ADVICE
Here are our personal tips and ideas on PET obedience. These include the formulas we have used to raise our own dogs with great success and to train the dogs of others, turning them into wonderful pets. If you have any questions on what you read below, or need any further assistance, please do not hesitate to email us!!
OUR EIGHT COMMANDMENTS OF DOG TRAINING:
1. Communication In the first stages of training, maintain constant communication with your dog. It may sound annoying, but it teaches your dog to recognize tones and commands. It also helps to remind your dog that you are there with him and makes it a little less of a struggle. As your dog begins to recognize and distinguish between commands and tones, cut back on how much you praise and repeat commands.
2. Don’t Touch Your Dog (During Training Sessions!) Some people are tempted to constantly touch and pet their dog in training. SOME touching and petting is ok, as long as it doesn't distract your dog. If your dog is calm, relaxed and has done well, then pet away. If your dog is doing well, but his concentration might be broken by petting, then use a calm "good dog" instead. And if your dog is being "bad," then don't pet because you'll only be reinforcing bad behavior.
3. Focus on the Positive, Correct the Negative Quickly and Forget about it Your dog WANTS to please you (believe it or not!). Correct him quickly and give him excessive praise when he responds appropriately on his own accord. For example, if he does not sit when you tell him to, put him into a sit and praise him. When he chooses to sit on his own thereafter, give him even more praise.
4. Be Consistent with Your Training and Commands Use the same commands all the time. Don’t use "sit" and "sit down" and "sit, Fido" and "Fido, sit." Just use SIT. The shorter and simpler the command the better, so use each command in its shortest form. Also, don’t correct something once and not correct it the next time. And finally, don’t take five days off from training after training consistently for a month and expect you dog to pick up where he left off. Again, there is nothing inherently WRONG with making mistakes, it will just prolong the amount of time it will take to get your dog where you want him.
5. Finish Exercises with Playtime Playtime after a training session builds confidence and helps you bond with your dog. It also relaxes your dog and helps him realize that you have fun together and that after each time he trains, he gets to have a fun play session.
6. Avoid Using Food Alone to Train your Dog We feel that a dog should learn to focus on his owner, not a piece of hot dog in the owner’s hand. When people train with food, they later have to wean the dog back off the treats so they will respond at all times. Dogs trained with food also typically beg at the table, do tricks just because they want a treat and sometimes respond to nothing other than food. We feel that training with food introduces a bad habit that you will just have to break later; so why not avoid it altogether? Besides, food usually isn’t the ONLY thing that can get your dog’s attention. Toys, your voice, and other things can often be just as effective. IMPORTANT NOTE: There's nothing wrong with asking your dog to sit or "perform" for treats and dinner -- in fact, it's a great idea and encourages good behavior.
7. Avoid Repetition of Commands When you say SIT, it means SIT. Therefore, if your dog does not respond the first time you utter the command, physically place him in a sit and praise him ("Good sit…"). If you say sit five times before he sits, he will learn to sit on the fifth time you give him the command. Later, that could extend to six, ten or an infinite number of times before he ignores you altogether. Same thing for here or come. If your dog doesn't come, physically go get him and bring him to where you initially called him to reinforce coming here when called.
8. Don’t let Your Family & Friends Mess up Your Hard Work Family and friends can be the downfall of your attempts to train your dog. For example, your kids may let the dog drag them down the road when they walk it while you are trying to teach the dog not to pull. Your brother-in-law may let your dog jump on him when you’re trying to teach him not to jump. This can send mixed messages to your dog and make training much more difficult! If friends and relatives aren’t willing to help you, limit their activity with your dog to petting and playing with it. It’s always great, however, when they can help you by learning what you do to train your dog and following through with the same techniques.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
1. How long will it take to train my dog?
Unfortunately, you never know. The rate at which your dog learns is highly dependent on YOUR ability to learn!! The better you are, the more quickly your dog will learn. The more effort, consistency and confidence you have in training your dog, the more success you will have. You can bypass a lot of training frustration by enrolling your dog in one of our boarding and training programs, either our 28 Day Off Leash -- our most popular! or our 28 Day Leash & Behavior programs.
2. At what age should I begin training my dog or puppy?
We suggest you begin training as soon as you get your dog (regardless of age). Puppies can do all sorts of training, from housebreaking to leash training. Puppies can begin training at our facilities once they have received their 3rd series of shots, including rabies and bordatella. We like typically to start with private lessons for you and your puppy and go from there. It is important that owners do as much of their puppy work as possible. With older dogs (when you buy or rescue them at older ages), we recommend that you begin training IMMEDIATELY!! This will help create a greater bond between you and your dog as they make the transition to your home.
3. Can you train older dogs?
Older dogs are sometimes our most successful dogs. They typically come to our kennels when their owners just can't take their bad habits anymore. We can take the "worst" dogs, turn them around, and create a WONDERFUL pet!
