Dog Training Tips by Nick Jones MA with ~Whittard of Chelsea~

A video has been made to accompany these notes. View it on Youtube here.

Puppies

1) Toilet training. 


Introduction:

In the early days puppies need to relieve themselves approximately every hour. Practicing the following procedure in a calm, structured manner is an excellent way to create a sound habit for the future.

Technique: 

Take your puppy on a lead to the door. Keep a treat in your back pocket, place your puppy into the sit position and give the ‘Wait’ command using a flat hand signal. Slowly open the door resetting your pup should he jump outside before being asked. Once the door is open, step outside turning to face your dog and then invite him to follow you after a brief pause.

Walk him to a designated place and then use your key phrase to encourage him to do his business. I like the term ‘Hurry up’ for example. Praise your dog in a calm way as he relieves himself and once he takes a pace away from that spot, lean in to give the treat and offer pleasant physical and verbal praise.

When re entering the home, again ask for a brief sit and wait before opening the door. Insert a brief pause before inviting the dog to return back inside with you. To complete this routine ask for the ‘Sit’ and then release him from the lead using a cheerful ‘Okay’ command.


2) Introducing the recall.


Introduction:

The most important aspect of any dog’s behaviour in a public space when off the lead is his readiness to return promptly when called. This means we have a dog that is safe and can enjoy his walks to the fullest. Starting recall training in the home is an excellent way to create the first steps to a reliable puppy, enabling the owner to develop the method as the dog matures.

Technique:

A method I favour and use frequently is to set aside about half of the pup’s daily food intake and place this into a jar or two to be used for short training sessions each day. This way the dog is working for his food creating a greater motivation in the process.
Working with a partner, take a small handful of food each and go to opposite ends of the room. One person, the holder, leads the puppy to their end of the room using the collar or lead. Both people sit on the floor facing each other. Then, the person not holding the dog, the caller, will need to give a bright recall command. The caller should open their arms and with a bright voice and lots of encouragement, call the dog using a simple phrase such as ‘Charlie come!’ Once the dog is wriggling to be released, the holder can let him go to run into the open arms of the caller. As he enters the space of the caller, they should ask for a sit holding a treat above the dog’s head to encourage that position and then feed him immediately, giving warm verbal and physical praise.

Turn the puppy to face the other person ready to repeat the process. The holder should remain quiet so as not to confuse or distract the dog, allowing the caller to be the encouragement and exciting place to run to.

Once your puppy is reliably running between two people when called, sitting on arrival and understands the rules to this fun game, you can begin to extend the distances by using a long hallway for example. As your pup improves, make each stage more challenging by continuing to extend these distances. Placing the caller out of sight just behind a door for example is a great way to introduce a more challenging recall. Start by using adjacent rooms and in the end this could be from in the garden back into the home. The variety is really down to your imagination!

Adolescent dogs.


1) No jumping up. 


Introduction:

Having confidence that your dog will sit politely when being greeted and made a fuss of is more enjoyable than owning a dog that leaps all over people in or out of the home. All family members should practice this simple technique in your own home each time you greet the dog to prevent the unwanted action of jumping up. Naturally, the bigger the dog the more serious this issue can be!

Technique: 

When any family member returns home or comes back into the room after a period that creates enthusiasm in your dog, it’s advisable to keep these returns calm and non-excitable. Dropping to your knees and making a huge fuss will only serve to reinforce over excitement and this will often lead to your dog jumping up on you. The behaviour we practice in the home will invariably become behaviour shown outside of the home. Prevention is much easier than a cure; so do keep the returns to your dog low key.

When returning to your dog after a short time apart ask him to sit whilst holding the treat back over the dog’s head to encourage the desired position. As soon as your dog sits lean in and offer the treat without delay. Then, with one hand place a thumb under the collar to gently hold the dog in that position, whilst your other hand gives calm affection to your dog. Depending on the size of the dog you may like to go into the kneeling position.

Should your dog attempt to jump up into your face whilst you are giving affection, use the collar holding hand to stop this upward action whilst issuing a brief ‘Ah-Ah!’ type sound to let him know this is unwanted behaviour. Once he is in a settled position you can finish your mini greeting session with a release word such as ‘Okay…’ as you then stand up and walk away.

If when returning to your dog he is showing excessive excitement, you should walk away and ignore him until he is calm enough to carry out the method as described above.

Setting these foundations in place will enable you to cope with visitors to the home much more easily and combining the above method with placing your dog on a lead before people enter the home is an ideal way to retain calm, controlled behaviour. In summary, the consistent rule for your dog is that calm behaviour whilst sitting equals the desired greeting.

