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iPhone 3Gs Video ** Do it or Suffer: Your Weimaraner Needs Exercise!

WeimaranerToday I went with my clients, Derrick and Megan, to Shelby Farms to exercise Bimmer, their 1 year old Weimaraner dog. Scroll to the bottom of this post to watch 2 iPhone 3Gs videos of Bimmer playing fetch.

I first met the clients January 2009, when Bimmer was a puppy. Derrick and Megan were model students, and it shows. Bimmer was an excellent guest at the dog park. Derrick and Meagan have a wonderful Weimaraner dog who is well mannered and loads of fun! That’s not the case with owners who do not obedience train or exercise their dogs.

If you do NOT teach your puppy basic obedience and provide enough stimulation for your dog, problems will emerge. Excessive digging, escaping, jumping, barking, chewing, and destruction are common signs that an untrained dog’s needs are not being met.

At 4.500 acres and 20 bodies of water, Shelby Farms is one of the largest municipal park in the USA.

In the lower picture, Bimmer has a fire hose fetch toy. I could throw this toy much farther than the plastic retrieving dummy. Dogs seem to really like fire hose material. Although it’s not a chew toy, the texture is a bit different and the fire hose is very durable. Amazon has a great selection. Here’s the best one I’ve found at the best price.

Weimaraner Fetch

Click below to see 2 videos taken with iPhone 3Gs. The Splash is my favorite!

Fetch

Splash

Happy Training!
Alan J Turner – How’s Bentley – 21st Century Canine Relationship Solutions
Reactive Dog Group Workshops
Mini-Obedience Courses
Group and Private Dog Training in Memphis, Collierville, Germantown, Bartlett TN

New iPhone app -Dog and Puppy Shake – Fun Facts and Trainer Truths
21st Century Dogs – Dog and Puppy Club

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Fire Hose Game: Simple Solution for Excited Dogs Jumping Up on Visitors


Weim FIre HoseSometimes we get so engrossed in stopping our dogs’ behaviors, we overlook the simple solutions. Friendly, jumping up on guests is the most common problem reported by my clients.

Many dogs calm down after a few minutes, so this solution is for those guys, the dogs that are too excited to obey during the first few minutes, but do relax after their initial exuberance has passed!

We’ve all read the same books and advice. Attach a leash, prevent the dog from mugging your guests. Teach the dog to sit politely for greetings. Yuk! How boring!

In theory that sounds like great advice. But in reality, many people do not have the skills, the time, or regular guests to use for practice. And some dogs are too darned excited to sit! I prefer to give these turbo dogs another active and exciting task (besides jumping up on guests).

Here’s my easy solution that will cost you under $15 and about 10 minutes to put into place. This works especially well for labrador and golden retrievers!

Try this jumping up solution with dogs that like toys, and are proud to prance with toys in their mouths.

Purchase a new toy. Dogs seem to really like fire hose material. The texture is a bit different and the fire hose is very durable. Amazon has a great selection. Here’s the best one I’ve found at the best price.

You’ll need to build a history of excitement and glee, and associate the toy with proud prancing, before you can use it in real life. You’ll do this when no visitors are nearby.
Give your dog the new toy. Chase, praise, cheer, clap your hands, make high pitched repetitive noises. Do whatever it takes to get your dog prancing or racing around the house with the new toy!

After 3 minutes of excitement, ask your dog to drop the toy and place the toy near your door. Wait an hour and then repeat the fire hose toy playtime. This time, you’ll label the game. Say something like, “Fire Hose” and then race to get the toy near the door. Give your dog the toy and cheer him on!

From now on, your dog only gets that particular toy when people visit your house. Say, “Fire Hose” and give your dog the toy the instant you open the door and invite the visitors inside your home. It’s very likely that your problem of “excited dog jumping on visitors” will be replaced with a display of prancing and running with the fire hose toy.

Happy Training!

Alan J Turner – How’s Bentley – Memphis TN
21st Century Canine Relationship Specialist
New iPhone app -Dog and Puppy Shake – Fun Facts and Trainer Truths
21st Century Dogs – Dog and Puppy Club

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Signs your Dog is Not Getting Enough Exercise

Bull TerrierAll dogs need exercise. The amount and type of exercise needed varies with each individual. The perfect amount of exercise is just enough for your dog to be tired enough to be a relaxed calm member of your household.

If your dog has lots of unused energy, it will emerge as annoyances. Tired pups and dogs don’t jump up excessively, bark and whine excessively, destroy everything, run away, dig for hours, or pace the floor!

Mental and physical exercise should be part of your dog’s daily routine. Long walks are a great exercise tool. It’s best to take at least two long walks each day. Your dog will be mentally and physically stimulated. Short teaching sessions are great for exercising your dog’s mind. Scatter feeding and scent games are wonderful methods to burn energy.

