FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.

HOUSEBREAKING.

I thought my dog was house broken but sometimes after he has been outside he comes in and pees. One of the main mistakes people make is not going outside with the puppy on leash and reminding them why they are out there. Then they are surprised when they come in and go pee. They are babies and the world outside is an exciting place if you just let them out to run free they will be having such a good time they forget why they are out there. Then once they come in and everything is boring again the light bulb goes on oh yes I needed to pee so they go. You need to go outside and supervise tell them go pee or whatever word you want to use then once they have gone their reward can be free run of the yard. This has to be done sun, rain, snow etc.

TRAINING

I want my dog to work for me not the treat with lure based training we are using a treat. Yes we use the treat to teach the behaviours so the dog is offering them freely without any sort of pushing/ pulling or negative such as a prong or choke collar. But once the behaviour is learnt we wean off the treats. The dog remembers the behaviour and will do it from then on at the same time we are using the treats we are establishing a bond between us and our dog leading to better understanding.

But my dog should want to do it for me because he loves me. I have a news flash for you dogs do what gets them an outcome which is generally food, attention, and playtime. If you cannot work out why your dog is doing something work it back and see what they are getting. For instance if they grab something they should not have show you then run off. Are you giving chase? Are you grabbing a cookie on route to giving chase? Obviously we do not want the dog to injure themselves on anything they should not have but if you have done the 2 things above you have just given them attention a wonderful game of chase which they love and the reward of a cookie at the end of it.

How do I avoid this happening? Train them teach them a drop it then if they get anything they should not have you can just tell them to drop it. Keep areas puppy proofed this means everything up so the dog cannot grab it in the first place. If they love toilet paper then close the bathroom door. If you know you dog is not a chewer and not going to harm themselves on whatever they have taken. Just ignore them if they do not get all the things above the behaviour will fade away. NB Often when we ignore a behaviour it gets worse before it gets better as it has worked for them in the past they will try harder.

I do not want to me mean to my dog by asking him to do something.  It is not mean to teach your dog what you want in fact it is the opposite. A dog likes black and white and if he is taught what we want him to do then his life is happier because of this. They also like consitency so do allow them on the couch one day then change your mind the next make sure the whole family knows if they are or not allowed up. It can be very confusing for them as it would be for you if one day you are allowed to do something then the next day you are told not to with no explanation.

I have been calling my dog with COME since the day we got him he does not seem to understand. Well of course he does not understand contrary to popular belief they do not come with their recall word or any other training hardwired in the brain we have to teach them what to do.