Training tip from Andrew:
Beware the problems of having of a winter puppy.
I would argue the most important time in your puppies life is the first 6 months. This is your dog's primary socialization window and if your puppy doesn't meet enough people or enough dogs, you're going to be solving problems in your dog's adult life.
Most people think timid, nervous, or aggressive dogs were victims of physical abuse or other types of trauma. Most of them, in reality, were probably just drastically undersocialized.
In the summer months when everyone is out and about and parks are crowded, it's easy for your puppy to be exposed to tons of new people, places and things. In the winter months, when we tend to hibernate a little bit ourselves, it's more of a chore.
If you're getting a puppy in November through February, save yourself a bunch of problems and find a way to get your dog to be social.
A good puppy class (we have a 3 week one starting December 3rd to make sure none of our DogDayz puppies missed out) is a good start. It's not the only work you'll have to do though. It's at least a good place for your dog to meet some new dogs (who will teach him how to play) and some new people in a safe and controlled environment.
As I always like to say, in life and in dog training, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Be vigilant with your winter puppy's successful socialization.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Monday, November 25, 2013
how to approach a nervous dog
Training tip from Andrew (Andrew@dog-dayz.com):
How do you approach a nervous dog? The human side of us wants to extend our affection towards nervous dogs. This makes us want to pet them, hold them, talk in a baby voice to them and other things we might do to soothe another human.
For most nervous dogs, this tends to be far too strong of an approach and can send the dog further into it's shell or in the worst cases cause a bite.
The best gift you can give to a nervous dog is the gift of space. Try not to approach at all until the dog naturally approaches you, smells you and gets to know that you are okay. Safe the pets, eye contact and other signs of love for when the dog feels you have earned the right into their personal space.
When the dog gets comfortable with sniffing your legs, lower yourself so he or she can smell more of you while still not acknowledging the dog.
Repeat this for a while and the dog will eventually be begging for your affection. Give a nervous dog time and eventually the nervous dog will give you everything.
If you have any questions or have a nervous dog yourself, feel free to e-mail me at Andrew@dog-dayz.com.
How do you approach a nervous dog? The human side of us wants to extend our affection towards nervous dogs. This makes us want to pet them, hold them, talk in a baby voice to them and other things we might do to soothe another human.
For most nervous dogs, this tends to be far too strong of an approach and can send the dog further into it's shell or in the worst cases cause a bite.
The best gift you can give to a nervous dog is the gift of space. Try not to approach at all until the dog naturally approaches you, smells you and gets to know that you are okay. Safe the pets, eye contact and other signs of love for when the dog feels you have earned the right into their personal space.
When the dog gets comfortable with sniffing your legs, lower yourself so he or she can smell more of you while still not acknowledging the dog.
Repeat this for a while and the dog will eventually be begging for your affection. Give a nervous dog time and eventually the nervous dog will give you everything.
If you have any questions or have a nervous dog yourself, feel free to e-mail me at Andrew@dog-dayz.com.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Training Tips for Your Jumping Dog
Training Tip from Andrew (Andrew@dog-dayz.com: I often get asked about dogs that jump on their owners or dogs that jump on house guests or about dogs that jump on everyone.
More often than not, dogs are jumping on people because that's what we trained them to do. Every time the dog jumps on someone and receives a pat on the head, a full-on petting, even eye contact or words, the dog MAY be receiving exactly what it was looking for - your attention.
Rather than go straight to punishing your dog if it happens to be a jumper, I usually tell people to try "unrewarding" the behavior. Fixing any dog behavior is all about getting into a dog's head and asking "is this behavior working for the dog"?
Remember, if you're talking to your dog or looking at it, the dog may still be getting the reward it's after.
There are a few basic, pain-free solutions to change this troublesome behavior:
1) When he jumps on you, turn away slowly and completely ignore the dog until it tries an alternate behavior (like standing on all fours or sitting). You can acknowledge the dog only when it is doing what you want it to do.
2) Direct the dog into an alternate behavior like sit - this can be difficult if your dog is extremely hyper.
3) Get your friends and guests in on your project. Send out an e-mail or a text message to guests letting them know not to reward this behavior on accident. If the dog finds success anywhere, it makes the habit hard to break.
4) If you must, restrain your dog with a leash when you are having guests. You want to try your best to be perfect at not allowing your dog to jump. Every time your dog jumps up, that behavior has been reinforced.
5) Stay calm and practice the "no touch, no talk, no eye contact" rule until your dog is behaving in a way you want to reward.
6) While your dog is learning, it may help to approach your dog while bringing yourself lower to the ground. . As it gets the hang of not needing to jump you can begin approaching in your normal way and rewarding the appropriate behavior
Good luck and happy training. As you probably know by now, training your dog is a life-long project that doesn't end after class. Enjoy the ride.
E-mail me at Andrew@dog-dayz.com if you have any questions or want to set up a time to work on some drills to get your pup to stop jumping.
More often than not, dogs are jumping on people because that's what we trained them to do. Every time the dog jumps on someone and receives a pat on the head, a full-on petting, even eye contact or words, the dog MAY be receiving exactly what it was looking for - your attention.
Rather than go straight to punishing your dog if it happens to be a jumper, I usually tell people to try "unrewarding" the behavior. Fixing any dog behavior is all about getting into a dog's head and asking "is this behavior working for the dog"?
Remember, if you're talking to your dog or looking at it, the dog may still be getting the reward it's after.
There are a few basic, pain-free solutions to change this troublesome behavior:
1) When he jumps on you, turn away slowly and completely ignore the dog until it tries an alternate behavior (like standing on all fours or sitting). You can acknowledge the dog only when it is doing what you want it to do.
2) Direct the dog into an alternate behavior like sit - this can be difficult if your dog is extremely hyper.
3) Get your friends and guests in on your project. Send out an e-mail or a text message to guests letting them know not to reward this behavior on accident. If the dog finds success anywhere, it makes the habit hard to break.
4) If you must, restrain your dog with a leash when you are having guests. You want to try your best to be perfect at not allowing your dog to jump. Every time your dog jumps up, that behavior has been reinforced.
5) Stay calm and practice the "no touch, no talk, no eye contact" rule until your dog is behaving in a way you want to reward.
6) While your dog is learning, it may help to approach your dog while bringing yourself lower to the ground. . As it gets the hang of not needing to jump you can begin approaching in your normal way and rewarding the appropriate behavior
Good luck and happy training. As you probably know by now, training your dog is a life-long project that doesn't end after class. Enjoy the ride.
E-mail me at Andrew@dog-dayz.com if you have any questions or want to set up a time to work on some drills to get your pup to stop jumping.
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