December 2007 - Posts

• Teach Your Dog to Leave Food Alone When You Are Out of the Room

  You have taught your dog to leave things alone when you are next to her. She is great about leaving food alone when you have guests over and are watching the big game or the New Year's Eve celebration on television. But, the moment you leave the room she makes a beeline for the table and grabs everything in sight like it is an after Christmas sale. What can you do? If you haven't started with the basics, you can learn how to do that from my Counter Surfing Video. You can also download a chapter for free in the Downloads section to get an idea of what is covered. Once you have the basics, the next step is to make sure your dog understands that she needs to leave certain areas alone, no matter where you are. That concept is much easier for dogs if you are consistent from the beginning. What this means for you, is you need to be crystal clear what your dog is allowed to interact with. For instance, if you want your dog to never take food off of your coffee table, you should make sure that she NEVER puts her nose over the coffee table's edge whether there is food on it or not. Other examples include counter tops, your children's play area, or a specific room of the house. I will use a coffee table as the example here because that is what I use in my video.   Basic Steps These are all important elements when working on the advanced exercises. Make sure these are solid before moving on to the more advanced strategies.  Before your dog can be trusted leaving an area alone you have to manage her when you are out of the room. If she interacts with the coffee table when you are out of the room and then quickly moves away from it when she hears you approach, you are teaching her to be sneaky. You are not teaching her to leave the coffee table alone. Management options include baby gates, crates or putting her on leash and bringing her with you when you leave the room.  Make sure you have identified a timeout area for your dog Make sure you have a solid "leave it". If you think your dog is moving towards the off-limits area, you can use "leave it" as a warning cue and a timeout if she crosses the line.  Advanced Steps - Still in the Room Once you have the basics, now is the fun part. Keep in mind that if your dog gets something that is off-limits just one time, you have created a lot of extra work for yourself. You will get to the final goal much faster if you never make a mistake and put your dog in a situation that is too advanced. If you are not sure of your dog's current skill-level, use a long leash as a safety net to ensure success, keep the food far away from the edge, and only leave for VERY short periods of time. Have your dog trail a leash so you can gently grab her and redirect her, if necessary or use a timeout as needed.  Make sure it is crystal-clear what is the wrong answer. With coffee tables, I recommend the criteria of putting a nose over the edge as the first "wrong answer" no matter how close she is to the food item.   You should now focus on duration of time that your dog can leave a location alone and the distance that you are away from the your dog. Start by keeping the food far away from the edge of the coffee table to make it more difficult and less enticing for your dog. Give your dog a lot of encouragement for leaving it alone. Occasionally give treats for not interacting with the table. Make sure you reward for behaviors that are appropriate such as looking at you, sitting next to the table, lying down, etc.  Use a timeout for each infraction. Say, "timeout" and gently put your dog in another room or a crate for 5-30 seconds. Only take your dog out of the timeout if she is calm. After each timeout, pay attention to all the "right" answers and give verbal feedback and/or treats for everything but a wrong answer. Wrong answers include putting a nose over the edge or putting a paw on the table. Of course, grabbing the food is the ultimate wrong answer, but you need to ensure that this doesn't happen or you are teaching your dog to be speedier in order to get an object that is off-limits. I want your dog to consciously avoid a certain area that you have defined to be off-limits, not to be sneaky when she can get away with it.  Once your dog can easily leave the food item alone for 5 minutes with you right next to her, you can now add some distance. Assuming you are sitting on the couch next to your dog and the coffee table, stand up and take one step away. Say, "yes" or 'click' if you are using a clicker and give your dog a treat. Start again from the couch each time and add more steps. Stand up and take two steps away. During the first step, give verbal praise. After the second step, give your reward marker ("yes" or 'click") and treat. Continue this process until you are almost out of the room. It is important to stay at one distance for a period of time and occasionally give verbal praise while working on duration and distance. You don't want your dog to just leave food alone for 5 seconds, you want her to be able to leave it alone for extended periods of time. When working on distance, you can occasionally come back, give a treat and move away again. This is one more way to reward a specific behavior. If your dog ever starts to go towards the location, say, "Leave It". "Good girl" if she leaves it, "Timeout" if she continues and makes a wrong decision. Troubleshooting If your dog immediately makes a mistake when you add distance, start at a shorter distance and practice until your dog can leave the object alone for at least 5 minutes. If you can't add distance at all, work at adding more duration while you are right next to your dog. Don't forget about using a leash, if necessary, to ensure that your dog doesn't quickly grab an object.   Advanced Steps - Out of the Room Don't move on to this step until you have a lot of duration at each distance while you are still in the room. Don't forget it is really critical that your dog never gets an object that you don't want her to get.  Leave for one second, come back and click and treat. Leave for two seconds, come back and click and treat. If you need a bit more control, use a long leash while you are leaving the room. The leash should be kept loose, but you should be prepared to tighten it gently and move your dog away from the location, if necessary. Stand out of the room and "peek" around the corner occasionally as you increase time. This is not a true measure of your dog's ability, because she is most likely aware you are there. However, she is still controlling her natural instinct to grab the food. This is the long-term lesson you are teaching. Next you can leave and come back multiple times, providing verbal praise for many of the returns and reward with treats occasionally.  "Good girl, you didn't take the food . . .. oh, nice job, you are doing great. . . ." Use"leave it" as a way to remind your dog that she should not interact with the location, and timeouts for making a mistake. Troubleshooting Don't move too quickly. This exercise could take a long time depending on how often you practice and how consistent you are. "Leave it" is an important communication tool. It is a warning that your dog is about to make a mistake. Practice "leave it" a lot with a variety of objects and locations. After a few sessions, use timeouts immediately for each infraction Make sure you are using a lot of verbal praise and treats for the correct decisions your dog makes Now I want to hear what you have to say. It is so much more fun if you take part in the conversation. If you are not a member, all you need to do is Join.   Posted Dec 31 2007, 02:07 PM by Jeff Millman with no comments Filed under: no jumping on counters, stealing food of of tables, dogs stealing food items, counter surfing prevention

