Leaving Your Dog Home Alone

09.03 in alone, Dog, home, leaving, your

Your new puppydog needs lots of attention (companionship, education, and play), but also to be taught how to entertain himself appropriately and how to thoroughly enjoy his time when left at home alone. Otherwise, a social vacuum can be a very lonely place.

Puppies and dogs predictably develop housesoiling, chewing, digging, and barking problems if allowed too much freedom and too little supervision and guidance during their first few weeks at home. Puppies and newly adopted dogs may become overdependent if allowed unrestricted access to their owners during the initial time in their new home. Overdependent dogs often become anxious when left at home alone, and they attempt to adapt to the boredom and stress of solitary confinement by busying themselves with doggy activities—chewing, digging, barking—which soon become owner-absent behavior problems. What else is there to do? Severely stressed dogs may work themselves up into a frenzy and spend the day circling, pacing, and panting.

A Special Place
Dogs are den animals, and they value their own special place — a place for peaceful retreat, a methodical chew, or even a snooze. A doggy den (a collapsible and portable dog crate and dog bed) is an ideal training tool. Apart from its obvious uses for transporting dogs by car, train or plane, a crate may be used for short-term confinement when you cannot supervise your puppy—to keep him out of mischief and prevent him from making housesoiling, destructive chewing, and digging mistakes. In addition, the crate may be used specifically to create good household habits: to housetrain your puppy; to establish a hard-to-break chewtoy habit; to reduce excessive barking; to prevent inappropriate digging; and to foster confidence and calmness.

Right from the outset, when you are home, regularly confine your pup for "little quiet moments" in his dog crate in order to teach household manners and imbue confidence. Then your dog can look forward to enjoying a lifetime with the full run of your house, whether you are home or not.

Teach Your Puppy to Enjoy His Doggy Den
A dog crate is really no different than a childs crib, playpen, or bedroom. The first item on the agenda is to teach your puppy to thoroughly enjoy spending time in his doggy den. Stuff your puppys first meal into a hollow chew-toy, tie the chewtoy inside the crate, and leave the door open so the pup may come and go as he pleases. Praise your puppy while he chews the chewtoy and supervise the puppy if he leaves the crate. Once the pup has settled down for a quiet chew, you may close the crate door. For your pups second meal, put the stuffed chewtoys inside the crate and shut the door with the puppy on the outside. Once your puppy worries at the crate to get to his dinner, let the puppy enter his crate and close the door behind him. From now on, always give your puppy a stuffed chewtoy when confining him to his crate.

Teach Your Dog to Teach Herself
When at home, always confine your puppydog with a variety of hollow chewtoys stuffed with kibble and treats. Confining a dog to a crate with an attractive chewtoy is like confining a child to an empty room with a video game. This is called autoshaping. All you have to do is set up the situation, and your dog will automatically train herself. Each treat extricated from the chewtoy progressively reinforces chewing chewtoys and settling down calmly and quietly. Your dog will soon become hooked on her chewtoy-habit, leaving very little time for inappropriate chewing, digging, or barking. And if your puppydog is happily preoccupied chewing her chewtoy, she will fret less.

Your pup will soon learn that confinement is for a short time—and an enjoyable time.

Home-Alone Dogs 

Need An Occupation

Preparing dogs for inevitable periods of solitary 
confinement—and specifically teaching them

how to occupy their time when left at home alone—is the most pressing humane consideration for any new puppy in any household. Every dog requires some form of enjoyable occupational therapy. Vocational chewtoy chewing is the easiest and most enjoyable solution.
Dogs are crepuscular (most active at dawn and dusk), and so it is pretty easy to teach them how to calmly pass the time of day. During your puppydogs first few days and weeks at home, regularly confine him to a crate with stuffed chewtoys. Prepare the pup for your absence when you are present. When at home, it is possible to monitor your pups behavior when confined for numerous short periods throughout the day. Your puppys first impressions of an established daily routine create an acceptable and enjoyable status quo for years to come. Remember, once your puppy is confident, independent, and trained, he may enjoy free range of your house and garden for the rest of his life. 





