Damage Limitation: 6 ways to help you manage your puppy

This week I have been asked for advice from a few people having to deal with all the usual puppy issues. I thought it would be helpful to share some of my experiences and thoughts with you.

Puppies are so annoying and challenging! They just don’t do what we think they will. We imagine our life with a wonderful dog and it just doesn’t seem like that straight away. I have written about this a few times, including in the post about getting the perfect dog. One of the biggest problems is that we don’t ‘speak dog‘ and irritatingly, they don’t speak human! I saw a post about an app that claimed to help you speak dog (it was rubbish).

Seriously though, there are ways of understanding our dogs and coping with their behaviours. Sometimes, it’s about managing that behaviour, rather than trying (and failing) to change it. Here are my top 6 annoying behaviours that you might find it easier to manage than to train away.

Barking at the doorbell

The doorbell rings, the dog barks. Fact. I was thinking this morning about how you might train this association out of your dog. You might be able to do this by sitting calmly with your dog, completely ignoring the doorbell. Acting as though nothing has happened.

Of course you can’t do that, because if the doorbell rings, you MUST answer it! So what happens when the bell rings? You react. You get up, you go out, you answer the door, you speak. In the past, someone would then enter the house. These are all actions that are exciting for your dog. So if you have to answer the door, your dog very quickly learns that they MUST bark!

Our natural instinct in this situation is to shout at the dog to be quiet. SHUT UP! What the dog hears now is you joining in with the barking. That’s a brilliant game! He barks, you bark. How exciting!

ACTION: When the doorbell rings, calmly put the dog away in another room. Don’t speak to your dog, or touch it more than you have to. Shut the door and go and answer the front door. It’s not very exciting for the dog and nothing much happens. NB: You will NOT stop your dog barking. Don’t try. Just manage the situation.

Barking at squirrels, cats and birds from the window

This is almost exactly the same as the doorbell situation, with a pretty similar solution. Barking at squirrels, cats and birds is a dog’s job. It’s what they live for. So if you have a dog that can sit at a window and watch other animals in the garden, they will obviously bark at them. You should be saying “Good boy! Well done for barking and doing your dog job”. I’m guessing you don’t do that?

ACTION: Don’t let your dog sit at the window and bark, unless you like him doing it. Don’t shout at him (joining in). Just move him away from the window. Move your furniture around if you have to. Block off part of the window with frosting. Best of all, put your dog in a part of the house with no access to a view of the garden.

Then spend time with your dog, just chillin’. Watch TV together, or sit and work, with your dog lying calmly at your feet. Then take him for a nice walk, off lead, where he can chase those pesky squirrels and bark at all the birds!

Coming when called

Recall of your dog is the subject of whole training courses. I have written several posts about recall on this website (search ‘recall‘). But it’s a massive issue for everyone and the one thing that causes endless hassle. Because if your dog doesn’t come when you call it, you can’t let it off the lead. You can’t open the front door without worrying he will run off. You’re always on tenterhooks in case he runs onto a road.

ACTION: Let’s get straight to it. The easiest way to get your dog to come back to you is TO PRACTISE! I don’t mean when you are out on a walk and you get to the end of it and want to put him back on the lead. I mean every 5 minutes!

Ounce is nearly 4 years old and I STILL practise recalling her a few times every day on our walks. ‘Ounce come!’ and then give her a treat.

Start in the house. Call your dog “Dog come!” Use their name, with the word come. Be clear and exciting, positive and purposeful. Wait for them to come and then give a reward. This can be a tasty treat, or a toy and a game, or a fuss and a pat, or just a bit of lovely praise. “Well done! What a good boy.”

When you dog comes to you around the house, they are more likely to come when you are out. If you are interesting and rewarding, why wouldn’t they want to be with you?

Running up to other dogs

Following on from the challenge of recall, we have the problem of your dog running up to other dogs. This is often an unwanted behaviour, because the other dog may not be friendly. Again, I’m afraid the solution is PRACTISE RECALL! It really is that simple.

ACTION: You need to teach your dog to have good manners. Your dog needs to be able to say hello politely and to come away when needed. It takes time and patience, but it can be achieved.

I saw a lovely example of a young German Shepherd puppy, around four months old, doing exactly this. The owner engaged the pup with a toy before we were near. As we walked past, the owner had gone ahead, so the pup inevitably came jauntily up to my dogs. They weren’t impressed, but the pup was already learning that bouncing and jumping were not required. The owner then called the pup and off it went to its dad. Hurray! How lovely. Of course it will get worse before it’s perfect, as the dog hits adolescence, but hey, it’s a work in progress.

