When I Get Home at Night Wolfie Always Wants All My Attention

When I get home at night, Wolfie is right there at the front door (like I assume most dogs are).  I give him a big pet and hug, but after that he wont leave me alone.  How do I tell him "enough"?

After a long day at work where we were probably yelled at by our boss or had a customer cancel an order, or just had a hectic day, it is always great to come home to someone who is really excited to see you.  So, what do we do?  We immediately respond to Wolfies request for attention.  We pet him or hug him and then "try" to walk in the house to put down our stuff or change our clothes.  

The problem is that Wolfie doesnt want to stop asking us for "hugs and kisses".  It finally gets to the point of being annoying to us or the rest of the family and we get mad at Wolfie.   ...And we really didnt want to get mad at him.  Wolfie is our best friend and he wasnt trying to make us mad.  

The problem is that we forgot that Wolfie is a dog and needs to be treated like a dog so he understands what is going on and what to expect.  Wolfie sees his family as his pack.  In a pack, there is the leader and the rest of the pack (the followers).  The leader makes all the decisions for the pack.  Everything must be his idea.  The leader will be the one to engage and to direct the pack.  

When you come home and open that door, if Wolfie is coming up to you, he is engaging you and requesting that you pet him and do what he wants to do.  Being a human, you think nothing of it, and you pet him.  You have just allowed Wolfie to tell you what he wants you to do.  You have just passively admitted that Wolfie is the leader and you, as a pack member, are obligated to do whatever he requests.  That is why Wolfie wont leave you alone.  He has more stuff for you to do.

So, what do we do about it?  We practice passive dominance with Wolfie when we first come home.  We open the door and ignore Wolfie.  Whatever he is doing, we ignore and walk past him.  We put down our brief case, put our keys on the table, get a glass of water, or anything else that we want to do.  This sends a clear message to Wolfie that we are not engaging in his request.  We are not telling him that he is the leader.

Now, WE call Wolfie over to us.  We can now pet him and greet him.  The major difference between this way and Wolfies way is that everything is now on our terms.  Wolfie is doing what WE want him to do.  In this scenario, Wolfie is now giving us the leadership role and he is assuming the role of a member of the pack.  We also need to remember that when we call Wolfie to us, we use a calm voice and remain tall.  This uses natural, canine body language to further tell Wolfie that we are the leader and he needs to respect us.

Please give this a shot and I am sure you will see that your nightly arrival at home will be far more enjoyable.  For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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Wolfie is Jumping the Fence

Wolfie keeps jumping over the fence whenever I am not around.  I dont want to keep him inside all the time and I dont want to tear down the fence and build one that is super tall!  What can I do?

I just had to share this picture because it is so funny.  If these are your dogs, I am not sure that The Great Wall of China is going to do a whole lot of good. 

I am focusing my suggestion on the situation where the dog can jump up, grab the top of the fence, and wiggle themselves over.  In this case, your fence is almost high enough to act as a proper deterrent, but it is giving Wolfie that one "paw hold" he needs to get to the other side.  Here is my idea:



What you want to do is to remove Wolfies ability to grasp the top of your fence.  What he has already shown is that he has the ability to jump high enough to get to the top of the fence.  What you have to do is to take away his ability to successfully hold on to the top of the fence.  Lets make it slippery!

• Take 2 x 4 lumber and cut them into 6 inch lengths.
• Drill 1 1/4 inch holes in them in the direct middle.
• Attach the poles so that they overhang into the yard and the holes are just on the yard side of the fence.  I would attach them about every 3 feet.
• Take 1 inch PVC pipe and string that through the holes.  You will need to attach the pieces of pipe with PVC glue and the appropriate F/F fittings.

When Wolfie jumps up now, he wont get to the stable top of the fence, he will get to the spinning PVC pipe that also has a little big of wiggle.  He will not have the ability to hold on and will simply slip back into the yard.

Please let me make it very clear that this is not the appropriate replacement for proper training in order to build the bond, trust, and respect that will keep Wolfie from needing the opportunity to "get to the other side".  Please think of this as a "stop gap" measure that you can use to maintain Wolfies safety and your peace of mind as the training takes place.  For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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