How to introduce your dog to other dogs:

 

How to introduce your dog to other dogs:  

Dogs are social animals. They need to play and run with other dogs like they need food and water. Dogs that are socialized well and play with other dogs show lower levels of stress. In comparison to their relatives in the wild, dogs usually have the ability to meet new dogs and accept them without major problems. However, some dogs do have fears of other dogs or might be aggressive for many different reasons. In this post we will deal with dogs that might be a little shy but do not have major aggression issues.

The first rule is - stay cool. This is not just a catch phrase, but is highly important for your dog. Dogs are very sensitive to our feelings and emotions. If you are worried about the interaction, your dog will also have a hard time playing and being friendly to other dogs. If you are a worried owner and would like to take things slow, it is best that your dogs meet only calm and playful dogs so both of you can get used to the situation.

Keep the leash loose. Dogs under stress react by making a choice between fight or flight. When the leash is tight, the flight option is out the window and your dog may react aggressively. I personally let dogs drag short leashes behind them so if I have to intervene, I can grab the leash. You can also use a retractable leash. Both options have their pros and cons, but are suitable for this initial interaction.

Manage the environment. Make sure the initial meeting is a neutral place like a dog park. Dogs tend to be territorial so having one dog meeting the other at “his place” may create stress. If you want to bring a friend’s dog into your house have the dogs meet outside.

Take away all food and toys. Dogs tend to be possessive and may guard their possessions. You want leave them nothing to guard.

Keep it to two dogs at a time. When dogs first meet there is a lot of excitement as well as some fear. Two dogs can usually handle this tension, and after sniffing each other they will start playing or ignore each other. A third dog thrown into the mix makes it more complicated and more difficult to manage.

Un-neutered males and females usually are more reactive and tend to make other dogs react to them. My best advice is to neuter your dog. If your dog is un-neutered or was neutered late in life you want to take more precautions when he is meeting other dogs.

If you have a dog that is a little shy or very young make sure that he has somewhere to hide when meeting other dogs. He may come and hide behind you or under your chair. When I get this kind of dogs for socialization sessions I keep the other dog on a retractable leash or a long line. By doing so, the shy dog can decide when and how close to get to the dog he is afraid of, and he gradually becomes confident.

If you have a dog whose reaction to other dogs leaves you worried, put a muzzle on him. There are ways to get a dog used to wearing a muzzle. If the muzzle is helping you focus on socialization and is keeping everyone safe, your dog would not mind it. If you have a dog with an aggression problem, you need to consult with a trainer that specializes in aggressive dogs.

Bottom line - stay cool, leave the stress at home, make sure to take all the obstacles (tight leashes, food, toys) are out of the way, and make sure that there isn’t too much pressure on your dog. Most dogs will do the rest of the job and will be just fine. If your dog needs some more attention or time (or if you do) then take the time. Just make sure your dog gets the socialization that he really needs.

For all your dog related questions please visit my website @ www.ram.reizel.com

How to get your dog to be comfortable around strangers

How to get your dog to be comfortable around strangers

Some dogs are afraid of strangers. They may react by barking, growling, showing teeth or running away. In this post I will explain how you can help your dog become comfortable around strangers in the house and outside.

If you have a very young dog you can avoid all this just by exposing him to different places and having him meet people and dogs. As much as you expose your dog at an early age to different people, kids, noises and environments, it is less likely that he will be fearful. With that said, there is a genetic component to shyness and aggression. If you are getting a dog from a breeder, try to get as much information as you can about his parents and the dog’s siblings. Any indication of shyness or aggression in the parents or siblings is a bad sign for your dog’s ability to become comfortable around strangers.

For older dogs, the first thing you want to know is that correcting your dog for growling or barking at people will only make things worse. Your dog is worried or afraid and getting a correction will not make him more confident next time.

We start the treatment by managing the environment. We will be exposing our dogs to stimuli that they can cope with.  Do not take your dog to crowded places, and if you have people over, place him in a different room or preferably in his kennel.

Our next step will be counter-conditioning the dog’s reaction to people. Every time your dog meets a person and before he reacts, give him a treat. You will need to ask people to ignore your dog and not to try to pet him or call him. These actions put pressure on the dog and he may start reacting to it.  In time, every occasion your dog meets a person he will be thinking about a reward instead of barking.

You will find that your dog maintains a certain distance from people, even those that he feels safe with. If a person approaches too close to him, he will start barking. Our goal in training is to minimize this distance until it finally disappears.

Once your dog is confident and stops barking at people approaching him, we would like to increase his ease with contact with strangers. At this stage you will hand the person working with you and your dog a few treats and they will pet your dog with one hand while feeding him with the other. The first few times they will need to avoid looking or speaking to the dog. Gradually your dog will start associating strangers petting him with treats and he will become calmer around people.