To learn more, read Doctor Dunbars Good Little Dog Book and our Home Alone booklet, available on-line from www.amazon.com.  Reprinted by www.dogstardaily.com with permission of Dr. Ian Dunbar and James & Kenneth Publishers, behavior blueprint by Dr. Ian Dunbar

Read more

How To Train Your Puppy The Right Way – Introducing Your Puppy To Your Home And Family

06.39 in –, and, can, Dog, family, home, housebreak, how, introducing, pomerarian, puppy, right, the, to, train, training, way, you, your

Puppy training is very important, whether you are training your first puppy or your 20th. Properly training and socializing a puppy is vital to making it a valued member of your family and your community.



In some ways training a puppy is easier than training an adult or adolescent dog. One reason is that the puppy is essentially a "blank slate", untroubled by past training techniques and other issues. In other ways, however, the puppy can be more difficult to train than an older dog.



One challenge to training a new puppy is that puppies are more easily distractible than adolescent and adult dogs. Everything is new to a puppy, and every new experience provides a new chance for distraction. For this reason, it is best to keep training sessions short when working with a puppy, and to end each training sessions on a positive note.



It is also important to allow the puppy plenty of time to play, and to interact with other puppies and dogs. Socialization training is vital to making your new puppy a good canine citizen, as dog aggression is a growing problem in many areas. A properly socialized dog learns how to play properly with other dogs, and overly aggressive play is punished by the other dogs in the play group.



This type of play learning is something that happens among siblings in litters of puppies. As the puppies play with each other, they learn what is appropriate and what is not. Inappropriate behavior, such as hard biting or scratching, is punished by the other puppies, by the mother dog, or both.



Unfortunately, many puppies are removed from their mothers and sold or adopted before this socialization has fully occurred. Therefore, puppy play sessions are a very important part of any puppy training session. Most good puppy preschool training programs provide time in each session for this type of dog interaction.



Introducing your puppy to new experiences and new locations is also an important part of puppy training. Teaching your dog to be obedient and responsive, even in the face of many distractions, is very important when training dogs and puppies.



It is important for puppy owners to structure their pets environment so that the puppy is rewarded for good behaviors and not rewarded for others. One good example of this is jumping on people. Many people inadvertently reward this behavior because it can be cute. While it is true that jumping can be cute for a 10 pound puppy, it will not be so cute when that puppy has grown into a 100 pound dog.



Instead of rewarding the puppy for jumping, try rewarding it for sitting instead. This type of positive reinforcement will result in a well behaved adult dog that is a valued member of both the family and the community at large.



This type of reinforcement can also be used in potty training the new puppy. For instance, teaching a puppy to use a unique surface such as gravel or asphalt is a good technique. The theory is that the puppy will associate this surface with going potty, and therefore be reluctant to use other surfaces (like your kitchen carpet for instance) as a potty.


Copyright Jonathan Cheong - http://www.absolute-dog-training.com



Written by: Jonathan Cheong

Read more

Puppy training at home

05.35 in at, Dog, home, puppy, training

When we talk about Puppy training at home we think of the rewarding feeling of being able to develop an animal’s skills, but there is a lot of work and effort involved in the process too. Puppy training at home begins with potty training and continues with complex tasks and commands. However, before you start Puppy training at home you’ll have to find some professional information on Puppy health and care. The very basic “sit” and “hello” are among the first tricks of Puppy training at home, followed by the leash walk as an essential part of the process of Puppy socializing.

Many pet owners choose to turn to professional videos that teach them Puppy training at home. There are usually two types of approaches to Puppy training at home and in general: the collar treatment and the reward-based program. Studies conducted in recent years have shown that Puppy training at home by using very positive methods is likely to create social and highly reliable animals, that not only will listen to your commands but will always been on guard when it comes to the safety of your family. Puppy training at home may not have the professional background but it surely has an emotional touch.

