Too Much Praise?

"Praise your Dog!"

Have you heard those words often especially in dog training?

Praise provides feedback that tells your dog, "You did well," but it becomes meaningless if given without consideration for the behavior preceding it.

Ineffective accolades before discounts what should be an anticipated reward.

Consistency is the key to any good training method. It includes using properly timed praise to reward desired behaviors.

Withholding praise lets your dog know she missed the mark and must try again to earn rewards. A correction can be the withholding of praise, food, or a toy, followed always with the reward once the desired behavior is achieved. Use, "Try again," when withholding praise, so your dog learns that additional effort brings success and the highly valued praise that means a job well done.

Teach Your Dog to Sit Up or "Beg"

Teaching your dog a few simple tricks is fun and entertaining for both you and your pet.

It is best if your dog knows and reliably responds to the basic obedience commands before teaching him to perform tricks. Most tricks are built on basic obedience work and, in the process of being taught "the basics," your dog will have learned to pay attention to you during training sessions.

Successful training of your dog hinges on rewarding the desired behavioral response in a timely fashion. The most valued rewards differ from dog to dog: For some, food it is the most powerful reward, for others, praise or petting are what they crave.

Some dogs will do whatever their owners want them to just to have a little playtime. Find the reward that best motivates your dog to learn and stick with it. Work with your dog daily in 5 to 15 minute sessions. Keep training fun, and end sessions on a high note with reward for a job well done. If you feel yourself getting frustrated or tired, quit and try again later.

To teach your dog to beg, first put him in the sit position and have him remain there without moving for a few seconds. Take a food treat and hold it just above his nose so he must look up to see it. Tell your dog to "beg." If he jumps at it, return him to the sit position. Many dogs will naturally raise their front limbs and sit on their haunches when the food treat is placed slightly above their nose. You must not give the treat until your dog is balanced on his rear limbs. If your dog is wobbly, try standing behind him with your legs supporting his back. You can also gently raise and lift his front feet while giving the command. Help steady him until he finds his balance. Once he gets the idea, most dogs will sit up easily once they see you elevating the food treat. Do not reward for half-done tricks; only reward the behavior that you are seeking as a final result.

Continue to practice this trick over and over again. Always use a happy singsong voice and lots of positive reinforcement. Eventually, your dog will understand and will readily sit up and beg.

The keys to success in teaching your dog tricks are patience, practice, praise, and persistence. When training your dog, every step he takes in the right direction should be rewarded as though he had just won the lottery. Tricks are fun, and learning how to do them should be fun, too.

Having a Summer Guest?

Visitors can create problems without realizing it. Even friends who are “dog people” can create problems. You will hear, “Oh, he is so cute, don’t worry we don’t mind him jumping up.” Yes, they may not mind now, but perhaps this is going to be a 50-pound plus dog in six months. So, you do not want him jumping up.

Or a guest will tell you, “It’s okay, we love dogs – he is only a puppy.” Then they proceed to get him overexcited and he dashes around the house; throw rugs fly everywhere and the heirloom vase rocks on its pedestal. In all too short a time your dog will be more than a puppy and your guests are teaching him that this dashing around your home is acceptable behavior. In such instances, what do you do? Most of us smile in annoyed embarrassment because we want to tell them not to do this ... but they are guests.

Do yourself and your pup a favor. Tell them – nicely – that you are working on his manners and obedience, and if they do not listen, put the pup in his crate or on a leash where he will not learn to be naughty.

Another scenario is the complete opposite. Your guests may not like dogs and could even be afraid of them. They prefer not to be greeted by your dog. By showing this nervousness they can create unwanted behaviors. The pup will recognize the body language and smell of those who are afraid and he may show fear, sometimes even giving a growl of uncertainty. Such behaviors can be made worse if we become annoyed with our guests, and frustrated with the pup. When this happens we are not in control either of the pup or ourselves, and that is when we make mistakes.

Even if we have a well-behaved pup and well-behaved guests we can create problems. When we have a nice pup and it has some cute behaviors, we try to demonstrate these to friends who come to visit. Naturally, we are proud of our new family member and want to show off a little. Socialization with new people is good for the puppy. However, once more there is a danger to keep in mind.

