Feb062012

Off Leash Etiquette – Dog Training Calgary

By Kirsten on February 6, 2012

I spoke a few articles back about pathway etiquette, today I’d like to address off leash parks thing we need to be aware of and teach our dogs in order to be safe in that environment.

Living in Calgary provides us with all the amenities of the city while still maintaining incredible access to green space and nature.  Many of these natural environments are places where people can take their dogs for some exercise and socialization with other dogs and people.

Many off leash parks are extremely busy at or shortly after the supper hour and on weekends, especially in the morning.  My advice first and foremost is avoid these areas at the peak times.  More often than not the number of dogs in the park far exceeds a safe number and the majority of the dogs are not being properly supervised and have either no training at all or have not had training in incrementally distracting environments in order to prepare the dog for appropriate responses in the highly distracting off leash park environment.  This is a recipe for disaster and I have many clients who took their “Lassie” into the off leash park and came out with “Cujo” due to a 20 second tragic interaction in the off leash park.

Choose instead times that are non peak hours and choose the lesser known parks.

Additionally, you absolutely must be supervising your dog at all times.  It is not appropriate to be deep in conversation or texting while your dog runs around terrorizing other park users. Be with your dog, interact with him, call him back to you and then reward him for coming to you by sending him back to play.

Ensure you have an excellent recall by practicing in incrementally increasing distractions and be highly rewarding to your dog when he recalls.  Behaviours that are reinforced in a positive manner, will be repeated.

Make sure your dog is getting DAILY physical and mental exercise, not just once a week at the off leash park.

Avoid bringing a toy with you, especially a ball, unless you are in an area where you will encounter very few, if any other dogs.  Even if your dog is great with sharing toys, the other dogs you meet may not be.

Unleash your dog immediately upon entering the park and preferrably before other dogs approach.  A dog on leash is very vulnerable, he has no flight option while on leash and he knows it.  This can be cause for leash aggression if the dogs feels he has no other option.  Using a punishing, leash correction for leash aggression is paramount to punishing your child harshy for being afraid of a stranger.  Do not walk your dog on leash in an off leash park, it is not fair to your dog on so many levels and can create issues that will be devastating. If you feel you need to have your dog on leash because he won’t come back when called, then the off leash park is not a reasonable option for you and your dog at this point in your dog’s life.  This is where the pathways on leash might be a better option for you.

For non doggie people, please don’t use a specifically designated off leash park for cycling and a play area for your children.  While all dogs should be under control and well behaved, they are still dogs and I find it so strange that we ask and expect more of dogs than we do of our children and of ourselves when it comes to controlled behaviour and good manners.  It is highly likely that you will be chased if you cycle through the off leash park because most people’s dogs while very well behaved are still dogs and so they will chase, it is instinctual and they are probably already in chase mode as they have been chasing other dogs in the park. To a dog chasing is chasing and it’s fun.  There are lots of other places for people to cycle and children to play, why use the off leash park?

Let’s be courteous to one another and our dogs as well as being responsible by training, supervising and managing our dogs as well as properly exercising them physically and mentally and for non dog owers by using other areas besides the designated off leash dog parks for pursuit of activities such as cycling and play for children and we can keep everyone safe and happy.

 

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Jan302012

Leaving Your Dog Tethered at Sobey’s – Dog Training Calgary

By Kirsten on January 30, 2012

The other day I saw a dog tethered outside Sobey’s.  That in and of itself upset me and I’ll tell you more about that in a moment.  The other issue was it was on a prong collar.  This is a device that is around the dog’s neck, with prongs in it that poke into the dog’s neck every time pressure is put on the collar, usually by the dog pulling.  It is intended to cause pain to the dog for pulling on the leash, thereby preventing the dog from pulling.  These devices (punishment) can work, sometimes on some dogs, however most of the time if a dog’s motivation to pull is strong enough then it will pull even though the pulling is causing pain not to mention injury to the dog’s neck and trachea (the choke collar will do the same thing). Mostly these collars do nothing to teach the dog not to pull and therefore the rest of the dog’s life it will need to wear the prong or choke collar in order to walk politely on leash and as mentioned above, for most dogs the motivation to pull is so great that they will pull anyway, so you end up with a dog who from puppyhood to the grave pulled on leash while wearing an inhumane device intended to punish it by inflicting pain for pulling on leash.  These are not tools that I choose to use I I believe that there are far better, more successful ways to teach a dog not to pull.

But I digress, this dog was tethered on a very short leash while wearing prong collar, so if it moved at all the prong’s dug into the dog’s neck.  The really sad thing is the owner I am absolutely sure, loves this dog very much and would if they thought about it, have felt quite bad about how they left this dog, even if they really believed in using the collar for avoiding pulling.

Aside from the collar though, this dog by being left unsupervised and tethered is left at the mercy of whoever walks by.  Most dogs left tethered, show anxiety, stress, separation distress, fear, they bark, howl and scratch.  In short they don’t like it, it is uncomfortable and stressful.  While on leash a dog has had the option of flight removed, their preferred method of dealing with things that they are fearful of, so the only option left is fight.  Imagine if you will, someone walking by with their dog, the other dog approaches the tethered dog, who in the vulnerable state of being tethered can’t get way.  The tethered dog feels unsafe, fearful and powerless and so with no other option he bites or snaps at the other dog.  This same scenario can be said for the unsuspecting adult or child who just wanted to pet the tethered dog.

Make no mistake about it, this feeling of fear, anxiety, stress can and does happen in almost every dog who is tethered. The most socialized, well balanced, behaviourally sound dog in every other circumstances, may absolutely feel the need to bite in the tethered scenaro.

Or maybe some unscrupulous person comes by and teases your dog (a great way to set your dog up for reactivity towards people), hurts your dog, unties your dog, feeds your dogs something he shouldn’t have.  The possibilities are endless, as are the reasons why you should not tether your dog, not to mention it does violate The City of Calgary Bylaw that states dogs will not be left tethered and unsupervised.

So what happened to the dog at Sobeys, well I waited for an hour for the owner to come back so I could politely talk to them about the situation, but no one came.  I asked Sobey’s to make an announcement to have the owner return to the dog, which they would not do.  I called The City of Calgary, who did send someone out, but the dog was gone by the time they got there.  I ultimately had to leave as I had my own dog coming out of surgery, so I left a very politely worded note with my contact information.  I did not hear from the person and really I didn’t expect to. However politely my note was worded, I am certain the person took offence because this is a tricky situation and an emotional one. So what I am doing for that dog is educating, providing information, answering questions and showing an alterative way of getting a lovely loose leash walk and that I will always do.

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Jan162012

Tails On The Trails – Pathway Etiquette – Dog Training Calgary

By Kirsten on January 16, 2012

Calgarians are privy to miles and miles of pathways and beautiful parks and many of us choose to use these areas to exercise our dogs.  This is a wonderful way to spend time in the outdoors and with your canine friend.  Sometimes however, dog owners come in conflict with non-dog owners who are also using the pathways.  Here are few tips to keep things positive for all path users:

Keep your dog leash, not longer than 2 metres, at all times when in an area not designated at offleash by The City of Calgary, even if he is very well behaved and will stick to you like glue.  You just never know when that crafty rabbit, or very enticing person will be a distraction for your dog.

This should go without saying, but please pick up after your dog and more than that, after picking up please deposit your packages in the appropriate recepticles.  I know that most people have full intention of picking up their full bags on the way back, but I also know that many people simply forget and so the bags sit there until another good citizen picks them up or The City of Calgary employees, or worse they break open and cause a mess.

When other people with or without children, strollers and/or dogs are approaching you, a great idea is to move off of the path in a curved motion, let them go have a sniff as you come off the path or move off of the path and have your dog sit and focus on you, but remember to reward them for doing this.  It’s pretty hard to focus on one person when all this other fun stuff and distraction is happening, so reward your dog for doing it.  I recommend this because some people a very uncomfortable with dogs and so to be kind to them moving away is a good idea.  They may also in their discomfort, tense up or become vocal unintentionally, causing your dog to be uncomfortable and perhaps acting in a way he normally would not have done, had the person not tensed up.

Additionally, people with small children probably don’t want a strange dog poking it’s nose into their strollers.

Lastly, moving off of the path when approaching another dog especially in a curve, creates the more natural way of dogs approaching one another, rather than straight on.  This will make both dogs more comfortable and really dogs do not need to be meeting one another on leash in any event.  It is much better that they meet off leash, in play dates, daycares or even in off leash parks at non busy times.