Once you start Puppy training at home don’t limit to teaching the Puppy how to raise the paw or sit when ordered. You can take Puppy training at home a little further and show the animal how to play “fetch”. It begins by using one of the pet’s favorite toys, but it has to result in the animal’s ability to bring any object. No matter the purpose of Puppy training at home, keep in mind that reward is the magic key to get to your Puppy’s mind. Every time it performs an action, the Puppy will need encouragement to continue; therefore an affectionate moment is welcome and appreciated as much as some goodie treat.

Puppy training at home takes a lot of time and energy, and many people find it a true challenge. However, time should not be a problem as long as you can turn to your animal and lavish a little attention on it. You can even practice fetch during a commercial just like any other commands learned during Puppy training at home. If you don’t want to have your Puppy on the sofa with you, you can always order it to move, and the animal would respond. This is the very practical side of Puppy training at home. By all means avoid bullying the Puppy or raising your voice, as such manifestations develop aggression or fear.

Puppy training at home

Read more

Confusion about crate training

01.15 in –, about, and, confusion, crate, Dog, family, home, how, introducing, puppy, right, the, to, train, training, way, your

One is the loneliest number that youll ever do...

Two can be as bad as one...

Kiko was not enthused about Splashs preference for HER crate!  

Thought I would post some pics since I missed out on blogging when I first got my pup! She is seven months at the moment but these pics are back when she was around 9 weeks.  

Read more

Teaching the Dog to Heel

13.05 in Dog, heel, home, new, puppy, teaching, the, to, welcome, your

Basic Dog Training

- The Heel Command

It never ceases to amaze me how many people I see being pulled along by their dog while out "walking". What amazes me more is that most of these people blame their dog for this behavior. If they only realized that the problem is on the other end of the leash.

If your dog pulls on the leash, youre kidding yourself if you think youre the "master". Dogs are smart, and they will take advantage of a situation if you allow them to.

The worst part of this situation is that it only takes a short period of time to teach your dog to heel. Since walking with your dog is something that youll be doing every day, from the very beginning, it only makes sense that the "heel" command be among the first that your dog learns.

When your dog obeys the "heel" command, not only does it make it easy on your arms while out on walks, it also helps ensure that Fido is safe and behaved while out in public. It also lets him know that youre the boss, which is imperative in the human-canine relationship. And in those instances when a cat or other small animal runs out in front of you, it allows you to retain control when your dog wants to follow its instincts to chase the other animal.

For those unfamiliar with basic dog training, the function of the "heel" command is to have your canine companion walk alongside you, rather than in front of you. When a dog heels correctly, the leash remains slack, and Fido matches your pace, not vice-versa.

At this point, youre probably saying to yourself "That sounds great. But I bet its a hard thing to teach." Actually, its pretty straightforward, and like most dog training, it usually is taught by combining strong positive reinforcement and short but firm corrections.

Start out by putting your dog on a short leash, and have some small treats available. With the dog by your side, facing in the same direction, hold a treat in your hand. Issue the "heel" command using a firm, yet gentle voice. Proceed to walk forward. If the dog responds by walking along with you, praise him with an enthusiastic "Good Boy" (or Girl), and reward him by giving him the treat. If he doesnt heel, dont try to coax him with the treat. Consistency is important, and Fido needs to realize that hell get his treat when he displays the correct behavior. Remember to always reward him when the desired action is carried out. If youre lucky, a few repetitions of this series of actions will be all thats needed to teach your dog to heel.

With a little patience, this method will work well for many dogs, and will also help you to form a close bond with your pet. However, some dogs are a little difficult, and may be a little harder to train. This does not mean youve got a bad dog. It just means youll need to work a little harder to get the desired response. In this case, youll need to utilize some additional, corrective techniques.

As before, call the animal to your side and position him next to you, again facing the same direction. As you did earlier, voice the "heel" command, and walk forward. The dog will probably not walk with you. Instead, he will likely try to go off on his own. To correct this behavior, apply a firm but short correction on the leash. Never, never, pull your dog. Let the collar return to a slack condition.

