In many of my classes and private sessions I use the term "thinking dog".
 It is what I strive to accomplish with every dog that comes to me for training. It is a relatively new idea to most people who have a dog  that needs some help and owners with fully trained dogs as well. I want my relationship with my dog to go beyond me giving them commands and them responding. I want a  dog who will offer me behaviors without being asked, knowing it will make me happy (and hoping to earn a reward!). I want to eventually have a dog who knows what is expected of them and does it without having to be asked all the time. Wait a minute, I just realized I am also describing the relationship I hope to have with my son some day! My bet is on the dog! :)

So how do we create this superdog?

Positive reinforcement training- first and foremost, this can ONLY be achieved by positive reinforcement training. Negative  reinforcement training (or adding something unpleasant when a dog does something you don’t like) simply does not create a thinking dog. I address the misconceptions of positive reinforcement training in my FAQ's, which you can read here:  What is positive reinforcement training? Doesn't that mean they have to have a "cookie" to behave and that I can't discipline them for being bad? so I won't spend a ton of time on that. Simply put it has been my life's experience that a dog trained with negative reinforcement is afraid to offer behaviors in the fear of being wrong while an dog trained with positive reinforcement offers you behaviors freely in the hopes of being right.  "Traditional" trainers can stick to their ways if they are happy with the results, I was not.

Decide what behaviors you want most- the next key ingredient is something I find as a universal issue between dog owners/dogs which is we expect them to read our minds. We spend all day going around telling them what NOT to do and spend very little time telling them what they CAN do. A dog cannot offer you behaviors he thinks you will like if we do not teach them what we like! Furthermore, not only will he not be offering you the behaviors you prefer, he will likely end up doing the behaviors you  dislike simply out of spite or desperation. Imagine the first time I gave my son a set of crayons I put him in his room with a piece of paper and left him to figure out what to do himself. What are the chances he would actually end up coloring on the paper? Slim to none! Imagine I went into his room to find him coloring on his dresser. I simply yell angrily, "Those aren't for coloring on your dresser!", and walk out. Next time I enter the room he isn't coloring on the dresser, he is coloring on the crib! I shout angrily, "Those aren't for coloring on the crib, either!". Awhile later I check on him again to find him coloring on the walls!!! I have had about enough so I stomp in, grab the crayon from him and shout, "THEY AREN'T FOR COLORING ON THE WALLS EITHER!".  I hand the crayon back to him and leave again. First of all, how many of you are feeling sorry for my son at this point? I know I am and we do this to our dogs more often than we realize. So here is my son sitting in his room bewildered as what to do next, most kids will either sit there and do nothing for the fear of making me angry again OR color on the walls in spite of me because they haven't been given any other option. So the moral of the story is: if you want your dog to sit politely  instead of jumping to greet people, you will likely have to find an effective way to communicate that to him, not expect him to figure out himself.

 Being consistent in what is expected of them- once you have decided which behaviors you would like to see and when, consistency is key. Dogs see the world in terms of always or never, not occassionally. So in order for them to make a correlation, you must ALWAYS ask for the same behavior in that situation. While most owners have good intentions of this, they usually don't realize how important it is to do something the same way every time until the dog develops a habit of the behavior you expect. A perfect example of this is front door greetings at your house. What people don't realize is that even if they ask their neighbors to come over every day and practice door manners, if they aren't obtaining the same behaviors when the FedEX guy comes to the door, they are eroding the work they have already put into the behavior. So if you aren't 110% committed to getting the behavior, then don't allow them to be a part of the situation , in the scenario abouve, go put them in their crate, in the other room, or out in the yard while you answer the door for the FedEX guy.

Delivering our positive marker word at the right time- Once you have determined the behavior you want, and committed to being consistent in getting the behavior, get ready to change one of YOUR habits…
One of the first elements I talk to new students about are the words we need to pick out for training. One of which is the Positive Marker Word. Most owners already have a positive word before they begin training, the most common being "Good Dog", "Good Girl", "Good Boy". Now back to that habit of YOURS  that needs changing. Something about human nature makes us want to withold the "applause" until the job is complete. For example, if my dog is across the yard and I say "Tru, come!" I wait until she gets to me and takes her treat before I tell her "Good Girl" Another example: I ask my dog to sit, once they sit, I give them their treat and say "Good Dog". The problem with both these scenarios is this : The more immediate the reward to the behavior the better they will get it. What behavior came right before the "Good"? Eating a treat!  In reality, the correct moment to deliver that word is when she commits to doing the behavior, not when she completes it. If my dog is across the yard and I say, "Tru, come!" as soon as she turns my way and starts heading towards me I am going to say "Good Girl". If I ask my dog to Sit, as they start to tuck their hind in down into a sit position (long before their rear hits the floor) I say "Good"! The correct timing of the PMW not only allows the dog to correctly correlate what they are getting rewarded for, it also rewards them for deciding to do the behavior, not completing it. Think about it, which is harder: convincing a dog to do something or getting them to  finish what they have already started? Now every rule has an exception but I think for the most part we would agree getting them to make the right decision is tougher. Finally, if we want them to start offering us behaviors without being asked, it is important to reward the decision AND the action. Not just the action itself.

Noticing when they do things they weren't asked to- last and CERTAINLY not least, is something humans are guilty of quite often. If we want our dogs to start offering us behaviors on their own, it is vitally important that we notice when they start attempting it. Ever wonder why dogs develop such annoying habits to get our attention (jumping, barking, mouthing, pawing, etc.)? It's because that’s what we notice. Think about this question and answer it honestly: If you were sitting watching your favorite team play on the T.V. or working on an e-mail at your computer and your dog came up and sat politely for attention /play time, would you notice? Probably not. The irony is we want them to ask politely but politeness usually goes unnoticed. Rude gestures might upset us but at least it gets our attention.  So, if you decide you will give your dog your attention only once he sits (steps 1&2), you commit to consistently asking for them to sit before you pet them (step 3),  and you give them their PMW AS they decide to sit (step 4), you are on the right track to getting what I call an AUTO SIT. This means you don't have to ask them to do it, they do it automatically. However, there is one final step that is crucial to achieving the "thinking dog" who offers you behaviors in the hopes of getting rewarded and that is REWARDING HIM WHEN HE OFFERS YOU BEHAVIORS! I know this sounds like common sense and simple but it is harder than it may seem. Recognizing when a dog has thought about the situation and made the right decision on his own is sometimes difficult for the novice, not to mention we are sometimes just so busy we miss it!  If I offered my son an ice cream cone every time I asked him to clean his room and he did, suppose he woke up one day with a craving for ice cream and decided to clean his room without being asked. Suppose I didn't notice that he had cleaned his room because I didn't ask him to and didn't take him for an ice cream cone. Do you suppose he would ever take the initiative to clean his room without being asked again? Nope. So when we teach our dog what is expected of them, it is SUPER important to not only notice when they do it on their own, but make the reward even better. I should have taken my son out for TWO ice cream cones because he cleaned his room without having to be asked. I will never forget the time I had a 6 month old German Shepherd puppy in training at my house. We had been working very hard on an auto sit for attention and I was excited to see what she would do when my husband got home because her owner was a man so I knew it would be a real test for her. As he walked in the door her body started to wiggle but her butt hit the floor! He walked right passed her without acknowledging her at all. Boy did he get an earful! I am sure it was pretty easy for him to not notice her sitting politely but I guarantee if she had jumped all over him she would have gotten a reaction!

So if you would like to have a "thinking dog", make sure you are using positive methods, choosing criteria to stick to, committing to getting that criteria EVERY TIME, rewarding the decision to do the action, and rewarding them when they take the initiative. If you would like me to help you turn your dog into a thinking dog, enroll in a class or sign up for some private lessons!

  Do you have a dog with separation anxiety? While I have worked with many dogs with separation anxiety (even dogs coming to stay with me to work on it) but I have never OWNED a dog that had separation anxiety, until a couple of months ago. Most of you probably caught my blog entry a couple of weeks ago about adopting my new German Shepherd Dog "Ziva", in that entry, I mentioned that she had separation anxiety and escapism. This week's entry will be about the beginning of our journey together through this issue. But before you read on, if you feel that your dog MAY have separation anxiety, please read my previous blog post about what separation anxiety is here: Separation Anxiety

When I first laid eyes on Ziva, the right side of her face was completely skinned raw from trying to get out of a kennel while she was at her foster home and she had been known to jump a fence or two. Being very familiar with the breed, I was not surprised at all that, without proper training, that she was not comfortable (frantic, even) when left by herself. It has been my experience that many novice dog owners get a German Shepherd thinking that, because of their size, coat, etc., that they MUST be outside dogs. In fact, German Shepherds LIVE to be with their owner, if you are outside they want to be out, if you are inside, they want to be inside. So physically, GSD's look like they are outside dogs but psychologically and emotionally they are inside dogs. I am convinced that this is what happened to Ziva in her previous life. Someone got a GSD thinking they were outside dogs, threw her in the yard by herself and proceeded to teach her how to escape. Okay, there wasn't someone out there literally showing her how to get out and rewarding her, BUT, by leaving her to her own devices, they were in effect, teaching her how to escape.

At my house, my dog's crates are on the back porch so when they are resting they do not get disturbed (I do have a 17 month old son who is VERY active!). But when I brought Ziva home the first thing I did was bring her crate into the room we are in the most. This happens to be the tiny kitchen/dining room so imagine a German Shepherd sized crate in the middle of the room we cook and eat in. My husband is a saint! I wanted to be able to work with her being in the crate, in the same room with us before I ever even considered putting her on the back porch. Also, the crate is a wire crate that is higher guage metal, and has a special door that will not give when she pushes on it. My goal was to take small enough steps that she didn't feel the anxiety and try to escape but it was also important to have her in a kennel she couldn't get out of to break her habit of escaping.