With friends present we want the pup to behave perfectly but the guests themselves are a big distraction. The pup may be overawed, nervous, excited, or cautious; in fact, he may not behave at all like you thought he would. In this situation, attempting to control him can create additional unwanted behaviors.

Play safe with your pup when guests come around. Maintain control and help him to learn patience and remain calm. A leash and a crate are great tools to use. Puppies need to understand that guests come to visit you and he is there to be greeted when he is invited. Train your guests to not make him the highlight as they arrive but basically to ignore him. No look, no touch, no talk when they first come into your home. Otherwise he will be rewarded for his excitement, jumping, and generally rude greetings.

If he is a dog that cannot help himself even if you put him on the leash, keep him in a crate when people come over, or better still, before they come, wait for him to calm down before allowing him out to socialize. When you do take him out, slip him on a leash and teach him to greet guests politely with a sit.

When he has learned the art of greeting guests, ensure these habits are maintained otherwise your dog may regress and once more learn he can disobey when guests are present. A dog that greets welcome guests nicely and is a delight around the home when guests are present is a dog you will be proud of and your guests will admire. Their smiles and appreciation are his reward and will help him become even better.

Teaching Older Dogs

The old saying that "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" is NOT true.

Old dogs may not learn as quickly as they once did, but with time and patience most older dogs can be taught to do just about anything that a young dog can do.

If you would like to teach your older dog some new tricks, here are some tips:

1. Teach one word commands. Teaching the correct response to voice cues or hand signals is as fundamental to communicating with a dog as the alphabet is to human language.

2. Be consistent. Consistency is the key to learning.

3. Provide rewards. Reward your dog's good behavior with a treat and tons of praise.

4. If the dog is slightly deaf, speak louder.

To put it all together, this is what you do:

Add a word cue or sign that must preface the behavior if it is to be rewarded. This is called a conditional stimulus; and it must be present if a reward for performing the behavior is forthcoming. The word cue or other cue should be delivered once, and once only. Whatever you do don't repeat the command. If the dog obeys, he must be rewarded immediately. If he does not, there is no reward. The opposite of reward is not punishment it is simply the lack of reward.

Using the above method, any behavior can be trained although more complicated behaviors have to be trained in stages ("shaped").

Reward your dog for performing a desired behavior when that behavior occurs naturally. For example, give your dog a food treat for sitting, lying down or to stop barking. Initially, the reward should be selected to be practically irresistible, not just kibble or a piece of dry dog biscuit. The frequency with which your dog will perform the behavior will increase if the reward is more appreciated.

Does Your Dog Jump on Guests?

How can you tell if your dog is the pack leader? It’s simple: if she jumps on you when you arrive home, she is the pack leader. If she jumps on your guests, she is making sure that these new arrivals also know she is in charge. What can you do to stop this unwanted behavior?

According to Cesar Millan:

•Establish yourself as pack leader. When a dog doesn’t have a clear pack leader, she tries to fill the vacant role, usually to disastrous results (for the owner and for the dog!) The pack leader leads by projecting a calm-assertive energy.


•Don’t shower your dog with affection when you walk through the door. This kind of attention is wonderful for a human child, but not for a dog. Remember dogs are animals, and the kindest thing you can do is to treat your dog like a dog and communicate in a way he’ll understand.


•Correct bad behavior. The dog’s mom, the ultimate pack leader, would never tolerate inappropriate activity. If she sees something she doesn’t like, she stops it by moving the puppy out of the way in a calm-assertive manner. The puppy learns an important boundary from the lesson, and her firm and unambiguous leadership balances the puppy’s submissive role in the pack.


•When your guests arrive, ask your dog to sit patiently. Your dog will follow your commands when he respects you as his pack leader. Remember, the animal pack leader doesn’t negotiate to get what he or she wants.


•You can’t be a leader only some of the time. Leadership is forever; inconsistency triggers confusion and anxiety in a dog. Animal pack leaders never waver from their leadership role, and neither should you!

How to Calm a Hyperactive Dog

Frequently, I hear from customers that they have a hyperactive dog.

As I was surfing the internet, I found some sound advice from Cesar Millan regarding five ways to calm a hyperactive dog.

