Wolfie is Protective of His Food and a Little Aggressive

It is kind of strange.  Wolfie is normally a great dog, but sometimes he gets protective and aggressive with his food.  I dont want this to continue because I dont want anyone go get hurt by mistake.  What can I do to help Wolfie over this?

Aggression with any animal is not a great thing.  The good news that we can offer with canine food aggression is that we have a clear set of actions that can be taken to minimize or eliminate this issue.  We first have to think about the reasons Wolfie might be food aggressive and/or possessive.  

If Wolfie was a stray or a rescue, that could naturally cause possessive aggressive actions regarding food.  In this case, his food was a limited resource that was critical to his safety and health.  Naturally, he would act in such a manner to protect such an asset.  If Wolfie was starved intentionally or through neglect, that could also be a cause for his aggressive and/or possessive attitude towards food.  In this instance, the root cause could stem from poor nutrition.  

So what can we do to alleviate Wolfies food aggression?  There are several actions that you can immediately perform.  Lets discuss some of them now:

• Be sure you are the one who decides when mealtime will take place.  If Wolfie can boss you into feeding him when he wants, he will not see you as the sole provider of the food.  He will not recognize that you are not the one responsible for his well being.
• Try scatter-feeding Wolfie.  Take his food and scatter it on the ground or in the yard.  He now is focused on grazing across a large area and not protecting an exact spot.  Hide some food behind a chair or under a plant so that it will take extra time to find it.
• Teach Wolfie basic obedience such as "leave it", "stay", and "wait".  Exercise these commands during feeding time or even when giving him a little treat.  This will direct Wolfies focus to you as the provider of food.  It will also direct him to wait until you allow him to take the treat or have his dinner.
• If you need Wolfie to move away from his food, never directly approach him and his food bowl.  This is a naturally aggressive act and might trigger Wolfie to respond. Call Wolfie to you.  You are redirecting his attention to you and when Wolfie responds, you are enforcing that you are his care giver.  The food is not as important as obeying you.
• If needed, use the leash when feeding.  This will help you redirect him away from the food, if needed, without becoming physical.
• Never feed Wolfie in a corner.  This limits his options if anyone approaches him and also heightens any aggressive or protective tendencies he still may have.
• If you have multiple dogs, feed them separately until you can resolve the food issue.  Introduce them back together one at a time.  Always be present and between them to assure them that you are the provider and you will guarantee that they all have the nutrition they need.

When there is an issue with any form of canine aggressive/possessive behavior, the important point is to take it slow.  You are setting the scene to allow Wolfie to come to the conclusion that everything is fine and he is safe.  He needs to learn this at his own pace and in an environment where he has the ability to learn.  This is not set on a specific time table.

If you need additional information on anything we have discussed, please feel free to go to our web site for more information or to gain our direct contact information: South Florida Dog Trainers. 

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Is It OK For Wolfie To Be In Bed With Me

I hear all these different things about having Wolfie on the bed with me or it is bad having him on the bed with me.  I would really like him to sleep with me, but would that be sending some sort of bad message?

As dog trainers, we hear this kind of question all the time with all sorts of home grown explanations regarding pros and cons to your dog being on the bed.  The bottom line is it is up to you.  If you dont want him on the bed, you will have a standing rule that Wolfie is not allowed on the bed.  Every time he attempts to get on the bed, you will correct him and guide him off.  

If you would like to have Wolfie on the bed with you, you should take the following items into consideration:

• If Wolfie is currently showing signs of aggression or heightened dominance, you should not allow him on the bed until he has been properly trained to minimize or eliminate these traits.
• If Wolfie is still undergoing potty training, he should not be allowed on the bed.  Even if he has been "holding it all night" while he has been in his crate, you shouldnt  allow him on the bed.  When Wolfie is in his crate, he becomes and remains calmer with a reduced metabolism.  This will allow him to hold it longer.  When he is on the bed with you, his excitement will naturally be greater along with his metabolism.  This will decrease his length between potty times and could possibly cause an accident on your sheets.  (Not good!)
• If Wolfie nips or growls when you ask him to move or get off the bed, his bed privileges are revoked.  You can train this "out of him" by:
• Put a leash on him when he is in bed.
• When you want him off the bed, you must stand up and get out of bed.
• Grab the end of the leash and give him the command "Off".
• If he doesnt jump off, tug the leash slightly until he gets off.
• Tell him "Good Puppy" for obeying you.
• Never play rough with Wolfie while you and he are in bed.   This will simply cause him to believe he can play rough with you on the bed at any time. 
• Never eat in the bed with Wolfie.  Since you and he are at the same level, this could send the wrong message to him that the food is for both of you.
• Check Wolfie for fleas and ticks every few days.  You dont need these in your bed.
• Bathe Wolfie more often than usual.  You dont want your bed to get a "doggie smell".

Again, it is up to you if you want to invite Wolfie on your bed with you.  We have four dogs and three of them sleep on the bed with us.  Our fourth dog is too old to get on the bed, so he sleeps on the floor by my side.

For more information, please contact us at The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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Wolfie is Destroying the Bed in his Crate!

Wolfie is chewing up his bed in the crate at night or when I leave him to go out.   What can I do to stop this?  Those beds are expensive!

Notice how Wolfie is sitting in his crate all happy and nice?  Well get to that in a second, but first...

Over the years I have been asked by clients how to get their dog to stop destroying the bed in their crate.  This normally happens when the client is asleep or away from the house.  The answer is quite simple.  Take the bed out of the dogs crate.  

We humans think like humans and believe that our dog must live in a human world.  At night, we get into our soft, fluffy bed and go to sleep.  When we are watching TV, we lay down on the sofa.  When we are outside, we find the lawn furniture and stretch out for a nap in the sun.  Now, lets look at Wolfie.  Wolfie sleeps on the tile floor in front of the TV.  He sleeps on the grass or on the rocks under the flowers outside.  Wolfie has no problem sleeping on hard surfaces and sometimes even prefers them to soft surfaces.

So when I tell you to take the bed out of Wolfies crate if he is chewing it up, it is not punishment, simply removing an inappropriate distraction.  When we arent there, there is now way we can correct Wolfie in the act of destroying the bed so there is no way we can effectively communicate to him that it is wrong.  All we are doing is to continue to replace the bed.  All Wolfie sees is that we are giving him more stuff to destroy.  

This is not a good thing.  Eventually, Wolfie will turn to our furniture and start to chew that up.  And, why not?  We have continued to tell him it is OK to chew up his bed and have even rewarded him by giving him a new one.  Wolfie will see no difference in chewing up the bed and destroying our two thousand dollar sofa.

Bottom line:  If Wolfie is destroying the bed in his crate, take it away.  For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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What to Do When Your Dog Constantly Destroys Their Fluffy Bed

Sometimes the best training tips arent training tips at all!

Let’s think about this for just a moment.  Our dog loves to lie in the rocks by the pool or on the marble floor by the back door.  Is there any reason why we need to provide him with a fluffy bed in his crate or in his corner?

If you haven’t come to the same conclusion, the answer is “No”.  In most instances, your dog destroys their bed, in their crate or outside, because of boredom.  If you constantly replace the bed, you are reinforcing the destructive behavior that is growing in your dog.  If you continue this process, your dog will move on to destroying your couch and chair.  This is not a good thing.

Here comes the easy answer that took me several years of case studies to recognize. 

Remove the bed and allow your dog to sleep on the ground.  Don’t worry; he won’t hate you for this.  You have simply severed the association of “chew my bed, chew the furniture”.

If you have any questions about this, we are more than happy to respond.  Please contact us at The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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Lets Get Serious about Getting Wolfie to Come

Why is it the more I try and work with Wolfie to come, it seems that he only comes when he feels like it?  It feel like every time I really, really want him to come, he doesnt feel like it...

I have talked about this before, but because so many of my clients seem to need "refreshing" on this subject, I wanted to talk about it again.

