This can be simple if you let me take you through it. This being our first class together, I promise to be nice and easy on you all (for now).
The crate is used to enable you to form your dog's habits. No more punishing your poor baby by locking him in a cage when he's out of control, or chewing everything in sight. Now, I'm starting to have fun, so I think I'll give you a bit more. Got your listening ears on? Okay, here we go!
Rest easy, guys. Your dog loves having a place to call his own, a den, a safe haven from you silly humans and ear-pulling kids. But he is sensitive to your attitude, so leave your guilt out of it and he will accept confinement easily when you do.
The crate gives you the ability to provide 100% supervision to your inquisitive, experimenting puppy. This means you can successfully domesticate and teach your dog how you expect him to behave, even when you're not there to chase them around the table in an attempt to get your favorite Italian leather shoes out of his mouth before they become a slimy, wet heap of rawhide.
It is not cruel and inhumane to leave your dog in the crate for 8 hours or so. After all, he has to learn to hold it while you're gone, and we have already established that to be one of the main purposes of your other best friend, the crate.
So, how do you get your precious baby into the crate without working up a sweat, or getting so frustrated you want to give up? First, do not throw a treat into the back and slam the door shut behind Fido. All you will accomplish is convincing your dog that you can't be trusted. If you want to use food, then gently, but assertively, say "inside" or "kennel up", or whatever suits you, and lead your dog in, perhaps adding a gentle nudge from the rear if necessary. Once he is in, take a deep breath, put on your best smile and give him the treat. Don't forget, no slamming the door behind him so he doesn't escape before you close the door. Relax and try to act like you know what you're doing, even if you don't feel like you do..yet. Just don't tell him this was all my idea until we meet.
Oops, almost forgot, there is one condition under which "gentle" slamming is acceptable, actually recommended. When it is time for Fido to come out, if he charges the gate, jolt the door at him so he backs off and waits for your invitation to join the party. Gentle is the key word here, folks..no broken or bloody noses, please.
Dogs learn through repetition, so the idea is to allow only acceptable behaviors to be repeated. If you are not present, the dog will be the one to determine its behavior. Now, you should be getting the hang of this.
Well, I think this is enough for your first lesson. Any questions, feel free to call 561-683-9700,
or e-mail me.
I look forward to joining you again.
Bye for now,
Debra Nagler
Ace Dog Training
P.S. No, it does not matter where you put the crate. Its location simply needs to be convenient and out of the way.
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The Relationship
Hi, again . Glad you've decided to join me for the next in our series of training articles.
Today we are going to address the relationship between you and your precious pet.
The main idea is to have your dog's behavior be a result of your direction, rather than their instinctual choice. Affirmation of this is exhibited as eye contact from your dog to you. Unless you plan on using your dog's natural aptitude, as in the case of a bloodhound tracking someone, or a beagle chasing a rabbit, most of those instinctually driven choices will be detrimental in a domestic environment…i.e. Your Home !
Once your dog understands that he must look to you for direction or approval, he has now become receptive to any information you might be looking to give him. He is already asking "What do you want me to do?"
Okay, now, the trick is…How do you do it? How do you get Fido to look at you before he runs out the front door or before he grabs the steak off the counter, or before he chases the kids down the street, dragging you behind?
You must first establish that a consequence exists for the thought of leaving or making a choice without your approval. This can be accomplished by doing something as simple as clapping your hands when the dog looks interested in leaving through the open door, and reinforcing their contact and return to you.
To facilitate this return of attention, it is of the utmost importance to create an association of pleasure, comfort and security when the dog is with you, or returns to you. You should begin to notice an enthusiastic response to your direction.
Now, communication. It is nothing more than speaking to your dog in a way that makes sense to them, understanding how they hear what you say, and then how to say what you really mean. I will expand on these three aspects of communication at our next lesson, in
"How Dogs Learn."
Last of all, consistency is of major importance. It is the characteristic of your relationship that determines whether or not your dog will be stubborn. Even the dog that is naturally resistive can be taught to be receptive when they can count on your demands, or requests, to be unconditional and consistent. If you don't always follow through to successful response, your dog will learn to question you. If in one circumstance he has to behave a certain way, yet in another you are too busy to reinforce that same response, he will have to try to figure out which day this is, behaving or not.
Ponder these concepts, try them out on your dogs. I will expand on these principles of communication, in the next article, as we get further into how dogs learn.
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The No-Accident Housebreaking Method
Welcome back! I know it's been awhile, but I've been busy saving dogs from their owners!
