The importance of play for dogs

Sorry I have been a little slow in posting to this blog the last couple of days. I have a really bad sinus/ upper respiratory infection.  I went to the Doctor for the second time today. Hopefully the medication I got will begin working soon!

Well, Copper has been feeling much more like a puppy lately. As some of you may remember, He was recently diagnosed with a thyroid problem. Since he has been on the medication, he has much more energy and gets in moods where he really wants to play! Of course he is still a Beagle so he still does his fair share of napping :).

In the above pictures, we see a happy Copper chasing after some sort of tree bound creature (likely a squirrel). These were taken yesterday, by the lovely Shane, while I was taking a nap (as a result of feeling sort of crappy).

This made me start thinking about how important play is for dogs. It really brings a balance to them.  What Copper is engaging in here is instinctual, natural play. He also likes to run chipmunks out of their holes. I really do enjoy watching him do this and it is good for him. It keeps his mind active.

I always try to make a point of telling my students that it is really important that a dog have time for play. It is not just for puppies. It is for adult dogs too! You have to exercise much more caution bringing adult dogs together to play with each other. If the dogs dont live together, I am not a real advocate of forcing them to play together.

You see, the play is not merely for socialization. It is also to work the minds of the dogs. When Copper chases squirrels, chipmunks, or rabbits, it is fun for him and it works his mind.

For retrievers it may be playing fetch or chasing birds. For terriers it may be digging up toys or chasing rats or chipmunks. It will not take long to determine what your dog naturally likes to do to play.

A note here: Believe it or not, not all dogs enjoy playing with toys. Dont let this discourage you. I have two dogs in my pack that do not enjoy toys. Neither Copper nor Cuddles will play with toys. Copper will eat the frozen peanut butter out of a Kong toy but, when the peanut butter is gone so is his interest in the Kong. While this is uncommon, it is not unheard of. So, do not fret if your dog doesnt like toys. There are still natural ways in which he/she can play.

I write this to encourage you to  let your dogs play from time to time. It is good for them and it is alot of fun to watch !

I am really getting tired here, think I will take another nap and let the medication work.

I will write a more in-depth post on play later.

Remember, play with the dog!

Till next time


William

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Puppy Habits and Dog Training

Ive had the pleasure the past couple of weeks to be working with an adolescent Boxer/Rhodesian Ridgeback mix that was adopted by a very patient senior woman. This boisterous boy was rescued from a shelter and is now adjusting to his new home.  He is very sweet, and very friendly with people, but he has a bit of a social issue.  When he gets excited and wants attention, he behaves just the way a 3-month-old puppy would, though hes now about 18 months old and 75 pounds of lean muscle. He jumps up, humps, paws, mouths and nips and tugs at clothing.

Which brings up a common misconception about behavior: "Oh, hell grow out of it."  In some cases puppy behaviors do get less severe as they get older, even without intervention or training. But for most behaviors, owners need to take some kind of action to prevent their puppy from growing into a larger version with the same issues. Puppy classes, private lessons or other forms of training can help puppy parents learn the best ways to mold their puppies into good canine citizens.

There is good hope for this rescue dog. He now has a wonderful home with an owner who has the time and dedication to help him learn the manners he missed out on when he was younger. The training will involve some positive redirection, clear boundary setting and appropriate outlets (such as exercise and interactive toys) for his enthusiasm. I cant wait to see what a charming young man hell turn into!

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Read This For Any More Nicely Behaved Pet

Education your pet dog will make daily life simpler for you, along with your much loved family pet also. This article will offer you numerous tips which can be used when learning to teach your family dog. Have a good time when doing this with the pet, as well as in time you will notice fantastic final results.

Crate education a pup have to establish the very fact the the kennel is the new house of the dog. When you feed him, supply him within the crate, and maintain the entrance available when he is in there ingesting. This can allow them to connect a positive with staying in the kennel.

You should abide by a unique providing program to your puppy. Give your pet with the very same periods daily, to ensure that he knows what to anticipate. Your pet will become familiar with to complete ingesting prior to taking the recipe out.

Work with a controlled and quiet conduct when fulfilling your dog permanently actions. Whenever your canine does some thing right, its critical that they continue to be quiet. Whilst you may well be overjoyed with headway you might be making, demonstrating excitement triggers the dog to become thrilled and makes you lose management. Respond calmly, anticipate calmness, then correctly reward your pet.

Enjoy your dog frequently. In order to coach your pet successfully, it is essential to build and cultivate a bond in between the two of you. Make sure you are taking the time from your day time to perform with the canine. It will likely be enjoyable and anxiety-lowering for the two of you.

