Bored? Play a game with your dog!!

I live in Southern Georgia, most people move to the South to avoid the dramas of the weather known to our cohorts to the North.  Being from Wyoming, I know the joys and horrors of winter and most of the time I joke that we don’t even have seasons here in the South it is just one extended summer.  However, much to my chagrin we have had a winter this year.  My pipes have frozen, and I have had to scrape my windows more than a dozen times (after 3 years I had to buy a window scraper).

The whole country it seems has been experiencing a winter of record, so I thought while we are all cooped up inside we should discuss some of my favorite foul weather games to pass the time until spring comes and we can get outdoors and get the exercise we are all in need of!

Dogs need mental stimulation, without it they begin to choose naughty behavior and get into trouble.  Our dogs cannot watch television, they can’t read books or do any of the things we usually enjoy when exercise outside is not an option.  However, they still have the same amount of pent up energy building up day by day and they need a way to expel it.

The easiest way to entertain your dog is to give him something exciting to chew.  Chewing is a minimal form or exercise and mental stimulation for your dog.  Often, if we don’t provide an appropriate chewy, our dogs will begin chewing things that they shouldn’t put their mouths on.  Chewing gives them something to do.

I also like to play indoor games with my dogs when the weather is bad, or when their energy level is driving me crazy and I can’t take them outside for some physical exercise.  The whole point of playing games with your dog is for both of you to enjoy yourselves!  Pick games or invent games that you will both enjoy.

I love to play hide and seek with my dogs!!  Hide and seek not only builds a bond, it also teaches your dog to find you utilizing his other senses; his sense of smell and his sense of sound.  I want my dog to know how to find me using all his senses just in case there is ever an emergency.  Instead of panic at being lost, by playing this game, I have given my dog the tools to find me and he thinks he is playing his favorite game.  This is also a great way to teach your dog that the word “COME” is the most exciting and fun word he can hear.

• I often use a helper (or you have to tell your dog to stay), this is great for kids, and one person holds the dog’s collar while the other person dashes off and hides.
• Both people should stuff their pockets with great treats.  As soon as the person finds a fun hiding spot they should call the dog and encourage him with every step “Rover, Come…good boy, come, good boy, good boy, good boy COME!”  this excitement and encouragement gives him the motivation to find you.
• When he finds you, praise him and give him a treat while person #2 dashes off to hide.
• Repeat this process.  In the beginning, I like to hide in easy spots, like just in the next room, as play continues I enjoy hiding in funny places like in the bathtub, under the table or in his crate.  The one rule, have fun and enjoy, your dog has a sense of humor, make him laugh!

I also like to hide my dog’s toys and teach him to find them.  Find your dog’s favorite toy, first I like to wave it around in front of him to get him excited.  Next I hide it in an easy spot, beside me or behind me and tell him to find it.  Praise him and you can even give him a treat when he finds his toy.  Next try hiding the toy in a more precarious but semi-easy place.  You may have to use a helper or tell your dog to stay as you hide his toy.

• During this stage I hide the toy so it just sticks out and is barely visible.  Once he has mastered this process begin to hide the toy better so that he cannot see it.  Tell him to find it.  You may have to follow behind or walk past the toy to help him at first.  Don’t show him where it is, just stand near and encourage him to look or sniff for it.  The next step is to hide the toy on all different levels in your home.
• Don’t just hide the toy on the floor or in one room, also utilize higher surfaces like book shelves or chairs, next move it even higher and perhaps even out of his reach.  Challenge his brain so that he never knows where his toy might be.  Sometimes, I even hide it in my pocket or in other silly places.  Have a good time, mix it up and enjoy bonding.
• The next and final stage is to use a specific name for specific toys.  This gives you the option to hide 2 toys at once and ask for him to bring you one.  I like this game because I can hide a few toys and sit and watch TV while he has to go and find them!

There are many things to do inside to entertain yourself and your four legged friend when the weather is bad!  Teach your dog  a trick!  Let me know what trick you would like to teach your dog!!

Don’t let the weather get you down, grab your best friend and play some games, if you do this you will build a bond that lasts a lifetime!

Indoor Doggy Games is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

courtesy of dogblog.dogster.com, One of the two chewed police cars/chew toys, "Chattanooga Times Free Press"

I’ve heard of dogs that love ‘chasing‘ cars, but  ‘chewing‘ cars!  Check out the bumper on this police car.  Give the poor dog a good chew toy for goodness sake!

Talk About a Dog With a Chewing Problem…

by Maria Goodavage,dogblog.dogster.com

You think your dog’s chewing is destructive?