2) Go to bed.


Introduction:

Teaching a young dog to go to his bed and stay there for a determined period of time can make life a great deal more relaxed when for example you eat your own meal or to place your dog out of your way when you have a guest in your home who may not love dogs as much as you do.

Technique:

With your dog next to you and a few feet away from his bed, throw a treat into the bed and encourage him to go there and eat it. Once in his bed give verbal praise and reward him there with another treat.

Call him to you to bring him out of the bed and repeat this routine a few times so that he associates his bed as being a great place to be where he is treated with food. Once you are happy that he is willingly going into his bed for the food, you can then introduce the verbal command ‘On your bed’ whilst he is doing so. This way you place a label on his actions ready for future use.

The next stage will be to point to his bed without throwing the treat whilst issuing the ‘On your bed’ command at the same time. Once he is sitting or standing in the bed you can reward him with the treat immediately.

Once this is consistent, you can begin to insert short ‘Stay’ commands by using stuffed food toys to encourage a longer stay in the bed. Use the ‘Okay’ release word to let him know he can move out of the bed. As always, build up the duration of the ‘Stay’ command in keeping with his progress.


Adult dogs.


1) The ‘Find it’ game.


Introduction:

The ultimate simple game that can be adapted for dogs of virtually all ages and breeds in virtually any location. Watching your dog furiously beat his tail with excitement whilst searching out an item you have hidden from him is a real thrill.
As with all new training methods or games, start off with small and easy steps making it harder in keeping with your dog’s sense of increased skill and enthusiasm as you progress together.

Technique:

With the help of a partner (or use the ‘Sit and Stay’ command if your dog knows it) they should hold the dog by the collar as you place a favourite treat or toy under an item such as a light flower pot on the floor or a cushion on the sofa. Allow the dog to see you placing the item there from a few feet away. When you’re ready release him and use the ‘Find it!’ command in an encouraging tone and allow him to move to the hidden item. Praise him warmly once he has found it and if it’s a toy use the ‘Give’ command after a brief play with that item.

To develop this game you can begin to carry out the same method above but from greater distances whereby in the end you could place the item in a room upstairs and you release him from a downstairs starting position. Hearing your dog thunder up the stairs and along the landing is a really fun way to keep any dog busy and to hone his senses at the same time!


Nick Jones MA. MCFBA
0775 909 3394
01299 402484
www.alphadogbehaviour.co.uk
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nickjones@alphadogbehaviour.co.uk

Overcoming barking at the door bell.

I have had good results with engrained habits by changing the doorbell device and tone altogether and to set up a new training schedule that gets the dog going to its bed (or a set location such as a mat) and being rewarded for doing so until it becomes second nature, or until you at least have a good degree of control and the dog is no longer reactive. If you’re using a clicker this would complement this approach well. If not, just read on below.

The doorbell devices I suggest are wireless and this will allow you to practice throughout the day at random times whilst you have the buzzer in your pocket out of sight. By the way, I do this with new pups to the house, preventing the habit from forming in the first place!

Disable the existing doorbell, and for the next 2 weeks or so you’ll be without a bell so a sticker on the door letting people know may help.

Your method would be something like this:

Press the new doorbell buzzer in your pocket and say ‘On your bed!’ in a positive bright voice as it chimes. Ignore any barking and direct your dog to the bed area (allowing the dog to drag a lead may assist in directing the dog as you can stand on and then lift this to initially control your dog) and once your dog is sitting nicely on the chosen spot, immediately treat with high value food. This food could be chicken, ham or liver cake as examples. Once quiet and calm, reward your dog and stay calm in your voice so as not to excite. Use of the ‘Stay’ command here will be useful, and combine the command with a flat open hand to enforce the verbal command.

Steadily and constantly feed your dog whilst on the bed. Keep your dog on the bed for 30 seconds to start with and then with each practice aim to extend the bed stay periods gradually each day by a further 10 seconds or less if progress is slower.

Once the time is up on the bed for that session, use a clear ‘OK!’ release command and then walk away putting the food away ready for use next time round. A few of these each day assuming you’re there to practice, will be ideal. Aim for 3-4 short sessions per day.

Later on, once the above is looking good, you could walk your dog to a location near the front door and ask it to sit and stay on a mat (you could clip your dog onto a lead set up there in advance which is fixed to a banister for example) and then go to answer the door having activated the doorbell first. This can be done with your ‘invisible guest’ to begin with, and then to use family members as trials and then arrange to move on to real visitors with the excitement that brings. Really go for it with the ‘invisible guest’ and talk to them at the door as you would a real person whilst keeping a close eye on your dog. Immediately go back and reset the dogs should he move off the location mat.

