Puppy & Dog Training, Ipswich – Doggy Dogma

I am a dog lover, and being a dog trainer I don’t think that is a surprise to people when I say that – all though I think some people would classify me as more of the crazy dog lady than just a mere dog lover.  There is a secret to being a dog trainer however that some people don’t really think about – to be a good dog trainer you must love people.

People are the key to successful dog training – if they are uncommitted or unwilling to follow the training program then progress is not made and the dog will continue with its poor behaviour.  There is nothing more thrilling for me as a dog trainer that to see an owner increase their bond with their dog through training – especially clicker training where we build focus and attention as well as obedience.

As a dog owner, you have to figure out how to motivate your dog to be successful at training. For a dog trainer we have to think of ways to motivate both handler and dog to help them get to where they want to be.

Everyone loves a puppy – they are small and cute, they love to play and cuddle. There is one thing that most people don’t love about puppies, and that is their teeth – to be more specific is they hate puppy biting. So I wanted to discuss the best way to stop puppy biting, and it is going to be simpler than you think.

There is lots of advice that friends and family are going to give you when you first get your puppy, they might tell you to yell “no” at your puppy, they might tell you to whack them over the nose as you tell them off. What they don’t tell you, because they don’t know, is that there is a chance that this kind of treatment is going to go one of 2-ways – it can result in the dog actually becoming more excited, and coming back for more or, and possibly much worse – it scares the dog and damages your relationship with your puppy.

So here is my three step plan to reduce and eliminate unwanted puppy biting:

1. Walk away from and ignore your puppy – that is right get-up and walking away. Dogs do this to puppies all the time – if a puppy is getting to much for them – their first port of call is to move away from the puppy, they do not provide ritualized warning signals (baring teeth or growling) unless the adult dog is not well socialized or is intolerant of puppies. So this means if you are on the couch in the lounge room you need to get up and move away from the puppy. Go in another room for up to 30 second and then come back to play with a toy that your dog enjoys – any skin contact during the game sees you drop the toy and leave the room again.

2. Use a crate/pen and put the puppy in “time out” to help calm him down – puppies get excited at
the most inconvenient times, if he is being too excited and this is leading to hard and persistent biting, remove your frustration by putting him in a safe and comfortable area, with a Kong with cream cheese in it to lick out – and take the time to relax yourself. Once you have both calmed down then later you can come back to playing. Remember “time out” isn’t really a punishment – no dog is going to sit there and think about what they have done like we expect a child to do – it is an opportunity for a break and to stop the behaviour from being repeated and escalating – and for people to reassess if need be.

3. Finally and in conjunction with the above we teach an exercise I call “dancing phalanges” (fingers). It is really straight forward and very simple – hold your hand about 30 cm from your dog’s muzzle and reward them with a small tasty treat if they don’t bite. Repeat a few times and then you can start wiggling your fingers and again reward for not biting. We reward them to let them know that they are doing the right thing if they does not bite hands or fingers as we are gradually making them more tempting to his puppy ways (wiggling fingers, etc).

So ideally first you want to let your puppy know: Hey buddy, this biting thing you are doing because you want me to play with you, isn’t working for you – so I am outta here! Then you are saying: I get it your excited, how about we give you something else to do in a nice safe, comfortable, relaxing place. Finally you are actually teaching your dog it is much better to have some self-control – because it really pays off.

Most importantly, when using the 3 steps, is to remain consist – put the plan in place and stick to it, and you will achieve success.

There can be no doubt that people can make mistakes with the handling of their dog, which results in a dog failing to return when you call them.  So here are 3 common mistakes that dog owners make that reduce or stop their dog coming when called:

1. Say it again Sam – “Sally come, come on, Sally, Sally, Sally come on – come here now, Sally!!!” does that sound familiar?  They say that the definition of insanity is repeating something and expecting a different result.  Repeating something 100 times won’t make it more effective or your dog more responsive if the cue lacks value.  The solution to this problem is to go back to the basics and begin adding value to your recall word.

2. Being a Debbie Downer – you’ve called your dog, they have come on over with joy and enthusiasm and then… nothing, zip, zero, zilch!  So next time you call them, they no that there is no value in returning so they would prefer to sniff this shrub that a pigeon pooped on.  That is right, I just told you you need to be more exciting than pigeon poop, you can do that can’t you? Go back and train how to being the party to your recall and find some enthusiasm to bring to this game.

3. Punishment doesn’t fit the crime – You spot your dog digging a hole in the newly planted garden bed, you yell out – “Freddie, com’ere” Freddie come to you and you continue to rouse at him.  Next time you go to call Freddie he fails to respond.  Punishment can be a tricky beast, with the right timing and pressure you can have an effective result but with the wrong timing or the wrong pressure it can really ruin something that you didn’t intend to.  Solution means being aware of your overall relationship with your dog, improving your value and learning when it is the right time and what, if any, benefit punishment can have.

Are you making these mistakes with your dog?