Dogs learn through consistent, repetitive association. They learn that A always equals B.  When I hear this sound or see that hand action, I always do something.  "Always" does not mean sometimes.  When you tell Wolfie to come, he must always come.  If you dont provide this type of learning environment, it wont work, or take a really, really, really long time.

Here is what you do:

• Put a leash on Wolfie.  See Wolfie above?  Guess what, he has a leash on!
• Hold the leash, step back to the end of the leash, and go to your knees.
• Now, say Come.  If he doesnt come, give a little tug on the leash to guide him in your direction.
• When he reaches you, praise him for doing the right thing.

Guess what just happened!  You said "come" and Wolfie came to you.  If Wolfie didnt come to you, you gave him a little tug on the leash and he came to you.  A sound (command) resulted in a unique and consistent action.  That is how Wolfie learns and that is the method you used to teach him.

Until Wolfie will come to you every time you give the come command without your need to guide him with a gentle tug, do not say "come" if you dont have the leash.  This opens up the possibility that he wont come to you and you will no longer be consistent.  For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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Wolfie is Eating His Doggie Bed

I think that my dog, Wolfie, has probably eaten his weight in doggie beds!  He never does it in front of me, but he just chomps on it at night or when I am away.  I dont want to take his bed away from him.  What would he sleep on?

In my early days of dog training, I wrestled with this question time and time again.  I came up with some interesting answers and scenarios I asked my clients to try.  The results were hit and miss...

Several years ago, I had one of those "Oh my gosh" moments about dogs eating their dog beds when we werent around to let them know it was wrong.  The first thing to remember is that dogs dont need a nice fluffy bed to lie on to fall asleep.  Look outside.  Wolfie is sleeping on the cement patio or on the rocks under the tree.  They love to sleep on the cool tile during the hot days of summer.  So, our first "truism"  is that we dont need to give Wolfie a bed.

Next, we have to understand that dogs build behaviors through repetition and direction.  If we are allowing them do destroy their fluffy beds because we cant catch them, we are instilling the behavior of "lets tear up fluffy things" with our dogs.  The next thing we know, it isnt the $35 dog bed that we find torn up, it is the $400 upholstered and fluffy family room chair that now has stuffing all over the carpet.

So, what do we do?  The answer is really simple.  I know that we "humans" dont like simple answers, but here goes...

Take the dog bed away and let Wolfie sleep on the ground.  We know that he is fine with the ground, so we are not going to give him back aches.  Also, we have removed that repetitive destructive behavior.  This will keep him from escalating that unwanted behavior to destroying more expensive things. Wolfie is still fine and we have saved a ton of money.  Win win for all!  For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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Never Use an Extension Leash!

I know that I have said this in the past, but after a conversation with a client this week, I just have to reiterate...

Just as it says in the Taylor Swift song, "never, ever, ever..." use an extension leash when walking your dog!  It is unsafe and could end with your dog being hit by a car or truck.

Yes, I have told this to you before, but I now want to share a conversation I had with one of my clients this week.

My client is a Fire Paramedic who has a great puppy and a wonderful love for dogs.  She told me of an incident she experienced about two weeks ago while responding to a call early in the morning.

It was about 6AM and they were heading to an emergency call driving down a major street in Fort Lauderdale.  Ahead of them was a man with his dog.  The dog was sniffing the grass at the edge of the street.  The owner had the dog on an extension leash and really wasnt paying too much attention to the situation.  It was early in the morning with no traffic, so they didnt have the siren on at the time.

Just as they approached the owner and the dog, the dog leaped in front of the oncoming fire truck.  It happened so quickly that the trucks driver couldnt respond and they were sitting so high up, they couldnt immediately see if they had hit the dog.  My client said that everyones hearts were were racing as they looked in the rear view mirrors.

Luckily, they had missed the dog by inches.  My client said that this incident impacted every Fireman and Paramedic on that truck for the rest of the day.  If the dog had jumped one second sooner of they were five feet farther back on the road, the dog would have been killed instantly.

Can I state it any clearer than this?  Please, no extension leashes, period.  For more information, please contact us at The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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