conception about kenneling, even from people who consider themselves “dog people” is: “Oh, poor dog, in a CAGE!” or “I’d NEVER put my dog in a cage!”

I used to be that person, and I learned the hard way. So please, learn from my mistakes. If I had kennel trained my first dog in time, she wouldn’t have killed my cat. She wouldn’t have almost killed my parent’s dog and their cat. She wouldn’t have almost killed two stranger’s dogs. And that’s just the safety aspect of it. Once I kennel trained her, Leadership took on a whole new meaning. And, she finally had a place where she could relax – as much as a dog like her CAN relax…

Of course, not everyone’s circumstances are as dire as mine were – not every safety issue is life and death. So consider normal situations:

Your family/friend is coming over with their toddler. Regardless of how friendly your dog is, consider your role as his Leader – you are responsible for his safety. Kids often love dogs – but they pull tails, they pet too hard, they poke too hard, they yell too loudly, they chase and flail their hands; this can all be overwhelming, confusing and/or frightening for your dog. And if the child (or parent) is afraid of dogs, your dog is going to pick up on that. Especially if it makes you nervous too, this is a dangerous situation for your dog.

Say you’re taking a road trip for a family reunion. You’ve found dog-friendly hotels, but they won’t let you leave your dog loose, alone, in the room. There’s one night he can’t come with you to the reunion event. If he’s kennel trained, he will be safely, quietly contained in the hotel room or at the host’s house.

He’s welcome at the family member’s house who is hosting the reunion, but there will be over forty people present, including at least a dozen young children. Additionally, there are buffet tables of food out all day long, and your relative has cats, white carpets, and expensive furniture. Not that he has to be kenneled all day, but there will be spans of time where you’ll want to engage with your family, indulge in the snacks, play with the kids, etc, and you won’t be paying attention to what your dog is doing (what he’s getting into!), what the kids are feeding him, or if he happened to sneak out the front door or yard gate that someone inadvertently left open…

You are hosting Christmas this year, and your 90 year old grandma is coming. All you have to imagine is your frail grandma getting bumped, falling, and breaking a hip to know that your dog should be safely put away during her visit.

You are involved in canine (or feline!) fostering. A lot of the dogs coming through your home have behavioral concerns, health concerns, etc. And they’ve all been in and out of confusing situations before ending up with you, leaving them a little uncertain of their new surroundings. It is safest for your dogs and the foster dogs to have their own kennels where they can relax, become acquainted with one other, and get used to the rules in your home.

Kenneling is not a negative. It’s not a punishment, it’s not a place to throw your dog when he makes you angry. It’s a place where he can be safely contained when necessary, a place for him to sleep, enjoy a bone, or eat his meals. And, it’s the most effective tool for demotion when your Leadership slips a little.

Posted in Equipment, Training | Leave a comment

Toys

Posted on April 24, 2012 by admin

A friend of mine inherited a dog a few months ago, and she asked me how to get it to stop chewing up “the other dog’s” stuffed toys.

The easy answer is, “Put them away.”

Knowing that she wasn’t interested in the Leadership aspect of this scenario, I didn’t get into it with her, but I’d like to address it for those of you working on your Leadership.

We have established that a Leader is in charge of the pack – this includes the food, the sleeping arrangements, the other dogs, AND the toys. A Leader is in charge of everything – and certainly all things of value. It’s often a struggle on many levels introducing a new dog into our homes, especially an adult. And by reinforcing that each dog has “their” toys, we’re further complicating Leadership matters. They don’t belong to either dog – they belong to us. We bought them, right? We should be pulling them out when we want to play, and putting them away when we’re done.

Her response was, “But the other dog doesn’t chew them up – we don’t care if he has them.”

Again, knowing that she doesn’t want the Leadership behind my answer, I said, “Well, then you have to pay attention to them and not let him chew on them.”

This, of course, is an insufficient answer for any dog owner, because who has the time and energy to be that diligent about a toy??

