How To Survive Cabin Fever with the Dog - Part 3

How to Survive Cabin Fever with a Dog - Part 3

Indoor activities can be just as challenging and tiring for your dog. In the final part of our "How to Survive Cabin Fever with a Dog" series, we will explore how to teach your dog to do tricks. The methods prescribed here are the same methods that are used with zoo and marine animals.

As we reward our dogs for responding to our commands, we're essentially shaping his behaviour. But let's not kid ourselves; shaping is a two-way street. Just as we shape our dog's behaviour, they shape ours. Our dogs figure out patterns that get our attention when they want it.

But this blog isn't about who shapes whom. It's about how to train your dog to do tricks. 

What you'll need:

• a box (you will be asking your dog to push it with his nose, pick a size that will work for your dog's size
• a ball any size will do (for advanced tricks)
• a hungry dog (just before feeding time is a great time to shape)
• small treats

Phase 1: Getting Your Dog to Offer Behaviours

1. Prepare yourself ... don't put the box down until you're ready to reward any interaction.  Have rewards ready in your hand.
2. Set yourself up for success by doing this in a quiet area without a lot of distractions.
3. Sit on the ground and put the box down in front of you.
4. Reward your dog for any interaction with the box. If he smells the box, reward. If he hits the box with his paw, reward. As long as he is working, thinking or moving in relation to the box, reward.
5. After about 10 treats, pick up the box and put it away.
6. You can return to this activity as often as you like; don't exceed 10 treats at a time. Give your dog some rest in between shaping sessions. After you get your dog to consistently interact with the box, you're ready to move onto phase 2. 

Phase 2: Working Towards Something

1. Decide on a trick. Start simple. For illustration purposes, we'll be asking the dog to push a box with his nose.
2. Close the box so your dog is more likely to concentrate on the outside of the box.
3. Because of his experience with the previous phase, he will expect to be reward for any interaction with the box. However, since your goal is to get him to push the box with his nose, only reward him if he interacts with the box with his nose.
4. After a few rewards for any nose interaction, only reward nose interaction on the side of the box.  To make this more likely to happen when you present the reward put it on the side of the box you would like your dog to touch.
5. When the nose interaction moves box, give him a handful of treats. Once you reach this point, the only time you reward  is for a moving box.

Phase 3 : Increasing Difficulty

1. Repeat phases 1 and 2 with a ball instead of a box.
2. Decide where you want your dog to push the ball (for example, through a doorway).
3. Only reward when your dog moves the ball in the direction of the goal.

That's it! Teach him to take the ball to different spots. Try giving him a cue. You can even wait longer before  you reward him for moving the ball. Eventually your dog will push the ball around without expecting a treat from you because the ball game has become self rewarding.  Check out a video of Oakley learning how to move a box around.

Hope this series has given you some great ideas to keep your dog fit and exercised through the winter. If you missed the first two parts, here they are:

• Part 1
• Part 2

What kind of tricks are you going to get your dog to do? Let us know in the comments below.

Happy shaping!

How to Survive Cabin Fever with the Dog - Part 2

How to Survive Cabin Fever with the Dog - Part 2

There are many activities you can do with the dog indoors during the winter months. Indoor winter activities offer you a chance to get back to basics.  To reinforce good behaviour, so you're ready for outdoor activities when the weather is more favourable. No matter how well-behaved and responsive your dog is to your commands, here are a few activities that will help ensure that he continues to respond favourably to your commands.

The activities in this blog are presented in increasing level of difficulty. Be sure to master the first two exercises before attempting the third. Once you've mastered the third, you're ready to take the activity outside on a warmer day! 

