For the purposes of this blog, we are referring to all Bully Breeds as "Pit Bull" just so we are not listing off several types of dog every time we wish to mention it.
WARNING this blog is not for the sensitive!
Today, all over the news, there was a story of a 17 year old Saanich Pit Bull cross that bit a 16 day old baby, and many things are occurring on social media - and as a responsible, caring trainer, and a personal lover of these specific breeds, we felt the need to go on record with our expert advice on the matter, and confront the incorrect and dangerously inaccurate statements.
1) Pit Bulls can lock their jaws.
No, they can't - but they're in the top three of jaw strength, meaning you can't just pry them open unless the dog allows you to. They have absolutely no locking mechanism in their jaws.
2) The dog in question was jealous.
Dogs don't suffer from jealousy like you or I do. They do not possess the mental process to go, "Hey; that baby is stealing my people's time from me, so I am going to go over there and try and kill their new puppy". They don't even have that type of thinking format. They can have associations however, such as the baby represents a change in rules, and they dislike that change, so they wish to put the rules back the way they were before, and so they follow pack dynamics and assert their dominance in order to try and repair the changed rules. They also can simply assert pack dynamics without the association with rule change; any new puppy brought into a pack must be determined as dominant, or submissive -- and given the chance, -any- dog will attempt to teach the new human puppy that they are the bigger dog and therefore has more rank than them. It is 100% up to the owners to make sure the dog understands the baby is not something to be claimed or dominated.
3) The dog in question was a Pit Bull, so they should have expected this.
The breed has nothing to do with the deed. All dogs are capable of this act, and as a matter of fact, the Pit Bull is one the lowest on the list of potential breeds to attack. Breeds that are more aggressive on average than a Pit Bull might surprise you; Chihuahuas, Golden Retrievers, Dalmatians, Boxers, Akitas, Shepherds, Huskies; this list goes on. The breed commonly referred to as the Pit Bull actually has no generic strain of aggression bred into them whatsover, unlike dogs like the German Shepherd or Akita. Associating a specific breed to a behavioural problem is inaccurate, and unfair to the breed; after all, you wouldn't blame an ethnicity on a specific type of crime. All races are capable of all crime, and dogs are no different.
4) This Pit Bull is vicious, so it should be put down.
A Pit Bull that bites a human unprovoked is not always "vicious". This could very well have been its first ever abnormal reaction. In fact, it is incredibly rare for a dog to be so aggressive that it actually lays teeth on a human. At least 80% of the time, dogs posture and fake out; they very rarely strike, and they have to feel directly threatened unless they are specifically trained to attack, such as protection dogs, or police canines. 99% of family pets do not reach this level of instability, and if they do, it is very unlikely that the owner of said dog would allow their baby anywhere near the dog in question. In this instance, it is my professional opinion that this dog was merely enforcing pack hierarchy. If this dog wanted to kill the baby, it would have, and it would have done it in half a second. If it wanted to correct the baby, or enforce pack dynamics, it would have been a quick nip or two - but with the power of the Pit Bull jaw, combined with the especially sensitive and soft skin of a newborn, the damage becomes bad, fast. Because the baby is in stable condition and the damage was not life threatening and on the face. This damage directly correlates with a corrective or dominance warning nip. Dogs that are seeking to kill something do not attack the face; with small animals, like a rabbit, they grab center of mass, and shake. This dog was not vicious; it was dominant. It was also seventeen; even dogs suffer from a deteriorating mind, and it is highly possible the dog was suffering from dementia, or Alzheimer's.
5) Pit Bulls were bred to attack, and have unstable blood lines.
The American
Pit Bull Terrier originally appeared as a cross breed between the Old
English Terrier, and the Old English Bulldog, first making their
appearance as the "Old Family Terrier", in the mid 19th century. They
were widely used as nannies and farm dogs, rehabilitation animals,
seeing eye dogs, service dogs, and as a guardian for both children and
farmyard livestock. Pit Bulls were excellent in this capacity; they were
widely known as the sweetheart of the farmyard life.
Despite
media dramatization, careful wording, and obvious breed racism, the CKC
and AKC describe the Pit Bull as intelligent, patience, enthusiastic,
athletic, high please drive, and extremely gentle - especially with
children and strangers. They seem to know exactly how powerful their
jaws are, and while they do not actually lock (despite popular belief),
Pit Bulls are very gentle with their mouths, and have natural bite
inhibition. Pit Bulls are very sensitive to the wants and needs of the
owner, and know inherently that humans have sensitive skin.
