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Teach Your Dog to Leave It

You have a splitting headache. As you open the bottle of Tylenol, it drops on the floor and 100 Tylenol scatter everywhere. Your dog eagerly leaps forward to help clean them up.

What do you do?

You ask your dog “leave it,” to which he responds by wagging his tail and looking at you.

Crisis averted and huge veterinary expenses avoided.

Here are some other ways “leave it” can be useful.

  • leaving the cat alone instead of chasing it
  • leaving the jogger as he passes by instead of barking at it
  • leaving your hamburger on the table alone instead of gulping it

Talk back!

What would you ask your dog to leave, if you knew he could do it? Please leave a comment!

Teach Your Dog to Lie Down

“Down” is a foundation behavior.

What Is It?

It’s what I like to call a Building Block behavior that all good dogs need to know. Down is simply when the dog lies on the floor on his belly. We don’t need to teach dogs how to lie down, they already know that. What we do need to teach them is how we ask them to do the behavior.

When and Why to Use Down in Everyday Life

Down is a good still behavior. It’s like a pause button for your dog. If your dog is lying on the floor, he can’t also be lunging at another dog, jumping on you, or counter surfing. In other words, it’s a great alternate behavior for your dog to do instead of all those pesky behaviors he does.

How to Teach Down

To teach your dog to lie on the floor, follow these simple steps.

  1. Ask your dog to sit.
  2. As soon as he sits, put your flat hand (palm down) directly in front of his nose and slowly lower your hand to the floor or ground.
  3. Click and treat when your dog lies down.

Add the Word

When you’re ready to bet me $100 that your dog will lie down when you move your hand to the floor, it’s time to add the word for “down.” Simply say the word “down,” then lower your hand. Adding the word too early means you’re labeling a “halfway” behavior. We wait to add the word until we know the dog is going to do the behavior and do it correctly. That will result in a much cleaner behavior and also a dog that learns to listen for the word.

Trouble Shooting and Tips

  • If your dog has a hard time following your hand, you can put a small treat in your hand and have him follow the treat to the ground. THE RULES: you can use that treat as a lure only three times, then you’ve got to do it with an empty hand. Remember to click when your dog lies down and then get him the treat to reinforce his great behavior.
  • Move your hand slowly from your dog’s nose straight down to between his toes.
  • If your dog gets up from the sit before he lies down, simply ask him to sit again. As soon as he sits, begin the process again.
  • To make it easy to reset your dog and get him ready to lie down again, toss the treat after you click so the dog has to get up to get the reinforcer.

In the video, notice that I’m crouching down instead of standing up. There’s a reason for that: I want the dog to notice only my hand movement. If I were standing straight, and had to bend at the waist to get my hand to the floor, the dog will notice the largest movement — my bending at the waist.

Down is a useful behavior and won’t take any time to teach. You’ll be pleased with how your dog can focus remain calm when he’s in the down position if you practice in real-life scenarios. Happy training!

Talk back.

Leave a comment with a “down” success stories. When did down save the day for you and your dog?

Or simply ask a question or leave a comment — we’d love to hear from you.

 

 

Don’t Make These Three Common Dog-Owner Mistakes

Surely you won’t recognize yourself in these, but maybe you can use this article to educate your neighbor or friend who could use a little help.

Many dog owners don’t realize they’re doing anything wrong or even that there are unspoken rules in the dog community. This article aims to fix that by exposing the things that drive most of us dog people batty. Let’s just rip the Band-Aid® off quickly and get right to the mistakes.

Using a Flexi-leash

Unless you’re in an empty area at least the size of a football field, use a 6’ leash on your dog! The most flagrant offense is often seen at close-in spaces like a veterinary office or a downtown area. Your dog doesn’t ever need to be more than 6’ away from you in public. When I take the service dog in-training out with me, he’s usually on a 3’ leash. I don’t want him more than 3’ away from me. If he’s within 3’, I can reinforce him for acceptable behavior and I can prevent him from engaging in inappropriate behavior. More is not better. More than six feet of leash is not a good thing. Having your dog on a Flexi gives him too much access to other dogs and to people. The farther your dog is from you, harder it is for you to watch what he’s getting into, who he’s visiting, and what behavior he’s exhibiting. Flexi leashes are dangerous to you, the dog, and other people (and dogs) in public. According to a 2009 Consumer Reports article, over 16,564 people were injured in 2007. Injuries included amputation, blindness, burns, and cuts. Dogs have been killed while on a Flexi because they were able to dart into traffic even while their owner was safely on the sidewalk.