In the City of Calgary, dogs must not be left tethered while unattended.  Many people leave their dogs tethered outside stores while they run in to do some quick shopping. This dangerous for your dog and for people who may approach your dog.  Even friendly, well socialized dogs, when left alone and tethered can quickly become anxious and fearful, a perfect storm for a potential bite.  Your dog could get loose and run off.  These are just a few reasons why it is not a good idea to tether, but again, it is also in violation of City Bylaws.

Have fun on the pathways, enjoy our beautiful city, but be safe, be aware, take care of your dog and look out for the safety and comfort of other path users.

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Jan092012

A Good Reason to Wait

By Kirsten on January 9, 2012

As a part of basic doggie manners I teach all my clients doggie and human the
importance of the Life Is Infinitely Rewarding program.

On this program the dog sits (or whatever other behaviour you like, I recommend asking for a variety of behaviours, not just the same one over and over again )in exchange for a reward, resource, valuable article whatever you want to call it.  I look that this as being the dog saying “please” for his dinner, to go outside, to get his leash on, for a cookie, to play a game like retrieve or tug.  It’s just polite doggie manners basically and it is a wonderful way to teach arousal control and patience, not to mention safety for both people and dogs.  I do not look at this as a matter of leadership, I look at it as polite behaviours in my dogs.  They do the behaviour and they are paid with the reinforcement of what they find to be valuable, the cookie, dinner, access to outdoors.

One of the most valuable things to teach a dog within the Life Is Infinitely Rewarding program is to “Wait” at an open door until released by a verbal cue.

This from a politeness point of view alone should be enough to want to teach it, but let me make it a little more enticing for you.  How about safety, yours
and the dogs’?

I have four dogs and going for a walk it a highly valued life reward for them (as it is for most dogs but with four, large canine pals, well that’s 16 legs, plus mine and a combined weight at the door of over 300 lbs not including mine, wanting to get out into the great beyond).  So it’s dangerous for me in a
very big way.

My front door leads right into our street (doesn’t yours), which means that any dogs who plough past me through the door will go right out onto the road
(albeit not a busy one, but it only takes one car right).  So it’s dangerous for the dogs.

To teach the “Wait”, leash your dog (one at a time if you have more than one dog, kennel the other dogs) and go to the door.  Saying nothing at all, wait for your dog to default to a sit, all you need to do is wait which will be difficult for you as being human we just love to talk, but don’t, just be silent and wait. Most dogs have learned at a very early age that sitting gets them access to things that they want, so the majority of dogs will default to a sit, if you just say nothing.  The reason that I like the dog to actually defaulting to a sit, instead of being told what to do all the time, is the dog begins to actually think and then choose to perform behaviours and when this happens the learning accelerates.

When the dog sits (ignore any and all other behaviour) move your hand to the door knob, your dog will likely get up, so take your hand away from the door knob and again wait for his sit.

When your dog sits, your hand goes to the door knob, remove your hand every time the dog breaks his sit.  Once you are able to put your hand on the knob, trying opening the door a crack.  Your dog will probably get up again from sitting, close the door and wait for the sit again.

Repeat over and over again, opening the door only a crack at first so you can easily close it if the dog breaks the sit and you won’t catch Fido’s nose or paw in the door.

The object is to get the door all the way open and then use your release cue to allow the dog out of the sit and through the door way.

Your release cue is the cue/phrase that you use to let your dog know he is back on his own time.  For example, I ask my dog for a sit, she sits, I reinforce her for the sit and then I release her from her sit by saying All Done.  My guys have all been taught a formal stay but they also know that when asked for a sit or lay down, they stay in the requested position until I say “all done”.  Your cue could be “all done”, “ok”, “that’ll do” or “banana cream pie”, dogs don’t speak English so you can use what you like as a release cue, just make sure you say it and say it consistently.

It doesn’t matter to your dog or your relationship with your dog, if you go through the door first, the dog does or you go through together, what matters, is that the dog waits to go through the door until you give the release cue.

Now you and your dog’s are safe, plus they are well mannered and calm.