Which was exactly her response: “I can’t be watching him every minute of every day!”

Knowing exactly where this conversation was going to end up, and knowing she wanted an easy fix that required minimal effort on her part, I basically shrugged and said she’d have to do what she had to do.

But with a new dog in the house, why WOULDN’T you make an effort to know what he was doing at any given time?? How do you know he won’t get into something? In fact, the chances are high that he will!! Especially if we’re encouraging a challenge of positions between the two dogs by reinforcing that the important toys belong to one of them.

Recently I asked how it was going with the toys. She said, “Oh, there was nothing we could do to stop him, so we finally just started buying plastic toys and he doesn’t seem to want to chew those up.”

Any time you think “there’s nothing I can do,” stop and re-evaluate that. Are you SURE there’s nothing you can do? Or is it perhaps that what you CAN do seems like too much work? Or maybe it’s complicated, and you don’t really understand it – this Relationship/Leadership stuff is not second nature to most of us! So instead of putting in the work, it’s easier just to adapt. We’ve all done that. And in my friend’s case, I honestly hope it works out! But if you’re reading this blog, you’ve probably encountered more difficult circumstances with your dog, and you’re making an effort to change your pack’s habits. And if that’s the case, unfortunately adaptation (compromise…negotiation) isn’t going to be your best option. You’ve already learned that the quick fix didn’t work.

Maybe you just don’t know WHAT to do – in which case we welcome your questions in class! We want to help you! The flip side is that we then expect you to make the effort. There’s only so much advice we can give if you don’t do the work at home. Sometimes it will be hard, sometimes it will be emotionally, or mentally, or even physically draining. Sometimes it will feel like there’s never an end in sight. But if you put in the work, if you’re consistent and fair, and if you recognize and give credit to the successes you DO have, you’ll have more successes more often.

So what would I have suggested if she had been interested in this from a Leadership perspective?

1. Take the toys out when you want to play, and put them away when you’re done. This is not a bribe, it’s not a “power play,” it’s not a forced, in-your-face “I’m the leader here byotch!” as you rip the toy from his grasp. It’s simply a quiet action reinforcing your elevated position in the pack.

2. Don’t keep the toys in an open box, or anywhere he can easily access them, even though you expect him not to. (This is a set up for failure – of COURSE he’s going to pull them out!)

3. Keep an eye on him and direct his actions to appropriate behaviors.

4. Put him in his kennel if you can’t keep an eye on him and there’s a chance he’ll get into trouble (this is safety, not a punishment).

Think about your options for controlling this (or any other) situation if “everything is on your terms,” and “nothing is for free.” You’re in charge! Being in charge at home is the first step in your dog trusting you in other situations.

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“My dog ______ because he’s mad at me!”

Posted on April 17, 2012 by admin

Recently I was researching reasons my cat might be marking in my house, and I ran across an article that started with this:

“Why do cats eliminate outside of the litter box?
One common misconception is that cats soil in inappropriate places for revenge. It is tempting to conclude, “He defecated on the living room carpet to punish me for leaving him for the weekend.” But this kind of calculation requires sophisticated cognitive abilities that cats aren’t believed to possess.”

It had such a profound impact on me, because this is exactly what I was doing! I was blaming my cat for marking in my house because she hates me, and she’s getting revenge on me for being her “wicked, accidental step-mom.” And it’s exactly what I tell people every week NOT to do with their dogs! How did I miss that connection??

This is a perfect example of projecting human behaviors on our canine (or feline!) families. My cat is not marking my house because she’s mad at me. She doesn’t feel emotions like anger, because she doesn’t have human cognitive abilities. I’ll admit, we don’t have the best relationship, but this, also, has everything to do with my (human) projections of my expectations of her as a cat and nothing to do with her ”feelings” about me. Our relationship is not unstable because she “dislikes” me, it’s unstable because I try to force her to be the cat I want her to be. And when she can’t be that cat, I’m irritable with her and treat her differently. She is independent and aloof, and I would prefer her to be less of each. So she has learned to behave a certain way around me to avoid my human pressure and my human reactions to her normal feline behaviors.