 However, even before that, I started by simply teaching her a "kennel" command. My first goal was to get her to go into her crate on command. If every time you were to go into your bedroom, you got shoved in, you might not have a great feeling about your resting spot either. I also need to stress that this needs to be done separate from actually shutting them in the crate and needs to have a great deal of repetition and sessions. It is simply saying the "kennel" command and tossing a treat in the crate, allowing them to go in and get it and come right back out. We worked at this level until she was going into the crate on command without having to throw a treat in to coax her. I believe this process took about 3 days but every dog should be treated as an individual.

The other project we worked on for several days was making sure that EVERYTHING good happened in her crate. Building a positive association with the crate by pairing with good things. She was fed in her crate, got treats in her crate, chew bones in her crate, anything she valued she got in her crate. It is important to point out that she was not shut in the crate during this time. The door was open and she was choosing to be in the crate.

During the first week in her new home, she was with me or my husband 24/7, sleeping in bed with us, laying next to us on the couch, following me into EVERY room. Finally, once she OFFERING  me the behavior of going into her crate (when we passed by the crate she went into it without being asked). I knew it was time to start working on crate training. Many people who have a dog with separation anxiety are afraid to crate train them, thinking it will most CERTAINLY emotionally scar the dog. However, crate training can actually HELP communicate to the dog what we are trying to tell them which is "It is OKAY to be alone sometimes". After all, they are den animals.  If you have further questions about crate training, check out my previous blog entry : Crate Training Puppy Prison or Pooch Palace?

We began by working on short increments in her crate (by short increments I mean, 10 seconds) rewarding her for good behavior in her crate and addressing bad behavior. Communicating to her that bad behavior did not get her out of her crate but good behavior COULD (good behavior cannot guarantee to be let out but bad behavior NEVER works). The key here is small enough increments that their anxiety does not rise to a level that they are not able to learn what you are trying to teach them, even if that's 2 seconds at a time. Since we did our foundation work about getting her to LOVE her crate, she did really well in this area of her training! She was very soon spending good, quiet, lengths of time in her crate but still in the same room as I was in (probably around 30 minutes at a time). She was still sleeping in bed with us, as I was certain she was not ready to spend the night in her crate.

Ziva's second week, I was ready to conquer a night time routine with her. I moved her enormous crate into the spare room where it could sit right next to the bed and I spent the next week sleeping downstairs. Once again, my husband is a saint! Since we had done our foundation work with making her LOVE her crate and spending short increments of time during the day, once again, this went surprisingly well. (See a pattern developing here? If not, check out my blog entry: Are you spending more time teaching what it IS, or what it ISN'T?). We had a few bouts of whining but for the most part she did well since she was literally right next to me by the bed.

So that's what the first 2 weeks of working with a dog with separation anxiety COULD look like. Every dog is an individual and their progress will depend on their past association with the crate and their personality. I find that the two biggest mistakes most people dealing with separation/crate anxiety are: 1. Underestimating what "small but successful" looks like. It took me a week to even begin shutting her in the crate. It took me 2 weeks to get her to sleep in the crate right next to my bed. Not spend the day in the crate, sleep in the crate.

2 . Only putting the dog in the crate when you are leaving. The dog then builds a negative association with the crate undoing all of the positive association we have been working on. It is tempting to want them to be out with you as much as possible when you are home but I promise letting them spend time in the crate with you there is integral.

Stay tuned to hear about my adventures with working on her staying in the yard (especially during the fireworks 4th of July)!

  Wait, a dog trainer writing a narrative on how to spoil your dog, what is wrong with this picture?! I assure you I have not gone crazy, I just want owners to know I spoil my dogs as much as the next person. I just make sure I spoil them in the ways I want them spoiled, not in the ways THEY want to be spoiled. So I decided to write this week about how to successfully spoil your furry friend!

Over and over again I sit down with dog owners and talk to them about how they have changed their lives to suit their dogs when it should be the other way around. I even once heard a story about a married couple who slept on separate levels of their home because their dogs couldn't get along and HAD to sleep in bed with one of them! This, my friends, is an example of how NOT to spoil your dog. Many times when I get a call about a dog with behavioral issues my first step is to schedule an assessment where I ask a few questions about the dog's daily routine. Many owners sheepishly admit that their dog sleeps with them, convinced I am going to roll up a newspaper and swat them with it (the owner not the dog!) for allowing that type of behavior. They seem surprised when I tell them that my dogs sleep with me also, each taking a turn on the bed. The difference between my version of spoiling and the above mentioned version is that my dogs have earned the privilege of sleeping in bed with me by proving that they can sleep in a crate if need be. In short, my dogs sleep with me because they CAN spend the night in the crate, not because they WON'T sleep in a crate. There is nothing wrong with expecting them to earn that perk,  instead of demanding it.