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Dec222011

Pack Theory- Fact or Fiction by Taryn Blyth

By Kirsten on December 22, 2011

This is probably one of the best articles on Pack Theory that I have read and wanted to share it with you.

http://www.tarynblyth.co.za/articles/pack-theory-fact-or-fiction/

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Nov302011

The Puppies Are Here…Part 5 – Dog Training Calgary

By Kirsten on November 30, 2011

Loose leash walking -

Walking puppies can be a challenge but again some initial effort at the beginning will bring results in spades. My first recommendation is a harness with 2 points of contact. This takes the pressure off of puppy’s developing neck bones and muscles which are easily damaged. I recommend harnesses for adult dogs as well for physical safety in avoiding damage to the neck resulting from a sudden lunge or pull by the dog and also to avoid a negative association when their air is cut off as they pull towards and unfamiliar dog, person or object. This is not to say that you can’t use a buckle collar and leash, just be careful. Never, ever jerk or pop the leash for any reason, ever.

I also avoid martingale collars, choke collars and absolutely pinch collars.  They are needless and harmful both physically to the dog and to your relationship with your dog.  Additionally a dog can learn to pull into anything, equipment (like the harness) is useful for managing but ultimately you need to teach your dog to walk politely on leash.

Fill your pocket full of soft, small, stinky treats and with your puppy on a harness with two points of contact and off you go. Gently talk to your puppy while walking, let him sniff (see the Sniffing article for training the sniff as a reward) and every time he even glances at you say “yes” and drop one
of your treats at your feet. Then reward again when puppy comes back to you to get the treat.

I know what you’re thinking, the puppy is coming back only to get the treat and you’re right, but what we are doing is 1) getting your pup’s attention 2) showing him that being near you is a good thing, very rewarding and remember behaviour that is reinforced is repeated.  Remember you are competing with a highly rewarding environment, you need to ensure that it is even more rewarding to be with you.

Your puppy will now start to be very interested in being near you.  Now start rewarding him every step (this is very high rate of reinforcement, every single step, drop a treat at your feet).  After 20 steps, drop every 2-3 step.  After 20 more steps, drop the food every 5-7 steps.  Occassionally when you see an obvious place that you know your pup will want to sniff (ie. the sign post or fire hydrant) run him towards the location and say Go Sniff.  You are using a functional reward, sniffing, to reinforce the behaviour of being with you.

Go back and forth between dropping treats and Go Sniff every 7-10 steps.  You can also incorporate the use of a tug toy or ball to reward a certain number of steps of his walking beside you, intermittently with the food and Go Sniff.  Also be variable with the use of your reinforcements, ie. sometimes you will reward 3 steps, sometimes 10, sometimes 5 and so on.   If you are absolutely consistent with this technique your puppy will stay near you and not pull, he will be there because you have worked hard to create a wonderful, positive environment around you and a trusting relationship with your puppy and he wants to be near you.
As time goes on you will be able to reinforce the loose leash walking on a lower rate of reinforcement, however don’t stop reinforcing cold turkey and don’t get into the habit of never reinforcing. There is always time for a Go Sniff, or a quick game of tug, or butt scratch on a walk.  Be especially aware of this as your pup becomes an adolescent.  This is often a challenging time for dogs and their people and it is not the time to take away all reinforcements for good behaviour, just remember, reinforce the behaviours that you want to see repeated.

If at any point your puppy actually pulls on the leash and he will, stop, just stop walking and stand there. Do not pop or jerk the leash, do not say anything to puppy, just stop and be silent. When he looks back to you, say “yes” and drop those treats at your feet and even perhaps giving a friendly pet to your puppy and then continue to walk. You’ve just rewarded your puppy verbally, physically with the treat and affection and then what he wanted most, to continue with the walk and all because he simply came back to you. Repeat this over and over and over again.

My last word today is on Jumping Up.  Dogs jump up and generally we don’t like it.  They do it to get attention inititally and then they do it because they have been reinforced for it even if it is by accident. First and foremost, do NOT knee your dog in the chest, even gently. You may unintentionally injure your dog physicall and you will absolutely injure your relationship with your dog.  Lastly you may create a dog who having been kneed in the chest for jumping, now no longer jumps but is fearful and or aggressive towards humans.  This does not bode well for the dog.

So have every single person they meet use the “Off” technique without fail.  If even one person pets your dog while he is jumping up, your dog
will have been rewarded for that behaviour and he will repeat it.  The dog’s mentality on the subject is “hey it worked once, could work
again”.

