Tag Archives: dog training

Picture of a fawn French Bulldog in a crate to illustrate Separation Anxiety

Routine helps dogs avoid separation anxiety

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One of the dog issues that bothers devoted dog owners most is separation anxiety. We hate causing our dogs stress of any kind. But even the best-behaved dogs can’t go everywhere, all the time. And when we leave these devoted companions home alone they may cry, whine, howl, or get destructive. So how do you avoid separation anxiety?

It’s just not possible for dogs to go with us everywhere. So what can you do to make sure your dog is calm and happy home alone?

Have a routine

Dogs love routine. They love knowing what’s happening, and when. Establishing a routine for every time you leave your dog home alone will let them know what’s happening, that it’s normal, and that they don’t have to worry.

As with all dog training, you have to start small. Decide what your “going out by yourself” routine will be and introduce it to your dog. For us, the last thing we do before leaving the house is give our dogs special treats they only get when we’re not there.

We use treat-dispensing toys that we’ve prepared in advance. We stuff them with a mixture of plain yogurt, peanut butter, kibble, maybe even some Chicken Heart Treats or blueberries, and put them in the freezer. (Note: be sure whatever treat-dispensing toy you use has holes at either end so no suction effect can trap your dog’s tongue.)

Scatter for their crates

When our dogs see us pulling those toys out of the freezer, they run for their crates – the only place they ever get these toys with the goodies inside. This extra-special treat is reserved for when we’re not home, so the dogs associate our leaving with something wonderful.

And we do always crate our dogs when we’re not home. While we don’t have to worry about house-breaking accidents, we do worry about other things: wrestling matches that can smash breakables, chewing on or getting tangled in electrical cords, and even possible break-ins. Our dogs are more valuable to us than any stuff we own. We’d rather a burglar grab what they want and get out, leaving our dogs safely crated and unharmed. 

Picture of a fawn French Bulldog in a crate to illustrate Avoid Separation Anxiety

If you can, set up your routine and introduce it to your dog(s) in steps. Take the toy from the freezer and put it in your dog’s crate. If the dog is used to being in a crate, shut the door and leave the room for a couple of minutes. If your dog isn’t used to the crate, close the door and stay there. As soon as they finish the goodies, let them out. Let them see you refilling the toy and putting it back in the freezer.

The next time, leave the house for a few minutes after you give your dog the toy. Come back, without fuss, open the crate, take the toy and let them watch you refill it and refreeze it. The next time, actually go on an errand and see how your dog does.

Don’t lie to your dog

When people know their dogs have separation anxiety, it’s their tendency to “sneak out,” or try fooling their dogs. It’s a mistake. Aside from not really fooling anyone (including the dog), it’s a form of lying. Dogs don’t understand deception in any form. Attempting to fool them only breaks the trust your dog has. And like any trusting relationship, once broken it’s hard to repair.

Don’t make a fuss about either leaving or coming home. Your dog may take the cue from you – it’s no big deal when you leave. And it’s not a big deal when you come home, because you always will. You can alleviate or avoid separation anxiety by establishing a routine your dog knows.

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Picture of a reddish brown dog to illustrate Dog Issues don't need to be solved

Dog issues don’t always need solutions

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As dog supply sellers and dog trainers, our professional careers are all about finding solutions for all things dog. Customers and trainees seem surprised that we don’t think all dog issues need to be solved.

Often, we get a wide-eyed puzzled look when we say things like: “If it’s not a problem for you, it’s not a problem.” 

“But my Aunt Gertrude says my dog shouldn’t….”

“Then Aunt Gertrude’s dog shouldn’t. If it doesn’t bother you, it’s not worth worrying about.”

Every family has its own unique dynamic. Each one has its own priorities, absolutes, and singular way of doing things. And each family’s dog figures out, pretty quickly, what each family member’s rules are. Who’s a soft touch, who’s pretty strict, and who’s always available for attention.