Call / Recall

Purpose: To build strong recall in your dog

What you need:

• Treat

How to play:

1. Stand approximately 2-feet away from your dog with a treat behind your back
2. Give the recall cue (for example, your dog's name or "come")
3. Take a step back and offer the treat

Increase the difficulty by:

• increasing the distance between you and the dog before providing the recall command
• taking multiple steps back prior to offering the reward
• whispering the recall cue from a distance

Collar Grab

Purpose: To ensure your dog moves towards you when his collar is grabbed

What you need:

• Treat
• Non-retractable leash

How to play:

1. Put the leash on your dog

   

   Step 2 of Collar Grab

2. Hold a treat and leash in one hand
3. Slide the other hand down the leash
4. Grab your dog's collar with the sliding hand and provide the reward with the treat hand - watch the video

If your dog is not used to having his collar grabbed, he may back away from you at first. Don't despair. Practice the exercise until he moves towards you when you grab his collar.

Call / Recall

Purpose: To make your dog come faster

What you need:

• A partner
• Treat (both people should be armed with treats)

How to play:

1. Person-1 holds the dog by the collar
2. Person-2 moves about 10-feet away and says the recall command
3. Person-1 lets the dog go and Person-2 moves away from the dog (the dog will pursue Person-2)
4. When the dog catches up to Person-2, Person-2 provides a reward at knee level

Repeat the exercise with Person-2 holding on the collar and Person-1 providing the recall command.

Increase difficulty by:

• increasing the distance between people before providing the recall command
• increasing the speed at which Person-2 (the "treater") moves away from the dog

Once your dog has mastered this activity, hide before you give the recall command. Start with easy places like hiding behind a big piece of furniture within the same room or on the other side of the kitchen island. Increase the difficulty by hiding in a closet or a bathtub. Reward the dog when he finds you with treats, a big cuddle, or even running around the house screaming. They love that excitement.

If you need some help with these games, your recall in general or any other doggie issues, we have a winter special on.  Two one hour private sessions at your home for $104.00, that's a 20% discount.  This offer will be valid on first appointments booked before April 1, 2015.  There will be a charge for locations outside of the Kemptville/Winchester corridor.

Did you find some great places to hide? Share your favourite hiding spot in the comments below!

In part 3 of our "How to Survive Cabin Fever with the Dog" series, we will look at shaping. It will give you the tools to teach your dog all sorts of tricks. It's the same method for training dolphins at Sea World

How to Survive Cabin Fever with the Dog - Part 1

Bored and waiting for me to amuse them

The holidays are over but winter is here for another couple of months. While there is nothing prettier than a sunny winter day, it can be downright cold. Most of us prefer to stay indoors and hibernate. The same can be said for some dogs, especially the small or short coated ones. But being cooped up inside staring at each other isn't an option. This is the first of a three-part series that explores activities to do with your dog during the coldest months of the year.

Fitness is an integral part to a balanced lifestyle for dogs. Much like our own fitness goals, we are looking to give our dogs:
            * a strong core,
            * agility, and
            * confidence in how they use their body.

Strength and stretching training can help prevent injury from sudden movements like when a squirrel crosses your path and keep your dog acting young well into old age. Give these simple exercises a try.

Balancing Act

Purpose: To build core strength and body awareness to handle changing and unstable environments.

What you need:

* Board
* Foreign objects to stick under the board

How to play:

(1) Begin by teaching your dog to get on a board.
(2) Once your dog has mastered getting on the board, put a small stick or towel under the board to make the board wobbly. Get your dog to get on the board.
(3) Have the dog move around on the board.  Every time you reward, reward on a different corner the dog will move to get the reward.
(3) Increase the challenge by sticking other foreign objects under the board to make it more unstable.

Check out our video on YouTube to help you better understand the steps.

Step 1

Core Strength

Purpose: To build core strength.  A strong core supports the spine and vital organs.   Best of all it’s a really cute trick.

Step 2

Goal: To have the dog stand on his bum (beg or sit pretty)

How to play:

(1) Begin by sitting in a chair with your dog sitting between your legs looking away from you
(2) Put a piece of food just above his nose and closer to his forehead

Step 3

(3) Reward any front paw movement, your are tying to get your dog’s front paws off the floor
(4) As the front paws come up off the ground, you can support your dog with your legs.  Slightly squeeze your legs helping the dog support his body.  As your dog gets stronger you can diminish the support until he can do this independently.

Step 4

Learn More

Shake-a-Paw will be holding a Canine Conditioning:  Intro To Fitpaws® course starting Sunday, February 1 at 11:30am. Join us and get your dog fitter and healthier than ever before!

Final Product

What do you do with your dog to remain active in the winter months? Comment below!

In part 2 of our "How to Survive Cabin Fever with the Dog" series, we will look at an indoor game to make your recall stronger and faster.

What is Scent Work?

Canine Scent Work or Nosework is a fairly new sport modeled after detection training for professional narcotics or bomb dogs.  It offers dog owners an opportunity to allow their dogs to explore their natural scenting ability in a safe and controlled environment.  The sport uses the scent of different essential oils that can be easily purchased and stored by the average person.  Dogs are taught to hunt/search for “target odours” in a variety of settings to create a mind challenging and extremely fun game for your dog to play.  Training usually begins indoors with box or container searches, and then advances to room searches, outdoor and vehicle searches.

Scent work is suited to all types of dogs and owners whether you practice for fun or competition.  Many human and/or canine disabilities are easily accommodated, as are behaviour issues including dog reactivity.  Classes and competitions are run so that each search is done individually by one dog and handler team working at a time, allowing dogs with issues to focus and learn.  Working without social stressors allows the dog and handler to be free to concentrate on the search.  As the sport is relatively “low impact” it is great for young puppies, elderly dogs and dogs with injuries.    

The sport encourages dogs to be independent as the owner has to believe in the dog’s ability to find the target odour.  It gives the dog an outlet to do what comes naturally and just “be a dog”.  This helps to promote the dog’s confidence and builds a trusting relationship between canine and owner. It also provides intense mental stimulation and many behaviour issues are reduced because the dog’s desire to search helps develop self-control and focus.

This post was written by 

Lee Anne Rogers who we are lucky enough to have running our scent work class in January

Lee Anne Rogers has been training and competing in various dog activities for 15 years.  In 2013 she graduated with honors from the Professional Dog Trainer program at Animal Behavior College and is currently taking courses from “Ethology Institute Cambridge”.  She actively competes in Agility and Nosework with her English Springer Spaniel “Drifter”.

Lee Anne is working on completing the requirements to become certified as a Nosework Instructor through the “National Association of Canine Scentwork®”.  She has attended seminars for Nosework with Ron Gaunt, Amy Herot and Jill Marie O’Brien and she recently participated in a 5 day K-9 Nosework camp in Pennsylvania where she learned from some of the top instructors.           

How to Introduce Another Animal into the Family

We have been very lucky to introduce a new family member this summer.  Her name is Penny and she is a very cool coloured cat.  I thought I would share how I go about introducing my animals to each other.


Introducing a new animal into the household is always stressful. You have a happy cohesive group and any changes might not always work out the way you hoped. Familiarity is the key. Be it a new kitten, a new puppy or even an adult animal the approach is similar.

Safe Zones

Creating a safe space is vital. Coping with change is easier when you feel safe. The same applies to animals.

1. Create a safe zone for the new family member. X-pens and crates work well but baby gates also do the trick. This is a space intended for the new member only. No other animal should be allowed inside it.
2. Ensure the safe zone has all the necessities: water, food, toys, and litter.
3. Provide something for the new member to hide in or behind if she gets scared.  A crate or even a box will work.

The Introduction

1. Put all other animals away, in their crates, outside or in another room behind a door.
2. Introduce the new family member to the safe zone.
3. Once the new family member starts to explore her safe zone, release the other animals one at a time.  If you have multiple animals start with your calmest and work your way up.  Take your time.

When you release the others, they will run over and sniff the safe zone. This will likely scare the new member. Let them be unless you end up with unacceptable behaviours such as; non stop barking, aggression, charging, etc. They will soon get bored and go about their day. The animals (old and new) will sniff and interact with each other through the barriers of the safe zone.  

The Great Release

Once you see that the animals have reached a level of familiarity, you are ready for the release.