Hopefully you can see how I very gradually increase the scenario in keeping with improvement in the dog’s behaviour. Always look upon it as baby steps along the chain until you achieve what it is you want.

At the final stage you can fix the buzzer to the front door as your training will be ready to cope with real callers. A second buzzer that you can use inside the home during this settling in or transition phase will allow controlled practice sessions and should further help your efforts.

A simple approach, but it works and has been developed by me over the years based on experience alongside trial and error.

Good luck and get buzzing!

Nick Jones MA. MCFBA

www.alphadogbehaviour.co.uk

Alpha Dog Behaviour

01299 404356

0775 9093394

Exercise and your dog

What better way to enjoy the great outdoors than to take your dog with you?
Exercising with your dog outside will lead you into some serious quality time together, helping to strengthen your bond with the dog, and leave you both feeling great!

Dogs, like people, are far less likely to exhibit behavioural problems when they are well exercised, leaving a deep sense of relaxation and calm, whilst being free from anxiety and stress as you bathe in those uplifting endorphins. Depending on the environment you have before you, you can do so many things with your dog when outside.

As well as playing fetch with the humble tennis ball, you could stretch your imagination to the Frisbee, cycling together, roller blading or swimming in the sea together  -if you live in a suitable climate! The UK is experiencing an interest in CaniX, which is basically running with a dog whilst it wears a harness connected to the handler via a stretchable chord.

So which breeds are suitable for such activities? The short answer is that virtually all dogs can be exercised outside in a way that allows them to have fun and remain fit. Certain types of dogs will prefer different ways to exercise their natural instincts.
Working breeds such as the gun dog group (Pointers, Labradors, Retrievers, Spaniels and so on) or pastoral breeds (Collies, German Shepherds, Old English Sheepdogs) will love virtually all forms of finding and returning an item to you.

Introduce entering into water for the same game and your dog will probably love it. This can be made into a more involved game involving nature’s obstacles to introduce agility and nose work to find a hidden item such as a toy you may have planted earlier.

The terrier group (Jack Russells, Border terriers, Airedales etc.) also love to seek items out in hard cover, and are no less adventurous or brave due to their reduced size. The instinct to thrash a toy they have retrieved may leave it in less than good shape, so ensure it is a tough one to play with.

All of the above breeds will happily run or walk as far as most people can due to the efficient stride and reserves of stamina. A number of the toy breeds can handle good levels of exercise too. This group includes breeds such as the Bichon Frise, Chihuahua, Papillon and Pomeranian. Simply downsize the same activities, and many will be surprised as to what a big heart they have!

Ideally a dog should be approximately eighteen months of age before giving it hard prolonged exercise, and a very gradual build up to that point is advisable. If in doubt consult your vet before commencing a fitness programme with your dog, or indeed your own doctor if you have not been very active for some time. It’s important to build the dog up gradually if your dog happens to be out of shape. Give regular easier rest days to begin with, and keep an eye out for lameness or cut pads for example. Dogs will often exercise with little regard for their own safety, and often show a much higher tolerance of pain than humans do.

So I hope the above has given food for thought, and encourages you to keep active with your dog.

A checklist to consider before each adventure will include the following:

• A simple 1st aid kit for both of you. Your vet/doctor can help with this.
• Carry a mobile, and the phone number of your vet/doctor.
• Be sure to provide ICE information on your phone and papers carried.
• Consider a simple GPS unit to mark your starting point if in unfamilar surrounds.
• Let someone know where you’re going & expected time of return.
• Take adequate food and fluids.
• Take adequate clothing for the weather conditions.
• Avoid exercise in excessively hot conditions.

Nick Jones Deciphering Dog Behaviour
www.alphadogbehaviour.co.uk

Nervous aggressive dog behaviour.

Nervous aggressive behaviour.

This is usually the result of a dog that has had insufficient socialisation in its formative months and years, and/or a negative event with another dog. This can happen on a number of occasions, leading to an even more fearful dog as time progresses. Some dogs seem to have a demeanour that attract other dogs, and for some of those dogs to attack it. I suspect that dogs attack a fear-based output from some fearful dogs, and this then leads to a more ingrained behaviour on the attacked dog’s part. The dog can then adopt an ‘offence is the best form of defence’ approach. Once it learns that this results in other dogs moving away with an owner that naturally wouldn’t want to become involved, the dog again learns the value of such behaviour and perpetuates it more and more with great effect.

