Creature Teachers

Teaching "Wait"

"Wait" is a very useful command when it comes to doors in a dog's life. For example, it prevents your dog from rushing out the car door when you reach the park, or from running in the house before you've had a chance to wipe his paws. In this article, I will go step-by-step to help you teach your dog "wait". I have also included pictures to make this command easy to learn.

Teach your Puppy How to Not Bite

All puppies bite. Some breeds, in particular the sporting/retrieving breeds and the large-jawed breeds, tend to be more mouthy than others, but all puppies do bite. The trick is to teach your puppy how to have good social manners and only chew on appropriate toys.

Motivating your Dog to Learn

Motivation affects every living creature. Humans wouldn't go to work every day if they didn't receive a paycheck. Ducks wouldn't hang around cit parks if visitors didn't throw bread crumbs to them. Raccoons wouldn't hide under your house if it didn't provide a safe place for their young. Whether the motivation is as simple as a basic need or as complex as pleasure, all dogs works the same way -- they need to be motivated, such as with food or toys.

The following concepts are things you might consider at the start of your training regimen to prevent dog behavior problems in future.

How do I prepare my pet for our new baby?

Question: How do I prepare my pet for our new baby?

Answer: It's a good idea to start preparing your pet for your baby's arrival early in your pregnancy, or even when you're trying to conceive. But although starting as early as possible will yield better results, it's never too late to train your pet to get along with small children, even if you already have a baby or a toddler.

Read more at Babycenter.com »

The Sounds of Baby

Years before we had a baby of our own, I was sent a sample of a new product called "The Sounds of Baby". It is a CD with a range of baby-made sounds that is designed to slowly acclimate your family pets to sounds they may be experiencing full time once the baby has arrived. I have used this CD both with my own dogs, and with many of my clients who were preparing for their own children. The range in sounds and increasing intensity makes this product better than many others I've encountered on the market, as the CD is specifically designed to prepare your animals with the least amount of stress possible. I'd highly recommend it as a supplement to any baby-preparedness training program.

Link: The Sounds of Baby

Dogs are from Mars, Cats are from Venus

INTERSPECIES RELATIONS

What happens when you mix this

with this?

Or worse yet, this?

Potty Bells 101

"Potty bells" are bells tied to a string that act as a means of communication between a dog and the owner. The dog is taught to ring the bells to go outside for elimination. It can be beneficial in many ways: to help with housebreaking, to tell the dog how request to go outside regardless of where he/she is, and to make sure the dog's communication is loud and distinctive enough to be heard (thereby preventing accidents).

To Chew or Not To Chew, Is That the Question?

Housebreaking involves more than where to go potty. It also includes learning the house rules, which include which things are okay to chew on and which are not. The most important concepts in inappropriate chewing are puppy proofing the house, and providing appropriate chew toys.

The Creature Teachers Guide to Housebreaking

Possible Equipment Needed:

• A buckle collar and 6-foot leash.
• A crate, exercise pen, and/or baby gates.
• An enzymatic urine stain remover.
• A place to go potty outside, a dog litter system, or any other desired potty place.
• At least a few appropriate chew toys.

Housebreaking Rule #1: Supervision is a MUST!

Whether you are working with a young pup or a newly acquired adult dog, the same rule applies: the dog must earn freedom, not be given it automatically. More often than not, a puppy or dog will do all its misbehaving when no one else is around. This means that your dog must be supervised or be in an area where bad things cannot happen. Here are some ways to keep your dog supervised or out of trouble:

• Keep your pup or dog tethered to you. You can use either the leash or another line to keep the dog tied to you, usually connecting the dog's collar to your belt loop. You can also tether the dog to some object in the room you are in, and then move the dog and tether when you move.
• Close doors. Simply closing a door can help keep the dog in the same room as you, but do be careful - a dog that can go behind things like furniture is a dog that can easily get into trouble.
• Use a baby gate, exercise pen, or crate to give your dog a "safe area" when you are not home or unable to supervise. These things would provide your dog with its own area. In this safe area should only be appropriate toys, possibly a potty place, and possibly food and water dishes. There should not be doors that can be opened, inappropriate items that can be chewed, anything toxic or dangerous, etc. Think of your new dog as a toddler, and of yourself as baby proofing your dog's play area.

Housebreaking Rule #2: Keep to the schedule!

