Teach The LEAVE IT Command

There are many things that your dog might want to have in his mouth that aren't good for him. Something gross he finds on the street or in your back yard, something that could be toxic to him such as toxic, radioactive fish from the Pacific....or he may just be teasing one of your other dogs with his favorite toy, or have something dangerous like a small nail or screw.

Here is a dependable way to teach him to leave it, whatever command you select stick with it to keep him from being confused.

Have fun!

Teach Your Dog To Speak Before You Teach QUIET

Teaching your dog to speak on cue isn't just a cute trick; your dog needs to know the speak command before he can learn to be quiet when asked. Training your dog to "speak" and be "quiet" can be a great behavior management tool. If you haven't heard your dog's voice before you might be surprised, some are surprisingly LOUD!

Teach Your Dog To Stop Barking

Want To Train Your Cat To Use The Toilet?

A toilet-trained cat may seem like something only Hollywood could dream up, but you really can teach your cat to use the potty — and say goodbye to kitty litter forever. Inspired by a scene in the Ben Stiller film Meet the Parents, Jo Lapidge created the Litter Kwitter after she grew tired of cleaning up her cat’s litter. The potty training system is so effective that Lapidge claims it takes less time to toilet train a cat than a child.

Cats bury their waste in their litter largely to get rid of the smell. The Litter Kwitter works on the odor-elimination concept by giving cats the same satisfaction of hiding elimination smell by using the toilet, rather than burying their waste in the litterbox. Although cats can be trained to use the toilet without the Litter Kwitter, its step-by-step system is the simplest way to gradually introduce your cat to the toilet.

The Litter Kwitter

The Litter Kwitter is ideal for people looking to end litterbox woes of gritty floors and frequent cleanings. Bold, confident cats 3 months of age and up are ideal candidates for potty training.
But potty training isn’t the right fit for every kitty. Fearful kitties, arthritic felines or cats who already have difficulty using the litterbox are not the best candidates for toilet training.

 Going to the bathroom outside the litterbox is one of the top reasons cats are surrendered to shelters, so teaching your cat to consistently go in a designated area — either a litterbox or a toilet — is much more important than eliminating litter from your cat's routine.

Curious about how toilet training a cat works?

 Wondering if it could work for your cat?

Here’s the step-by-step process to get your cat reigning on the porcelain throne with the Litter Kwitter. (It does everything but teach your cat to flush!)

How the System Works

The Litter Kwitter system consists of four color-coded training trays that fit over the rim of a standard toilet. The first tray is a white rim that fits over the toilet seat and anchors the other trays. The second tray is red and has no hole but holds four to five cups of litter just like a regular litterbox; it hooks onto the white tray.
 
Start by placing the red tray (which has no hole) inside the white tray; put them both on the floor of the bathroom. Show your cat the litter and place her inside the tray. Put the regular litterbox away so her only choice is the Litter Kwitter system.

Clean the tray regularly throughout the day with non-ammonia-based cleaners. After meals or playtime, or when your cat wakes up, she should be taken to her bathroom area and praised for proper elimination. If you have more than one cat, you will need to get them used to sharing one litterbox before expecting them to share the Litter Kwitter and, eventually, one toilet.

Your cat should only move to the next level of training once she has made a habit of using the first tray without any accidents. If you have multiple household cats, progress at the pace of the slowest learner.

The next step is to get your cat to hop up onto the toilet seat. Practice at first with the lid down; set treats on the lid to lure your cat up. Most cats can easily jump onto the toilet, but for cats with any difficulty, a step stool can be used. Once your cat is comfortably hopping up onto the toilet, move the first Litter Kwitter tray from the floor to the porcelain rim of the toilet and clip it in place. The toilet seat can be left in either the up position or down on top of the Litter Kwitter.

