Feeding Your Dog

There is a lot of debate about what and how much to feed your dog.  Let me start by saying these are my opinions.  I am not a vet and am not endorsed by any dog food company.  I have had dogs for over 20 years and have always considered proper nutrition to be an important part of keeping my dogs in good shape, content and comfortable though their competition ages and into old age.

The first thing I tell all my students is - feed your dog the best food you can afford.  I am not denying that buying a high quality dog food is hard on the wallet but I truly believe that if you spend on food your will save at the vets office.  I am often surprised how dog owners will feed a lower quality dog food and then spend money on treats and toys.  Dogs fed a good diet have less skin issues, stomach issues, allergy issues... the list goes on.  As they age, well-fed dogs have less joint issues and look and smell better.  Once you start studying foods there is a lot of information out there and it is hard to decide.  I recommend checking out the Whole Dog Journal's list of approved dog foods.  This magazine accepts no advertisers and research dog food companies independently - a great list to start with.  Another piece of advice is - change it up, go ahead buy a different brand every time you buy dog food, variety is a good thing.

Regardless of what it says on the bag, how much you should feed your dog is decided by your dog.  Get your hands on the dog... Do you feel ribs? Is his belly tucked up? Can you see a waist from above?  All these indicators will let you know if your dog needs more or less food.  Here is an article that I feel does a great job in explaining what a dog at the correct weight should look like.  The amount you feed your dog should be constantly adjusted to life.  For example my 6 year old Border Collie this summer still goes out for a run and plays every day. But in the house its hot so, he does a lot of sleeping. I have already cut his food by 2/3 cup in the last month and am about to take it down another 1/4 cup.

Next month we will talk about what you should add and what you shouldn't to your dogs food.

How to Get Your Puppy to Enter and Remain in His Crate

There are a number of basic skills and commands that all puppies and owners should know. These include “come”, “sit”, “down”, and “stay”. Another highly useful skill for any puppy is going into the crate on cue and staying in there quietly.

Going into the crate on cue is easy and usually pretty strong within a couple of weeks. Here are a few tips and reminders.

1. Don't have a discussion with the puppy about going in the crate. Just pick him up and put him in.

2. As soon as the dog is put in the crate, throw kibble in from behind him so it lands in front of him. Reward him EVERY time.  Very quickly, your dog will run into the crate and wait for a reward whenever you move towards the crate. The more you repeat this pattern, the stronger the behaviour becomes. You can also feed meals in the crate as another way to build value.

Staying in the crate is much more challenging to teach. Be patient as it may take a number of years before the dog can sit quietly in their crate regardless of what’s going on outside the crate. Here are a few things to try.

1. Use a large portion of your puppy’s meal as a reward for sitting quietly in the crate.

2. Exercise your puppy. A tired puppy is much more likely to play quietly or sleep in his crate

3. Keep your puppy occupied while he’s in the crate. Ideas include: baby carrots, chewies (I prefer not to use rawhide), frozen Kongs (go to www.kongcompany.com for great ideas), raw bones, roll a treat, egg cartons, etc.

4. Be patient. Unfortunately, you will probably have to let your puppy bark it out. He needs to learn how to settle himself down.

Training a puppy isn’t an exact science. It takes time and repetition.

What kind of cue do you give your puppy to get him to go into his crate? Share your command by commenting below!

How to Get Your Puppy to Respond to His Name

Training begins from the moment you pick up your new best friend. Along with house training, teaching your puppy his name is one of the first skills to be taught.

1. Begin training after your puppy has gone to the bathroom. This will help him focus.

2. Create an incentive for your puppy to come to you. Food is a great reward, so try doing this exercise before meal time using some of their kibble. Sit on the floor with a bowl of kibble. Give your puppy a treat when he comes to you. If your puppy wanders around the room and ignores you, try the exercise in a smaller room or with a different higher value reward. However, if he is happily in front of you waiting for more, then it is time to move on.

3. Stand right in front of your dog say his/her name and offer the reward in such a way that they have to move towards you to get it.  Not far about an inch.  Repeat this exercise until the dog is happily and confidently moving towards you.

4. The final step is saying your puppy’s name and take a step backwards. As your puppy moves toward you, give him the reward.

Conduct this exercise multiple times a day. Limit the rewards to about 10 per session. Remember, repetition is habit forming. No matter how old your dog gets, name calling exercises reinforces your dog to come when he’s called. Mix it up with easy and more challenging scenarios.

What other name calling scenarios have you tried? Share your tricks by commenting below

How to Manage Your New Puppy in His New Home

Managing a puppy’s environment is key to helping him make the right choices. Management is ever changing as the puppy goes through different stages so be ready to adapt when you see unwanted behaviours.

Keys to Managing the Environment

Great puppy set up.  An X-pen keeps puppy contained.
A piece of linoleum keeps clean up easy and protects
the hardwood.

1.       Create a space that your puppy can call his own like a crate or a pen. This is your puppy’s safe space. Place the crate in a spot where you will spend a lot of your time. This will ensure that your puppy will be included in all goings on. It will also allow you to supervise your new buddy, discouraging unwanted behaviours. Some place close to the outside door will be handy in the event he needs to go to the bathroom.

2.       Create boundaries for your puppy. Populate your puppy’s crate with his things: blanket, toys, water bucket, and appropriate things to chew. This helps your puppy to associate the items in his space as his and things outside of his space as off-limits.

3.       Establish a routine. Repetition forms habits. A prime example of this is house training. The object is to not let him relieve himself indoors. Begin by taking your puppy out every hour to go to the bathroom and slowly increase the time between outings.  But be prepared to adapt, if an hour is too long make it every 30 minutes or less, if necessary to start. Take the same route to go outside each time: pen, outside, bathroom. Pen, outside, bathroom. Very quickly, your puppy will understand that the only place to relieve himself is outside.

