Wolfies Potty Problems While On The Road at Our Cabin

I just dont get it.  Wolfie has been potty trained for years, but when we are on a trip, he makes accidents!  What gives?

Well, our family, along with our four dogs, was on a vacation trip recently and we ran into this exact problem.  Our dogs that never made accidents for years began to have accidents in our rented cabin.  We quickly realized that we had to remember our initial potty training with each dog and the environment/schedule that we finally set up for our "pack".  It then became quite obvious that what we had established as the "norm" in their life was now drastically changed.

We went out hiking in the morning, ate at strange hours, were in and out all the time, had them in and out on our schedule, and just didnt give them the focus that we normally did when we were at home.  We broke the main rule of potty training, we were not "listening" to them telling us to let them out.

Well, when you are on a traveling vacation, it is sometimes difficult to always pay attention to your furry friends.  We had do think of something different so that we werent loosing our "cleaning deposit" at every place we stopped.  Here is what we came up with:

We went back to the basics.  We established a schedule based on our activities for the day.  Whenever possible, we tried to get them out every three hours, even if we had been playing with them earlier.  Also, we kept them in their crates when we left the cabin.  Since they really didnt want to go in their crates, it helped to strengthen the encouragement when we took them out.

Guess what?  It worked perfectly.  As soon as we put this in place we had zero accidents.  All we did was to go back to the basics of potty training.  We put them on a schedule, tried to observe them as much as possible, and crated them when we couldnt watch them.

Even though this is simple advice, it will surely help you keep your cleaning deposit the next time you travel with your pooches!  For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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Wolfie Eats Too Fast

Wolfie is like a vacuum cleaner when it comes to his food.  Nothing I try can slow him down and I am afraid it is going to hurt his stomach...

There are a lot of things out there you could try to curb a dogs "speed eating".  The most popular are the special doggie bowls that have bumps and sections in them to make it harder to get the "big bites" into Wolfies mouth.  We think we have a better way.

We would like to suggest a way to slow Wolfies "speed eating" while adding a bit of entertainment to the process.  The other good thing about this is that you dont have to buy a thing to implement it today.


Dogs, like many animals, are foragers.  They are always looking for things on the ground, on tables, chairs, etc.  We suggest combining their hunger with their natural foraging instinct.  We implement this through a process we call "scatter feeding".  When it is time to feed Wolfie, measure his food and put it in his bowl.  Instead of putting the bowl down, give him a command such as "meal time, food, eaties", etc. and then toss some of the food on the ground.

Wolfie will now go after the kibble that is now scattered on the floor.  As he is finishing up the last bit, repeat your meal time command and toss some more food on the ground.  If he is eating the food too fast, scatter the kibble in a larger area and make the portions slightly smaller.

This is an instinctive way that Wolfie naturally eats and a process that he can easily understand.  You have taken charge by managing how fast the food is presented to him and Wolfie is having a great time foraging for his food on the ground.

Give this a try and I am sure you will get some great results.

One note of caution.  If you have multiple dogs in your household and food aggression is displayed, you must make sure that the other dog(s) are separated before you begin to scatter feed with Wolfie.

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

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The ONE THING You Dont Want To Do With Your Puppy

When I get a new puppy, what is the one thing I really should remember to never do?  There are so many things to remember and I know that I will probably get things wrong for a bit.  But, what is that "drop dead thing" I should remember from the very start?

Excuse me if todays training blog seems more like a sermon than training advise, but this is the one thing that Robin and I see from time to time that is almost impossible to fix.  The terrible thing about it is that it is not the dogs fault.

The picture at the top of this article shows a little boy pulling a puppys tail.  The puppy normally gives a little "yip" and squirms a bit.  The little boy thinks that is funny and does it over and over, day after day.  That activity might turn into throwing things at the puppy, hitting him with a toy, hiding him in a dark closet while banging the door, or poking him with a stick.  

When the puppy is small, it isnt a big deal if he barks or lunges at you, it could even be a little funny.  The problem is that the puppy will get bigger, many times much bigger.

You have now taught your dog that you (and most other humans) only want to harm him when they approach.  The only thing he can do is to lash out to try and protect himself.  Aggression, biting, and fighting are the natural tools that your dog has at his disposal to keep himself safe.  Remember, your dog doesnt want to do this, but you taught him that this is something that he MUST do.

The result of all of this is that you now have an aggressive dog that is a danger to you, your family, and the neighborhood.  To reverse this process requires a long period of deprogramming and re-socialization.  Nobody is safe while this process is underway and it is also very difficult to know exactly when you have been successful.  Sometimes, you will never be successful.  You have now written the death warrant for "who was supposed to be your best friend", and it didnt have to be that way.

NEVER PLAY ROUGH WITH YOUR PUPPY OR ANY DOG.

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

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The One Thing That Wolfie Wants

Wolfie is running and jumping and barking and not listening and, and, and...  Just what does he want?  I have tried everything and I just cant get him to be good.  Can it be that hard to have a good dog?

No.  (Dont you just hate answers like that?  Dont worry, I am not going to turn my back and walk away without an explanation...)

The one thing that dogs, and for that matter, we humans, want is to feel safe.  If all is right with the world and our future is secure, we are having a really great day.  Humans look at good health, financial stability, lasting relationships, etc. as a way to feel safe.  

Dogs feel safe when they are members of a strong pack.  The pack is kept strong because it is run by a strong canine alpha leader.  So what we must do is to be Wolfies strong, canine alpha leader.  This sounds like it would be pretty easy except for the fact that we are humans.  We must change our perspective of the world from the way a human might act to the perspective of the world the way a dog might act.

There is one big rule that you must remember if you want Wolfie to view you as the canine alpha leader who has the ability to keep him safe.  You must constantly be reinforcing your leadership with him in a passive way that he naturally understands.  Here is what you do.

In a wolf pack in the wild, the only one that tells the rest of the pack what to do is the canine alpha leader.  The rest of the pack naturally submit and follow the leader.  This is what you have to do.  Everything you do with Wolfie must be on your terms.  If Wolfie comes over to you and puts his nose in your hand to pet him, you can not pet him.  If Wolfie gets his ball and comes over to you and gives you his big puppy eyes saying he wants to play ball, you can not play ball with him.

So, what do you do in these instances?  You simply ignore him for a moment until he turns away.  You can then call him over so YOU can pet him.  You can then call him over so YOU can play ball with him.  Remember, it always has to be on your terms.  It always has to be your idea.  You must be the one that starts, begins, commences.  This will maintain your role as the strong alpha leader.

Now that you are the strong alpha leader, Wolfie is on his way to providing you with the respect a canine alpha leader requires.  He is also on his way to feeling safe and happy.  And, that, is the one thing he wants and needs.

Now that you are the canine alpha leader, you need to guide Wolfie as to what is right and wrong.  That is where proper training comes into play.  Please check out more of this Blog for additional information or contact us for more information on our training programs.  For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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