 I also heard many times while working at a local pet supply store of people cooking hamburger and rice because their dog refused to eat dog food. While this is acceptable as a temporary solution to a dog that is ailing or recovering from serious surgery, you should not HAVE to cook for your dog! Let me be perfectly clear here, if your belief is that processed, commercial dog food is not healthy for your dog and you WANT to be your dog's chef, more power to you. However, most of the owners I spoke to about cooking for their dogs did it unwillingly and even begrudgingly convinced it was the only way their dog would eat and if they didn't their dog would starve to death! It always begins when the dog isn't hungry for a few days so you start to worry and give them something special to get them to eat. It could be something as little as milk on their dog food or canned food that you got free when you purchased the dry food (you know why they make those coupons, right? To get your dog addicted to the gravy and hook your wallet for the life span of your pet!). Your dog thoroughly enjoys his treat and you believe all is well. Unfortunately you find that he is no longer eating his food unless you "give it the special treatment" and much to your dismay, he eventually refuses to eat the canned food either! So you go out and find him even better, more expensive dog food. He eats it for a few days then turns up his nose yet again. Pretty soon, you realize that you are standing in YOUR kitchen using YOUR pots and pans to cook for YOUR dog. It's really not surprising they develop such rich taste. Imagine you sat down at my table and I put a bologna sandwich in front of you, bologna isn't your favorite food so you decide to wait til dinner. When you don't eat the bologna sandwich, I put in front of you, a fancy sub sandwich with roast beef, pepper jack cheese, and your favorite fixin's on it. You may eat it for a few days then decide to hold out for what could be better than that sandwich. So I cook up some steak for you, once you are tired of that, I decide to splurge on Filet Mignon. By this time, you are turning down perfectly good food  just to see what I will offer you next! The difficulty with this is, what do I do when there is no better food  to offer you? Depending on who you are, Filet Mignon is supposed to be one of the best foods in the world so where do I go from there? Back to the bologna sandwich. Now I am in no way saying that my dogs do not get treats and special meals here and there. As a matter of fact I am here to admit that. I feed my dogs human food sometimes (although I keep it to a minimum for their health and make sure it is good nutritious food for them, not junk. Think pieces of steak, not pop tarts!). But I feed my dog special treats because I want to, not because they refuse to eat their own food. This is another example of how to spoil your dog the right way.

Another area that owners assume I frown upon is whether you allow your dog up on your furniture or not. I guess people imagine my dogs to be perfect robots that only speak when spoken to and lay aside unless asked to join the party. That couldn't be farther from the truth, if that is what you want, you need a cat not a dog! I allow my dogs up on the furniture but there are some rules that apply.
1. If you want to sit with me, you must ask before jumping into my lap (they ask by sitting 
    politely in front of me).
2.If you want to sit in a chair and there is something in it (laundry for example), you must ask 
   me to move it  (once again, by sitting politely in front of the chair). If I don't move it, you 
   cannot sit there right now.
3. If you are in a chair and I want to sit in it you will get up and allow me to have the chair
    without protest.
4.You may not "claim" a chair. Since I have more than one dog, it is important that they do not
    claim a chair as theirs and refuse to let any of the other dogs sit in it. It is equal opportunity
     seating at my house.

Many trainers discourage playing Tug of War with your dog, however it can be another area that you can treat your dog to something they enjoy doing, as long as it is on your terms. The key to Tug of War being on your terms is to have a reliable "Drop it" command. My corgi's favorite game is Tug of War, I prefer to throw the ball and let her fetch it. I could just force her to play the game I like best, but I choose to spoil her in a way by allowing her to play the game she wants to play. I throw the toy, she retrieves it, we play tug for a minute, I ask her to drop it, she does, I throw it again and the game starts all over. While this may not seem like major spoiling behavior. It is an area that I see a lot of owners allowing the dog to dictate how they get to be spoiled. For instance, if I did not have a reliable drop it, I would be forced to play tug until she got tired of it or by some miracle I could get it stolen away from her long enough to throw it again. Continuing on with the idea of stealing the toy, let's say I got pretty good at stealing it from her, the only thing that would accomplish is she wouldn't want to bring it back to me. Ending our play time all together. I talk to many dog owners who say "They don't really play with me they just want the toy all to themselves which is usually an evolution of the scenario I just explained.  The other possibility is that they decide to start picking up random items (like your socks!) and refuse to give them up, creating their own version of tug. These are both examples of spoiling your dog in a way THEY demand, not in the ways you enjoy spoiling them.

