Dog Training Tips

Puppy vs rescue dogs

5/15/2022

Buying a puppy vs rescuing a dog. From a dog training/behaviour perspective

When looking to add a new furry member to your family, a lot of people specifically look only for young puppies. There is something to be said about raising a puppy from start to finish. The bond you form is unmistakable. What you end up with when your puppy becomes an adult dog is the direct result of the time, effort and training you have put into them during their formative months. You know what to expect from your dog as you have developed a form of communication together. They have learned to read your body language, your emotions and perhaps even have an understanding of your vocabulary.
The downside of course is the amount of training that puppies require, Puppies have no experience living in a human world at all. Everything is new and exciting. All they know is how to be a dog. And being a dog in a human household means we have to deal with a lot of what we would consider "bad" behaviours. Housetraining can be a frustrating endeavour for most owners. Puppy nipping/biting, jumping up, barking, digging, chewing inappropriate items and a host of other issues can make new puppy parents want to tear their hair out. They made puppies cute for a reason, you know.

On the other hand, rescuing an older dog can be scary too. Most people assume the dog was surrendered due to unmanageable behaviour issues. That the dog is inherently bad. I mean why would the previous owners get rid of the dog if there weren't any issues, right? This fact alone stops a lot of people from even considering adopting an older dog. This isn't necessarily always the case however. Sometimes people are no longer able to care for their dogs due to health, and/or financial reasons. Sometimes dogs are born living on the streets, and have never had the opportunity to live in a home with people.
A lot of rescues will place their dogs in foster homes for a period of time. Those foster families play a critical roll in determining the dog's issues and helping to identify any behavioural concerns the dog may have living in a home environment. They get to know the dog's personality and their likes and dislikes. The foster parents may even start the necessary training and encouragement of appropriate behaviour to ensure the dog's success in their forever home. The foster parents help the rescue to determine the most appropriate home for each individual dog. With this knowledge, you can have an idea of what behaviours you as an adopter can handle and what you can not.
Rescuing an older dog generally means that you don't have to worry about housetraining issues, or the relentless puppy nipping and biting and general destructiveness. Most adult dogs have outgrown this behaviour and have had some previous training.
No matter what age dog you bring home, you will need to train them how to live in your human household. Every home is different, and every human's expectations of our canine companions are different. What is allowed or even encouraged in one home, may be frowned upon in another. Sometimes all a dog needs is a change in environment to help them become the best dog they can be There are no bad dogs, just dogs that need help to become the best canine partner for you.