Ignore the behavior! Dogs seek attention from you. By paying them that attention during hyperactive outbursts, you’re reinforcing the very behavior that you’re trying to eliminate. The next time your dog is jumping or nipping at you in an overexcited way, give it a try – no touch, no talk, no eye contact – and see how you fare. You might be surprised how quickly the dog settles down.


Give your dog a job! Having a task to focus on can help tremendously. Hyperactivity can come from psychological needs as easily as it can from physical needs. By giving your dog a job to do, you are removing him from his state of hyperactivity and redirecting his energy elsewhere. The task should have a clear beginning and end, and should never be considered a replacement for physical exercise.


Go for a walk! If your dog has a lot of built-up energy, a really vigorous walk is another excellent way to redirect it where YOU want it to go. Once you’ve burned that extra energy away, your dog should be pleasantly exhausted and too tuckered out to jump and nip. Without that frustration, he’ll find it much easier to relax.


Check your own energy! Your dog is your mirror. Any energy you project, he will reflect back. Are you in a calm assertive state of mind? Are you projecting a confident energy? Are you stressing out over an argument, or burdened with the worries of the work week? Nervous or anxious moods can translate into nervous or anxious body language or tones of voice, and can affect the energy of your dog.


Try out aromatherapy! Don’t forget that dogs experience the world primarily by scent! Just as the smell of lavender is said to relax human beings, a soothing smell can also have a very calming effect on your pet. Talk to your vet or consult a holistic professional to find out what smells may work for your dog and which dispersal methods are the safest for him.

Why Dogs Bury Bones

Dr. Jon enlightened me today with an article explaining why dogs bury bones.
Do you know why?

Although dogs have been around for millions of years, they have only been domesticated for a few thousand years, and they spent a lot of time developing behaviors that helped them to survive. Burying bones is one of the behaviors that had to do with finding and maintaining an adequate food supply.

Dogs might sometimes kill a prey animal large enough to feed the entire pack,or other times when small prey animals were abundant, they might kill many of these bite-sized creatures. Dogs often found themselves with more food than they could eat at one time. They could never be sure when they would be able to find and kill another prey, so to be on the safe side, they carried the bones, which were filled with nutrient-rich marrow, back to their lair, and buried them nearby. When food was scarce, they could always rely on the bones to keep them fed.

This process is called caching or hoarding, and it is common among dogs, wolves and foxes. In fact, other animals practice a form of caching; squirrels gather enough nuts to last through the winter, and camels store enough food and water to last for several days in the desert. Our domesticated dogs may have their food handed to them each day in sufficient quantities, but they still carry this caching trait and bury their bones or toys in the back yard or under a pillow.

Why Do Dogs Eat Grass?

Have you ever seen your dog eat grass and wonder, "What is he doing"? After all, dogs are carnivores (primarily meat eaters), right?

I found an article on petplace.com which enlightens us about this strange behavior.

"We are not sure why your dogs like grass, although there have been many theories offered. Primarily, dogs are descended from wild canids (wolves and foxes), which ate the entire "kill" when they hunted for food. Since they consumed many herbivores (plant-eating animals), they wound up eating a lot of plants and even berries found in the stomach and intestines of their prey.

Interestingly, carnivores tend to go for the stomach and its contents first, so it's likely that dogs may eat grass because they like it and it was once part of their normal diet.

Then there is the great mystery: Do dogs eat grass to make themselves vomit? Or do they vomit because they eat the grass? Most veterinarians believe that dogs eat grass simply because they like it, and vomiting just naturally follows. When dogs eat grass, the grass acts as an irritant and causes vomiting. However, they may not be smart enough to use grass as a medicine when they have an upset stomach.

Some veterinarians believe that dogs eat grass because their prepared diets are lacking in greens and so they eat grass. And as some support of this contention, dogs sometimes seek out a particular variety of grass to nibble.

No matter what the reason, your dog's "grass" habit is normal behavior and you need not be concerned about it. A note of caution, however: Take care that your pet does not eat grass that has been treated with fertilizer, pesticides or herbicides. This could cause stomach upset or even worse problems for your dog."