Pit
Bulls are naturally inquisitive, and compliant. Because of this, the
Pit Bull try very hard to accommodate the expectations of the owner,
even if that means going against their very nature.
After a
while, some unsavory folks noticed the Pit Bull's ability to adapt, and
it's naturally gentle nature - and trained them to either attack and
kill a bull or bear for sport, or become bait animals to train more
aggressive breeds. Pit bulls were not properly suited to become ring
dogs, but they did well in training other dogs, and it often cost them
their lives, because young Pit Bulls would not fight back. The dogs that
fought Bulls did so generally because of being raised to do so at a
young age, and while they mostly did not want to fight, they did to
please their humans - and they did a good job at it. Thus, the name "Pit
Bull Fighter" was coined, and today, we know them simply as Pit Bulls.
Despite this, it is unnatural and abnormal for the Pit Bull to have a
shred of aggression in them - but the same adaptive, pleasing nature
causes them to become exactly what their owners want - and more often
than not, humans make them aggressive because they are either unaware of
dog psychology, or think a Pit Bull should be aggressive, and teach
them to be this way.
Breeding effects behaviour, but only on a very low level. Puppies are blank slates when they go to their forever homes, and these behaviors are either solved, or encouraged. 100% of "aggressive" Pit Bulls were not born dangerous; they were made to be that way.
6) Pit Bulls are unpredictable and just "snap".
Partially already addressed, the Pit Bull is not so unpredictable. I've spent enough time with them and near them to understand that they are perhaps the most predictable breed there is. They are very sensitive to energy and training, and most owners don't honestly realize when they are allowing a dog to believe it is in control, which produces these so-called "unpredictable" Pit Bulls. Show me a home with one of these, and I will show you a home that has simply missed a few things. Every little thing effects a Pit Bull; toys, feeding, walks, play time, rules, and how it is all handled and employed. Things that seem innocent like allowing cosleeping, or up onto the couch; feeding a treat when they bark at you (unless you're teaching "speak"), or even letting them outside when they bark at you. These little things are all ingredients to encouraging confused pack dynamics. A dog in control can and will listen to the human when the human has something they want - but won't when they're in an excited or hyper state of mind. Dogs like this often obey flawlessly for treats, but won't when there's something more interesting. This often leads to the assumption that the dog is just "dumb", or that that may be deaf, or even that they're just too excited to listen, when in fact they're simply dominant. Aggression and dominance is not always hand in hand. It can be as simple as willful disobedience. Pit Bulls are just way more sensitive to these ques than other dogs, and rarely become aggressive - but they can and do become DEFENSIVE. Something that may seem innocent to you can be perceived as a threat to a Pit Bull, and they will protect themselves and their humans. In this case, it is highly possible this dog thought the baby was in fact a threat - something a simple as a shrill scream, a squeak, or a fast moving arm can trigger a defensive animal, and this would suggest that this family pet had missed a few critical training steps; especially with the age of the dog, and the increased likelihood of disorders such as dementia.
7) Pit Bulls can't feel pain
Pinch yourself. Did you feel something? Then you obviously feel pain. Pit Bulls are no different. Everything that is alive feels pain - even plants. They also scream out in pain, and are alive when they are picked and eaten. Read more: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/botany/plants-feel-pain.htm
All dogs possess the ability to feel pain - even Pit Bulls. What they do have is an incredibly high please drive - that's the part of the dog that makes them want to satisfy their pack leader. When they themselves are the pack leader, they seek so much to please themselves that they ignore pain. These dogs love their humans so much that they will ignore pain to do what is asked of them. They love humans so much, they would endure excruciating pain and totally ignore it and drive through it. This does not just apply to trained Pit Bulls; this affects the entire multitude of bully breeds. Isn't that awe-inspiring? This is what created the rumor - Pit Bulls that broke their very nature to kill a bull, and ignored the pain of the fight because they loved their masters THAT MUCH. If that doesn't make you the least bit sad or feel pity, I don't know what will.
Remember guys, dogs are only capable of what we as humans teach them!