Dogs are creatures of habit. To give a somewhat crude example, if my dogs eat at 10 am and 10 pm, I will know they will want to go outside to do their business sometime shortly before or after each meal. Adult dogs have a rate of passage between 12 to 18 hours, and will usually want to "make room" by defecating the previous meal shortly before or after the current meal. Puppies, obviously, are much less skilled at "holding it", and eat more often, requiring more trips outside.

A good schedule for a pup aged 2 to 6 months might be
7 AM: Wake up, take pup outside for a potty break.
7:15 to 7:30 AM: Put down food and water for pup inside safe area.
7:45 to 8 AM: Play with pup or walk outside to encourage elimination.
8 AM: Pup in safe area, owner goes to work.
12 PM: Take pup outside for a potty break.
12:15 to 12:30 PM: Put down food and water for pup inside safe area.
12:45 to 1 PM: Play with pup or walk outside to encourage elimination.
1 PM: Pup in safe area, owner goes to work.
6 PM: Take pup outside for a potty break.
6:15 to 6:30 PM: Put down food and water for pup inside safe area.
6:45 to 7 PM: Play with pup or walk outside to encourage elimination.
7 PM: Pup in safe area.
Right before bed: Play with pup or walk outside to encourage elimination.
(Young pups may also have to be taken out during the night to eliminate. A similar schedule could be used for an adult dog without the noontime feeding and elimination.)

Getting the picture? If you'll also notice, the food and water only go down 3 times a day, for 15 minutes each time. Any dog not fully housebroken should not be given free access to food and water! Free feeding, as it's called, is discouraged for the unhousebroken dog because it makes it impossible for you to know when to take the dog outside.

Housebreaking Rule #3: Knowing where to go is as important as knowing where not to go!

I have housebroken all of my puppies by taking them outside. This was my personal preference, but you may have other needs. Here are some guidelines to help you decide what may work best for you.

• Going outside: At the assigned potty time, put your dog on leash, take it outside to the assigned potty place, and say "go potty!" Do not move, do not play, and do not pay attention to the dog. Just stand there and wait. Most pups will eventually give up messing around and just go. Once that happens, say "Good dog!!" or "Good dog, go potty!" and continue on with whatever the dog is going to get for a reward - play, breakfast, a walk, etc. You can, of course, use whatever words make you happy - I just used "Go potty" as an example. I've also heard "Do your business," "Time to go," etc.
• Using a dog door: If you are using a dog door, stick to the above method until the dog gets it, but always make sure to go through that door. Also, show your dog how to use the door - not all dogs get it right away.
• Using an inside place: I do not recommend wee pads or papers for any dog. Most pups chew on wee pads, and papers usually just teach a dog to urinate on any stray paper (including the phone bill that had fallen on the living room floor). What I would recommend for those apartment-dwelling dogs or for any owner who wants to use an indoor system with their smaller dog is something like a dog litter system or Puppy Go Potty. These basically are like cat litter boxes with recycled newspaper pellet litter. These work because they are based on a specific area (the plastic tub) and an unusual substrate (the pelleted litter). A great explanation of how they work and how to use them can be found at Purina's DogLitter.com.

Housebreaking Rule #4: Accidents will happen!

Dogs remind themselves where to potty by smelling where they have gone before. So it is VERY important for you to clean up any accidents that may occur quickly with an enzymatic cleaner. Whether it's inside the house or on your patio/deck, there is probably a cleaner for you. Do follow the package instructions, which usually involves blotting up any extra wetness or feces, soaking the area thoroughly with the cleaner, letting it sit for a certain amount of time, and then blotting again. If the accident occurs on something that might go through the washing machine - such as bedding or clothing - use the cleaner in the washer on the soak cycle. We have used Simple Solution both directly on clothing or bedding before washing, and in the soak cycle of the wash, without any ill effects on the garments.

If you catch your puppy or dog in the act of eliminating in a bad place, the first thing you need to do is INTERRUPT! My interruption is to run towards the dog clapping (but not with a fearful dog). This usually makes a pup stop mid-stream. Then pick the puppy up, run outside, put it in the potty place, and PRAISE lavishly. If your dog is too big to pick up, make a run for the nearest exit with the dog in tow by the collar. If you find a past accident on the floor, it will do you no good to punish the dog now - you should have not allowed it to happen in the first place! Rubbing a pup's nose in an accident only confuses the dog, encourages inappropriate behavior such as feces eating, and hurts the training process in the long run.

Good luck, and don't forget to enroll in some puppy classes!