Children should play hide-n-seek, fetch or spend time teaching dogs. Everyone should avoid wrestling with young dogs. Wrestling with pups increases the pups’ urges to play bite and teaches them that biting humans is ok. Many people with dogs that nip at their hands and clothes at every opportunity or play bite excessively have taught their dogs these behaviors by playing rough with the dog. Playing in the back yard for 10 to 15 minutes a day is not enough exercise for many young dogs. If the following sentences describe your dog, it is very likely that he or she is not getting enough exercise.

  • He paces from room to room.
  • She rarely lies down, even when others are relaxed.
  • He barks for attention.
  • She constantly steals objects.
  • He whines for attention.
  • She never stops jumping when people are visiting.
  • He digs, chews and destroys everything in sight.
  • She races along the fence barking at every other dog or person that passes by.
  • He runs away every chance he gets.
  • She digs under the fence, escapes and roams the neighborhood.

Here are two of my favorite foraging toys that can help exercise and stimulate your dog! You can get them at various stores, Amazon has good prices and I trust them.

Happy Training!

Alan J Turner – Reactive Dog Specialist in Memphis TN – How’s Bentley

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iPhone 3Gs Video ** Submissive Dog Behaviors are Not an Indication of Guilt

WilliamWallaceWinkieCommon submissive dog behaviors include lowering of head, tail, body, or rolling over and exposing the underside.

Many people believe they are teaching their dogs by scolding. They place items the dog destroyed into their outstretched hands, fuss at the dogs, and the dogs cower away.

The people support their misbeliefs by the phrase, “She knows what she did because she looked guilty when I held up the item.”

Say, I don’t know what your dog is thinking, nor do you. But I do know this.

Submissive behaviors are not an admission of guilt.  These behaviors are your dog’s way of saying, “Please discontinue your attack, I mean you no harm”.

If you do not believe me, try this. Show your dog an item, any item with no previous relevance to the dog, push it towards your dog and fuss. He or she will react with the same submissive behaviors you see when you are fussing about a naughty event. If the dog knows right and wrong, why did he or she exhibit submissive behaviors when you held an unfamiliar item and fussed?

Teaching by scolding is not very efficient.

It’s like allowing your 3 year old child to run into the street so you can spank him or her. Everyone can agree. That would be ridiculous. Parents of a 3 year old child focus on preventing their 3 year old child from running into the street. They know that one day, the child will be old enough to cross the street without an adult. But now, the kid is too young and “untrained” to be near the street unattended. One day, the parents will teach the child the skills needed to cross the busy street. Until then, the child is closely supervised.

Happy Training!

The dog in the picture is William Wallace Winkie. CLICK HERE to watch a video of Winkie playing outside!

You can adopt this guy from Collierville Animal Services in Collierville TN.

Reactive Dog Seminars

How’s Bentley Memphis TN

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Amateur Shock Collar Use Starts Dog Fight

German Shepherd DogIf you want to control your pet dog’s involuntary aggressive responses via force and intimidation, you are entering a spiral of blackness and doom.

One day, your chosen method or equipment will fail; injuries and sadness will emerge. I’ve seen it many times.

Point being, punishing the growl with a quick burst of energy via an e-collar, leash jerk, Caesar Milan hiss, alpha roll, spank on the butt, or verbal reprimand, does nothing to change underlying, emotional reasons for the growl. In many cases, the aggression increases, because the naughty dog associates other dogs or strangers with the discomfort.

You may very well stop your dog from growling with one of many punishment techniques, that I do not deny. (Success via corrections really depends on the underlying causes, but that is a topic for another day.)

But, you just signed a life long commitment to supervise every interaction your dog has with strangers or other dogs. You will constantly have to prove to your dog that you are a superior warrior.  And you have made your task of supervision much more difficult.

If you zap your dog every time he or she growls or gives another animal the “eye”, you will negate your observation skills, because your dog will skip the body posturing and growling (the obvious, observable behaviors that indicate a problem), and go straight to the bite.

If you are using a training collar, e collar, shock collar, or any other special equipment, your dog must always be fitted with the equipment, and you must always be ready to use the equipment.

All you’ve done is remove the warning, the very warning that lets you know something is wrong, the very warning that tells you to take action to avoid an incident.

It’s like placing a black tape mask over a check engine warning lamp on your car’s dashboard. Great, now you don’t see the warning, therefore the problem is resolved?!

I’m not one of those “never ever use a shock collar or leash jerk” kind of people. I realize there are times when corrections are helpful. Shock collars, leash jerks, or verbal reprimands may be useful tools within a behavior modification program designed by a canine behavior counselor.

If your behavior modification plan includes rewards, obedience training, classical conditioning, and changing the dog’s perception, you can change the underlying reason your dog is aggressive.

If your only solution to stop your dog from attacking other dogs or strangers is the use of corrections, truth is, you would benefit from a bit of help. You should contact a canine reactive behavior specialist.