Your dog need to admiration you for training to be effective. You have to establish your power, or he will dismiss your directions. It is important to stroll prior to your pet when getting him for the go walking. This may let him know that you will be the leader.

For your pet to know what you really are penalizing them for, you need to capture them misbehaving. When you reprimand your dog for an issue that took place time back, chances are your dog will never create the link. And if you decide to ignore your puppy to demonstrate you are mad, will not ignore it for over a few minutes.

Remain consistent when youre instruction your pet dog. Your pet dog doesnt know what your praises mean. Select one method of compliments to utilize like: "Very good Lady" or "Properly Done" and utilize the same key phrase every single time. This may instruct your puppy that you are praising her or him, so when your puppy hears the picked term, she or he will comprehend this is a supplement.

Scared canines take advantage of re-mingling. Oftentimes, dogs have behaviour incidents with specific situations, certain people or another puppies, which go unnoticed by us. We might not understand, but these connections have given our pet dogs a bitter taste about these conditions. Re-mingling your pet towards the stimuli hes irritated by, might help him overcome his anxiousness.

Do not perform repeatedly commands. It can be individual mother nature to repeat anything or in this case, demand when were disappointed. Nevertheless, reiterating oneself close to your dog will give you no place. Every time a order is repeated, your pet discovers that playing you is optionally available. Be firm with commands and stay persistent by holding out him out.

If Fido has really messed up and say, consumed the garbage to the 3rd time in the week, take a moment and calm down well before responding. In the event the accident didnt come about instantly, your puppy will not link up the behavior to the punishment, so keep your sound and take into account techniques to be certain the behaviour doesnt take place once again.

You might have go through a great deal of tips that may help you with dog training. If you know the right way to teach your dog, than it does not be hard to attain good results together with your dog. Implement all of the suggestions which has been provided to you, and your relationship with the puppy will be a single you treasure for a long time.

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Adventures of Gracy Housebreaking and Socialization

Foster Girl Gracy in the dog basket.

I am happy to report that Foster Girl Gracy is making great progress! We are very proud of her here at the Dog Training/Foster Shack!

When she first joined our pack, she was not housebroken and needed some work on socialization. As you may remember, Gracy is about 6 months old. She was very sick during the first few months of her life and had to remain in her crate most of the time. As a result, she was never really socialized much and she was not housebroken.

Socialization:

She is a very sweet girl. She loves people. However, she gets stressed when there are too many people or other dogs around. This became apparent when we first started taking her to adoption events at Petco in Peachtree City,GA. The first day we took her to an indoor adoption event, she immediately became overwhelmed and extremely stressed. I had to take her back to the shack after about 10 minutes.

Gracy enjoying the backyard sunshine
 at the Dog Training/Foster Shack

At the adoption event the next weekend, I kept her in a crate right next to a chair in which I was seated. She was still nervous and a little stressed but she did better. I would occasionally let her our of the cage to sit on my lap. The other volunteers also gave her some attention. This seemed to make her more comfortable.

Last weekend at the adoption event we put her in a small pen that was open on the top. She did much better. 

During those three weeks, between adoption events, I was really trying to make her more comfortable around people. She went over to her foster grandma and grandpas house several times. Each time she became more comfortable over there. She loved the attention and the treats! I also worked with her around other dogs by taking some of the other pack members on walks to grandma and grandpas house with her. 

She has made a great deal of progress over the last few weeks. However, as with many things in dog training, it takes patience and routine. We have to slowly introduce her to more people and dogs and make it a very positive experience for her.

Housebreaking:

With Gracy, we had a fairly unique but not unheard of issue. Because of the extended time she had to spend in the crate when she was sick, she learned to eliminate in the crate. When she first arrived at the shack, the crate was the only place that she would eliminate. That made for some very nasty clean-ups.

We began watching for signs that she needed to eliminate (i.e circling a spot, stress, etc). When we saw these signs we immediately took her outside. We also took her outside immediately when she had accidents in the house. We stopped keeping her in the crate at night and when we were away. We just left the door open on the crate. We also kept her where we could see her when we were home.

Dr. Phil McBeagle. He has no direct connection to this post
He is just a cute little foster guy in our pack. He will
be available for adoption very soon!

I noted how long it usually takes for her to eliminate after eating  (it was about 5 mins) and I began taking her out 5 minutes after meals.  We also took her out about once an hour when we were home and she was awake.

She still could not make it through the night without accidents. So, we set an alarm for 3:00 am and one of us would wake her up and take her out at 3:00. Most of the time she eliminated outside at 3:00 am. 

Eventually we noticed that she could make it through the night. 

I am pleased to announce that she rarely has accidents inside anymore! We are very proud of our little foster girl. 

Her housebreaking was difficult but, because we were diligent and developed a routine for her, the effort has been very successful!