Monday, December 29, 2014
Monday, December 15, 2014
Is your dog listening, obeying, complying, or manipulating you? Or is your dog just plain ignoring you? Blog Fourteen
Hello everyone! Today's blog is all about obedience - or is it obedience? We will be talking all about how to identify how your dog might be listening - and what it means for your relationship!
When dogs are given a command they know very well, they make a choice. Within a split second, they identify the word you said, apply it to their active situation, calculate what exactly you want, how it should be done, and decide whether or not they're going to do it - all of which is dependent on how you taught the word, if they have been given that word in this situation, whether or not they trust you, respect you, or understand you, and how you said the word. It seems all very complicated, and to the dog, it is. Dogs are exact - a certain tone will mean "If you like", where another will mean business, and another will mean "my human is unstable, ignore, or confront this." But, depending on how they react, it communicates something completely different.
Listening
For the sake of this blog, we are just going to call this listening - in the long winded sense, we are referring to obedience because they want to please you. When a dog is truly listening, they will look at you like the whole world has vanished away. They will be happy, relaxed, quiet, and often will perform the behaviour before you get the whole command from your mouth, and it doesn't matter if you have a reward - they're doing it because they love you. Everyone likes to think their dog is in this category; unless your dog resembles Michael Ellis and his dog Pi (seen below), all the time, your dog is not an active listener type. Looking at your dog through rose-colored glasses, whether you are a life-long owner, active professional trainer, or a first time owner, will not do your dog any favors. If your dog looks like this all the time, congratulations, your dog is well trained!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qaodSBuSIM
Obeying
Obedience itself is a lofty goal for some owners - but this trait is marked by a dog performing a behaviour after a few seconds, either because they know they have no actual choice, or because they know the outcome will be worse if they don't. Either way, it is not happening out of respect, but it is happening in a way that is not harming your relationship - but it won't build it, either. A dog that is simply obeying is usually lazy-looking, slow to respond, or takes a few moments to complete it. Sometimes you may need to repeat yourself, or make sure they're paying attention. You can refine obedience into a listening skill by making it more exciting to listen.
Complying
When a dog is doing as you ask out of compliance, these are dogs that won't listen if you don't have a toy, treat, or specific tool, like a special collar you train them in, or a certain place in the community. Compliance occurs when a dog doesn't care about listening, they just want what you have enough to indignify themselves to obey. A dog that is complying is tense, anxious, or an unhealthy kind of excited, often whines or barks, as if to usher on their reward. These dogs won't look you in the eye, or if they do, it's because they think it will get them their treat, and often break eye contact once they realize it isn't working. When there isn't the reward or tool present, they might take being told 6 or 7 times before listening - and its time you contact a trainer for help. A dog that is complying won't listen when it really matters - like in a fight, in a self-rewarding behaviour, or if they are running across a street. Compliance is not obedience, and it signifies that your dog thinks they are in control of YOU. There is likely a damaged relationship, or a relationship that isn't build yet. This doesn't mean you've done something wrong; it just means you need to change up what you're doing.
Manipulating
When a dog believes without a shadow of a doubt that they control their humans, they will manipulate you to get what they want - such as repeated barking, begging, or nipping. Dogs that use unwanted behaviours, seemingly to get a response from you, is doing so to either gain something, or stop something. For instance, a manipulating dog might nip at you or your heels if you get too close to their toys or food; they might charge at the front door and bark, even if you tell them no; they might bark repeatedly at you to get you to appear in front of them; they might ignore you when you give then a command, or halfway do it, and look away; they might only perform for you very rarely when they believe there is something beneficial for them in it, or, they might perform the wrong behaviour on purpose to assert their dominance. In any case, your dog needs a trainer intervention before they hurt themselves, or someone else.
Just Plain Ignoring You
If you can shout, scream, do jumping jacks, bribe, or otherwise try anything to get your dog to listen and they won't, either they don't know what you want, or they're just ignoring you. Classic ignoring behaviour happens when a human is not consistent, doesn't follow through, or doesn't expect anything of their pets. A dog that ignores might look away, pretend you're not there; they might just look at you, pretending they didn't hear you, or look at you with that dumb face expression, and you might buy it or are too busy to follow through. For instance, take a family that does not allow the dog in the dining room might tell the dog "Out", and stop paying attention once the dog looks like it's walking away, but the dog darts under the table and starts hoovering the food, or when you tell them to sit, they walk away and flop over. This is indicative of a dog that knows exactly what is expected, but either doesn't care what you want, or knows the command is optional. An ignoring dog will often keep the behaviour going, such as nuisance barking, licking themselves when told to stop, running around the home, or otherwise doing as they please; they will play dumb, or not complete a behaviour. If this is happening, something between your communication and the dog's reception of it has gone wrong, and basic training needs to reboot - as if they are an 8 week old puppy. Back to basics, and it's time to call the trainer.