The same is true for our dogs. They didn’t get into the garbage, or tear up a couch, or dig a hole, etc etc etc for a human-interpreted reason like anger, sadness, or frustration. I won’t pretend to be much closer to understanding my cat’s behavior, :) but there is always a survival based rationale behind our dog’s behavior.

Every time you’re inclined to project a human justification to your dog’s behavior, think about what you’re doing to them, and to your relationship. I created a negative relationship with my cat because I ended up with a cat I whose personality doesn’t click with me, a cat who didn’t grow up with me, and one I wouldn’t have picked for myself. I projected my human annoyances with her normal cat behavior instead of just appreciating that she’s a cat who doesn’t need much from me.

So what do you think might be happening with your relationship with your dog, especially in the early stages when you’re trying to change the dynamics in your house?

The next time he jumps up with you on the couch, snuggling up under your chin, nuzzling under the blanket, looking at you with those “sad” eyes, pay attention to your reaction. We want to say, “Awwwe, look how much he loves me!” or “he sure does love to be loved!” But what is he doing from his perspective — a survival perspective? He’s infiltrating your space, because it must be valuable if you’re there! And in doing so, he self-elevates his position in the pack. And then he nudges you until you pet him, further self-elevating. And then he doesn’t get off when you tell him too, which is him challenging you to maintain his newly acquired (or reinforced) position in the pack.

And we attributed it to his “loving” us.

Consider other examples through the week – bring them to class – your experiences will help someone else too!

 

 

Posted in Canine Behaviors, Human Interpretations, Relationship | Leave a comment

How Do I Get My Dog Off the Couch?

Posted on April 11, 2012 by admin

One of the most common questions we get is “how do I keep my dog from…” – jumping on the couch, digging in the garden, getting in the garbage, eating the cat litter, bolting out the front door, etc.

The depth of my response really depends on how invested you are in changing the Leadership dynamic in your home. This is where dog owners have a decision to make. You’re either looking for a quick fix, or you’re committed to a Leadership change in your life. Regardless of your commitment, though, my response always starts with, “You have to prevent the circumstance from existing in the first place.”

First thing is first: Remember that your dog is a DOG. And if left to his own decision-making devices, he will choose DOG-decisions; survival-based-decisions. It’s up to you, as the Leader, to ensure that he only has the option to do the “right” thing – remember to be fair in this expectation, as he is still a dog…. Positive consistency in this allows for new habits to form, and if you’re working on your Leadership dynamic at the same time, these new habits will change behaviors.

If you’re looking for a quick fix, “preventing the circumstance from existing” means putting the cat box in the garage, baby-gating off the kitchen, putting the dining-room chairs upside-down on the couch, and burying his feces in the holes he digs. All of these things will have an impact on your dog’s behavior, but they’re just band-aids – superficial adaptations, and nothing that would actually stop the behavior. You take the blockades away, and he’s right back doing what he always did. AND, none of these fixes have a positive impact on your Relationship. On the contrary, quick fixes become one of the primary excuses to stop communicating with your dog at all, which has a negative impact on your Relationship.

If you’re committed to a Leadership change, if you’re committed to the hard work that comes with the necessary consistency, then you’re making active changes in your living environment to be the Leader, and to let your dog be the dog.

So….
How do you keep him out of the garbage, off the couch, away from the cat litter, etc? You PAY ATTENTION. A leader knows where his pack is. You’re the leader – where is your pack? You know where your kids are: In the front yard, in the back, at the park, at a friend’s house, at school, soccer practice, etc. So where is your dog? Is he staring out the blinds in the front room? Laying on the chair? Barking at the door? Lying at the top of the stairs? Chasing birds in the back yard? Basking in the sun on the back patio? Etc. (Think about the Leadership implications of each of these scenarios, by the way…)

Sometimes it’s easier to start by considering where YOU are when your dog is getting into trouble. Are you in the kitchen cooking dinner? Talking on the phone? Watching TV? Working in your office? Helping your kids with their homework?

