The four key stages of a puppy's life

Anti-social behavior in dogs can be traced to a lack of observance of the four early stages in a puppy’s development. Problems such as aggression towards humans, fear of strangers (humans and dogs), fear of children, separation-related barking, and exaggerated sexual behavior, are usually related to an interruption of their natural physiological trajectory at key points between birth and four months of age. Timing has a profound effect on the dog your puppy will eventually become.

Studies have shown that even in utero, high levels of stress hormone, can cross the placenta barrier and may affect unborn puppies, eventually, contributing adversely to their personality.

As per Jake Page, author of Dogs, A Natural History, puppies are the larval form of dogs; a newborn’s brain can control only heartbeat, breathing, and balance. J. P. Scott, co-author of Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog, and his colleagues identified four distinct phases of development in a dog’s path through puppyhood.

Neonatal period

In the first two weeks, a puppy cannot hear or see and cannot smell much beyond the warm scent of its mother, when she's nearby. At this stage, a puppy is pretty much just a sucking machine. Its repertoire of sound is limited to a weak whine or yelp. Using its front legs, it can only crawl forwards or in circles.

Puppies can suck on their own but usually need the mother to get them lined up at the breast, where they knead the teats, triggering the flow of milk. All a puppy knows of its world at two weeks, is what it can touch or taste. While feeding, the mother licks the puppy’s genitals and rear-end, to stimulate evacuation of urine and feces. This she consumes, to keep her puppies clean. Rarely does the paternal dog get involved with puppy rearing in a natural setting, unlike many canines in the wild.

In these first two weeks, most of a puppy’s nerve fibers have yet to develop what's called the myelin sheaths which aid in the exchange of signals between nerves. According to aesthetic preference, tail docking is performed in the first three days of life, as it was once thought that puppies were incapable of feeling pain at this stage. It’s now been confirmed that, to the contrary, puppies do feel the pain, just not right away. Tail docking serves no purpose and yet this cruel practice continues. It’s known that the tail is used as a primary method of communication between dogs. Denying them a tail permanently puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to communication amongst their own kind.

In this larval phase, puppies are insulated from most of the stresses of the world around them. The few nerves that are already more functional and properly sheathed, only go to the mouth, jaw, and part of the nervous system that affects balance. Gentle handling by humans at this stage creates dogs better able to handle stress as they grow older, in essence contributing to what is known as the “bounce-back” effect (the ability to remain calm in new situations, and, if startled, the ability to recover quickly).

Transitional period

Between two and three weeks puppies undergo a stunning transformation. Their eyes open though full sight will take a further six weeks.

Puppies now begin to move away from the nest for short distances, to poo and pee on their own, with no maternal stimulation. Play between puppies now begins with partial sight and the ability to move backward. By the end of the transitional period, most puppies can wag their tails in response to a pleasurable emotion elicited by a social object. Teeth are starting to come in and they begin to ineffectually bite and chew. This phase is over when their ear ducts open and they develop a startle response to sound. At this point puppies transition into a phase of exploration and discovery, of the new world, they can now perceive with all their senses.

By four weeks puppies have a sense of space. They can control body temperature and metabolism. They can stand and deal with soft foods.

At five weeks the mother begins to wean her babies. At seven weeks, puppies learn to compete with their siblings, communicating with one another via growling and snapping. More and more the mother will stand up and walk away when they try to nurse. Studies have shown that if she is particularly harsh with the weaning process, the puppies will usually grow up to be less sociable with humans, and perform less well with training tasks like fetching a ball.

By seven weeks the mother will start to stay away from the pups for long periods of time. The puppies will begin to move around in a group, following one another. Play behavior sets in, to a serious degree. Seven weeks is still a tremendously important time. If puppies are removed from their siblings at this point, they will likely become aggressive toward other dogs, in maturity. Many puppies are re-homed between six and eight weeks, to the detriment of their eventual ability to properly socialize with their own kind.

Conversely, if a puppy were to be put in with a litter of kittens at this stage, it would later avoid dogs and associate with cats—in essence altering its psychological species.

Six to eight weeks is now viewed as too early to remove a puppy from its siblings. Ten to twelve weeks is psychologically much healthier.

Socialization period relating to humans

That window between six to eight weeks is the most crucial time for puppies to develop social relations with humans. Gentle handling even a few minutes a day, for a few times per week by us (i.e. the breeder), will create these attachments.

Puppies that are not handled by humans in this phase will likely never develop the close human/dog bond that we seek with our pets—handling, petting, simple communication, teamwork to accomplish tasks, etc. They will instead much prefer the company of their own species.

This is where we get the most bang for our efforts when it comes to developing a stable, well-rounded dog, a dog that deals capably with both humans and dogs, with the capacity to fit successfully into the culture of a human household.

Events that occur in this period can have a profound effect on the adult pet they will become. As mentioned above, many of the problematic behaviors of anti-social dogs can be traced to the removal of a puppy, from its littermates, too early.

Juvenile period

At twelve weeks of age, the critical period of socialization wanes. Though it is possible to make progress with socialization after this time, it takes longer and requires a lot more work. The struggle for dominance can be seen in play behavior at this stage, though more pronounced in some breeds than in others (terriers for instance). All sense organs are now fully developed by twelve weeks. Rapid growth now slows at approximately sixteen weeks and between four and six months, a puppy’s baby teeth are rapidly replaced by adult teeth. 

Rich and positive experiences in puppyhood have a direct correlation to the development of a healthy diverse neural net. In essence, the richer and more expansive a puppy’s earlier experiences (positive experiences that is), the better they will be at learning, thinking, and training.

The Juvenile period ends at about six months at which time most puppies have achieved two-thirds of their final size and 80 percent of their eventual brain volume. Puppy’s start to reach sexual maturity at this point but most will continue to grow until about two years.

Check THE DOG BLOG again for more tips on training and canine well-being.

Resources

1) Dogs, A Natural History, by Jake Page

2) Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog, by John Paul Scott and John L. Fuller

Using rewards and praise effectively when it comes to dog training

At the core of contemporary dog training is a strategy called Positive Reinforcement. It’s simply the law of cause and effect. Or, when the consequence of a behaviour leads to a satisfying outcome, the dog is more likely to repeat that behaviour.

Positive reinforcement does not mean providing praise and rewards indiscriminately. In fact the more a dog is rewarded and praised, just for the act of breathing, the less you’re going to affect anything he or she does.

Dog’s don’t require compliments to build their confidence. What they do require to build confidence is clear communication from you, using a method of communication they can understand, and a reward only after the correct behaviour is achieved, so they know what they’ve done correctly.

If dogs could speak

Pet Parent: “Good boy, I love you”

Dog:  "Yes, thank you, so…what was that for, listening to my name five times and the cue to sit five times? I got so tired I sat down, then I got up to sniff out a nearby bug. So did you praise me for sitting down, getting up, or getting the bug?"

Pet Parent:  “Hector…focus, focus Hector. Good Boy Hector. Hector…watch me, watch me, Hector!”

Dog:  “Sorry, what were you going on about? I watched for a few seconds, then a bird flew by that I couldn’t resist. You praised me for something but what was it that I did that you liked? It’s impossible to understand with all those other sounds, and frankly, it’s just not interesting enough to try.”

Communication and timing versus indiscriminate praise

A big part of positive reinforcement is a lot less about praise and a lot more about rewards provided at exactly the right moment. Not before and not after you’ve spent 10 seconds trying to fish a treat out of a baggie not yet opened, from your pocket.

It’s simple: Cue-mark-reward-release, in half-second increments. That’s the most effective sequence of communication, for both you and your dog to follow, every time, when it comes to training. Get yourself prepared first, before asking a dog to do something. Have the hand with the rewards ready, held behind your back, and make sure that bag of rewards is hidden also. Don’t have two hands out front when providing a hand cue. It’s too confusing for a dog. The hand providing the cue is the only one that should be out front. Use a pouch versus a baggie. With a pouch, rewards are out of sight but readily accessible to dole out at the moment the dog’s in position. Once the dog is in position, count to five, to yourself, then mark the dog’s success, and reward him. Building in that little pause ensures the dog is not immediately popping up before being released.

