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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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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Getting Wolfie to Stop Chewing and Teething

Wolfie likes to chew and teeth a lot.  I have tried all the normal ideas like Bitter Apple, Bitter Yuch, Tabasco Sauce, and the like.  It seems that these things make Wolfie want to chew the item even more!  Ideas!  Help!

This training blog is going to be rather short, because I believe I have found the Holy Grail of dogs chewing and teething.

I was at a client about two months ago and our discussion turned to their dogs obsession with chewing on wicker and hands.  Besides the normal corrections that we always teach, I wanted to provide them with a "Plan B".  I knew that the mainstream suggestions of the "Dont Chew on Me" items from the pet stores never worked, so I turned to my favorite suggestion of Hot Sauce.

They said they had some Hot Sauce and went to get it from the kitchen.  Being from Southern California, I assumed it would be a Mexican Hot Sauce.  I was wrong.  My clients were originally from China so they brought out some great Mandarin Chinese Hot Sauce!  (I hadnt had any of this stuff since I frequented a little place called The Mandarin Wak in California!)  This stuff was HOT!

I put three drops of this stuff on my hands and rubbed it in.  I then let their dog come back to my hand, (earlier he chewed on it), he took one sniff/lick, and he was done with that.  I put a few drops on the furniture he was chewing.  After one snip, he was done with that activity.

If your dog has a chewing problem, I think that Chinese Mandarin Hot Sauce is the way to go.  (Since I am also a hot sauce lover, I want to way that is is also really tasty!)   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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