Eliminating the Litter

Once your cat is comfortably going over the hole (this typically takes at least a couple of weeks), you’re ready for the green stage. The green tray has a large hole with a narrow recess into which you scatter only half a cup of litter. Gradually decrease the amount of litter in the tray, as your cat continues to successfully use the toilet.

Once the cat is reliably using the green tray without any litter in it, you can remove the Litter Kwitter system so there’s only a toilet seat left. At this point, celebrate! Your feline is officially potty trained and you have bragging rights galore. Just be ready to wait your turn when the kitty gets to the bathroom first.

Ensure that the bathroom door always stays open so your cat can easily access the potty whenever needed. If your cat eliminates outside the Litter Kwitter system, never punish her; this will just make her anxious. Instead, reward your feline for proper elimination with a treat or praise.

If needed, go back to an easier step such as the red stage — cats rarely learn new skills in a straight line, so going backward and forward during the training is perfectly natural.

NOTE:  Don't forget your doggy family members too.  If you don't like where they go potty, then this  Pee Post helps keep the pee where it should be!  Or this simple Pheromone Treated Yard Stake
will also help direct your pet, and maybe your husband or son, to where you want them going potty outside!

Teach Your Dog The Leave It Command

There are many temptations for dogs, from a chicken bone on the street to a baby bottle on the floor to the household cat. The leave it command can help your dog avoid danger or a potentially messy situation.

Sometimes, some dogs are particularly stubborn and will insist on negotiation or campaign contributions before they'll leave something of great value. That's not a problem, just bargain with them. If you want that cooked bone from them and they don't want to LEAVE IT, give them something of greater value, that could be different things to different dogs. Sometimes a ball, sometimes a different type of treat, maybe another command works, like SIT. Anything to disrupt their focus on what they have so you can nab it the second they drop it.

Realistically, not all dogs will always respond to their training, so in those cases, negotiate, you still come out the winner and you've saved your dog from the dangerous object.

Training Your Cat To Come When Called

Teaching your cat to come when called is not only handy but could save his life. If he escapes outside, you can call him back home.

You can also call him when inside the house to make sure he's accounted for before leaving the house, or to gather him up for a trip to the veterinarian.

If he's an indoor and outdoor cat, you can call him inside before you leave the house. You can call him to walk with you when your hands are full and the door is open.

And you can just call him to you when you want to visit with him. Even if he's an outdoor cat, you can call him home if a storm or other danger is looming.

Teach Your Cat to Come on Command

Your cat probably already comes when called — only he comes to the call of the electric can opener or the ping of dry cat food hitting his bowl. It's just one step to go from that to coming to the call of your voice or to a whistle — whistles aren't just for dogs!

Just as the sound of a can opener signals good food is on its way, your come command should also signal that good food comes to those who come. You should teach him that when called, it's not just good food, but wonderful food. Experiment to see what your cat really likes — tuna, cat treats, sardines — and reserve it only for those times you've called.

Although you could just play a recording of the can opener, that would be inconvenient, so instead, decide how you will call your cat. Use something you don't otherwise say during the day. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty" is a favorite, or you could use a whistle.

Don't, however, simply use the cat's name. His name is just to get his attention; it should be followed by a cue to actually come. Everyone in the house should use the same way of calling.

A deaf cat can be trained to come to vibrations, such as thumping your foot on the floor, or to visual cues, such as a light flicking on and off.

NOTE:   This works so easily you might be surprised.  When feeding outdoor "guest" cats I would do so at the same time as I would feed the horses.  My lack of creativity didn't stop the kitties from quickly learning me singing MEOW, MEOW, MEOW, MEOW, MEOW meant yummy food was being delivered and they'd come running from across the pastures, out of the barn, down from trees.

The amusing part was that the horses also learned that it would mean their hay was also being delivered, so they'd come charging down from distant places, running, kicking up their heels to arrive snorting at their feeding area.

Teaching your animals to come is also a good way if you want to move their feeding location, just use your consistent CALL, and they'll show up.