Battles worth fighting

That translates into choosing whether to address annoying things your dog does, or finding other ways of coping. As we tell our dog training students, there are three ways of dealing with dog behavior: 

Ignore it: It doesn’t bother you, so it’s not a problem. This week one of our new beginning dog training students wanted to know if she could teach her dog to wipe his mouth after taking a drink. It never occurred to us that it would be a priority for anyone. We absolutely ignore the fact that Simon doesn’t even bother to close his mouth when he lifts his head from the water bowl. For us, it’s just water, it’ll dry. Of course there’s a major difference. Simon is a Boston Terrier and the drips are minimal. Their new puppy is a Mastiff mix and could flood the kitchen on a regular basis. We gave her the steps to teaching him to wipe his face. 

Manage it: The situation can be easily controlled, so not worth extra effort to fix. People with puppies are used to managing their households. Don’t leave shoes out on the floor. Close doors or gate off rooms. Empty or elevate wastebaskets. All of that is management. 

For a personal example; we’ve never chosen to teach our dogs not to beg at the table. We also don’t want them harassing us while we eat. The solution that works for us is to feed the dogs in their crates while we eat. Everybody’s happy. 

Picture of a reddish brown dog to illustrate Dog Issues don't need to be solved

Train it: It’s a priority that the dog knows the rules and behaves accordingly. Everyone has their own priorities. For some people, it’s no dogs on the furniture. We don’t understand that, but if that’s what you want, go for it. Another of our students asked how to train her dog not to bark at rabbits and squirrels the dog sees out the window. After we explained the difficulty in teaching a terrier mix to go against every instinct it was born with, she thought about it. And decided to get some blinds for the window. 

Return on investment

Only you can weigh the cost / benefit ratio. If you don’t want your dog to pull on leash, should you put in the time and effort to train? Or would a no-pull harness be a better investment? Only you can decide, and your decision doesn’t have to be right for anyone but you. If it’s not a problem for you, your dog issues don’t need solutions.

Just like there are dozens of flavors of ice cream, and hundreds of breeds of dogs, you get to choose. How you live with your dog doesn’t have to make anybody else happy. Just you and your best friend.

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Picture of a Shetland Sheepdog to illustrate Dog's breed matters

Your dog’s breed matters

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After being “in dogs” for more than 20 years, you get to a point where you think you have most of the answers. But this week we learned something new, and it reinforced something we’ve known forever – you dog’s breed matters.

We’ve always had little dogs, Boston Terriers, Brussels Griffons, and French Bulldogs. We grew up with neighbor Chihuahuas, Boxers, Cocker Spaniels, Schnauzers, Wirehair Fox Terriers, German Shepherds.

Once we got involved in dog training, we learned more and more about dogs. There are lots of things that are universally true about dogs. All dogs have great scent ability. All dogs respond to rewards. And all dogs are capable of understanding hundreds of words. 

Significant differences

We also know that there’s some things that are special based on the dog’s breed and what work that breed was developed for. We’ve talked many times about the role terriers have filled. For the most part, it’s pest control. Which is why no matter how elegant that Yorkie looks, she has the heart and instincts of an independent hunter. No mouse was safe in the Yorkshire fabric mills where the Yorkies first gained popularity.

The hounds aren’t as familiar, but we know lots of them through our obedience club. We know that sight hounds, like Greyhounds and Whippets, are notoriously difficult to train. And scent hounds, like Dachshunds and Beagles, will make their owners crazy with sniffing instead of heeling. 

But herding breeds just haven’t been as common. We know quite a few now, from the very big, silly Bouvier des Flandres in obedience class, to the dapper Pembroke Welsh Corgi in Rally. Certainlly representing the long and short of the group.

Still learning

Picture of a Shetland Sheepdog to illustrate Dog's breed matters

But Hope was flummoxed this week when she met a Sheltie that doesn’t seem to have much interest in his owner. This was in the Beginner Obedience class Hope teaches. One of the ways she has her classes practice fast, fun “Come!” exercises is to have the person run away. Until this week, every dog we’ve ever trained or known will go dashing to reach their person. The best way to get your dog to come to you is to run away from them.