• Rules of Playing Tug With Your Dog

  There are a lot of misconceptions about playing tug with your dog. In my experience, (and lots of other trainers I respect) as long as you teach your dog some ground rules, tug is a great way to condition your dog to have a soft mouth as well as providing your dog exercise. The rules of tug are as follows: Your dog should never take the tug toy out of your hand without you first saying, “take it”. This will prevent your dog from grabbing items out of your hand that are not intended for tug. Your dog should not put teeth on your skin. Even if you feel the slightest bit of teeth on your skin, say, “Ouch!” and remove the toy for 3-5 seconds and then start again. It is important to do this even if your dog doesn’t hurt you. The key is to make sure your dog practices being gentle. Your dog should drop on cue. Keep in mind that is more difficult to teach your dog to drop if there is a lot of tension on the tug toy because there is more pressure on his teeth. You might try letting go of the object before you ask for drop. Troubleshooting If your dog seems to get too excited or seems aggressive, give him a break and walk away when he reaches this level. If you are consistent, he can learn to moderate his level of excitement. Vocalization or growling doesn’t always mean aggression. Some dogs are just vocal when they play tug. As long as your dog is exercising self-control, is not touching your skin with his teeth, and drops on cue, the vocalization is ok. If your dog doesn’t know how to drop, say, “drop” one time, pause for a moment and then put a treat under his nose. As soon as he opens his mouth, say, “yes” or Click and give a treat. Eventually during the pause, your dog will open his mouth. If your dog touches your skin with his teeth multiple times, say, “timeout” and put the toy away for a few minutes as a punishment. After a while, he will realize that the way to keep playing is to be gentler. Buy my new Puppy Biting Video available now. It shows how to teach a puppy to have a soft mouth, the rules of tug as well as teaching drop. Now I want to hear what you have to say. It is so much more fun if you take part in the conversation. If you are not a member, all you need to do is Join.  Posted Dec 30 2007, 12:17 AM by Jeff Millman with no comments Filed under: dog aggression, dog training myths, dog growling, teaching tug, puppy biting, playing with your dog

• Can You Wait Until the Spring to Socialize Your Puppy?