Another gray area in the topic of dog spoiling is teaching them behaviors that are not universally acceptable. For instance, shake, beg, speak, and jumping up on you are all four behaviors that you may not want them to do whenever they feel like it. However, if you teach them to do these behaviors on command, it allows them to "get away" with these impulses when you want them to. However, I will warn that this can turn into shaky ground if not handled the right way. I have had more than one client who taught their dog to bark on command and then decided that might not have been the best idea when their dog began offering it without being asked. Shake is another example of a behavior that can be unwanted if not requested. Some clients have expressed a concern after teaching their dog shake that the dog paws at everyone who greets him.  Teaching them these behaviors also includes teaching them WHEN to exhibit these behaviors. My Brother in law has a dog who he has taught to dig on command. When they take "Todd" down to the river it is so cute to see him dig in the water when he is told to do so but obviously this is not a behavior they want Todd to exhibit in their backyard! My dogs are allowed to put their front feet up on me, but ONLY when I ask them to. Sometimes I prefer this method of greeting for my corgi because she is so short. The key is that she is only allowed to do it if I have asked her to. If they have a behavior that you find charming, yet not universally acceptable, spoil them by putting a command to the word. This allows you to tell them when their cute quirks are appropriate and appreciated.

The final area that I think is possibly the BEST way to spoil your dog is to take them with you wherever you go, whenever possible. Just like the examples above, there is a good way to do this and a bad way to do it. You want to make sure you are taking your dog because it is enjoyable for you to have them along and not because they demand to go with, destroying everything in sight if left at home. This is where training is key. You see, when it all boils down, training is simply learning how to communicate to your dog: what is expected of him, what is NOT appreciated of him, what consequences (good or bad) come with the choices he makes. Time spent with your dog should be a combined measurement of quality and quantity. It doesn't matter if you spend 24 hours a day with your dog if they are allowed to walk all over you the entire time. As a matter of fact, that can be worse than spending less time with them because you are spending that time teaching them how to disrespect you. On the other hand, it doesn't matter if you are the most talented trainer in the world, spending 10 minutes a day of quality time with your dog simply isn't enough. So the more Quantity of Quality time spent, the better for you and your dog. In short, don't just take them everywhere, teach them how to behave appropriately everywhere you go. That is the correct way to spoil your dog.

Now get out there and spoil your dogs the right way!

  Since I posted a few weeks ago that I had adopted "Ziva" from Saving Death Row Dogs I have had many people inquiring about how she is doing. This week I decided to write about  our journey together so far. Not just to update everyone on her progress, but to discuss some of the issues we have had to work through, how we worked through them, and what results I saw. Since many people are choosing to adopt (and even more in the future I hope!) I thought this might be great information to share. However, this first entry will only describe the road that led me to adopting Ziva. There will be more posts in the future describing new roads as we travel down them together.

The first time I saw "Ziva" (originally named "Queen") was when her picture was posted on Saving Death Row Dog's facebook page when they first acquired her. I remember thinking how beautiful she was and wondering how someone could possibly stop wanting her sweet face. Ziva was found as a stray roaming the streets of Topeka. Even after exhausting all efforts to find her owner, no one came forward to claim her. SDRD placed her in a foster home for a couple of weeks where she revealed a pretty severe case of separation anxiety/escapism, jumping fences and skinning the side of her face trying to get out of a kennel.

The first time I saw Ziva in person was at SDRD's annual carnival and adoption event Memorial Day Weekend. It is one of the biggest events they have all year and many of their dogs attend, hoping to find their forever homes. I had a booth there, talking to people about training and behavior problems. I looked across the grass football field that the event was held on and there was Ziva, standing in one of the kiddie pools they had brought to keep the dogs cool. I watched her walk around the event and was impressed by how laid back she seemed to be, taking all the other dogs/people/kids in stride.

I had a group class that day so I had to leave the carnival early to teach some puppies. When I got back shortly after the carnival had ended, there were only a handful of SDRD volunteers left and no dogs, except Ziva.As I walked up the volunteer who had been walking her around the carnival handed her off to another volunteer so she could help with something else. As she walked away, Ziva was visibly upset that the person she had been with all day had handed her over to someone new. "Typical German Shepherd", I thought. For those of you who are not familiar with the breed, German Shepherds are VERY attached to their person and want to be WHEREVER that person is at ALL TIMES. Now GSD's can love their entire family, but will always have one person they choose to be with over everyone else. I could tell Ziva was searching for a person to call her own, desperately searching.

 I wondered why she was still there and asked one of the members. They were trying to figure out what to do with her because her foster home had informed them that she wasn't fitting in well at their house. Their plan was to board her until they were able to get another foster home lined up for her. Unfortunately, it was Memorial Day Weekend and the vet they use to board dogs was already at capacity. As some of you know, I do limited boarding in addition to the training I provide so I agreed to keep her until Monday when the vet was no longer full, or they found a foster for her. I loaded her into my vehicle and started home. All the way home, I swear she was trying to decide whether I was going to be her person or I would pass her off to someone else yet again. All the way home, I was trying to decide the same thing...