Fear based aggression is (as I see it) a relatively modern phenomenon, and reflects back upon our more insular lifestyles and lack of time available to pay proper attention to the socialisation process. With less and less time to address areas of training and socialisation the strain is showing in our dog population.
It is not unusual to see figures quoted that 80-90% of dog to dog aggression (indeed dog to people with strangers) is a fear based behaviour. I can well believe these figures, and they are borne out in my own experience.

I have for some time described fear based aggression as being virus-like in its manner of spreading from one dog to another, with each newly attacked dog going on to become sensitised (depending on the dog’s nature and owner’s level of control) and displaying similar behaviour towards other dogs.

Many owners with young pups fall into the trap of not giving full and correct control when in the park and are unable to recall the dog prior to allowing it to run freely in the local park. This is rather like allowing the dog into the snake pit, with a number of other dogs near by that are unknown as a quantity, and that may pass this ‘virus’ onto the young dog. Developing a sound leader based relationship; a strong recall combined with a long line is certainly far sounder than the practices of many unthinking (albeit well intended) new dog owners that simply allow the dog to run freely from day 1.

www.alphadogbehaviour.co.uk

The Ignore...Learning to know when.

The above picture was taken recently in a consultation with a German Shepherd cross hound.

What you're seeing is the husband of a couple ignoring the best efforts of his dog to get his attention! Isn't he doing well?!

Notice a few things:
1) The toy near the dog that was used as an early effort to get people's attention.
2) The lead on the dog to aid a quick control if needed (and it was a number of times in the first hour or more!)
3) The perfect ignore by a determined client!

Is this really necessary with most dogs? Well, the short answer is no. The work and dogs I'm involved with is at the more complicated end of dog behaviour. This dog had worked itself into a stressful state based on a cycle of attention seeking that was being rewarded by attention from the owner. By use of the ignore the dog shown had settled from being somewhat 'mad' to becoming settled and more focused in a relatively short time.

I cannot emphasise enough that the behaviour you mark with attention (even negative attention can mark it) will reinforce the behaviour and you're likely to see more of it. Simple.
The difficulty comes with the fact that we as humans do not ignore, and dogs understand and respond to it far better than we can. You won't hurt your dog's feeling if you ignore it :)
I'm talking about selective ignoring of unwanted behaviours. Some of course cannot be ignored, and we may need to intervene in a calm way free from aggressive intent.

I also advocate the ignore upon homecomings. This is nothing to do with wolf behaviour (I know little about wolves...I work with dogs and humans) as I know it; it's just a simple case of waiting for the behaviour we do want, and to mark that behaviour in a calm way.

There you are. A few thoughts on what I felt was super picture that says more words than I can write here.

Sincere thanks to the gent in the picture.

Nick Jones MCFBA

Alpha Dog Behaviour

Toileting away from the home...

[Name] = Jo
[County] = Surrey
[Country] = England
[Training Question] = I have been walking my neighbour’s dog for about a year now, he’s a border/cairn terrier cross and is a rescue dog. He won't do a bowel movement in his back garden, only doing so when he's on his walk. This is causing his owner a lot of problems as his owner has mobility problems and finds it difficult to get the dog out three times a day to go to the toilet and it would be much easier for him if he would go in the back garden. The dog had this problem since coming to his owner three years ago, and this is his third home. His owner has no solid information on the dog’s first home, but thinks that he was punished for going to the toilet in his back garden. Is there anyway to change this behaviour so that he will do a bowel movement in his back garden and on the walk?

Hello Jo, and thank you for this interesting question for D For Dog.

This is not the first time I have been asked this, and whilst he is having a chance to eliminate when on walks away from the home, it is indeed difficult to stop such behaviour. Bare in mind that it’s normal and desirable for a dog to eliminate away from its living habitat, and so in many respects the dog does not have a behavioural problem. This also suggests that the dog was not necessarily punished for doing so at his previous home. A behaviour problem is only classified as such when it affects the owner and their lifestyle. In the circumstances I can see that this does present some frustrations.

Should the dog eliminate when outside away from the home, there is nothing that can or should be done. Simply pick up as normal and carry on.
The best thing is to reward the behaviour we do want. This would involve you both agreeing a key word to use when the dog does relieves itself at any time or place to build an association towards that word. I like the term ‘Hurry up’. Though any clear term would work just as well. My own dogs are trained to go on command, though this takes time from puppy-hood to get right.

One method would be to not take the dog outside for a week and to put it in such a position so that it has to go outside within the owner’s grounds. The owner must be with the dog as soon as it goes ready to reward with food (assuming the dog is food driven). Something liked cooked liver or any other high value meat based product can get the message home that you’re happy and you approve. Some dogs are mad for the favourite tennis ball for example, so use this also if you think it will help. Simply throw the ball to reward the pooing in the garden! Play with the dog for a few minutes, and then come back in.

