Unless you plan on competing with your dog in obedience training, you do NOT need a formal HEEL.
HEEL -A position in obedience training where the dog holds his/her position at the left leg on the handler with the dogs nose roughly at the same plane as the handlers outside pant seam. This position is maintained by the dog regardless of if or how the handler moves (forward, backward, turning, stopping).
I am amazed by the number of clients who seem to feel that they MUST forcefully hold their dog on a tight, short leash while walking. This is NOT needed.
If fact, it tends to cause problems for the handler and the dog. A tight leash can actually cause a dog to behave aggressively.
It is always better to walk a dog on a loose leash. Training the dog to keep the leash loose is the first and most important step towards enjoying a walk with your dog.
TEACHING LOOSE-LEASH WALKING -kindergarden level
1. Choose a collar or harness that does not pull on a dog's neck or back.
Most flat-collars are good for keeping tags on your dog, but they are not good for walking dogs on leash.
Pinch and Prong-collars are designed to hurt the dog for making mistakes (pulling), but hurting the dog can have serious side-effects such as increased aggression. There are many reasons that these collars should never be used, but the best reason is that you can accomplish the same goal faster and more effectively without them.
Back-clipping harnesses are a great way to reduce pressure on a dogs neck and throat, but they help a dog pull and are useless for teaching a dog to walk nicely on leash.
****There are two great options for helping your dog walk nicely (no pulling on leash). Front-clipping harnesses are becoming very popular and dogs tend to adjust to them quickly. These are fantastic walking harnesses and they do not hurt the dog. Another option is to use a head-collar.
For more on these devices, CLICK HERE.
2. Set time aside for training.
Hold your dog's leash in your right hand. If your dog is on your left this will mean that the leash crosses in front of your body -this is OK.
Hold some tasty treats in your left hand near your dogs nose.
Keep your dog interested in the treats, but do not let your dog eat them.
If your dog jumps for the treats or tries to nibble your hand. Pull your hand away and put it behind your back.
If your dog has all 4 paws on the ground and is walking nicely next to you, PRAISE your dog THEN give them one of the treats from your hand.
Can Old Dogs Learn New Tricks?
I am often asked, "Is it too late to train my dog?"
99.9% of the time the answer is "NO, It is never too late to work on training!"
While I am only too happy to make exceptions for dogs who are physically limited (blindness, deafness, incontinence, etc...) I am generally NOT inclined to excuse bad behavior on the basis of age.
This is not to say that old HABITS won't be more difficult to change.
But, for the most part: Training a dog, is training a dog.
There are 3 basic parts.
1) Establishing a GOAL.
2) Breaking your goal into SMALL STEPS that your dog can achieve.
3) Providing encouragement, support and REINFORCING SUCCESS.
However, it can be difficult to focus on training new behaviors when you are busy dealing with the results of older, more annoying behaviors.
A common mistake is to put energy into the wrong end of the behavior equation. My clients are often too focused on "the best way to punish their dogs bad behavior." In their zest for finding the perfect punisher (squirt, pinch, roll, choke, pin, rub, shock, squeeze) the miss the point completely.
I read that I should ...
Somebody told me to ...
I heard that dogs need ...
I was thinking I would try ...
My neighbor used a ...
Focusing on "what to do when your dog messes up" is a terrible plan! Imagine if airline safety focussed 90% of their energy on what to do when the planes crash.
This is not to say that I don't punish bad behavior. The only way to reduce any behavior is to punish it, but punishments are tricky to do well. Most dog owners dole out punishments that are late or too harsh. Or, they don't even punish the dog they just nag it or say something and follow that with no consequences.
When punishments are done badly they ruin relationships and dogs. If you want to successfully teach a dog to DO something BETTER, you must REWARD the things they are doing RIGHT. Sometimes your dog will need help getting there.
Goals help you form a reasonable plan.
Try picturing "Your Perfectly Behaved Dog."
What is she doing?
