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Teach Your Dog Commands for Moving Through Doorways – Inside / Outside

Bent_InsideInside – Outside

Description: The dog moves through an open door on command, on and off leash.

Function: Teach the dog to move through doors on command.

Prerequisites: Condition a reward marker; “Sit”, “Attention – Without Cue”;

Target Here”

Time: 4 Days

Many of my clients complain that their dogs will not enter and exit their houses on command. The dogs ignore their owners, stand and look at their owners, or run away.

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.

There are many reasons a dog might not be motivated to obey. Some dogs may prefer the inside because of the weather outside. If an owner has a history of calling their dog inside, placing the dog in  the crate, and leaving the house, the dog may remember and be hesitant to come inside. Other dogs like to chase critters and bark at noises outside.

Regardless of the underlying reasons, training and practice is the solution. I use the “Inside – Outside” game to teach dogs to move through doorways. To play the game, follow these suggestions.

First Day:

Place your dog on a 6 foot leash.

Stand inside your house next to an exit door.

Tell your dog to sit. Praise your dog for the sit.

Tell your dog, “Outside”.

Open the door and walk outside. Don’t pull that rascal through the door. Make some “kissy” noises to charm your dog as you and your dog walk through the door to the outside. Mark the instant he or she passes through the doorway.

Close the door.

Drop the leash.

Toss a treat on the ground outside, several feet away from the door.

Pick up the leash.

Tell your dog to sit. Praise your dog for the sit.

Tell your dog, “Inside”.

Open the door and walk inside. Don’t pull that rascal through the door. Use your voice to charm your dog as you and your dog walk through the door to the inside.

Mark the instant he or she passes through the doorway.

Close the door.

Drop the leash.

Toss a treat on the floor inside, several feet away from the door.

Repeat the sequence 2 more times for a total of 6 trials (3 Outside – 3 Inside) during each practice session. Hold 3 of these practice sessions every day. End each session with a walk, a game of fetch, or any of your dog’s favorite play activities.

Next Day:

Play the Inside – Outside game 3 times each day for a total of 18 trials. Practice at each door you plan to enter and exit with your dog during each session. For example, if you use 2 doors, practice the sequence 2 times at 1 door and 1 time at the other door. If you have 3 doors, practice one sequence at each door.

Third Day:

Stand inside your house next to an exit door to a fenced area, with no leash attached.

Call your dog, using the two-finger target.

Mark the instant your dog touches the target and immediately tell your dog to sit. Praise your dog for the sit.

Tell your dog, “Outside”.

Open the door.

Step into the door opening.

Your dog will pass through the door.

Mark the instant he or she passes through the doorway.

Toss a treat on the ground outside, several feet away from the door.

Close the door. Your dog will be on the outside and you will be on the inside.

Immediately walk outside. Close the door.

Call your dog, using the two-finger target.

Mark the instant your dog touches the target and immediately tell your dog to sit. Praise your dog for the sit.

Open the door and tell your dog, “Inside”.

Step into the door opening. Your dog will pass through the door. Mark the instant he or she passes through the doorway.

Toss a treat on the floor inside, several feet away from the door. Close the door. Your dog will be on the inside and you will be on the outside.

Repeat the sequence 2 more times for a total of 6 trials (3 Outside – 3 Inside) during each practice session. Hold 3 of these practice sessions every day. End each session with a walk, a game of fetch, or any of your dog’s favorite play activities.

Fourth Day:

Fade the marker and the food treat, and reduce your motion of moving into the doorway. When your dog moves through the door, offer verbal praise and toss a ball or a toy instead of a treat. You can step inside or outside with your dog, or not.

Stand inside your house next to an exit door to a fenced area, with no leash attached.

Tell your dog to sit. Praise your dog for the sit.

Tell your dog, “Outside”.

Open the door.

Your dog will pass through the door.

Praise your dog.

Toss a ball or toy outside, several feet away from the door.

Close the door. Your dog will be on the outside and you will be on the inside.

Open the door and walk outside. Close the door.

Tell your dog to sit. Praise your dog for the sit.

Open the door and tell your dog, “Inside”.

Your dog will pass through the door.

Close the door. Your dog will be on the inside and you will be on the outside.

Repeat the sequence 2 more times for a total of 6 trials (3 Outside – 3 Inside) during each practice session. Hold 3 of these practice sessions every day. End each session with a walk, a game of fetch, or any of your dog’s favorite play activities.



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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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Vacuum Chasing Dog:My Dog Barks and Attacks the Vacuum!


JavaBedDoes your dog or puppy hide from, bark at, chase, bite, your vacuum cleaner?  It seems there are a group of dogs who protest whenever we try to clean up!

If you have a puppy under 12 weeks of age, now is the time to gently expose him or her to everyday events and noises. During the critical period of socialization, these exposures teach our dog lifelong coping skills.

If you are reading this, I imagine your dog is beyond 12 weeks of age. That’s okay. You can still teach your dog to relax when you vacuum.