Not taking the dog out for a week will have effects on the dog’s energy levels, so the owner will need to interact with the dog more in the home. Feeding the dog through a treat ball or similar can be a good start, and working on a few simple yet enjoyable fetch games can also relieve the energy.

See how you get on with this approach, and feel free to contact me directly if this needs modifying.

Good luck.

Nick Jones MCFBA. Alpha Dog Behaviour

How to greet your dog

This month's question for D For Dog readers is here folks:


[Name] = Michal
[County] = Israel
[Country] = Israel

[Training Question] = my friend has a 4 years old dog that sees me as a 'step mom'. A few months ago I adopted a puppy. Both dogs are very friendly and playful with other dogs. However, whenever we met, when her dog came to greet me- my puppy initially tried to get between me and him which led to her dog getting upset and wanting nothing to do with us for the rest of the meeting- no matter how hard my puppy tried to play with him afterwards. How can I solve it? Obviously both dogs acting jealously because of me and we'd like to meet without causing anyone of them stress.

This is an interesting question, as I feel that what we’re dealing with here is the human expectation of how the dogs should be greeting you. There is no mention of aggressive behaviour, so see that as a plus at least.

The dog sees you as a ‘step mom’? The dog I’m sorry to say does not see you as a step mom at all. You see your self as a step mom, and you are I feel overly humanising the whole greeting ritual and process. Social etiquette varies widely throughout the world of course, but I believe I’m right in saying that we all have an immediate and polite way of acknowledging each other (as humans) with either a hand shake, a hug, a kiss, a nose rub and so on. If you’re lucky you might get all at once!

How do dogs greet when they first meet up? I see no kissing, hugs, maybe a nose rub if I’m lucky. Dogs are far more cautious when meeting, and will curve into each other and sniff the opposite ends quite often. One dog may sit down, or become submissive and lie down. It varies a good deal depending on the confidence/dominance levels of each dog.

The point is then that we both have different ways of meeting and greeting as two distinct species. We often encounter complications when we try (and expect) the dog to meet us in a human way, and not in keeping with its own kind. As we are (supposedly) the more intelligent of the two species, we shall need to adopt the way of the canine and not of the human when greeting, and to try and save ourselves getting the dog too worked up upon initial greetings.

I suspect you have developed an excitable routine in meeting your friend’s dog prior to ownership of the pup, when the pup saw the excitable exchange, it moved in between you both as a Calming Signal to help calm things down. I am guessing a bit here but I think I’m onto something.

The best advice I can give is to turn the heat right down on your greetings ritual, and to actually ignore them until both dogs are calm and ready for a greeting that is controllable and more relaxed.

Asking them to sit for the greeting is ideal as the dog will be less likely to jump and become over excitable. If they break that position and become too excited, then again go back to the ignore until they are ready to be sat again. Leads on both dogs to begin with can also help calm the situation. This allows you to remove one or both dogs into a quieter space for a minute until calm returns.

Be consistent and determined in your approach, and things should settle quite nicely. It’s a matter of self-control for us as humans, and guiding the dog’s behaviour into a better place through us managing our own impulses.

I sincerely hope that helps you in the right direction.

Nick


www.alphadogbehaviour.co.uk

Coprophagia

For a number of months now I have been answering questions on the DForDog web site, as the resident behaviourist come trainer. Below you will find my latest question and the answer.

I have a number of back issues that I'd like to post here for your information. I shall tag them up correctly so you can search for certain behaviours that may match your own query.

[Name] = Robin
[County] = Il.
[Country] = United States

[Training Question] = I have a 1 1/2 year old Shepherd mix, female. Just in the past 6 months she has been eating her poop. We try to pick it up before she turns to it but more often than not we can't get to her fast enough. We have tried pills from the pet store and a powder from our vet that we would put over her food but both did nothing. Is there something else we could try? She is on Science Diet light for large breed dogs. 2 cups a day.

Answer

Hi Robin and thank you for your question.

‘Coprophagia’ is the general term for this behaviour, and when a dog eats its own faeces it is know as autocoprophagia.

This sort of behaviour can creep in gradually, and then once you are fully aware as to the extent of it, things can be less than easy to resolve. As the behaviour does carry some health risks, it is wise to spend time and attention on this subject. We of course would find this behaviour repulsive, but to dogs it is a natural behaviour.