Wherever you are, is your dog free to go where he pleases in the house? If so, you can rest assured he’s going to get into something. There will come a time when your Leadership/Relationship dynamic changes enough that he might not be on the couch, bed, chewing shoes, etc, but are you ever going to be able to leave him alone with the litter box and expect he won’t help himself? Is that even a reasonable expectation? What if you’ve just cleaned your bathroom and he’s drinking the toilet water – he could get really sick from the chemicals in the cleaning supplies. What if you just bought Easter candy for your kids’ Easter Baskets, and left it sitting on your bed? What if your kids left their Halloween spoils on the floor? Or what if he’s just establishing his own Leadership and marking your laundry, your bed frame, the couch side, etc.

The most common scenario we get asked about is “how do I keep my dog off the couch/bed?” Think about the steps leading up to his joining you on the couch. You know when you sit down to watch TV – what does he then do? Does he run across the room and jump up with you? Or maybe he puts his head on your hand, then reaches his front paws up and then inches his way into your lap. Or maybe he stands there for a second before his posture reflects he’s about to hop up.

Pay attention to the signals. Recognize the behaviors in advance and PREVENT them from happening. Then you have to change the habit, change the cycle. While you’re cooking dinner, maybe he’s in his kennel because you can’t be watching him. Before you sit down to watch TV, maybe you spend a few minutes working – in the yard, in the house, in the garage, wherever – and then you put him on a Down before you claim your place on the couch. And then, anticipate that he’s going to get up, and be ready to put him back IMMEDIATELY (re-read Timing, for a refresher!).

Remember not to be angry as you do any of this – just be consistent, be fair, and say “good dog!” when he does what you’ve asked. If you don’t beat him to the punch, it’s not his fault – we’re responsible for setting him up for success (or failure….).

Equally important – don’t just throw him outside when you can’t keep an eye on him! That’s another quick fix. Think of everything he can get into out there – all his jobs that are elevating him in his own pack! Remember that dogs are pack animals – you are the Leader; you need to be his pack. Take the time that you’re home to incorporate him into your pack – even inside in his kennel is better than alone in the back yard.

In paying attention to what’s going on, you’re actively changing the expectation in your home. YOUR expectation as a Leader, your DOG’S expectation as a dog, and the behavioral expectations for each of you. This inherently has you communicating with your dog – keep it happy, and this can only have a positive impact on your Relationship.

1). Stay positive!
2). Know where your dog is.
3). If you can’t pay attention to your dog, put him away (kennel).
4). Anticipate behaviors (you sit down for TV, and he’s going to join you!)
5). Prevent the behaviors from existing – change the habits.
6). Be consistent!
7). Be fast! (Timing)
8). REWARD!

Posted in Consistency, Leadership, Relationship, Timing and Reward | Leave a comment

I Don’t Have Time to Walk My Dog!

Posted on April 3, 2012 by admin

One of the things we hear most often from owners is that they feel the need to exercise their dogs, and often that they feel guilty when they don’t have the time. This happens for a few reasons, most commonly:

- We understand the benefits of a healthy lifestyle – we when it comes to our dogs, we feel guilty when we don’t GIVE them exercise, because they can’t do it on their own.

- We feel guilty about the limited amount of time we’re spending with our dogs. We tend to feel that giving them some kind of physical activity compensates for this limited time.

- And, because we just feel that if we can get a dog EXHAUSTED, they’ll calm down, at which point we feel like we’ve “helped” them.

Media plays a large role in perpetuating the exercise expectation. Dog training TV shows, in particular, recommend physical exercise to combat behavioral problems. Think Cesar Milan — dogs on treadmills, pulling people on roller blades, or just running running running. And then a 30 minute TV show showing us miracles that come with all this exercise.