When we arrived home, the first test she had to pass was with my son. Clayton was 15 months old at the time and while he is a very well behaved child, no 15 month old is reliable or predictable so it is always a test to see how a dog is going to react to him. She LOVED him! There were a few things he did that puzzled her but for the most part they got along grandly.

 Her next assessment was how she would get along with the other dogs and my cat. Before I brought her home, SDRD told me that she had growled at a couple of dogs that got into her face at the carnival and considering she hadn't fit in at her foster home, I knew this might be an issue. However, I also knew that many times, once a dog knows it is in a safe environment and has an owner they know will keep them safe, a lot of that type of behavior will calm down. She did growl and even snap at one of the dogs at my house the first day I brought her home but she got along very well with my Corgi "Tru". As far as the cat is concerned, she pretty much ignored it for the first few days, thought it might be fun to chase around for a few days after that but my cat and I convinced her that was a bad idea, now she and the cat coexist not bothering one another at all.

Finally, I had to see what my husband thought of her. My grandparents raised German Shepherds for many years so I had been around the breed a lot. I owned a male named "Bronson" all through college and for the first couple of years that Waylon and I were together. "Bronson" was one of the greatest dogs I have ever owned. It broke my heart when he passed away but no matter how long I owned him, his "person" was my grandpa and Bronson passed away on my Grandpa's birthday just months after my Grandfather died. I have always thought he must have needed a good dog to walk with him in heaven, Happy Birthday, Papa.

 Since Bronson died, we have talked about getting another GSD quite a few times, and were even offered one from a dear friend, but the situation never was quite right. So was this the right time? As I spent the weekend with Ziva, I got to know her personality, and saw how desperate she was to find someone who wouldn't pass her off once again. As we began working on her separation issues and crate anxiety, I found myself telling her that I would ALWAYS come back for her and that she didn't have to worry anymore. When Monday rolled around I knew she wasn't going anywhere. I called SDRD and asked if I could adopt her and our journey began. Thank you SDRD for all that you do, who knows what her future had been if it weren't for the work you do!

 Stay tuned in the following weeks to read more about dealing with her separation anxiety, escapism, growling at other dogs, fear of fireworks, and all the other adventures we don't even know about yet!

One of the aspects of training that I find myself highlighting the most is breaking down your goals into steps. As dog owners, we tend to see the end result in our heads as we set about the task of teaching our dog something new and immediately work at getting that end result. When in reality, we should break that goal down into steps and do one step at a time.

In fact, it's not a bad idea to sit down with a paper and pen before you EVER look at your dog. At the top of the paper, write your goal. Beside your goal come up with set criteria for said goal. You should have a clear idea in your head of what EXACTLY you want from your dog before you try to get them to do it. Below that break it down into several steps, even if they seem miniscule (see example below). Then you should decide (and write down) how YOU will communicate to your dog what you would like (be specific!). Finally, get your dog out and go about each step one at a time. Below is an example of a command that some dogs pick up on in a flash, and some take weeks to get the hang of, broken down into steps. Even, if your dog performs the first step without a problem one time, it is a good idea to repeat it several times to make sure it wasn't just a fluke. Your dog should be performing current step with at least 80% accuracy before you even think about moving to the next step.

GOAL: (what do I want my dog to do?): My dog will lie down
CRITERIA: (what does it look like?):"Down" is when my dog has both its front end and back end on the ground, back feet under him, front feet in front of him and he maintains this position until I release him by saying "That'll Do"
PREREQUISITE: My dog has a reliable "Sit". His butt will not come up off the ground until I release him.

STEP ONE:My dog lowers his head to the ground while leaving his butt on the ground
(how? I will lure him with a treat to get him to lower his head, when he does, he gets the treat)
STEP TWO: My dog keeps his butt and head down AND will bring one foot forward
(how? I will lure him to bring his head down, then pull the treat slightly forward and at a diagonal away from the foot we want to come forward)
STEP THREE: My dog keeps his butt down, head down, foot forward, then brings the other foot forward
(how? I will lure him to bring his head down, one foot forward, then pull the treat slightly forward on a diagonal away from the second foot)
STEP FOUR: My dog keeps his butt down, head down, feet forward, and assumes a "Down" Position
(how? I will lure him with a treat to bring head down, both feet forward and then bring the treat just slightly back toward him to get him to rest his chest on the floor)
STEP FIVE: Once my dog is assuming a "down" position, I will then add the release word before he gets up.
(how? Once I have lured him into a down, I will keep that treat in the same spot until I say his release word and then I will say "That'll Do" and move the treat so he has to get up to get it, therefore teaching him his release means he can get up)
STEP SIX: I will begin varying when I say the release word and correct him when he gets up before saying the release word
(how? I will move the treat BEFORE saying the release word and correct him back into a down anytime he gets up before I say the word "That'll Do").
STEP SEVEN: GOAL MET!!

Wow! That is a lot of work! Seven steps to teach a beginner level down! Am I crazy?!