4. But can't I train my dog from a book?
You can TRY! But a book doesn't know and see YOUR dog. Because there are so many different dogs, it is impossible for a book to address all of your needs. A book cannot show you how to actually work with, move with and speak to your dog. And these are the three MOST important aspects of successful training.
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SPECIFIC TRAINING/BEHAVIOR ADVICE:
JUMPING: First you need to determine WHY your dog jumps. Dogs may jump because they are dominating. They may also jump because they are submissive. And, finally, they may jump because they are over-excited. A dominating dog jumps VERY blatantly. He jumps in a manner to bowl you over. With him, your response must be an ANSWER to his jumping. If you back up, he has won. Instead, push into him using your knees and elbows (NEVER your hands), while FIRMLY commanding OFF (loudly - but not screaming). Work with him in various locations by pushing him out of his space (even when he's just sitting there). Push him using your insides of your feet and command OFF (even though he's not jumping). This is basically YOU doing to him what he does to you when he jumps. Now YOU invade HIS space and teach him to back off. ALWAYS praise heavily when he backs off, whenever he doesn't jump and when he's corrected himself after a confrontation.
A submissive dog jumps because it's looking for affirmation. With this dog, you want to do the knee and elbow thing above when the dog jumps on you. HOWEVER, you also need to work on building confidence in your dog. Praise the dog often for good behavior. Do NOT allow the dog to roll over on its back and discourage belly rubbing until your pup has regained confidence. Try to keep your voice calm and firm, versus loud and firm, with this type of dog. You will see that as confidence builds, and you work on the OFF command, the jumping will cease. You also want to be careful not to coddle the submissive dog. Any communication with this type of dog should be matter-of-factly in normal tones. If this type of dog gets nervous or worried and you react in soft, worried-sounding tones, the dog will only be reinforced in it's nervousness.
For the over-excited dog, you (as with the others) must also do the OFF command using legs and elbows as noted above. In addition, you may need to look at your pup's lifestyle, upkeep and nutrition to see if you can better manage its energy. With over-excited dogs, some extra daily exercise may do the trick. If your pup does not receive enough individual attention (separate from other people and dogs), you should provide more to see if that works. If you feed your pup a grocery store brand food, you may want to consider feeding a better quality food (we recommend Purina Pro Plan), which contains fewer fillers, carbohydrates and other junk. "Cheap" foods often have the same effect as giving kids too much sugar. This is not in ALL cases, but it is definitely something to consider. With these dogs, you must be extremely firm in both body language and voice and don't back off.
IN ALL CASES, make sure you PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE for good behavior!!!!
NIPPING/BITING LIGHTLY: Here's how we look at nipping (and just about any other behavior). Picture a see-saw. At one end, you have your dog that nips. On the other end is your dog being a good dog. Somewhere along that see-saw, the see-saw will tip and your dog turns from a nipping dog into a good dog. WHAT triggers that change is different in just about every dog. Start off with a light punishment and then move to stronger punishment until the pup has figured out what you mean. First, we try just our voice (a nasal sounding EH-EH!!). If that doesn't work, we do a little bop on the nose with the EH-EH. Most puppies come back and bite more with this, although it does work with some. If it doesn't work, we then hold their nose shut, stare them in the eyes and firmly do the EH-EH!!. IN ANY CASE, always have a toy on hand as an alternative. The final method we use is a lip pinch, only as an ultimatum. With this method, we pinch the sides of the mouth as if we're giving them a pill, but then pinch the upper lip to the canine (pointy) tooth. Again, we firmly command EH-EH while looking them in the eyes. Then put the toy in their mouth and praise. ALWAYS praise your pup whenever it plays without biting or nipping. And ALWAYS praise when it corrects the bad behavior.
GETTING INTO, CHEWING, DESTROYING THINGS (i.e., garbage, shoes, trash, bathroom items - you know what we mean!!, rugs, wallpaper, etc): Here is where we say "It's YOUR OWN FAULT!!!" And we also say that we too have had items of value destroyed by our own dogs, so don't feel bad! THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE is to NEVER leave your dog (especially your puppy) unsupervised ANYWHERE outside of a confined area like a pen or crate. When the dog IS out and about, all tempting items should be put out of his/her reach. This sounds difficult, but it will solve/prevent the problem. In addition, it will keep your dog out of danger and prevent expensive veterinary bills for removing plastic bags, pieces of fabric, batteries, etc. etc. from your dog's digestive track. In addition to confinement, it's also useful to have a designated area for toys. We use a wicker basket. Our dogs know that anything in that basket is fair game (be careful what you put in the basket, and don't leave anything even close to the basket that you don't want destroyed). Finally, make sure you have a WIDE variety of toys. This includes toys of different shape, size and texture.