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Excessive barking

5/27/2018

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Another common behaviour problem owner's encounter with their dogs involves excessive barking. This can become a nuisance behaviour, not just for the owner but for neighbours or guests coming to the home as well. Ever try to have a phone conversation with someone but all you can hear is barking? It's almost as though they wait for you to pick up the phone before they start to put their own two cents in.
The key to stopping the excessive barking behaviour is to figure out the cause of it in the first place. So, why do dogs bark? The answer can be any number of reasons, some of which I will list below.
Alarm barking or watch dog barking - This is where the dog hears a noise and barks out an alarm signal. Generally, this type of barking tends to be a brief outburst and dissipates on its own.
Excitement Barking - The dog becomes so excited that he just can't contain his emotions. Barking is a release for the dog. Teaching your dog the settle command, teaching alternate behaviours (something else he can do besides barking), giving the dog something to hold in his mouth when you first get home are all options for excited barking dogs.
Territorial barking - This type of barking can become problematic and lead to what appears to be aggressive displays. An example would be the mailman. The dog barks and the mailman goes away (even though the mailman walking away has nothing to do with the dog barking), it still reinforces the barking behaviour for your dog and encourages the barking behaviour to continue every time he sees someone outside the window. Managing the environment is key, do not allow access to the window, block your dog's view so that they don't have the opportunity to practice the behaviour.
Boredom/Loneliness barking - Dogs who have nothing else to do will sometimes bark repetitively, for hours on end. Ensuring they have been exercised adequately, and giving them something to occupy their minds in your absence will sometimes curb this barking. Frozen kongs, deer antlers, snuffle mats, licky mats or other enrichment activities will give them something else to do. Ensure that whatever you choose will be safe for your dog if he will be left unsupervised.
Fear barking - some dogs are naturally more fearful than others, due to genetics, learned behaviour, lack of socialization etc. These dogs will tend to bark at almost anything, noises they hear, fast movement, strangers or visitors to the home or any number of things that startle them. White noise, such as leaving the radio or television on will help to drown out outside noises. Work on socializing your dog and desensitizing them to whatever it is they are afraid of. Bring them to obedience classes to help build their confidence and their trust in you.
Demand barking- The dog wants something, and you, the owner generally give it to them because it makes them stop barking. Barking to be let outside, food, play time, throwing the ball are all examples of demand barking. Well what you have essentially done is reinforced the demanding, barking behaviour. Don't give them whatever it is they want, unless they are quiet. This is equivalent to a child throwing a tantrum in the toy aisle yelling " give me, give me, give me" and parents handing over whatever it is that the child wants, just to avoid the public embarrassment of a screaming toddler.
Attention Seeking - This type of barking is similar to the demand barking except what the dog wants, is your attention. Remember, negative attention is still attention. Yelling at your dog to be quiet while looking at him or her is still attention. Instead, you should ignore the behaviour, walk away from your dog, not even making eye contact.
The above are all general tips to help curb excessive barking There is not one solution that works for every barking dog. Teaching the command "quiet" and pairing it with a hand signal will increase your communication with your dog. The hand signal can be something as simple as a finger to your lips, with the sound "shhhhhhh". Dogs are masters at body language and will pick up on the hand signals rather quickly if taught properly.
You can also teach your dog to "speak", but I recommend teaching the quiet command first or your dog may want to show off his new found trick and you will end up with a worse problem. Barking is not something that can be cured overnight. The more opportunities your dog has had to practice the barking behaviour, the harder it will be to extinguish it. Sometimes the barking can become worse before it gets better. Because the barking has worked for so long, the dog will bark louder and longer in order to try to get his way. It is critical that you do not give in at this point or you have just taught your dog that in order to get what he wants, the quieter barking will no longer work, he has to bark louder in order to get reinforced. Trust me, this is the last thing you want to do. Stick to the program and you will soon have a quiet, calm dog that has learned other, more acceptable ways of expressing themselves.

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Leash Reactivity

5/13/2018

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It's hard to miss a leash reactive dog. One that appears to be the tazmanian devil, spinning, pulling, barking, snarling, lunging at the end of the leash. It's disheartening for any owner to see their sweet dog turn into cujo at the flip of a switch. The object of reactivity can be anything from another dog, a person, a bicycle, a car, anything on wheels etc.
Some common reasons why dogs react when on leash are:
-they may feel trapped and unable to run away from something
that frightens them so the best defense becomes a good offense.
-some may have had a traumatic event on leash
-some may lack proper socialization
-it becomes a learned association, they see the object and their
leash and collar become tight and uncomfortable so they
associate that object with the uncomfortable feeling.
-emotional arousal (excitement), combined with the frustration
of not being able to see what they are excited about because the
leash stops them.
So what can you do about it. Progressive desensitization. Learning your dog's stress signals so that you can keep him under threshold (before he starts to react). Keeping him at a distance away from the object, before he reacts and reinforcing the lowest level of reactivity with treats. Dog sees object at a distance, dog gets yummy treats. This is essentially changing his reaction of frustration, fear or aggression when he sees the object to one where he sees the object and good things happen...he gets yummy treats. Start at a distance far enough away that he doesn't react and work your way up closer as he becomes more comfortable. If your dog blows up, you have moved too fast, too soon. You need to manage the environment so that he doesn't get the opportunity to practice the reactive behaviour. As they say, practice makes perfect and leash reactivity is not something you want to perfect!
Teach basic obedience cues such as sit, down, stay, focus, reward mark and no reward mark. This not only increases your communication with your dog, but it also teaches impulse control. Start with no distractions and work your way up to the ultimate distraction. Just make sure you work at your dog's pace. Don't expect him to respond to your cues at the highest level distraction if he doesn't respond reliably at low level distractions.
Teach the focus command with the ultimate goal of an automatic focus. The automatic focus is where your dog sees the object of reactivity and automatically looks to you instead of reacting.
Teach a plan B. We all know that you can only manage the environment so much to prevent the reactive outbursts. Teach a U-turn for when life happens and you weren't prepared for the curveball waiting for you around the corner. Just like the any other command training, the U-turn should be perfected in low level distraction environments prior to expecting it to work in an environment with higher level distractions.
In summary, to work with your reactive dog you must manage his environment so he doesn't have the opportunity to practice reactivity, and begin a training program to help reshape his attitude to what sets him off. Teach basic obedience cues in no distraction environments working up to higher levels of distraction. Perfect the focus command and the U-turn as a plan B. All these tools will help you gain control over your reactive dog.