Don’t talk to Nancy Emerling, of Chattanooga, Tenn. Her bulldog made four cars — as in real-deal automobiles — into chew toys this weekend. And two of the cars happened to be police cars.

This is how the Chattanooga Times Free Press described one of the incidents:

While running radar at 1410 Workman Road, Officer Clayton Holmes reported he felt his car shaking and upon investigating he found the bulldog chewing on his patrol car, said Officer Rebecca Royval, police department spokeswoman. The dog reportedly chewed two tires and the entire front bumper off the car, she said.

Read the rest of Maria’s article.

Biting Off More Than You Can Chew… is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

Image: federico stevanin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Using positive training methods to train your dog is the only way to ensure that the behaviors you train are predictable and repeatable.  However, there is a big difference between being positive and letting your dog get away with just anything.  Read Gillian’s article to learn more.

Why is a Positive a Negative?

March 10th, 2010 by Gillian Ridgeway, Dog Star Daily

Why is it that the word “positive” can strike such a chord in a dog owner’s mind? Having been involved in the dog world since 1972 and spending the great majority of my adult life working with dogs, it has been an uphill battle to increase awareness in the theory of learning for dogs. There has been a vast increase in awareness of this theory for children, but the dog owners are still lagging behind. Although, giving credit where it is due, it is leaps and bounds better than in the middle 1980’s, when dog training took a surge from being a novelty to a necessity.

Positive doesn’t mean permissive. That sentence, while not originated by me, is a powerful message and one that all dog owners can relate to. Positive means helpful and constructive, and a positive response from a dog owner to his canine companion means that the dog will receive something pleasurable after he does the desired behavior, which in turn will increase the likelihood of the behavior re-occurring. Sounds simple? The more you give your dog positive feedback for what you want, the more likely it is that he will repeat that exact behavior.

Permissive is not the same at all. The term permissive implies something far more tolerant and liberal. When dog owner become permissive with their pets, we find they are giving consent to their dog to do a certain behavior and permission with no guidelines is when the problems can arise.

Rewarding a dog for a job well done is positive dog training. It does not mean that we want dog owners to allow their dogs to take charge or to call the shots.

Read the rest of Gillian’s article.

Are You Being Positive or Just Permissive? is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

The tools of the trade were choke chains, prong collars, throw chains and shake cans. I understudied at a dog training establishment in Wisconsin for over a year while I learned how to train; most puppies and adult dogs were fitted with prong collars. Then I moved to Colorado and began training with an organization that trained Service Dogs for adults and children with physical disabilities, and I was introduced to positive reinforcement and clicker training.

What a novel idea, to motivate an animal to work? Our physically disabled clients, after all, couldn’t force their four legged companions to comply to their every command; the dog had to “WANT” to comply to fulfill the job requirement and continually work throughout the day.

I had all the same worries that my clients have: “Will I always have to have a treat?” “Is my dog really learning?” “Will he beg?” “Will he be distracted by food?” The answers I quickly learned were NO, YES, NO and NO. I had to switch gears in my mind.

I automatically became a fan of Karen Pryor and her breakthrough work with marine mammals and the inception of the clicker. In fact, you can’t grab a Dolphin and force it into the air, it has to WANT to perform. Instead of simply forcing a dog to comply, I had to learn how he thought, how to motivate him and then I had to learn how to out think him.

And, if I was having problems with my training, I usually had to figure out what I was doing wrong and why he was training me. Timing was everything. If my timing was off, I was reinforcing the wrong behaviors. Although in many ways, in the beginning, this was more difficult for ME, it was groundbreaking for the dog.

Instead of seeing dogs wincing when they expected a correction or nervous about making a wrong move, these dogs were happy, wagging, and learning to THINK, they loved training and looked forward to all training sessions.

I had, what I believe Oprah calls an “ah ha” moment. You can only force an animal that is weaker than you, either physically or by will. Compulsion creates a nervous animal that never knows when it is “right”. We wait for bad behavior to rear its ugly head and then nip it in the bud with force and often aggression, the dog is terrified of making a mistake or thinking, he is simply existing for the arrival of the next command, or he is choosing bad behavior for the interaction it provides.

Positive reinforcement teaches a dog to THINK, it is ok to make mistakes because there are no corrections, only withholding the reinforcement for improper choices. We are telling the dogs what they are doing “RIGHT” not waiting for him to make mistakes. We can alleviate many behavior problems.

We reward the good behaviors so that the dog will continually show us those things that we like, and often we are ignoring bad behaviors and by doing so and not interacting with the dog or reinforcing these mistakes, they inevitably go away.

Because I was enlightened and learned the principles of positive reinforcement it has allowed me to become successful not only at training dogs, but also at training exotic animals like large cats, domestic cats, and humans; just to name a few.

