Category: Indoor Training Tips

Fear of people


Dogs that have a fear of people can be a tough to handle. You want your dog to be playful but for whatever the reason ( ie your dogs are rescues) they are scared. Here are some tips to help with getting your dog to be more approachable.

Sit on you sofa bring some treats with you and have them readily available. Don’t move over to your dog, let them slowly come to you. Don’t even coax your dog over, everything with people fears need to be on you dogs own terms. Once your dogs gets with in hands distance show the treat in on open hand on the floor. Slowly your dog will come to and take. Then do it again. Remain very calm and anytime your dog comes up to you, reinforce. Our goal is to make you ( the person) the most reinforcing thing to your dog. Don’t every yell or punish a fearful dog. Also being on your dogs level is a great way to share the playing field. Try sitting on your floor with treats and if your dog comes over calmly( bring extra treats) and while they try to eat the treats very calming pet them.

This should also happen with your friends. Tell your friends to just relax and wait for the dog to come to them. Remember also that outside noises and people will also affect your dog. So go out on days that are not busy and reinforce your dog for remaining calm when you both see someone.

Don’t reinforce your dog if they are exhibiting fear and remember be patient with you dog. If things are on their terms you dog will ease into their new home and meeting new people.

Happy training!!

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Fear in dogs and how to treat the various types of fears


Fear in dogs can be misdiagnosed. Fear can come from a variety of reasons:
1) genetically: dog has a family history of fear
2) fear from circumstance : something in the past has attributed to the fear. ie- dog gets bitten by a another dog and now has developed a fear of dogs.
3) fear based on socialization: a dog that has not been desensitized to people , dogs , objects etc. ie a dog that has never seen a skateboard may shy away or run when a skateboard rolls by.

Reactions to fear :

Dogs react to the different fear types in many different ways

1) scared: probably the most obvious reaction. Dogs will run away from an object or person(s), creating distance from themselves am the object of their fear.

2) lake of motion: another obvious reaction is freezing. The dog will express their fear my standing still ( motionless)

3) fidgeting: this one is less obvious but just as common. Dogs will start expressing their fear through sniffing, eating, digging or scratching.

4) AGGRESSION: this is the fear that is expressed by showing digns of aggression. How works is the dog will bark aggressively or snarl to create distance between themselves and the fear provoking stimulus. (objects people other dogs). Remember that there is an underlying reason for every reaction a dog has. Not every barking or aggressive dog is exhibiting a fear response. That why this particular problem is tough to diagnose.

How to treat:

Treating fear is a slow process. When treating fear some great suggestions are exercise. Physically stimulating your dog helps to release those endorphins and help bring them calm . Also mental stimulation always comes into play. This is why I always tell people to train their dog in basic obedience training. When your dog knows the basics it helps with redirecting and distracting them from uncomfortable stimuli. Remember that fear should be treated with positive reinforcement training. Do not use adversives or dominance training for this since their is a probably that their fear will only be exacerbated.

Fear is complicated! Like all my training advice, this will take a lot of time and patience. I will use specific examples of real life fear situations all this week to explain step by step process of treating fear.

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Why get CGC certified


CGC or canine good citizen is a great way to let your community know that your dog is well behaved and can be respected in your city. If you are moving in to a new building a CGC certified dogs are starting to be a requirement. The CGC test involves sit, down, walking comfortably meaning left/right turn, meeting strangers, meeting strange dogs, stay and come behaviors, they need to accustomed to distractions (loud noises or skate boards rolling by)
and finally your dog needs to be left with a stranger for 3 minutes. Everything must be completed with your dog being calm and relaxed and under control. They need to show discipline and that they can follow commands. Your dog must be at least 1 year old to take the test and after the CGC test your dog has more opportunities to receive other certifications like being therapy dog certified.

If you are interested in CGC testing and need lessons contact your local trainer.

If you are in Key Biscayne, FL

Contact: Alexa Holloway
3057100502

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How to fade behaviors


A lot of people tell me that they don’t want to use treats forever. What people need to understand is that treats are used in the beginning of training. We use the word primary reinforcement to describe treats because they are the first or primary resource that dogs seem to enjoy. Secondary reinforcement examples are toys, touching ( tactile), ice, even hose plays. It is important when you begin training to first use the primary reinforcement (R1) then over time if the behaviors are consistent ( ie the dog does the behavior every time you ask for it) start fading the treats. Using smaller and smaller amounts and substituting touching and praise will move you away from treats. However treats are an important part of the training process and I suggest if you are training a new behavior or trying to correct undesired behavior to use treats initially. Set yourself up for success.

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How to Sit


Sitting is a fundamental behavior in obedience training. This should be starting right when you get your dog. There are many ways of starting the process but today we will learn how to use positive reinforcement training to do “sit”.

Bring your dogs favorite training treats and get your dog positioned in front of you. We will use a verbal signal paired with with a hand signal. Say the word “sit” and move your hand with a treat in it from your dogs face back toward their back. Your dog will begin to follow your treat and naturally fall back and sit, the second your dog sits say ” good” and reinforce that behavior. Do it again and again, reinforcing only when they completely sit. That is key because if you say good and they are not sitting they will take advantage of your mistake and do less and less . So only reinforce behaviors when it is complete also reinforce immediately. The probability of a behavior reoccurring is increased by the immediacy of the reinforcing.
Now if your dog doesn’t emit sit we will LRS. It is called the least reinforcing stimulus . It is like a 3 second time-out. All you do is ignore the wrong behavior. So you say sit and he always sits and now you say sit and they are still standing. Ignore that behavior which lets your dog know something is not right and then ask again.

Sit is an important behavior. It is the “gateway” behavior to a world of other behaviors. I personally don’t let any of my dog clients get freebies. Before they go for a walk I ask them to sit whilst the leash goes on. When I come home and the dog runs to greet me I say sit immediately.
Let sit work for you!

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