Warning Signs
When none of these match, there are a few situations where the issue may not be behavioural. If your dog doesn't respond to you at all, if they appear listless, unresponsive, drooling more than normal, glassy eyed, or is very hot to the touch behind the ears in the folds of the neck, take them to a pet emergency immediately.
If your dog is about to bite, they will get quiet, and low. They will not be growling, or circling. If your dog is about to bite, stop what you are doing immediately, and if you can, move to safety and call a trainer immediately.
Hope everyone has a great week!
When dogs are given a command they know very well, they make a choice. Within a split second, they identify the word you said, apply it to their active situation, calculate what exactly you want, how it should be done, and decide whether or not they're going to do it - all of which is dependent on how you taught the word, if they have been given that word in this situation, whether or not they trust you, respect you, or understand you, and how you said the word. It seems all very complicated, and to the dog, it is. Dogs are exact - a certain tone will mean "If you like", where another will mean business, and another will mean "my human is unstable, ignore, or confront this." But, depending on how they react, it communicates something completely different.
Listening
For the sake of this blog, we are just going to call this listening - in the long winded sense, we are referring to obedience because they want to please you. When a dog is truly listening, they will look at you like the whole world has vanished away. They will be happy, relaxed, quiet, and often will perform the behaviour before you get the whole command from your mouth, and it doesn't matter if you have a reward - they're doing it because they love you. Everyone likes to think their dog is in this category; unless your dog resembles Michael Ellis and his dog Pi (seen below), all the time, your dog is not an active listener type. Looking at your dog through rose-colored glasses, whether you are a life-long owner, active professional trainer, or a first time owner, will not do your dog any favors. If your dog looks like this all the time, congratulations, your dog is well trained!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qaodSBuSIM
Obeying
Obedience itself is a lofty goal for some owners - but this trait is marked by a dog performing a behaviour after a few seconds, either because they know they have no actual choice, or because they know the outcome will be worse if they don't. Either way, it is not happening out of respect, but it is happening in a way that is not harming your relationship - but it won't build it, either. A dog that is simply obeying is usually lazy-looking, slow to respond, or takes a few moments to complete it. Sometimes you may need to repeat yourself, or make sure they're paying attention. You can refine obedience into a listening skill by making it more exciting to listen.
Complying
When a dog is doing as you ask out of compliance, these are dogs that won't listen if you don't have a toy, treat, or specific tool, like a special collar you train them in, or a certain place in the community. Compliance occurs when a dog doesn't care about listening, they just want what you have enough to indignify themselves to obey. A dog that is complying is tense, anxious, or an unhealthy kind of excited, often whines or barks, as if to usher on their reward. These dogs won't look you in the eye, or if they do, it's because they think it will get them their treat, and often break eye contact once they realize it isn't working. When there isn't the reward or tool present, they might take being told 6 or 7 times before listening - and its time you contact a trainer for help. A dog that is complying won't listen when it really matters - like in a fight, in a self-rewarding behaviour, or if they are running across a street. Compliance is not obedience, and it signifies that your dog thinks they are in control of YOU. There is likely a damaged relationship, or a relationship that isn't build yet. This doesn't mean you've done something wrong; it just means you need to change up what you're doing.
Manipulating
When a dog believes without a shadow of a doubt that they control their humans, they will manipulate you to get what they want - such as repeated barking, begging, or nipping. Dogs that use unwanted behaviours, seemingly to get a response from you, is doing so to either gain something, or stop something. For instance, a manipulating dog might nip at you or your heels if you get too close to their toys or food; they might charge at the front door and bark, even if you tell them no; they might bark repeatedly at you to get you to appear in front of them; they might ignore you when you give then a command, or halfway do it, and look away; they might only perform for you very rarely when they believe there is something beneficial for them in it, or, they might perform the wrong behaviour on purpose to assert their dominance. In any case, your dog needs a trainer intervention before they hurt themselves, or someone else.