I note she is on Science diet light. Why the ‘light’ variety? Is she overweight? Light variety may be less satisfying, and so she may be genuinely hungry? Vets and Hill seem to be very much a team together. This is fine, but it does make the vet recommend Hills all too often where other brands may actually serve the dog better. Try to find a good independent pet food shop, and speak to someone that knows his or her dog nutrition. Seek out a brand that is suitable for the breed and her age. Ensure the brand is free from colourings, flavourings etc. and well respected. Nutro is made in the States and I would consider this.
If the dog is overweight, you can supplement her diet by adding fresh vegetables and wet it with water, as both are nutritious and add bulk.
Another approach may be to investigate the BARF (Bones And Raw Food) diet. This is a big subject, but if you like the idea and it suits your dog then why not.

There are a number of reasons why dogs eat faeces, but in my experience it is mainly down to a lack of supervision (or boredom in the garden) at some point as the dog develops. The easiest way to resolve it is to step in and be present for every toileting event and to guide your dog’s behaviour until it has stopped.

So, when you take your dog to an area to relieve itself, the dog must be on the lead. If the behaviour is serious, and the dog turns to eat it immediately, issue a short and firm ‘Leave it’ command combined with a check on the lead. Not aggressive, just enough to effect the dog’s attention to you.

Sound aversion may also help here, and there are a number of devices that you can use to deter the dog. Things to try are a plastic bottle with half a dozen small stones inside shaken a couple of times firmly. A canister of compressed air squirted away from the dog. The most expensive option would be a remote controlled air collar such as a master plus, or Jet Care Pro. The benefit of a remote collar is that the chances of the dog associating the release of air with your presence is greatly reduced as they will work up to 300m away. This could be very useful later on in public areas. Good timing is essential for the best outcome with a spray collar. Incidentally, if your dog were of a very nervous type, I would not use the spray collar. This is the difficulty I have in giving a plan without being able to assess things for myself firstly.

It’s not too difficult to control events in your garden, so in the beginning attempt to toilet the dog there mostly so you can interrupt and dissuade the dog from the habit. Prevention is the biggest part of the cure in my book, so the dog must not be allowed to indulge from now on. You will need to be very vigilant, and to lift the faeces immediately placing it out of reach from the dog.

When out and about your dog may then be off lead and somewhat beyond your immediate scope of control. To ensure you can prevent the habit, you might need to consider the use of a basket style muzzle that has been gradually introduced to ensure the dog is not stressed by it. The muzzle will prevent the act. Another essential tool will be to resort to the tried and tested long line. I usually recommend a 20-meter line for this, as it is enough in most circumstances to allow the dog free movement, but to give you a much higher degree of control from a distance.

When out in public, I would consider the combination of the long line, a remote spray collar, and the muzzle. Use this system for a month, and then depending on your progress you can drop the muzzle first of all, then the long line, and finally the air collar. The air collar can be used longer term if you are not 100% confident in the dog.

Imagine then that the dog is near the end of the line away from you. You can spot the dog paying attention to what is likely to be it’s own or another dog’s faeces. At this point recall the dog. If she comes back promptly, then offer a food reward for doing so. Keep your food reward high-grade such as a sausage slice or a food that the dog is known to love.
If on the other hand she decides to ignore you, then issue a shot of air via the collar. Ideally she would come dashing back to you for comfort, but if not use the line to bring her head away and then issue your recall again. Ensure your recall is enthusiastic and work on the recall as a standalone exercise in the mean time.

There are a number of other things that you can buy commercially to add to your dog’s food to deter the dog, but I have yet to discover anything that has a substantial impact. I have also heard numerous stories of adding chili sauce and so on to the faeces, only to be told that the dog devoured it anyway!

A longer term and consistent approach as above is most likely to give the result you would hope for. Your dog is still young, so the chances of resolving this are good IF you put the work in.

I wish you luck in your efforts. It can be done, so give it a good go!

www.alphadogbehaviour.co.uk

Lead Pulling!

This is a very common issue!

A video clip of me doing a little heelwork can be seen here.

Your dog will have a strong association with the lead going on, going through the doorways and exiting the home, as these are all early signals of the walk itself. Once outside, your dog will be exposed to a mass of sensory input so you can imagine the effect this will have on your dog. It’s your job to guide the dog’s uncontrolled excitement into more manageable and calm behaviour. The trick to attaining this is to break things down into bite-size pieces. Firstly, your dog will need to be calm and exercising a good degree of self-control before you place the lead on him. If over the first week you have to wait an additional five minutes before your dog is calm enough to place the lead on, then this is what you will need to do!