For example:

1)  Ask the dog to sit, just “SIT”, don’t load in a lot of extra words for the dog to try to figure out.

2)  When she sits, count to five, then mark that behaviour with a clear, upbeat word, like “YES”. Use the same clear, upbeat tone every time to mark that behaviour, or consider using a clicker to mark the desired behaviour.

3)  Immediately follow by providing a food reward to the dog. Only provide the reward if the dog is still in position, i.e. still sitting, if you asked her to sit, not if she gets up. If she gets up, withhold the reward until she sits back down again.

This is true communication with your dog, it’s behavioural communication on your part and it’s what you need to learn so your dog can understand what you want.

4) Have plenty of Cheerio-sized food rewards on hand and easily accessible, within a half-second.

5)  Finish with that five-second pause and a very specific release cue, like “GOOD JOB”. Don’t skip the release cue. It’s just as important as anything else. It should also be clear, upbeat, and used every single time your dog has finished a task. A dog needs to know when the work is done. Without a release cue, the dog decides when it’s time to get up and leave. With a well trained release cue, they wait until you “release” them to get up and leave.

Dogs understand best when you use the same one-syllable words, as cues. They understand that a specific sound relates to a specific behaviour. They don’t understand the meaning of the actual words.

Using a dog’s name correctly

“Stay, Hector…Hector, stay…No….I said “STAY” Hector.”

Don’t ask your dog to SIT and STAY, then say their name. You’ve just asked them to sit and stay...and to come to you, at the same time. How can they do both at the same time? When a dog hears their name, they think you’re calling them. The more you use their name, the less value it has for when you do actually want to call them. Reserve the use of their name for recalls only.

Hierarchy of rewards

Now let’s look at the hierarchy to that satisfying outcome I mentioned earlier. As much as we might wish for our dogs to perform for our love and attention, let’s get serious, is the “GOOD BOY” sentiment going to hold the same value as a yummy morsel of chicken or cheese?

In order to increase production at your job, which is more likely to compel you to work a little harder? A pat on the back from the boss, or a big cash bonus? Dog’s aren’t saints. They’re guiltless and self-serving just like any other living creature, i.e. the survival instinct. The reward for additional work must appear as “worth the effort” to them.

Food rewards provide the highest motivation and not just any food. Proteins make the top of the list: plain cooked chicken, cheese, chicken wiener, beef, etc. Food holds a very innate biological value with them. Rewards don’t have to be big. Cheerio-sized bits of food work best and will allow you to work longer with your dog, before filling him up. Don’t expect him to work very hard, for a piece of kibble he gets at every meal.

The higher value the reward, the faster your dog learns an associate behaviour. The higher his satisfaction level, the more motivated he will be to repeat the behaviour.

Toys can be fairly motivating, however, in my experience, toys only work if the dog has been conditioned as a young puppy to respond to toys. This means a lot of whipping them up to a high state of excitement as a puppy, and we are usually trying to teach them to “tone the excitement down” as puppies due to excess nipping, scratching, and jumping.

Praise really makes the bottom of the list, mostly because people provide it so often and so indiscriminately that it loses most of its value. As a vocal species, our first impulse is to attempt to modify their behaviour with our vocal praise. Whether this form of communication holds much value is still in question since dogs don’t seem to derive much pleasure even from vocalizations of other dogs. If you really must include praise in training, use it as the release cue. When the dog performs correctly, the behaviour is marked and rewarded, then released with the praise word and a pat, and allowed to move away on his own.

Petting for bonding and engagement

Petting is actually a stronger reinforcer than praise. A dogs’ heart rate and blood pressure decrease when you pet him (assuming he’s used to being petted to a high degree and enjoys it), endorphins, prolactin, oxytocin, and dopamine increase which has a calming effect and which plays a large part in the bonding process between you and your dog.

Interchangeable rewards

Consider using various levels of reward. For instance, a piece of kibble or carrot may work in the house but step up the value outside where there is going to be a lot more distraction. Mix it up, dogs will eventually tire of any reward if there is no variety. Dogs love variety in food just as we do. Use different rewards in different places, taking the level of distraction he or she will encounter.

Fading of rewards

The end goal, of course, is to remove most of the reward aspect to cues. You use rewards strategically, and often, at the beginning when your dog is learning something new. That keeps them motivated to work with you. Once they understand the command and concept, it’s time to strategically fade off using rewards.

• Start asking for two or three cues before providing a reward
• Increase the duration of a cue before providing a reward
• When out walking, use some rewards but over time, work down to only a few throughout the walk.
• Ask for a sit then reward, then ask for a stay and provide just praise, then perhaps ask for a down and sit, for a reward
• Make rewarding unpredictable. Less predictability means more anticipation on the dog’s part; more motivation for him to work with you

When it comes to training, words are tools like anything else so use them with precision and for specific purposes.

THE DOG BLOG is a great resource for tips on training and canine well-being. Got questions or a topic in mind? Let me know via the comments box. I would love to hear from you.

Additional resources:

https://blog.smartanimaltraining.com/2015/01/27/dog-training-praise-or-treats/

"I'm ready Mom, let's go!" Whisky, one of my Sept. 12, 2020, Puppy Level, graduates

Hand cues, verbal cues, and embracing the whole picture

A couple of weeks ago a former student paid me a visit, with her little Yorkie, Whisky. She wanted to demonstrate how well Whisky had retained the skills learned in my training classes (sit, down, stay, etc.), so well, that Whisky could show them off in two languages. In fact, she'd had her little dog demonstrate these shock-and-awe moves, a few times, for her colleagues at work.

True to this claim, Whisky bounced into a sit, a down, and a stay, first in Punjabi then English, right there in front of me, that very afternoon. What I knew, however, but perhaps the co-workers did not, was that Whisky wasn't really paying attention to either the Punjabi or the English words, she was watching for her owner's body language and hand cues (the same in both languages you may have guessed). It’s a perfect example of how dogs perceive what we’re asking of them and how they interpret what we're communicating.

Interspecies communication is not restricted to dogs only. And it has its quirks. I used to have a beautiful little budgie named Fruit Loop, who, upon my “bedtime” hand cue, would dutifully climb down from the top of his cage, and enter his house for the night—as long as I made the request standing to the left of his door. If I made the same request from the right, he completely ignored me, or, more accurately, did not understand what he was seeing.

A similar example is when I send my own dog to the bathroom, which happens when I need to open the front door. When cued she will dutifully comply if we follow the same route down the hall. If I alter the route, she won’t enter the bathroom. For her, the composite of hand cue, verbal cue, and route must all align before I get compliance. To alter this dynamic, I would have to put a bit of extra effort into something called generalization.

Generalization means a dog understands a cue no matter where they are or where you are. You may expect that “sit, down or stay” should be understood by them, at home, at the park, at a friend’s, or down in the basement, beside the dryer, while you’re doing the laundry, but dogs are actually not very good at intuitively making this kind of a leap. They are capable of improving their generalization skills if you’re willing to work with them a little harder. The more places you take them, to teach them, practiced verbally and separately, by hand cue, the better they get at it, which is why I teach the same cues in different corners of both my classroom and the far reaches of the store, where I hold my training sessions. Generalization should be considered as an integral part of the cueing system.

For dogs, reading us or interpreting our requests, is more like reading a composite image. It’s not just one thing, it’s a whole picture of what your hands are doing, what shape your body makes, proximity to a piece of furniture perhaps, i.e. where you usually make a certain request, and what sounds and tone comes out of your mouth. If you are careful to use the same body language to communicate with your dog, you’ll get a much more consistent response. Clear, consistent hand gestures (cues or signals, in training language) are by far, the more effective means to communicate with them. Dogs will also follow verbal cues but it’s much harder for them, especially since humans tend to speak in sentences to their dogs, mushing the actual verbal cue in with many other unintelligible human words.