Following these three principles sets you up to teach your puppy many skills. And it’s never too late to start managing your dog’s environment. Give it a try and let me know how you make out by commenting below.

Age is a Wonderful Thing But Not The Solution To All Your Dog Training Problems

A few weekends ago Iggy and I competed at the AAC (Agility Association of Canada) Ontario Regionals.  We had an incredible weekend and took first place in our height class.  Iggy ran his heart out for me and I was very proud of my boy.  The agility was great but I was also very aware of how well behaved he was while walking to the rings, waiting our turn and even sitting in his crate back at the tent.  He will be 6 years old in November and we have hit that great age in a dog when the brain is all there and they are young enough to enjoy it.

One of these four will be mine :)

When I work with people and there dogs I hear a lot of "Oh he jumps but that's just a puppy thing" or "He gets a little excited but I am sure he will outgrow that".   In my experience if you allow your puppy to practice a behaviour on a regular basis HE WILL NOT OUTGROW THAT.  I spend a lot of time socializing and training my puppies so that they grow up to have the skills that Iggy displayed, this did not come by age along.  Training will give you this adult dog, time alone will not, I take that back, time will but you will probably have to wait until they are 10+ and sore so they stop jumping and stop getting excited.

How to Introduce Your Dog To New Sights, Sounds and Smells?

You want to start small.  You do not want to overwhelm your dog on the first outing.  I start all of my dogs on the sidewalk in front of the Independant in Kemptville.  They have a long sidewalk and almost nobody walks by the far left.  You get the odd person so you can practice people up close but most of the excitement will happen far enough away so the dog can get used to it.  Depending on the dog, that decides what time will be my first socializing experience.  With my Siberian who was a little crazy and high strung I started at 8am on a Sunday morning, there was almost no one there.  You had cars moving around because of the Five Star and the Tim Hortons and the odd staff person would walk into the store.  I would go and work my post game (keep reading for more info on this pivotal game), just for about 10 minutes, until Max's brain arrived and then we could start working skills.  At first name game and sit working up to walking beside me.  We eventually could sit on the bench beside the doors at 10 on a Saturday morning and Max could sit calmly or perform skills regardless of the people walking by.

Post Game
Goal;  to teach the dog to maintain a loose leash regardless of the environment

Steps

1. pick a leash length you will give your dog, appropriate to the environment
2. put the hand holding the leash against your body and leave it there
3. what is the dog doing?  Let the dog's behaviour dictate the next step
• if he is pulling - take a step back in the opposite direction then go back to step 3
• if the dog is looking at you - smile at the dog, you can ask for a behaviour e.g. come, do not fee the dog for just looking at you
• if the dog is looking at the environment and the leash is loose - reward the dog 

Stay tuned to the blog my new puppy was born on June 2 and will come home in late July.  Looks like I will be getting another black and white Border Collie boy :). The blog will follow the training of the puppy.  What I will work on to get that great adult dog that Iggy is now showing me.

How to Deal with an Aggressive Dog

It happens without you noticing. Slowly, the whole family, possibly even your company, accommodates your dog's aggression. We all grew up being told not to bother a dog when it was sleeping or eating because they could be aggressive. Now, you shouldn't purposely bother a dog who is sleeping or eating. However, you should be very realistic about your dog's ability to deal with situations and train or manage appropriately.

When you have a puppy or a new dog in the house, do some exercises with them regularly to ensure that they don't become worried or reactive in certain situations. Doing these exercises also gives you a chance to observe the dog to see if there is any concerns that need to be further dealt with.

A Simple Exercise for Preventing or Changing Food Bowl Aggression

1. While your dog is eating, walk by and throw a piece of high value treat. (I use breakfast sausage; it throws well and the dogs love it.)
2. Observe your dog as you approach. Does he stiffen, eat quicker, or put his body further over the bowl?  These are all signs of guarding and will escalate in the wrong situation. Stay outside of the guarding radius when doing this exercise.
3. Keep performing this exercise until he stops eating and waits for the sausage as you approach.

Always observe your dog in different situations, like when you have company in your house. Keep your dog safe if there is a situation he is not comfortable with. After something bad has happened is too late.

If you are having aggression issues that concern you, contact a professional. Going about this the wrong way could make your dog more aggressive.

How to Rekindle Your Dog's Recall Abilities

With the beautiful weather and the snow gone, we all renew our commitment to get out and walk the dog. The fields and the forests call to us: finding new trails, going off trail, getting lost. (Thank goodness for that trusty GPS to find our way home!) And with all this rediscovered freedom, our dogs' once decent recall disappears the way of the dodo bird.

Get Back to Basics: Build Value for Desired Responses

It's hard to build value while on the walk, especially when the bunny poop calls. Start at home.

1. Take your dog's breakfast and walk around the yard. Call him and reward him when he comes.
2. When he won't leave your side grab his collar and give him a reward.
3. Take the exercise on a walk.

Remember to always reward by placing the reward close to your body so the dog has to move towards you to get it. Playing hide and seek on your walks also builds lots of fun into finding you and keeps a part of your dogs brain thinking about where you are.

Tips for Maintaining Recall

1. Avoid calling every time your dog goes too far. Your dog will think "if I go far, I'll get called and get a reward".
2. Call him once, twice maximum. Calling him over and over again without his coming to you reinforces that your call is optional.
3. Vary your route. Your dog is more likely to pay attention in new surroundings. (Especially with young dogs who are still establishing their comfort range. Regular trail changes keep them close.)

Have a wonderful time out there walking your dogs and appreciate this amazing weather. It won't be long until we start complaining about bugs

!