“Off” works like this:

Person leans down to pet, puppy starts to jump, person immediately stands straight up and turns away from puppy.  When when puppy’s feet are back on the floor the person can again attempt to pet the dog.  Practice this over and over again and do not let anyone who is not willing to help you teach this behaviour to your dog, pet the dog.  They are not doing you any favours and are doing you a real disservice.

For additional help to make your puppy successful, especially if they are persistent with the jumping up, is to leash puppy before your guests come to
the door and stand on the leash.  It should not be choking puppy or pulling puppy to the floor, it should only be preventing him from jumping.  When the guests come in they can pet puppy with his four feet on the floor quite simply because he physically can’t jump up.  You can also keep a small bowl of treats at the door (where puppy can’t help himself) so that guests can also reward with a treat in addition to petting while four paws
are on the floor.

Another option is for the person petting the dog to slide a thumb down through the collar while petting the dog’s chest with the fingers, again preventing puppy from jumping while being petted.

Another technique is the Friendly Stranger.  You will need a helper, the “friendly stranger” to assist you.  Put your pup on leash and hold on to it.  Do not use leash corrections or pull on your pup’s leash at all, you simply hold onto it, you are an anchor only.  The other person approaches and as soon as pup starts to jump, they turn and walk away, returning again when the dog has four feet on the floor, repeating over and over again until the person can get to the puppy with the pup’s feet still remaining on the floor.  At this point, the person can start to attempt to pet the dog, but only if they are not jumping.  As soon as they begin the jumping behaviour the person walks away immediately. This can be fast and effective, but be consistent and be persistent.  The best part of the Friendly Stranger is the other person does all the training, you the pup’s person, you just stand there and hold the leash.

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Nov252011

He Justs Wants to Say Hi – a wonderful article by Suzanne Clothier

By Kirsten on November 25, 2011

http://www.flyingdogpress.com/content/view/42/97/

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Oct042011

The Puppies are Here…..Part 4 Dog Training Calgary

By Kirsten on October 4, 2011

Drop it is an absolute must for a dog. A solid “Drop It” will 1) save your Italian leather shoe and 2) maybe save puppy if he takes something unsafe into
his mouth.

For the “Drop It” behaviour use a toy that puppy likes (not one that he goes absolutely nuts over, just one that he likes). Initiate play with this toy and when puppy has the toy in his mouth, waive a soft, stinky treat under his nose (I recommends Zukes or Benny Bully’s). When puppy drops the toy, say “yes”, give him the treat and then give him the toy and continue with play. Repeat at least 5 more times each day over the next few days. When you notice that puppy is beginning to drop the toy as you bring your hand forward to waive a treat under his nose, start to just put your hand out and when he drops the toy, say “yes” and treat from the other hand now and resume play.

Over the next few days add in the verbal cue ”Drop It” (Give, Out, Drop are all fine, but be consistent use the same verbal every time) after you put your hand out, just as puppy is releasing the toy, then say “yes”, treat from the other hand and continue play. When you are getting immediate release of the toy 5times in a row, you can start to vary the treat delivery and being to wean off treats as the continued play after the drop it will now start to become intrinsically rewarding and therefore reinforcing to the behaviour of letting go of the toy.

To vary the treat delivery, treat on the 1st and 3rd request to Drop It out of 5, then the 2nd and 5th, 2nd and 3rd. Be very inconsistent (this is the only time I will actually say to be inconsistent when dealing with your puppy) with when you treat, during the weaning off exercise but still use “yes” for a correct behaviour and still continue with play.

I still play the drop it game with all 4 of my dogs and on occassion they still get a little treat in addition to the continuation of play for dropping the toy.  I am confident that on the one occassion where there will not be continued play or a treat, that they will drop the article they have in their mouths because the act of dropping it has been so highly reinforced during our games.

If your pup grabs an illegal article before you have the drop it behaviour firmly in place, do not chase him to get the article back.  Being chased is fun for most dogs, they have your undivided attention which is great in their eyes and by chasing them you are reinforcing the stealing of the illegal articles and the running away game.  What happens with behaviours that are reinforced?  They are repeated.

Instead grab one of his toys, preferrably a squeaky one, play with it, run the opposite direction with it, make the toy more valuable to your pup by engaging with it.  When your pup comes after you and your valuable toy, reward him by playing with him and the lovely, valuable toy.  Then you can go and remove the illegal article.