Forcing a Cheetah to comply is not only unsafe it is unlikely to be productive, but by finding the correct reinforcer for each individual (everyone and everything has many reinforcers of different values) the sky is the limit.

I realized this is how I like to be treated and that positive reinforcement works successfully and ingeniously on everyone and everything in my life. If I want someone to continue a certain behavior, I praise them, thank them, acknowledge their work, and perhaps take them to lunch or pay them.

This system of incentive ensures that if I ever need them again, they will mostly likely be at my disposal. However, if I force them, they will resist and avoid me. If I punish them, they may comply but they will be resentful. And, if I ignore what they have done for me, they will never do a favor for me again.

I want to work for an employer that believes in positive reinforcement. I want someone to encourage me to learn, who patiently shows me what to do, and when I make mistakes (which are inevitable with all of us) may gently point them out, but ultimately focuses on my successes.

This feeling of accomplishment then spills over into all of my work projects and makes me feel I can take on new ventures without fear. If however I work for a boss that is not interested in teaching me, yells at me when I make mistakes, or forces me to do things; I am going to be despondent, will not be comfortable taking on new challenges, and will probably seek employment elsewhere. Be a good “boss” for your dog! Encourage learning, reward good behaviors, and teach him what you want!

I have found that the only drawback is being a professional animal trainer and having a smart boyfriend is that he is aware, or thinks he is aware, whenever I praise him that ultimately I am training him.

Once I said, “Hey honey, thanks for making the bed. I really appreciate that”, and I got “Don’t use your dog training on me” in return, ha ha! Luckily, most of the time I scoot by unnoticed and he doesn’t realize I am using psychology to get the things that make me happy.

So my advice is: GO WILD throw caution to the wind; reward your dog, your

Teach your dog to think and be happy

cat, your family and friends for doing things that you like, ignore comments and behaviors you don’t like, and teach them what your expectations are and you will find the people and animals in your life scrambling to make you happy, because, indeed it is making them happy!

The Power of Positive Reinforcement is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

courtesy of www.dogstardaily.com

You are probably aware of how important it is to socialize your puppy.  Having good socialization skills will help your dog respond with acceptable and healthy behaviors when faced with situations that may be disturbing or disrupting to their normal routines.

Siblings and Roommates Don’t Count

posted by Cindy Bruckart, February 24th, 2010, dogstardaily.com

I’m often asking dog owners about their dog’s socialization history.  Even if the dog owner tells me that their dog is “good with other dogs”, I have to ask more questions.  Time and again, the dogs that their dog is good with include the siblings he played with at the breeder’s home, the dog he lives with and a relative’s dog.  That’s it.

When I tell them that siblings and roommates don’t count, we get to the truth of the matter.  The dog may be nearly a year old and have only met one or two other dogs, besides siblings and roommates.  Now, I know that dog owners reading this might not see this as a big problem, as long as the dog was good with those dogs, we should be able to assume he’d be good with others, right?  Wrong.

Socialization is a continuing process, not a single event.  We can’t say that a human is well socialized if the only people he sees until his teen years are his siblings and his parents.  Imagine a child who had only played with his siblings for 14 years being dropped off at middle school!  No matter how well he may have played with siblings, I think we’d expect him to be lacking severely in social skills.  It’s certainly unfair to expect dogs, with their shorter “childhoods”, to become masters of social grace after being exposed to only two or three of their species.

Read the rest of Cindy’s article.

Socialization is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

What dog behaviors should I encourage?

by Nicole S. Silvers, March 3, 2010, dogstardaily.com

Behaviors to Encourage is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

But this morning, I wanted a chance to catch up on some missing sleep.  Later, while doing Yoga and in a very precarious and painful position a fuzzy rump was thrust my way in an attempt to get a scratching.  Sometimes I simply need a break or some space.  I prefer working out on the floor without furry people sitting on my face.

I like to eat without heated dog breath exhaled in my face or drool dripping onto my lap or down my leg.  And, I prefer welcoming visitors without the help of hairy feet dancing about in front of them and jumping their way.  So, I teach my dogs to go and lay on their beds until distractions are gone, or they are told otherwise.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have your pooch vacate the room or at least the table area and go lay on his bed while you eat?  Imagine the doorbell rings and “Fido”  runs to his bed while the front door is opened and friends are welcomed into your home.  And, if you need another half hour of sleep you could tell your dog to go lay on his bed while you hit the snooze button!

The “Take a Break” command is one of my favorite commands in my obedience arsenal.  I don’t over use it, mostly because I like hanging out with my furry kids, and I want them to enjoy their beds on their own, but I do use it when I need an area cleared of “doggy helpers”.