I am writing this not to blow my own horn but to encourage my readers. If you have a dog with housebreaking or socialization problems, the situation is far from hopeless. I know that it is extremely frustrating but, you can be successful! It takes proper technique, determination and routine.

The Lovely Shane dressed for Christmas working on master
degree classes from the office at the Dog Training Shack

If you need help with the technique please contact me at anytime, I will be happy to help! As I always tell you, "Polite Dogs = Happy People". Let me help you get happy today!

Gracy is available for adoption. If you are considering adding a new addition to your pack, please, please, please, consider adoption! There are many little guys and girls like Gracy who desperately need and want a forever home. If you are in the Atlanta Area please contact me and I will be happy to get you in touch with a wonderful local rescue group!

Till Next Time

-William-

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Puppy Adolescence

The Smart and Beautiful Foster Puppy Girl Lovey

Puppies like people go through an adolescence phase in their natural development. From a training perspective this presents potential problems. If you have a puppy in your pack, you need to at least be aware of this phenomena.

Generally dogs are considered adults at around 12 months of age.  The adolescence phase can begin at any point between about 6 months and about 18 months. The repetitively good news is that it does not last as long as it does in people. Usually in dogs it last from a few weeks to a couple of months or so.

The adolescence is brought about by physiological, mainly hormonal changes in the dog as part of his/her growth to adulthood. The thing that seems a bit counter intuitive, to me at least, is that altering the dog (spay/neuter) does not seem to have a great effect on the behavior during adolescence.

Well, here is the bad news: During adolescence it is not uncommon for you sweet little well behaved and polite dog to seemingly forget everything that you worked so hard teach him/her.

Housebreaking accidents are common. General misbehavior is common. An article on Petfinder.com really describes it well; "At times he may look at you as though you had just addressed him in Mandarin, trying to convince you that you never taught him the sit command"

This is really serious stuff. Many dogs end up in shelters because their people do not understand what is going on here. This condition is temporary and there are things that you can do about it. It is far from a hopeless situation. It can however, be extremely frustrating.

Foster Boy Biscuit taking a nap

This kinda hits close to home for the Lovely Shane and myself. Our current foster boy, Biscuit is going through this now. We welcomed him to our home a couple of weeks ago and he was making great progress. Housebreaking was going great! He was learning basic commands and doing them very well. He was becoming a very polite little guy.

Foster Boy Biscuit... aint that a pretty face!

Biscuit is about 9 or 10 months old. It is apparent, to me at least , that he is now beginning that wonderful adolescence phase. He has suddenly forgotten that he should only relief himself outside. He is becoming generally more stubborn. He is sort of testing the limits that we put upon him. All of this is natural and extremely frustrating!

 What you have to do is remain calm, be patient, and take several steps back in your training (this will be temporary). Treat him/her like they are learning this stuff for the first time.

As I have written before, dogs sense our emotions. They know when you are frustrated. Be careful to remain calm when working with them. I realize this is difficult when a housebroken pup pees on your furniture. Or it is difficult to remain calm when that well behaved little guy forgets how to sit properly or jumps all over you. But try to remember that this too will pass and you will have your old dog back soon. Perhaps it will not seem as bad if you remember some of the odd stuff you may have done as an adolescent.

If you are getting really frustrated and need help with your adolescent pup, I will be more than happy to talk to you about it and possibly show you some techniques to deal with it better. Please contact me at anytime!

Till next time

-William-

William Moore
William Moore Canine Training
fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com
678-702-4791

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Rocket Recall

Recall...recall...recall....takes practice...practice...practice!

The reason dogs often dont come when called is because we tend to ask them to come when they are distracted, but we havent taught them how to do that. The other reason is that we dont practice it enough that the dog is well rehearsed in the behaviour. Dont wait until your dog is running away from you to work on recalls. To teach your dog to come when called you must practice recalls in all kinds of situations where you can control the dog and teach it how to switch focus. If you practice recalls everyday for five minutes your dog will get really good at it!


When we teach our dogs to come we are teaching them to have an automatic physical and emotional response system to a verbal cue or noise (whistle, or even to their name). Good recall begins with name recognition and switch of focus. The dog needs to learn how to switch its focus to you from distracting situations and then recall. It is something that must be rewarding for the dog in order for it to become an automatic response. First you get the dogs attention (FIDO) and then you cue it to recall (COME) and of course when it comes toward you reward the dog with attention, praise, food and toys. Another really good reward for coming is getting to go back out and play! The word "come" must mean fun and games, so make it fun for both you and your dog!

