During a visit to my parents home on the island I heard puffing noises coming from my parents room only to find Luna and Chewy (my parents dog) jumping around on the bed that is off limits. I guess forbidden fruit is just more fun!
Naughty Doggies
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Fun Video's
During a visit to my parents home on the island I heard puffing noises coming from my parents room only to find Luna and Chewy (my parents dog) jumping around on the bed that is off limits. I guess forbidden fruit is just more fun!
Mistakes
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Reads
Common Mistakes People Make When Training Their Dog
Many people opt to train their dog themselves, pretty much the majority of people I meet. About 99% of them unfortunately run into problems and make training mistakes that can affect training dramatically. Those are:
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Many people opt to train their dog themselves, pretty much the majority of people I meet. About 99% of them unfortunately run into problems and make training mistakes that can affect training dramatically. Those are:
- Freedom - People give their new dog WAY too much freedom too soon. When you give your dog all this off leash freedom outside without knowing a solid 100% recall, you are setting yourself and your dog up to FAIL. Your dog will learn that running around like a crazed maniac not listening to you is a great thing and will consistently do this. This makes off leash training incredibly harder then starting off on the right paw.
- Expectations - Many people expect their new pup or rescue to know not to go to the bathroom in the house, they should just know. Dogs have absolutely no idea where to go, it doesn't come pre-programmed in their brain, we must show them much like a child when they're potty training you have to highly reinforce and manage them by taking them to the potty every X amount of time.
- Stress - This is probably much too common. People keep putting their dog in stressful situations which in turn puts stress on a dog, what does stress do to a dog? Turns into aggressive behaviour. When your dog is failing in situations with other dogs (getting into little fights, growling, snarling) at anytime, even if it's a little growl, your dog is stressed out and you need to take the dog away from the situation and evaluate WHY he or she is stressed.
- Corrections - I've said this before and will continue to say it. Corrections do not work, we lack the precision and appropriate pressure to apply to make a correction effective. Many people correct to subtle (where the dog felt it, stopped for a moment and went back) this way you're desensitizing your dog to whatever correction and abusing your dog cause you will have to hit, pop, poke, jab your dog more often. Others correct too hard and the dog becomes terrified of you and the surroundings it was corrected in, if this happens you usually get an aggressive dog. It is very hard to implement the proper correction to the proper dog, some dogs cannot take corrections and will physically and mentally shut down from stress.
- Repeating- People repeat a command over and over "sit, sit,sit,sit,sit." If you start on this repetitive path, you are going to be stuck stay "sit" five times before your dog sits. The rule is: when learning a new behaviour such as sit, ask the dog ONCE, if the dog does not comply WAIT 3-5 seconds and ask again.
- Asking too much too soon - Don't expect your dog to be well behaved in a situation where he or she has never encountered before. Example: Bringing your dog to a 1.5 hour walk with friends when your dog can only walk 15 minutes on a loose leash before he starts pulling. What is going to happen here? The dog will end up pulling on the leash after 15 mins and you end up getting frustrated because you're too busy chatting and don't want to train the dog in this new environment. End result = FAILURE and steps back in loose leash walking.
- Follow through - When you ask your dog for a sit and they decide to go down, don't just go "whatever, good enough" make sure you go, "hey, hey, sit" and coax them up into a sit. Always make sure to follow through with the command given because if you allow the dog to decide sit means down, every time you need a sit the dog will down.This applies to all training commands and real life commands.
- Lost opportunities - Don't always make training sessions to show your dog what you like. If you're out on a walk and your dog meets a young child and doesn't jump up, highly reward! This is why I always like to carry some treats on walks and outings -you never know when a GREAT opportunity will strike! If you don't have treats, praise and get excited, maybe play a chase game.
Separation Anxiety
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Reads
We have to work (well most of us) or we have a life (most of us) and sometimes our lives don't revolve around the dog, we need time away. But what happens when that time away becomes a pain in the butt? Sometimes we start to regret getting the dog in the first place if you knew this would happen, we get frustrated because you can't just waive a wand and have your dog be okay with you leaving and fights can start between a family.
When working with any rescue dog, this is one of the main problems I run into, reason being: dogs that have been abandoned by their owners, then switched to a new environment with new people, then again and again. Some rescues are passed around 7 or 8 times before finding a forever home. No wonder they have separation anxiety! Everytime they possibly became comfortable, they were thrown to the next person and so on. Unfortunately it is sometimes unavoidable and dogs are passed from person to person and the side effects on the dogs' emotional state can be catastrophic for him or her resulting in euthanasia.
