5 Steps to Ruining a Dog

Last year at this time we made a post about Improving Your Relationship with Your Dog.  This year we thought that we would take a different approach and tell you how to ruin your dog.  Although there are MANY more that could have been added to this list, here are just a few.

Ignore Every Warning Sign of Behavior Issues - This is a good one if you’re trying to screw up your dog.  Fido bit the kids, he growls when you approach his food bowl, he appears fearful when strangers enter the home, and pins dogs to the ground upon meeting them – ahh, that’s nothing!  It’s probably just a phase, he’ll grow out of it automatically on his own, just ignore it!

Why this can ruin a dog - Behavioral issues usually start to present themselves long before an actual “event” occurs.  So whether you realize it or not, that weird little character flaw that you are seeing from your dog can quickly escalate into a full blown problem, and often times it’s a lot harder or sometimes impossible to fix.  Many dogs end up in shelters because warning signs were missed and now the responsibility falls to the shelter and the future owner(s).  It’s hard enough to adopt out dogs, let alone those with serious behavior issues.  If you see something you’re not sure of, ask a trainer!!

Avoid Crate Training Like the Plague - OMG, crate training – NEVER!  How dare you!  Fido doesn’t need a crate, he’s about 1.5 years old now and he only pees and poops in the house a few times while you’re at work.  He can be trusted inside the home while everyone is out, the couch he tore up was old and you were thinking about replacing your kitchen table and chairs anyway, right?!  Perfect!

Why this can ruin a dog - You may not need to crate your dog for their entire lives, but it’s a great aid in potty training, it’s a fantastic aid in controlling space, it make traveling with your pet a lot easier, and I have never heard anyone regret crate training their dog!  At some point in your dog’s life they are going to have to be crated – there is not getting around this.  Whether it’s at the vet’s office, the groomer, a boarding facility, or at a friends home, the time will come to crate your dog.  If you never expose your dog to a crate and teach them the correct way to behave in the crate, they are going to nervous, anxious, they may panic, and it will be extremely stressful for them, and injury is possible if they try hard enough to escape.

Encourage and Reward Whining and Other Signs of Anxiety - This seems to be one of the more popular items on the list.  Fido cries in the crate, he runs over to you and shakes when the garbage truck drives past, he has also started to hide behind your legs when men enter the home, and he barks at the window to let you know that someone has just walked past the house.  Make sure you let Fido knows that he’s doing a great job at being afraid, be sure to teach him that his crying is the best way to get your attention, and make sure you constantly touch him and tell him “it’s okay” when he’s fearful and hiding.  That’ll learn ‘em!

Why this can ruin a dog - Barking, fearfulness, whining, and other anxious behaviors are NOT desirable traits in dogs.  So why do so many owners pet, praise, and verbally mark such behaviors?  From my experience, dog owners may be attempting to send the correct message in these instances, but they are using human emotion to deal with a canine problem.  If your child was nervous of thunder and lightening, you are going to give her a hug and tell her that it’s okay, there is nothing to worry about.  When you do the same for a dog, your’re basically encouraging them to be more fearful by implementing physical touch and verbal praise.  Marking and encouraging behaviors is training.  It’s up to us to make sure that we are marking and encouraging the correct behaviors in our dogs.

Expect Them to Fill a Void in Your Life – Did you just go through a hard break up, are you lonely, dealing with depression, or having a hard time dealing with all that life is throwing at you lately?  Let’s get a dog!!!!!  Fido will be a great listener, it will be his job to love you, Fido will fill in where your life was lacking.  No need to get to the root of the problem or deal with people in a social manner, that fuzzy little BFF will make it all better!

Why this can ruin a dog - If you expect a dog to fill a certain void in your life, you will put unrealistic pressures and responsibilities on your dog.  You’re not going to be providing your dog with what he/she needs from you, but instead you’ll be expecting things from your dog that falls outside their umbrella; this quickly creates an unhealthy relationship and behavior issues ensue.

