Tag: Houston Dog Training

Potty Signals

Michael Baugh CPDT-KA, CDBC  (from All Things Dog Blog)

Dear Trainer:

Skittles’ quirk is her very quiet way of telling us she needs to go outside. I hear her because she generally sticks to me like glue. When I leave the house, Skittles does not do a very noticeable job of getting the message across to other family members. Sometimes we have accidents when I am gone. She will leave her surprises as close to the door as she can get, sometimes right at the door crack as though she wanted to put it outside but could not. Since I cannot make my family hear her quiet whine I do not know what to do. If you have ideas on how to help increase her ability to get their attention I would appreciate  it.

————————————————————————-

When I read your very good question I couldn’t help but think of how we humans sometimes behave with each other.  I thought specifically of the time I yelled at a very good friend, “What’s the matter with you?  Do you think I can read your mind?”  He didn’t miss a beat.  “I didn’t even know you could read.” He said.  It was the rhetorical equivalent of lifting his leg on my sofa and laughing at me.

I’m not suggesting you or your family learn to read Skittles’ mind, not exactly anyway.  I do have to admit, however, I’m not a huge fan of teaching dogs to give loud signals when they want to go outside.  Certainly, you could teach Skittles to ring a bell on the doorknob with her nose signaling her desire.   Clicker training would probably be your fastest path to success.  She rings.  You click.  She goes outside for some treats, fun and potty (we hope).

Here’s the rub.  You’d be teaching Skittles to ring the bell when she wants to go outside, not necessarily when she has to go potty outside.  I dare not teach this to my dear Stella.  She’d be ringing our bell from now until the cows come home (actual cowbell optional).  It’s bad enough that she stares out the door now with her newly emptied bladder and bowels.  I digress.  Suffice it to say, the whole bell-to-go-outside thing is a bit of a slippery slope.  You may not necessarily be teaching what you want.

My guess is, you just want Skittles to stop doing two things in the house: number one and number two.  The idea, of course, is to teach her to hold it until she goes outside.  Go there, not here.  Teaching potty training is just a matter of setting Skittles up to win.  When she’s learning she should always be supervised or safely confined.  You should never ask yourself the question, “Where’s Skittles?”  (Just call me; I’ll tell you.  “She’s squatting in your dining room.”).  Supervising means you also go outside with Skittles.  Praise and treat her as soon as she’s done eliminating, right then, on the spot.

 

(Read more at All Things Dog Blog)

Helping a Dog Meet Baby

Michael Baugh, CPDT-KA, CDBC

Dear Michael:

My daughter has a 4 month old baby. Since his birth, my tiny dog has been nothing short of a nightmare around him. He wants to get close and lick him and play with him. The more we restrain him the more he cries, pants, and barks. We dare not let him anywhere near the baby unless we have him by the collar. He doesn’t bite, just licks and prods. He is fine with toddlers we meet in the street. How can we have the baby in the house without our little dog causing such exasperation?
Recently things have improved very slightly.  Whilst he is still uber uber interested in him, he now lies beside him, suffering all the involuntary arm and leg prods and jerks from the baby and rests his head on baby’s legs (when he is still, which isn’t often!).  He seems to have been wanting to be very close to him all this time and of course we were prohibiting that.  He is, it goes without saying, always supervised.
Cathy
—————————————————-
Dear Cathy:
Babies are unusual creatures to many of our dogs (and to many of us for that matter).  They move differently than adult humans.  They sound different and smell different.  From our dogs’ point of view they are new and unusual, weird even.  It sounds like your daughter’s dog is a bit nervous about the baby, or at the very least excited.  We need to help him out.

You have two goals here.  First, teach the dog that babies are cool.  Try very hard to never yell at or hurt the dog when the baby is around.  That’s only going to make things worse.  In fact, only delightful things should happen when the baby is on the scene.  If the baby does something weird, like scream and wiggle like a fish, you might even slip the dog a special treat.  That’s called respondent conditioning (classical conditioning).  Baby = good things for doggie.  The idea here is to make sure the dog doesn’t start disliking the child because being around him is so awful.

 

Lifetime Dogs

Michael Baugh CPDT-KA, CDBC

I hear them all the time, stories about that one dog that changed a person’s life. Sometimes the dog is right there. More often than not the dog is already gone, dead, maybe a year, maybe decades ago. But one thing is always the same. The dog in the story is or was the dog. And the person I’m listening to is moved to speak of magic and mystery.

Folks who know dogs well call them “Lifetime Dogs.” There won’t be another one like her, they’ll say. And then the stories come. She was the dog who saw me though my divorce, or the death of my mother, or the time I was laid off. When everyone else turned their back on me, she was the dog who stood by my side. When she looked at me I just knew she understood. She was the best dog I ever had and I still miss her.

I understand. I have a Lifetime Dog. She inspired my first dog training business. She’s traveled the country with me and moved city to city. She’s seen me through loss and disappointment. She’s made me smile and laugh, just about daily. She’s one of my best friends. And though I prattle at her all the time she has never spoken a word to me. Her loyalty is silent and steady. Her name is Juno and I could tell you stories about our life together for days. And I find I want to tell those stories even more these days because Juno is near the end of her life.

So, what is it about her and all these other dogs? How do they pull us through life’s struggles? How do they charm and change our lives so? Or are we asking the right questions?

My belief in the true nature of dogs leads me back to observation. I’ve seen dogs do amazing things: run weave poles at top speed, perform in obedience competition with precision, take down criminals with stealth and strength, and find survivors in rubble when all hope was lost. But the new work of dogs as author Jon Katz calls it, is much harder to see. I’ve never seen a dog talk anyone through divorce or death. I’ve never really seen a dog start a business or find someone a job. In truth, I’ve never seen a dog do anything other than be a dog, just be herself.

The sad truth is I see humans being less than their greatest selves all the time. We struggle and persevere and rarely give ourselves the credit. When we suffer and mourn we are the ones who emerge on the other side standing strong and alive and better than before. We raise families and build lives. And on our best days we embrace the glory of our own lives with laughter and joy. That’s us. That’s you. And yes, if we are lucky we do it with a dog by our side.

And what about these dogs? What about Juno in the waning days of our life together? Is she any less special for having done nothing at all? Is she no longer a “Lifetime Dog” for having been just an ordinary dog? Or maybe ordinary is enough. Maybe her magic is just simply in her being and not at all in her doing. And perhaps the best counselor or friend really is the one who stays by your side without a word while you struggle and heal. And maybe she’s the one who steps aside while you grow and create and emerge anew. She’s always there to play and watch you laugh. And that’s enough. She’s the clear simple reflection of your greatest self. Can’t you see how wonderful you are in her eyes?