Questions and answers

Time to add some fresh thoughts here for you. Work is as busy as ever I'm pleased to say. I'm currently working on an internal Newsletter for the CFBA, and this last week I have had two Weimaraner pups here for some additional training...littlermates too, so I'm exhausted frankly. They go home tomorrow morning :)

1) We have two Jack Russell puppies aged five months and they are still not toilet trained. They will relieve themselves in the home without hesitation, please can you help us? Mrs. T Ford. Kidderminster. Worcs.

Taking litter mates from a litter is an understandable decision to make, but unless you have a great deal of time this can prove to be a huge undertaking and it’s not uncommon to see problems such as this arise in later months. This is very often due to the fact that they become more interested in each other than you as the owner. They can become insular and may want to repel other outside influences such as other dogs and people. It can be done, but everything takes more than twice as long as you will need to do train them separately at first to ensure the dog is listening and working for you.
You have noted that they are not toilet trained as they should be by now, so this means coming back to basics. Here a few pointers for you to consider:

• Be sure to take them to a selected place (on leads) every hour.
• Use a key word to encourage toileting. I use ‘Hurry up!’
• Take a tub of special treats with you to reward them after going. Offer physical praise also.
• Do not leave them unattended at any time in your home to avoid accidents. Consider a dog crate for times when you cannot supervise. Vigilance is of paramount importance.
• Avoid scolding for indoor accidents, just swiftly remove the dog to the chosen place outside and try to finish there.
• Remain calm and persistent; it will come good in the end.
  
  

2) I have a 20-week-old poodle that hates me to close the back of the hatchback down before we drive away. Once we are driving she is calm and quiet, but otherwise she really dislikes me closing the hatch. Can you offer some guidance here please? Mr. R. Harris. Manchester.

I favour using short leads in the back of the car to allow you to clip the dog to when placing the dog in the boot. This prevents unnecessary movement, and the potential to clamber over into the vehicle as you drive along. It will also prevent dashing out when you open the lid at your destination. The lead can often be tied back to a D ring on the floor that is there for luggage straps. A dog of this age and size should be fine on a 24” line.

So, with this set up and placed on your dog, you can then set about getting her used to the lid being closed. Seek to do the whole thing gradually by raising your arm to partly and then close the lid by 50% for example, then release it and feed the dog a part of its meal or some special treat food you have arranged for calm behaviour.
Each time you go to close the lid you can show an open flat hand to the dog as you issue the ‘Stay’ command.
Repeat this about five times to gauge her reaction, once you feel that she is looking calm and relaxed you can go for a 75% closure and repeat as above. Very soon you should be able to close the lid fully, lifting the lid and then treating for calm behaviour. Once you are at this stage you can then offer the ‘Stay’ command through the glass as you then begin to build the time up gradually. Count to five initially and then raise the lid and treat. In the spirit of gradual progress, you can again then build these times up gradually so that the dog is relaxed with the lid down between you for up to one minute. Once you have that cracked you should be home and dry. You can then proceed to get in the car and drive. A rear-seated passenger can keep an eye on her to offer rewards occasionally for calm in car behaviour and to ensure she remains in the down position when driving.

3) I have a 2-year-old female Staffie that refuses to leave me alone in the house. She will follow me around everywhere, and I sense she is not as relaxed as she could be. I cannot even take a shower in peace…please help! Mr. A. Rose. Chichester. W. Sussex.

Dogs are of course social creatures that like company, and this is why they are such good companions to us. As I write here in the office, Pip my Border terrier is on the floor behind me trying to keep cool. Very often this behaviour is in essence allowed and encouraged by not placing boundaries on a dog’s movements from an early age. It is nice to have a dog near by as a companion, but this can as you’re experiencing then become too much and neither of you can truly relax for long. So it’s always prudent to set time aside for a young dog each day where it is left alone and cannot follow you to all rooms in the home.
I used to do just this with my Pip when she was young, and even now she is not allowed (unless invited) to enter any bedroom, the kitchen or dining room. Otherwise she can move freely to find a place that suits her. This has helped set up a balance in her mind whereby she accepts that she cannot be with me at all times.
To overcome your issue may be a simple case of simply telling her to stay as you close the door (she may protest a little), or you may find that her refusal to stay quietly behind is harder to ignore and much noisier than you can accept. On the basis that she does not take well to being refused access to all rooms with you, I can offer the following pointers:

• Start by simply telling her to ‘Stay’ and close the door behind you. Then re-enter the room without pause initially, and ignore her as you re enter, staying there until she is looking calm and still. This method is usually very effective for me, and the trick is to very slowly build up the time with the door closed and the two of you apart. You can do a number of these back to back counting when you are the other side of the door to keep a measure of the time apart she can cope with before she becomes vocal. This should gradually increase. Use this technique on different doors to different rooms in the home that you are experiencing problems with. It is important to ignore her upon being with the dog again; this helps show your dog that there is no big difference in being with or apart from you. Do avoid going back in when she is protesting, otherwise you will reward her noisy efforts-only ever return to a quiet dog.
• You can break her daily food intake down into a number of smaller meals, and feed them through a food pyramid or Buster cube to distract her for longer periods of time as you leave her alone in a room. Aim for four or five sessions like this each day if at all possible.
• Long term prevent access to the rooms that you require her to be prevented from entering by ensuring the doors are closed and she cannot enter of her own accord.

www.alphadogbehaviour.co.uk

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