Having said all of this, prevention is worth an ounce of cure.  Manage your belongings, supervise your pup and his environment to avoid the getting of illegal articles in the first place and play the drop it game.

This may seem like a lot of work and you would be correct, a puppy in general is a lot of work but I strongly believe that front end load brings tremendous and consistent back end results. If you and your dog enjoy a long, happy life time together without behavioural issues or worse the heartbreak of surrendering or re-homing your dog then the work is well worth it.

 

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Sep152011

The Puppies are Here….Part 3 Dog Training Calgary

By Kirsten on September 15, 2011

Potty training and mouthing are two of the biggest issues that people will bring up in puppy class.  So let’s get right to it.  Puppies need to go outside after they wake up, after they eat, after they drink, after they chew, after they play, after they nap.  The rule of thumb then is After Everything.  Put puppy on leash and go out into the yard where you would like puppy to eliminate and then just wait 2-3 minutes.  If puppy is not successful, come back inside and contain puppy for a few minutes in his crate.  Then go out and try again.  Keep this up until puppy eliminates and praise him after he has finished.  Use a calm, kind, positive voice and perhaps a gently stroke down puppy’s back for the success rather than a jump up and down hurray kind of praise (which I would actually normally recommend and use for any other type of behavioural success) and I mention expressing the praise after puppy has done the job so that you don’t interrupt the manoeuvre mid-stream thereby setting puppy up for an accident after returning to the house.  Your pup cannot physically hold his urine for longer than the number of hours that he is in months old, plus one hour.  Example – a two month old puppy will need to be given the opportunity to urinate at least every 3 hours (if contained in a crate), otherwise you are back to AFTER EVERYTHING or at least every 1/2 hour.  Having said this, please make arrangements for your puppy to have regular potty breaks throughout the day.  This may mean having a neighbour or possibly a pet sitter come in to do this.  It is the humane, right thing to do and it will increase your chances of having a puppy who is potty trained quickly.
A few very important things here, puppy has to be contained when you return to the house if he was not successful or you will likely have an accident in the house and you must keep taking him out “after” whatever activity he just completed until he is successfully potty trained, which means that he is consistently “asking” to go out (this may just simply going to the usual exit door, so keep any eye on him) and has not had an accident for at least one full month.  Going forward there may be the odd accident after your pup appears to be potty trained.  This is frustrating from the human’s perspective, but not a failure of the potty training. It is likely just a one off, so don’t lose heart it is no different than a child who after being potty trained has the occassional accident, just keep plugging along.

I suggest that you always take puppy out on leash for potty training and that once you arrive at the spot you would like your dog to use as a toilet area that you simply stand and wait for the success.  If you walk around with your puppy while waiting for him to “get busy” he will quickly learn that if he waits to do his business he gets a longer walk.
Lastly, your puppy may urinate when meeting new people or going new places or even when you come home after being at work.  This is a normal behaviour and has everything to do with excitement, lack of physical muscle control of the urinary tract muscles and mental immaturaty.  As your pup gets older this behaviour will reduce and ultimately vanish.  Please do not punish your dog for this behaviour or for having any type of an accident, punishment will not reduce this behaviour and in fact may increase it.  Additionally you will be 1) causing fear in your dog, fear of you 2) your dog may still potty in the house, just not in front of you.

When a dog potties in the house, it is for two reasons 1) he doesn’t know better 2) he can’t physically and or mentally help it.  It is your job to teach him and assist him in being successful and it is your fault if he has an accident.  Puppies who are not potty trained must be supervised and the After Everything rule strictly adhered to until the pup is house trained.

Onto mouthing, which puppies love to do.  Dogs find out about their world with their noses and mouths.  Fortunately their noses don’t cause damage but
their mouths certainly can.  When a puppy is aroused such as in play is usually when the mouthing occurs.  It does have a lot to do with exploring
and also teething.  The level of arousal can increase the intensity of the bite. We do want puppies to learn bit inhibition, but not at the sake of our
hands.  Children are often the natural target of the mouthing partly because they are very exciting to puppy in and of themselves, so the puppy’s excitement level will just naturally start to elevate when children run, play, scream and yell as they will do, plus kids are drawn to the puppy and want to play with them.

