Author: Alexa Holloway

The importance of exercise


Providing exercise for your dog can help eliminate undesired behaviors.
People do not realize the immediate benefits of having a tired dog .

Does your dog bite objects, scratch your sofa, bark endlessly, jump up on guests, or chase your cat? Do you know that a likely cause is exercise!!

When your dog is really tired the urge to bite, nibble, bark, chase is significantly decreased. Boredom and excessive energy are two common reasons for undesired behaviors to occur, and too many people do not realize how a 30 minute run with your dog can help your dog succeed in your home.

This is how you can do it. Get a bike or if you are a good runner , run. Get your dog and really work your dog. Dog parks are great as well but if your community doesn’t have an off leash park or you don’t have the time or money to drive far, running or biking will promote a healthy lifestyle and provide you with a manageable dog.

Remember that setting your dog up for success is the key to a happy home, and the best way to start is by physical exercise. Mental stimulation is also an intricate part of behavioral modification but the physical exercise is a great way for you to take an immediate step to fixing behavioral problems.

Enjoy your dog everyday and remember that dogs are a privilege and like all good aspects of our life, they need to be maintained and taking care of.

Now go for that run!!

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Dog doesn’t eat their food or begs at the table


Initially it seems bizarre to hear that a dog doesn’t eat their food, but this is an all to common problem especially in smaller breeds.

If you find your dog falls into this category, here are some behavioral and some non traditional ways of correcting the issue.

The best way to get your dog to eat is with a routine. Your dog should be eating at a particular time everyday. This routine will let your dog know that they eat at a specific time which encourages consumption. However smaller dogs that don’t wolf down their food on one go are a little trickier.

Finicky small dogs might need more encouragement. You can add soft food or dog gravy onto their dry food to help encourage eating. Also smaller meals twice a day can be helpful for smaller dogs.

If you have fed your dog people food you can be in a bit of a deeper hole. This is where my non traditional yet very effective method comes in.

So your dog hates their food and now begs at your dinner table . First step is to slowly get your dog to stop begging and start eating. So when you sit down for dinner or breakfast, before your dog begs, pretend to put your people food into their dog bowls and place it on the floor ( while inside the bowl is their dog food)Your dog will eat the food because you have “tricked” them to thinking its people food. Everyday put the food down earlier and earlier, pretending to put people food in it. Eventually your dog will associate you giving them the bowl of food with you feeding them from the table and start eating.

This hits two birds with one stone. Stops begging and fixes the problem with eating.

Dogs can be finicky at times but they are also trusting and trainable, so choose methods of training that suit your specific needs.

Also if you are trying to stop begging use a kong toy during meals to occupy your dog or ignore the undesired behavior if it is minimal. Begging and dogs not eating are two very different problems. I will address begging next week.

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Great trick for small dogs


Its amazing how experienced trainers learn new training tricks through their training sessions.

If you have a small dog (5lbs or under) this can work for you.

Training sit can be a great fun but if you have a small dog that seems to jump instead of sit, it can become frustrating.

If you are having a similar problem I have your solution . When asking your dog to sit try using a low coffee table. When you ask for sit (using tips from my sit blog ) ask for it under the table. When your dog wants to jump he is limited in space and will actually be forced to sit. Continue asking your dog to sit until they are consistent . Then start asking for sit out from under the table . If they jump again ask one more time if still jumping then move back under the table.

This little technique is a great way for people with little training to experience real results.

In some cases people use a wall where you ask for sit and the dog sits because there is no more room to go and they naturally sit.
The table is a similar trick.

Happy training!!

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Dog barks at the door when people come over


When your dog barks at the door or runs around your house when the door bell rings you need to get your dogs focus off those distractions!

How to fix it:

Grab a place mat. Place it 15 feet from your door and ask your dog to sit on it. This is now your dogs go to spot.

Ask your dog to his spot and say stay. Walk to your door and return if your dog stayed on their spot, reinforce them. Do this again to make sure your dogs “stay” command is strong. ( door then back to dog). Now again go to door but touch the handle and wiggle it. If your dog stays, reinforce. Remember your dogs attention span maybe short if your dog gets up and walks away. Don’t chase after them ( ignore the undesired behaviors always) , wait till they return .

Now we will start opening the door open and shut. Make sure the door way is clear so the dog sees no one at the door. If your dog is still sitting reinforce them.

Now the tough spot. Have someone ring the doorbell but not stand in the doorway. The dog will bark most likely ( or even break the stay), just wait till your dog stops the undesired behavior and comes back to control in their place. Reinforce the calm sit position and try again . Do this until your dog is staying on their spot . Reinforce them if they are staying on the mat.

Once you get here now add the person to the door . The person should only move if you tell them to. If your dog is off their spot heading towards the door ask the person to step back outside . Do this again and again reinforcing good behavior .

You get see results with this positive reinforcement technique in a day . But remember when doing training sessions with your dog you need to let them know when they leave the train . Use a word like “ok” or “done” to let your dog know he can either 1) greet the guest or 2) walk around the house.

I also use hand gestures as well so try to say “done” or “ok” and do a quick clap . Now your dogs knows to break the stay position and carry on with their day.

Jumping and barking can be a frustrating behavior but with this technique your dog will know that door bell ringing means sit on mat not jump on guests .

Happy training

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