None of this comes to anyone in a dream. I was ignorant until I began my studies about animal learning, behavior, and canine behavior modification. I made all the same “logical” assumptions about controlling dogs via corrections and intimidation. If you are not familiar with basic concepts of instrumental conditioning, you should never use a shock collar to stop your dog from behaving aggressively. Your ignorance will bite you.

Real Life Example:

In my neighborhood there is a large breed dog who has been naughty towards other dogs. (I’ll omit the breed, because it has no relevance to this story). The owner uses a shock collar to punish Naughty Dog’s aggressive behaviors. The owner’s mom was walking Naughty Dog, without the shock collar, and has been doing so for months, with no incidents of aggression. A few days ago, the honeymoon ended. The lady who was walking Naughty Dog was passing another leashed dog on the street. Naughty Dog did not growl or send any signals that he was about to attack. The lady was caught off guard when Naughty Dog suddenly attacked the passing adult male dog. The lady was bitten in the face when she tried to break up the dog fight.

If the owner had not used a shock collar to punish the aggression, the Naughty Dog would have postured or growled, and the lady could have seen what was about to happen. She could have avoided the situation. But Naughty Dog “attacked without warning”, which ironically, perplexed the owner. The owner has no idea that he was directly responsible for Naughty Dog’s lack of warning signals.

P.S. The German Shepherd Dog in the picture, Samantha, is not Naughty Dog! 

Happy Training!

Alan J Turner How’s Bentley Memhis TN

Reactive Dog Specialist

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You Should Not Stop a Dog from Jumping Up on Counter

200 lb. Deaf Great Dane, George, & Oreo the Boston TerrierForget about stopping naughty behaviors.:) Instead, spend a little time with your dog and teach him a behavior that is incompatible with jumping up on counters such as to Go-To-Place.

If you focus on stopping behaviors, you are destined to make a full-time hobby out of training. For example- If you focus on stopping a dog from jumping on the counter and succeed, you really haven’t taught the dog what behavior is acceptable, or how he might behave politely and earn a reward.

The dog may abandon the counter jumping behavior only to start scratching the lower section of the cabinet under the countertop, start barking at the counter, or worse!

Go-To-Place is one of my favorite commands.

The “Place” is a very comfortable dog bed strategically placed in the kitchen where you can reinforce Go-To-Place behavior!

CLICK HERE for Go-to-Place instructions.

If you focus on teaching this one behavior, you won’t have to “break him” from jumping up, licking the dishes in the dishwasher, barking, object stealing or any number of behaviors that annoy you!

It’s much more efficient to teach dogs a few basic behaviors that are incompatible with many unwanted behaviors.

Happy Training!

Alan J Turner – How’s Bentley – Memphis TN

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Submissive & Excitement Urination – Solutions

Corgi

Sometimes dogs seem to leak urine. I’ve noticed that it occurs more often during initial greetings. This can be caused by youth, a developmental problem, a medical condition, a behavioral issue or a combination of factors. It’s always possible that sudden urination is the result of both behavioral and non-behavioral causes.

Contributors such as underdeveloped organs, medications that facilitate poor bladder control, diseases, or failures of organs are examples of non-behavioral causes.

Before you can address involuntary urination from a behavioral point of view, it’s essential to ask your veterinarian to perform a thorough medical check-up to rule out non-behavioral reasons for the urination.

Once you’ve ruled out all non-behavioral causes, determine if the urination is submissive urination, or excitement urination, or both.

Observe your dog’s body language. Carefully notice ear, head, tail position, and overall body language at the instant of urination.

Common submissive behaviors include lowered ears, lowered head and body, and a tucked tail.

If the dog is not walking or running, (the instant urination begins), the urination is most likely to be submissive in nature. If the dog is standing,  sitting or lying, the urination is submissive. If the dog is in the process of sitting or lying, or rolling over, it’s submissive urination.

Take note of your interactions with the dog. If the dog urinates when you bend over or reach towards him or her, it’s submissive urination.

If the dog urinates when you interact via speech, touch or eye contact, it’s more likely to be submissive urination.

If the dog is not sitting or lying, and is not in the process of sitting or lying, AND you are not interacting with the dog, it is more likely to be excitement urination. If he or she eliminates while running to greet you, it is more likely to be excitement urination. If the dog urinates while zooming around the room, it’s excitement urination.

I’ve only met a few dogs that exhibited excitement urination. Most often, submissive urination is the diagnosis. In rare cases, it is a combination of both submissive and excitement urination.


Excitement Urination Solutions

Be sure to have your vet rule out medical causes if you have an older dog that exhibits excitement urination.

To reduce excitement urination, tone down your enthusiasm. Avoid games that involve excessive amounts of glee which encourage your dog to race around the room. More often than not, a pup with excitement urination will grow out of the behavior after he’s been with you a while. Some older dogs may always release urine

when encouraged to dash around the house.

Submissive Urination Solutions

Shy dogs are prone to exhibit submissive urination. Confident dogs are less likely to react with submission when people interact with them. Submissive urination is not a voluntary behavior; it is triggered by “scary” stimuli and is more of a fear response. After the family learns a bit about the causes and changes their behaviors, and the dog matures and gains confidence, it usually subsides. Here are some short term and long term suggestions.


Short Term Solutions

Make your approaches less intimidating. During initial greetings, turn sideways. Avoid bending over to greet the dog. Don’t reach to pat the dog, especially on top of the head. Don’t initially speak to the dog, and don’t make eye contact.

After a few minutes, greet the dog in a calm, non-threatening manner. Touching a dog on the chest or belly so that your arm or hand does not loom over the dog’s head or body is usually perceived as less threatening. Patting a dog’s hips, back or sides, and scratching behind the ears, are less threatening when you are beside and slightly behind the dog as opposed to positioning yourself directly in front.

Never fuss at a dog or console the dog for submissive urination. Act as if it did not happen.

If you expect guests, take your pup outside on a leash for the initial greeting. This won’t solve the problem, but it will make cleanup unnecessary!

If your dog jumps up on guests and then releases urine when the guests reach to pet him or her, your goal is to teach your dog how to greet politely.

If the dog eliminates when released from a crate, place the crate near an outside exit into a fenced area. Before you open the crate, open the outside door. Then open the crate door, and without saying anything, step outside and call the dog or toss a toy outside. If your dog is small and is confined in an airline carrier, pick up the carrier and take it outside before you open the carrier door and walk away.

Teach the dog to perform an alternate, confident behavior that will focus attention on something other than the approach of people. Ask for this alternate behavior when you or others approach. Fetch, chase the ball, or “parade with toy in mouth” are good choices for alternate behaviors.

During this treatment period, always greet the dog with a couple of toys in hand. Place them outside the door in the garage or utility room. During the greeting (before the dog reaches you), toss a ball for him or her to chase/retrieve. This will physically orient the dog away from you and focus his or her attention on a task that is incompatible with submissive greetings.

Instead of using toys, you could toss a few tasty food treats on the floor. Toss them in an area behind or to the side of the dog. This focuses the dog’s attention away from you. Walk back out the door while the dog is eating the treats. Repeat this sequence two times whenever you arrive home. After your second entrance, toss the treats and walk into another room and be seated. Wait for the dog to approach you. You may speak softly to the dog, but do not reach out to touch the dog. Wait a couple of minutes before you start interacting.

After a few of these sessions, your dog will begin to associate your arrival with food treats. The involuntary submissive responses to the stimulus of approaching humans will be replaced with the involuntary response of salivation. Your approach will trigger a “Oh goodie, here come the treats!” response.

Long Term Solutions

Your methods of interacting throughout the day shape the relationship with your puppy. Following these guidelines will usually reduce submissive urination due to behavioral causes.

  • Do not scold your pup or use body language which triggers submissive urination.
  • Never scold any dog for any house training mistakes, much less for submissive urination.
  • Do not coddle or tell your submissive dog, “it’s ok”. Just ignore the behavior and try to engage the dog in a confident task.
  • Never reach down and touch any dog that is jumping up to greet you.
  • Careful socialization in safe environments during the critical period of socialization (3-12 weeks) may lower the risk of submissive urination.
  • Meet the dog’s physical, social and emotional needs.
  • Treating other fearful behaviors may reduce the instances of submissive urination.
  • Soften your voice when giving commands.
  • If your primary choice for teaching involves leash jerks, shouting ‘no”, corrections with a training collar, et cetera, discontinue these corrections-based teaching methods.
  • Start a training program based on consistency, a clear communication system and a reward system. In addition to basic obedience commands, teach your dog some tricks / skills / commands that will engage him or her to perform confident actions. I already mentioned fetch, chase the ball and parade with toy; spin and find the “xyz” are other examples of confident behaviors.
  • Touch or target training can increase a dogs’ confidence. Teach your dog to touch your two-finger target for a treat. After confidence builds, introduce “shake” or “high five”.
  • Enrich your dog’s environment.  Scatter feed. Toss kibble on the patio or on the kitchen floor. Encourage your dog to hunt for each piece.
  • Each person in the household should teach and exercise the dog.
  • Review the quality of your dog’s diet.
  • Begin a massage program.

If your dog continues to leak urine, ask your veterinarian for the name of a trainer or visit http://apdt.com and search for a trainer in your area.

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Help! My Dog Races Through Open Doors!

gypsyand1

Why wouldn’t a dog bolt through an open door? Because you teach him not to, that’s why! 🙂

Does your dog race through open doors and gates? Most people either pick up their dogs or hold the dog’s collar to prevent door bolting behaviors. Both of these actions “pay” the dog for trying to run through the door.

The ultimate pay is the chase and adventure of escape. Every time your dog escapes, and you chase him, you are increasing naughty behaviors!

Here is a simple exercise to teach your dog to wait patiently when people pass through doors and gates. The concept can be applied to other doors and gates after your dog perfects the skill at home.

Off leash obedience is an advanced skill, even when the dog is in a fenced area. Before you can expect your dog to obey when he or she is 50 feet away, first you should practice when the dog is on a short leash, then a long line.

Don’t let your dog be the last to know if he or she is invited to pass though the doorway and explore the neighborhood.

Teach Door!

Here’s how to teach your dog to wait while you pass through open doors or gates.

Prerequisite:

Time to perfection varies with the experience of the handler, the handler’s goals for distractions, and the experience of the dog.  A dog who has already perfected a few commands, and has not practiced escape behaviors can learn the general concept in one, 15 minute session.

Description: Teaches the dog to remain in one location when people enter and exit doorways.

Function: Default behavior when people open doors or gates

Before your dog learns this command, attach a leash and hold it so that your dog cannot practice bolting through doorways!

Like many training exercises, you’ll teach your dog in cycles. Each cycle introduces a bit more information and teaches your dog about distractions.

If, during any of these cycles of learning, your dog moves towards the door, communicate with actions, not words. Here’s what you should do if your dog moves towards the door.

A) Do not praise and treat.

B) At the first sign of failure, block the dog’s path with your body and body block or herd the dog back to the desired location. This teaches the dog that moving towards the door (when you say “door game”) is impossible.

C) Close the door (if applicable) and return your hand to your side. This teaches the dog that moving towards the door “makes” the door close.

D) Repeat the cycle, with a lesser distraction.

Step 4 of each cycle is when you increase the distraction.

Get creative with your distractions. Think of daily occurrences at the door, and magnify. Make your practice sessions “tougher” than real life.

For example, you may want to teach your dog to wait when you walk through the door backwards, dancing and singing a song!

Ideas for distractions:

marching in place;

reaching for the door;

touching the handle;

jiggling the handle;

turning the handle;

opening the door 3 inches and closing it;

opening the door 10 inches and closing it;

opening the door 2 feet and closing it;

taking 1 step towards the door;

taking 1 step away from the door;

walking into the door way;

walking through the door and back inside;

walking while carrying an interesting item;

items, people or animals on the “dog side” of the door;

items, people, or animals other side of the door;

people passing through the door

people passing through the door with items in their hand

Here are examples of how the initial 5 cycles might progress if the dog succeeds on each cycle. If the dog fails, back up a cycle or two and start again.

If you are working at an exit door without a fenced yard, attach a leash and hold the end of the leash during each cycle, or tether the end of the leash to something inside the house.

Notice the only difference between cycles is step 4.

Cycle 1

1) Say “Door” in an upbeat tone.

2) Push your hand outward towards your dog, palm facing the dog like a stop signal.

3) Wait 1 second and withdraw your “stop signal”.

4) Stand still for 3 seconds.

5) Deliver your reward marker.

6) Toss your dog a treat so that he moves from his current location to get the treat.

Cycle 2

1) Say “Door” in an upbeat tone.

2) Push your hand outward towards your dog, palm facing the dog like a stop signal.

3) Wait 1 second and withdraw your “stop signal”.

4) March in place for 3 seconds.

5) Deliver your reward marker.

6) Toss your dog a treat so that he moves from his current location to get the treat.

Cycle 3

1) Say “Door” in an upbeat tone.

2) Push your hand outward towards your dog, palm facing the dog like a stop signal.

3) Wait 1 second and withdraw your “stop signal”.

4) March in place and reach towards the door handle.

5) Deliver your reward marker.

6) Toss your dog a treat so that he moves from his current location to get the treat.

Cycle 4

1) Say “Door” in an upbeat tone.

2) Push your hand outward towards your dog, palm facing the dog like a stop signal.

3) Wait 1 second and withdraw your “stop signal”.

4) March in place and reach towards the door handle, jiggle the handle.

5) Deliver your reward marker.

6) Toss your dog a treat so that he moves from his current location to get the treat.

Cycle 5

1) Say “Door” in an upbeat tone.

2) Push your hand outward towards your dog, palm facing the dog like a stop signal.

3) Wait 1 second and withdraw your “stop signal”.

4) March in place and reach towards the door handle, jiggle the handle, open door 3 inches and then close the door.

5) Deliver your reward marker.

6) Toss your dog a treat so that he moves from his current location to get the treat.

Introduce more distractions during additional cycles. After each cycle give your dog a short tension rest. Deliver food treats, or verbal praise, quick game of tug, toss a ball, etc.

Once your dog is patiently waiting when the door is wide open, and you are walking in and out the door; enlist friends and family members to knock on your door. Once he perfect the ‘Door” command, you can add another cue. My favorite is a hand signal, a sort of back away motion with my hand, as my back is turned towards the dog.

