Smart Dog

Life is Tough for a Puppy

So the latest service pup in-training has arrived. Hero Dogs Theodore Roosevelt (Teddy) has been here almost 24 hours and here's a list of the (many) things he's learned already:

• Walking on a dog that's laying down isn't a good idea.
• People go away when you put your paws on them.
• Paws on the floor is a good thing - lots of cooing and petting happens when you do this.
• People really like it when you pee and poop outside.
• The crate takes some getting used to.
• Objects in his reach that aren't dog toys disappear the instant dog teeth touch them.
• Kongs are filled with food. And sometimes even a smear of peanut butter. Kongs are GOOD!
• Being quiet in the crate brings lots of soothing, calm attention.
• Barking in the crate makes people and all the dog friends leave the room.
• 8-week old puppy legs are clumsy.
• Water is useful: it tastes good, it cools you down, and it's fun to be in.
• A mouth can hold all kinds of stuff! Leaves, grass, toys, food, and even a leash!

There will be plenty o' updates daily now that the new guy is here. Maybe even twice daily updates! The rate that pups take in information is staggering - they have so much to learn! And believe it or not, they're learning whether you're teaching them or not. So you might as well spend a little time teaching the pup what you want him to know instead of trying to undo bad habits later.

A quick update on who is excited about the arrival of the new pup: just one dog is happy and that's Talos. The others have all told him very quickly that he's just a puppy and they are not even a little bit impressed. Nor are they wooed by his cuteness. In fact, I think they hold his cuteness against him a little bit. Except Talos, of course, who has always been entranced by the smaller dogs.

To be continued...

Big News

Today's a big day here for us. A new service dog puppy's coming today! I'm pleased to be working with a new organization: Hero Dogs. Located in Brookeville, MD, this organization raises and trains dogs for military veterans who have been injured and/or disabled while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.

This puppy marks a few firsts for me: this is the first puppy I've raised for Hero Dogs, and it's a Golden retriever. I've raised Labradors, mixed breeds, and a Great Dane, but this will be the first Golden retriever.

I'm excited to begin this new venture with Hero Dogs, but at the same time, it's just another reminder that Talos will be leaving me shortly. Stay tuned, I'll have lots more information later today about the new puppy...and about Talos' turn-in date.

A Great Way to Raise a Puppy

After losing two dogs within two weeks, my clients needed another dog in the house. The silence was deafening. It would be too painful to go with the same breed (Labrador) they just lost, so they chose a breed that's completely different: a Rottweiler.

Sensitive to the breed's reputation, they want to ensure this little guy grows up to be an ambassador for the breed. And they're off to a terrific start! I began working with them this week and this little guy is daring us to keep up with his learning! He eats up any training challenge we put in front of him!

If you've got a puppy, you may want to see what we're working on for this guy. Here's a summary of our efforts thus far (we're only two sessions in):

• Food bowl manners. We want him to look forward to people coming near his food bowl, so I'm having the owners drop his meals into his bowl one handful at a time. The approaching hand means more food is coming. In addition, I'm having them drop in bits of chicken (or other really good goodie) while he's eating. There's no better way to teach a dog to tolerate look forward to hands approaching his bowl!
• Sit for everything. A sitting dog rarely gets into trouble. We're teaching this little guy that if he doesn't know what to do, sitting is always a good choice. If he wants petting, he has to sit first. If he wants his ball, sit first. Dinner, sit first. He's already approaching people and offering a sit because we're teaching him that sitting = attention.
• Come when called. My clients have a big backyard. It's fenced, but they don't want to walk a couple of acres to retrieve him. (For now, pup's on a leash - not allowed to roam at will.) So we're teaching the little guy how much fun it is to come when called. Armed with a clicker and some really yummy food, the owners take turns calling him (Fido, come) in a happy and excited voice. He looks like a cartoon character, his legs swimming as he tries to get some traction! Teaching a puppy to come with so much enthusiasm and eagerness is priceless! We worked in some pretty challenging distractions (me running, squeaking a toy, tossing a tennis ball, petting and loving him) while his owners alternated calling him. He's a quick study. Next time I go back, I've got to up my game a little bit - those distractions aren't challenging anymore...after just one session!
• Self control. He's learning to wait: at the food bowl, doors, for treats, etc. Building in self control at a young age will go a long way to developing a calm, well-adjusted adult dog who listens to your directions. In just 15 minutes, this little guy learned to leave his kibble-filled food bowl and wait until he was released to eat it. Fabulous!