Unfortunately, they edit out the important parts – the assistants who are responsible for maintaining this exercise in between episodes, and the behavioral difficulties that remain regardless of the exhaustion.

By all means, exercise your dog for the sake of having a healthy dog, or because you’re active and you got a dog to take on hikes, boating, cross-country skiing, etc. But let’s examine “behavioral exercise” from a relationship standpoint, and let’s examine the alternatives.

Think about any work-out program you’ve ever participated in – training for a marathon or triathlon, or even just going to the gym.

Week one feels like death – how are you ever going to move tomorrow??
Week two feels better – You feel encouraged…!
Week three feels like progress – there’s no stopping now!
Week four and you’re really noticing a change! Your body can GO longer, it takes longer to tire you – MORE to tire you.

And this is GREAT – for you. But what does it mean for your dog? What starts as a 10 minute walk on a crisp Fall day to “tire your dog out” turns into a physical NEED for a 30 minute run a month later. Only then, it’s pouring down rain, you’ve got a huge project at work which leaves you two hours a night for self-time, family-time, dinner-time and just plain relaxing, and you already feel guilty because you haven’t been “exercising” (wearing out) your dog all week. And now a quarter of that limited time needs to be spent running your dog in the rain because you need to exhaust him so he can calm down. I don’t know about you, but this sounds miserable to me.

Now think about your High School or College days. Think about your hardest classes – Calculus, Chemistry, Biology, English – whatever it was. Remember studying for those finals and writing those essays. Think of how exhausted you were after just a night or two of studying. Remember the relief you felt at the end of the semester when you could let your brain relax again. Even though you studied every day for months, and even when you learned and retained the information, it was still tiring. Exhausting.

So instead of training your dog to become more and more physically endurant, which requires more and more time and energy you don’t consistently have in your busy lifestyle, let’s talk about the alternatives of mental stimulation:

Working with your dog, engaging with him, interacting with him, requiring some action from him – these are all mentally stimulating activities. They require your dog to pay attention, and they require him to respond. You can do this in your house on rainy days, in your yard on days when you don’t have time to walk to the park, in the grocery store parking lot while you’re waiting for your spouse to grab a carton of milk, etc. It doesn’t have to be a specific time limit – you just engage with your dog throughout the day. They don’t learn to become endurant to this – it doesn’t require more and more and more until you just don’t have the time to spare. And not only does the mental stimulation tire your dog, it enhances your relationship. Relationship in itself is an amazing tool to calm your dog down. When he trusts you to be the leader, (in most circumstances….there are always exceptions….) he can chill out and just be a dog. Sleepin. Eatin. Lazin in the sun.

Mental stimulation comes in many forms. Your every-day commands are mental stimulation to some degree – especially in the beginning. Sit, down, stand, watch me, go-find/come-here – all of these require interaction with your dog. They all require your dog to THINK and respond until the commands become second nature. AND, they all require YOU to be engaged, to reward and be consistent. All of this encourages him to look to you to make decisions: Relationship.

And once you have that foundation, you can get into actual obedience training like Wait, Stay, Come, hand signals from a distance, etc – these require an even greater level of interaction with your dogs, and create an even stronger relationship when you are consistent in your expectation and reward. There are games you can play, like Hide and Seek, Waits/Recalls around corners, in other rooms, or behind trees at the park, etc, that make training fun, and encourage relationship.

And once you reach a certain point, you can get into Agility, Rally, long distance recalls, off leash cross-overs with other dogs, etc. It gets more and more fun!, and never becomes a case of “But I need thirty minutes to run him and I just don’t have the time!!!”

So try to think about “wearing your dog out” as more than just physical exercise. How can you make him THINK? And how can you make him think WHILE you’re engaging with him and strengthening your relationship?