Now, we have several areas of guest cats.  Some are fed over by the barn and others are fed on our South Porch.  Those on the south porch are triggered by dogs leaving the area.  The instant the last dog paw leaves the area, the cats start prancing up the stairs for their meal.  They learned the sequence of events based on the dogs activities.

Understanding Dog Dynamics

 

Dogs and Children

By Crystal Wakeman

Animal Rescue World

Humans and Dogs have a history that goes back 100,000 years. This is when scientists say the DNA from domestic dogs and wolves was split.

 Somewhere in these 100,000 years we have forgotten that dogs are not humans. We have also taught our children to humanize dogs.

I believe this is the reason for countless misunderstandings between dogs and children.

 Unfortunately these miscommunications between dogs and humans often result in death for the dog!

I have heard it a million times,

 “the dog bit our kid all of the sudden with no provocation, he turned on us.“

It is highly unlikely that the dog bit with no warning. It is just not a warning that a human might notice. In the world we live in we have lost the natural instincts and language of our natural world.

When we decide to bring a dog into our home we must understand it is time to tap into our instincts, and learn a little bit about dog behavior. A dog is only a dog, they do not understand English or a lot of our behaviors. 

A household can be a confusing, scary place for a dog. We need to show them we are stable enough to run the pack. If a dog believes he/she is to run the pack (the family) we are putting them in charge of a world they do not understand. 

This is totally unfair to the dog. If we let them lead they will become scared and unstable because they do not understand our human households. 

Never introduce a dog to a child until you are sure the dog understands humans are above them in the pack. Make sure the dog will listen to you no matter the situation. If your dog is unreliable wait until you put in the work to teach them you have running the house covered (not the dog’s job).

Make sure their temperament is stable enough to be around children. Last but not least the kids need to know appropriate behavior around the dog. This does not mean shield the dog from kids all together, it means choose the proper time and environment to introduce the dog to children so everyone is safe and secure. 

The first thing to understand is that we should never greet a dog by running up and patting their heads or baby talking. The best habit to get into is to ignore the dog until the dog is calm for at least 10 min.

In some cases you should even wait until the dog stays calm for longer than 10 min, but I will use the 10 min rule as an average. If the dog starts to get worked up (hyper) after you acknowledge them ignore the dog again and add 5 minutes to the original time every time you have to repeat this process.

When we greet our dogs instead of them greeting us we are electing them leader of the pack! Which puts dogs in an uncomfortable position, they feel that they are responsible for running our household!

It is like putting a banker into an operating room and expecting exceptional performance. It is just not going to happen. It is no wonder why there are so many unstable dogs out there. 

The second thing to understand is it is a terrible idea to pet or acknowledge a dog that is an unstable state of mind. Humans often comfort each other by giving hugs or pats on the back however when we do this to our dogs we reinforce a negative state of mind.

The best thing to do with an unstable dog is to ignore them until they get more comfortable. We can use tools to encourage them to move forward however a dog will not move forward if we are reinforcing instability by petting them and putting lots of treats and toys in their face while they scared or unsure. 

Walking our dogs is incredibly important and is a great way to show our dogs all humans in the home are the leaders. I suggest an adult works with their dog before adding children to the walk.

Before you even put a leash on your dog they need to be calm. The leash going on to a dogs collar is a reward. If you reward a hyper exited dog you are setting the mood for the entire walk.

After the leash is on your dog will typically get exited again. Do not move forward until the dog is calm. Every time the dog walks in front of you walk back to the starting point. The dog will get the point, we do not move forward unless I am calm. 

It does not matter if you only walk a couple of blocks in an hour. This exercise is a mental work out for your pooch. Every day your four-legged friend will go further and further until they only follow you. 

Another important thing to keep in mind is that dogs are very aware of how everyone is feeling around them. If you are in a bad state of mind your dog will sense it and try to take over while you are unable to lead. 

Humans are the only animals that follow instability.