We'll keep adding to his repertoire - he's definitely a sponge and soaking up everything we can give him! Is it any wonder I love my job so much - working with cutie-pie puppies like this (not to mention his fabulous, proactive owners!). 

How to Teach Speak and Shhhh

Some dogs bark incessantly -- at birds, at cars, at people, at other dogs -- and it really annoys their owners (and neighbors). I teach all my dogs how to bark on cue and also how to quiet on cue and I don't have any barking problems.

Worried about putting barking on cue? Afraid you'll just get the barking and not the quiet? It's possible, but only if you don't train the full behaviors and put them on cue. Here's how I do it with my dogs and there's a video of Talos demonstrating the behavior at the end of this blog entry...

1. Have your clicker and some really tasty treats in a bowl on the table.
2. Make a noise and click when your dog makes any noise, no matter how slight. Give your dog the treat immediately after clicking.
3. When he's eating the treat, say "shhh" or "quiet" or whatever word you want to use.
4. Click again because he's quiet [he's still eating the treat] and feed him again.
5. When he finishes his treat, repeat steps 2 and 3 three or four more times.
6. After the fourth or fifth repetition, you'll now begin telling your dog what he's doing -- you'll be adding the cue (the signal) that tells your dog to start the behavior.
7. So before you make your noise that makes the dog vocalize, say "Speak," or whatever word you want.
8. Wait for your dog to make a noise, click and then treat.
9. While your dog is still eating the treat say "shhh" and click and treat him for being quiet.
10. Repeat these steps four or five more times.
11. On the next trial, say "speak" and wait to see if your dog will vocalize with just the word as the cue (not the sound you've been making). If your dog attempts any sound, no matter how slight, click and treat.

Your dog will soon be speaking and shhhhing only when you ask for it. If you get some volunteer barking, simply ignore it. Don't talk to, look at, or otherwise interact with the dog. In fact, I usually get up and immediately leave the area the very first time the dog barks. The dog will learn very quickly that only those barks that are cued (asked for) will get rewarded.

Here's a quick video of Talos showing off his newly acquired skill. We'd only trained this for two three-minute sessions. Happy training!

Four Dogs - And Me - In the Bathroom

A funny thing just happened. I got up from my desk, went into the bathroom. All four dogs were asleep. But don't you know it, within 15 seconds, they all got up and joined me in the bathroom.

I don't require assistance in the bathroom. I don't stay in there very long. I come right back out and go right back to my desk. Nothing exciting happens. Yet, all four dogs find it necessary or enjoyable to join me.

I'm not complaining - not really. Just making an observation. On one hand it can be a little annoying. Everyone gets up from their comfortable position and joins me in a pretty small bathroom. But on the other hand, I like what that implies - that they're interested enough in me and what I'm doing to get up and move with me.

Before anyone chimes in with worries that my dogs are a little too dependent on me or wonders if they have separation anxiety, let me quell those thoughts. They're fine without me, they dance with delight as I'm walking out the door. They don't need me. But they do enjoy me.

There's no real point or lesson to this blog post. Just a stray thought that crossed my mind this morning as I chuckled when all four dogs joined me for 30 seconds in the bathroom. 

Do any readers have similar experiences? I'd love to hear them.

Kids and Dogs: How to Keep 'Em Both Safe

Kids are the most frequent victims of dog bites. Specifically, young boys tend to receive more dogs bites than anyone! If you have a dog, do you know how to tell if you're dog's had enough of kid-time? If you have kids, have you taught them how to interact with dogs so they're safe even when they're not playing with YOUR dog?

