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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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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Getting Wolfie to Stay

No matter what I do, I cant get Wolfie to stay.  I think he just wants to drive me nuts.  I think he is going to stay, but as soon as I walk away, he is up and following me...

What you have done is to try and teach Wolfie too many things too quickly...  Remember that we all learned that 1 + 1 = 2 before we started to work with calculus.  That is the problem we are having with Wolfie.

Lets break to the chase and let me explain exactly what you need to do to start getting your dog to stay:

• Make sure that you have your dog on a leash and that you are in a quiet place with no audible or visual distractions.
• Put your dog in a sit.  If he does not do this the first time and does not stay in a sit position with focus on you, stop the "stay exercise" and simply work on the sit.
• Once your dog is sitting and focused on you, stand in front of him, hold your hand up like a traffic cop, and tell him to "stay".
• He needs to remain in his sitting position while focused on you and, more importantly, your hand.
• After 10 seconds of your dog not moving, slowly step back a few feet (be careful not to tug or pull the leash).  Keep your hand up and always stand tall and face your dog. If he starts to move, correct him.  If he gets up, start the process again.
• Once you reach the length of the leash, make sure that your dog is focused on you and your hand and that you are focused on him.  Wait for 15 seconds.
• Now, while facing him and with your hand up, slowly walk around to your dogs left side.  Next, walk around to his right side.  Finally, return to standing in front of him. Always make sure that he is focused on you.  Again, if at any time he stands up and starts to move, start the exercise from the beginning.
• Return to your dogs side and praise him for a job well done.

It will be quite possible that you will not be able to successfully accomplish all these steps the first time you try.  The first time, you might only be able to stand right in front of him.  After several days, you might get him to stay when you take a few steps back.  It might take a week or so before you can walk to his right and left without his moving.  

It doesnt matter how long it takes to teach him these steps as long as you are ending on a winning experience and you have been consistent in your teaching.  The big thing to remember is to always face your dog while you are teaching and to hold your hand up to give him something easy to focus on.  

We are always telling our clients to understand the world from their dogs perspective.  In this matter, we are telling our dog to sit still and watch our hand.  It is something that they can easily learn and we have gained the result we require.  For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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Crate Training Basics

There is a wide range of free dog training tips online. They include the basics as well as some of the more advance obedience training. But the first training each of us is faced with is potty training a puppy. One effective way that worked well with my dog is crate training.

To a dog, a crate can be like his own special home inside your home. A safe place, a den of sorts, that your dog can go to when he or she wants to feel secure. Some people think that putting your dog in a crate is cruel, but it is only cruel if you do it in an abusive manner such as leaving your dog in there for more than a few hours. In fact, crate training your dog properly has many advantages for both you and your pet and should be something that you incorporate into your dog training plans. I thought I would never do it until it was explained to me.

While some dogs might take to a crate right away, others might be a little leery of this strange object that you want them to step inside of. The most important aspect of crate training is that you must never force your dog into the crate. Instead, you must make your dog want to enter it of his own volition. If done properly, you will find that your dog actually loves the crate and goes there on his own to sleep and “get away."

Introducing Your Dog To The Crate

The first thing you need to do is “introduce” your dog to the crate. Take one of his favorite toys or a treat and “hand out” by the crate so that he simply gets used to the crate being in the room. Play with him near the crate, repeating this for several days. You should start off with the crate in the spot you want to keep it in and this should be somewhere that is away from the traffic areas of the home but in a room that the family spends time in. You don’t want your pet to feel isolated and lonely in a crate that is way off somewhere where no one ever goes!

Getting Your Dog Into The Crate

Next, you want to get the dog to go into the crate on his own. One way to do that is to “bribe” him by putting his favorite toy or a treat inside. Don’t put it too far in to begin with, just enough so he has to stick his head in to get it.

You’ll probably find that he pokes his head in and then backs out right away. That’s OK, just be sure to pet and praise him so he feels good about the whole thing.

You want to keep at this exercise every day, gradually putting the toy or treat in farther and farther. You also might want to be sure that you have a comfortable dog bed in there just in case he wants to try it out for a short nap.

Eventually, your dog will get used to going in the crate. When you see him in there, sit beside the crate and pet your dog while he is inside. This will let him know that being in the crate is “good." Always keep the door open wide at this point.

Getting Your Dog To Stay In The Crate

Keep repeating the above steps while trying to get your dog to spend more and more time in the crate. When he seems quite comfortable with it, close the door but do not latch it. Leave it unlocked so that he can nose his way out if he feels uncomfortable.

Eventually, your dog will come to love his crate and will probably retreat there if he is feeling insecure as well as to sleep. If you are going to close the door, be sure you provide him with fresh water at all times and never leave your dog locked in the crate for extended amounts of time.

It was amazing how fast our Maltipoo got accoustomed to the crate. It was only a day or two, but every dog is different.

This of course is just one step in your training ventures. Some people, especially first time dog owners, believe they need a professional to train them and their dog. But there are a lot of free dog training tips online. Youll be surprised how easy and rewarding it is when you do it yourself.

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Should Wolfie Like His Crate

So many people tell me so many things!  Dont put your dog in a crate, it is mean and he feels he is being punished!  Always use a crate because your dog loves it!  These are pretty different views and there doesnt seem to be a lot of middle ground on it.  So, what should it be?  To crate or not to crate?

Look at the picture and you can probably guess the direction this blog posting will take.  As a canine behavioral trainer, I love the crate.  The reason is simple.  Dogs (canines) naturally see the world at three distinct levels of safety.  The first, and most important, is their den.  This is the place that, if they feel threatened or "simply want to leave the party", they can retreat to and be assured that they are 100% safe from anything.  This is their den, their safe place.  The lions, tigers, and bears can NEVER get them in there.  (I will discuss the other levels in another posting.  That information is not pertinent regarding this discussion.) 

Some dogs naturally love the crate (Wolfie does) and some dogs seem to have a hard time with the crate.  These dogs might have come from pet stores or puppy mills where the crate was used as a containment area instead of a safety area.  They might have been inappropriately introduced to the crate as a "time out place" and physically thrown into the crate while their master was yelling and screaming.  The crate might have been kept in the garage or outside in the far corner of the yard where they felt ostracized from the rest of the pack.

So what do you do if your dog is fearful of the crate or you have a new puppy and you want to make sure that they will like the crate?

• Make sure the crate is a fun place.  Put his toys in the crate or feed him in the crate.  Do not initially close the door.  Let him wander in and out so that he will get the feeling that "this is a cool place to be".
• Have the crate near you.  Move the crate during the day so that it is near the rest of the family.  He can be in the crate and the rest of the pack is there too.  This will remove any appearance of being ostracized by being in the crate.
• Open and close the crate door.  We want to start to let him know that the door can be opened or closed and everything is still fine.  You do this by removing the fact that closing the door means anything.  Open the door for a while and then close it (while he is inside).  Do this at different times and make no big deal of it.
• Leave him for a bit.  Walk out of the room or out of site for a moment while he is in the crate.  This helps to remove us as the main safety resource and to reinforce the crate as the safety resource.  It is also a critical part of separation anxiety training.
• Actively engage him while he is in the crate.  Wolfie shouldnt feel like "bubble boy" while he is in the crate.  Get down next to the crate and engage him with conversation or play with the door open or closed.  This will further disengage the crate as a possible inappropriate enclosure.  

Start working on these items above and you will be long on your way to have a doggie that loves his crate and has a safe place he can always visit!  For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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