Repeat the exercise, and if your dog obeys this time, praise him enthusiastically and reward him with a treat. Fido will quickly learn that to disobey the "heel" command results in a period of discomfort, but walking alongside at your pace gets him a tasty treat and a lot of vocal praise. It may take a few days, but if you are consistent in your training methodology, and reward him accordingly, Fido will soon be responding eagerly to your "heel" commands, and corrections will no longer be required.

About the Author:
Nick Bulka operates a number of pet related sites, including Dog Training and Pet Guide

This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com

 

Nick Bulka operates a number of pet-related web sites. Visit his sites at http://www.petsupplyguy.com, http://www.dogtraininginstruction.com, and http://www.pet-guide.us

Read more

Welcome Home Your New Puppy

07.04 in Dog, home, new, potty, puppy, training, welcome, your

The First Thing on

the agenda

Please Dad, Mum, can we have a puppy

Ops, to late, your have already done that one.
After all who could have resist that loveable
bundle of  fur ??? After all the children just had
to have a new puppy, and didnt you have one
when you were young 
They just had to have a new puppy. 
If you have had one before its probable you
consider yourself the expert on puppy rearing.
Remembering the thrill of your first puppy, and
excitement when it was first brought home.
Its big sad eyes looking up at you, the urge to
pick it up and hug it. Perhaps this is your
dream puppy, the one you never had when
you were young. Your children are going to
have that special friend you were denied. It is
then the moment of truth hits you, how little
you really know about the welfare of this new
member of the family. Its now the fear of
realisation hits you as it makes its first little
mess on your new carpet The reality of the big
responsibility  of this new baby. Not a toy, a
member of the family, that needs the love and
understanding everyone else  needs. After all
it is hoped this latest member will be part of
the family for a long time. The good with the
not so good. But long after it has left you, there
will be the memories  of that little puppy that
will linger forever. Like a new baby, one of the
first things to do is to insure it is well protected
from diseases, which as with a little
baby means its first injections. Make an
appointment with your local veterinarian, he will
advise you on all the treatments your puppy
will need while growing up and in its later life.
Its also important that a young puppy is used
to be handled by your  veterinarian as it will
alleviate its fears if it need to return in
distressed circumstances.

 

The fun of Housebreaking your new friend. 
Yes we have our new puppy home, and while
at first it may even be funny when the first accident
on the carpet happens, realisation needs to
kick in right away that our new puppy needs
house trained.  The first thing we all need to
understand is that this six to eight week old
bundle of furs does not know the carpet is a
carpet, and sees nothing wrong in its actions,
its a little very frightened baby that needs
taught new behavior. The second thing to
remember, its hard to teach an old dog new
tricks, so training needs to start right away.
The most proven way is the punishment
reward method The new puppy isnt aware of
house rules so will relieve itself when needs
must.The poor souls only thought is its own
need to do so. Which is the easy option.Now
lets see what we can do about this. We want
to have a clean Home, so how can we achieve
it. Puppies will be puppies so to enable us to
keep house clean we need to understand the
puppy. What indication it gives  prior to the
mess and what brings  them on. Lets start with
stimulence due to playing, exercise or excitement.
With this problem lets try to play with the
puppy in a safe place, trying not to over excite
it.The next problem is the messier one. once
again understanding your puppy. After meals,
exercise and even playing or drinking. Seeing
it crouching or straining is the most sure way of
knowing. It is at this time you need to get your
puppy outside  by carrying it or walking it outside 
quickly, teaching it where to go when the need
overcomes it. The training is governed by
two things, how dedicated we are in watching
it and in knowing  that on the puppies side, its
just complete convenience, meaning you need
to be in the right place at the right time. The
puppy is an animal of habit. Good habits last,
bad habits are difficult to change.
Congratulating it on a good job done will make
the puppy more co-operate and a little treat
will allow it to remember even quicker. The
more the puppy is helped in not making little
mistakes the more likely the training will be
quicker. Its not the puppy which needs to be in
the right place at the right time but ourselves.
Ever watchful.
When accidents happen its important you act
quickly by scolding the puppy, letting it know
by the tone of your voice you are not happy,
allowing the puppy to see your distain, and
swiftly removing it outdoors. Remember
puppies are like little children they will alway
try to get away with what ever they can. It is
you as the owner who needs to take charge,
you are no longer just the Mum or Dad but the
pack leader as well. Each breed of dog has a
different temperament, so its to late if your
puppy isnt what you expected. Some are vocal
others are highly strung or aggressive those
things you need to consider before bring it home.
If you want a peace full home choose a quiet
puppy. I am no expert on all puppies but there
are some things that work with them all. Like
humans they respond best to Love

