How To Help Wolfies Fear of Storms

I thought that Wolfie was fine with our summer storms, but he is whining, panting, pacing, and just driving me crazy!  I try and comfort him, but it just seems to get worse!

Remember that I am always saying that we should not treat our dogs like humans?  Remember that I am always saying that we should treat our dogs like dogs?  Guess what!  You are treating him like a human, again.  

We have to understand that the sights, sounds, and even the drop in barometric pressure could be very strong negative stimuli on Wolfie.  This will cause him to become unsure and scared of what he thought was his safe environment.  Naturally, he comes to us to reassure his safety.  Here is where the problem begins.

When Wolfie comes to us, whining and getting under our feet, we instinctively go down and pet him and talk to him in a high, "baby voice" tone trying to sooth and console him.  If Wolfie would be our young son or daughter, that might work.  But Wolfie is a dog and he needs to reassured of his safety in a manner consistent by a strong, canine Alpha Leader.

Here is what you do in order to reassure Wolfie of his safety in a manner he requires:

When Wolfie comes to you, stand up, face him, and ask him to sit or lie down.   Give him a "good boy" when he does.  Continue with your work.  If he starts to whine again, stand up, face him, and give him a firm, low toned "No".  Ask him to sit again, praise him, and go on with your work.  

If Wolfie starts to whine again (what a persistent little guy!), take your leash, hook it on his collar, and briskly walk him around the room or the house.  Return to where you started, have him sit, and return to your work.  What you are doing is to correct and redirect Wolfie away from his perceived fear and to have him focus on you.

You are the boss and your appropriate presence should be all the reassurance he needs to maintain his safety.  As you are communicating with Wolfie, you are standing and facing him.  In the canine world, this is a sign of assertion and leadership.  

Give this a try and see how it works for you.  I have used this technique with our dogs for years and it works like a charm!  For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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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 Seems Afraid of Me What Can I Do

I am not sure what it is, but Wolfie seems afraid of me.  Hell always stay away from me and never comes!  What can I do that wont make the situation worse?

Unfortunately, we see this more times that we would like.  All doggie owners try to be good doggie owners, but sometimes we just blow our stacks.  We get mad, yell & scream, and sometimes whack our "best friend".  Bad experiences can leave very strong impressions with dogs and can last a long time.

So we messed up.  What can we do to make it right with Wolfie?  

One way is to practice an exercise called "V Feeding".  This is a process where we use small treats or kibble to entice Wolfie to come to us, feel safe, and then allow him to move away.  The entire point of this exercise is that we are allowing Wolfie to feel safe the entire time.  Here is what you do:

1. Get some small treats (Zukes Doggie Treats are perfect) or Wolfies kibble.
2. Have Wolfie about eight feet away from you.  Throw a goodie to the left of Wolfie about seven feet from you.  Allow Wolfie to go and get it.
3. Now, throw a goodie to the right of Wolfie about six feet from you.  Allow Wolfie to go and get it.
4. Repeat the left and right process with the food, moving Wolfie closer and closer to you.
5. When you have Wolfie about three feet from you, kneel down low to see if he will come to you.  If he does, that is great.  If he does not, that is not a problem.
6. Now, start throwing goodies to your left and right at increasing distances from you.  All you are doing here is reversing the process where you had Wolfie come to you.
7. Once Wolfie is about eight feet away from you, praise Wolfie in your high voice.  Stand still for a moment or two and then walk away.

Repeat this process two or three times a day.  What you are doing is to remove the notion that you are "the boogie man" in Wolfies eyes.  Coming and going from you is a pleasurable experience.  After about one week, toss the goodies so that Wolfie is right next to you.  Continue that for a week and then start to slowly pet Wolfie when he is right next to you.  (Remember that you are kneeling down low when you are doing this.)

Do not pet Wolfie by extending your hand over his head.  Show him the back of your hand and slowly move it along the ground towards his chest.  (If he flinches, do not press the matter.  You will try it again the next time.)  Once you reach his chest, slowly rub him.  Make sure that he is looking at you and you are looking at him.  Next, slowly move your hand around to his back and continue the rubbing.  

What we have done is to "reintroduce" yourself to Wolfie in a non-aggressive way.  We have allowed Wolfie to come to the conclusion that you will not harm him.  You will then have the opportunity to regain his respect and focus  and he will once again feel safe and secure around you.  For more information, please contact 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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