Just Plain Ignoring You
If you can shout, scream, do jumping jacks, bribe, or otherwise try anything to get your dog to listen and they won't, either they don't know what you want, or they're just ignoring you. Classic ignoring behaviour happens when a human is not consistent, doesn't follow through, or doesn't expect anything of their pets. A dog that ignores might look away, pretend you're not there; they might just look at you, pretending they didn't hear you, or look at you with that dumb face expression, and you might buy it or are too busy to follow through. For instance, take a family that does not allow the dog in the dining room might tell the dog "Out", and stop paying attention once the dog looks like it's walking away, but the dog darts under the table and starts hoovering the food, or when you tell them to sit, they walk away and flop over. This is indicative of a dog that knows exactly what is expected, but either doesn't care what you want, or knows the command is optional. An ignoring dog will often keep the behaviour going, such as nuisance barking, licking themselves when told to stop, running around the home, or otherwise doing as they please; they will play dumb, or not complete a behaviour. If this is happening, something between your communication and the dog's reception of it has gone wrong, and basic training needs to reboot - as if they are an 8 week old puppy. Back to basics, and it's time to call the trainer.
Warning Signs
When none of these match, there are a few situations where the issue may not be behavioural. If your dog doesn't respond to you at all, if they appear listless, unresponsive, drooling more than normal, glassy eyed, or is very hot to the touch behind the ears in the folds of the neck, take them to a pet emergency immediately.
If your dog is about to bite, they will get quiet, and low. They will not be growling, or circling. If your dog is about to bite, stop what you are doing immediately, and if you can, move to safety and call a trainer immediately.
Hope everyone has a great week!
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Lazy Sunday Ways to Exhaust Your Dog - Blog Thirteen
Some days, we just don't want to get off the couch. Maybe the weather is lousy; maybe you're sick, or injured, or maybe you just simply can't be bothered to get out of your pjs. Whatever the reason, when you have a dog, no exercise is not an option. They suffer as badly from lack of exercise as humans do from not eating all day. There are several mental, physical, and spiritual costs to an under exercised dog. So, on days like these, how is one supposed to exercise a dog?
1) Teach them a brand new trick from scratch.
If you spend an hour or so every few hours in the day teaching your dog a brand new trick, they have to burn several times more mental energy than physical - and by the time the day is over, they will be drained as if you'd been on a walk. This serves dual purpose, as mental energy is harder to burn, and also burns physical energy. Stuck on new tricks? You can refine fetch to make it flawless (see video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccw1uwvbx00 ) or you could attempt to teach roll over (see video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCOvAf_-Xz8 ) or even tricks like target and build into things like shutting on or off your lights, opening or closing doors, bringing you objects like the newspaper or your slippers, or even simple tricks like shake a paw or speak. Spend a day teaching these, and your dog will be tired! While this doesn't burn traveling needs, it will handle mental and physical energy. Traveling needs can be held off until the next day.
2) Utilizing a treadmill
Some families have a treadmill, but rarely do they realize they can use it for a dog. Some dogs need more coaxing than others, and some take to it like a duck to water! If your dog seems afraid of the treadmill, start it very slow, keep them on a short lead, and use lots of positive, happy energy and praise every time they move along without trying to jump off. Once they understand what they are expected to do, they will love it. Dogs don't naturally understand treadmills, which is why some of them are averse to traveling on it. The one downside to treadmills is they do not burn mental energy or traveling energy. Just physical. So, you may also need to spend some time playing with or training your dog, but they will tire out pretty quick.
3) No treadmill? Use some outdoor furniture!
If all you have is a pair of plastic outdoor chairs, a lawn couch, or other such items, you can use those, too! Put them on their backs, and use it as an obstacle course. You only need to move so far as to show them what it is, what to do, and how to play, and engage your dog a little. This is good for days when you just don't want to leave the home. You can put the jumps on command if you like, and after a couple practice runs, your dog will be leaping over chairs like it's nothing! If they have an aversion to jumping or they're too small to clear your furniture, you can train them to go under instead. Just make sure to enforce no jumping inside the home - they can break something, hurt someone, or injure themselves.
4) Search!