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Walking on a loose leash

4/9/2018

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The call I get the most as a dog trainer is from frustrated owner's who are tired of their dog dragging them down the street when going for a walk. Because the walk is such an unpleasant experience, the owner takes the dog on less walks, which increases the dog's excitement when it does get to go, which in turn makes the walk more unpleasant. It becomes a vicious cycle and both the owner and the dog suffer as a result.
There are a multitude of training collars, leashes, harnesses and devices out on the market today that are supposed to make walking your dog easier. I won't get into the pros and cons of each one of these devices on here, otherwise this post would be a mile long. Training your dog to walk on a loose leash, with just a regular flat buckle collar is possible. It has a lot less to do with the tool, than it does with your technique.
If you have a puppy, get them used to walking around with a collar and leash right away. Whether your dog is a pup, or a grown adult, start inside your home where there are as few distractions as possible. Start to teach them to move away from leash pressure. Wait for there to be slack in the leash and reward the slack with praise and a yummy treat. Then let your dog go off exploring again. Once the leash becomes taut, wait it out. Reward each time the leash becomes slack. It won't take your dog long to figure it out. A tight leash, gets no reward, whereas a slack leash gets yummy treats. Keep in mind what is rewarding, just being able to move forward is a reward for your dog, if the leash it taut, moving forward can not happen. Ever. If they pull...stop. Wait for the leash to be slack and reward. Turn around, change directions. Be interesting to your dog. Praise them and give them treats when they are walking beside you.
Once your dog has mastered moving away from leash pressure indoors, take them out to the back yard and start all over again. At first they may regress as there are a lot more interesting things to see and smell outside than there was inside your house. Keep up the practice. Rewarding the dog for walking beside you with a slack leash and not rewarding the pulling by moving forward. Do not move on to a more distracting environment until your dog has mastered this technique in your back yard. It is very important that while you are doing this training with your dog that you don't ever allow it to pull you on a walk. You will need to get creative with other ways to exercise your dog that doesn't involve walks.
Once your dog has mastered the release of leash pressure in your backyard, move to the front yard. Once that is mastered, take the walk on the road. Just ensure that you continue to praise, and treat when your dog is beside you, and do not allow your dog to pull you down the road at any point. If they start to pull, turn around and go in the opposite direction. Walk briskly, stay interesting to your dog. Be unpredictable, keep them guessing what you are up to and which way you will be going next. The amount of time this takes to perfect, will depend on your dog and your consistency. If your dog has had years of dragging you down the street, it is still possible to change that habit into a calm, relaxed, engaging walk. One in which both of you can enjoy.