This is a great way to teach your dog that the word "COME" is the most exciting and fun word it can hear. Use a helper to make it easier. One person holds the dog’s collar or leash while the other person hides. If you don’t have a helper, you can practice just calling your dog from another room any time you can wander off without it seeing or following you. Sit stays can work as well, but are more advanced training and you dont need to wait until you have a strong sit-stay to work on recalls.

Both people should stuff their pockets with great treats.  As soon as the person finds a fun hiding spot they should call the dog and encourage him with every step “FIDO, COME…good boy, come, good boy, good boy, good boy COME!”  Let him know where you are and make exciting noises. This excitement and encouragement gives him the motivation to find you and helps load the word COME.

When the dog finds you, praise him / her and give the pup a treat while your helper dashes off to hide. It is fun to do with family members because you want the dog to be excited to come to everyone in the house, not just the one person who does the training. Repeat this process.  In the beginning hide in easy spots, like just in the next room, as play continues choose more difficult places and greater distances. Then you will be able to transfer this training outside in the back yard or on a long line at the local park. The point is to have fun and enjoy, your dog will love it and will learn to love the game of COME!

RECALL GAMES:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIF9G2uk6Z0

Here is a video of me and my boy Miko doing our recalls while out on a walk...note the long line to assure he comes back to me. If he didnt I would move away from him and try to get him to chase me...or reel him in and highly reward him giving to the pressure of the leash and then release him to go sniff again. The games I play daily with both my dogs include lots of treats too!

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How to help a dog that is afraid of nail clipping

Our little Beagle, Cody really does not like to have his nails clipped. He is a senior guy and his nails are thick and they seem to grow fast.

The Lovely Shane and I adopted Cody in June. Since then, we have noticed that he is really anxious in certain situations. He does not like getting shots at the veterinarian. I cant say that I blame him, I am afraid of needles too! However, Cody yelps like he is in extreme pain before the needle ever touches him. (I have stopped yelping when the doctor pulls out the needle... now I close my eyes)
He only has to see the needle to become anxious. I suppose he is associating the needle with the pain of the stick ( not an irrational thing to do at all in my opinion).

Cody in his basket.

He is also afraid of the nail clippers. I speculate that perhaps at some point in his life, someone accidentally cut into the quick and hurt him. Of course now, I speculate, that he is associating the pain he once experienced with the nail clipper. We could use one of those dremel tool type devices that grinds the nail but I doubt he would be thrilled about that either.

The problem, in my opinion (based upon experience with other dogs), is that he is associating people doing things to his nails with some painful earlier experience. Much like people, some dogs are just naturally more anxious than others. Cody is generally slightly more high strung than our Whopper Beagle, Copper. Copper generally does not get nearly as anxious as Cody.

There is a reason I am writing about Codys anxiety here. There is a technique for addressing this problem. I have had a lot of success with it in the past. Dog Trainers call this technique Counter Conditioning and Desensitization. Sometimes, just so we can sound cool, we abbreviate it CC&D.

Cody and I ready for a little nap.

It is outside the scope of this blog post to teach you all the details of this method. However, the way I usually explain it to people is as follows:

As I mentioned, the real issue here seems to be that the dog is associating pain or something negative with the nail clippers. Simply put, our objective is to get the dog to associate something positive with the dreaded nail clippers rather than something negative.

It is important that you remain patient during this process. It will not happen immediately. It takes slow, methodical steps. Like virtually everything else in dog training, patience and routine are really the keys to success here. It is very important that you not get frustrated.

What we do is find something that the dog loves.It should be something that motivates him. Something that is of "high value" to the dog. For some dogs this may be a food item like a frankfurter (we do not say hot dog :) ) or cheese. For some dogs this may be a favorite toy.

Me when I learn the Doctor is going to need
to use a needle.

Once we have identified the motivation, we very slowly, in a controlled environment begin to get the dog to associate the motivator with the nail clippers. In other words, we are desensitizing him (making him less sensitive) to the nail clippers by associating the nail clippers with the motivator (maybe a nice piece of stinky cheese). This helps to "counter-condition" him from associating the clippers with pain and he begins associating the clippers with fun good stuff.

I know this sounds like a lot of psychological theory. I am not a psychology professor (however I do occasionally play one on T.V. :) ) I do however know what my experience has been .It does really work. I have seen it work many times. In the beginning, I was skeptical of this technique. I am a reformed believer now!

The Lovely Shane and I are going to begin this with Cody very soon. I will keep you updated on our progress.

If you have a dog that is afraid of the nail clippers or anything similar, this is a technique that we can use to help your little guy or girl. There is hope! It just takes the proper technique, time, and patience.

Please contact me and I will be glad to help you help your dog to deal with his/her anxiety.

Till Next Time

William

William Moore
William Moore Canine Training
678-702-4791
fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com

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