Train your dog to root out smells - treats, chicken stock on a piece of cardboard, a dirty sock - anything. Start small, and make them use their nose to find something a little harder to find - like on a coffee table, or on a footstool. When they can see you put it down, watch to see if they are smelling it out (because its out of their sight line) and if they are, when they find it, call out "Good, search!" after a while, they will associate "search" with locating the smell, and then you can work on larger distances. Eventually, your dog will be able to find the smell anywhere in your home once you tell them "search!" This will also burn all three energy types, and help satisfy hunting or prey drive. For dogs that just aren't interested in searching, the reward of finding the item is not enough - you will need to train them first to smell the item and get a reward such as a treat, or a brief moment with a favorite toy. Once they are smelling items on command, you can build that into search by making them move towards the item then smelling it, and then work on putting it out of the site line. The goal is the same, but the means of getting there is a little more exhaustive. Any dog can learn search!
5) Use the opportunity to re-associate behaviours.
Lets say your dog is terrified of the bathroom, because someone approached the bath the wrong way and simply wrangled the dog in to the tub and hosed them off - or however else it happened. But now, your dog is scared of the tub, and it's a fight to get them in. Take this time to re-associate the bathroom! Instead of fighting to get them in the room, take their favorite treat or toy and lure them in. If they snatch-and-run, don't be discouraged - they still entered the bathroom! You can work on getting them to stay longer, but if they are showing signs of being overwhelmed, end the session on a good note and try again in an hour. If you are persistent, you can have your dog laying in the bathtub, chewing on their toy, with no sign of stress! This will burn mental and physical energy. Remember, you are not actually bathing them. There should be no water in the tub to start with.
6) Back yard fetch
If your dog already knows fetch reliably enough to bring it back to you, let them run into the bad weather. Dogs don't care about wind or rain (and if they do, they have learned that from a human reacting poorly to the weather, and you should spend some time re-associating this behaviour), and they love running. Put a towel by your back door for their mucky paws if you like, and throw the ball out the door. If they know to return with the ball (which makes fetch officially fetch, and not just run for the ball), then you could spend time burning that energy with fetch! If this doesn't typically burn out your dog, put a few obstacles in the way, like a small chair or a few distraction toys - and reward them when they return with the same item you threw out. This will force them to think about and calculate what you want, which will burn extra energy. This can also be accomplished from the couch - assuming you can throw the ball out the door from your couch.
7) Tug - with rules
A proper game of tug can and will burn your dog out fast - as long as they understand the rules. They need to release the item on command, not lunge or snap at it when you have it, ignore it when you tell them to, and wait when asked. As long as these polite rules are being enforced, tug is totally harmless, and actually beneficial to your dog (provided you don't swing them around, lift them off the ground, or snap your hands around too fast). You can even combine tug and fetch, tug and search, or tug and obstacles - or graduate your dog up to a larger item and teach them the "bite" command - but be aware that this is beginning protection training. The advantage of having bite on command is the ability to command it off - such as "no bite" or "stop bite", very handy for safety purposes if your dog likes to play nip or is just a lover of chewing things. You can even train your dog to "hunt" their tug toy and "kill" it on command - useful if you get a lot of pests like squirrels or foxes on your property. You can also accomplish tug while laying or sitting on the couch and not having to move - but the rules are the same.
Hopefully, we have armed you with plenty of ideas for those days when you just feel like doing nothing!
1) Teach them a brand new trick from scratch.
If you spend an hour or so every few hours in the day teaching your dog a brand new trick, they have to burn several times more mental energy than physical - and by the time the day is over, they will be drained as if you'd been on a walk. This serves dual purpose, as mental energy is harder to burn, and also burns physical energy. Stuck on new tricks? You can refine fetch to make it flawless (see video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccw1uwvbx00 ) or you could attempt to teach roll over (see video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCOvAf_-Xz8 ) or even tricks like target and build into things like shutting on or off your lights, opening or closing doors, bringing you objects like the newspaper or your slippers, or even simple tricks like shake a paw or speak. Spend a day teaching these, and your dog will be tired! While this doesn't burn traveling needs, it will handle mental and physical energy. Traveling needs can be held off until the next day.