Let’s STOP right here!  Please NEVER leave your puppy unsupervised with a child, EVER!!!  I cannot state this strongly enough.  If you are not directly supervising puppy, ie in the room looking at him whatever he is doing, he must be contained in his pen or kennel.  Unsupervised puppies get into trouble it’s that simple.  Supervised puppies and children can be directed towards appropriate play, behaviour and potty training, unsupervised puppies and children get into trouble.

Encourage the child to be 1) gentle 2) respectful 3) appropriate with the puppy.  Use toys  to play with instead of hands.  The adult can encourage the pup to chew on the toy, while the child is stroking the puppy.  Additionally children should be sitting when engaging with the puppy. If puppy’s teeth touch human hands get up and walk away from puppy.  Wait 30 seconds, totally ignoring puppy, don’t look at him, talk or play.  After 30 seconds resume play, if teeth touching skin happens again, do another 30 second time out totally ignoring puppy. Try a 3rd time to play.  If teeth touch skin a 3rd time, without ANY emotion, NONE whatsoever, lead puppy to his crate, close the door and walk away, totally away, leave the room.  No matter how much noise puppy makes ignore him, after 30 seconds go back and let him out, but only if he is calm.  If he is whining or crying, simply wait until he stops before you begin to let him out, keep in mind that he must still leave the kennel with your OK or release cue as described in Part 2 of this blog on puppies.  He can have something to chew on in his crate, remember this is just containment for a pup who is over the top and unable to control himself, so to keep everyone safe, including puppy and to bring down his arousal level, he is being crated.

I have found that very often, if walking away from your pup (which is removing the puppy’s reward, you) doesn’t stop the behaviour, then it is very likely the pup is tired and after crating him, you will likely find that he falls asleep.  But again, don’t use the crate constantly and don’t ruin the good association with the crate by roughly or angrily putting puppy in it.  Be calm, it’s just a quiet time out.

For an adult you can let puppy go a bit further than just teeth touching skin before ignoring him and walking away, but it should still not be enough of a bite that it is extremely painful or draw blood, we want puppy to know that it’s not acceptable bite pressure before it hits that point.  For a child, teach
them to walk away with any touch of teeth to skin at all.  And remember you are supervising at all times and crating puppy if it gets to round 3 (never let a child do this) or if when you walk away puppy is continuing to mouth the child or you during the 30 second ignore period. That then would be an automatic kennel time out whether on round 1 or 2.

Now children do need to run and play whether or not they have a puppy, so when it is time for children to be excited and aroused in play, put puppy away in the crate or exercise pen for a nap or independent play with a toy or better yet a yummy food filled Kong or other food dispensing toy or keep puppy with you (perhaps tethered to your waist).  If your puppy is not contained in some way, while your child is running and playing, the pup will follow excitedly and likely nip at and/or scratch your child because that is how puppies play.  So do your child a favour, as well as your pup and yourself and allow puppy free time for your child by containing your pup as well as supervised, CALM, play time between your pup and your child, that way everyone will be safe and happy.

You must always have appropriate toys for puppy to chew on, Nyla bones, Kongs (especially with wet kibble, left overs, peanut butter etc and then frozen, which helps with teething).  Use caution with bones and especially rawhide which you may want to rethink giving puppy at all due to it’s propensity to get wet and gooey and easily slip down puppy’s throat blocking the airway.  Again supervision is the key when puppy is chewing in order to avoid injuries.
When a toy starts to wear down, throw it out.  If your puppy does not have appropriate chew toys, or is not repeatedly redirected to appropriate chew toys when he is chewing on an illegal item, then he will cause damage to your belongings because he is a dog and dogs need to chew, so chewing your stuff is not the dog’s fault.

Lastly for today I want to talk about the Tug game.  Flat out, I like it.  I like to play it with my dogs.  But it has rules, very strict rules that must be adhered to in no uncertain terms.  1) The tug toy belongs to you and only comes out when you are initiating the game.  2)  You start and end the game 3) When you say out, puppy must release it (we will talk about OUT, GIVE or DROP IT tomorrow) 4) If teeth touch skin, then the game is over,toy goes away.  5) It’s ok if the dog sometimes wins 6) Children never, ever play this game with dogs! 7) Don’t not move the toy from side to side or up and down while the dog is at the other end of it.  The dog can do this, but the human is only basically holding the toy.  Aggressive movement of the toy by the human while the dog has the toy in his mouth, can cause injury to the dog’s neck, back, jaw or teeth.