Here is example:
When my family is eating I would like my dog to lie on her bed quietly. This is a GOAL!
"I don't want my dog to beg." is NOT a goal, it is an unreasonable request for an animal that evolved as a scavenger.
When guests come over, I want my dog to sit in the hallway while I answer the door. This is ALSO A GOAL.
"I'm sick of my dog jumping on people." is NOT a goal, it is a complaint.
In short, your older dog CAN learn new tricks, but you might have to spend some extra time helping them get things right. Remember just KNOWING better is not enough. Your older dog will have a long history of doing things their way. Be patient, set reasonable goals, help them get it right and MOST IMPORTANTLY --REWARD, REWARD, REWARD. In fact, even if you feel like you did most of the work, you MUST still reward your dog. This will give them incentive to try it your way again.
Is leash aggression the owners fault?
When dogs fight with other dogs on leash is the owners lack of confidence the problem?
Hardly! Owners can and should NOT be blamed for being nervous when handling their leash-reactive dogs.
It goes without saying that if you have seen your dog bark, lunge, or snap at another dog when on leash that you will anticipate more bad behavior. The anticipated unpleasantness makes most people nervous.
Still, my clients are often astonished that the dogs behave better when I am handling the leash.
When I am called to consult with a client whose dog routinely behaves badly on leash towards other dogs, a common question is: Have they (the owners) been transmitting their fears down the leash to their dogs? From this my clients often surmise that it must be my calm, confident demeanor that gives me the edge when handling feisty dogs. I would argue otherwise for several reasons.
Reason #1 When meeting new clients and handling a new dog for the first time I am absolutely NOT CALM.
I am always nervous when meeting new clients and handling new dogs. I might hide my fears and doubts well from my clients, but I am sure that if you were to put me to the test you would find that my heart rate is elevated, my mouth is dry and I my hands are sweaty.
Reason #2 It is more scientific to rule out other, simpler explanations first.
The answer to how well a dog can detect and to what degree they react to fear has not been sufficiently studied. however, the mechanism responsible for self-preservation called Fight or Flight is very well understood and is the key to helping many of my clients navigate on-leash encounters between their dogs and other dogs.
Reason #3 I have a very good success rate with teaching my clients new skills that improve the situation despite their nervousness at trying something new and their fears that they won't do well and/or that their dog is beyond help.
Imagine if you were taking tennis lessons and your instructor simply coached you by saying, "You need to swing with more power and accuracy." While this may be true, it won't help you KNOW HOW TO DO THESE THINGS!
A good instructor/coach/teacher is always able to break things down into specific tasks that a student can practice in order to obtain better results in overall performance. Telling someone that they are doing poorly or that they need to be, or do things better is NOT an educational technique.
My personal results with the aforementioned bad-coaching technique was a frustration-induced, "more powerful" but drastically, LESS accurate swing.
So what is the CONNECTION between the LEASH & AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR?
All animals have an innate protective response. When you are afraid (really, really afraid) your The is commonly referred to as the Fight or Flight Response.
Reactions include:
FREEZE -victims that we would describe as shocked, stunned, catatonic (this may precede other actions).
FLIGHT -a way of creating distance between you and a real or perceived threat.
FIGHT -another way of creating distance (turn the tables and get the scary thing to back off or run away).
The trick is to KEEP THE LEASH REALLY LOOSE & to KEEP MOVING FORWARD at a quickened pace so that your dog does not feel stuck or trapped. This is hard to do when you own body is anticipating a bad encounter, so my clients with badly behaved dogs all tend to slow down and hold their dogs back. This is a recipe for disaster. The slow pace and tension causes the dog to lunge forward aggressively.
Keeping the leash loose is easier said then done when there is a history of things going badly, so here are some hints. Carry your dogs favorite toy or better yet, walk your dog when she is hungry and hold some cheese or some yummy meat in front of her nose as you pass by dogs. Using your best goofy voice and moving quickly helps too. Also, be sure not to punish or correct (jerk the leash) your dog for relapses.
