Trainer Tip: Dinner time (teachable moments)

We're tawlkin' dinner time, because we seem to have seen a slew of well trained dogs that totally lack manners when it comes to dinner time (with the humans that is).
Take you pick! While you eat, is your dog...whining, pawing, nudging, laying against you, barking or army crawling towards you as you eat? My personal favorite- a
dog square staring at you or panting heavily in your lap, (just kidding). Well, look, there are a lot of dogs that get aroused when the food hits the table.

Here are a few sanity savers to begin with:

· Proactive management- (prevent annoyance behaviors/and ignore your dogs)
Yes, ignoring your dog works, (really). The harder part for most two footers is totally committing to IGNORING the dog (no eye contact, no talking, no touching).
Often using a short leash (or tether) can work well to empower the "ignoring" part and keep them in a spot (near a dog bed or a comfortable place to hang out).
How? Wrap a leash to a heavy piece of furniture a door knob or put an eye hook in a baseboard for the beefcakes.

· Ignore
Yep, just ignore!

· Enrich
Before your dog begins to whine, bark or otherwise try old tricks to get your attention (and maybe a piece of food)- give them something to alleviate stress and nosh on- a frozen stuffed dog bone or Kong toy is a great start.

· People food
If you want to feed a bit of something from the table- you could always do this- BY putting it in a Kong or bone before you settle in to eat. Or better yet, as you begin to build and get a
more reliable, calmer behavior at the dinner table...you can simply reward calm, cool behavior by a good ole' dinner plate licking if you'd like.

Dogs usually beg because they have been reinforced for it- hey- that means the two footer- has given them food or attention (positive or negative). So keep in mind, most dogs that
get a taste of "human food" if it's used to reward in the correct context (i.e.- "hey you're being calm and cool- here's a french fry") won't turn into human food begging monsters.
Remember folks, everything in moderation :) And those highly tuned noses won't miss a whiff.

Trainer Tip: Hiking, beaching and starting your dog off leash

This August I spent a week with my family and my dogs at Dewey Beach, DE- a beach and dog lovers paradise (second only, in my experience with San Diego's Dog Beach). I'd love to live within walking distance of the sand and be able to enjoy it year round (and off leash) with my dogs.

And, however, I live much closer to trails and parks and wooded areas where I can hike (and I relish those weeks and weekends where we are 'living' at the beach!) I think all of us want to allow our dogs to be dogs, but the reality is, that only the well trained or "reliable" ones afford these off leash freedoms. So, how do we develop or foster off leash reliability or at least work towards it?


Here we go:
1. The relationship. Sorry folks, but before you bust out the hot dogs or take off the leash, what kind of "check in" do you regularly get from your dogs? Do they look to you or watch you or hang near you?

If not...spend some time working on eye contact and name recognition.


2. If your dog has lousy name recognition. Stop, change and start again. Choose a nick name and start to reward the dog for being reliable to their nickname RIGHT in front of you- just say their name, and click or "good" and a bit of food.


3. Passive eye contact and attention. For me, this is an integral part of developing a relationship with my dogs, communicating leadership and simply using my real life to shape the behavior I'd like...
Please (voluntarily) look to met to get this door to open, this get this bone, to get off a leash (without asking). Also if I disappear or hide behind a tree (will the dog come back and find me, scent to me?) Try that around the house!

How do you get "there" from "here"?
Good question.
Start with eye contact in the house and outside of the house. Train it, wait for it voluntarily and see if you feel that your dog is more connected, simply by doing the work.

If you are the broken record calling your dog again and again as they ignore you...zip it and do a lot more relationship building work before loosening up that leash. Relationship building? Yep! More to come in later posts...

Fireworks, Stress & Sound Sensitivity

For those dogs that are noise, thunder or large car backfiring phobic, the 4th of July can be rough. For others, it's a walk in the park. Wherever your pooch may fall on the sound sensitivity continum, there are a few things you can do to help them cope, encourage confidence or to help prevent a possible firework phobia down the road.

For the sound phobic dog...
Imagine have ultra sensitive hearing, being left in charge to guard the house... and then there is an invisible invader! Yikes!
Many times a phobic dog will choose avoidance- and will hide or burrowing under a coffee table or lie in an open closet or a crate. On the other hand, folks can get into serious trouble if their dog is off leash and chooses to run away (think flight response). In this state of mind, your dog is literally in survival mode, and often finding a dog that is running scared can be a tough.

So, nobody wants to be sending out a search party for a scared, lost animal, so let's talk about what we can do to prevent drama and to sooth your dog on the 4th.

If you know your dog is sound sensitive...
• Keep walks to a minimum and make sure your collars/halters are fitted properly with identification.
• Create a safe haven where your dog can squirrel away if they'd like.
• Play a radio or white noise to provide relief in the house.
• Give your dog very high value, long lasting chewies (beef marrow bones) in their safe space.
• If you have a severely noise phobic dog that is on anxiety medication, you may want to consult with your Vet about
something for "acute" situations such as the 4th.
• A tight fitting garment on your dog may help them relax a bit as well (gentle pressure on the body can release endorphins, the "feel good" drug).

Even if your dog isn't totally stressed on the by sound, you want to keep an eye out for signs that they are stressed.
Stress signals include things like:
• Ears or tail plastered to the body
• More than normal drooling or salivation
• Pacing and panting
• A foamy beard of drool
• Whining
• Trembling or shaking
• Lots of "choppy" movement

If you see your dog displaying multiple stress signals, give 'em a break from the action. Take them inside and give them a quiet place and a good chewie! Have a safe and happy Fourth of July.