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Help! My Dog Is Houdini!

Posted on March 25, 2012 by admin

This is an email we received from a client. Her challenges are pretty common, and I thought other people might be able to relate, and might find our advice to her helpful. “Names have been removed to protect the innocent.” ;)

“I’m having serious problems with dog. Monday thru Friday I have to leave her alone in the yard while I’m at work for about 9 hrs each day. She was ok for the 1st five months but starting last July when the neighbors were lighting fireworks she got really scared one day climbed the fence and made a run for it to the neighbor’s house. Once she figured out that there was freedom and a very friendly neighbor who feeds her and who has friendly dogs and a child who adores her living at the end of the block, she has since been very determined to escape. Every time she gets out she goes straight to their house and will stay in or very near their yard until they come home. I’ve asked them to not let her in or feed her and to just tie her in their front yard and leave her there so I can come get her and she doesn’t run away but its been difficult to get them to do it. They love her and want to play with her, feed her, cuddle her etc.  I have tried everything I can think of to prevent her escape. I’ve moved everything away from the fences, replaced boards and lined portions of the fence with huge sheets of plywood, even extended parts of the fence that face the front yard up to 10′ high. I have an invisible fence system and a shock collar that she wears during the day it has slowed her down but when determined, she still finds a way out. I have tethered her and she will destroy things in her surroundings and rub the cable against her skin in effort to get away until the fur is gone.

This is definitely an anxiety issue, not just a boredom thing.  She has seriously injured herself in her panic and done a lot of damaged to the property. She has toys galore, a cat buddy who plays with her and stays with her in the yard, food and water and an entire futon couch. I know exercise would help but I simply can not take her for a walk/run in the morning before I go to work. Last summer when the issue began I would leave the back door open for her and usually as long as she had access to the house she would not escape but at this time of the year I can not leave the door open, cold and mud are not allowed in the house. Plus, it’s just not a good idea.

I have left her in the house on a couple of occasions all day and she was okay, no damages other than the unintentional wreckage of things being moved around when she plays with the kitty cat.  But no chewing or potty issues.  However,  I don’t want to leave her in the house all day.  That’s to long to be cooped up, especially when she has a fabulous yard she
could be playing in and she may eventually start to destroy things indoors. Dont want to risk it.

Any suggestions?  Please help I’m at my wits end.”

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Our response:

“This is one of those critical junctures that emphasizes the importance of leadership and consistency. It’s really hard when we have full-time jobs and any kind of commute – we’re not home as much as we feel we should be. But that’s life, and that’s reality. So what we need to do is take control of whatever leadership we can when we’re NOT at home, and make the most of the time we DO have at home.

Everything she is going through right now is based on success after success after success. It may be negative – or not, as when it comes to your neighbors interacting with her – it’s all self reward. We need to give her success at something else.

Hers is also a perfect example of JOBS — she has so much to be in control of – the back yard, the interior when you leave the door open, the cat, the fence, the squirrels, the neighbors, YOU – there’s so much for her to be in charge of, she can’t just be a dog.

So let’s go back to square one — we need to take away her ability to make decisions. If we don’t, she’s going to keep making the same decisions, and you know how that’s (not) working ;) .

She does need to be contained. We need to force a change of habit. I know you don’t want to keep her indoors in a kennel for endless hours at a time, day after day, however, some heavy-duty kennel time is a very effective way to change habits. It removes all ability or option for her to make decisions. If you can get home mid-day and let her out to potty — or maybe your neighbor could do that for you? as they seem to have taken a shine to her?? At least that would give her a potty break and ease some anxieties I’m sure you’ll have about extended kenneling for a while.