Lots of families have great dogs - dogs that let the kids climb on them, dress them up, and use them as toys. Unfortunately, most dogs don't like that kind of interaction. If that's the way your kids learned to interact with dogs, you're setting them up for a dog bite when they do that to someone else's dog. So even if your dog is tolerant, please teach your kids how to properly and safely interact with other dogs. 

I wrote about our neighborhood kids climbing onto our fence to say hi to our dogs and the potential dangers. Then I ran across this article by dog behaviorists -- complete with videos from You Tube -- and posted the link on my Facebook page. Not long after, one of the videos from that article showed up on some of my friend's pages. They thought the video was cute (which it is) and couldn't understand why I was getting "so serious" about a little bit of play between a baby and a dog. 

If you have a dog and/or a child, please take a moment to educate yourself on doggie body language. I'd hate to get a call from you because your dog "bit without warning." It's so easy to prevent a bite! Here are some more really good resources to check out (also with lots of really good video): Doggone Safe and Dogs and Storks.

The Dog Days of Summer

It's gonna be a hot one here in the Mid-Atlantic this weekend. I'm a lover of summer time, and so are the dogs.

That's Tango and Nemo having fun at Lake Anna retrieving the bumper. 

Lily's enjoying the boat on Lake Anna.

Lucky enjoying a ride on the raft at Lake Anna.

Tango cooling off with the hose.

The sprinkler is a dog-entertainment toy!

Talos didn't like the water then, and he STILL doesn't like it!

Nemo and Dana enjoying an afternoon at Lake Anna.

Errands with The Big Dog

Today was errand day. Talos loves errand day. It's the day when he gets to greet his public. When he holds court. When he's the center of attention. Oh, how T loves errand day.

It's not nearly as much fun for me, of course. Because I'm the one doing all the work: hauling the groceries, making the deposits, loading the car, spending the money. And, of course, holding the leash for Sir Talos. Who I really think believes errand day is Talos Day.

You can't really be in a hurry and take a service dog in public. Because if you're in a hurry, you'll get grumpy really quickly. And that's not fun. Not fun for the people who are curious about the big, blue-eyed dog, for Talos, or for me. I add an extra hour for every two hours I think the errands should take. So if I could go out -- by myself -- and get the errands done in an hour, I know with T it'll take at least an hour and a half. Today's errands took four hours. And I've still not unloaded the car.

What's it like to take a dog into stores? It's...different. I'm so used to it now, though, that it's relatively normal to me. If I have friends with me, though, they always ask "Isn't it weird that everyone stares at you?" I gotta say that I don't really notice that anymore.

Taking a dog into a store is only difficult when the dog is a puppy -- still learning about the world. When they're pups, I'm in training mode. I carry treats with me, I'm on the lookout for learning opportunities -- or for potential scary situations. I'm always looking ahead, thinking ahead, trying to stay one step ahead of the pup, both literally and figuratively!

I have to pace myself so I don't tire the pup out. I have to time my errands around feeding schedules (because feeding schedules predict bathroom schedules). I have to be ready to head home if the pup is overwhelmed or wiped out.

But with a veteran like Talos, errand day is a breeze. He still learns a lot about the world - I don't think we've had an outing where he didn't learn something or wasn't exposed to something new. But he also enjoys seeing the sights, meeting the people (especially the kids!) and investigating his surroundings.

He's not a big fan, though, of errand days that involve Costco. He loves going in to Costco, he simply doesn't like the end result which is a crowded car. When I pile all the groceries in the back, he wants to sit in the front. Which wouldn't be a problem except he doesn't fit. He hasn't fit in the front seat since he was five months old! Here's a video of one of the last times he was in the front seat. We'd had a full morning of errands:

Errand days are good for him because he's continually exposed to all things related to life in public. When he's paired with his new person, he'll likely be in public every day, so these experiences are very important to his education. And it's kinda fun to run errands with my four-legged best friend!