Barking at other dogs

Dogs bark at other dogs because they are either excited or scared. When dogs are off lead they rarely bark at other dogs, so that’s the easiest action to take. Again, a good recall is vital.

If your dog is on lead, you can start by deciding whether he is desperate to play with the other dogs, or worried that they might come near you. If they are worried, is that because you are worried?

ACTION: Ignore the other dog. It means nothing to you. It is of no interest. Your dog? Your dog is fantastic! You want to play with your dog! The more exciting, interesting and confident you are, the less your dog will take any notice of other dogs. Please DO NOT stand still, anxiously gripping your dog’s lead and worrying that the other dog might rush over to attack you and your dog? Honestly, most dogs have better things to do.

Dogs who live together mating (or trying to)

I’m including this last point because someone contacted me about this specific situation. I was really disappointed that a breeder had sold her brother and sister pups and not told her how to deal with this situation. I also felt the vet should have advised getting the male castrated at 6 months. Although we like to try and leave neutering a bit longer these days, some situations make it more important to get it done. We do NOT want accidental matings, particularly of brother and sister!

So can you train this behaviour out of your dogs? You could more easily hold back the sea. Of course you can keep them shut in different rooms, but you may well end up with howling, scratching dogs, off their food and generally being a complete wreck.

ACTION: Send one of your dogs (usually the boy) to stay with family or friends. This is another case of ‘damage limitation’ and honestly, it is much better to have peace of mind than try and manage it.

The first week of a bitch’s season is usually not too bad. Once they stop bleeding as much, they are fertile and that’s when the fun starts. So be prepared and take the easy action to manage your problem puppies?

I hope you find this helpful. Good luck with your puppy!

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think.  If you want to know more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.

“Don’t worry, he’s friendly!”

This is the phrase most hated by dog owners the world over. I have seen many, many rants on social media over the years, with people furious that yet another dog has barged into their dog, causing a dust-up, resulting in injury, or worse, increasing the fear in their dog that the owner was working so hard to overcome.

Why is it not OK to let your dog rush up to other dogs? They just want to play, right? They don’t mean any harm, so it will be fine, won’t it? Your poor dog is desperate for some company and activity and dogs like each other, don’t they?

How would you feel?

Imagine walking along minding your own business. Enjoying the sunshine, listening to some music. Imagine a person running really fast towards you, then stopping two inches from your nose and saying “HELLO! Do you want to play with me?” How would you feel? Yes exactly. Well believe it or not, that’s how most dogs feel.

In fact in can be even worse for a dog. They might be old and infirm, well past their playing days. They might be recovering from an operation, or have an ongoing illness. Dogs can be quite shy and unsure, particularly if they don’t spend much time with other dogs. How would you know if a person felt like this? Would you still bounce into their face to say hello?

It’s also much worse for dogs on the lead. If someone runs towards you looking scary, the natural response might be to run away from them. But if you are attached to a stupid great person, this is not an option. Aargh!

The final reason why a dog approaching another dog is NOT OK is that people become scared. And dogs know that. It is their job to protect their human. So when a dog doesn’t initially want to talk to another dog, their human tries to stop that happening again. But then the dog learns that ALL approaching dogs are scary, so tries to stop that happening. Poor dog.

What should you do?

Teach your dog some manners! You might think this will be difficult but it really doesn’t need to be! It’s exactly the same as your parents teaching you to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. You might remember them saying to you ‘Say please!’ or ‘what do you say?’

You can do that with your dog. When you see another dog, get the attention of your dog. You do NOT need to put them on the lead, but you will need lots of treats and/or a toy (paid ads). It is also essential that you are EXCITING! Be more interesting to your dog than anything else. This might be quite difficult to do, but I promise you, it will pay off.

Get your dog to ‘watch’ you. Say ‘watch’, repeat a few times. Then ‘click’ and reward. The click can just be you saying ‘yes!’ and then stuff some sausage into your dog. Then break off and play with them. I’ve talked about ‘playing with your dog‘ on this post, with a video of a game of tuggy. Have a great toy, (paid ad) and engage with your dog. You can then control their interaction with other dogs more easily.

Can you ever say hello to another dog?

Yes of course. But only when you dog is polite about it! Once you have built up your relationship with your dog and it has learnt some manners, together with a rock solid recall, you should be able to manage their greeting of other dogs. The photos show two beautifully behaved dogs enjoying some calm interaction. It is possible and it is achievable.

A polite dog greeting another dog is absolutely fine. Hello, how are you? Would you like to play? No? That’s fine, I can have fun with mum or dad instead. Yes? Great! Let’s play! Hurray! It’s lovely to see, isn’t it?

Don’t Panic!

It will go wrong. It’s bound to. Dogs, just like people have to learn and this takes time and practise. Please, please don’t think that because your dog has a ‘bad day’ or a bad experience, that they can’t be let off the lead again? That’s really unfair on your dog and lazy of you. Make the effort to continue practising and allow for some failure.

And if some horrible person starts shouting at you because your dog bounced up to their dog over-exuberantly, please don’t take it out on your dog. Please just apologise to the person and tell them that you are working on it with your dog, but if you don’t try, they’ll never learn?

Help is at hand

It is hard to teach these things and usually people need help. I recommend finding a reputable trainer. Here in Milton Keynes we are lucky to have Adam Delderfield, of Delders Dogs. Adam is now primarily an online trainer, but he gives lots of personal support.

I’m also very fortunate that my boy JB lives with Stella, who works alongside Adam. He’s such a polite dog!

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think.  If you want to know more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.

Top tips on getting a second dog

When you have a great dog, whom you love to bits, it’s very natural to think that having a second one will be fantastic. Twice the love, twice the fun, twice the happy times, right? Usually, that’s true. However, I know people who keep their older dog muzzled in the house to make sure it doesn’t kill the younger ones. I know someone with stair gates all over their house to keep their dogs separated. There are people who find their lives ‘ruled’ by their dogs; they can’t go out for too long, or they can’t have visitors, or they don’t go on walks because it is too stressful.

Why bother getting a second dog?

What are the advantages of adding a second dog to your family? As I’ve said above, it should mean, twice the love, fun and happy times. In reality, the number 1 reason is: to make your first dog’s life better. Your first dog should enjoy having another dog to lie around with. They should play together and run about together.

If you regularly leave your dog, especially for long periods, then a second dog should make that much easier. The two dogs can stand and bark at everything together! Seriously, if you have a dog that barks or howls when left, you probably need to tackle that issue first. Having a second dog could easily just mean twice the noise! Yes, they will be happier, but your neighbours might not be..

Ask yourself: What is my dog’s current life like? Do they seem happy with just me (and the family) for company? Do we hang out together, most of the time? Or do they just prefer to go off on their own? Not all dogs are sociable – some prefer their own company. When you are out and about, does your dog desperately want to rush up to other dogs to play? Or are they happy pottering along with you? If other dogs come over, does your dog say hi? If they aren’t really that bothered, they probably won’t be that fussed about another dog in the house.

When is the right time to introduce a second dog?

This is a tricky one. Most people don’t really think about it, or only in relation to what they want. Some people love their first dog so much they can’t wait to get more. Other people struggle with the ‘puppy stage’ and it take them years to consider going through that again. Or they might feel that it’s better to get a rescue, older dog to add to their family.

Consider what your dog wants? When I got my first dog, a re-homing from my mum, she was 8 years old. She’d been fourth in a pack of five and had got ‘lost in the crowd’. Rue adored being my dog and being with my sons who were babies at the time. She kept to herself and enjoyed coming along with us.

Then we got a puppy, Buzz, when Rue was 11. It was a mistake from day one. Rue hated the intrusion. She was old and set in her ways and was a bit stiff. He was a really sociable, outgoing dog, who loved to chat to others when he was out, unlike Rue. When Buzz was 8 years old, after a few years of him being on his own, we got Sunny.

Buzz was SO HAPPY! He absolutely loved her! Buzz spent the next seven years following her lead, enjoying being with her and engaging with whatever was going on. It really improved his life to have her. (She completely ignored him.)

Not too young, not too old

One more story: When Aura was just 18 months old, I got Busy. This was not planned, but hey ho, there she was, my fourth dog at the time. Again, Aura hated her! Eventually, they talked to each other, but they’ve never played together. Aura is a jealous, demanding dog – she’d love to be on her own with her owner – it would suit her far better.

I won’t home my puppies to someone with a dog aged much more than 8 years old. If you’ve got that far with just one, you should stick with it. Likewise, I would never choose a home with a dog younger than two. You need to have your first dog mature, well trained and established.

Dogs do get jealous in my opinion. They do feel resentment and they do have friends. Don’t expect it will be brilliant. It might not be. Pay attention to what your dog wants, please?

How to introduce a second dog?

Just a brief guide to bringing that second dog into your home. It’s exactly like when you have a second child. Don’t expect it to be easy, or quick. Take it slowly and pay attention to your older dog.

When the Lovely Litter went off to their homes, three went to families with older dogs. All three puppies were initially ignored by the older dog. The owners made sure that they were never left alone together. Allow for the fact that a new dog, whether a puppy or a bit older, will be annoying. So manage their time together? Watch them playing, or just being around each other.

Top tip from a dog training friend I heard this week: take turns giving them treats. Say their name, give a treat. Then the other one’s name, give a treat. They understand turn-taking. Give attention to both, starting with the older one. Feed the older one first.

Above all, make sure you spend plenty of time with both dogs individually. This is vital to ensure you bond with the younger dog and train it effectively. You won’t get as much focus or engagement from either dog when they are together. If you can, try to ensure you have some special time with your older dog each week. They will really appreciate it.

Finally..

Should the second dog be related to the first? I don’t think it makes that much difference, to be honest. They will either get on, or they won’t. You can manage that and make it happen.

Sometimes though, the personalities clash and they just don’t get on. If they are not improving each others’ lives after a few months, it’s probably worth re-homing the younger dog. Of course you need to give it time and make the effort to train both dogs, but maybe a different home is a better solution. Good luck!

Ask for help?

You are very welcome to CONTACT ME to ask for my advice.  I can help you with a variety of issues and problems around getting a dog and suggestions for tackling training issues.  Go to the What Dog? page for more information on my service.

Please let me know if you have found this post helpful?

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think.  If you want to know more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.

Fireworks: What can I do to help my dog cope?

If you have ever had a dog who is terrified of loud bangs or fireworks, you will know how agonising it can be.   Symptoms include:

• panting, drooling and whining
• restlessness and fidgeting
• anxiety and aggression
• hiding or scrabbling at furniture.

I remember on the eve of the new Millennium, Buzz was left at home while we went to a neighbour’s to celebrate.  We came home to find he had destroyed a door, trying to escape.  Poor boy!

It’s really hard to know what to do.  We want to reassure them, but they don’t really want to hear it.

Ignore it and it will go away

When I first went to training classes with Sunny, I remember being told very clearly “Don’t make a fuss if something scares your dog.  If you cuddle them and fuss them, you are drawing attention to their fear and ‘rewarding them’ for wanting your attention.  Just ignore them and they will realise there is nothing to be afraid of.”

I do understand where this advice is coming from.  If you are anxious about your dog being anxious, they will become more anxious, because they are feeding off your anxiety!  I see this most often when we are out walking and we walk past someone whose dog is ‘nervous of other dogs’.  They have the dog on the lead and are gripping hold of it.  Or they might even be clutching the dog to them – I’ll protect you!  Even if they are just holding the lead though, the owner’s anxiety is being transmitted down that lead to the dog.

It’s a vicious circle; the dog is afraid so you become afraid, so the dog thinks “there must be something to be afraid of” so becomes afraid.  This ‘transmission of emotion’ also happens with horses, as anyone who has been nervous about riding a horse will tell you!  Another example is when you are faced with a dog you don’t know and aren’t sure about – you know that they can ‘smell your fear’.  In fact it is true; dogs (and horses) can smell fear and will react accordingly.

Fireworks – training or ignoring?

Getting back to the fireworks then, how should we tackle it?  If we completely ignore it, we are not helping the dog to cope with it, we are just being mean!  What we need then, is a strategy to positively develop coping behaviour for the dog. There are a number of ways we can tackle this:

• Provide alternative noise to counteract the bangs, such as a loud radio playing
• Use a Desensitisation CD for dogs (paid ad)
• Provide a safe place for the dog to go into, such as a dark corner with a comfy bed or blanket
• Shut curtains and move the dog away from the bangs if possible
• Put the dog into a Thundershirt (paid ad)
• Give the dog medication, obtained from your vet, or buy some calming tablets (paid ad)

The Training Solution

Distraction is a crucial factor in persuading your dog that there is nothing to worry about.  It’s not about ignoring them when they are afraid, as about ignoring their fear – making light of it.  If you can clearly project to them that you are perfectly fine with whatever is going on, in fact you think it’s time to have a game, then the dog may be able to move past it with you.  You need to be convincing!  But if you can get their attention on you and persuade them to play fetch, or do tricks, or even just a bit of rough and tumble, then they are less likely to be thinking about ‘that scary thing’.  So go on, play with your dog?

This works if you are out and another dog goes past.  Thinking to yourself “that’s not an interesting dog, playing with you is much more fun” will help to encourage your dog to ignore other dogs.  They won’t feel the need to protect you.  This also works for bangs and loud noises.

Not just fireworks

It is useful to enable your dog to cope with loud bangs, not just for when the fireworks are around, but for all sorts of other things.  Thunderstorms are an obvious one, but also bird scarers, gunshots, hot air balloons, cars backfiring, starter pistols etc.  In fact if you want your dog to become a therapy dog volunteer, they will need to cope with someone dropping something loud beside them.

Eventually, we want a dog who is secure and confident enough to find loud bangs and flashes a bit boring.  Don’t think that you cannot cuddle your dog if they are scared, just make sure that you are not afraid of their fear!

Fundraising for Canine Concern

I am offering my Dentbros Dogs Calendar 2021 for sale within the UK.  You pay £10 + p&p and any profit goes to the charity.  Please CONTACT ME to order one?  BUY NOW!

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think.  If you want to know more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.

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Ball games: how should you play with your dog?

All dogs love to play with a ball, right?  Not quite.  Most dogs do like a ball, but this can range from being happy to chew a ball to pieces in two seconds flat, to being completely ball obsessed.  I thought it might be useful to consider whether it is useful to have your dog play ball with you.  Is it a good game to play?  And what are the rules?

Different breeds, different interests

Not every breed of dog is going to be interested in playing with a ball.  If you have read my Breed Blog you will already have seen that different dogs definitely have different characteristics.  Terriers are tenacious and persistent; they will hunt down their quarry and well, kill it!  So a ball probably won’t last that long in their company.  Certainly a squeaky toy is not going to last.  Gundogs and Working breeds are all pretty likely to enjoy destroying the toy more than playing with it.

Toy dogs are not really bothered about a ball.  They don’t have a prey drive, so won’t bother to hunt something down.  They won’t bother with much, to be honest, as they are designed to sit quietly and be fussed.  A toy dog, such as a Bichon Frise, has been carefully constructed to be generally undemanding.  That’s not to say they aren’t divas!

Any dog from the Pastoral breeds, including the Border Collie, will be more likely to enjoy ball games.  They enjoy chasing something and they like to run around.  So if you fancy a having a dog that will play for any length of time, then go for a dog from this group of breeds.

What is the purpose of ball play?

As I see it, ball games serve a number of purposes:

• physical exercise – this can be really important if you only have one dog, or if you don’t have much time to go on long walks.
• mental exercise – waiting for you to throw a ball, watching where it goes and chasing after it, then bringing it back are all mentally demanding tasks for your dog.
• bonding – playing a game with your dog of any kind will improve your relationship.  The more you play, the more likely your dog is going to want to stay with you.
• training – playing with a ball can be very rewarding for your dog, so if you want them to work on something, it can be a fantastic ‘release’ at the end.

Problems with ball games

The biggest problem with ball games is that the dog won’t bring the ball back!  This takes training and patience, as with all activities you do with your dog.  It is worth persevering, but for some dogs, they just don’t really get it.  Sometimes a dog will struggle to see the value in the game, although this may be because you are not sufficiently exciting!

Another issue with ball play is that you overdo it.  This is easily done, particularly if you have a ball chucker.  It’s a great tool for making sure your dog gets plenty of exercise, if they need it, but it can easily cause injury and be over-used.

My top tip: Don’t overdo it!

Watch your dog and make sure they are not becoming exhausted, or over-stimulated.  Pay attention to the weather so that they don’t become over-heated.  Make sure they have plenty of time to experience their environment, to sniff and wander. Remember the reasons for walking our dogs?

Another problem with ball games is that the dog can easily become obsessive about having the ball thrown ALL the time.  You are in charge, so you decide when enough is enough.

Getting started

If your dog is not that interested in ball games, you will need to start slowly.  Begin at home.  Throw the ball a few feet away and wait for the dog to look at it.  Click or say ‘yes’ and give a food reward.  If the dog approaches the ball, reward.  If the dog touches the ball, reward.  When the dog picks the ball up, reward.  And when the dog turns towards you, big reward!  The more excited you are about the game, the more likely you are to succeed.

Another problem many people have with ball games is that the dog won’t give the ball back.  This may be because they are tired and don’t want to have to run after it again!  But it may be because they haven’t learnt that part of the game.

When Sunny was a young dog she would bring the ball near me, throwing it towards my feet.  I was at training with her and my trainer told me to wait for her to bring it right to me.  I stood and waited.  Sunny got really annoyed!  She kept picking up the ball and throwing it towards me, then barking at me, basically shouting at me to throw it again.  However, she eventually picked up the ball and put it in my hand.  Now whenever I say ‘hand’ she will do this, albeit rather crossly!  One way to get the ball off your dog is to swap the ball for a treat.

Ball games with multiple dogs

Just a quick word about playing ball games with many dogs.  Obviously different groups of dogs will have different dynamics, but please make sure that your dogs are happy playing together?  When I throw the ball with my girls, Aura is the only one allowed to pick it up. She then drops it for Sunny, who usually brings it back to me.  Or Aura brings it back to me herself.  Occasionally Busy runs past and sneakily picks up the ball.  She will then run in circles until Aura is not looking, when she drops the ball, so Aura can’t find it.  Dogs!

Have fun with your dogs.  Just remember to allow them time to sniff, even when they continue saying “THROW THE BALL!”

Fundraising for Canine Concern

I am offering my Dentbros Dogs Calendar 2019 for sale within the UK.  You pay £10 +p&p and £2 goes to the charity.  Please CONTACT ME to order one?  BUY NOW!

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think.  If you want to know more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.

NB: If you read my posts in an email, you may be missing out on the lovely pictures!  Please click through to my website to see the post in all its glory?

Instruction Manual for Dogs

I’m not a great one for reading instruction manuals.  Who does?  Well I can tell you – engineers do.  They know how things work and pay attention to the manuals, so they can fix it when it’s broken.  That’s (one of) the reason for marrying one :D.  They are clearly useful, but are they essential (manuals, not engineers)?  Should dogs come with one?

This morning on my walk I met a couple with a young Border Collie.  Well I say met, what happened was this: I was walking across the field and the dog appeared from the other side, running flat out towards me and the girls.  ‘What a pretty collie’ I thought.  She said hello to mine, who remarkably didn’t mind (they often do).  I waited for a few minutes for the owners to come into view, shouting loudly at their dog to come back.

She’s friendly!

When their dog ran off in another direction after a Labrador, I released mine so they could cross the road onto the footpath I was heading down.  I was aware of continued loud shouting for the dog.  Then I looked round and she had reappeared, crossed the road and run to my dogs again.  Oops!  I called mine back to me and told them to wait.

The couple crossed the road and  were able to grab their dog.  This is what they then said to me:

• She very friendly, just wants to play
• Are yours Shelties as well
• She’s only young
• We’ve only had her for two weeks
• We know it will take a year to teach her to come back

They had absolutely no idea what they were doing!

First things first

I could have started swearing and shouting (I was tempted) but I tried to help.  I said a few things, including “make sure you always have LOTS of treats”.  They said “She’s not very food driven”.  I managed to find a few treats in my pocket, which I gave her.  She loved them, of course, sweet girl.  “Oh maybe she is food motivated” they said.  One of them produced a huge biscuit which she did eat.  I told them about the treats I use.  These are great for the following reasons:

• cheap to buy
• readily available
• nice and small
• easy to break into smaller pieces
• TASTY AND REWARDING

Be exciting!

The next thing I talked to the couple about was how they needed to be MORE exciting than the things their girl was running off after.  I have talked about this A LOT already, here are some of the posts:

• recall training
• play with your dog 
• exciting recall
• recall fail

Off lead

I did also mention to them that I hoped they wouldn’t start keeping her on lead.  It is a relatively simple thing to teach a collie to come back to you and they are not the best dogs to walk on lead.  Again, I have talked A LOT about being off lead and why it is the best way forward, in my opinion.  But sometimes you need a safety net, and I think that a Long line offer that brilliantly well.