Never work a dog when you are having a bad day. Dogs can smell how you felt hours before you even come around. 

The more calm and confident that we are the better our dogs will listen. 

A good way we can test ourselves on our mood and what messages we are sending to our dogs is our body language. Are we walking like leaders? You cannot lead with a slumped over posture. 

We should walk with our heads high, chest out, and relax, dogs can see and smell tension from a mile away. While working with dogs we should always ask ourselves what message are we sending to our dogs through our mental state and body language.

Whenever we feed our four-legged friends it is a good idea to show them all humans in the house eat first. This is an activity for the whole family, kids included. This can be accomplished by simply eating a cracker in front of the dog before he/she eats. 

This should never turn into teasing our dog, or the whole process will lose it’s meaning. We also set the bowl of food on the ground and make the dog sit or down while the dog focuses on the human in charge before he/she gets to eat. The dog must also be calm, and not hovering over the bowl. If the dog is sitting but not calm, wait until the dog is calm.

Once you we are sure we have a dog’s trust and respect we can introduce the dog to children. The first rule is to never allow the dog to invade the child’s space uninvited. 

They need to keep a respectable distance until they are calm and called to the child. Then they will learn to be calm around children while they are in a submissive state of mind. It is a good idea to include children in training and behavioral conditioning activities.

Just as the adults are to ignore the dog for ten minutes the children must too. This shows our dogs the kids are above them in the pack. We have to be aware of our children’s behavior. If they cannot follow the rules they will not be included in the activities.

The children must be disciplined enough to follow the rules. Unstable unruly children will make unstable unruly dogs. Introducing dogs to children is a positive thing when the environment is not chaotic.

Pick a good time and place for this process.

Some dogs are more sensitive than others. It is best to judge each situation differently with each individual dog. Some dogs may not be able to be around children, but I would say most can with the proper introduction and environment. 

Never introduce a dog to a child who does not recognize you as the leader. Any dog being introduced to children should be even-tempered and ready. Everything written here is based on my experience successfully introducing dogs and children, however these are suggestions, if you are unsure consult a behaviorist near you.

How To Safely Break Up Dog Squabbles

So what about dogs fighting? 

Your precious babies ripping each other apart? 

Remember in the dog's world 3 is a pack, and you better be the one in charge.  That doesn't mean macho in charge, it means intelligently in charge and knowing what you will do before you're in that situation. 

Thankfully most dog fights are normally a lot of noisy slobbering and the dogs are easily distracted and go back to being friends again.  In a situation like this throwing some balls in several different directions can work, walking away can reduce the human factor and almost immediately stop the squabble.  Even giving them a command can work, or something that they normally automatically respond to, like WANNA GO FOR A RIDE?

There isn't a nice, neat flow chart of how to break up a serious dog fight. 

Too many possible scenarios, much will depend on if there are two people around to handle two dogs, how strong the humans are, whether they've discussed how they will handle the situation and what size your dogs are, if you're in public, at home, on the street etc.  A lot of variables.

Some of the most critical things to remember are:

     *   You will NOT panic, scream, cry, shout, race around inflaming the fight, it's like throwing gas on a fire.

     *   You will not even dream of putting your hands in the middle of biting dogs.


     *   You will NOT touch the dog, because they may swing and bite at you, thinking you're another dog attacking them.

     *   In heated fights they bite first, take no prisoners and ask no questions.

     *   You will take the few extra seconds to evaluate the scenario, make your best decision, then do it, this isn't the time to hesitate.

     *   Remember the object is to separate the two dogs, normally 1 is biting and the other is being bitten.

     *   Remember that the one being bitten will often reverse the roles if only the biting dog is restrained.  "Thanks for holding him, now I'll bite"

     *   Both animals must be separated and under your control.

     *   If you have more than 2 dogs in the area, the rules change.

     *   All dogs in the area could become involved causing serious injury or death to 1 or more dogs.