No, I just want to spend more time being successful than being unsuccessful. When you first begin teaching a dog something new, your goal should be 100% success rate. Since the dog doesn't know what you want, it is up to you to set up the situation and break down the goal into small enough steps that your dog is successful in each repetition. The way I see it, you have two choices:

1. Go into it flying by the seat of your pants and taking a chance that your dog will "accidentally" learn it.
2. Perform the exercise above, and be fully prepared to break the GOAL down into tiny steps.
What is more likely to happen with the first choice is that, out of the first 10 repetitions, your dog may get it right twice. So, you just spent 8 repetitions teaching what it ISN'T and 2 repetitions of teaching what it IS. Not only is this very inefficient, it will usually break down the dog's confidence and they will end up quitting because you have convinced them that they aren't good at this "training thing".

Additionally, I believe your dog will learn that you are not very good at this "teaching thing", and not be as responsive to you even when you try to teach them another command entirely! Many of my clients say I get a "magical response" from their dogs that they cannot achieve. Some say it's because of my delicious treats (although a lot of the time I am using the same treats as the owner!). I believe it is because I try very hard to set the dog (and me!) up to be successful in everything I do so that they do not lose faith in my ability to communicate to them how to get rewarded.

The second choice is the clear winner, even if your dog learns "Down" very easily. Let's say you do all the prep work above, you get ready to work with your dog, and as you lure his head down toward the floor, he lays down on the first try! You may kick yourself for writing an essay on how to teach down when it came so easily to your dog but isn't it better to be safe than sorry? Besides, if you are more realistic about how many steps it could take, and they do it in fewer steps, you will be proud of how smart your pooch is and isn't that a great thing?

I have clients who I have had this discussion with several times and they still have trouble expecting too much, too soon. So why do we fight this "break it down small" idea? Well I am much more qualified to tell you why a DOG does what it does than a human, but I will give it a shot!

I think one reason is that it is human nature to believe everyone thinks the same way you do. Imagine I gave you the task of teaching another human to lay down on command in a language they didn't understand. You would probably assume that it would be easy for them to guess what you were wanting them to do (hey, it's easy when you have all the answers!). You would probably strive for the end result instead of steps toward the end result.

The second reason is one of my soapboxes so get ready for my humble opinion on today's society! We live in an instant gratification world. Not only do we get what we want at a touch of a button (wait, we don't even have buttons anymore, we have touch screens!), but our technology automatically does what we ask of it, at least most of the time. But don't forget there are geniuses behind the scenes that developed a language for us to communicate with that technology so we didn't have to actually learn the computer language ourselves. So, in a way we have a constant interpreter for our gadgets. Because of this technology, or maybe human nature in general, we are frustrated when:

1. We cannot control something (how many of you had wished you had an "Undo" 
    button in real life?)
2. We don't get results immediately.

It's because of this control/instant gratification that many times we push our dogs to pick up on things faster than they can possibly learn. We wait until we are fed up with their behavior and need them to learn our commands immediately, not gradually. The funny thing is, a lot of the time being in a hurry actually makes the learning process take longer because we have to go back and fill in the gaps we skimmed over while hurrying through the training process.

Unfortunately, this also works against what our end goal should be: A thinking dog.

A dog who looks at a situation and tries to figure out what behavior from him would please you (and possibly earn him a reward). My training has always gone further than just dogs who simply respond to your commands, I want a dog who offers me behaviors he thinks I will like. In order to achieve this, you have to convince him he is good at this skill. Expecting immediate results is a recipe for lowering confidence not building it.

So do me a favor, (and your dog!), anytime you want to teach your dog something new, take a minute to do the prep work, not only will it make your dog happy, it will make your training more efficient!

Spend more time teaching what it IS, instead of what it ISN'T!




Kelli Bausch
Camo Cross Dog Training
"Unlocking the Potential in Your Best Friend"
785.408.6127
www.camocrossdogtraining.com

We have all used this term but few take the time to think about where the name came from (including me!) The Romans referred to the dog days as diēs caniculārēs and associated the hot weather with the star Sirius. They considered Sirius to be the "Dog Star" because it is the brightest star in the constellation  Canis Major (Large Dog). Sirius is also the brightest star in the night sky. The Dog Days originally were the days when Sirius rose just before or at the same time as sunrise. (For even more background, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Days).  While this old adage actually refers to a star and not a dog, the dog days of summer definitely have an effect on our pets and how we care for them. There are special hazards that we must keep in mind through the summer months and this week we will discuss what the dog days of summer should mean to you and your dog.