Calm behaviour on the dog’s part results in progress…excitable behaviour results in no progress!

Now we need to move to the door you leave the house by. Once you move off with the lead on, do not allow your dog to drag you through the home. Stop, walk back a few paces and then slacken the lead. Wait a few seconds and then progress again ensuring your dog is calm before moving off again. Repeat this until your dog can walk with you in an attentive and relaxed manner as you approach the door.

Once at the door, place one hand on the handle, and the other should be holding the slack lead. I prefer not to say anything at this point, as the dog will learn better by its own learning process - rather than you issuing a stream of commands. What you need to now do is to repeatedly open and close this door (only an inch or two to start with) until your dog is standing back – looking at you as if to say, “Ok, I give up…after you!”

Every time your dog goes to either rush the doorway, claw at the door, or use its nose to force the door open, you will close the door in front of the dog. Do be careful not to knock his face with the door, most dogs see the door closing and step back. Once your dog is showing clear signs of standing away from the door, this is your chance to open the door more each time until you are able to step over the threshold (slowly go out backwards so you can block the dog again if needed). Count to five once you are outside looking back at him with a slack lead between you, and then invite him on with a bright call.

So, you should now have a much calmer dog than you have been experiencing. Be sure to take your time and to control each step. As you move down your pathway to the road for example, you will need to stop each and every time he pulls and bring him back a few paces and then to offer slack on the lead again. You are telling him at this point that you will only progress a) when you say so, and b) when he is calm on a slack lead.

Once you are onto the pavement area, you can begin to practice your heelwork. You are in a corrective zone with him at this point, so again, each time you move off with him using a bright voice you will I expect find that he resorts to rushing ahead. This time when he is ahead of you I want you to stop still immediately, at which point he will continue forwards and come to an abrupt halt. At the same time you stop, turn and walk away in the opposite direction (180 degrees) without waiting for him or encouraging him to follow you. When you find him coming alongside you, be sure to reward him with your bright pleased voice, catch his eye as you walk and smile to show your pleasure.

I find that many people simply don’t communicate enough with their dog when on the lead, and so the dog looses interest in the owner and then pulls ahead to fresh scent. When again you find him in front you should stop and change direction as before. This simple method of changing direction when he is in front, and rewarding him verbally when alongside works very well with most dogs, so stick with it and practice daily.

You can begin to extend the length of your walks as he begins to walk to heel as you would like. If for example you have been clicker training your dog, or you know he is well driven by food, then by all means introduce such lures to establish the position you would like him to be in as you walk along together.

The combination of general leadership (seek out my other article on this subject) controlled exit from the home and the above technique can make an immense improvement in a matter of hours with practice.

I recognise that there is not a ‘one size fits all’ method, but the above is my standard procedure due to its success rate and speed of change in the dog. If you continue to experience problems in this area please contact me directly.

www.alphadogbehaviour.co.uk

Dog exercise!

Exercise that dog!

Not all dogs require a daily flogging until they come back wet and exhausted. I think it's just as easy to do too much as it is to do too little.

About 18 months is in my mind the best age to start opening the throttle more and exposing the dog to longer and more strenuous exercise. By this time the muscular and skeletal systems are well established, and able to take the strain.

How much is enough then? Well this really is something that I advise you to think about and to develop a routine that suits you and your dog. Our dogs need to fit in with our lifestyle of course, and ideally your choice of dog would compliment your lifestyle, rather than find yourself with a dog that is constantly in need of fresh air and big runs. This will only leave you feeling guilty, and your dog's behaviour may reflect the lack of exercise if this happens to be the case for you.

The other thing to consider should you be looking at a new dog is the fact that your lifestyle may change later on. Maybe you become a new parent, retire, or start back to work? These things can work for the better in many cases, so no need for a pessimistic forecast on the above, but they are all changes that the dog will need to handle.

Off lead exercise is hugely different from on lead exercise. I would like to see a little diagram that enables me to analyse the distance covered by the dog in a field in comparison to the route I walk. My guess is that depending on the breed and the activities undertaken, it could be anywhere from 5-100 times more than me!