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CRATE TRAINING HOW-TO
Importance of the Crate
While the crate appears to some as cruel and abusive punishment, there are several factors explaining why the crate is PRO-puppy. Among them are the following: a) Dogs are denning animals. If you pay attention to your puppy, or even your dog, it will often go somewhere secluded, and often undercover, to rest. In the wild, dogs den naturally, eating and sleeping in security. b) Puppies are bound to get into trouble or even worse, danger, when they are allowed to roam freely without supervision. Electrical cords, toxic plants, drain cleaner, and many other everyday objects pose a threat to your puppy’s well-being. c) For safety on the road (to the vet’s, grandma’s, etc.), a crate is the ultimate in car safety for you and your dog. d) House training. The crate is an essential tool for housetraining as we will discuss in what follows. If you have any doubts about crating your puppy, compare it to a baby. Would you leave a baby to wander around the house? Do you think babies NEED to have the freedom to run around as they please? Do you think its safe for a baby to be left unattended in the kitchen? Hopefully, this will dissolve any doubts you may have. Crate training is probably the most effective method for housebreaking and building confidence in your puppy.
Overcoming Anxiety
Remember that the crate is probably a far cry from what your puppy is used to. He may have been sleeping in your bed up until now. More than likely, he will not enjoy his first experiences with crating. However, there is hope. Remember these guidelines:
The crate should be large enough for your puppy to stand up, turn around and lay down.. Dogs WILL NOT mess where they sleep (However, please don’t leave your puppy or dog in their crate(s) for extending periods of time without taking them out to relieve themselves). This is the key to crate training. So make sure you do not offer him any space to eliminate.
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Place the crate in your bedroom, where your puppy can see you or at least sense your presence.
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Keep toys, blankets, etc. in the crate to preoccupy your puppy.
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Remove your puppy’s collar (so it won’t get caught in the door grate) before placing him in the crate.
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Use a hot water bottle wrapped securely in a towel or pillow cover, a ticking alarm clock, or music to soothe your puppy if needed.
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Introduce the command "KENNEL" to the puppy and use it EVERY time he is put up.
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Praise the puppy joyously when he enters the kennel (whether he wanted to or not!).
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When the puppy exits the kennel TAKE HIM OUTSIDE IMMEDIATELY
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Introduce the "QUIET" command to teach the puppy when to hush
Try to make kenneling as positive as possible. Make the initial entrances into the kennel as quick and painless as you can. If your puppy doesn’t struggle and enters on his own, great. Praise, praise, praise! But, as with 99% of puppies, if he is hesitant, swoop him up by the belly and gently place him in the crate. And praise, praise, praise! Always use the "KENNEL" command firmly. If your puppy begins to bark, you should introduce the "QUIET" command. This teaches the puppy that kennel time is quiet time. Eye contact and tone of voice, as always, are very important here. Get down to kennel level, look your puppy straight in the eye, and command "QUIET," firmly and in a low, assertive tone. Give your puppy a few nights to get the barking and whining out of his system; in other words, don’t try to correct him too harshly. He SHOULD settle down after a few nights. For the first week or two, he may bark for the first 15 or 20 minutes he’s in his crate. If he barks excessively after this point, try throwing something (a shoe or newspaper) at the outside of the kennel to startle him. Make sure you use the "QUIET" command before AND after you throw. If that still doesn’t work, you can resort to harsher methods. If your puppy is the only dog in the house, you usually don’t have to go this far. If not, your puppy may continue to bark for attention. The "final" correction we suggest is a lip pinch. Please remember that dog’s cannot reason like people. You cannot say to your puppy: "If you don’t stop barking, we won’t play frisbee tomorrow" and expect him to understand. Dogs respond to physical stimulus, including praise, food (we don’t use food!), tone of voice, or petting. So, given this information, if your puppy continues to bark after all else has failed, try the lip pinch. Go to your puppy’s kennel, open the door and command "QUIET." Use your thumb to press the edge of the puppy’s upper lip to it’s teeth (usually one of the canines). Press until you get a little shriek and repeat "QUIET." Praise your puppy immediately if he is quiet. It is important that you use the lip pinch IMMEDIATELY after your puppy has been barking and, once you start using it, EACH time your puppy barks excessively.
Don’t forget, as you struggle with this change, that it may take your puppy one to two weeks to get acclimated to his crate. During this time, he will probably bark, whine, and scratch, causing you to lose sleep and get a few headaches. The best way to ease this racket is to exercise your puppy before you put him in his crate. Run as much energy out of him as you can. Like babies, puppies can go, go, go and then just drop into a comatose sleep. If you remember this rule, you may save yourself a few sleepless nights. Give your puppy some toys to keep him company in his crate. Also, and this may be hard, DO NOT give into your puppy. So many people begin crate training and give up too soon. These people will unfortunately never enjoy a well housetrained dog. Always remember his whining will subside shortly and he will float off into a good night’s sleep before you know it!