The most important thing when teaching this command is making sure that everyone is having fun.  If your dog ends up detesting his bed, this command becomes counterproductive.  Another important facet of this, in my opinion, is having several beds throughout your house.

If the doorbell rings and your dog’s bed is in the bedroom it is not realistic for most people to dash down to the bedroom, grab the dog’s bed, and work on training before the door is opened.  So make your life easier by placing beds throughout the house.  I put one bed in the living room, one in the kitchen (so they don’t help me prepare dinner) one in the bedroom and one placed near the door or front area of the home.

I try and make almost all of my dog training a game.  Who doesn’t like a game?  Adults like games, children like games, and even dogs like games.  Sometimes I use a leash. I think it helps to increase my dog’s excitement in the beginning however leashing is not necessary because we are not going to use force.  Get some high value treats.  You want to keep your dog’s focus and attention on you and the better the treat the more fun the game is for everyone.  Lead your dog toward the dog bed.As soon as your dog’s paw touches the bed, praise and give a treat.  Take a step back so your dog is off the bed again, then lure him forward and again as soon as his paw hits the bed praise and reward.

I Finally Get It!

Do this several times in succession.  When you think your dog is putting 2 and 2 together and understanding that touching the bed equals praise and treat, begin to tell your dog what he is doing.  DO NOT give the command first.  Your dog doesn’t speak English, you must teach him what commands mean and giving a command several seconds before the action happens only hampers your pet’s learning.

Once your dog seems to understand what he is doing, start telling him by saying “Take a Break” each time he makes contact with the bed then praise and reward. Now is when I also begin to treat him for choosing to stay on his bed.  If he stays there I will continue to reward him at random intervals.  I don’t want my dog to think the objective of this game is to pounce the bed and fly off it just as quickly.  The stay will be essential in a few steps. Do this several times and end on a good note.

Next, encourage more of your dog’s body to make contact with the bed.  Now it is going to require 2 feet on the bed to get praise and reward.  Hold out your command and wait until your dog gets more of himself onto the bed.  It is important that your dog figures this out for himself, because learning to play the game is part of the fun.  Once you are reliably getting two paws or more on the bed begin adding the command.  You have upped the ante, now “Take a Break” means two feet or more need to be on the bed.

Do this until your dog has this step mastered.  Then, up the ante: four feet must be on the bed in order to get praise and reward.  When your dog is reliably putting his whole body on the bed, add the command.  Do this for several days, until there is no question that your dog knows the command and is enjoying playing this game with you.  I also suggest that you use several beds during this training.  If you only train in the living room, it may be hard for your dog to understand that the command is the same for the bed in the bedroom.  Dogs learn differently than we do, we must help them to be successful by teaching them that commands mean the same thing in different places.

Now I like to add a little more excitement to the scenario.  Once I know my dog knows what the command means and what I want (utilizing all the beds in the house), I start having a race to his bed.  At first, the distance between me and the bed is only a few short feet.  I get really excited “Take a Break” and together we dash to the bed praise and reward.  Now, it is not a scheduled training session.  My dog never knows when this fun game my start (I am setting him up for real life).

I keep treats on my body and surprise my dog with a sprint toward beds throughout the house all through the day.  Next I up the ante yet again.  This time I don’t sprint with him to the bed, I say “Take a Break” and point to the closest bed, as he is racing to get there to acquire his treat I am following quickly behind to give him his treat.

Once you have this step under your belt, you can start to slow your approach to him on his bed, if he gets off his bed, simply ignore him until he is on it again.  He needs to start to learn patience.  It isn’t until now that I begin to give the command “Stay” once you have told him to “Stay”  you have to have a release command when you are done training.

Giving the “Stay” command early in the learning process, makes this game a chore instead of pure fun, we have already conditioned him to think this is a fun game, so adding “Stay” should just be another facet of the command.  If he gets off the bed ignore him until he is on the bed, then reward for his patience. I also start to add the “Down” command at this point.  Release him with “All Done” and praise and reward when you are done working.

Dog training is a small step process.  You must now begin to extend the time your dog is staying until he is rewarded and then released, but you shouldn’t always extend.  It is like learning to play the piano.  You start by learning easy pieces and then begin to learn more and more difficult numbers, but sometimes you like to go back to playing the easy pieces as an enjoyable break.  In order for dogs to find this enjoyable, they need to be successful fairly frequently.

You don’t want to follow a schedule (every minute) or your dog will begin to anticipate and jump up if you are late.  You want a variable schedule of reinforcement so that he never knows when the treat is coming but he knows if he is patient he will be rewarded.  Eventually you can really extend the time he is staying on his bed and giving very few treats.  However, if you are having problems with your dog popping up; go back a step or two and lower your expectations until the previous step is solid.