A few of the activities I enjoy with Pip are:

* Ball flinger (what a neat invention!) This really works her hard and involves nose-work when done in longer grass.
* Frisbee (Whilst not quite comp. standard, I'm quite good at this now...and so is Pip. Amber used to be the past master however!)
* Cycling. (View the link at the bottom of this post for some amusement).
* Treadmill. I have placed her on the treadmill a few times, but I don't think it's her favourite activity. One should be very careful in the way that this is introduced, due to the potential danger.
* Freeform agility. This is using natural obstacles that one might find in nature. Log jumps/limbo you name it! Rather like dog Parkour! Video clip here
* Running between us as a family. Great to develop the recall, especially if you have a little food to reward her efforts ;)

I do see some dogs that are over stimulated, and seem overly hyped. Some collie owners do this as they think that the dog needs to do 100 miles every day. Not so. Any dog should look pretty content once home, and be able to settle within a reasonable time. I have seen good improvements in a number of dogs once the obsessive element of exercise has been prevented for a couple of weeks, and we work on a more relaxing aspect to help bring the dog into a more balanced state. During that time we can look at improving the dog's behaviour by implementing a modification programme.

Obsessive exercise? What's that? It's when the dog changes from seeing a ball (for example) as a really enjoyable means to play, to it then not being able to drop it, pushing it into you in the home, and never being able to relax. This may then connect back (believe it or not) to other areas of concern such as dog to dog aggression due to the dog's general level of stress. This is remember all in my experience and opinion. All play items should be either left outside in an enclosed area or shed/car. The house should be a place to relax...for you and the dog :)

So somehow we have gone from exercise to obsessive behaviour! Enjoy your dog doing what feels good to you and yours. Try to keep control of the game with a decent recall and give (if fetching is involved) and look out for over-exercise. You'll be in a minority if you do, as most dogs are under exercised...rather like us to be utterly honest.

Moderate exercise is the way to go at first, and then build things up gradually for both the dog and your own sake.

As always, feel free to contact me or comment here should you wish to discuss this further.

Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?hzjmmyzrkjz 2/3 minute download


Nick Jones MCFBA

www.alphadogbehaviour.co.uk

The use of food for training...

I am constantly surprised at how people are concerned when using food to reward a dog for desirable behaviour. I hear terms such as 'Bribery' and 'Corruption'. It's neither!
We all do things for a reward. You wouldn't go to work for free would you?

Not all dogs are food motivated of course, so we may need to find another motivator such as a toy or a simple praise-worthy voice and a chest rub (we all like one of those).

So many people struggle needlessly with trying to get a dog to walk to heel, or to recall when asked, and avoid food for whatever reason. If it works, use it!

It doesn't need to be rubbish food either. Many a dog would be motivated for a slice of carrot, or a slither of dried fruit (avoid grapes). Up the ante maybe and look to use small chicken cubes, ham, or sausages. Keep them as small as you can. Some treats are very well suited for pinching and holding by you between your thumb and forefinger. This can make a treat last anything up to 30 seconds as the dog works it out of your fingers as you squeeze and release it gradually. This may not be possible for a greedy dog!

I have a few clients at present going the whole hog with the use of food, and they are actually offering the dog's meal (dried kibble is most common, but a switch to Nature Diet will often turn a picky eater on) when out for the recall or even reforming a habitual and serious lead puller!
Satisfying the basic drive of hunger can transform how a dog sees you if you are having leadership issues in general, and coming back to you, or staying close with heel work can be made so much easier when the dog is getting some very serious rewarding.

So, use food by all means, but as the behaviour is looking sound then seek to reduce it by alternate rewards, then reward the very best position or fastest of recalls, then drop the food with an occasional reward to keep the interest there. I will use food throughout the whole life of a dog on a periodic basis to ensure adequate interest and reward....can't go making a dog redundant can we? ;)

Should you wish to talk to me regarding your dog's behaviour, you can contact me here: http://www.alphadogbehaviour.co.uk/

A long line...your saviour?

It's pretty common for me to place a long line on a dog to create a far higher level of control for the owner, and to allow interruption of unwanted behaviour should it happen.

The long line is a god-send for owners of dogs that don't recall when called.

Typically I make up a 20metre line with a regular dog lead clip on one end, and a simple looped handle on the other. Some go for the thick flat corded type of line that can be knotted to create 'stops', but I prefer a 5-6mm line that remains light even when wet, allowing the dog to drag it without hindrance.

With really young dogs people seem determined to let them off to run freely without having put in place adequate measures for them returning when called. Place your pup on the long line for the first few weeks, and keep recalling using high value treats to reward each return. Any ignoring of your calls can be dealt with by a light tug of the line to remind the dog of your presence. THEN you can begin to introduce more freedom when your trust is there, and the dog associates your calling with an immediate response to look to you and recall. My little Pip stops like a twanged ruler when I call her...simply due to doing the above from an early age with plenty of repetition. It's not hard...you can do this too :)

Keep it simple.
Keep it fun.

Should you wish to talk to me regarding your dog's behaviour, you can contact me here: http://www.alphadogbehaviour.co.uk/