Leaving Poop

The Poop Fairy does not exist! If your dog poops anywhere other than on your property, pick it up! Period. There isn’t really any way to defend the act of leaving your dog’s poop behind. You don’t have to buy expensive poop bags, just recycle the plastic sleeve in which your newspaper is delivered. These plastic sleeves are better than commercial poop bags in my opinion – and they’re free! Plus you’re recycling that plastic for a second use. Dog poop isn’t just dirty and stinky. No one wants it on the bottom of their shoe (or on their dog’s paws). In addition to the smell factor, there’s a gross factor: dog poop carries germs. Lots of germs. According to a report from Greenville County, SC, dog poop has 23 million E. coli bacteria per gram. An average dog generates 276 pounds of waste each year. That’s a lot E. coli created each year by a single dog. When you don’t scoop your dog’s poop, that E. coli lives for several years. The poop may wash away, but bacteria remains on the ground and can make dogs and children sick. And when un-scooped dog poop is washed away, it ends up in storm drains or enters waterways directly.

Unleashed Dog

Leashes are important. In many communities, leashes are required equipment when out with your dog. Unless your dog has 100% recall (and none do), your dog is not only a danger to others, but is in danger. Hit by car. More than 1,000,000 dogs are hit by cars every year. A million dogs a year. If your dog is not on a leash while out in public, he’s in danger of being hit by a car.

Lost dog.

More than 10,000,000 pets are lost every year. A dog on a leash (with you at the other end) simply cannot get lost. This isn’t hard: keep your dog on a leash no matter what.

Unwanted advances.

Many people are scared of dogs. They were bitten in the past or they have never been exposed to dogs, or they think dogs are dangerous. Whatever the reason, some people don’t want to meet your dog, no matter how friendly he is.

Reactive and aggressive dogs.

Not every dog is as friendly as yours. If your dog is off-leash and encounters an aggressive dog that is leashed (good, responsible owner!), your dog could be seriously injured or even killed. Don’t set your dog up for that kind of trauma – keep your dog leashed! For those of us with reactive dogs, having an off-leash dog run up on us is dangerous as well as infuriating. Having been subjected to the standard “It’s ok, he’s friendly” shout across the field as someone’s dog is barreling toward me and my reactive dog, I can tell you with certainty that those words are not soothing. The look of panic and terror when I yell back “Yeah, but my dog’s not!” never fails to surprise me. Protect your dog – keep him leashed!

Chasing livestock and wildlife.

Off-leash dogs can wreak havoc on local wildlife by chasing them, destroying habitats, killing livestock, etc. In some communities, it’s legal (and frequently practiced) to shoot any dog harassing livestock. Do you really want to let your dog get into that kind of trouble just to “run free” for a few minutes? The “fun” isn’t worth the risk to your dog’s life. Hopefully, you can use this article to help educate others. Take several copies to your local veterinary office and leave them lying around for others to read. Stick the article in your neighbors’ mailboxes so everyone knows just how icky dog poop is when it’s left behind. And leave a few copies on the windshield of cars at the local dog park to help them understand that letting their dog off-leash anywhere but the dog park is like flirting with disaster.

Talk back.

What mistakes do you see dog owners make? Leave a comment and let us know!

Teach Your Dog to Wait at the Door – Video

Waiting.

Waiting is a good skill for any dog to have in his repertoire. Wait at the door. Wait at the gate. Wait while I put your food bowl down. Wait to get into the car. Wait to get out of the crate. Wait is primarily a safety behavior, but it’s also a polite behavior, too.

We teach wait at the door (or gate, as in this video) pretty much the same way we taught wait at the food bowl:

  1. With clicker and treats, put your hand on the door knob (or gate handle). Click and treat if your dog stays still. Repeat two or three times.
  2. Put your hand on the door/gate and just turn (or lift) the handle. If the dog is still, click and treat. Repeat two or three times.
  3. Put your hand on the door/gate and open slightly (just a crack). If the dog is still, click and treat. Repeat two or three times.
  4. Gradually at each successive trial, open the door/gate an inch further. If the dog is still, click and treat. Repeat two or three times.
  5. If the dog moves forward at any time, simply and swiftly close the door. Be careful not to catch your dog in the door, however.

Troubleshoot

  • If your dog has a hard time doing this at the main door, use a bedroom or closet door to practice.
  • If your dog is having a hard time getting it right (if you’re clicking and treating only 1 time a minute, let’s say), make it easier for your dog to get it right. Instead of going for opening the door an inch, for instance, go for opening the door 1/8″. Find a way for your dog to get it right.
  • While a clicker isn’t required, you’ll find faster progress using one as it helps clarify to the dog what needs to be done to earn the goodie.