Avoid Training and Discipline as to Not Make Them Unhappy – This is a good one.  Your last dog never had any training or rules and he was the happiest dog ever – ask anyone, they’ll tell you!  Sure you had to chase him around the neighborhood on a weekly basis when he bolted out of the front door, he was anxious in the house and was always pacing around, he panicked and drooled profusely whenever we took him to the vet, and he was constantly barking at people who walked by the front of the home; but it’s cool, he liked it!  Yeah, he may have had some issues, but at least you never made him do anything that he didn’t want to do.

Why this can ruin a dog - Some people tend to believe that happiness or spirit is demonstrated by the complete lack of self-restraint and boundaries.  This couldn’t be further from the truth for a dog.  The bottom line is a dog that is unbalanced, anxious, and neurotic is not a happy dog.  They need discipline, structure, and rules in order to thrive in their environment.  They need to be taught to relax and shut off at times, they need to learn to think, they need to know what is expected of them, and they need to be taught skills in order to handle daily life.  All of this is accomplished through training and leads to a balanced and happy dog.

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Top Posts of 2011

It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone already, and what a year it was!  Not only did we move into our new training center in Leander, but we started some new training programs like K9 Scent Games, Dine with your Dog, and a Puppy Board and Train Program, we held a contest to redesign our t-shirts, and we worked with even more incredible dogs and their owners!

We have also expanded our dog training blog with a lot more informative, useful, and educational articles.  Check out the 10 most popular posts of 2011.

10.  Why is Crate Training So Important?

9.  Do You Use an Emergency Recall Word?

8.  New Dog Park Opens in Cedar Park

7.  Indoor Summertime Training Ideas 

6.  What’s the Big Deal with Hand Signals?

5.  A More Detailed Look at Black Dog Syndrome

4.  2011 Mighty Texas Dog Walk

3.  7 Steps to Improving Your Relationship

2.  How to Introduce 2 Dogs on Leash

1.  Denial Aint Just a River in Spain

Feel like taking a stroll further down memory lane?  Be sure to check out the top 10 Posts of 2009 and 2010.

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Highlights from Tricks 2

We just wrapped up another trick training class last week and it was a blast!  Take a look at some of the video highlights taken during the last night of Tricks 2.

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Upcoming Fall Classes

The weather here in Austin is finally starting to maybe think about cooling down for just a bit, and it’s a great time to do something new with your dog!  In addition to our regular dog training classes in Austin, we are adding two more extra curricular classes to our fall schedule.

Things are going to get real smelly starting on October 15th!  Check out K9 Scent Games which focuses on teaching you different games and scenarios that can be used to encourage your dog’s natural scenting abilities.  By utilizing our dog’s search skills, we build confidence, burn off mental and physical energy, and a positive working relationship that develops between you and your dog when you both are out “hunting” together as a team.

If Scent Games isn’t your thing, check out our latest installment of Trick Training.  Teaching your dog new tricks is a great opportunity to kick back and have some fun and by exposing your dog to new instruction, you’re actually making it easier for them to learn new things later down the road – and it’s a lot of FUN!!  Tricks 2 (Tricks 1 is not a prerequisite for this class) begins on October 27th!!

Click on the following links to sign up or learn more about our Trick Training and K9 Scent Games classes.  Hope to see you out there!!!

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Do You Use An Emergency Recall Word?

I was recently chatting with a potential client during a consultation and evaluation when he stated that his previous trainer had suggested using an emergency recall word. Not knowing exactly what he was referring to, I asked him to clarify. It turns out that the dog was not only taught a traditional recall using the word “come”, but also taught an additional word that meant something along the lines of “no matter what you are doing, I need you to me right now!”

Now I know there are tons of different approaches to dog training, and I not here to slam all training methodologies that differ from ours, and maybe I’m missing something, but I just can’t see the logic in this approach. This is how I see it…

If the emergency word means “come here right now no matter what”, then the regular old come command must mean something along the lines of “if you’re up for it, why don’t you swing by my way when you’re ready.” I know it’s just a training preference, but why even teach a regular recall at all? Why not just make your emergency word “come” and treat every recall with the same importance?

If someone can shed light on this logic, I’d love to hear it. Also, does anyone have a similar training practice (like using the word “stay”) that makes you wonder? If so, please open the discussion in the comments section below.

