I’m sidetracking a little here, but I want to talk about service dogs a little bit. Mainly because I finally got my dog Indy his service dog vest and took him out for the first time today. It was pretty exciting! Overall he did really well, but he’s definitely too distracted. The whole time we were walking through the pet store all he did was try to sniff things. I know, I know, the pet store is too easy, right? But I figured since it was his first time out as an official service dog ‘in training’, I might as well practice first in a public place that is more lenient with animals then other places!

Anyway, back to the training…oh yeah, so he was very distracted, which is definitely not okay for a service dog, he should be focused only on me the whole time. We’ll get there.

I’m not training him for any specific disability, just a generic service dog, so mainly all he has to learn is to be mannerly in public, focus, sit, down, stay, be quiet, etc. He could polish up his ‘stay’ a little bit, that’s for sure. See, that’s what I get for using wait instead of stay all the time at home!

Here are a couple facts about service dog training you may not have known:

• Anyone can train a service dog, you don’t have to have a dog trainer’s license to train one, in fact many service dog owners train their own dogs. The main thing is, your dog has to know all the basic commands before he goes public.
• It’s illegal for business to not let your dog in. Technically you have no obligation to provide proof of any kind that your dog is a service dog, including a vest. But really, so many people abuse this privilege. The purpose of this law is so that people with real disabilities don’t have to disclose their private and possibly embarrassing business to perfect strangers. Unfortunately many people take advantage and just want to have their dogs with them 24/7, so they lie about them being service dogs.  I have my dog clearly marked and appreciate it when others do as well.

I’ll post regular updates about Indy’s progress, but for now he’s pretty green. See ya later!

A few posts ago, I said (or typed, rather) that I would go over different methods to properly crate train. Well, you’re in luck, because I’m a woman of my word and I will now go over said methods.

One thing to remember though, is every dog is different. You have to figure out which method best applies to your dog’s personality type.

As with any training, the younger the better. After birth puppies are kept in a dark small space by their mother, so if there’s a direct transition  to a crate, all the better. But I realize it’s usually not so simple.

Let’s say, you buy a puppy. NOT from a pet store though, your theoretical puppy is not from a pet store (for further details, see my puppy mill blog). Let’s say you have either just bought a puppy from a very reputable AKC registered breeder, or adopted one of the thousands of puppies in shelters…okay, seriously, just slap me to keep me on track.

Where was I? Oh, so you have a puppy, say, 6-8 weeks old, you bring him home and bam! You whip out the crate. You calmly and assertively place the puppy or dog into the crate. viagra puppy sniffs around, perhaps eats the tiny treat you left in there, you calmly close the door and the puppy settles down and everyone lives happily ever after.

This almost always works just fine for a puppy, even though it’s common for them to whine and cry for the first day or two. This is perfectly normal and will pass, just don’t give in! The second you open that door and let the dog out because you feel sorry for him is the second he wins. Then he knows that the harder he whines the sooner you let him out. So if you can ride out the initial annoying period, you’re golden!

As you know, I have five dogs, and they were all different. We got Blackjack, our pap, as a wedding present, and brought him home very young. Immediately he went in a crate and it went off without a hitch. We had him fully potty trained in about 3-4 months, which is pretty amazing for a small dog, they are typically more difficult to potty train.

Ajax on the other hand, the rat terrier, was also a wedding present, but he didn’t go in the crate without a fight. We didn’t get him until he was about 4 months old, and right away he showed fear when presented with the crate. So, like most dog owners, we did the wrong things and made it harder on ourselves. We tried to be “nice”, petting him, luring him, cajoling him. The more we tried to cater to his fear the worse it got. Finally I thought, what the heck are we doing? Dogs don’t respond to love and weakness, they respond to leadership. So we changed our attitude, put him on a leash and walked him in. He certainly whined and cried a lot at first and we kept him across the house at night so we could sleep! But soon enough he was okay with his crate and will run in when we give the command (we use ‘kennel’).

Indy, the heeler mix, was already crate trained when we got him, so yay!

Oso, we had to get VERY creative with Oso. First of all, he’s 120 pounds. We tried everything from calm-assertive to treats but he was TERRIFIED. Finally John (my husband) and I each grabbed an end of him and tried to (calmly) man-handle him into the crate. It went well at first, until he threw us off his back like we were nothing! I was stymied and frustrated. We kept his huge crate open in the living room in case he would go in by himself, but all the other dogs ended up taking turns in there. About a week later I had an idea stemming from my knowledge that Oso loves attention and he’s kind of a dope. I climbed into his crate, all the way to the back, and called him to me. It was pretty scary because he came running full speed and booked it into his crate! Once we were both in there, I pet him and talked to him and inched my way around him and let myself out. I stood up and didn’t even have to shut the door, he was sitting still, not trying to come out. It was pretty cool!