Pros and cons of verbal versus hand cues

One instance where a verbal cue (let’s say “sit/stay”) would be preferable would be when bringing in groceries if you're toting arm loads of bags.

Another highly successful strategy in using verbal cues includes counting to your dog. Hearing the simple sounds of numbers gets their attention. Perhaps, unlike words and sentences, numbers are clear and the same every time. There’s a rhythm to counting that’s predictable for them. I use counting to create an association between the last number of a “1,2…3” sequence, and the food reward that follows, when teaching loose leash walking skills. 

But while a dog may get very good at following your verbal cues, they may have trouble understanding someone else’s verbal cues since tone and inflection are an integral part of what they understand.

A dog can better follow hand cues, in the case of multiple people, such as several family members, or if a dog has hearing issues.

It should also be noted that dogs are nearsighted, something like 20/75 if you want to compare to human vision. In addition, their colour perception is limited. This makes hand cues very effective up to a certain point, after which, it may be hard for them to properly read the subtleties of a hand cue. If your dog is far away or out of sight you’d better have a back-up verbal or sound cue to rely on such as a clicker, a whistle, or a solid verbal recall using their name.

THE DOG BLOG is a great resource for tips on training and canine well being. Got questions or a topic in mind? Let me know via the comments box. I would love to hear from you.

Additional resources:

1) https://iheartdogs.com/ask-a-dog-trainer-verbal-cues-vs-hand-signals/

2) How to Speak Dog, Mastering the Art of Dog-Human Communication, by Stanley Coren

 

 

Resource guarding is a natural part of your dog’s emotional makeup. Our expectations are unrealistic if we think we'll never see it to some degree. You can compare it to expecting that a human should never, in their lives, ever lose their temper. Like all animals, dogs will behave aggressively when feeling threatened and in order to defend resources. 

Resource guarding most often happens around food items but dogs will also guard:

• toys or objects perceived as play objects
• areas they like to sleep such as a bed or a couch
• their owner, who mistakenly feels their dog is protecting them when in fact, their dog is actually commodifying them (i.e. this human’s my dispenser of food and affection! Back off!) This one’s more common in a multi-pet home where there is only one lap to enjoy but can manifest out there on walks as well.

I want it because you want it

Often a dog will place a high value on an object only because he sees you want it back so urgently. Rather than allowing access to valuable objects, put them away until the dog is older so you don’t get into an antagonistic routine of constantly pulling things from his mouth. This behaviour only builds a relationship of resentment and mistrust, which in turn, creates trigger-stacking and aggression.

When my Jack Russell Terrier was a puppy I quickly discovered that she was far craftier, and faster than I, with unending endurance for bouncing just out of reach when she’d stolen something. Among many other objects, she was a master at grabbing socks and I was driving myself crazy trying to save them all from utter destruction. When I stopped chasing her for them, she started bringing them to me to entice me to play. Instead of grabbing for them, I would offer a Cheerio but only once she dropped the sock. Very quickly she started bringing me all sorts of things for a trade, including the socks (intact and no longer shredded). After that I would take the initiative by asking her to “find the sock”, and that was the start of a very happy and healthy “find and retrieve” game we still share today. This is called putting a behaviour on cue and you can do this with all kinds of less than desirable behaviours, like reorienting your dog to come to you rather than leaving him barking and jumping at the front door when the doorbell rings. Don’t fight it, shape it into something fun that’s rewarding for both of you.

Start some object exchange exercises so you’ll be prepared for the next time he takes your new shoe or a bottle of vitamins you've accidentally dropped on the floor

1) Give the puppy an object he’ll only mildly be interested in

2) Hold out your hand and say “give”

3) Take the object away, gently, without pulling

4) Provide a nice treat in exchange

5) Give the object back and repeat several times until he's dropping the object on his own

6) Move gradually up to objects he might value more highly, perhaps something like your new shoe that he’s found on his own.

I would practice these exercises throughout his puppyhood to really engrain the cue.

Food bowl exercises for puppies

Food bowl desensitization is just as important as the proper handling of toys and objects, if not more so. It should start as soon as you bring your puppy home and commence feeding.

Without a pro-active strategy in getting a puppy comfortable with mealtime company (yours) while eating, most dogs will develop resource guarding behaviours such as:

• a hard stare
• freezing
• gobbling food faster
• growling
• snarling
• snapping
• possibly a bite

When feeding puppies

1) Sit beside him and hang around while he eats

2) Put his bowl on the floor but keep your hand on it until it’s half consumed. Start a verbal cue like “want more?”, then pick the bowl up, add an additional yummy treat and give the bowl back to him. 

3) The whole household should perform these exercises so the puppy learns to expect the same behaviour from all family members. Dog’s are not good generalizers. They have to learn what to expect from each person.

Adult dogs new to your home

Object exchange exercises can and should be implemented with new adult companions, the process is the same as with puppies. Food bowl exercises are even more important and take a bit more care.

Dogs are usually more trusting of one person when it comes to their food bowls. That trust does not usually extend to other people not involved in their feeding routines which is why it’s important that everyone (young children exempted) participates in the feeding protocols.

The time to set ground rules is as soon as your new companion joins your household before any negative patterns develop. However, they can be implemented with existing canine family members, with a bit more care.

Food bowl strategy is similar to how we teach puppies but, of course, there is more risk with a grown dog, especially one who is new to your home. You might want to start off with a protective glove, to first determine the dog’s tolerance levels.

When placing the bowl on the floor, do not let go. Sit down as you’ll be there while he finishes,

• hand on the bowl, to the dog, means “this food is my owners and she’s sharing”

• hand off the bowl, to the dog, means “this food is now mine”

• hand returning to the bowl, to the dog, now means, “my owner is attempting to steal what’s mine and I’m protecting my property”             

• When the dog has finished, wait for him to move off even if the bowl is empty. In his mind, it’s his until he walks away.

Once he seems comfortable with your presence and routine (likely over a period of weeks):

1) Sit beside him and hang around while he eats

2) Put his bowl on the floor but keep your hand on it until it’s half consumed. Start a verbal cue like “want more?”, then pick the bowl up, add an additional yummy treat and give the bowl back to him.

3) The whole household (small children exempted until they are older) should do this so the dog learns to expect the same behaviour from all family members. Dog’s are not good generalizers so they have to learn what to expect from each person.

THE DOG BLOG is a great resource for tips on training and canine well being. Got questions or a topic in mind? Let me know via the comments box. I would love to hear from you.

Additional Resources: 

1) Culture Clash, A revolutionary new way of understanding the relationship between humans and domestic dogs, by Jean Donaldson

2) Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs, by Jean Donaldson

Banner photo courtesy of skeeze from Pixabay

One of the biggest reasons people sign up for dog training is to stop their dogs from pulling on the leash.

First day of class, more often than not, students bring (or drag) the dogs in, sit down, and proceed to wind the leash up around their arm. It's an attempt to force good behaviour and silence. What it actually creates is anxiety, reactivity, and….guess what? Pulling.

Now's the time to take a good hard look at our relationship with the leash, why we continue to pull, and what we can do to break our own bad habits.

Why people pull

• A person pulls on the leash to attempt to teach their dog to walk beside them.
• A person pulls on the leash to gain the dog’s attention.
• A person pulls on the leash to stop the dog from jumping on a visitor.
• A person pulls on the leash to attempt to correct their dog’s inappropriate behaviour, because they feel the dog is embarrassing them.
• A person pulls on the leash because they’ve been doing it for so long they do it on reflex, even when unnecessary.

