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.

Trainer Tip: Doing Nothing...with your dog

So often with our dogs there are expectations that we are attached to. For many of us, we begin to build a relationship by using a very common tool- training. In this sense, there are a LOT of expectations. We immediately begin to operate from a "should" conversation as in, this dog "should" sit, learn to lay down, be quiet when told to be quiet and should do these things in a class with other people and other dogs or when visitors (though we rarely have them) come to our home, he "should" not jump or pester them.

Hurm..

I think for many of us we are under extreme pressure in a class, especially at week 1, or when people visit our homes- we don't want to be embarrassed, we want to look good, we want to be liked, we want people to like our dogs. Oy- all of this swirling around in our heads AND we're supposed to teach the dogs something?

I'd like to suggest that we do a little less "skills training" in our own lives and a little more of this- getting a life (and allowing our dogs to get a life too). I'd like to suggest that if you want your dog to be relaxed- find some activities that YOU enjoy and begin to enrich YOUR life. So often it's all about the dogs (and heck, that's okay too), but when do I feel best and at peace? After a good hike in the sunshine. As a trainer do I spend minutes a day training my dogs? Nope, it's just here and there and as part of the routine. When do I feel like I'm most connecting with my dogs? When I'm being goofy, when I'm playing.

Play? What's that?
Give and take with no expectations.

So, lighten up. Commit to doing some things for YOU, that you've been putting off. You'll feel better, you might even been happier and I guarantee your dogs will notice too. Better yet, find activities that you both enjoy (and have no expectations).

Lost Dogs- Prevention First

When a dog goes missing, it's hard to know what to do or where to start, especially in harsh conditions. This is the first in a series of lost dog recovery tips. First and foremost, we're starting with prevention. We have had at least 3 dogs that we know go missing in the last few weeks!

It's part of our commitment to pass along info that we feel will help you, especially when it's so practical and needed!

1. Get id tags on your dog! If you don't like the sound of clinking tags, get a tag silencer and you'll be set.

2. Microchip your dog.

3. If your dog is microchipped, make sure you register the chip.

4. . Regardless of what company your dog is chipped with, have a second registration with "Home Again"- they are the ONLY company that sends out an "Amber Alert" within 25 miles of your zip code when your dog goes missing and they provide pet insurance for your missing pet- should they be injured when out. Trust us, it's worth the $25.

5. In severe weather conditions- rain, snow- bump up your management- and keep your dog on a leash! Many
dogs wander off in the excitement of the snow and then many not have a clue as to where they are- especially
when you have 2 foot drifts!

6. Get a good picture of your dog, a close up! This is great to have on hand if you need to begin distributing
flyers or posters. Think ahead!

Stay safe and always keep your eyes open. You never know when a 'stray' may be a lost dog. If you have a sighting of a dog and the dog will not approach you (which is very common), post it to craigslist.com with a location and description- it just may reunite a lost pet with a heartbroken owner!