Puppy Blogging

Games we play with our dogs

JennC — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:22:00 GMT

I have recently started to offer a game night once a month where people can bring their dogs to a class and play a board game called "My Dog Can Do That". It is neat little game with several level catagories. Each team gets points for being able to complete the task on the card. These range from having your dog dit and you do a mexican hat dance around them to getting your dog to pick up a specific toy out of several on the floor. There are many other fun activities in the game. It has been loads of fun in the oast when I have played it with other trainers and fellow clients. I am hoping that it yields a great turn out.

What I would love to hear from you guys is what types of short activities you might come up with to add to the game. Make sure you give a point scale of 1 - 10 points, and a beginner, intermediate or advanced level to the activity. I am always excited to hear what my clients and others come up with and it makes for new activities to add to the game and to use in class. Plus it will give all of us new ideas of things to work on with our dogs at home. These are always fun things to do with your dog over the summer when the kids have "so little else to do".

Jennifer

House training your dog

JennC — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:41:00 GMT

House training is something many people call about everyday. I answer the question on a regular basis and it is usually because of the same reasons. One reason is because people have no idea how to go about training their puppy or older dog to go outside to use the bathroom. The other reason is that most people think the puppy or dog should be reliably training and able to communicate his/her needs within a few weeks of work, despite the dogs age. We will address the time frame first and then address the basic steps for house training second.

It is definitely not a reasonable expectation for a dog of any age to learn and reliably communicate it needs to go outside within only a few weeks of working with them. First off, a young puppy has a small bladder and eats, drinks and plays often. This alone means that it will need to relieve itself more often than an older dog. The general rule of thumb is that a dog can be expected to hold its bladder one hour for every month of age it is: one month old dog about an hour, 2 month old dog, two hours, etc. This means that you must make sure you are giving the dog the opportunities to go outside and relieve itself often enough that it is not forced to search for a place inside your house or apartment to go to the restroom. I find that setting a kitchen timer or an alarm on my watch or phone works well to make sure I do not loose track of time while doing all the other things I do every day.
Second off, you must make sure that you have an understanding that young puppies and adult dogs that are not used to the "proper place" to go to the restroom will have good weeks and bad weeks. This means that they will have accidents. These accidents can be for many reasons. The biggest reason is that we as people, expect them to learn this too quickly. It takes us paying constant attention to the animal and giving lots of opportunities for the dog to be successful at house training before they even begin to learn what we expect from them. This is not normal for them. Yes, they have a natural tendency to not want to soil their living area, (their den), but that living area for them is not the whole house.
Proper house training can take may months before you see reliable results and you will notice that at times the puppy will have relapses when it just can't seem to get outside or alert you when it needs to. This is all normal and often coincides with a growth spurt. There are also many other things that can cause the troubles areas. If you think there might be something wrong with your puppy, consult your veterinarian to make sure it does not have a bladder infection or some other health reason for the frequent accidents. Stress and other factors can also contribute to rough spots in house training. Don't be afraid to ask your Veterinarian or Trainer for help in assessing the situation.

The how to House training is really simple but the time it takes can be very disruptive to your daily life, especially if you have never had a dog before. The best piece of equipment to use for house training is a crate. It uses the dogs natural desire to not soil its den to your advantage. The most important thing here is that the dog is not crated 24/7 and that you take them out often enough not to force them to use the bathroom in the crate. Once this problem starts, it makes house training even more difficult on both you and your dog.So the basic thing to remember is to take the dog outside after it wakes up from a nap, after it eats and drinks, and after playing. This means that in the hours your dogs or puppy is awake, you will take it out several times; not just once in an hour and not just once in the hour or two it is awake and playing. When you cannot keep an eye on your puppy, you need to give it some activities to do in its crate so that it stays busy while you take care of the things you need to do. However, to avoid getting involved in what you are doing and forgetting to watch the time and check on your dog, you need to set a timer, or alarm so that you remember to take the dog outside before it uses the bathroom in its crate.
Take the dog out immediately upon waking. Do not feed them or offer them water first. Most puppies will not make it through the feeding before needing to relieve itself. Once it has gone outside and used the bathroom, you can offer a toy or other play activity. Feed the puppy and then take it outside again. If it does not use the restroom within 15 minutes or so, bring it back in and place it in the crate. In another 10 - 15 minutes, take it outside again. It is important for the dog to learn that business must be done before playtime. When the puppy urinates or dedicates, then add a word to it like "pee pee", "poop" or "go potty" etc. This will help the dog learn that you are expecting them to do their business and then you can play. It is always nice to have the potty break cue words when it is raining, or cold outside and you are ready to get back into the house where you can play and exercise your dog in a warmer or dryer weather than outside. Keep this set of rule and be diligent and patient. It will happen and you will soon be able to sleep through the night and relax a little in the same room with your puppy while he plays with a toy at your feet.
House training and taking the dog outside requires that the rules never change, and that we as owners do everything within our capabilities to allow the dog the opportunities to get it right. It requires that everyone in the house follow the same rules and first and foremost, that one person or at most two, is responsible for keeping up with when the dog has been outside and when it needs to go again. This does not mean that others can't help but one person needs to make sure the puppy has the opportunities needed to go outside. If you have to, keep a timer with a chart next to it so that times and initials can be added to it. Keep this in an area in the house that everyone will easily see.
DO NOT, under any circumstances, allow the dog to have free run of the house until you are sure that it will let you know it needs to go outside. If they have too much room then they will go to a corner that is quiet, or a vacant room and use the floor rather than let you know they need to go outside. Your dog should have limited run of the house and never out of your sight until at least 6 months old. My recommendation is a year just to be sure. If you are not home, the dog should be in a crate. You can also attach a leash to your belt loop to keep the dog close to you while you do your housework, laundry or anything else in order to keep your eye on the dog.
Remember the "bladder limit "when you decide to spend a night out on the town or a day at the office. Your schedule will change drastically once you get the puppy in order to allow yourself adequate time to interact with your puppy. This will be several months of intesive interaction before you can expect to spend a night out on the town. Consider this and make plans accordingly in your work schedule, dating schedule, etc. If you need to hire a pet sitter, then do that and make it part of your budget.
This is an important part of your dogs life. They are not cats. They are pack animals and require lots of interaction with you and your family. If left to their own devices, you will notice the behavior problems will increase and you will become increasingly frustrated with your relationship. At around 10 weeks of age, look for a positive reinforcement trainer and enroll your dog and yourself in a group class or private class. This is also important for your dog and your relationship with your dog. You will learn how to better communicate with each other and grow closer to your dog. You will also have a dog is in general better behaved and a joy to take places with you.