Why dogs pull

• A dog pulls because when he does, you follow him, and forward progress can be made.
• A dog pulls because you’ve tried to teach her to walk closer to you by yanking her backward. When you jerk the leash it momentarily goes slack, followed by that hard, painful jerk. So now by association, the dog expects the pain will instantly follow, as soon as the leash loosens up. In essence, you’ve actually conditioned her to constantly pull, to avoid the painful jerk.
• A dog pulls when you use an extendable leash (a Flexi) which is designed to always be taut so even if the dog tries to walk with a slack leash, he can’t and therefore gives up trying. Not only is the leash always taut but it varies in length (sometimes three feet, sometimes 15 feet) so the dog never learns what a consistent working distance means.
• A dog pulls when you are frustrated and sometimes yell, making her much less willing to stay closer to you and engage with you. Your frustration stresses her out. The more stressed she is the more erratic and reactive she will be on a walk.

Expect that teaching a dog to walk on a slack leash does not happen overnight. It’s going to take a few months of teamwork. Take a pocket full of Cheerios or something he or she likes with you, every time you go out. Make staying around you fun and worthwhile.

Why Loose leash walking should be implemented

Loose leash walking allows for some of the dog’s natural instincts to be exercised like stopping and sniffing from time to time, moving in fan pattern ahead of you as long as the leash is slack. Exploration and sniffing are important for a dog's mental health. Remember that it’s their walk too and getting from point A to point B in record time, is the last thing on your dog’s mind though it may be first and foremost on yours. Remember that a dog’s sense of smell is 100,000 times stronger than ours. Dogs live for scent so allow them to experience the world through their nose. Unlike us, their vision is not very good, something like 20/75, compared to ours, and they have only a limited ability to discern colour.

NOTE: Loose leash walking is not heeling where the dog walks at your left side only, with the ability to match his pace to yours as you speed up or slow down. If your dog has not mastered loose leash walking, good luck teaching the more structured task of Heeling.

How to get started

• To start off, find an empty parking lot where you and your dog have less distraction to deal with.
• Give your dog the full extent of the leash (six feet, no shorter) and let her sniff around. If she pulls towards something, STOP!
  Do not move forward. Do not pull her and do not allow her to pull you.
• Almost always she will look back at you to see why you’ve stopped. Call to her in a happy, upbeat voice. If she’s prone to jumping up, avoid eye contact to allow her to just focus on the task at hand. If she comes back, reward and praise. If she’s still distracted, simply turn in the opposite direction and (without pulling) start walking the other way. She’ll start to follow and you can drop a few Cheerios behind your foot for encouragement. Think of the kids game Red Light/Green Light, only in this case, your only move when the leash is slack. You always stop when the leash goes taut.
• If the dog doesn’t seem to hear you and is focused on sniffing or listening to something in the environment, give him a few moments. Dogs are not good at multitasking. If a dog is using one sense (like his nose) his brain actually cuts out most of his other senses. A gentle touch will usually bring his focus back to you.

Making it fun

Dogs love to hear you count. It’s something I discovered while teaching class, helping students build duration into their “watch me” cue. My guess is that, unlike regular human speech which must seem like monotone mush to a dog’s ears, counting is simple, crisp, and consistent. It never varies so eventually a dog learns to recognize the individual sounds. Let’s take this method a little further and apply it to loose leash walking.

Start your dog walking by your side and count “One”, “Two”, “Three”. On “Three” provide a reward. Repeat, repeat, repeat…The process is continuous just like learning to waltz (1, 2, 3, 1, 2,3, 1, 2, 3…).
Make sure you are counting to the dog, nice and clear, with a bit more emphasis on the “Three”. Think of the sound you make when pushing a child on a swing. That’s the kind of enthusiasm your “Three” should embody. Continue this method and very quickly your dog starts to associate “Three” as the signal that his treat will follow. Counting will keep your dog in exactly the right position for short stretches at a time. Once your dog performs well you can build in more duration by adding a longer and longer pause between "two" and "three". Once your dog is fairly consistent, you can drop the counting and use for times on a walk, when he or she is having trouble staying close.

Dangers of the "Jerk" method of walking

Jerking the dog to gain their attention or compel them to stop pulling, has many unwanted side effects.

One hard jerk on a leash, or small ones over time, can damage your dog’s thyroid gland, trachea, neck, and back. It often results in whiplash and in fact, some veterinarians have suggested that blindness and poor eyesight in dogs may be a result of equipment hindering blood circulation to their brain.

Another negative consequence is that dogs feel choked and/or pain, from a jerk, when approaching another human or dog as their owners try to restrain them. They then may associate that pain with strange people and other dogs, in which case you’re actually teaching your dog to be fearful and aggressive.

Where possible use a harness for walking. In fact, small dogs should always be walked with a harness. They should never be walked using a collar. If you are using a collar for a large breed dog, ensure it’s as wide as possible. There are some great harnesses out there for large breed dogs with a good heavy-duty handle, sewn in, right above the shoulder area. Grasping the handle, just before a dog reacts to something, saves your joints, his neck and signals what you expect of him much more effectively.

Learning for puppies

Remember that puppies, no matter their size, are still only babies. They have little in the way of focus and concentration. Don’t force a puppy to work for longer than they are able. To start a puppy off with loose leash walking, keep the walks short, maybe 10 minutes at three months of age, adding on another five minutes, for each month.

Learning for adult dogs

When you and your dog have mastered loose leash walking in that parking lot, that’s the time to try out your new skills in a normal, dynamic environment. Always keep some rewards in your pocket but once you’re getting good solid consistency you can start rewarding less often. A varying, unpredictable schedule for rewarding, develops the best performance.

THE DOG BLOG is a great resource for tips on training and canine well being. Got questions or a topic in mind? Let me know via the comments box. I would love to hear from you.

Additional Resources: 

1)  My Dog Pulls. What do I do? by Turid Rugaas

2)  Teach the Leash, Loose Leash Walking, by Pamela Dennison

3)  Control Unleashed, Reactive to Relaxed, by Leslie McDevitt

 

Like people, canine personalities come in all shapes and sizes

There are the extroverts, the reserved and the truly inhibited. The latter is my focus for this blog post. In most cases, fearful dogs who seem unwilling to perform certain behaviours, do so because they lack the ability. If a dog does not experience socialization, novelty and new things as a puppy, it will have a harder time in adulthood to learn new skills.

A dog can also suffer from a past trauma for many years. In addition, some dogs out there simply have a genetic predisposition to be wary and easily startled. Expecting a timid dog to behave like a confident dog, is unrealistic. Training needs to be modified to alter their world view. As pet parents, we have to tailor our approach to suit their unique needs.

Let’s take a look at three aspects of the canine emotional landscape to understand our shrinking violets a little better

Fear is an emotional response that happens when an animal feels they are in danger.

Anxiety is the anticipation of future danger, whether it’s real or not.

Stress is mental or emotional strain resulting from tense circumstances. It can happen as a result of a single event or it can develop over a period of time when a dog is subject to several continual background stressors.

All change is rooted in creating an environment where a dog feels safe

Tell visitors to ignore your fearful companion. Let the dog initiate any social interaction. Know your dog’s triggers and the threshold for tolerance. Train to gain your dog’s attention. Show your dog that great things follow when they pay attention to you.

The name of the game is to create positive associations

When it comes to anxiety it’s not about altering how a dog behaves in a certain situation. It’s all about changing how they feel about that situation. It’s about finding ways to develop their confidence, the behaviour will then change on its own.

Take the pressure off a dog that is fearful of new people. If the dog is new to your household and not ready to be social yet, avoid looking or talking to him. Feed meals by tossing bits of food to her, from a short distance. Move around, generally away from the dog and make sure the food is yummy enough to compel them to take a chance and move out to obtain it.

Desensitization is one very useful strategy. It works by exposing the dog to low threshold amounts of an uncomfortable situation and pairing with a high-value food reward, thus creating a positive association. Over time as the dog gains confidence, the food reward can be faded out.

