cooking sweden: #puppy

Showing posts with label #puppy. Show all posts

Into Every Life a Little Rain Must Fall

The +P and -P of Raising Puppies and Children

A few thoughts inspired by a post on Reisner Veterinary

Behavior & Consulting Service's Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/ReisnerVetBehavior?fref=nf

I am going out on a limb here to quote my very unscientific
mother.

"Into each life a little rain must fall." How does that work for dog training?

Aversives are something the dog or child would rather avoid.

Sometimes the dog does not want to sit, sometimes the child does not want to pick up her room. If the parent or trainer insists the child or dog perform the task anyway this would be seen as an unpleasant situation to the young one.

When the task is accomplished the unpleasant stimulus goes away. (Mom backs off and allows the now compliant kid or puppy to engage in alternate, more pleasant behavior)

Why is it important to ask a dog (or child) to choose one behavior over another?

To me, SIT as an alternative to cat chasing is a form of IMPULSE CONTROL, and impluse control, is key to raising dogs and children who make good decisions.

As a mom and a dog trainer I don't hit and I don't yell. I don't use harsh correction collars on my dogs. There are however times that nothing happens until my canine or human subject makes the appropriate choice.

My Focus is to help the dog develop the internal control necessary to choose appropriate behaviors, even in challenging circumstances.

Appropriate behaviors for dogs include Sit, Down, Stay, Wait, Come, and walking calmly on leash without pulling or barking.

Am I a 100% positive trainer? Probably not. My goal is to be a firm, fair, consistant trainer who rewards good behavior often enough that I rarely have to stop everything in order to halt poor decisions.

7 month old Puppy Wilkes making good choices
Trained, in this instance, by Twiz the Cat.

reade more...

FOOLPROOF HOUSE TRAINING - FOR DOGS AND THEIR HUMANS

House training a puppy or dog is not magic. It is all about keeping a schedule, managing your dog's environment, and helping your dog learn by rewarding the correct thing. Punishing house breaking mistakes will delay your dog's learning.

1. Keep a schedule. How often does your dog eliminate? How soon after meals? Set an alarm.

2. Make sure your supervised puppy has lots of play and exploration time, but confine your dog to a crate or other small area when you cannot watch your dog or leave your home. (Watching your dog means, like a hawk, with the same attention you would give a two year old. If you are not watching, the mistake is on you, so don’t blame the dog.)

3. Dog’s give signals when they have to go. Very few walk purposefully to the door, give one articulate ‘woof’ and glance back to be sure you understand. They whine, pace, scratch circle, or go to the edges of a room, nudge you, nip you, etc. Learn these signals. Watch for them.

4. Be realistic about how long your dog can go without peeing. Just like us they eliminate more during waking hours. Puppies and small dogs go often, very often.

5. Take your dog to a designated potty spot ON LEASH. Stand there about 7 minutes or until the dog eliminates.

If Dog Goes. Reward with a treat.
***Take dog for a walk or play with dog! Dragging the dog right inside punishes going outside. Additional outside play also gives the dog time to eliminate again. Reward all outdoor eliminations.

If Dog does NOT go. Return dog to Crate.

Set timer for 15 – 20 minutes, try again.

6. Do not EVER punish your dog for peeing or pooping in your home. Never, ever, no exceptions, period.

a. If you punish the dog while they are going you don’t teach them it is wrong to eliminate in the house. You teach them it is dangerous to eliminate in front of humans. Now you have a dog who won’t eliminate on walks. They wait until they are inside and you leave the room, then it is ‘safe’ to go. (I've had several of these as fosters over the years, including one right now.)

b. If you punish your dog even 4 seconds after they are done going, they don't connect the accident to your behavior. They may have just been scratching their ear, and they think that is why you are angry. 'I was scratching and listening to the birds outside and he went nuts!" At this point the dog believes you are unstable and possibly dangerous.

7. Use Nature’s Miracle, it’s an enzymatic cleaner. If you want to use vinegar, baking soda, or your mother’s magic recipe, go ahead. Just use the Nature’s Miracle too. Without enzymatic cleaner the ‘spot’ smells like the Men’s Room at the Atlanta Bus Station to your dog. Enzymatic cleaner breaks down the chemical structure of the urine and feces. Available at pet shops and supermarkets.

8. If your dog keeps eliminating in the same ‘spot’ block access to that spot, unless it is the front or back door. If your dog is eliminating near an exit, you need to take them out on a more regular basis.

9. If this does not work, bring your dog to the veterinarian to check for medical reasons you and your dog are not successful. If the dog checks out medically then find a qualified dog trainer to help you with house training your dog.

#trainthisdog

Claudia Black-Kalinsky, CPDT-Ka
Cell: 912-677-2861
email: Claudia@trainthisdog.com
Web: http://www.catnipnbiscuits.com/

Web: Train This Dog

Association of Pet Dog Trainers
Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers