These days we are all working to practice social distancing to promote health and keep each other safe due to the COVID-19 virus. However, many dog owners (and owners of other types of pets) are probably wondering what to do with their dog that has slowly been building up more and more energy as the days go by, much like we humans have been. In this post I will explain three things you and your dog can work on at home that address some very common obedience problems: boredom, leash skills, and socialization.
Boredom
Much like we humans have been experiencing, dogs get bored as well. But hope is not lost, there are many games you and your dog can play at home to help combat this issue. Because there are so many, I will just focus on my favorite game, “find it!” “Find it” is one of my favorite games to play at home because it allows us humans to work on other things at the same time. This game is also a great precursor to nose work (e.g. search and rescue) if that is something you and your dog are interested in doing.
What you need:
1. Treats
2. A dog blanket or towel
3. Your dog
Directions:
Ask your dog to sit and wait. Place the blanket on the floor making sure it has many wrinkles and places where you can hide treats. Next, while your dog is watching, hide treats in the blanket. At first make them easy to find, then gradually make it harder and harder as your dog gets the hang of the game. At its easiest, you should place the treats in places where you dog can see them easily. At its hardest, you should place the treats in locations where you dog will have to move or nuzzle the blanket to get to them. If your dog has a hard time waiting, feel free have someone hold them while you put the game together or put them in their crate just make sure they can see you putting the game together and hiding the treats). If your dog is not nose driven, place the treats in locations where the dog can see them, but get creative to make it harder. You can have multiple blankets around the house if you would like so the dog will see that they have to go look for the other blankets to find more treats. Please make sure to use blankets and towels that you don’t mind the dog chewing on or tearing and always use the same blankets and towels for this game while removing other blankets and towels from the dog’s reach to make sure they don’t grab a blanket you would like them to leave alone. Once the dog finishes finding the treats, ask for eye contact, then set it up again! Make sure to only do this as many times as your dog’s food intake allows. You can also use their food if that is something they are interested in looking for. Once you would like to end the game, give them a small pile of treats and say, “All done.” While they are eating the treats, put the game pieces away. If they look to you again, just say “All done” again, letting them know you are finished. At this point you can give them something fun to chew on such as a favorite toy or hang out with them and give them some quality time.
Leash Skills
Loose leash walking is a very common obedience behavior that I work on with my clients. However, many of them are surprised to find out that the first thing I ask them to do is go inside and take off the leash. The reason I ask people to do this is because it is best to teach behaviors in low distraction zones and, loose leash walking is a behavior that only partially has to do with the leash. The leash is there for safety. The behavior of walking next to your leg is what we teach the dog. Once that is learned, then we add the leash and teach leash cues. So, if your dog struggles with leash skills but you don’t want to go out to work on this, you can start right in your living room!
What you will need:
1. Treats
2. Treat pouch
3. A clicker
4. Your dog
5. A wall
Directions:
Find a wall in your house and use a lure to position your dog between you and the wall. Make sure there is not enough room that your dog can turn and face your leg, but enough room that your dog does not feel trapped and has a comfortable amount of room to move around. Take a half step forward along the wall and then give your dog a treat. In order to get the treat the dog will step forward into the heel position, click and give them another treat. Practice this until your dog begins to step forward with you to stay in the correct position. Now begin to take normal sized steps, clicking and treating when your dog moves into the heel position. Practice this until your dog will follow you in the heel position for a click and a treat. At this point, gradually, inch by inch, increase the amount of space between your dog and the wall as you walk forward, clicking and treating for your dog staying in the heel position. Once your dog is walking with you away from the wall, begin to put a name on the behavior. Do this by practicing the same procedure but adding the word “heel” right as your dog moves into position (or if your dog is already in position, say it right before you click). Test the cue after you have practiced it. Once it is tested and you can see that the dog knows the cue, begin to practice the “heel” behavior in other rooms in the house. Make sure to be flexible with your dog as they might go slower or have to “re-learn” the behavior in a new location. Just go through the same steps from the beginning if they are having trouble. The more rooms in which you practice this, the faster your dog will learn to generalize it to other locations. To get the best results, please consult a trainer for lessons. I offer online and virtual consultations and lessons! Just contact me at happyats@outlook.com to get started!
Socialization
Many puppy owners might be feeling nervous about not being able to take their puppy out to meet other dogs and people for the important process of socialization. First, I want to tell you to relax and enjoy this time with your puppy. Quality is better then quantity, so having really good interactions with you and your family is something that can be beneficial. However, you might be wondering what to do about socializing your puppy to other dogs and animals. There is something that you can do that will help! This is a tool that is used by many dog trainers especially those who train dogs who deal with aggression and thus practice social distancing regularly. This tool is what could be referred to as “stand-in socialization.” Stand-in socialization is when you get a “stand-in” to socialize your dog. This stand-in is usually a realistic looking stuffed animal! Before you start, keep in mind that this is designed for distance training. At this point you are simply teaching your dog that they get treats when they see another dog. Also, keep in mind that this is not a replacement for socialization, but simply a temporary place holder. It is still important that your puppy meet other dogs during its life and learns to enjoy the process. But while you are at home, this can a great place to start!
What you will need:
1. Treats
2. Treat pouch
3. Clicker
4. Leash
5. Your puppy (this also works with adult dogs)
6. A realistic looking stuffed animal dog
Directions:
Place the stuffed animal at one end of the room. Next, get your treats in a treat pouch and your clicker ready. Get your puppy on leash and ask them to sit next to you on the opposite end of the room as the stuffed animal. Click and treat when they sit. Next, point out the stuffed animal to your dog if they have not noticed it yet. Click and treat when they look at it. When your puppy goes to look at the stuffed animal again, wait. When your puppy looks to you with a questioning look, click and treat. Wait until they look at the stuffed animal, then when they look back at you, click and treat. This game is called “engage, disengage” and is used to teach the puppy that seeing other dogs is a cue to look to mom for a treat! Next, you can let them off the leash and click and treat them for calmly interacting with the stuffed animal. Help them out. If they jump on the stuffed animal, politely interrupt them by calling their name and then give them a treat for coming to you. This is a great opportunity to practice interrupting unwanted social interaction (such as jumping on top of the other dog) and rewarding polite social interaction (such as sniffing the bottom gently and play bows). Pick a behavior you like and click and treat for that. If the puppy does something you dislike, redirect them to a toy or call them away from the stuffed animal to reset or take a break. This game can also teach you to identify your dog’s social quirks and help you learn how to politely interrupt your puppy when they are doing something you or their playmate might dislike. Encourage your puppy to play politely with the stuffed animal. If your puppy gets too rough, politely interrupt them, call them to you, and then ask them to sit and look at you, click and treat. Then end the session by taking away the stuffed animal and giving your puppy something else to do and a place to rest, they might be tired now!
Please keep in mind that you will get the best results with these games when you consult with a trainer to make sure you are working on the behaviors correctly. To get help from a trainer, email me at happyats@outlook.com or check out my subscription services here https://www.happyanimalzts.com/plans-pricing to find ways to connect online and get answers to your questions!
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