What Does the Word STAY Mean to You

For my students, who know that pointing your finger at your dog to make him stay as you back away repeating the command only proves that your dog doesnt know how to stay ...

Stay

I pulled into the crowded parking lot at the local shopping center and rolled down the car windows to make sure my Labrador Retriever Pup had fresh air. She was stretched full-out on the back seat, and I wanted to impress upon her that she must remain there.

I walked to the curb backward, pointing my finger at the car and saying emphatically,

Now you stay. Do you hear me?

Stay! Stay!

The driver of a nearby car, a pretty blonde young lady, gave me a strange look and said,

Why dont you just put it in PARK?

Disclaimer: Dont leave your dog in alone in a car on a hot day! Dont leave the windows open with a large enough opening that your dog could escape from the car if he broke his stay.

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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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Remingtons tale

This is a dog I trained about a year ago. He had been adopted from a local shelter. When he was found he had three bullet holes in his leg. They were already infected and his left rear leg had to be amputated.

His new adoptive parents named him Remington.

When his owners called their question was, “can you train a dog with three legs”? I hadn’t had one yet but could not think of any reason why Manners in Minutes wouldn’t work. I had already trained a couple of deaf dogs so this did not sound like too much of a challenge.

As soon as they walked in the center I had them drop the line. How the dog reacts to his first few minutes in the center helps me identify problem areas. Remington was just about right. He explored with confidence but natural caution. That meant he wasn’t too timid or had too much out of control alpha drive. He also showed no signs that the missing leg was impairing his movement.

Remington is an Australian Cattle Dog mix according to the owners. Like any herding dog, once he checked out the center, he tried to herd us all in a corner. That meant he thought he was higher in the pack than humans.

Herding dogs are some of the easiest dogs to work with. We put two Q Calmers on him to help him concentrate and started the lesson.

Now one of my beliefs is that all dogs are born con artists. They quickly learn that the body language for submission is cute and endearing to humans. We say “oh look how adorable he is.” As soon as they hear that they now know they can manipulate us to get their way.

In every lesson there comes the moment when the dog recognizes that if I continue their life will change. Manners in Minutes training is about pack order and the dog is taught that humans are higher in the pack than they are. If they are comfortable being higher in the pack, (if they aren’t you probably don’t need a trainer) they will resist the change.

At that moment the dog will instinctively try to get the owner to feel sorry for them and stop the training. Most will tangle themselves in the line.

I was teaching Remington to walk on a long line with the line always slack. As Remington walked past his “Mom” he suddenly dipped the hip on the missing leg. Although he had been in the center for almost thirty minutes, he had never done that at any other point. He then looked at her with “help me” clearly on his face. She instinctively got up to rescue him.

Like any good pack leader I immediately growled at her. “Don’t you get up and indulge this dog.” She sat down and we continued. He would try the leg dip three more times. When it didn’t work he stopped and did not try that again for the rest of the lesson.

Think about it. I bet your dog has at least one manipulative body sign. And I bet it uses it to get away with everything short of murder.

Doug

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A Tip For Your Dogs Separation Anxiety

Every time I leave the house, Wolfie cries and barks until I come home.  What can I do so that he wont be like that?

Wolfie is experiencing separation anxiety.  When you leave he becomes anxious and will cry and bark for long periods of time.  He will pace back and forth, sometimes jumping up on the window ledges to see if you are coming home yet.  Sometimes this behavior turns destructive.  He might start chewing on the baseboards near the door or on pillows and other pieces of furniture.  In one extreme case, we saw two dalmatians actually eat their way through a wall.

There are many things you can do about this.  For now, I would like to offer one of the suggestions I provide my clients having this problem.

Separation anxiety many times starts with anticipation.  When Wolfie has the ability to anticipate our departure and his solidarity, it builds up the adrenaline and can make the matter even worse.  What we must do is to eliminate Wolfies anticipation of our departure.

We are creatures of habit and usually have set routines for things we do.  This is almost always true when we leave the house.  We need to get our keys, check to make sure the doors and windows are locked, turn off the lights, grab our wallet, put on our shoes, grab our coat, etc.  Many times this process might begin up to 30 minutes before we actually leave.  Wolfie watches us every day and knows every one of our routines.  When he starts to see the "I am leaving" routine, his adrenaline and anticipated anxiety begin to build.  To minimize Wolfies anxiety, we need to "hide" our "I am leaving" routine from Wolfie.

Here is what you do:

• For the next three days, write down everything you do when you leave the house.  Start your list 30 minutes before you actually leave.  After three days, pull out your lists and look for a pattern of repeated actions you do before you leave.  Take these actions and make it your "I am leaving" routine.
• Now, every time you leave, mix up your routine or even eliminate some of the actions.  You might put your briefcase and shoes in the car the night before or leave your car keys in the garage.  Continue to mix up your routine for the next few days.
• Now, start to perform your "I am leaving" routine, but dont leave.  Get all ready to leave, walk out the door, come right back in side, and sit down to watch TV.  Repeat this and then work on the computer.  Even mix up the routine slightly, but dont leave.
• Perform the "leaving" and "not leaving" routines for several days.

What you have done is to show Wolfie that there is not a precursor to your leaving.  There is no need to get anxious because of particular actions.  Although this is not a complete cure for separation anxiety, it is a first step in minimizing the overall level of anxiety.  To completely cure Wolfies separation anxiety, he needs to have a clear picture of his place in the family and your leadership ability. For more information, please contact us at The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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