Why I walk with my dogs in the evenings

JennC — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:32:00 GMT

Even though I am home all day. I do spend time working on my website, blog, forum and many other things. I do get stressed for many reasons. As my foot is healing from my surgery I have begun to try to exercise it more and more. One evening when I needed a quiet place to take care of a phone call, I walked out on my back porch, through the first gate and out into my yard with my dogs. I took a long look around for all of the toys they have in the back yard with little luck. So, I then moved to the back pasture searching through those 2 acres by scanning it over.

Even though I couldn't walk all of it, I was able to find a few of their toys in order to play fetch. Then I noticed something. I had been outside in the yard for almost 20 minutes and my puppy had yet to jump on me or try to pull the bottom of my shirt down. All of my dogs were walking with me, in pack order, with me in front. They were calm and extremely secure in their atmosphere. They love for us to come into the pasture with them and walk. Once I finished checking out the areas where I planted some flowers and checked out my young Weeping Willow trees, all the dogs came up for me to pet them, one by one and then they were off towards the barn to show me all the things they do during the day when they are outside.

They were so proud of the things they had done. Places where their toys were hidden, interesting things they had found in the back pasture (no doubt by digging somewhere), how high they could climb in the barn that my children turned into a half pipe, and most importantly to them, the hedge in the back of the pasture where they had spent time chasing rabbits. It took me back to when my children were little and they couldn't wait to show me everything they did in school or at daycare. I felt a very different part of my heart open up to dogs.

I had always looked at my dogs as part of my family. They are treated well. They are in and out all day long, and sleep inside at night. They share Momma's lap anytime they want, but not until that moment, did I truly realize just how special a place they held in my heart. I know I am humanizing all the things that the dogs did. They were just wanting to play with me by inviting to be part of all of those activities, but I make sure that every evening, after dinner is done, dishes are up and all the chores of the house are done, I take the time to walk just a little bit in my dogs world. After all, we spend so much time asking them to conform to our rules, maybe I should spend a little of my time conforming to theirs.

Training Links above

JennC — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:08:00 GMT

I do not neccessarily recommend any of the links above. They are provided by the company that set up the Blog. Unfortunately I cannot have them removed so I need to let you know that I am not endorsing any of the above links. Thank you.

Welcome to Pawsitive Puppies Blogs

JennC — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 01:09:00 GMT

Welcome to Pawsitive Puppies Blogs. This is the section for you to talk about how your training is going, share some stories and even ask a few questions. Keep things positive. Any post that is not supported by positive reinforcement training methods, will be deleted ASAP. If you need more support, please check out our forums section at myforum.pawsitivepuppies.net
Keep things positive and good luck in you training.

Welcome to Pawsitive Puppies Blogs

JennC — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:52:00 GMT

Welcome to Pawsitive Puppies Blogs. This section is to be reserved for parents dealing with puppy problems. Please keep it positive. I will delete any posts that do not comply with positive reinforcement training methods. Support your friends here and let's all help each other make it through those rough times of early puppyhood. You may also want to visit the forum pages which will contain far more detailed discussions at myforum.pawsitivepuppies.net

Welcome to Pawsitive Puppies Blog

JennC — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:48:00 GMT

Welcome to Pawsitive Puppies Blogs. We are delighted to have you here. This section is for fun stories you would like to share about your pet. We welcome stories on all pets whether they are dog stories or not. Please limit this to fun stories. Let's keep it positive. You might also find more information and detailed conversations at http://myforum.pawsitivepuppies.net/.