  Chicago is a wonderful place. It was ranked one of the most dog-friendly cities; there are lots of dog parks, a beautiful lakefront and tons of nice dogs and people for puppies to meet. However, Chicago's harsh, winter weather makes it a very challenging city to socialize a puppy in the winter months. If you live in a cold weather town can you wait until the spring to socialize your puppy? The answer is no. There is a lot of research to show that the critical socialization period for puppies ends at 12-18 weeks of age. What does that mean for you and your puppy? It means that you need to go out of your way to introduce your dog to every type of person, noise, and event that she will come into contact with – before she reaches 18 weeks of age. 18 weeks is not an absolute, depending on the research that you read, data shows that the critical socialization is up to 12-20 weeks of age. From my experience, 18-20 weeks of age is the most critical time.  What happens if you do not socialize your puppy during this critical socialization period? It means that there is a much higher chance that your dog will be frightened of people, noises, movement, handling or events that she comes into contact with later in life, unless she is comfortable with those stimuli. One way to think about puppies’ brains is that they are like “little balls of clay” that are being formed with every new experience. Their relationship with the world is formed with each new experience. During this socialization period, they learn what they should be cautious of and also what they like. If they see something for the first time after this period of time, their normal instinctual reaction is to be more cautious. The example that I use in my private practice is to say, “Your puppy is not afraid of the coffee table because she sees it every day and she knows that it means her no harm.” That is how you should structure your socialization strategy. I want your puppy to "grow up" with everything that will be in her daily world. Ask a simple question. What will my puppy possibly come into contact with for the rest of her life? One important factor to keep in mind is that dogs do not generalize. What this means is that they don’t look at people and say, “I am comfortable with people.” They are only comfortable with the races, sizes, and types of people that they have come into contact with. If your puppy only sees tall men with brown hair, she might not be comfortable with small children, for example. Can your puppy have a great experience with one child and be comfortable with children? Maybe she will, but probably not. Some breeds are actually easier to socialize than others. Labrador Retrievers and Pugs, for instance, are much less reactive than certain breeds such as German Shepherds. Being more reactive doesn’t make German Shepherds any less wonderful; it is just something to keep in mind. When you are socializing a more reactive dog you need to socialize him even more to ensure he is comfortable with the world around him. With any dog, I recommend that you socialize your puppy as many times as possible to each event that you want her to be comfortable with. Regular, repeated exposures are critical for your puppy to learn to be confident. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that one interaction with one event is enough. Pair these events with wonderful treats and your puppy will enjoy the events.  Think of a fire engine as a socialization example. If your puppy hears the fire engine and then as it gets closer she gets treats, hopefully she will think in the future "I hope that noise happens again, I get treats when that happens!" That is the goal to have your dog happily anticipate something wonderful as a result of another event happening. If you give your dog steak every time he sees the mailman, your dog will LOVE the mailman!  So, what can you do to socialize your puppy properly in a cold weather city with the “socialization clock ticking?” Here are some suggestions for you: Take your puppy to dog-friendly establishments with a pocketful of treats. Everyone time your puppy comes into contact with someone, she should get a treat. You can give the treats, or even better, give treats to the person that you meet to give to your puppy. Have “puppy socialization parties” and invite your friends over. Ask them to bring big hats, glasses, Halloween costumes, baggy coats, wigs, and umbrellas. Everyone should give your puppy treats while wearing their various clothing items. Bring out warm weather items such as inline skates and wear them in front of your puppy and give her treats. Take your puppy to a good, positive reinforcement puppy class. Don't stop socializing your puppy after the socialization period. Research indicates that dogs need continued socialization well past their initial socialization. Play sound cds at a low level and pair with treats. Examples include thunderstorms, truck noises, baby noises, etc. Practice daily handling exercises with your puppy daily and pair the experience with treats. Handling examples include gently pulling ears, rubbing paws, and brushing teeth. Get your puppy used to people playing with her food or approaching her food bowl or bones while she is eating. Food aggression or resource guarding can happen if your dog is not comfortable with people around her food. Introduce your puppy safely to lots and lots of kids. Introduce your puppy to unusual sights such as elevator doors opening, crowds of people, big hats, snow blowers, moving shovels and anything else that is new. Pair each greeting with wonderful treats. Practice "proactive" socialization. Do not wait until your puppy is reacting to a stimulus. The stimulus should not have any effect on your puppy and then she should get a treat. If your puppy reacts to something or stops taking treats, move away to a location where she will take treats again. Focus on socialization now and you can improve the chances that your puppy will grow up to be a confident, wonderful dog that you can bring with you anywhere. Think of socialization as an investment. Put the time in now and it will pay off for years and years! Resources: BEFORE & AFTER GETTING YOUR PUPPY CULTURE CLASH SOUND SENSIBILITIES: THUNDERSTORMS CD Now I want to hear what you have to say. It is so much more fun if you take part in the conversation. If you are not a member, all you need to do is Join. Posted Dec 21 2007, 09:46 AM by Jeff Millman with no comments Filed under: wintertime socialization tips, socializing a puppy, fearful puppies