Help your dog to avoid trigger stacking

Trigger stacking is an emotional response that happens when a dog is exposed to a single stressor he can’t get away from or when he’s exposed to continual low level, background stressors which eventually lead him to suddenly act out. Trigger stacking causes the buildup of Cortisol in a dog’s blood which is a stress hormone playing a key role in aggression. Cortisol lasts at least two days in a dogs system after a stressful event so if the dog is under continual levels of stress, even at low levels, it will be more prone to aggression.

For Example:
One new person petting a dog may be uncomfortable but tolerated by him. A second person attempting to pet him may cause him to react.

Getting dogs to move differently helps them to think differently

In order for dogs to change existing behaviour, they need to be able to learn new behaviours.

Most dogs want to learn what you want them to do. Show your dog what you want them to do, rather than just attempting to stop the behaviour you don’t like.

Nerves in our bodies control movement so if we change the way we move, we can change the way we think. Exercise addresses movement especially, after a stressful event, and lowers stress both in humans and dogs.

Check out some training classes for your shy companion. If she's not yet ready for group instruction, try some private classes to build confidence at a pace more in keeping with her comfort level. Novelty is important to help a dog’s brain continue to grow. Animal studies have shown that pleasant, new experiences activate the brain to release dopamine (a pleasure-inducing chemical that also helps the brain to process and learn new skills).

Learning actually changes the structure of the brain as new neurons and pathways between them are created. Owners of fearful or anxious dogs should find low threshold ways to provide novel experiences for their animals. Introduce new toys or items in your dog’s environment. Move their food and water bowls occasionally. Make up new games, Try out a puzzle toy for instance. Routine and predictability are the bedrock of a stable dog but also be sure to add some variety into their lives, to improve their ability to learn and adapt.

Strategies for living with an anxious dog

Don’t make a big deal about a scary incident. Learn to put your game face on. If you drop your cup of tea on the floor, keep calm and cool or try laughing. What can it hurt? Laughing is not going to change the fact that you’ll still need to mop up the mess but it may have a lowering effect on your blood pressure. Remember that your dog takes his cues from you and may perceive the experience with curiosity if you laugh, versus diving under the table if you shout and curse.

Don’t punish your dog for fearful behaviour. When a dog learns that you both recognize and respect their need for space, they’ll grow more trusting. If you punish fearful behaviour, they will stop giving you a warning and may just move straight on to biting the next time.

Behaviour medications

For some dogs with chronic anxiety, the fear is unending. Research shows just how much this kind of stress affects their health. The use of medications alone will not “fix” your dog but it may allow him or her to learn new skills, behaviours and confidence, which would otherwise be very difficult.

Resources

If you feel your dog’s situation warrants it, find a vet well versed in the use of behavioural medications.

If you want to do more research, a book called Clinical Behavioural Medicine for Small Animals, by Dr Karen Overall, is one of the top resources out there.

You might also check out A Guide to Living with and training a fearful dog, by Debbie Jacobs CPDT-KA, CAP.

And there is a lot of information on behavioural medications and supplements at American College of Veterinary Behaviorists www.dacvb.org

THE DOG BLOG is a great resource for tips on training and canine well being. Got questions or a topic in mind? Let me know via the comments box. I would love to hear from you.

 

How to mark the exact moment of your dog's success 

If I could provide only one piece of advice when it comes to training it would be to start using a clicker as soon as you bring your new companion home. Developing the clicker association even at six or eight weeks of age is not too early. Once your pup is a little older, his or her more formal skills such as walking on a leash and recall, will already be partially developed. Adult dogs can learn this system of communication with ease as well.

Clicker training (otherwise known as the mark and reward system) is used to create a fast and reliable association between your command and when your dog's performed as requested.

The clicker tool has a great advantage over human speech because a dog’s central nervous system can process the click many times faster than it can process a word. A spoken word must be recognized and interpreted before the dog understands that a behaviour is being marked. A click is processed instantly. It’s thought that a click goes directly to the instinctive, reflexive part of a dogs brain (the amygdala) while a word is processed in the cortex (the thinking part of the brain), which takes longer.

Once a dog is conditioned to a clicker, he will respond “reflexively” without having to stop and think about it.

Getting started

Suggestion: Perform the following exercise prior to a meal, not after, to keep the dog motivated.

Step 1.

Otherwise known as "loading the clicker", develops the association between the sound and the reward.

At home, start with 15 very small treats (cheerios, cheese, chicken, etc., something highly motivating). Make sure the pieces are small and soft. You will be doing rapid repetitions of this exercise so it’s important the dog can consume the treats quickly.

Step 2.

Start with the dog in front of you. Hold the treats in one hand and the clicker tool in the other. Click and provide a treat within a half-second (hold the clicker behind you or at your side, not too close to the dog's ear). Do this about 15 times. 

Your timing should be:

Click/treat, wait a beat; Click/treat; wait a beat, Click/treat, wait a beat...

Make sure the click comes before the treat, not after, and within that half-second window, for maximum effectiveness. Canine understanding only happens if a dog receives a reward within a half-second after attempting to do as you ask.

What we are doing is conditioning the dog to have an almost involuntary response to the sound of the clicker tool.

Step 3.

Perform this exercise twice a day for three days with your dog. By the fourth day he'll be whipping around corners in search of you. That’s when you know your dog has learned the clicker system successfully.

Step 4.

Will be to expand the use of clickers for other commands. Once the dog is clicker conditioned, click for his attention, and treat only once when he responds.

Name recognition

Clickers work really well in conditioning a dog to get ‘really excited’ and to pay attention when they hear their name. It means they sit up and takes notice, anticipating the new request you're going to send their way.

For example: If conditioned properly, the dog will look up when he hears his name, waiting for the next command such as “come”.

So…just like the loading exercise:

Step 1.

Start with the dog in front of you, treats in one hand, the clicker tool in the other.

Step 2.

Say his name, and perform the... click/treat, wait a beat; Say his name, then, click/treat; wait a beat, say his name, then, click/treat, wait a beat (do 10 or 15 repetitions in rapid succession).

Step 3.

Perform this exercise twice a day for three days. By the fourth day your dog will be snapping to attention when he hears the click, awaiting your next command.

What you’ve just taught him is that his name has great significance. Hearing his name means great things coming. His name is now synonymous with the click sound.

Step 4.

Eliminate the clicker as the use of his or her name now takes the place of the clicker sound:

- Call his name then...
- Give the “come to me” command, and...
- When he complies, reward him

Hide and seek

Once your dog responds reflexively to the clicker, reinforce his responsiveness by playing the hide and seek game.

Step 1.

Hide from your dog in your home, and click. When he or she finds you, provide the reward.

Make it easy for him or her to find you at first, then make it a little harder. Once they're good at the game, practise by adding in their name:

Hide:

- call his name/click and treat if he finds you
- call his name/click and treat if he finds you
- call his name/click and treat if he finds you

Step 2.

Once he’s good at the name game practise by calling his name only:

- call his name and treat if he finds you
- call his name and treat if he finds you
- call his name and treat if he finds you

 

So next time you're at the pet store, find the clickers and pick one up. For the cost of a toonie you'll reap the life-long pay off in great training skills with your dog.

THE DOG BLOG is a great resource for tips on training and canine well being. Got questions or a topic in mind? Let me know via the comments box. I would love to hear from you.

First graduate, June 11, 2020

Meet Toby, my first graduate with the reopening of training facilities in our community. Toby and his human partner completed intermediate level with me and most of my advanced program, before the pandemic hiatus. They returned earlier this month to finish advanced training and obtain their advanced certificate. Watching Toby and his pet parent work together now, is a true joy, and a testament to the real potential of dog and human teams when we commit to training as a lifestyle and not just something that happens for a few months, while our dogs are puppies.