If you have a small dog and he barks at people when he is sitting on your lap you will need to put him on the floor as soon as he starts barking. Do not let him sit on your lap unless he is calm.

A few points that to remember:

1. The older the dog, the slower the process is going to be.
2. As always, timing is crucial in dog training. If your dog is already barking just ignore him or put him inside the house or in his kennel. Don’t reward him now but don’t correct him either.
3. If you are worried that your dog may bite someone – put a muzzle on him. There are muzzles that you can feed treats through.
4. If you are dealing with severe case of aggression your better option is to contact a local trainer that knows how to deal with aggression.

For more information about training and training options please go to our website at

www.ramreizel.com

Timing consistency and motivation

 

Timing consistency and motivation
:

Understanding the three basics that will help you train your dog

In order to help your dog understand the behaviors that you want him to perform and those  you want him to stay away from, you need to follow these three important guidelines. Straying from them will make training an exhausting task both for you and for your dog.

• Timing – A dog’s understanding of the connection between cause and effect occurs in less than 1.3 seconds. We need to mark the behavior as it happens by saying “good boy” to mark wanted behavior, or by saying “no” to mark unwanted behavior. If you are not marking the behavior within 1.3 seconds you are making it difficult for your dog to know what behavior is rewarded (thus worth repeating) or corrected (meaning he needs to stay away from).

• Consistency – In order for a dog to learn a behavior you will have to be very consistent not only with rewarding him, but also in the way you are giving the commands. For example, if you use your hand every time you tell your dog to sit your dog will never learn how to sit on a verbal command. Consistency is even more important when we want our dog to stay away from a certain behavior. If the dog is not allowed on furniture he can never be allowed on furniture. If you are giving mixed messages to your dog he will not be able to figure you out.

• Motivation – When training a dog you want to ask yourself what will be his drive to perform a certain task. If he likes food you can reward him with treats. If he likes toys you can throw a ball for him every time he complies with a command. The major drive behind your dog’s behavior will be his need to please you and make you happy. This means that he needs you to mark the behaviors that got him rewarded or corrected so he will know what to repeat and what to stay away from.  Motivation has another side as well, and that is correcting your dog.  When using correction in training we would like to use the minimal amount of correction that is going to change the dog’s behavior. The use of corrections must be done moderately. If you are using more than one correction for every 10 rewards you need to check your timing, your consistency and/or how good are the rewards you are giving, as something is not clear enough to your dog. 

No Free Lunch

No Free Lunch

This might be the most important change you will be making in your dog’s life. Applied correctly it can go a long way in changing your dog’s behavior and transforming your dog into a trained dog.

The idea is simple – your dog needs to “work” for every little thing he gets. Dogs were bred to work. They have a very high drive to work and please their owners. If that drive is not being put into work, your dog will grow confused and will find all kind of rewarding things to do. Most of them you will not like at all.

Make a list of the things your dog likes:

• Food
• Toys
• Attention
• Going on walks
• Playing with other dogs
• Going for car rides
• Etc…

Each dog’s list will be a different one but they need to contain all the things the dog will be willing to work for.

Now, every time you give your dog one of the items on the list just ask him to do something like sitting or laying down. Instead of training your dog at times that are designated for that (or in addition to), you will be training your dog all the time.

Two examples.

1. When feeding your dog hold the bowl up high and ask your dog to sit. Once he sits lower the bowl and let him eat.
2. When taking your dog for a walk, ask him to sit before you put the leash on him.

In a few days you will notice your dog “offering” these rewarding behaviors. It is very important that you pay attention to it and let him know it was a good thing to do. Just say “good boy” and pet him and your dog will be content.

Potty Training - How to teach your dog to go to the bathroom outside

The first (and too many times also the last) training objective that most of us have with a new dog is to teach him to go to the bathroom outside.

Like any other training goal this can be achieved with the right timing, consistency and by using the right motivation.

Consistency will be your most important tool in this process. If a dog never has a chance to “go” in the house and will always get rewarded for going outside, he will have no problem acquiring this behavior.

The first step in house breaking is to get a crate that is just slightly bigger than your dog. Leave the dog in the crate whenever you cannot watch him. Make sure to take the dog for walks every couple of hours when you're home so he will have a lot of opportunities to go to the bathroom outside and you will have a lot of opportunities to reward him for this behavior.

The second step will be to mark and reward the times that your dog went to the bathroom outside. Timing is crucial when training a dog. When taking your dog out for the bathroom, make sure to take him every time to the same spot. When your dog pees or poops outside it will be a great time to tell him that he is doing great and to give him a reward. Marking the behavior is very important. Do not assume that your dog “knows” what is expected from him to do.

Also, make sure that every time that your dog “goes” outside, you mark it as a good behavior, even if it is just during your morning walks or when you play with him in the front yard. Your dog will learn, by repetition, that this is what you want him to do.

If your dog did not use his chance during this walk, go back inside after 5 minutes and put him in his crate. Give him half an hour and then you can repeat the sequence.

The dog can be free around the house only when:

A.   You are positive that he is "empty".

B.    He is supervised and has a leash on.

When you see your dog going to the bathroom in the house say NO and keep on saying it until you get to the dog, then grab his leash and take him outside. You need to be really loud and assertive, so much so that you will surprise the dog and he will stop his business. If needed, you can make a noise that will startle your dog.

At night:

1.     Do leave water for your dog in his crate. Dogs who don't have constant access to water might drink more than they need when they get the chance.

2.     If your dog is really young (8 to 12 weeks) make sure to wake him at least once in the middle of the night, take him out and wait for him to go.

Cleaning:

Dogs have very sensitive noses. The scent will linger in the spot they went on even if we can't smell it. There are many products at the pet-stores that are designed to break up these scents. Make sure to get one of these and use it when cleaning up after your dog. Make sure your dog does not see you cleaning his mess. Put him away while doing that. Dogs are very interested in anything that we do. Watching his owner cleaning after him may induce a dog to show more interest in it than we would like him to.

Teaching the dog to go to the bathroom on command:

Teaching your dog to go to the bathroom on command is easier than you might think. It will help you a great deal in the process of house training him, and will save you a lot of time in the future. Simply say a command repeatedly when your dog starts “going” and reward him when he is done. Be consistent with the command as with the reward and praise, and soon enough your dog that goes to the bathroom on command.

How can you stop your dog from digging your yard.

Many dogs find digging really rewarding and fun. Digging is a natural behavior for dogs and one that can become annoying to their owners and very destructive to the owners garden.

If your dog is turning your garden or your front lawn into an open quarry here are a few guidelines that will help you teach him not to dig and maybe even where to dig.

The first and most important thing you want to know is that dogs can associate cause and effect only if they happen one right after the other. So if you step outside and see a new pothole in the grass it’s too late. No matter how stern you sound and how “ashamed” your dog looks to you he is just afraid of you and has no idea what you want.

So the first guideline to follow will be not to let your dog outside unsupervised so if he starts digging you can tell him to stop. You can also make a loud and sudden noise (like banging two metal lids). We would like the dog to associate that noise with him digging in the garden. If that happens once or twice in a row he will not attempt it anymore.

If you do have a spot that you are ok with the dog digging there take his there on walks and linger there for a little while. If he starts digging praise him and pet him. The most important drive behind your dog’s behavior is making you happy even if it does not always look like it is.

The second guideline will be not letting your dog see you mending your garden. Dogs are very interested in anything that we do. If he sees you working in the garden he may come later to see what were you doing. If there are things you “buried” he may unbury them. Both sides, by the way, are going to be unhappy with the outcome. He did not find the bone he was hoping for your plants might not make it.

The third guideline will be to keep your dog busy. Dogs need mental stimuli and social life. If you don’t find something for your dog to do - he will find it itself. Teach your dog how to fetch and retrieve work on his obedience or teach him agility. He will thank you and you will enjoy living with him.

If there are any places that your dog is repeatedly digging in place some of his feces in the bottom of the hole before covering it and add some gravel right before you reach the ground level. Both will deter your dog from digging in that spot again.

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Training Your Dog Around Distractions

 Training Your Dog Around Distractions

In dog training we aim for our dog to be able to follow commands even in a distracting area. Each dog gets distracted by different “triggers” and will react to them depending upon the context. Our job as the trainer is to help our dog get used to these distractions while performing at the same level when in a neutral environment.

When we choose our training scenario we need to know our dog and his limitations. We do want our dog to be working hard but at the same time we want him to succeed. We do not want to train our dog where there are too many distractions that he cannot cope with at this point in his training.

A good place to start training around distractions will be at the park. You want to choose the far corner of the park, outside the dog park. You should choose a place where your dog can still hear, see and (most important for dogs) smell the dogs in the park but where he can still listen to you. Have your dog perform easy and simple tasks like “sit” and “come” from a short distance. If your dog fails to obey, move the training area a little further or make the tasks easier.  

In order to succeed, you should use exercises that your dog is already good at. For example, sit, down, loose leash walk and leave-it are all activities that are important for a dog to practice while in the presence of can dogs and people. Some dogs will find it hard to lie down at the presence of other dogs.

If your dog is very reactive to other dogs you might want to choose a location where people are present but not dogs. Some big box stores allow people to walk in with a dog. You can use these places to train your dog around people.