Happy Training!

AT

Alan J Turner, Companion Animal Behavior Counselor & Trainer – Canine Specialization

Private and Group Dog Training in Memphis, TN

Owner: How’s Bentley

Member: APDT

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Canine Behavior Modification for Reactive, Unwanted, Behaviors, including Fear and Aggression


LilyOkay, so your dog is fearful, barking, lunging and otherwise distressed when he or she sees people, trucks, cars, or dogs. Depending on who you are talking to, those behaviors may be classified as territory or protective aggression, possession aggression, inter-dog aggression, fear aggression, or leash aggression.

I’ll refer to the other people, other dogs, trucks, cars, as “triggers”, because they trigger the fear or aggression in your dog.

There are volumes of articles and books on how to modify fearful and aggressive behaviors in dogs. Some of the information may be helpful and other information is outdated and less helpful.

A canine modification plan is fluid. It changes as you progress. Because of all the variables, and the constant adjustments when treating fear and aggression in dogs, it’s not feasible for me to post all the methods and solutions I would use in a private consultation.

 

But I can give you this overview and some instructions that might work with your dog.

This article is about visual triggers. If your dog reacts to noises, the same concepts apply.

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First you need to change your dog’s perception of the triggers. Then you will use rewards to pay your dog for desirable, non reactive behaviors, when the trigger is in sight.

Before you actually do exercises with your dog in the field, please review this checklist.

Meet your dog’s physical, social and emotional needs.

Kindly prevent your dog from practicing unwanted reactive behaviors.

Establish a method to communicate precisely. Condition a reward marker.

Enact the Rewards Awareness Program.

Establish a Reward System.

Teach your dog “attention on cue” or “look”.

Practice “look” in various places with increasing levels of distractions (distractions should not be people or dogs or whatever triggers the unwanted, reactive, behaviors).

Teach your dog to sit on command.

Practice “sit” in various places with increasing levels of distractions (distractions should not be people or dogs or whatever triggers the unwanted, reactive, behaviors).

Teach your dog to bump your two-finger target to the cue, “here”.

Practice “here” in various places with increasing levels of distractions (distractions should not be people or dogs or whatever triggers the unwanted, reactive behaviors).

Teach your dog to walk nicely on a loose lead or to heel.

Practice walking nicely in various places with increasing levels of distractions (distractions should not include the triggers).

Optional: Obtain a Gentle Leader head collar or a Canny Collar. Introduce your dog to the head collar and practice with the head collar, so that your dog is not distracted by wearing the head collar. Head collars make it possible to safely move or control your dog’s pulling behaviors.

Optional: If your dog is “crazy excited” for squeaky toys or balls, get a couple of new ones and save them for these exercises. You can use the toys as rewards, or as distractions to get your dog’s attention when the triggers are too close.

Now you can begin the real work!

Identify the Threshold

Find the distance where your dog can see the trigger but not react with “out of control” barking, lunging, et cetera. I’ll refer to this distance as the threshold for reactivity. It may be 400 yards or 20 feet. It will change depending on the environment, your dog’s current emotional or physical state, or any number of factors.

The threshold is fluid, not static. You’ll need to find the threshold every time you start a practice session. Whatever it is right now, this distance or threshold will become shorter and shorter as you practice. You’ll always start each session outside the threshold.

Set up the Practice Session

For this step you’ll need the help of others. Their jobs will be to present the trigger outside the threshold, move a few steps closer and then move back outside the threshold.

If you don’t have any helpers, you can still set up the session. Go to a place where you are likely to see the triggers, such as a walking path at the park or a parking lot of a pet supply store. Get several feet off the path or away from the traffic, outside the threshold.

It helps if your dog is hungry. Do this before feeding time or withhold dinner and feed during these sessions.

Change your Dog’s Perception

Before you start with the triggers, ask your dog to perform a few simple commands such as “here’ or “sit”. This will engage your dog to pay attention to you!

Stand outside the threshold of a trigger. The instant you see the dog or person or car approaching, announce the trigger. Tell your dog something like “that’s a friend or that’s a truck” and immediately feed your dog several treats. Keep feeding until the trigger has retreated and is no longer nearby.

(If your starts barking or lunging, you are too close the the trigger, move away. If your dog starts to stare or looks like he or she might be ready to bark and lunge, command “here” and present your two finger target, or ask your dog to “look”. Either one of these commands gets the dog to look away from the trigger and focus on you.)

This sequence is called a cycle. You will hold many cycles during a session.

Between each cycle, give your dog a tension rest to absorb the recent events. The tension rest should be as as long as it took to perform the cycle. So, if the trigger is in sight for 10 seconds before it moves outside the threshold, the duration of the tension rest immediately after the cycle will be at least 10 seconds.

Repeat this process for at least 30 minutes per session. Perform another cycle followed by a tension rest. The idea is to change your dog’s immediate, involuntary responses to the trigger.