Toby first came to my intermediate class at 11 months of age, and like most teenagers, he struggled with distraction and the ability to focus. Still, he was smart enough to grasp the necessary skills. A few months later he was back to complete the advanced classes, a little older, calmer, more receptive to working, due in part to simple maturity, and to his pet parent’s steady dedication to training, throughout his adolescence.

Come this August, Toby and his owner will be returning to join other students for the therapy dog program, and I can’t wait to participate in their partnership, once again.

Summer is usually quiet when it comes to dog training, however, like so many things due to COVID-19 restrictions, this season’s turning out to be very different…and very, very busy.

It’s only late June, new classes are filling almost faster than we can post them online. A great many people have adopted a furry little family addition over the past two months, or they were ready for classes a couple of months ago and are anxious to start training with their older puppies and adult dogs. By necessity, my curriculum has been tailored to suit our new COVID-19 reality which, paradoxically, makes for a richer classroom experience. With the observance of social distancing and smaller class sizes, pet parents and dogs get more individual attention. With the addition of masks (optional), I’m getting better adherence with hand signals; and with the requirement to maintain a six-foot distance from each other, pet parents become more skilled in managing their companions from several feet away.

To borrow from that famous line of Forest Gump, dog training is like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’re going to get.

Just this week I finished teaching the last three sessions of a beginner class that had been interrupted by the pandemic hiatus. This was a large group of eight originally, with several full-grown, powerful, reactive dogs, including but not limited to an Argentinean Dogo, a very solid terrier/boxer cross, a Siberian Husky, a game little Boston Terrier, and a 10 week old Golden Doodle puppy I had sheltered in a corner. It was the most challenging class I've run, to date. Those first three weeks were like standing in a powder keg. Air horn at the ready, I was constantly on my guard for problems.

Of those original eight, four returned recently to finish their last three weeks and, ironically, those that did were the Husky, the terrier/boxer cross, the game little Boston Terrier and (thankfully now much bigger and able to hold her own) the Golden Doodle puppy.

Time and fewer numbers had such a positive effect on the dynamics of this class. These particular pet parents continued to work on what they’d learned in the first three weeks so when they returned there was a marked improvement in both the management of their dogs and the skill level of the dogs themselves. For those final three weeks, the new four dog class maximum meant everyone could spread out. Both dogs and owners were much more relaxed and able to work and…every one of these dogs will be moving up to intermediate level.

There have been several requests to address potty training as well (an additional and very valuable part of my job). These seminars have not yet been approved but I’m hopeful for the fall and, in the meantime, if you and your puppy are struggling, check out two of my earlier blog posts to tide you over:

• Potty Training 101, Part 1: Setting your puppy up for success (February 2020), and…
• Potty Training 101, Part 2, Persistent training issues (March 2020)

THE DOG BLOG is a great resource for tips on training and canine well being. Got questions or a topic in mind? Let me know via the comments box. I would love to hear from you.

 The Seasons of a dog's life

Sadie, a grand lady at 12, almost 13 years of age

It started in early spring with SKY, a strange evening restlessness, a compulsion to ball up her blankets and dig, dig, dig. She no longer wanted to stay with us at night and began to seek out darker, more isolated places to sleep. Sometimes she would go out in the backyard and refuse to come in.

In the morning, she's fine, happy to greet us with her tennis ball, enticing us to play. Physically she’s enjoyed better-than-average health for a dog soon to be celebrating her thirteenth birthday. Her catlike tendencies are still sharp, running along the back of the couch, crawling under furniture after toys, dashing up and down the stairs with little effort. This repetitive nighttime behaviour is new.

As a trainer, owners have sometimes come to me with stories about their senior companions, so I had my suspicions as to what was happening with my own dog. The vet called it Canine Cognitive Dysfunction (CCD) but it’s also known as canine senility or canine dementia and it often goes unrecognized. Dogs are living longer these days so it’s not surprising they're also experiencing the same cognitive decline as we do, with age. Milder symptoms are circling or repetitive behaviour, wandering, house soiling, sleep disorders, decreased learning and increased levels of barking or whining.

More advanced symptoms could be pacing back and forth or in circles, losing the ability to recognize familiar places, staring into space, seeking out tight spaces, failing to remember known routines, etc. As with humans, canine dementia can be attributed to a build-up of beta-amyloid plaques around neurons which affect the transmission of nerve impulses in the brain. And, as with us, there is no cure but there are things we can do to delay more pronounced symptoms…

Management

• More daytime activity to provide fresh experience and mental exertion

• Increased social interaction to increase motivation

• More exposure to sunlight to regulate a dog’s sleep-wake cycle

• More toileting opportunities, on a regular basis, since older dogs simply can’t wait as long as they once could

• A change to prescription senior food that includes antioxidants for cellular-level health and medium-chain triglycerides 

• An addition of supplements to their diet, that contains amino acids which can reduce CCD related anxiety

How time flies...

Sky at two months, October 2006, when we were new and just beginning

Sky at seven months enjoying her sunny spot on the couch

Sky and my daughter Emma, puppy class graduation day, summer of 2007. Emma's a young woman now, just finishing university and with a new dog of her own

There are also some medications available, however, these can be hard on a senior dog’s liver and kidneys. For mild symptoms, my vet recommended Gravol to help Sky sleep, to be taken as needed. You should confirm the dosage with your own vet, depending on your dog’s weight. For now, I found this was a very effective and minimally invasive solution. In addition, I've kicked her training routines up a notch.

In closing, as the Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas once wrote "Do not go gentle into that good night..." Find ways to get your dog excited about life again. Improvements and substantial delays can be made to this unavoidable decline, just as new experiences and new routines can make a difference with us.

THE DOG BLOG is a great resource for tips on training and canine well-being. Got questions or a topic in mind? Let me know via the comments box. I would love to hear from you.

 

What your dog sees is no longer black and white

...which is why it's important to pay attention to colour for training routines and choosing toys.

Originally, scientists thought dogs could only see in black and white. It’s now been proven that our four-legged companions are able to experience colour.

To prove this theory, Italian researchers created a measurable way to assess colour vision in animals using a modified version of the Ishihara’s Test (used to determine colour blindness in humans). What was discovered is that a dog’s range of colour vision would be similar to yours and mine IF we were affected by red/green colour blindness. The Ishihara’s Test for humans uses numbers, disguised in a circle of red and green dots. 

People with red/green colour blindness can't see the green W in the first circle. They might also have problems seeing the green 3 in the second circle.

 For dogs, the scientists used images of cats (animated frames) instead of numbers, and according to the study's lead author, Dr Marcello Siniscalchi, the findings have a bearing on how you train your dog, especially when trying to improve their ability to pay attention.

Dogs see a simpler palette than we do. Where we can see dozens of variations between hues, dogs can only see shades of blue, yellow, and some shades of gray. A dog's colour vision is limited because they have only two types of cones, compared with three types in human eyes. Dogs would see a rainbow as dark brownish yellow to light yellow, grays, and light blue to dark blue. They can’t see red, orange, or purple (violet).

So remember to choose your dog toys with colour in mind. Stick to blue instead of red since dogs do have the capacity to see some blue shades. A red toy is going to be hard to distinguish from the grass if it's lying on the ground in the backyard.

In addition, if you're outside, avoid red clothing and shoes for training since it will be harder for your dog to see your body movements against the green grass. Dogs also function more accurately with agility training when the equipment is painted in colours they can easily see.

Coupled with a limitation of colour vision, dogs are also very nearsighted. In the following chart, compare our average 20/20 vision on the left, to a dog's average 20/75 vision on the right.

The term 20/20 refers to the clarity and sharpness of human vision at a distance of 20 feet.

Below, the picture on the left shows how we would experience this moment. On the right is the same scene depicting how our dog would see it.

And...as the canoe gets closer

 And your dog's toy box, within a few feet

In closing, before you assume your dog is at a disadvantage it's important to remember that vision is only one of five senses humans and canines use to navigate the environment around them. A dog's sense of smell is up to 10,000 times stronger than ours. A dog's hearing is also better than ours when it comes to high-pitched sounds and a variety of very low sounds below our level of detection. When it comes to survival, evolution has prioritized other senses, over vision, for most creatures on earth.