Uses for Wait

I find wait useful in so many situations. Levi has to wait as I open his crate door so he doesn’t knock me over. All the dogs need to wait before going out our garage door into my open vehicle to prevent chaos as the door opens. All dogs have to wait for me to release them to get out of the car so I can be sure I have all the leashes in my hand. All four dogs wait for me to put their food bowls and/or food stuffed toys on the floor to avoid knocking the items out of my hand.

Talk back.

How do you use wait? Leave a comment and let me know!

 

Dogs of San Juan

Dogs are everywhere.

I spent last week at an animal behavior conference called Five Go to Sea. It was an interactive learning experience on the cruise ship Celebrity Reflection. As part of the cruise experience, shore excursions were offered at each port.

Our shore excursion in San Juan brought me to this lovely lady.

I can’t pronounce her name, nor can I spell it, but she made my day. I fiercely missed my dogs, as I do anytime I’m away from them more than a day. Usually, when I’m traveling, I have the opportunity to see other dogs. On a cruise ship, though, my options were severely limited. I was thrilled to put my hands on a dog!

She was one of three “ranch dogs,” but was by far the one most interested in human contact.

It struck me how different my dogs’ lives are from this dog’s life. It appeared that she received very little veterinary care (dull coat, dirty ears) and ate only enough food to keep her moving. Her eyes were a little goopy, but overall she seemed free of major heath issues. There was nary a collar or leash anywhere on any of the dogs.

I felt a pang of sympathy for her.

Where did she sleep? Probably in the barn with the horses. Not in a bed? With a human? What kind of life was that, I pondered. Did anyone pay her any attention at all, or did she merely exist?

We took off on our trail ride and she followed us, step for step.

She hunted for iguana. She flew over the streams, not getting a toe wet — her strong legs carrying her over the stream. She’d occasionally get ahead of us and wait, tongue hanging out, flopped in a beautiful green meadow under the shade of a beautiful, tall tree with fat orange flowers.

We rode well over an hour, through groves of trees, crossing streams, up rocky hills, through neighborhoods with livestock and other dogs and she never strayed far from our group.

What a life!

While our dogs back home get top-notch veterinary care, the best food money can buy, supplements to help their joints and coat, even acupuncture, these ranch dogs, too, lived quite a life. Their coats weren’t nearly as healthy, their ears and teeth could definitely use cleanings, and their skin issues caused them to scratch a lot, they had something going for them despite that. They may not live lives as long as our dogs back here in the U.S., but they did live full lives.

Different lives, for sure.

These are outside dogs. Dogs who live amongst humans, not with them. They were free to come and go, wander the farm, laze around when they got old, accept pats from visiting riders.

They didn’t seek out attention from people, and one of the dogs never acknowledged people at all. It was an interesting study in the different lives dogs live.

I don’t think one life is better than the other. I think they’re just different.

I felt sympathy for the dogs when I arrived at the ranch, but after I saw their life and how different it was, by the time I left the sympathy had turned to curiosity and then to acceptance. No dog has an ideal life. Kinda like us people, when you think about it.

Teach Your Dog to Wait for His Food

Patience is a virtue.

Self control doesn’t come naturally to dogs. We need to teach them how to wait politely. One of the first things I teach dogs that come through our house is to wait nicely. Wait for me to put their food bowl down, wait to go out the door, wait to jump into the car, wait to exit their crate, wait at a curb…you get the picture.

I like to teach dogs to wait at the food bowl first. Most dogs are quite interested in their meals and are quite invested in learning how to get to their meal in the fastest manner.

Here’s how I teach wait at the food bowl.

  1. Start with a food bowl filled with about 40 pieces of food.
  2. Lower the food bowl slowly toward the floor.
  3. Your goal is to get the food bowl to your knee without the dog moving toward the bowl.
  4. If your dog moves toward the bowl, pull the bowl directly back up to at least waist height.
  5. If you reach your knee without the dog moving toward the bowl, click, give your dog a piece of food and start over at your waist.
  6. Repeat two or three times.
  7. Your new goal is to get 1″ – 2″ lower than your knee. Click and give your dog a treat if you get to your goal.
  8. Pull the food bowl straight up if the dog dives in for the food.
  9. Continue until you’re able to put the food bowl on the floor without your dog diving in to the bowl.

Watch the video to see exactly how to teach your dog to wait until you release him to move toward the bowl.

Talk back.

What has worked for you when teaching your dog to wait for his food?

 

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