• Radio Show Dec. 20th Noon CST

  Want your dog to be well behaved when you have guests over for the holidays? Listen in and call to find out some tips for holiday peace for all. Call in live and ask questions.  Thursday, December 20th at Noon, CST  646.378.1859 Click on the graphic below for more information:  If you miss the show, there will be an archived file that you can listen to later as well. Happy Listening and Training! Jeff  Posted Dec 16 2007, 09:58 PM by Jeff Millman with no comments Filed under: holiday dog training tips, radio show

• Well Behaved Dogs or People Always Welcome in my Home

  I read an article in the New York Times on December 13, called Who Invited the Dog? about certain people feeling slighted if they are not allowed to take their dogs to social events or family gatherings. Some even went as far as to bring their dog unannounced to a party that was intended for people-only. It interviewed many people that consider their dogs family and tend to get upset if others don't have the same enthusiasm for their furry pals. There were a few parts of the article that bothered me and most of the comments did as well. Assuming the writer presented an accurate portrayal, the descriptions of the dog guardians in the article painted them to be extremely rude, inconsiderate and often ignorant to say the least. The article mentions a few incidents where people brought dogs to social functions or family gatherings where the dog acted completely and utterly out of control. Two aspects of the article really bother me: The people interviewed in the article were inconsiderate of their human friends and family. For the most part they had untrained, unruly dogs that they wanted to spring on the rest of the world and did not always understand why people were not as enthusiastic to interact with their dogs. In one instance, one couple's dog was not misbehaved, but they were outraged that their dog could not participate in the activity of unwrapping Christmas presents because the fiancée of the woman's brother was allergic to dogs. They actually did not speak to the family for months afterwards because their dog was "banished to the guest bedroom". The comments on the website that resulted from the article were mostly written in such a way as to paint all dog guardians as irresponsible, "dog fanatics" that treat dogs better than people and are basically lunatics. I cringe when I hear about any irresponsible dog guardians because it makes it more difficult on the rest of us that do train our dogs, exercise them sufficiently, clean up their messes, and act respectful around people that don’t appreciate dogs. The ironic point of inconsiderate dog guardians is that they think their dogs are treated better and will be happier by “spoiling” them. Often times this is just a replacement for being lazy. In my experience, dogs are much happier with training, structure and rules rather than allowing them to destroy the house and jump on guest with no rules. It might take more knowledge and time to actually train a dog, but it is much easier to make the excuse for unacceptable dog behavior by saying that, “She is just spoiled.” I also hate to hear people speak with such venom towards dogs. You should read some of the comments in the article. I am not necessarily upset at the person making the comment, but the fact that their view of dogs is so tainted because of so many bad experiences with dogs in the past. I think about all of those misbehaved dogs with irresponsible owners that would be so much happier with sufficient positive reinforcement training and structure. For the same reason that I wouldn’t want a guest in my home destroying my furniture and being rude to my guests, I would not want a dog in my house doing the same.  If everyone humanely trains their dogs and sets ground rules, a lot more people will have the pleasure of meeting well-behaved dogs and both dogs and people would be much better off.    Posted Dec 14 2007, 12:00 AM by Jeff Millman with no comments Filed under: dogs and family, train your dog spoiled dog, Who Invited the Dog?, NY Times

• Can't Keep Your Dog Away from the Holiday Decorations?