And Teeth, the chihuahua, he was from a puppy mill so obviously he’s used to a crate.

There are lots of ways to get your dog into his crate. You can try them all, but most of the time the best way is to just not make a big deal out of it. Just walk him into the crate and leave him there for a while. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT let him out while he is crying! For your sake and your dog’s!

I am willing to bet that when you brought your new puppy home, you did ALL THE WRONG THINGS! Don’t worry, nobody is judging you, in fact this is a very common occurrence that stems from our human nature. But make no mistake, if you start your puppy off on the right foot (paw) from the minute he comes into your house, he will be considerably more manageable.

First, before you even get a dog, you should try to go against everything you might be feeling, and remind yourself over and over that it’s a dog, not a human! Dogs are dogs and humans are humans and we are very different from each other. Dogs do not reason things out or live by their emotions, they are simply creatures of cause and effect. Instinct drives their every action. This is very important to remember when getting a puppy, or dog of any age.

Anyway, back to the basics. I am going to give you some very good advice which is universally (but restricted to the USA) not followed because puppies are so cute and people are so excited to have them. Remember, puppies are still dogs, just smaller, more cute versions.

Step 1: Don’t bring the puppy into the house right away. Let him roam around the yard, or take him for a small walk around the block. A dog’s outside environment is much more important to him than his inside environment. When you are ready to bring him in the house, make sure you walk through the doorway first!!

(By the way, I do not now or ever advocate carrying dogs around, so anything I might ever post about is assuming the dog is on his own four feet).

Step 2: Cross the threshold, with your puppy on leash of course! Now, here’s where most loving, well-intentioned dog owners make their first mistake, so don’t let it be you. The temptation is to let your puppy run all over the house, exploring and becoming familiar and looking oh so cute! DON’T DO IT! Calmly walk your puppy on leash around the house. Like I’ve said before, you want everything to be on your terms. I usually take it a step further and don’t allow the dog in the bedrooms or kitchen at all. These are very significant spaces to a dog, which  I will elaborate on in a future post (boy I say that a lot don’t I)?

Step 3: Crate your puppy for a few hours. I know it’s hard, especially if he’s crying, but trust me, it’s in his own best interest. He’s had a lot of excitement and now he needs to learn that you are the boss and when you say it’s nap time then doggonit it’s nap time! No pun intended.

Practice these habits on a regular basis and be consistent with regular crating. Starting your relationship with your puppy in the right direction will greatly reduce the chance that in six months or a year, you find that he has become unbearable and try to re-home him.

And if you ignore all of the above, well, you can’t say I didn’t warn you!

The stay command is very widely known. Most people use it in conjunction with another command, e.g. “sit, stay.” Stay means stay put. Don’t move a muscle. Assume a position and freeze until further notice. There is one command that should always be coupled with stay, well, with any command really but especially stay, and that is the release command.

A release command can be anything that rolls off your tongue with ease, but keep it consistent. Pick one command and stick with your pick. I use okay, but other examples include all done, free dog, or anyting you like. I mean if you think about it, you could say banana and use it as a release cue! In fact, if you want to be really creative, just exchange any and all typical training words for random silly words, it’s not like your dog knows the difference! Haha, wow, talk about going off on a tangent.

Back to wait and stay. So, stay is a very rigid command, the dog should not move a muscle until the release cue is given, no matter what is happening. Wait, on the other hand, is not as well known, but it is different and, I feel, a more realistic command on a day to day basis than stay. As far as I’m concerned, stay can stay in the dog show ring! For us regular old dog owners, wait is very practical.

When you tell a dog to wait, you are telling him to not move forward. For example, I want to go out the front door. I put my hand on the knob, tell my dogs to wait, open the door and let them move around and wiggle and jiggle all they want, as long as they don’t pass the threshhold.  Wait is a bit more lenient than stay, but it works for your needs. I mean, who really needs their dog to sit and stay in the middle of the living room on a regular basis? The only reason I make mine do it on occasion is to exercise their brains. But I use wait every time I open a door, whether I’m going out or letting them out or letting them in or I’m coming in, or every time I have one or more of them in the car and I am getting out of it or loading them into it. You get the picture.

Unfortunately, here’s what will happen if you don’t couple stay with your release command of choice: your dog will just move around whenever. The dog can’t read your mind, so if you want the best results you have to teach him that not only does he have to stay when you tell him, but he also can’t break it until you tell him. Otherwise how is he supposed to know how long he has to sit there?

With wait, there are certain circumstances where you should use the release command and times when you don’t need to. Let’s say you are opening your sliding glass door to let your dog in from the backyard. Do you really want him busting his way into the house? That’s not very mannerly…instead, tell him wait, and then give the cue to let him come in. The point is, your dog should be doing everything on your terms, not on his. Now let’s say you’re leaving to go to work. You open the door, say wait so he won’t run out the front door and then step out and leave. No release cue in this scenario.