A Bite Can Change Everything

A dog that bites is looked at very differently than a dog that doesn't bite. It's a very fine line, the line between a biting dog and just a barking dog. But that very fine line turns into a giant chasm once the actual bite happens.

Insurance companies treat you differently (and charge you more). Animal Control has a file on your dog. Neighbors make a wide arc around your house. Lawyers love people who have biting dogs - it makes for good business. Last, but certainly not least, YOU look at your dog differently after that first bite.

You may not have seen the bite coming. Or maybe you did see it coming, but just didn't know when. Regardless, situations get sticky in a hurry once a dog has crossed the line and has bitten a person.

The dog in the picture above was mine. His name was Lucky and he played a big part in my transition to dog trainer, and specifically the transition to a dog-friendly, positive reinforcement dog trainer. Lucky bit people. He loved to bite people. He was a dog who kept a lookout for people to bite. Through a strict management program and a non-stop behavior modification program, Lucky lived a very happy, very long life with us, thankfully. 

I've had two clients recently with dogs who have bitten or who are very likely to bite sometime soon. The first client, whose dog escaped the yard and bit a neighbor, have chosen to give their dog away instead of train the dog. To an elderly relative who "is good with animals." I hate hearing this - even if the relative is excellent with dogs, he'll also have to have stellar management practices. By that I mean the dog can never -- ever -- get out of the fence, the gate, or the door unless he's safely leashed. The dog must be put in a locked bedroom if anyone comes into the house. That's a hard bill to fill and it's very stressful, wondering if you've remembered everything.

Here are the management practices we put in place when we had Lucky: When guests came over, he was behind a locked bedroom door and a baby gate was placed in front of the locked door. Another gate was put up between where we entertained guests and the bedroom that contained Lucky just in case a wayward guest tried to visit Lucky, despite our warnings to stay away.

In the yard, we padlocked the gates to ensure that the neighborhood kids couldn't open the gates to come inside to retrieve a ball or play with the friendly Labradors and the not-friendly Lucky. We educated the neighbors about Lucky and how they were to never (ever) put their hands inside the fence, nor were they to tease or even talk to Lucky over the fence. And never, ever, ever were they to come inside the fence. For any reason. Ever. Even with those cautions, one of us was always outside in the fenced yard when Lucky was out. Unless it was after 11:00p - then we figured if there was a burglar lurking in the bushes, Lucky would be within his rights to bite him!

Another recent client mentioned that their dog often charged people on the street, barking with hackles up, circling the pedestrians, but they hadn't ever considered that behavior a problem, let alone a warning sign that a bite could be close. There's no better warning sign that a bite is coming than a charging dog, hackles raised! The very next thing the dog is going to do is bite! The time to take action is now, before the bite occurs. I advised the dog never be off a leash when outdoors. It's just too easy for a dog to cross the line from charging and barking to charging, barking, and biting. And it only takes one bite for everything to change.

Don't wait for the bite to happen. Your dog doesn't need the trouble. You don't need the headache. Or the financial liability that comes along with a dangerous dog. Do yourself, your dog, and your neighbors a favor and find a positive-reinforcement trainer who can help you develop a management program along with a behavior modification program to ensure that your dog -- and your neighbors -- stay safe.

Puppy Training Questions & Answers

Q:  When should I start training my puppy?

A: Right away! Puppies retain what they learn starting at five weeks. You won't get your pup until eight weeks, so get ready to start teaching as soon as you bring your pup home!

Q: What should I teach my puppy?

A: Puppies need to learn everything: house training, crate training, polite greeting, leash walking, basic manners such as sit, down, and settle. If you're not teaching your puppy what to do, she'll figure something out on her own. Unfortunately, the behavior the puppy chooses isn't usually something we approve of! Most importantly, your pup needs to learn self control, often called impulse control.