     *   In this case, get the non fighting ones out of the area immediately.  Then deal with the fighters & biters.

Our experience is based on decades of paws on with hundreds of abused, traumatized, abandoned, neglected and otherwise potentially cranky Rottweilers and we've always managed to resist the temptation to put our hands, or other important body parts, in the way of those powerful jaws and very sharp teeth.  

Try to break up a dog fight using your hands and it will be miracle that you aren't bitten in the process.  We have never failed in being able to break up every fight, have never had a life threatening injury and do everything possible to minimize the potential of fights, but dogs will be dogs, accidents happen and people do make mistakes.

If your fighters are small or medium size dogs, it's pretty easy for each person to place themselves near the rear legs of the dogs.  On the count of 1 - 2 - 3, each person grabs those rear legs and begin to wheel barrow, walking the dogs apart in opposite directions.  Don't let go of those legs until you can separate the dogs with fences, one in the house or car or hooked to something.  If you let go of one dog, he will likely launch himself onto the other one being restrained.

If you're not comfortable enough to grab those hind legs, then loop a leash around them, pull it tight and walk, drag them apart.  They will be distracted by what's happening and will release their grip. 

Grabbing the hind legs of a large dog will put your face dangerously close to his when he swings around to see what's happening.  The looped leash around the legs can work.  If you're alone, loop the one being bitten and attach him to a fence or tree, then go for the biter, loop, pull them apart and attach him to something.  Breaking up a fight by yourself is not fun.

We've used the pulling the rear legs method if a fight erupts while in a car, just pull those rear legs on out and the rest of the dog comes too.

Our favorite method, if there is such a thing, is to reach in behind the dog's neck, palms up reach under the back of their collar, twist so that your palm is now down, lift the collar until the weight is off those front feet. 

Within a few seconds their air is being cut off and they will release the bite.  This also works with the looped leash through the leash handle.  It could injure the dog if you're using a choke chain, but then hopefully you aren't and don't even get me started on those lazy-dog-owner-spiked-collars-that-are-a-pathetic-excuse-for-not-training-your-dog.

Now that they're separated, get them away from each other, allow them to cool down before you go probing for injuries.  There may be a puncture wound or two which can easily be dealt with.  Some dogs will be hyper sensitive and NOT want you touching them for a bit.  Unless there is serious injury, give them some space.

Two huge Rottweilers on their hind legs, going at each other with a lot of flinging slobber, horrible noises and looking like they're killing each other generally isn't a dog fight.  It's more like two kids yelling at each other.  They are easily distracted and don't mean business....usually.

May you never need to learn first hand how to break up a serious fight with your dog or any strange dog, but hopefully what has worked for us, will give you a good basis for further research to fit your personal circumstances.

Child Psychologist Observations To Better Train & Understand Dogs

In reading your descriptions I am most struck by the fact that Fido's behaviors are not at all unpredictable, in fact from all we know about animal behavior, they are quite predictable and expected reactions to stressors.

His stress reactions are controlled in fact and intended to stop the stressor not aggressively reactive: i.e. your son clattering down the stairs ( loud unexpected noise coming from an unknown place; putting on a coat and hat, are novel stressors to most dogs handled through de-sensitization by associating  them in training with cookies)

The global term aggression doesn't fit Fido  at all to describe his relationships with other dogs or people. He is dog reactive under specific circumstances and leash reactive . The responses are pnly in specific situations. What is needed is change in people's management of that behavior in those situations then the dog will respond to the new rules. In the times you tried it it worked ( novel house visitors) 

History Historically ( and this is based upon my experience as a psychologist working with children using behavior modification) it is an enormous mistake to (a) take an uncertain anxious dog to dog park where all sorts of dogs with different levels of socialization and behavior skills are running around in unstructured unruly packs;