This dog didn’t care. He didn’t seem scared, he just watched her run away. So we called for help. A friend of ours is a long-time Sheltie person, so we called him for some advice. And learned something we’d never, ever realized before. Insisting that a herding dog look you in the eye can be extremely intimidating to the dog. Our friend told us that staring is how herding dogs do their job – staring their flocks into doing what they want. In our friend’s household, with multiple Shelties, all their oldest dog has to do to get the others to behave is stare at them. And it works.

Good to know

Now, with this insight, we’ll be able to help our student build a better relationship with her dog. And we know a bit more about how your dog’s breed makes a difference. If you’re ever puzzled about your own dog’s reactions, some of it may be due to their breed. In the ever debatable question of “nature vs. nurture” it seems like nature is pulling ahead in this case.

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Picture of a Boston Terrier running to illustrate "Why we play dog training games."

Why we play dog training games

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We play dog training games every day. We have a website about training games. And on our dog training video channel, we post little clips of our games. About a week ago, we posted a short clip of Simon circling a couple of posts. He was happily zooming around, following Fran’s signals. It’s a little less than 10 seconds of video, showing a cute dog playing a cute game with his person.

Picture of a Boston Terrier running to illustrate "Why we play dog training games."

We were rather stunned by a comment on the video: “Must you put your animals through all this. Can’t you just except (sic) them for who they are and love them. because they love us with no reservation.” 

It never occurred to us that our dog training games would be viewed as something we force our dogs to do. Or that we don’t accept our dogs for exactly who they are. And not only appreciate their unconditional love, but return it in kind.

So why do we “put our animals through all this”? Exactly because we do love them. And we want them to live the biggest, best lives they possibly can.

Appreciate their abilities

Frankly, we think it’s weird that more people don’t play training games with their dogs. It’s such a joy to see them figure stuff out. The dogs are so proud, and happy when they do. If you watch our training games videos, you’ll see that when we’re at home, the dogs don’t even have a collar on. They’re not tethered, or leashed. If they didn’t want to do it, they could simply walk away.

And they have. Some days our dogs let us know they just don’t feel like it, even if we have their favorite treats in our hand. We’ll try a different game and see if they want to play. But if they don’t, that’s okay. There’s always another time or day. And sometimes we’ll be the ones who abandon a game, seeing our dog just not into it that day. 

We take the lead from our dogs’ willingness to play with us in lots of situations. Tango, Fran’s Brussels Griffon, decided he was done playing competitive dog sports (Rally and Agility) a few years ago. Fran gave him an opportunity to change his mind, but he didn’t. So Tango, with many titles in both sports, retired from competition. He still, at 14 years old, enjoys playing training games at home. We never force our dogs to play with us. 

Letting the dog take the lead

And sometimes we dive deeply into something that we didn’t really care much about, just because our dog loves it. That’s the case with Hope’s French Bulldog Torque and Rally Obedience. Torque absolutely adores it. So Hope loves it now, too. Because it’s all about the team.

Your dog teammate is capable of so much more than most people give them credit for. Dogs can learn hundreds of words, if you bother to teach them. It’s as simple as saying the word “ball” every time they bring you a ball. Or say “good down!” if you’re passing by and see your dog lying down. Just like talking to infants before they can speak, giving dogs the vocabulary empowers their understanding. 

Happy dog, happy life

Dogs are happiest when they know what’s going on. They like schedules. They like rules. And they like really knowing “who’s a good boy/girl?” Playing training games lets them know that figuring stuff out and using their brains is a good thing. 

If that commenter thinks for a single instant that our dogs are being forced into something, she’s not watching what’s right in front of her. We think having dogs enriches our lives. And playing training games is a gift we give each other to have fun with our dogs. Every single day.

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