Q. How can I teach self control to my puppy?

A: I take the "life training" approach. I teach self control precisely when the pup is showing no self control! For instance, if the pup jumps up to get to the food bowl in my hand, I won't lower the food bowl until the puppy is sitting. I don't yell at the puppy, I don't push her into a sit, I let her figure it out. When she figures it out, voila!, she gets her dinner. But not until then.

Another way I like to teach self control is to moderate my energy level when I'm playing with the pup. I don't let the puppy get out of control. I'll gently ramp her up to a moderate level, and then I'll stop playing and hold completely still. When the puppy matches my energy level, I'll start to play again. This stop-and-start play helps the puppy learn to ramp her energy level up and down.

Q: What about socialization? I keep hearing a lot about it, but I don't really know what it is.

A: Socialization makes the difference between a confident, happy, and friendly dog or a scared, fearful, and shy dog. Keep in mind that sometimes "fearful" takes the shape of a barking, lunging, and often scary-looking dog. Socialization is the process by which you introduce your puppy - a puppy is classified as younger than 20 weeks - to new things, places, people, surfaces, and sounds in a controlled and pleasant manner.

Until the age of 20 weeks, your puppy is like a sponge, soaking in all the different experiences. Around 16 - 20 weeks, though, the "socialization window" begins to close, and the pup starts to see things through a different set of lenses. In its first weeks at home, the pup is open to lots of new experiences, but when the window starts to close, the pup begins to look at new things a little differently. If you've done a great job socializing your puppy, you probably won't even notice this transition because your pup got accustomed to lots of different things early on. If your pup didn't get out, didn't experience the world, you'll really see this transition. Your puppy will be wary of new things, even harmless objects such as fluttering plastic bags, well-meaning but rambunctious kids, even inanimate objects such as trash cans or mailboxes. 

Q: I need some ideas to help me socialize my puppy - what should I be looking to expose my puppy to?

A: Good socialization requires a little planning. You'll need to have some really delicious food treats (I like chicken chopped into pea-sized pieces) before you take your puppy out. And you'll need patience, lots of patience. When you're socializing your puppy, that's all you're doing - you can do errands, too, but if the pup becomes overwhelmed, you've got to be able to take the puppy out of the situation immediately. In other words, if you're at your kids' soccer game and the puppy is scared by the whistles and the motion, you've got to be able to move the dog further away, even if it means returning to your car with the pup.

You've also got to be ready to tell people how to pet your puppy and how not to pet your puppy. You have to be ready to tell kids that they can't pet your puppy if she's looking scared or hesitant. Remember: socialization is for the puppy, not for the public. It's ok to say "no" to requests to pet your dog if it's better for the puppy. 

Think about the things your puppy will see throughout her life. If you've got kids, your pup is likely to see skateboarders, bicycles, kids running and screaming, etc. Expose your pup early to those things she'll be seeing throughout her life. Think about the different seasons, too. For instance, if your pup was born in the spring, the first time she'll see hoodies and snow pants won't be for another eight months! Get your kids to put their snow pants on and wear them at the dinner table a few nights. Have them walk around with their hoods over their heads. Believe me, if your pup doesn't see someone in a hoodie until she's 8 months old, there's going to be some barking! It's best to expose her now to those things, even briefly, so at least by the time winter arrives, she'll have seen these things. 

You also want your puppy to meet lots of different people and different dogs. It's not good enough if your pup gets along great with your other dog or your kids. You want your pup seeing different dogs and different people every day. Old people, short people, people with facial hair, young people, tall people, people in uniform, people who walk funny, babies, people on crutches, people in wheelchairs, people who dress differently, etc. You want your dog to see big dogs, black dogs, barking dogs, sleeping dogs, lazy dogs, playful dogs, energetic dogs, dismissive dogs. The more people and dogs your pup is exposed to, the better adjusted (read: easier to handle) she'll be both as a puppy and later in life. 

There's no shortcuts when training or socializing puppies. You just have to get out there and do it. I think it's kind of fun and I love trying to think of new things and places to take my pup. Just make sure the pup's having fun and get them out into the world!