First off, forget about stopping “barking and attacking the vacuum” behaviors. You will spiral into an abiss of failures if you try to punish these unwanted behaviors. And, even if you succeed, you have not taught your dog any useful skills that may come in handy in other situations. Spend your energy and time teaching your dog an acceptable behavior, which will be incompatible with the unwanted behavior.

And, kindly prevent your dog from practicing “attack the vacuum” behaviors! Have a family member take your dog out for a walk when you vacuum or place the dog in another area with a chew toy. Practice makes perfect! Yikes!

Before you can teach your dog anything, you should identify the components that make up the target behavior. Exactly what does “relax when I vacuum” behavior look like? I picture the dog lying on his or her bed and calmly resting while I vacuum. That’s why you should teach and practice Go-To-Place before you work on “relax for vacuum” behavior.

Anytime you catch yourself saying “NO” or trying to stop any behavior, ask yourself these two questions:

At this instant in time, exactly what do I want my dog to do?

Where do I want my dog to perform this behavior?

The answers are your next training goal!

Teach your dog exactly what to do when you vacuum, and where to do it. I like to use Go-To-Place for the replacement behavior.

You cannot teach your dog to Go-To-Place when you are vacuuming your floor. Set aside time for training sessions to teach your dog Go-To-Place.

Here are the steps for teaching a dog anything you want.

  1. Condition a reward marker, a signal to tell your dog the instant he or she has succeeded.
  2. Establish a Rewards System, so your dog will be motivated to cooperate.
  3. Get the dog to perform the behavior (or some portion of the behavior) during practice sessions.
  4. Mark the instant your dog succeeds.
  5. Reward your dog, reinforce the behavior.
  6. Refine the behavior through repeated practice sessions in many different areas.
  7. Add distractions so your dog will always perform the behavior.
  8. Practice the behavior in real life.

Once you have a conditioned reward marker and a Reward System in place, and you have taught your dog to Go-To-Place, you are ready to teach your dog or puppy to relax when you vacuum your floors. The general idea is to expose your dog to the sounds and motions of the vacuum, in such small doses that your dog will remain in his or her place. Each cycle the vacuum is closer to the dog than the previous cycle.  Reward your dog for Go-To-Place and NOT BARKING when the vacuum is moving, then when the vacuum is far away and powered on, when the vacuum gets closer, et cetera. Here’s how

Place the vacuum cleaner in the room with your dog nearby. Plug the vacuum cleaner into the outlet, but do not turn it on. Tell your dog to Go-To-Place.

Reach for the handle. If your dog does not bark, or get off his or her place, deliver your reward marker. Toss your dog a food treat. Repeat 3 times. Each time you touch, mark, and toss treat is called a cycle or trial.

Reach for the handle and push the vacuum a few inches. If your dog does not bark, or get off his or her place, when you push the vacuum a few inches, deliver your reward marker and toss your dog a food treat. Repeat 3 times for a total of 4 cycles. If your dog barks or attacks the vacuum cleaner when you push it, go back to the previous step (touch the handle, mark and treat) and perform several more cycles.

Reach for the handle and push the vacuum (the vacuum is still off, not turned on) a few feet. If you dog does not bark, or get off his or her place, when you push the vacuum a few feet, deliver your reward marker and toss your dog a food treat. Repeat 3 times for a total of 4 cycles. If your dog barks or attacks the vacuum cleaner when you push it a few feet, go back to the previous step (push the vacuum a few inches) and perform several more cycles.

Once you can push the silent vacuum around the room while your dog stays quietly in his or her place, you are ready for these next steps. You’ll need a helper.

Have your helper take the vacuum in another area of the house, as far away from your dog’s place as possible. Close the door to the room (if applicable). You stay with your dog in the same room as the dog’s bed (or place). Have your helper turn on the vacuum for a few seconds and then turn it off. As soon as you hear the vacuum, tell your dog to Go-To-Place. Mark the instant he or she gets on the dog bed. Toss a food treat. Praise your dog. Coax your dog off the bed.

Again, instruct your helper to turn on the vacuum for a few seconds and then turn it off. This time it will be on for a few more seconds than before. Tell your dog to Go-To-Place, mark and treat. Repeat several times, each cycle the helper will keep the vacuum cleaner running for more seconds. Repeat until the helper can leave the vacuum running and your dog will calmly remain in his or her place.

Repeat the sequence from the beginning (vacuum on for a few seconds, then off), but open the door to the room with the vacuum or move it closer to you and the dog. Continue to practice in cycles, each cycle the vacuum is closer and closer to you and the dog.  After several carefully planned practice sessions, your dog will know exactly what to do when the vacuum is running and where to do it.

When you start vacuuming in the same room, don’t be greedy. 🙂 Run and push the vacuum a few inches and then turn it off and reward your dog for staying in place. Gradually increase the duration of the vacuuming before you reward your dog.

Happy Training!

Alan J Turner – Dog Trainer in Memphis, Collierville, Germantown, Cordova, Bartlett, Arlington, TN

How’s Bentley –

Private and Group Dog Training

In the picture, Java the Papillon is resting in his “Place” or bed.