2) Utilizing a treadmill
Some families have a treadmill, but rarely do they realize they can use it for a dog. Some dogs need more coaxing than others, and some take to it like a duck to water! If your dog seems afraid of the treadmill, start it very slow, keep them on a short lead, and use lots of positive, happy energy and praise every time they move along without trying to jump off. Once they understand what they are expected to do, they will love it. Dogs don't naturally understand treadmills, which is why some of them are averse to traveling on it. The one downside to treadmills is they do not burn mental energy or traveling energy. Just physical. So, you may also need to spend some time playing with or training your dog, but they will tire out pretty quick.
3) No treadmill? Use some outdoor furniture!
If all you have is a pair of plastic outdoor chairs, a lawn couch, or other such items, you can use those, too! Put them on their backs, and use it as an obstacle course. You only need to move so far as to show them what it is, what to do, and how to play, and engage your dog a little. This is good for days when you just don't want to leave the home. You can put the jumps on command if you like, and after a couple practice runs, your dog will be leaping over chairs like it's nothing! If they have an aversion to jumping or they're too small to clear your furniture, you can train them to go under instead. Just make sure to enforce no jumping inside the home - they can break something, hurt someone, or injure themselves.
4) Search!
Train your dog to root out smells - treats, chicken stock on a piece of cardboard, a dirty sock - anything. Start small, and make them use their nose to find something a little harder to find - like on a coffee table, or on a footstool. When they can see you put it down, watch to see if they are smelling it out (because its out of their sight line) and if they are, when they find it, call out "Good, search!" after a while, they will associate "search" with locating the smell, and then you can work on larger distances. Eventually, your dog will be able to find the smell anywhere in your home once you tell them "search!" This will also burn all three energy types, and help satisfy hunting or prey drive. For dogs that just aren't interested in searching, the reward of finding the item is not enough - you will need to train them first to smell the item and get a reward such as a treat, or a brief moment with a favorite toy. Once they are smelling items on command, you can build that into search by making them move towards the item then smelling it, and then work on putting it out of the site line. The goal is the same, but the means of getting there is a little more exhaustive. Any dog can learn search!
5) Use the opportunity to re-associate behaviours.
Lets say your dog is terrified of the bathroom, because someone approached the bath the wrong way and simply wrangled the dog in to the tub and hosed them off - or however else it happened. But now, your dog is scared of the tub, and it's a fight to get them in. Take this time to re-associate the bathroom! Instead of fighting to get them in the room, take their favorite treat or toy and lure them in. If they snatch-and-run, don't be discouraged - they still entered the bathroom! You can work on getting them to stay longer, but if they are showing signs of being overwhelmed, end the session on a good note and try again in an hour. If you are persistent, you can have your dog laying in the bathtub, chewing on their toy, with no sign of stress! This will burn mental and physical energy. Remember, you are not actually bathing them. There should be no water in the tub to start with.
6) Back yard fetch
If your dog already knows fetch reliably enough to bring it back to you, let them run into the bad weather. Dogs don't care about wind or rain (and if they do, they have learned that from a human reacting poorly to the weather, and you should spend some time re-associating this behaviour), and they love running. Put a towel by your back door for their mucky paws if you like, and throw the ball out the door. If they know to return with the ball (which makes fetch officially fetch, and not just run for the ball), then you could spend time burning that energy with fetch! If this doesn't typically burn out your dog, put a few obstacles in the way, like a small chair or a few distraction toys - and reward them when they return with the same item you threw out. This will force them to think about and calculate what you want, which will burn extra energy. This can also be accomplished from the couch - assuming you can throw the ball out the door from your couch.
7) Tug - with rules
A proper game of tug can and will burn your dog out fast - as long as they understand the rules. They need to release the item on command, not lunge or snap at it when you have it, ignore it when you tell them to, and wait when asked. As long as these polite rules are being enforced, tug is totally harmless, and actually beneficial to your dog (provided you don't swing them around, lift them off the ground, or snap your hands around too fast). You can even combine tug and fetch, tug and search, or tug and obstacles - or graduate your dog up to a larger item and teach them the "bite" command - but be aware that this is beginning protection training. The advantage of having bite on command is the ability to command it off - such as "no bite" or "stop bite", very handy for safety purposes if your dog likes to play nip or is just a lover of chewing things. You can even train your dog to "hunt" their tug toy and "kill" it on command - useful if you get a lot of pests like squirrels or foxes on your property. You can also accomplish tug while laying or sitting on the couch and not having to move - but the rules are the same.
Hopefully, we have armed you with plenty of ideas for those days when you just feel like doing nothing!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)