Also, you will need to practice with distractions like the doorbell ringing, cooking, eating, or people wandering around the house.  You may have to go back to the very first step, but because you have laid a good foundation you should see improvement quickly.  Ring the doorbell, give the “Take a Break” command and reward your dog’s compliance.  Eventually the sound of the doorbell should equal going to his bed, but you must do this several times a day for a long time for it to become habit.

Opening the door may add another distraction, ring the doorbell give the command reward and then open the door if your dog stays reward him, if he gets up close the door and try again, until you can open the door wide with your dog’s attention on you.  (For safety with the door open, I suggest utilizing a leash!)  Train for the scenarios you will be using for this command.  Be patient remember this is a process and have fun!

Imagine your doorbell rings and your dog automatically darts to his bed, because it’s fun and he knows his reward is coming, your friends and family will be so impressed they will be asking you to come and train their dogs!

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The Take A Break Command is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

This memorial at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside pays tribute to the war dogs that served in the Vietnam War and their handlers. courtesy of www.wavenewspapers.com

Dogs have served in the military for decades.  Their contributions through various wars have saved the lives of many.  Read more about the much-deserved memorial dedicated in their honor and the lives of those they have touched.

Decades later, Vietnam War dogs are remembered

By JESSICA RAVITZ, CNN, Feb 18, 2010

www.wavenewspapers.com

Maybe it was the sound of the wind cutting through the wire. Perhaps he caught a small vibration with his keen eyes. Or it could have been a slight difference in the air’s smell.

Whatever it was, when Sarge noticed that his Marine Corps handler, Fred Dorr, was creeping down the wrong path in the Vietnam jungle, the German shepherd did something he’d never done out in the field: He looked at Dorr and barked, before taking a seat.

“When he sat down, I knew there was a trip wire. I was one step away from it,” remembered Dorr, who with his dog in 1969 was “walking point,” leading the way for a dozen soldiers. Had the hidden explosive device been tripped, “It would have gotten half of us.”

More than 40 years later, the gratitude and love Dorr, 59, feels for the dog he served with is as strong as ever. And it’s for this reason that Dorr, president of the Vietnam Dog Handler Association, drove from his Yoakum, Texas, home to be in Southern California last week.

About 200 Vietnam War dog handlers, who were trained to read and communicate with their canine partners, gathered for a reunion. On Saturday they joined several thousand others for the 10th anniversary rededication of the War Dog Memorial at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside.

Read the rest of Jessica’s article.

Vietnam War Dogs Remembered is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

>NOTE: If you have not yet downloaded the free report, Off Limits Training that I reference in the video, please click on the image of the report to download it now.

The training video above was designed for you to watch AFTER reading my special report.  So if you have not yet read through it, please do so now.

If you have already read the report that set the stage for this video, please tell me…

Did you find this video helpful?

If so, please leave me a comment, or post any questions you have about this technique below.  I’d love to hear from you.

And if you feel this video would be something  your dog owning friends and family might enjoy…

Please Share it Facebook with your fans, or…

Share on Twitter

Then go and USE this technique on your dog and report back!  I’m excited to see how this can start to change how compliant your dog is in your life.

Stay tuned for another great video in a few days!

How To Stop your Dog from Begging (Video) is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog

courtesy of www.dogblog.dogster.com

They say “Music soothes the savage beast.”  Yes, I realize that is a misquote; it is actually “Music hath powers to soothe the savage breast.” However, I believe in this case, we’ll go with the first one.  Now, perhaps you don’t consider your sweet little pooch to be savage, but then again…

Dogster Exclusive Interview: Calming Dog Musician, Lisa Spector

by Maria Goodavage

Dogster’s for the love of the dog blog

We’ve got another terrific interview for you this week, with Lisa Spector, concert pianist and graduate of The Juilliard School.

“But this is DOGster, not MUSICster,” you might say. True. Fortunately for us, Lisa has a foot in both camps.

Lisa is co-founder of BioAcoustic Research & Development, where she presided over the groundbreaking music and canine research conducted with 150 dogs. She is the pianist on the Through a Dog’s Ear music series. If you have a dog who could use a little calming at home or in the car, these CDs are for you.

Lisa has won first prizes in prestigious national piano competitions and performs concert tours internationally, so dogs and people lucky enough to hear her music are in for a treat. Click here for a few free downloads and samples of her calming music for dogs.

Read the rest of Maria’s article

Tunes for your Dog is a post from: Dog Obedience Training Blog