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Help for Fearful Dogs

4/5/2018

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Whether your dog has one specific fear, or if they are seemingly afraid of everything, there are some steps you can take to help calm their minds and make their lives more enjoyable. Let's start at the beginning.
There are a few common causes of fear in dogs...1) genetics- some dogs are just naturally more fearful or sensitive than other dogs due to their genetic makeup. 2) Lack of early socialization- the amount of positive socialization experiences your dog requires in the early stages of its life will vary from one dog to the next. Some dogs are just more easy going and extroverted, so they do fine with minimal exposure, while others are more sensitive and will require much more positive exposure to many different stimuli throughout their lives. Emphasis on the positive exposure. Making sure the experiences are good experiences are key to socialization. 3) Learned behaviour- a bad experience can teach a dog to be afraid of a certain item. It could be something as simple as a car backfiring upon their first interaction with a man with a beard. The dog may then associate the man with a beard with a large scary noise. (It's not always this simplistic, of course). Finding the root cause of the fear is not always possible. The most common misconception is that the dog must have been abused, so that's why its afraid all the time. Or my dog is afraid of men, so a man must have abused it in the past. Although, that may very well be a possibility, 9 times out of 10, it isn't the case at all.
So what can you do about it....work on positive exposure to the fearful stimuli, while keeping your dog under threshold. Desensitizing your dog to the stimulus that scares them. Keeping them under threshold is key. What is threshold? Basically the dog's threshold is the point where your dog is reacting and no longer thinking. You won't be able to help your dog when he is in this state of mind. Don't allow them to get to that state. The more opportunity he has to practice the fearful behaviour, the more it becomes an ingrained habit. Instead, you need to stay at a distance from the scary thing, allow your dog to look at it, get their attention back on you and reward your dog. With repeated trials, he will learn that the when the scary thing is around, if I look at my owner instead, I will get a treat. Pretty soon, the scary thing will mean good things and their fear will decrease. Of course, this sounds very simplistic and there is a lot more things involved in the process, but this gives a general overview of the goal.
What if your dog is seemingly afraid of everything? Break it down and work on one thing at a time. Don't try to work on everything at once or you will set you and your dog up for failure. You will find that your dog will gain confidence as you work through their fears and the scary things will become less and less scary. Work on obedience command training. This increases your communication skills with your dog, which in turn increases your dog's confidence and its bond with you. Stick to routines. If your dog knows what to expect on a day to day basis, they will feel more secure in their environment. Learn to read your dog's body language to ensure that they are kept under threshold. If your dog is severely anxious, and not able to get under threshold, medication along with the desensitization procedure will give you the added assistance you may need. Fear is not something that you can overcome in one session, but if you put the time and effort into training your dog, he will reward you tenfold. Seeing a dog transform from a scared, anxious dog to a more happy, confident dog just warms my heart.

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Fool Proof Recall

4/2/2018

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No other command training is quite as important as the recall or "come" command. If your dog darts out the door heading towards a busy road, you want to have the control to tell your dog "come" and have them immediately stop and come running back to you. It can literally be the difference between life and death. Start training the "come" command as soon as possible, making it the most rewarding experience for your dog. The 3 things to remember are 1) Don't ever call your dog to come and then punish them. No matter how upset you are that your dog just chewed your $100 shoes, do not call them to come and then yell or punish them. Your dog will just learn that coming is not a very pleasant experience. 2) Don't ever call your dog to come to you to take away their fun. Say your dog is playing in the backyard or at the dog park and you call him to come because it is time to go. You are taking him away from all the fun he was just having. Instead, practice calling him to come, give him a treat, and let him go back to playing. Repeat this over and over, so that 9 times out of 10, "come" means he gets a treat and then gets to go back to playing. As long as the majority of the time it doesn't end the fun, he will more likely listen to the "come" command. 3) Don't ever call your dog to come if you can't enforce it. This is very important as you are proofing the behaviour. Keep your dog on a long line/leash and if he doesn't come when you call him, use the leash to reel him in. Still give him a reward, maybe not the jackpot reward that he would have gotten if he came to you on his own, but still give him a reward. You don't want your dog learning that he can choose not to come to you if something more exciting is going on. Don't forget to praise, praise, praise your dog when he comes to you. Reserve a jackpot treat for the come command. Make sure he only gets this jackpot or favourite treat of his when he hears that magic word "come". Any other command training that you do with your dog will still get a reward, but this special treat is only given with the "come" command. If you follow these tips, you will have a reliable "come" command when you need it the most.

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The importance of obedience training

4/2/2018

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Training obedience commands such as sit, down, stay, etc, can seem like cool tricks and not necessary to some people, but it is a lot more than just cool tricks. Obedience command training is important for all dog/human relationships. It not only enhances communication with your dog by increasing their vocabulary of actual human words, but it also teaches them the subtleties of communication. By learning appropriate vs inappropriate behaviour, they learn how to coexist in your household. Human rules, generally go against the natural behaviour of a dog and this is where the majority of behaviour problems come into play. Jumping up, barking, exploring things with their mouth, digging...these are all natural canine behaviours. The problem arises however, when we ask them to come live with us in our homes. We therefore need to find a way to communicate what is or is not acceptable under our roofs. Obedience training gives us this form of communication.
The time spent training your dog enhances the bond between the two of you, which leads to a happier dog and of course a happier owner. Take the time when your dog first comes home, no matter what age, to show them what you want. Dogs are learning every minute of every day, it's up to you to teach them what you want them to learn. You have an average of 10 years to live with your dog. Why not make the most of the experience.

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