1. Have only one animal in the room, again starting with your calmest animal.  Wait until everyone has settled down and are not standing at the gate waiting.
2. Open the safe zone to allow the new member to come out and investigate. Make sure she can ran back to be safe whenever she feels the need.
3. Allow the animals to interact under your supervision.  Be prepared to intervene but at the same time don't panic.

Building familiarity takes time ... for both old and new

Safe environments are required for both animals to get comfortable with each other. The length of time required before everyone is comfortable varies. Don’t force it. 

Work with the existing group is required. Remember basic training principles and reinforce the good behaviours. Having multiple animals can offer interesting training options. For example, if the old dog barks at the new puppy (excessive barking remove the old dog), toss treats into the safe zone so the puppy gets a reward every time he got barked at.

Build up freedom little by little. Taking the time to make introductions is the foundation to building good relationships within your family.

What have you done to introduce your new animals? Share your strategies and tips by commenting below!

Being A Dog Ambassador

This past weekend Iggy and I got to interact with a group of people who are frightened of dogs. They come from a culture where dogs aren’t part of the daily social interaction. Nonetheless, they were curious and drew near. I took it upon myself to provide these “could-be dog lovers” a positive experience with my dog.

About 10 children approached us. I could hear one say that he was scared of dogs. I stopped and asked Iggy to sit. The kids surrounded us, keeping a safe 5-foot distance, and leaned in to look at Iggy. Because Iggy responded favourably to my commands, the kids soon felt at ease and wanted to know more about the dog. They came out of their shells and asked some great questions like “what’s his name” and “what kind of dog is he”.

Later on, a lady and her daughter approached. They asked if they could pet the dog but seemed very hesitant. I turned Iggy around, held his head, and suggested they pet his bum. Petting the hindquarters works well with people who really want to pet the dog but are too scared to do so. Of course, I would only do this with a dog who was very comfortable being touched by strangers and having his bum touched.

Keys to being a dog ambassador

1. Be sure that your dog has mastered the “stop” and “sit” commands.
2. Absolutely no touching unless your dog is comfortable being touched.

Winning them over a little at a time

I am thrilled that Iggy and I got the opportunity to introduce people who were very uncomfortable with dogs to a great experience with a dog. Hopefully, with a number of good experiences these kids will grow up to at the very least be comfortable around dogs.

What have you and your dog done to be good ambassadors?

Summer Is Here - What you need to know to keep your dog safe.

Summer is in full swing and what a great summer it has been.  Iggy and I have been lucky to enjoy our favorite summer activities; swimming, camping and outdoor agility.  While you are out enjoying the great summer weather, it is good to keep in mind some possible dangers for your dog.

Heatstroke/dehydration

Dogs are not great at dealing with heat.   They do not sweat like we do, and have a very hard time cooling themselves down, especially when the humidity is high. We all know not to leave our dogs in a hot car for any period of time.  Here are some other tips to keep your dog safe when it is hot.  If you have an older dog or a brachycephalic (short nosed) dog you have to be even more careful.

• always make sure your dog has water and shade
• schedule exercise for morning and evening when it is cooler
• some dogs don't know when to stop, make sure your dog is resting and cooling himself off on a regular basis and drinking plenty of water
• evaporative cool coats are great, but a wet towel covering the dog will also do the trick
• watch your dogs pads if walking on hot pavement it could burn them

Some signs of heat stroke are

• excessive panting or difficulty breathing
• drooling
• mild weakness
• seizures
• bloody diarrhea or vomiting
• stupor and collapse

Water Intoxication

Water intoxication is another possible danger you should be aware of.  Especially since most of us like to take our dogs swimming for exercise during the hot summer months.

Dogs drink water while they swim.  Some drink a lot of water.  I like to limit my dogs swimming time and give him breaks when we are at the water all day.  Allow all that water to go through his system before he goes in the water again.

Here is an article with some more information for you

Water Intoxication Article

Get out and enjoy this glorious weather we have been having.

Leave a comment with what your dogs favorite thing to do in the summer is.