Remember you can't punish away fear!
So fix the fear, and the barking and lunging will disappear.
Training Small dogs can be a challenge. Dogs that weigh less than 10lbs move quickly. They are also so close to the ground already that using a Food-Lure (a treat held in your hand, close to their nose) can be challenging. For medium and large dogs Food-Lures are a convenient ways to move dogs into positions like sit or down. However, with small dogs Food-Lures can sometimes cause more jumping-bean action than is conducive to training.
For really small, fast-flying dogs I prefer to sit back and relax when training. For this type of training a CLICKER is really, really handy. A clicker is a small device that makes a click-sound when the metal flap inside the small box is pressed down and released.
Clickers are used to train dogs, horses, cats, pigeonsrats and even marine mammals. Using a clicker is simple. In the beginning the animal in training needs only to learn that each click-sound will be quickly followed by a small reward (technically it must be a reinforcer) that the animal will enjoy and working for. I like using small, tasty bits of food like cheeses or meats.
The rules are simple.
1. Click what you like.
2. Click at the EXACT moment the behavior is accomplished.
3. Don't command the animal to DO anything, JUST WAIT for something -be patient!!!
4. Reward the animal after every click.
5. Train is short intervals 5-10minutes
Sometimes it is helpful to think of the clicker as a camera. At the end of the training if each CLICK was a PHOTO, and if you placed all those photos on your kitchen table you would have only photos of the behavior (sit, down, bow) that you were hoping to train.
Here are two Kinder-CLICKER lesson for fast-flying, jumpy little-dogs.
1. Click (and reward) the dog anytime they are NOT moving. Click the dog for being still in any position. Offer extra treats for clicks that marked exceptionally cute still positions (like sit or down). After 2 or 3 sessions, raise the bar and click only certain positions.
2. Click (and reward) All Cute Behaviors. This is my favorite. I will click anything cute!!! Head-tilts, play-bows, prairie-dog position, sit, down, waving. Then I pick one behavior that gets clicked and a special bonus treat (gorgonzola). I like to see how long it takes for the dog to offer only that behavior.
1. Crate Training Your Puppy is the fastest way to have a completely house-trained pup.
Taking a puppy out for frequent potty breaks and rewarding the puppy for appropriate elimination is only 1/2 the battle. Crates teach puppies how to hold their bladder until they are outside the "den" and in the correct place.
2. Crate Training keeps your puppy safe.
Puppies can get into anything in a second. Sometimes it is just annoying when they chew things, but sometimes it is really, really dangerous. Wires, small ingestible items (I found a green thumb tack in puppy poop once), and certain foods can be dangerous for puppies.
3. Crate training teaches puppies how to settle down and stay in one spot for a reasonable amount of time.
If they never practice "chilling out" in one location when they are young, they are unlikely to do it later. Of corse they are young so they will need help settling down. Chews, kongs, and other food puzzles are excellent items to give to your pup in a crate.
OTHER THOUGHTS
Puppies can generally hold their bladders for only short periods of time.
A general rule of thumb is: 1 hr for every month of age. A 2-month old puppy will need to be let out of the crate for a potty-break somewhere between 1.5 - 2 hrs.
Do not expect your pup to hold it when they are running around.
A free-roaming pup might pee every 10-30minutes. Puppies will generally hold their bladder if they are in a small, confined space (your crate). At about 10-12 weeks I find that most pups can make it through the night without needing a potty-break, but this does not mean that they can "hold it" or be crated for that long during the day.
If your pup has just peed and pooped then spend time with them in the house.
Supervise them carefully and re-direct them onto their toys if they start to chew on anything inappropriate. After about 30-minutes your 8-10 week old pup will probably be "feeling the urge." At this point you can take them out again or crate them for 1hr. so that they have a chance to practice "holding it" until they are taken to the potty spot again.