Separation Anxiety can be caused by the following
- Traumatic events in a young dog's life may also increase the likelihood of the development of very strong attachments. These events include; early separation from the mother dog, deprivation of attachment early in life (puppies kept in pet shops or animal shelters), a sudden change of environment (new home, stay at a kennel), a change in owner's lifestyle which results in a sudden end to constant contact with the animal, a long-term or permanent absence of a family member.
Preventative Training
Puppies - Training should be started the day you get your puppy to ensure the dog is conditioned to being left alone and it's not all that bad, the owner always comes back.
TAKE TIME OFF WORK when you get your puppy or rescue. This I can't stress enough, so many people get a puppy then leave it alone at home for 8-10 hours the next day and then for the entire week.
Think about it from the pups perspective; was taken away from it's home with his or her littermates, driven in a weird car then put in a new environment, fell asleep, woke up and saw a couple people then everybody left and the pup is in a brand new place, scared and no one around, what happens.....he panics and the cycle begins.
Week 1
TAKE TIME OFF WORK when you get your puppy or rescue. This I can't stress enough, so many people get a puppy then leave it alone at home for 8-10 hours the next day and then for the entire week.
Think about it from the pups perspective; was taken away from it's home with his or her littermates, driven in a weird car then put in a new environment, fell asleep, woke up and saw a couple people then everybody left and the pup is in a brand new place, scared and no one around, what happens.....he panics and the cycle begins.
Week 1
- Do not leave your puppy alone longer then 4 hours at a time -this should be until he's 4 months old, then you can slowly start increasing time 1 hour per month. (6 months = 6 hours) Maximum a dog should be left alone for is 7-8 hours without access to outside for bathroom break.
- Condition the dog to you leaving - place a KONG filled with goodies on the ground and walk out the door for a moment and come back in. If the pup is eating the KONG walk out again for a minute and come back in. Repeat increasing the time slowly. By the end of the week you should be able to leave the pup alone for 4 hours without a peep.
Week 2
- Tire your pup out before planning to leave. Go for a short walk or play a game until the pup is looking tired. Then give him a KONG filled with yummy stuff and leave for a couple minutes, come back in to check how he or she is doing, if they're fine, leave for good this time.
After week 2 your dog should be well adjusted into his or her new home and comfortable being left alone.
Adopted - If you have a rescue, you need to #1 determine if the dog has any separation issues.
Testing for separation anxiety : This can be done by leaving the dog alone for 15 mins (after you've let the dog settle in for a day or two), leave as you normally would, grab your keys and coat and walk out the door, lock it and move out of sight and BE QUIET. (If you have a camera, place it filming the door or living space where you left the dog). If the dog barks, ignore him or her take note of how long the barking continues for, go back in after 15 minutes as long as the dog is NOT barking, howling, whining, scratching ect. If the dog doesn't stop, call the house (this should interrupt the behaviour) then walk in Next is to figure out a treatment plan with your local Dog Behaviourist or Dog Behaviour Consultant.
If the dog is fine, follow the same preventative treatment for puppies.
If the dog is fine, follow the same preventative treatment for puppies.
Training
This involves slow systematic desensitization, changing the emotional reponse of your dog when you leave, which takes time. Separation anxiety, realistically is very hard to treat because not everybody has the time or freedom from work needed to successfully treat it.
However there are options if you have a busy schedule.
1) Hire a dog walker or friend to come by during the day and follow the same training protocol when they leave. (this helps your dog have 2 or more chances to learn that when someone leaves, they don't leave for a long period of time).
2) Bring your dog to a reputable doggy daycare for the days you can't train with your dog
When you manage the problem (doggy daycare, dog walker) paired with training (systematic desensitization - leaving at short periods at a time) separation anxiety can be quite treatable.
However there are options if you have a busy schedule.
1) Hire a dog walker or friend to come by during the day and follow the same training protocol when they leave. (this helps your dog have 2 or more chances to learn that when someone leaves, they don't leave for a long period of time).
2) Bring your dog to a reputable doggy daycare for the days you can't train with your dog
When you manage the problem (doggy daycare, dog walker) paired with training (systematic desensitization - leaving at short periods at a time) separation anxiety can be quite treatable.
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