Read more

House Training Dogs Who are Visiting Your Home

06.49 in are, Dog, dogs, home, house, training, visiting, who, your

My inquisitive canine Poncho the dog was working overtime yesterday (while hubby and I were stuck in traffic) to help our friend Karen Lee Stevens of All For Animals. She had written to us about providing a few dog training tips she could use while taking care of a foster dog Tinker during the holidays.

Poncho did an excellent job of providing dog training tips on his Ponchos Prose blog, including making sure she was creating pleasant associations so Tinker would enjoy anything new &/or different - people she met, places she went or situations she encountered. Poncho also included tips that focused on house-training for dogs and how best to introduce cats and dogs, especially since Karen is the proud parent of Bella, a doggy loving kitty cat.

Karen, who is a columnist, editor and writer herself, had a follow-up question regarding the issue of house-training. Well, I thought Id give my hard working inquisitive canine some time to relax (it is his favorite day - Garbage Truck Monday) and Ive addressed it myself. The following is Karens question to me, with my answer - hopefully Poncho will approve.

If you too have any questions, please feel free to submit them to our Dear Inquisitive Canine dog behavior advice column that can be found on both Noozhawk and Powerwomen Magazine, both online news websites.

Thank you for such a thoughtful blog, just for Tinker and I!!! She spent the first night at my house last night and I quickly discovered that shes not housetrained!! Three accidents, including one on the bed. I take her outside every two hours and she wont go, but the minute I bring her back inside, she lets loose. Do you think scented potty pads will help?!

Other than that, she and my cat are doing great together -- Miss Bella is especially interested in the new variety of food being served in the kitchen. :)

Best, Karen

Hey there Karen! As a certified professional dog trainer (and in my personal opinion), taking the extra time to teach Tinker to eliminate outside (or the #1 place you want her to go) is ideal - as opposed to allowing her to potty in multiple places. Unless you live in a high rise building or your living situation (weather/your age/your physical limits/dogs age/dogs physical limitations) doesnt allow you to take your dog outside, then I personally like to avoid pee pads. Dogs dont discriminate too easily between pee pads and a nice soft mattress :-)

So, these are a few things Id suggest you do:

• First thing in the morning or 30 minutes after you feed her, grab your laptop, newspaper (for reading), DS, iPod, favorite book, a snack for yourself, and a yummy treat for Tinker, put her on leash, get her outside where you want her to go, and wait...wait...wait...walk her around to sniff...wait...wait...wait...walk her around...And as soon as she goes - reward her heavily with petting, praise, and that yummy treat youve been holding in your pocket! Youre basically throwing a huge potty-party! If its safe you can take her off leash too for fun and games...(freedom is another reward).
• The "enrichment" for yourself is so youre entertained while ignoring her. Try to refrain from saying things like "go potty honey" - because until she knows what that cue means, youll be wasting your breath - and probably getting more frustrated.
• If youve waited for at least 15 minutes, and she still hasnt gone to the bathroom, then bring her back in, but keep her tethered to you, or in your lap - Dont allow her to wander off on her own...Then, take her out every 20-30 minutes until shes gone! She will go, trust me! You just have to be patient.
• Oh, and finally, once youve started the reward process, continue doing it over and over and over....we can never be thanked enough times for performing behaviors others want from us :-)

Speaking of, THANK YOU for writing to me and trusting me to help you reach your goals!

