Tag: dog training

How do I stop my dog from eating poop?


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“Coprophagia”, meaning the act of a dog eating poop, can be one of the more disgusting habits dogs acquire. Not only is this a gross habit but it can cause an upset stomach to your dog resulting in diarrhea or other bowel problems.

But this is not an uncommon occurrence. Many dogs eat their own or other dog’s droppings, but why?

Before dogs were domesticated, they were living in the wild fending for themselves. These pack animals had natural predators and to keep safe dogs would eat their fecal material. This consumption help keep predators from finding their dens. Now that dogs have had hundreds of years of domestication this instinct has greatly diminished. However, if you find that your dog has begun eating their poop this can be due to boredom or because they find it reinforcing.

But how do I stop it!?!?

To stop coprophagia, here are several helpful tips to rid your dog of this habit.

1) You can buy a chew tablet or pill from your vet that makes their fecal distasteful and unappealing. Dogs under 40 pounds usually only need 1/2 a pill to 1 full pill. So be observant to determine the dosage.

2) pick up poo in your yard or pee pads. Removing the poo helps to avoid and eliminate further problems .

3) place an aversive on the poop! Hot sauce has been a common product. This helps your dog to associate fecal with a negative feeling and thus will help to stop the problem .

In my opinion, if you have multiple dogs or indoor dogs that use pads the pills and chew tablets are a great help. Many clients have reported success with this product .

Remember that this a fairly common problem and it is not actually harmful to your dog but it is a dirty habit that can be treated.

 

Aversive Conditioning (Good or Bad?)


This week is all about aversives, or a way to help avoid an undesirable behavior by helping the client to associate that activity with a negative outcome.

These people and dogs are not associated with my training or company, but have allowed me to see different types of aversives that they use on their dogs.

I always train animals behaviorally, by understanding the root of the problem behavior and having the dog learn and fix this problem or fear on their own. Now not every trainer uses positive reinforcement training and thus they revert to shock collars, spray collars, or punishment to help stop the undesired behavior.

This experiment will give me and in turn my readers insight into these pros and cons of aversives.

Spray collars

Today I am observing a small breed dog with a spray collar. I am taking into consideration the duration of the barking period in response to the aversive spray.

Does the dog indeed stop barking? For the small breed dog, who barks regularly we saw a very quick response. He managed to bark twice. Twice the spray offered an unpleasant mist and once the dog realized that the spray was only occurring when he was barking, the barking stopped. He barked 30 mins later once again the spray went off. Immediate silence.

Now was the dog comfortable. My observations say “no”. Being alone was still uncomfortable for the dog but the barking was no longer the way to express the feeling. Instead there were quieter moans and whimpering followed by a long-awaited relaxation period nearly 1 hour later.

This owner seems pleased with the spray despite the fact that her dog’s coat smells like the spray and the actually problem behavior which was a separation anxiety is not cured but merely masked.

Since I don’t use aversives in my training it was interesting to have a comprehensive understanding of what these devices do.

Tomorrow a medium breed dog will be analyzed for the same spray collar. Results to follow

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How to Train Older Dogs and Puppies


Everyone knows puppies need training early in life. That’s why millions of people go to basic training classes and puppy perfection lessons. What people don’t realize is that when your dog becomes an older dog sometimes you need to treat them like puppies.
Is your older dog starting to pee in the house? Do they seem a little aggressive toward your family or other animals? Lets start treating them as puppies. Don’t get angry and frustrated!

If your older dog has started going in the house, set up a dog pen. They have less space to make accidents and now they are back to basics. Set up their pee pad in the pen to encourage urination in a certain spot.

Older dogs can start being belligerent and just remember that you cannot get mad . By understanding your dog you can learn to adapt to their new age. Set them up for success and revert back to puppy training. Supervision, attention, and comfortable living space that is conducive to their level of obedience.

The better you adapt to your dogs old age the happy you both will become. Now, who said old dogs can’t learn new tricks?

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Dog Birthdays


Have you been to a dog birthday party lately or ever? If you haven’t you have not experienced the incredible lengths people go through for their dogs. I have had the privilege to have been invited to my fair share of doggie birthdays and I have enjoyed every one. However it is not the delicious food or in some cases flowing wine that keeps me wanting more. It is the social interaction between the dogs that impresses me. It is great socialization and dog owners can learn new behaviors and have new experiences with other dog owners. Experienced and responsible dog owners are great teachers and leaders. At every dog birthday I have attended people discuss behavioral problems and get much needed dog advice from multiple sources and in some cases professional dog trainers. There dogs learn appropriate social behavior and meet new friends.

Dog birthdays may seem like something out of Beverley Hills housewives but this new craze is spreading amongst avid animal lovers and there is no stopping it. People invest a lot of money and time on their dogs and this will only continue to grow. So next time you are invited to a doggie b-day party, go! You never know what new behavioral and training tips you could get !

Oh and don’t forget to bring a gift

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Dogs are so funny


When I think of dogs I think of them as people . All with different personalities, sizes, shapes, colors and habits. During the week I have encountered several dogs all that amaze me in their own special way.

One situation that was interesting involved two dogs . One who is gregarious but is uncomfortable left alone and the other one is a little fatty but is great by himself. I arrived at the residence and started training immediately . After the session I wanted to treat the dogs to a fun play session in a dog park before I left . So I grab the leashes and like usual the outgoing dog sprints over ready for his walk the other dog is so happy in his bed with his bone that the dog park was not as reinforcing as the bone and bed combo. I called twice and to no avail.

It’s amazing how these dogs that live together and are good friends truly can exhibit separate personality traits.
Remember that dogs are more like us then you may think; just like children you have to respect and acknowledge that all dogs are different and thus they need different types of attention.

When I am involved in training I use different training techniques for different dogs. This is important!

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