(b) continue going to the park to make it "better", an activity that absolutely guarantees that that will make it worse. What one does is de-sensitization in a calm setting with one dog. Desensitization means a dog is rewarded for staying calm as a new dog approaches closer and closer  in a structured way and each time one stops as the comfort point is reached. There are some great "how to" books on that ( Patricia McConnell: Feisty Fido)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1891767070?ie=UTF8&creativeASIN=1891767070&linkCode=xm2&tag=happytailsres-20 

 as well as trainers who directly help.,

Behaviors Being protective of dogs that come in range of you on walks is behavior often triggered by one's ownr behavior for example  a tight leash and the walker tensing then interpreted by a dog  as your anxiety and the need to protect you. He is just doing his job.

One behaviorist with her own Golden (who now gets along with all dogs because she learned the triggers) taught her dog to relax  when the leash was tense..   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004J27O3G?ie=UTF8&creativeASIN=B004J27O3G&linkCode=xm2&tag=happytailsres-20  Click to Calm by Emma Parsons is a step by step guide to managing dogs that are leash reactive etc until they are not. It is literally a recipe book that Emma designed when she needed new management tools for her dog now CDC champion.

He is uncertain around other dogs. De-sensitization helps with that but not repeated introductions without de-sensitization to stressors at the kennel or anywhere else. That has a predictable negative effect and reaction. If I  am afraid of snakes repeatedly introducing me to snakes isn;t going to change that. It will make it worse,and predictably so

When you got Princess how did you introduce them?

When you say they embolden each other, pairs of dogs very often work as a team. Ours do. Everyone 's does. Dogs work as pack members. If you watch, they all run together to bark at a stranger at a gate. Dogs just do that. It is part of pack mentality..

People: His reactions are also predictable.When he associates them with good things he is social, appropriate and receptive. But he will bark at uncertain or novel stressors.  Many dogs do bark at stressors such as  novel or strange sounds, someone suddenly coming behind him clattering down stairs; novel  things not encountered before, that can't be predicted or seem strange ( hats: common).

 A stranger staring at a dog and reaching out his hand  to him is a threatening behavior. It is widely described in dog behavior training books as perceived as a threat by most dogs. That is an inappropriate introduction not an inappropriate dog.

With appropriate introductions and training he behaves very appropriately with people in fact is  far ahead in his  skills than most. That speaks to his trainability and intelligence.  

Because many dogs are startled by someone coming up unexpectedly from behind or on the side. I have had to train myself to remain "on alert" on walks because people are "unpredictable" and to deal with their unpredictability  I move away when I see them coming because I have dogs like that too. But it isn't unusual behavior and is manageable.

Dogs, especially  herding dogs, chase bicyclists because they are herding and chase is triggered by the bicycle. In his case the nip was corrective and minor. It was controlled.

Summary : Neither of these two incidents are inherent to Fido or Fido's fault, are understandable and are easily resolved and corrected. The tragedy if there is one  is that Fido is the focus and victim of Animal Control's punitive polices towards animals and owners.and that pressure on the family and everyone including the neighborhood have negatively affected everyone and made him the scapegoat and focus of concern when he isn't really the problem; just caught in a bad situation. .

Because of that context, his progress which is especially remarkable and a testimony to a smart loving  loyal dog has been made the background when it is the foreground and the two incidents described are in fact minor parts of this picture and not descriptive of his abilities at all. I also know by your description that he is very bonded with Princess and they each depend upon one another. She will miss him and have her own reaction when he is gone.

Goals: I  would  have Fido in very part time  day training ( half a day ; a couple of hours) a few days a week while seeking a home for him, perhaps drop off  for a few hours a day for example to improve dog walking skills and a better analysis of inter- dog discomfort.with a plan.

That improves placement success.  Barking at novel stressors is normal behavior in dogs, His fear response is controlled. I am guessing that something is being communicated during leash walking that he is picking up on because he is intelligent and quick to pick up on non-verbal cues. That is about mis-communication and can be resolved.