Okay, down to business. Most people I speak with who say their dog is housebroken, actually still have occasional situations where there is an "accident". Usually, it's the owner attributes it to spite or anger, or some other human emotion that their dog just doesn't have. Dogs can get frustrated or bored, and the usual outcome is either to chew or eliminate. Knowing that, we have to control their environment until we are sure they accept and feel comfortable with our absence, and have formed only good habits in this area.
Referring back to the first article on the crate, it simply affords you with the ability to prevent repetition of unacceptable behavior. In the case of housebreaking, you can use it to teach the dog to eliminate on command, and wait until you take it outside to "go potty". It also can help to teach your dog to go within the first few minutes, before you go on a walk, so if you're in a rush, they will not need to be walked for an hour before they go.
It is not important to adhere to a stringent schedule since dogs, being creatures of habit, would then expect to go out at certain times. It is much better to teach them to relax and wait until you take them out. There will be a lot less anxiety on both of your parts.
Now, the water issue. Do not limit your dogs water intake, control it! This means, until you are sure the dog is housebroken, give water with meals and before you take him out. Water controlled like this will stimulate urinating at the appropriate times, instead of a bit here and a bit there.
Food also stimulates eliminating. It can be used as well, to stimulate your dog to "go" when you want them to. Do not free-feed until you are sure Fido is housebroken. Dogs will usually have to go out 5-20 minutes after eating; this depends on your dogs individual digestive system.
Especially if you have a puppy, the acts of playing and rising from a nap will also stimulate them. To prevent accidents at these times, simply watch the pup carefully, and make sure to take them out before the go on the floor.
It is essential that you provide 100% supervision at all times, so that you can establish a positive pattern of eliminating outside. Remember that dogs are creatures of habit and you want to be the one to form those habits. If you find a little "present" somewhere, all you can do is clean it up. No matter whether you stick their nose in it (this hurts your puppy's trust in you), "spank" them on the behind, say "that is baaadddd!!!!", or any other form of after-the-fact correction, the dog cannot make the association past the actual "dirty deed". [Be sure to use a special enzymatice cleaner to remove all trace odors of the waste, otherwise your pup will be tempted to keep returning to this spot.]
Take your puppy out to the same area each time you want him to "go potty". Use this phrase, or something similar, and praise him when he "goes". He will soon learn to associate the phrase and the action and then can be asked to "go" at any time. Be sure not to play with or distract your puppy until he "goes potty". You mean serious business!
Some breeds are easier to housebreak than others, but to be on the safe side follow these rules of thumb with any dog and you will be successful. Remember that repeated success is the key here!
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How Dogs Learn
It's important to understand how dogs learn to be able to teach them what you want, whether it's an obedience command like sit or down, or teaching them to behave properly. You want them to have good manners.
First and foremost, dogs learn by repetition. It really doesn't matter where the first behavior came from, what matters most is that if you don't want it to continue, you must find a way to disallow it from being done again. That might entail using your crate a bit differently ( refer to article on crate training).
If your dog is crated when not supervised, even when you are home, they will grow up repeating only the behaviors you have taken the time to form for them.
The same principle applies when teaching command response. If you want your dog to sit every time you ask them to, say the word (one time only), place them in that position and praise them.
Remember, the key here is consistency. Repeat successful responses only.
Dogs make associations based only on what is happening at that exact point in time. Let's use for an example, chewing. You come in the room and Tiny is chewing on the leg of the chair. You think, "perfect timing, I caught him in the act, so he'll understand when I spank* him". Actually, the dog hears, "It's okay to sniff the chair, it's okay to lick the chair, it's even okay to chew on it, but now it's time to stop." On the other hand, if your timing is right, your dog will learn to stay away from the things that don't belong to him.
Understand that all correction does is (hopefully) control the behavior for a moment or two, or even a day or two. In order to change behavior, you must change the dog's thought process; change his mind before he acts on the thought. "Don't even think about it!"
When you see him moving towards, or exhibiting interest in, that object you want him to avoid, use either a sharp noise, but NOT the overused word NO, or throw something in his direction, to startle (not scare) him. Once the dog startles he will be most receptive to a redirection of his thought pattern, so encourage him back to you. Now you can give him something constructive to do, like play with a toy of his own.
If you catch the dog red handed and are too late to redirect, try to get the dog to the point where under the same circumstance, but in your presence, he exhibits the same behavior (set him up); for instance, chewing your shoe. Get the shoe from him without the chase, and put it on the floor and as soon as he looks at it, interupt his thought. You want the dog's last experience to be successful behavior/choices as determined by your direction.
*A note about spanking:
It is never okay to hit/spank your dog. There is nothing positive that can come from it. Your dog might become defensively aggressive (try to protect themselves from you), or submissive and afraid of you. They're supposed to respect and look to you in trust, for direction. Don't betray that.
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