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Sep042011

The Puppies are Here…..Part 2 Dog Training Calgary

By Kirsten on September 4, 2011

Your cute bundle of fluff has arrived home, now what?  You should already have a crate set up with a cozy bed inside.  Surrounding the crate should be an
x-pen or exercise pen.  This is a metal, wire, sturdy fence that is mobile.  You can put puppy’s crate within this set up x-pen and secure it so that it can’t be knocked over and puppy is unable to get out.  This is where puppy should live at any time that you are not directly supervising him, yes really.  The best place to set up is probably the kitchen as the floor is usually the easiest to clean, least likely to be damaged and the kitchen is often the place where the family gathers with the open concept that many of our homes have these days.  Toys can be placed within the pen for puppy to play with and a water dish should be placed within the pen with fresh water, available and accessible to puppy at all times.  Ideally away from the crate, in case of a spill, the water will not get into the crate and wet the bedding.

The crate door should be open at all times so that puppy can choose to go into the crate to rest, sleep or chew on a toy.  Additionally I recommend that
with the door left open, that puppy’s food bowl should be placed in the crate at meal times so that the pleasurable experience of eating is associated with
the crate, thereby making the crate a nice place to be.

Occasionally throughout the day, throw yummy treats into the crate for puppy to find as he walks by the crate.  Ideally this should be done when puppy isn’t watching.  When offering a Kong or chew toys to puppy place them in his crate so that he has to go into the crate to get the toy.  It’s fine if
he comes back out to play or chew the point is that the yummy thing or fun toy was in the crate, again making the crate a wonderful place where yummy,
good things hide.

Over the next few weeks play crate games with puppy.  When you throw the Kong, toy, treat, or meal in to the crate and puppy goes into to get it, close the door gently for a second or two, praise in a happy sing song voice and even provide another treat through the wire door while closed, then open
again.  You can keep the door closed for longer and longer periods as puppy feels more and more comfortable with it.

When puppy is out of the pen area for supervised play with the family, bring the crate into the room where everyone is as well.  Praise puppy if he goes
into the crate by his own choice and if after play, puppy goes in and stays there leave him alone.  He is telling you that he is tired and needs to
rest. The average adult dog needs 15-17 hours of rest/sleep a day, imagine what your growing pup needs.
The crate  is puppy’s private place.  Please do not allow anyone to bother him while in there, he should never be teased and the crate should not be climbed upon or played with by children and it should absolutely never be entered by a child regardless of whether puppy is in there or not.
Once you have reached a point where the puppy can be left in his crate while the door is closed  without distress for short periods of time while you
are out of the house please do not let him out when you return until he is calm.  The way to do this is to unlatch the door, say ”wait” and open it a tiny bit, if puppy bolts for the exit (and he likely will) gently push the door closed again.  Do not slam it, do not yell, do not hurt puppy, just gently close the door.  Then try again, “wait” open the door a bit, close gently if puppy bolts. The goal is not a sit, it is only a matter of the puppy not bolting out until the door is all the way open and you say “ok” (or whatever you release command is).  If when you do say “ok” puppy doesn’t move, gently prompt him by gently tapping your fingers on the floor, making silly noises, or luring with a treat.  Repeat this exercise over and over again until puppy understands.

As well your leaving and coming home should always be calm, quiet an uneventful to reduce the potential for separation distress in your dog.

You can also use this technique at the front door when on your way out for a walk, the back door, or patio door when letting puppy out for play or potty time (for exits at potty time this technique should really only be used when potty training is well underway).  Also be careful not to catch puppy in the door when closing.  Close it gently and if need be block puppy’s great escape by body blocking (you physically getting between puppy and the open door) and then close the door and try again.  Remember just opening the door a bit is likely to get puppy moving forward, so in the interest of safety, just open it a crack to start, gently closing it when puppy starts to move.
Lastly don’t leave puppy confined to the crate all day.  Puppies need to potty every few hours.  A good rule of thumb is one hour for every month of age
of the puppy plus one hour, so a five month old puppy could technically go 6 hours between potty but even still if I was kennelling my dog for 6 hours, I
would have a dog walker or sitter come in and let him out in between times for potty, a leg stretch and a drink of water.  This brings me to our next
subject, Potty Training.  The next article will look at Potty Training and Mouthing….

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