THE DOG BLOG is a great resource for tips on training and canine well being. Got questions or a topic in mind? Let me know via the comments box. I would love to hear from you.

 

For standard potty training advice, puppies two to six months old, see last month’s blog post: Potty Training 101, Part 1: Setting your puppy up for success, dated February 11, 2020

Consider this post for house training issues that linger beyond six months.

Has your puppy hit a potty training plateau?

Most puppies will be completely house trained by the time they are six months old—if their pet parents have been vigilant in always reinforcing a good potty training schedule. However, if your puppy is not quite there yet, don’t worry, there are a number of valid reasons for late bloomers.

1. Consider the size of your puppy

Late potty training competence can affect smaller breeds because they have much smaller bladders and therefore need to go out to do their business much more frequently than large breed puppies.

Small and toy breeds are more difficult to house train but it may be due to the fact that owners don’t recognize the special challenges that go along with house training micro puppies. It may be closer to a year to expect full compliance with toy breeds, to give their bladders time to reach full size.

Not surprisingly, what’s been considered some of the harder breeds to house train are:

• Dachshunds
• West Highland White Terriers
• Jack Russell Terriers
• Maltese
• Bichon Fries
• Pomeranians
• Yorkshire Terriers
• Pekinese
• Havanese
• Italian Greyhounds

It should be noted that I have a 13-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, who was first toilet trained to a litter box because I adopted her in the dead of winter, then nudged to the backyard for toileting purposes, in springtime. What worked with her was a very consistent schedule for going outside to do her business, and consistent praise and reward when she correctly eliminated outside. I still maintain her outside schedule with little variation. And if I need to be out of the house for four hours, she’s crated and then taken out to the backyard, as soon as I come home. Larger breeds may not feel the need to eliminate more than twice a day. I know that wouldn’t work with my little dog. Those that are considering a small breed dog should also be available to take them out to their toilet area, six or seven times a day. On a positive note, small breed dogs also don’t need to walk long distances for exercise and toileting needs, as compared to medium and large dogs.

Since these smaller dogs are often apartment dwellers that spend most of their time inside, why not consider an indoor solution. What's important is to find a reliable system for their toileting routine and if getting them outside in time, is causing them to fail, and you to pull your hair out, set up their toileting area in a spare bathroom with a litter box. Then get them outside for the simple pleasure of walking and exploring.

Pet parents also need to pay special attention when puppies are playing as, like children, they tend to notice the urge only when they can’t hold it any longer, and will just stop suddenly and squat before showing any signs of distress. In this case, interrupting playtime to go outside is a good idea until they are older. This action helps to teach the puppy to pay attention to the need to go during playtime and head for the door.

If you’re fast enough, grab a treat when Puppy starts to squat inside, call and lure her to the backyard but wait till she finishes toileting, before providing the reward.

2. Feed and water on a regular schedule

I mentioned this in last month’s blog but it bears mentioning again; in order to help a dog eliminate on a regular schedule, you need to feed and water on a regular schedule. This means food and water are provided at the same time every day. Allow the dog about 20 minutes to eat, then pick the bowl up and don't provide more until the next meal. Water should also be given five or six times a day but don’t leave it on the floor until your puppy is better able to control his or her bladder. Free-range feeding (leaving food on the floor all day for the dog to graze) will sabotage your potty training goals.

There are exceptions to this rule, especially for tiny dogs who can be prone to hypoglycemia. If you have a tiny dog, ask your vet to help you with a healthy feeding schedule, appropriate to the breed.

3. Reduce the free-range house privileges

By tethering your dog to yourself you can eliminate the dog sneaking off to a private corner while you’re not watching. This means you do need to develop a strict schedule for taking your puppy outside so that he or she begins to internalize that elimination routine. Reduce his or her area to roam freely in the house, to an area you can watch at all times. If you take the puppy out to pee and nothing happens, put your puppy in the crate for 20 minutes and then try again. Praise and reward, reward, reward, for success. Once your puppy is fully reliable, you can wean off the treats but do retain the praise.

And…there’s nothing like play and exercise to stimulate bladder and bowels. Weather permitting with a fenced-in yard, get your puppy outside, chasing a ball and see how fast you can get him emptied out while having some fun.

4. Use the proper kind of bedding in the crate

Ensure that puppy’s bedding inside the crate is not too “cushy”. This encourages puppies to poo or pee in one corner because the bedding absorbs the moisture enough for them to nest in a separate corner. While a puppy is still working on potty skills, use only a thin layer of padding in the crate, such as a flannel blanket folded to two layers.

5. Clean up accidents using products that eliminate all odour

Minimizing toileting in the house is two-part. You want to eliminate attractive odour and you want to break the habit. Soap and water or vinegar will not break up the scent of urine. A dog has 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses, compared to about six million in humans. A dog's brain is wired for smell and works 40 times harder than ours when it comes to processing smell.

A dogs' sense of smell is something like 10,000 to 100,000 times as acute as ours. It’s no wonder they are so preoccupied with smelling everything when they get outside, to the frustration of their owners who are impatiently focused on walking continuously in a straight line, with little to no distractions. Alexandra Horowitz, a dog-cognition researcher and author of Inside of a Dog, states that dogs can detect some scents in parts per trillion; that while we might notice if our coffee has a teaspoon of sugar added to it, a dog can detect a teaspoon of sugar in a million gallons of water.

Enough said. This should convince you to use a cleaning product like Natures Miracle, which includes an enzymatic formula to break up urine molecules. Any cleaner you get must include the enzymatic ingredients to dissolve lingering scent.

The second part of addressing accidents is to break the habit of going back to that same spot to eliminate. Once you’ve taken care of the cleaning, move the furniture to a different location or place a new piece of furniture over the area where the dog has eliminated before.

6. Handle submissive peeing and peeing to greet correctly, to reduce occurrences 

Entry into adolescence can sometimes increase the frequency of submissive peeing (when a dog pees in front of you or a guest, for no understandable reason). A dog is communicating its willingness to be friends with this behaviour. Never scold a dog for doing this. Simply ignore the behaviour and clean up the mess. Punishing a dog for submissive peeing will only make him work harder at convincing you he wants to be friends, i.e. more submissive peeing. Try not to loom over a dog who exhibits this behaviour either and ask visitors not to do so. Looming over a dog can also trigger submissive peeing. Looming over a dog you don’t know can trigger a fear or aggressive reaction as well.

7. Actively supervise for male marking in the house

Attempting to mark in the house appears with the onset of adolescence. Both sexes will mark in the house but it’s much more prevalent in males. It may be even more common now since most vets prefer not to neuter until your puppy is nine to fourteen months old (depending on breed), to allow for full bone development in larger dogs.

There are a couple of ways to counteract marking in the house. The first is to tether your dog to you so you can catch him attempting to lift his leg, at a moment’s notice, and redirect him outside. The second is to use a male belly band that fits around his middle. With a belly band, you can catch the dog in the behaviour without urine reaching your furniture and leaving a lingering scent. Catching the dog with his leg at half-mast means you can quickly redirect him outside. Always provide a reward after he completes the job where he's supposed to go. The band can help you to better understand your puppy’s urination habits.

As noted above, it’s important to properly clean all areas of floor and furniture where the dog has successfully marked, using the proper kind of cleaner, so he’s not compelled to redo his handy work.

Take heart, if you are vigilant with routine and schedule, your late bloomer will achieve house training consistency, usually by 12 months.

THE DOG BLOG is a great resource for tips on training and canine well being. Got questions or a topic in mind? Let me know via the comments box. I would love to hear from you.

Set your new puppy up for success

Potty training your puppy isn’t just about keeping the carpets clean. It’s also about developing the foundation of how you and your new companion will work together, for many years to come.