If your dog is afraid or reactive to people we will need to use counter-conditioning methods to get him used to people. We will discuss these methods in a future posting.

There are two very important rules that you will need to follow in order to train your dog for good obedience around distractions:

1. Do not teach your dog a new behavior when he is around distractions: take him back to a neutral location where you can get all his attention and teach him the new behavior there.
2. “Back to Kindergarten:” this rule means that if your dog fails to listen to you, you need to make things easier for him. For example, ask your dog to stay for shorter period of time (if you were working on stay) or stay closer to him if you are working on a recall.

Training around distractions can be very demanding for your dog. Keep your training sessions short, rewarding and fun. Your dog will thank you and his training will get better much faster. 

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Using a Clicker - A great way to train your dog.

 In this piece we will discuss the method of clicker training and how it can help you train your dog faster and in a more reliable way.

A clicker is a device that makes a “click” sound every time you press its button. In training we use clickers to let the dog know that they did a good thing and that they are going to earn a reward. We refer to it as “marking a behavior.” The reason behind using the clicker is that it improves the handler’s timing and consistency. In short, pressing the clicker is faster than saying “good dog” allowing the dog to immediately associate cause (sitting) and effect (getting a treat). In addition, a clicker always makes the same sound.

How do we introduce a clicker to the training?

We will use a simple exercise called “ loading the clicker.” It is a simple conditioning exercise that doesn’t even involve training. Simply have a few treats in your hand and repeatedly click and give your dog a treat right away. Do it every day, twice a day, for two minutes in different parts of the house or outside, and your dog will have no problem associating clicks with treats.

At home you will use the clicker to mark good behaviors that we would like the dog to continue doing. For instance, if your dog comes to you and sits nicely – click and treat. If your dog lies down, come to you or any other desirable behavior, click and treat. You want to mark all these behaviors since this adds value to them. Your dog will soon try to figure out how to get you to click and give him treats, by repeating the rewarding behaviors.

Once we have a set of behaviors the dog regards as rewarding (the ones you marked and the dog got rewarded for) our next step will be to teach your dog the names of these behaviors. 

Please visit our website 

 www.ramreizel.com

How to stop your dog from jumping on you and on other people

In dog training there is a set of behaviors that we refer to as “Attention Getting
behaviors.” This means that the dog is doing “something” that will get his or her owner to pay attention to him and not, for example, to the TV.

Puppies come into the world wired with these behaviors. When they are one week old,
puppies that got stuck in a corner of the whelping box or are taken away from their mom already “know” that they should whimper to get her attention.

As dogs get older and go to live with their human families, they learn what kinds of
behavior will get them attention from their owners. Sometime these actions are useful and desired – as when a dog barks near the door when he needs to go out or when a stranger arrives on your property.

At other times, however, attention-getting behaviors can be a nuisance and, if untreated, can result in considerable human as well as canine frustration.

So the question becomes what should we do to get our dogs to stop these behaviors when they are undesired? The answer is nothing. Just do nothing. Your dog is learning (or has learned already) how to get your attention. If he gets it by barking, he will start barking every time he wants you to get up. Jumping – the same. Instead, you want to teach your dog that these behaviors will not get him the outcome he craves. If you ignore him he will start looking for different ways to get your attention.

While ignoring your dog when he barks/jumps/nips, you should also make sure to clarify for him what behavior you want. For example, if he sits nicely and looks at you, this is the time to pay attention to him. In training this is what we call “marking a behavior”: letting your dog know how to behave appropriately to get the attention he desires.

It is really important not to actively correct the dog for the behaviors that you think are negative, such as barking. For your dog, even negative response is still attention. If your dog was bored all day at home and jumps on you when you return, yelling at him will still be more interesting that just staring at the wall. Therefore, correcting your dog for barking or jumping (instead of ignoring him) won’t stop him from doing it, and he will become more confused and uncertain about what you want him to do. The result will be a dog that is excited to hear your car in the driveway but at the same time anxious about your reaction when you enter. Anxiety in dogs can lead to all kinds of behavioral problems that you do not want to deal with.

This method of training requires patience. Things will get worse before they get better. If your dog is used to getting your attention in a certain way he will try harder when you ignore him. That means that at the beginning he will bark or jump even more than he used to. You will just have to keep your poise and ignore him. Gradually the behavior will diminish and disappear. If you pair this method with rewarding a desired behavior for instance paying attention to him when he is sitting your dog will change his behavior much faster.

Ram Reizel is Master Dog Trainer that trains in Carlton Minnesota serving the areas of Duluth, Superior WI, Cloquet and Moose-Lake.

Please visit our Website at www.ramreizel.com for more information