Joan

For additional house-training tips for you and Tinker, please see Ponchos blog posts on house-training dogs from a canines point of view, and my own dog training house-training tips right here.

Read more

Crate Training Your Dog Creating a Home Sweet Home atmosphere

14.02 in a, atmosphere, crate, creating, Dog, home, sweet, training, your

Ive been working with many new puppy parents, as well as families that have recently adopted adult dogs. From each and every one, Ive received the proverbial crate question: "What do you think about me crate training my dog?" Fortunately I have an answer: I think you should. Why? For a few reasons.

1. Bedroom: Just like us humans, our domestic dogs need a place to call their own. A safe, comfortable, warm, cozy environment where they can be by themselves. 
2. Retreat: A crate can also be that safe-haven "den" (or bedroom or crib) where they can retreat in times of stress. For instance, if youre having lots of company, and your dog is overwhelmed, they can go off on their own, with a yummy chew toy, and chew until they fall fast asleep. 
   
3. Management: Those times when you dont have time to train your dog, or supervise and monitor their behavior, a crate can act as confinement to help set them up for success. If theyre in their crate, theyre not roaming about eliminating on the new rug or chewing up furniture. 
4. Pet Preparedness: You never know when you might need to put your dog in a crate. Crate training is a huge part of Pet Preparedness. If you even need to evacuate because of disaster, many places will require that your pet be in a crate. As I mention in all of my dog training classes, dog training workshops, and private dog training clients, you want train it before you need it! 

So, what are some of the best ways for you to get your dog used to their "sanctuary"? The training steps are pretty simple actually, but just like any new behavior, you need to teach them slowly, helping them create a positive association. 

Creating a Home Sweet Home For Your Pooch: Crate Training Overview

• How to make the crate the best place to be: The "Dos"
• Take the time to teach your puppy or newly adopted adult dog that their crate is a fun, safe, relaxing place to be. Make it comfortable with bedding the individual dog finds comfortable (not what we humans think is)
• Make sure the crate is large enough for your pup to be able to stand up turn around, and get comfortable. 
• Teach your pup to associate their crate with all good things. 
• Start slow and easy - treats for looking at the crate, going into the crate, then staying in the crate - for only a few seconds at a time. While youre still there with them. 
• Keep the door open until your pup is going in their on his own. Once your pup is going in on their own, you can begin closing the door, feed treats through the door. Let your pup out, then all treats stop. Hell soon learn that being in the crate is much more fun than being outside of it. 
• Feed him his meals in the crate 
• Chew bones in the crate 
• Food toys in the crate
• Crates can still be used for a "Time Out" since the punishment is more about losing out on something the dog wanted, like freedom or playing with a family member or friend. A Time Out for a dog should only be for about 20 seconds. And, if they already have a positive association with their crate, and 99% of the time good things happen in their crate, then they shouldnt end up hating their crate. Just like when children are sent to their room, its not the room they hate but the fact that they lost out on participating in some other activity. 

• How to teach your puppy or newly adopted dog to hate their crate: "The Do NOTs" 
• Refrain from shoving your pup into the crate and slamming the door, and walking away. 
• Refrain from pushing your dog into the crate and leaving them there on their own, after never being left alone before. 
• Refrain from leaving them in the crate for so long that they soil their crate. 
• Refrain from using the crate for punishment only. 
• Refrain from using the crate as a "Time Out" because of house soiling or some sort of house destruction. The crate can and should be used for confinement when house-training. But, if a dog soils the carpet, its the humans fault, not the dogs. You dont want to inadvertently punish your dog for greeting you when you get home. 

With time, patience, and consistency you too can get your dog to love their crate. You might create such a wonderful environment youll want to crawl in there too! 

Read more