Keeping a Schedule
If you look at any good puppy’s Day Planner, you will see that he keeps a schedule! There are three almost definite times that your puppy will "mess." They are:
1) When he first wakes up
2) Immediately after he eats (99% of the time, this is #2); and
3) When you least expect it
For this reason, you need to be especially proactive and the crate will help immensely here. ALWAYS let your puppy out immediately after he wakes up from ANY time spent sleeping. Guess what probably wakes him up? (The need to go?) Also, take him out IMMEDIATELY after finishing his scheduled meals. Meals must be scheduled and available for only fifteen minutes or so around that time. Don’t leave food out for your puppy (or dog) 24 hours-a-day. This will make housetraining much more difficult, if not impossible. Scheduled meal times allow you to plan when your puppy needs to relieve himself and to prevent messes from turning up on the kitchen floor. Consult you veterinarian for a proper meal schedule if you do not already have one. All dog foods have feeding portions for your puppy’s age and size printed somewhere on them. We suggest feeding your puppy twice a day (1/2 of the portion in the morning, the other half in the evening) until he is about five months old. Then switch over to once a day; we prefer the evening since it gives them time to digest over night. Finally, take your puppy out almost every hour when he is out of his kennel. NOTE that whenever the puppy cannot be supervised, he should remain in his crate. This not only prevents housebreaking accidents, it also prevents safety-related accidents, such as chewing power cords or eating toxic plants, etc. Very young puppies (under four to five months) should not be left in their kennels for more than four hours. If you hear your puppy whining from his kennel in the middle of the night, he probably needs to relieve himself. Make sure you get him outside immediately to prevent causing him any discomfort, accidents, or bladder infections. Leave a water dish by the door so your puppy can grab a drink on his way back into the house when you let him out at night. Older dogs can usually withstand eight and even up to 12 hours, although the longer times are not generally recommended. Once you begin this routine, you will learn more about your puppy’s internal schedule and quickly adjust. When an accident does happen, note the time, place, and other situational factors; this will help you learn when your puppy needs to head outdoors.
SAMPLE SCHEDULE
6:00am Puppy & Parents wake up and go outside
6:08am Puppy urinates
6:08:30am Parents joyously praise puppy
6:12am Puppy is offered food and eats graciously
6:20am Puppy finishes breakfast and is trekked outdoors to relieve himself once more
6:31am Puppy completes #2 and maybe does a little more #1, is triumphantly praised and taken back inside
6:33am Puppy returns to kennel to resume sleep
8:35am Playtime, but first OUTSIDE- he pees, is praised, and comes back in
ETC.
Praise
Praise is the key to housebreaking puppies. When you take your puppy out first thing in the morning and he pees, praise him like he just won Powerball and immediately return indoors for feeding. When the puppy has finished his meal, run outside for #2. WAIT until the puppy has done his thing. DO NOT go inside thinking your puppy does not need to defecate. It may take several minutes, but be persistent. It is a good idea to take the puppy to a corner, into the woods, or to whatever area you want him to do his business regularly. Again, consistency is the key. Do not take your puppy to the trees one day and let him go in the middle of the yard the next day. Teach him a specific place to associate with his good deed. Introduce a command to teach him when to relieve himself. It could be anything; we use "go hurry." To reiterate, be consistent with the command and tone of your voice. You can say the command firmly and praise in a high tone as long as you are consistent with each.
If you have an accident
Clean it up! That’s all there is to it. Do not rub the puppy’s nose in it. Do not hit your puppy. Do not yell at your puppy. There are several warning signals that the puppy is about to make a mess: sniffing in a small area, circling, losing interest in what he was doing previously, and finally SQUATTING. If you are highly mobile and near a door, swoop your puppy up by his belly and head for the hills. CAUTION: This practice may ruin the sleeves of your clothes; be careful. Get as close to his regular spot as possible. Again, PRAISE! If your puppy messes in the house, its your fault, not his. You should have been watching and probably should have let him out earlier. Don’t worry, it’s not the end of the earth. Regroup, regain your composure, break out the paper towels and pick up where you left off.
Signs that Your Puppy is Almost There
Eventually, you will notice a change in your puppy. He accepts the crate more readily and may even enter the crate on his own accord or on your command. He will begin to react more quickly when he is taken outside to his spot. He may begin whining at the door or make attempts to get your attention to take him out. One of our puppy’s would bark when she needed to do #2. The first few times she barked, we thought she was just playing, but #2 always followed. Soon, we picked up on this clue and it saved us a lot of cleaning up! You will also notice the decreasing appearance of paper towels on the grocery list. Housetraining is absolutely priceless. It is training that can be done early on, that builds confidence in your puppy, creates less work for you, increases you puppy’s general security, and sets the foundation for enhanced obedience training. Good Luck!
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