Instead of “oh no, there’s another dog, which is immediately followed by involuntary barking, fleeing, freezing or lunging (fight, flight, freeze behaviors), you want your dog’s initial involuntary response to the sight of the triggers to be anticipation of food. You are using classical conditioning to associate the trigger with the delivery of food. Your dog cannot be aggressive or fearful and salivate in anticipation of food at the same instant!

As you progress through the session, you will notice your dog will begin to ignore the trigger and focus on you and the food as soon as you announce the trigger. Perfect. Now you can move a bit closer to the trigger and continue. The threshold is getting shorter!

Repeat these sessions until your dog automatically looks towards you whenever a trigger is in sight. Continue to announce the triggers on routine walks, and anytime you are interacting with your dog, be it during a practice session, or not.

Real LIfe Ambush

If you get “ambushed” by a trigger during an outing, and you are not ready with several treats, kindly ask your dog to sit facing you, or to bump your two finger target. If she is too excited, move her away from the trigger and ask again. Repeat this sequence until your dog is far enough away that she will listen to your commands.

This basic method will work with most dogs, and most reactive behaviors, however it is not as efficient as perception modification via Syn Alia Training System.


Keep in mind, there are many factors about your relationship and your daily interactions with your dog that influence behaviors. In addition, your dog may be influenced by other dogs in the household, medical conditions, diet, nutrition, genetic and or neurological factors. If your dog constantly barks at triggers from inside the house, or fence fights with the dogs next door, the prognosis is poor.

You’ll need to prevent your dog from practicing fear and aggression if you want to succeed!

Happy Training!

Alan J Turner

How’s Bentley

Canine Behavior Modification for Fear, Aggression in Dogs – Memphis TN

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Untrained Dog Misbehaving? Attach a Leash. You are a Zookeeper.


German Shepherd DogIf you have a new puppy or dog, you need to manage the environment so your puppy does not practice rude behaviors. Use baby gates, crates, leashes, tethers to control your pup’s access to territory.

Many people overlook the most basic tool for controlling a dog inside the house, the leash. It’s a neat device that has a coupler on one end that attaches to your dog’s collar.

Several times a week, I hear people say, “my dog jumps up on guests or runs out the door at every opportunity”?   I suspect these people do not have a leash attached!

Off leash obedience is an advanced skill. No one would take their untrained dog for a walk, next to Poplar avenue, without attaching a leash. Why? Because they know their dogs are likely to go into the street, or chase a car ,or otherwise get into trouble.  They realize their dog is not trained, does not respond to voice commands, and they manage the environment by attaching a leash. With a leash attached, the dog is safely connected and unable to make stupid choices. GREAT!

Off leash obedience is an advanced skill, regardless if the location is inside or outside. Instead of waiting for your puppy to make mistakes, and attempting to teach via corrections, help your puppy make the right choices and reinforce good behaviors with rewards. You can kindly prevent your utrained dog from jumping up on guests, counter surfing, getting into the trash, or other wise destroying your home by attaching a leash or tether.

The long term solution for naughty behaviors is simple. Learn how to train your dog and then do it!

Here is an outline of your tasks:

Dog Training Success

  • Meet your dog’s social, emotional and physical needs.
  • Kindly prevent your pet from practicing unwanted behaviors. Attach a leash.
  • Learn how to tell your dog exactly what you want.
  • Learn how to motivate your dog to want the same things as you.
  • Change your behaviors in order to change your dog’s behaviors.
  • Form a global training plan.
  • Teach your dog coping skills.
  • Teach your dog basic commands.
  • Practice with your dog every day.
  • Practice with your dog in many different locations.
  • Practice with your dog while increasing the level of distractions.
  • Practice with your dog on a short leash, and then on a long line – before you go off leash.

Happy Training!

Alan J Turner

Certified Companion Animal Behavior Counselor & Trainer – Canine Specialization

Posted on

Frozen Kong for Dogs and Puppies Provides Stimulation, Exercise, and can Aid in Crate Training

BentleyFanFrozen Kong®

Sometimes the weather or my schedule prohibit outside adventures. Sometimes I’m too lazy or tired to exercise. I’ve found ways to entertain Bentley without walking or playing fetch.

Here’s how you can exercise your dog when you are busy.

Get a Kong®. Amazon has excellent prices on these famous Kong toys. You an get a large kong for under $8. Order two or three and keep them loaded in your freezer. The frozen kong provides excellent foraging and entertainment value. If your dog is an aggressive chewer, order the ultimate black kong!

Place a bit of wide, silver duct tape over the small opening to seal it off. Place some dog food and a few treats inside. Pour some water and a bit of low sodium chicken broth inside the Kong®. Don’t fill it all the way to the top with broth, leave some space so you can add wet dog food or peanut butter after it’s frozen. Stand it upright in a cup or glass in the freezer and let it freeze.