  Does your dog love your Christmas tree or other holiday decorations? If there is any chance of chewing or destruction, it is a great idea to work on Perimeter Training. You can teach your dog to stay away from a location, or do not go past a specific perimeter.  You can apply this strategy to any situation that you want to teach your dog to stay away from a location. It could be something specific such as a coffee table with food on it, a specific room, or a Christmas tree. Here are the basics to teach this important behavior, using a Christmas tree as an example.  You need to make some decisions first. You need to decide the following: What is the exact location that is off-limits? I recommend creating a very specific perimeter as the "wrong answer." You might even put a rope or other visual cue around the tree and teach him not to put any part of his body over this line. How are you going to prevent him access to the tree before you have established a really strong behavior? Examples include crates, baby gates or putting him in another room when you are not home or watching him.  What is the timeout area that you will use during this training? Now you are ready to begin. To teach consistency, your dog must never interact with the tree when you are not watching him, or he will learn that it is safe to do so when you are not there. To train any behavior the most quickly, the closer you can come to 100% success rate the better. If he is allowed to chew on the tree or lie under the tree (see photo to the right) it will be more difficult to change the rules later. Start consistent, stay consistent! To practice training sessions do this: Put your dog on leash Walk him near the tree Click and treat (or say, "yes" if you are not using a clicker) anything appropriate, including walking by the tree, looking at the tree, sitting, lying down, etc. If he takes ONE step over the VERY WELL DEFINED line say, “Eh! Eh!” and gently guide him away from that location, and IMMEDIATELY give him encouragement when his body is in a proper location away from the tree. “Good boy!” Continue practicing and make it more enticing for him to go near the tree, including throwing toys or treats in underneath it. Yes, this is entrapment, but often when you want to work on dog training, your dog acts differently because you are watching him. Sometimes you have to entice him to make a decision while you are there and gently teach him it is not appropriate.  The second time he puts a paw over the line, say, “Eh! Eh!” and gently guide him away and then give encouragement, "Good boy!" The third time he puts a paw over the line, say, “Timeout” and gently move him to the timeout location. (see below) Wait 10-30 seconds and remove him, only if he is quiet, and repeat. Once he is timed out one time, the next time he crosses the line it is an instant timeout.  Continue until you can tell that he is thinking, “It sure doesn’t pay when I go near that tree!” Troubleshooting If you feel frustrated, focus on the CORRECT behaviors. Start by giving feedback at least every 6 seconds including verbal feedback, petting, treats, and toys when he is doing the right behavior. Keep him far away at the beginning and reward him for anything that is correct. Even if he is 20 feet away from the treat on leash, he should be rewarded, because that is one of the many possibilities that you want him to do in the future. If tomorrow he chooses to stay 20 feet away from the tree, that is great! As you do more training, use more verbal feedback and less treats. Long-term, a big part of the reward is "staying with the party" and not getting timed out. Timeouts Timeouts can be very controversial. They shouldn't be. The philosophy behind timeouts involves teaching your dog that one behavior is correct and one behavior ends all the fun. You absolutely can use the crate as a timeout area. He will not start to hate the crate if he is normally comfortable in the crate. If your dog has Separation Anxiety, he probably can't be in the crate. That would not be fair to your dog. The recommendation for timeouts assumes that your dog is normally comfortable in the crate. So, for a dog that is ok with the crate, if he likes the crate at that moment as much as being where he just was, then it won't work as a punishment! I want your dog to be in the crate and have some thought such as "Aw, why did I end up in here? I want to be with the rest of the party!" The interesting thing about timeouts is that they are technically a punishment. The definition of a punishment is to "add something aversive to stop a behavior". However, "punishments" do not have to mean choking your dog or being physical. That is never appropriate.  To properly use timeouts, your dog must understand what is APPROPRIATE. To accomplish this, make sure you reward a lot after each timeout for the correct responses, and manage him properly so he is not able to practice the inappropriate behavior when you are not watching him.  Questions? Post them in the Forums. You can also see this strategy in action by purchasing the Counter Surfing video. This shows a coffee table as an example, but it an be applied to any location in your home. You can also download a chapter of notes from the Counter Surfing video.  Now I want to hear what you have to say. It is so much more fun if you take part in the conversation. If you are not a member, all you need to do is Join.  Posted Dec 11 2007, 03:13 PM by Jeff Millman with no comments Filed under: holiday dog training tips, destroying Christmas tree, destruction