Give that a couple of weeks (like you would if she was recovering from a surgery or something, when you have no CHOICE but to keep her contained and quiet. This is similar – you have no option but to eliminate her choices and change the outcome for her) and then try confining her to a dog run outside. It’s a lot less space that she is required to control compared to your back yard, your front yard, the neighbor’s hard, the neighbor’s house, your house, etc… You’ll want to invest in a sturdy top for the run, as she will probably learn to climb out of it otherwise…. And if you can put it on cement, or bury chicken wire at an angle into the run, she won’t be able to dig out. You’ll also want to buy one of the pre-assembled units — the ones where you have to string the chain link yourself just never get tight enough and I’m sure she’ll learn to squeeze her way out in no time.

So take some big steps back and think of all the ways you can remove her ability to make decisions, and any way you can change her habits. And in doing so, we need to replace them with new, positive, non-scary habits — not that you have a lot of control of your neighbors letting off fire works, but…

Regarding physically exercising her, and feeling guilty because you’re not…
You can’t feel guilty – it doesn’t do anyone any good. And at this stage, I’m not sure physically exercising her is the answer. When you have the kinds of changes that you’ve had with the job, the hours away, etc, Leadership inherently slips. Depending on how consistent you were prior to the changes, it could slip a LOT. So take some biiig steps back with Leadership, and get your relationship back under control. Practice all those little things that have probably fallen by the way-side: sit, down, stand, watch-me, leave it, forward/backward, go-find, wait, miniature re-calls. Not only will this reinforce your relationship and your position as the leader, it’s mental engagement for her. If we can mentally wear her out, that’s far more effective than making her more and more physically endurant where she requires extensive daily physical exercise that you can’t give her.

She is having some separation anxiety, so the added plus of increased mental stimulation focusing on Leadership and relationship is that the increased focus on your consistency and leadership should help with her anxiety during the day. The other thing that is going to play a serious role in the anxiety is letting go of your own guilt. We feel badly for leaving them, for how little time we’re spending with them, for how little physical exercise they’re getting, etc etc etc, and we lax on Leadership, we coddle them, and we teach them to be neurotic. Remember to think about it from a canine perspective. ANY guilt you feel is canine-interpreted as weakness and an inability to control her environment. If you’re weak, she has to be in charge, and I think she’s effectively proven she’s not capable of that! :) So, love your dog, but don’t coddle her, and don’t feel guilty for anything you just can’t do.

So:
1). Dramatically decrease her living space — giving her MORE space only gives her more to worry about
2). Change the daily habits — reducing her living space will inherently help this
3). Make the time you have quality — practice your tasks and focus on leadership
4). Come back out to the park any time you have time! Sometimes we just need a refresher, and someone else to be accountable to.”

Posted in Canine Behaviors, Consistency, Human Interpretations, Leadership | Leave a comment

Leadership vs. Control

Posted on March 18, 2012 by admin

Control: To exercise authoritative or dominating influence over; direct, restrain.

Leadership: the position or function of a leader; guidance, direction.

As humans, we have a tendency to want to CONTROL, but it’s important to realize that being a leader and being controlling are not the same thing. Your dog should trust you because you have control of the situation, not control of him.

We talk about your dog’s self-control, as in an automatic sit. We talk about having control of a situation. We talk about controlling the circumstances to set your dog up to succeed instead of setting him up to fail. The use of the very word “control” can be confusing – especially when you’re first learning, and especially when you have a dog whose behavior you’re trying to “get under control.” Being In Control is not the same as physically controlling.

Physical Control: control by force. We drag our dogs around with a tight leash, we push them into downs, hang them into sits, and literally body block them into facing us. Any time you find yourself physically manhandling your dog, or physically forcing him to get his attention, STOP and take a deep breath. You can’t change your behavior or his under these circumstances; you have to get back to positive successes.

Pull your treat back out and get his attention back on you. Go back to basics – commands you know you can be successful with. Get back on solid ground, have your successes, rebuild some relationship, and regain your connection. Engage with your dog! And then re-assess what you were asking of your dog when you were forcing him, and figure out how to get the result without the physical control.

A leader leads by nature, not force.

Posted in All Star Dog Training | Leave a comment