Now you are prepared to exercise your dog without leaving your chair! Remove the frozen Kong® from the freezer, remove the duct tape, add a bit of peanut butter or wet dog food in the large opening and give it to your pup. He’ll spend 15-25 minutes stimulating his mind and his body while he is foraging.

You can use the frozen delight to teach your puppy to relax in the crate, laundry room, or in the back yard, alone.  To change your puppy’s perception of being isolated from people, give the frozen kong only when the puppy is alone. After several pairings. the  puppy will begin to enjoy the alone time!

If your dog won’t eat the kong when you leave, try this. Place the dog in the kennel with you sitting in front of the open door. Extend your hand holding the frozen kong into the kennel. Just hold it in your hand as he eats the wet food or peanut butter. If he gets into it, release the kong, stay seated, talk softly while he is eating it. Tell him, “lock up” or whatever phrase you like and close the door. Remain seated in front of the kennel. Talk softly as he eats the goodies inside the kong.

Wait 2- 3 minutes (assuming he’s still involved with the kong. If he stops eating., this won’t work. You’ll need a more detailed plan.) and then tell him, “Free” or whatever word you like. Open the door and immediately take the kong away. (this won’t work if he is aggressive with food items, you’ll need a more detailed plan.) Walk a few steps from the kennel, if he’s hungry and wants the kong, he will come out and follow you, Perfect! Walk back to the kennel and extend your hand with the kong inside. When he grabs the kong and starts eating again, tell him, “lock up” and close the door. Stand next to the kennel and talk to him softly as he eats the goodies in the kong.

Wait 2-3 minutes and then tell him “free”, open the door and take the kong away from him. Walk a few steps away and then return to the kennel. Tell him “kennel up” and toss the kong inside. Tell him “lock up” and close the door. Repeat the sequence but instead of standing nearby and talking softly, walk a few steps away.   Wait 2-3 minutes, repeat the steps of coming back, opening door, and taking the kong. Repeat but walk a bit farther away, until you are out of sight. Once he will still eat the kong when you are out of sight start increasing the time you stay away. Once this exercise is complete, always give him a frozen kong when you leave.

The idea is for him to think, “yay I get a great treat when you leave, and “boo” I lose the treat when you return. Over time he will gladly go in the kennel and will not bark when you leave. Happy training!!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Training!


Posted on

Canis lupus familiaris, Food Related Aggression

BulldogMany people are aware that some pet dogs will guard food.

Food guarding is not uncommon when it occurs between dogs. If that is the only problem, it can usually be controlled by managing the environment. Feed the dogs in different areas; remove the empty bowls, avoid feeding rawhides, crate the dogs during dinner, during pizza parties, et cetera.  Some people accept food guarding between dogs as normal, and are not too upset about it.

When dogs snarl, growl, snap, or bite humans, it becomes a true problem. I usually discuss food and foraging habits with my clients, especially those with aggressive dogs.

Clients tell me, “I can safely reach my hand in the dog’s food bowl, while she’s eating”.

I ask the client if it’s dry food or canned, wet food. The usual answer is “dry kibble”.

I reply, “don’t feed your dog for 4 days, toss some sushi on the kitchen floor, and then try to take the fish away from your starving dog. If she does not snarl, growl, snap, or bite, then I’ll be impressed”.

Don’t sell your beloved companion, Canis lupus familiaris, short. If the dog is hungry and / or the food is high value, she may protest when you approach, or when you try to take the food away.

Just how hungry does your dog need to be, before she will guard food? What food items will trigger the behavior? How will she protest? That depends on the individual.

I’ve met some really naughty girls who will “rip you up” if you approach the territory where their bowls “used to be”. Yikes, these ladies need my help! Food related aggression is not limited to bitches. Dogs are just as likely to guard food. Heck, young puppies, male and female, jockey for food while nursing. The puppies that are better at pushing their way to the teat bar, get fatter, quicker!

Treating dogs who exhibit food related aggression can be simple or complex. Again, it depends on the individual case and the individual dog. If your dog is naughty around food, contact a trainer with experience in canine behavior modification. In the meantime, I can offer these tips.

Do not take your dog’s food in an attempt to “teach him or her who is alpha”. That’s just ignorant. Your dog is already worried that you may steal the food. Don’t confirm his or her misconception!

Instead, place your dog’s empty bowl on the floor. Walk up to the bowl and drop a very high value, small treat. Lunch meat ham or turkey will do. Repeat many times. Once you have done this on several occasions, do the same thing when your dog is eating. Approach the bowl as your dog is eating, drop a piece of yummy food into the bowl and walk away. Repeat.

The idea is to teach your dog that you are NOT going to steal food, you are going to ADD food.

This will change the dog’s perception, a much more suitable outcome than convincing your dog that you are strong and can steal his food!

Happy Training!

Alan J Turner – How’s Bentley – Memphis TN