It will take observation, patience, commitment and lots of consistency, on your part. The better you are at keeping to a schedule for feeding and toileting, the faster and more consistent your new pup will get at letting you know when it's time to "go".

What you’ll need

• a puppy
• a crate
• a schedule
• high-quality food
• the right cleaning products
• patience

What matters in the first few weeks

Use your powers of observation in order to develop an elimination schedule based on your puppy’s behaviour. Keep your puppy in an area where you can keep an eye on what's happening. Puppies should not have access to the whole house initially. Increase the pup's ability to roam, gradually. More accidents happen when your puppy is given too much freedom, too quickly. 

Signs puppy needs to go

You should start to be able to pinpoint when to take your puppy outside:

• If he or she starts to whimper
• If his or her tail is rising. For short-haired breeds, you can usually see the anus start to bulge
• If he or she starts sniffing the floor in circles
• If he or she actually scratches or stands by the door
• If he or she begins to squat. Don't allow your puppy to finish (and don't scold). Instead, interrupt with a gentle "Agh, Agh", and whisk puppy outside to finish. If there is more to finish while your outside, praise and reward
• Any time your puppy appropriately eliminates outside, praise and reward, right after the event

Realistic expectations for the first six months

• Understand that your puppy won’t really have good bowel and bladder control before the age of four months
• Don’t expect your puppy to be fully house trained before the age of six months
• For the first few months, it’s on you to set your puppy’s routine for eating, drinking, and when and where to eliminate
• Note that smaller breeds often cannot wait as long as a large breed pup so small breed pups should be going out a little more often
• Feed high-quality puppy food. If your puppy is digesting food well, it means fewer bowel movements, firmer stools
  and a more consistent elimination routine. If he or she is not digesting food well, bowel movements will be looser and less predictable.

 Your responsibilities

Depending on age, your puppy is going to need to go:

• First thing after leaving the crate in the morning (keep the crate on the main level so you can reach the back door in time)
• Shortly after each meal
• After a nap
• After playing or any kind of excitement
• After smelling another dog's poo or pee
• Before entering a new place he or she has never been before, and after exiting your car
• Just before going to bed

Praise and reward any time your puppy eliminates in the correct place. Reward right after the event, not before.
As time goes by and your puppy is reliably going to the back door and asking to go out, you can slowly wean off the treats but continue to praise.

A basic guideline for scheduling

• At 2 to 3 months, toilet every 2 hours and once during the night
• At 3 to 4 months, toilet every 2 hours and try eliminating the late-night outing. For small breeds, it may be a bit later
• At 4 to 5 months, try toileting every 3 hours with no night time outings
• After 5 months, expect that puppy will need to eliminate, 4 or 5 times a day with no night time outings

Gastric Colic Reflex: what it is and why you need to know about it

Dogs are built to eliminate shortly after eating, within 30 minutes after eating (and expect sooner). The first action of eating triggers the second event of elimination. Use this bit of information to set your routine. Map out your puppy’s anticipated times for elimination, and be consistent about getting the puppy to his or her elimination place, when you can expect the need. It may be helpful to create a schedule and put it on the fridge to keep yourself on track.

Why using a crate is the most effective method of house training your puppy

Along with schedule making, let’s not forget the second essential tool for potty training, that’s the crate.

Dogs are denning animals that naturally prefer not to soil their dens.
Using a crate helps you to keep your puppy on schedule since he or she is less likely to want to “go” in his or her den. In addition, if he or she takes nap time in the crate, it means you can more correctly pinpoint when the need to pee or poo is going to happen; pretty much in the few minutes just after the crate door is opened. If you are crating your puppy based on a schedule, pretty soon, those elimination needs will line up with that schedule.

It’s a myth that puppies and dogs won’t soil their crate. They just prefer not to. If you leave them in too long, eventually they will. This is not a habit you want your puppy to develop so be sure you are taking your puppy out of the crate, and to his or her elimination place, based on:

• At 2 to 3 months, toilet every 2 hours and once during the night
• At 3 to 4 months, toilet every 2 hours and try eliminating the late-night outing. For small breeds, it may be a bit later
• At 4 to 5 months, try toileting every 3 hours with no night time outings
• After 5 months, expect that puppy will need to eliminate, 4 or 5 times a day with no night time outings
  
  

Use your crate for times when you can’t directly supervise your puppy but do keep to his or her “outside” schedule for toileting. At first, when not in the crate, try keeping the puppy on a leash and nearby if, for instance, you are on the computer or fixing a meal. Keep an eye on the time though and ensure you are keeping to his or her schedule for bathroom breaks.

Keep the crate on the main level so you and your puppy can reach the back door in time. Don’t make the bedding too thick or absorbent as this invites accidents.

• Never leave a collar, leash or harness on a puppy when crated
• Make sure there’s no electrical wiring close enough to the crate, where a puppy could pull it inside
• And… don’t feed or water while your puppy’s in his crate. Your puppy should not be crated long enough to require hydration or food. By feeding or providing water inside the crate, you’re going to throw off your puppy’s elimination schedule. The whole idea of using the crate is to slow your puppy’s digestion while resting, so you can be more successful at regulating his or her toilet needs.

If you crate train your puppy you’ll find it just becomes part of the daily routine, even into adulthood. Once your puppy no longer needs the crate to toilet train, you can still use it. My dog is going on 13. She freely enters her crate, on her own at times when there are guests in the house and she needs a quiet place to “get away from it all”.

A note about food and water

Do maintain a consistent feeding schedule for your puppy. Don’t leave food on the floor for your puppy to graze at will. You won’t get a puppy trained this way. Leave his or her food on the floor for maybe 20 minutes, then pick the bowl up whether all the food has been consumed or not.

The same applies to water. Ensure your puppy has access to water 5 or 6 times a day but pick it up after 15 minutes or so. You can start leaving water on the floor all day, when he or she is a little older, and fully house trained. In addition, don’t water or feed while your puppy in the crate. A puppy shouldn’t be in the crate long enough to require water or the next meal.

How to properly address accidents

Expect that:

• Accidents will happen but don’t allow them to happen often. Frequent accidents lead to unwanted habits
• When they do happen, eliminate all odour. Use an Enzymatic cleaner (which actually breaks up the scent molecules). If possible, cover the spot with an object, like a chair or potted plant, to stop your puppy from returning to that spot                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Puppy pads: to use or not to use

It’s better to train your puppy to go outside, right from the start, if you have the time. Puppy pads are convenient initially but can cause confusion for the dog and ultimately delay proper training down the road.

My opinion on puppy pads loosens up when considering small breed puppies, in the middle of winter. In this case, using the pads may be a necessity until the weather warms up.

Litter boxes for apartment dwellers

Be fair, if you can’t get your dog along the hall, down the elevator and across the lobby, in time, three to four times a day, on a daily basis, it may be time to consider the use of a litter box if you live in a condo or apartment. You can easily purchase a litter box or construct one from corrugated plastic sheets (more feasible for small to medium dogs, I will admit). It should be something like 5 feet x 3 feet and 3 to 4 inches deep, to allow for circling behaviour. Cut out a semi-circle on one side to allow easy access. Leave two sides higher, for males. I had to do this for my very short-haired, three-pound puppy, many years ago, when I brought her home mid-October. I used newspaper in the box (cheap and easy to replace on a frequent basis), then moved the box outside when spring came. She started scratching at our town home’s back patio door right away, to reach her box. Within a week, the box was removed entirely, as by then the backyard offered a much greater allure.

It should be noted that all standard potty training procedures still apply to litter box training. You still need to follow a consistent schedule, and get the puppy to the box, just before he or she needs to go, with praise and reward based on successful results.

Check back next month for part 2 of Potty Training 101: Persistent potty training issues

THE DOG BLOG is a great resource for tips on training and canine well being. Got questions or a topic in mind? Let me know via the comments box. I would love to hear from you.