So, to summarize: “Rover, sit. Stay. <30 seconds elapse> All Done! Awww, what a good smoopsie-poopsie-popsicle-ice-cream-cakey-wakey!”

Well, you know, we all have our own style and all…

Here is my final section covering training tools. If there’s anything I didn’t cover and you would like me to, feel free to leave me a comment about it!

Anyway, back to the task at hand. I’m not picky about food treats the way I’m picky about other training tools. You can use whatever is easiest coupled with what the dog likes.

Dog treats fall into two different categories: hard cookie treats and soft treats. The main thing to remember about treating your dog during training is to treat small. For example, say ‘sit’, and when they do, pop a tiny little piece of treat in their mouth. Just enough for them to taste and like it, but not enough to get them full.

I prefer soft treats, only because they are easier to break into tiny pieces. But like I said, whatever your preference.

Hard cookie treats

These are tasty and small

Between hard and soft, dogs looove this chicken jerkey!

Crate training often carries a negative connotation to dog owners. A good many are appalled at the very thought of locking up Little Poopsie in a tiny dark dungeon! Well, as with the prong collar, I am here to lay your fears to rest, not just with my opinions, but with facts.

Fact: Dogs are den animals. A crate very much resembles a den all of their own.

Fact: Dens are small and dark. An airline crate (as opposed to wire) is small and dark.

Fact: When dogs are left out in the house alone, they often feel stressed because in their mind their pack leaders essentially leave them “in charge”. Dogs can’t differentiate, either they run the house or they don’t. Crates give them a sense of comfort and peace, not stress.

Fact: When dogs are stressed or bored, they chew. Keeping them in a crate when you’re not home not only lowers their stress level, it also protects your household objects or shoes. Leave them with a nylabone or bully stick and they are happy as a camper.

Fact: Dogs don’t like to potty where they sleep. This is why crates are so effective for potty training, as long as it’s not too big (otherwise they pee on one side and sleep on the other). The crate helps them learn to hold their bladder until it’s time to go outside.

Once you get your dog past the initial whiny, crying stage, the crate will become his refuge. In upcoming posts I will go over different ways to properly crate train.

Airline Crate- My personal crate of choice because it closely resembles a den

Soft Crate- I've never used one myself, but it looks like you need to have an amazingly well behaved dog to utilize a crate like this!

Um...I'll call this one the, "I'm too broke to afford both an endtable and a crate, and I don't want my dog in my lap...I know! I'll get a combo 'endtable/crate' crate!"

Wire Crate- Very portable, wire crates typically collapse flat

flat buckle collar

The flat buckle collar is not actually a training tool. I just put it up to say that. If your dog pulls on a leash, get him some type of training collar or harness ASAP. You do not want him pulling against this type of collar!

choke collar

The choke collar is not my favorite training collar, so whatever I write is probably biased. Seriously though, you REALLY have to know what you’re doing in order to use this collar correctly, and if it’s not used correctly you can break your dog’s trachea. Another reason I don’t like this one is because training collars are the most effective if they are fitted snugly around the dog’s upper neck, right behind the ears. The choke collar doesn’t stay snug so it always falls down the the base of the neck/chest area. If you do use it, make sure that it shapes like a “P” when you slip it over the dog’s head, otherwise it will live up to it’s name (that is, it will choke the dog). That’s if you walk your dog on the left, otherwise switch it around. Oh, and just because you have a huge dog doesn’t mean you should get a choke with really big links. The smaller the links, the more smoothly it will tug in and out of itself.

Plastic Prong Collar

 The plastic prong collar is the weenie version of the real (and awesome) prong collar…no offense intended to anyone who uses the plastic one, I’m sure it works fine. I guess maybe it’s for small dogs, I can’t imagine putting that on my 120 lb. dog! FYI, there are tiny metal prong collars for small dogs, I have one for my rat terrier.

       A typical training course consists of basic commands: sit, down, stay, come, off, etc. These are all great things for your dogs to learn, but before you invest money in a professional trainer, evaluate your lifestyle and decide which commands are more or less important.
    

       For example, there are only two commands I need to use on a daily basis. One is wait. Wait is similar to stay, but I’ll go into those semantics later. We are constantly opening doors, car doors, house doors, bedroom doors. With five dogs living in suburbia, we can’t take the risk that they burst out of the house or car and take off. The other command we use very regularly is leave it. Leave it can apply to noises outside that distract them, cats on a walk they lunge for, or can even apply when they want to pick up something off the ground.
     

       Any and all commands and tricks are great for you and your dog to learn. Just make sure you know of any specific problem areas and/or commands you particularly want to concentrate on and let your trainer know. Or, if you are training your dog yourself, make sure you do some soul-searching so you know what you know that you need to know! Tee-hee…