Instruction manuals are needed

The main purpose of this post though is really to talk about taking something or someone on without an instruction manual.  Why would you do that?  It seems incredibly naïve to think you can just get a dog (particularly one that is a year old, and a Border Collie to boot) and imagine that you will be able to manage it.  Oh she’s friendly!  Yes but lot of dogs are NOT friendly.  Once she has been bitten by a few, she will also NOT be friendly.  She will also be snappy and nervous and jumpy.  She may well run off if spooked by something. So much can go wrong!  Not least, she could have been run over this morning!

The key point I want to make today is that BORDER COLLIES ARE NOT EASY!  It’s so important, and so true, that I’m going to repeat it:

“BORDER COLLIES ARE NOT EASY!”

Actually, no dog is easy.  You need help learning about your dog.  There are plenty of people to ask and who are willing to provide practical, manageable tips, but you MUST ask for these!  Please?

Ask for help?

You are very welcome to CONTACT ME to ask for my advice.  I can help you with a variety of issues and problems around getting a dog.  This includes suggestions for tackling training issues.  Go to the What Dog? page for more information on my service.

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think.  If you want to know more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.

If you receive my posts via email, remember to click through to the site to see the photos.

Reactive barking – what can we do?

I’ve just checked my post on reactivity in dogs, which I wrote in January 2018, and I am revisiting this because it is still one of the biggest problems people have with their dogs.  I did some more work with Aura on this same problem yesterday, because I realised she was getting worse again.  If you want to stop reactive barking, you have to keep on working on it.  It’s hard to be bothered!

I was asked by John about how to stop a dog from barking at everything out on walks.  Their little dog had apparently broken through into a neighbour’s garden and been ‘savaged’.  Understandably the dog was now afraid of everything.  Apparently it barked loudly whenever it saw another dog, or at lots of other things.  This is known as being ‘reactive’ and it is an expression of fear.

Step 1: Recognise the problem

The first step in solving the problem is to recognise that the dog is being reactive and that this is because it is afraid.  It is therefore hard for the dog to relax in any situation where it feels under threat.  This can be stressful for the dog.  Surely it is better if we can solve the problem?  John said the dog had become really reluctant to go out.

Step 2: Decide to take action

This might seem obvious, but honestly, it involves effort.  So there are three courses of action we might take;

• do nothing
• work around the problem
• try to solve it.

There are some problem behaviours that you just put up with, either because you don’t see it as a problem, or because it doesn’t really bother you.  Aura’s squeaking is an example of this – she gets all silly when people come into the house (especially people she knows!)  But we just ignore it, on the whole, because it doesn’t seem that big a deal.

People also often take steps to avoid situations that have become an issue.  Unfortunately, with a reactive dog, this usually means that we can’t be bothered to take them for a walk, because it is just too much hassle.  Such a shame for you and your dog!

Let’s try and solve it then?

Step 3: Training to reduce reactive behaviour

My advice to John was to try and distract the dog and get her to focus on him, rather than on the ‘big scary thing’.  This means really paying attention to what is around you and being ready for something to come along, so that you can pre-empt this and act accordingly.

First of all, you need treats – lots of treats !  Grab the dog’s attention before she sees ‘the enemy’ and reward her for ignoring the monster and looking at you.  You need to be quick!

You need to remain calm.  If your dog is on the lead and the minute they start reactive barking, you begin shouting hysterically “Poppy!  Be quiet!  Stop that noise!” and so on, you are basically joining in with the barking!  That’s what your dog hears, anyway.

Finally, I suggested that walks are shortened to just a few minutes, to start with.  It is pointless working on the issue for a while and then getting bored and letting her bark for the rest of the walk!  Go out, work really hard for 5-10 minutes, creating a happy experience.  Then go home and have a cup of tea and a piece of cake.  You’ve earned it!  Short, sharp sessions are much more successful when teaching a new skill.

Practice makes perfect

If you work at it, you will be amazed at the result you can achieve.  You need:

• practice
• patience
• persistence
• praise

Easy, when you know how!

When I’d given this advice (sounding as though I knew what I was talking about – amazing lol) I got home and found a very similar question being asked on a Facebook group.  With a brilliant video demonstration of the training.

Much better than my efforts with Aura!

Ask for help?

You are very welcome to CONTACT ME to ask for my advice.  I can help you with a variety of issues and problems around getting a dog.  This includes suggestions for tackling training issues.  Go to the What Dog? page for more information on my service.

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think.  If you want to know more, why not FOLLOW ME?  Then you will receive an email when there is a new post.

If you receive my posts via email, remember to click through to the site to see the photos.