• "Sit Down" and Other Ways to Confuse Your Dog

  Providing clear instructions is critical in dog training. Have you ever thought about the cues we give our dogs from their perspective? Over the years I am sometimes completely amazed that a given dog is able to understand the trainer at all. All trainers present many different signals to their dog without knowing it. Have you ever said, "Sit" at the same time you are moving your hand in the "Sit" hand signal that you have taught your dog? That is called "blocking", which is presenting a dog two signals at the same time. The dog might learn one signal, both, or neither. In that case, is the cue for "Sit" the verbal cue, the hand signal, or the combination?  If you want your dog to learn BOTH the hand signal and the verbal cue, try this: say the verbal cue with a quiet body (no extraneous movements,) and then after one second, help your dog with the hand signal. If you have not established a hand signal cue, work on that first.  Lesson learned:  Don't expect your dog to learn two things at once. Separate the two with a slight pause. Next I want you think about specific language. What does "Sit Down" mean? Does it mean "Sit" or "Down?" People have a tendency to speak in synyonyms, colloquial speech patterns and slang. That is fine if you teach your dog all of those specific terms. But if you have not, don't expect her to know them. Use "Sit" or "Down", but don't use them together. Lesson learned: Be specific with your language. If your dog is having trouble with something, ask someone  to watch one of your training sessions to determine if you are being clear with your instructions.  One of the most common confusing messages that I see all the time is when people say, "Down" to their dog when she is jumping on people or on furniture that is off-limits. I recommend teaching "Off" to mean "keep your paws off that person or object". "Down" should be reserved for lying down. One reason that I am such a stickler about this point is that the meaning of the cue gets diluted over time. Think about asking your dog to "Down" off of your guests and furniture many times a day and then expecting them to lie "Down" when you want them to? You have defined one cue to mean two very different things. Lesson learned: Define each cue to mean one behavior.  The last example is the common usage of "Leave it" and "Drop" used interchangeably. The lesson is the same as “Down” and “Off”, but there is a more noticeable and dramatic reason for making sure you are consistent. You could save your dog’s life by paying attention to this rule. If you need your dog to "Drop" something that may hurt her, you don't want her to pause to interpret what you mean. You want her to do the behavior as a reflex response. Many people use “Leave it” to mean both: “Move your mouth away from that object” and, “Drop it” to mean, “Open your mouth”.   Getting snappy, consistent responses requires conditioning through repetition of behaviors paired with a cue many, many times. Think movements in sports, responding to orders in the military, and typing as three examples. Why do athletes at any level practice for hours and hours? It is to get muscle-memory of behaviors and achieve a level of comfort with the action so there body easily does the movement without a lot of thought. This allows them to refine their movements, think about strategies, work on their role and not get bogged down in the details. Have you ever asked your dog to do something and then gotten a really delayed response, or none at all? Of course you have. I have, every trainer has. That is part of the learning process. If you define “Leave it” to mean two different things, will your dog have a snappy response? Possibly, but you are leaving too much room for interpretation. Teach, “Leave It” to mean “Move your mouth away from that” and, “Drop it” to mean “Open your mouth”. Lesson learned: Snappy responses require repetition of behaviors paired with a cue many, many times. I am very excited about my next two videos, Stop and Puppy Biting. The Puppy Biting video also includes teaching a soft mouth using the game of tug, as well as teaching “Drop”. Look for both videos in the new few weeks. Do you really like training theory? You should explore Excel-Erated Learning by Pamela Reid. This provides an amazing backround about learning theory, classical and operant conditioning, and the applications of learning principles to changing behaviors. This got me through Jean Donaldson's Academy! Now I want to hear what you have to say. It is so much more fun if you take part in the conversation. If you are not a member, all you need to do is Join.  Posted Dec 10 2007, 08:34 PM by Jeff Millman with no comments Filed under: learning theory, consistent cues, down vs. off, drop vs. leave it