Parasites: While this should be a concern all year long, parasite protection becomes even more important during the summer months when fleas and ticks are out in force. There are several different ways to protect your dog against these parasites that carry diseases. First, be sure to keep your yard neatly mowed and weeded. You may be surprised that your landscaping abilities can effect your dog's health! Fleas and ticks like tall vegetation because it provides them with moisture and shelter from the hot sun so the taller  the vegetation, the better they can grow and multiply (Eeck!). Next, consider treating your yard with a flea and tick yard treatment, especially if you live near a water source like a creek or pond. It has been my experience that the treatments you give directly to your dog can only do so much when your yard is flea and tick heaven. Be sure the treatment you buy is safe for your pets! Most are safe once they have dried. Finally, it's time to decide what kind of treatment to buy for your dog. There are several options out there, the first being what is referred to as a Spot-On Treatment. Spot-Ons are oily liquid capsules that you run down the dogs back and the treatment seeps down into their skin. I have never endorsed one brand over another because I have not found one that works the best on ALL dogs (I tend to say that I think spot on treatments work kind of like perfume in that it depends on who is wearing it as to what exact smell will arise). I personally do not care for the spot-on simply because of the mess. I have a 16 month old son and keeping him away from the dogs until they are no longer greasy is next to impossible. That is why I have been using a pill called Comfortis. This is a FLEA ONLY preventitive, meaning it will not protect against ticks but boy it does it do its job on the fleas! I have been totally impressed with the effectiveness of this product. Visit www.comfortis4dogs.com for more information. Finally, a newer product that I have had very little experience with but has been performing successfully so far is Trifexis. This is also a pill form that protects against fleas, heartworms, and intestinal worms. Visit www.trifexis.com for more information on this product.

Cars: We all know how much our pooches love to go for their R-I-D-E (it is pretty amazing how many owners actually have to spell it out in order to avoid an over joyous reaction from their pups at the mere mention of the word). However, in the dog days of summer, taking them along while you run errands isn't the best idea. Cars can quickly reach 120 degrees inside or higher on a 80-90 degree day. Even if you leave your windows rolled down, the air circulation is still not equivalent to being outside and it will get hot pretty quickly. If your dog lives to go for his ride, set aside time that is specifically for taking him out for his daily treat. Just drive around the block! Your neighbors might think your crazy but I guarantee your dog won't even notice that you didn't actually leave the neighborhood! If you must run some errands in town and need to take your dog along, many vets offer day boarding services or make them an appointment at the salon to have a spa day while you run your errands!

Shade: Make sure anytime your dog is outside, he has easy access to a shady spot, even if he will only be out there for a minute. It is easy to lose track of time and forget to bring your dog in. Its better to be safe than sorry when it comes to this rule. Also, be smart about when you choose to exercise your dog. Their daily walks would be best moved to early morning or late evening to avoid the sun and the hot pavement! Next time you are out for a walk, reach down and touch the pavement and imagine how it would feel on your bare feet!

Water: Dogs should have a constant supply of fresh water available all year around but it is especially important during the summer months. Just like with us, dogs need to be able to cool their bodies to avoid overheating. While they don't sweat quite like we do, they do pant which depletes their water reserves just like sweating does us. Also remember that dogs are more likely to play/get into their water buckets during the summer months to try and cool off so make sure you check it often!

Allergies: This issue is overlooked quite often but dogs can have seasonal allergies just like we can!  Allergens can range from fleas to ragweed but dogs tend to get really itchy skin instead of sneezing like we do so if your dog has suddenly started scratching or biting at himself a lot he may be suffering from allergies. For more information on what causes allergies, what they look like, and treatment options visit:  http://www.homevet.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=386%3Aallergies-and-the-itchy-pet&Itemid=38

Summer hair cut- Some dogs can rock a little shorter 'do during the summer months which can really help them deal with the heat. If your dog's hair grows longer or is very thick you may want to consider getting them trimmed up for the summer. Especially breeds that were developed to live in much cooler climates than you may live in. Your dog will thank you!

Sunscreen- If your dog has short or light colored hair (or maybe no hair at all like the Chinese Crested!), it isn't a bad idea to consider sunscreen for your dog if they are going to be out in the sun for a prolonged period of time. Dogs' skin can sunburn just like humans and anyone who has had a sunburn knows that isn't fun!

Fireworks- A side effect of summer that some people overlook is the 4th of July Holiday. While this has little to do with the heat, it is still an important summer factor when owning a dog. Some dogs can become very spooked by the noise, sight or even smell of fireworks. So spooked that the number of runaway dogs jumps around this time of year. There have been many, many stories of dogs going missing after getting spooked by fireworks so make sure you know how your dog feels about them. If your dog doesn't like fireworks, you can do your best to classically condition him to enjoy them more. You may also want to make sure your dog is put away in a safe place before the fireworks begin.  Ideally, in a room where the sound of the fireworks is as muffled as possible.

Finally, I would like to leave you with a few signs to watch for that could indicate that your dog is suffering from heatstroke. If you feel that your dog is exhibiting these  behaviors, get him to his Veterinarian immediately:

Signs of Heatstroke

• Panting
• Staring
• Anxious expression
• Refusal to obey commands
• Warm, dry skin
• High fever
• Rapid heartbeat
• Vomiting
• Collapse