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5 Ways to Make Training Fun Again

Falling into a slump in our work life, exercise routine, or social lives can sometimes be unavoidable; the same can happen in dog training.  Repetition and consistency are two main keys to training your dog, but those two terms can often lead to boredom; I mean by definition you have to do the same thing over and over again.  In order to keep your dog’s training fun or make it fun again, here are some ideas that don’t mean sacrificing consistency or repetition, but can reignite your dog’s love of learning!

• Visit a new location for training. Training your dog in the same location can not only get boring fairly quickly, but it can also make the training location specific. You may be amazed of the effect a new location can have on you and your dog, so try running your dog through their paces in a new park, try a new route on your walks instead of always taking the same path, explore a new trail in Austin with your dog.

• Take some time off. We often see clients coming out to our unlimited group training classes several times a week and occasionally it seems like their dog’s progress has leveled off.  At this point we will often suggest reducing the amount of classes attended each week or taking a week off from the traditional group class learning format.  Now this may seem to go against the whole consistency and repetition thing, but it doesn’t have to.  Taking some time off doesn’t mean you throw out all the rules and stop holding your dog accountable, you are just omitting the formal classroom portion of the training for a short time.  Upon returning from their hiatus, the dog and owner are usually refreshed and ready to advance!

• Teach them something new. While obedience is the main reason why people enroll in our Austin dog training classes, they often realize their are a lot of additional, fun things to teach your dog.  If your dog seems to be bored with the whole come, sit, and down routine, consider teaching them something new such and enrolling in another program such as Trick Training, agility, K9 Scent Games, flyball, or treadmill training.

• Challenge a friend or classmate to a friendly competition. Sometimes when we add in the word competition, our attitudes can quickly change and make things interesting again.  Consider meeting up with a friend and playing a game that involves practicing your dog’s skills.  A few ideas include putting your dog in a down/stay, getting some distance from them and having them do a recall race, seeing which dog can do the most push ups (sit to down, down to sit) in one minute, or who can send their dog to a place from the farthest distance, etc.

• Take the pressure off. Sometimes we are in such a hurry to “finish” training or get past a certain hurdle that we put too much pressure on ourselves and our dogs.  The great thing about an unlimited training program is that we train at your dog’s pace, we don’t have to throw too much information at your dog at once.  Sometimes we just need to relax and remember to have fun, it will pay off, your dog will learn!

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K9 Scent Games

All of the dogs had a blast during our last installment of K9 Scent Games (some photos can be found here), so we’re doing it again!!  K9 Scent Games is all about using your dog’s sense of smell and  natural desire to hunt, and putting those skills to the test.

Our K9 Scent Games classes focus on teaching you different games and scenarios  that can be used to encourage your dog’s natural scenting abilities.  The fun classes are based on authentic scent detection training and the drills and scenarios will range from basic confidence building set ups to complex scenarios that might even leave you scratching your head.

The curriculum in our classes promotes a positive, fun and motivationally-based methodology.  By utilizing our dog’s search skills, we build confidence, burn off mental and physical energy, and a positive working relationship that develops between you and your dog when you both are out “hunting” together as a team.

This class will be held on weeknights at our Leander Dog Training facility starting on Tuesday, May 24th, at 7pm.  Registration information can be found here, or you’re welcome to contact us with any questions.  Any and all ages, breeds, and obedience levels are welcome to join in, so come on out and get smelly with us!

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More Trick Training!

Introduction to Scent Games

If you know anything about us, then you know how much we stress the importance of mental stimulation in our dogs and the benefits of always teaching them new skills.  In the past we have done agility and tricks, now it’s time to use the nose!

We all know that dogs have an amazing sense of smell and a natural desire to hunt, here’s your chance to put those skills to the test!  Our K9 Scent Games classes focus on teaching you different games and scenarios  that can be used to encourage your dog’s natural scenting abilities.  The fun classes are based on authentic scent detection training and the drills and scenarios will range from basic confidence building set ups to complex scenarios that might even leave you scratching your head.

Your dog’s age or current training state do not matter for this class, everyone is welcome!  Check out our K9 Scent Games page for more information about the class, schedule, and sign up information.

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