Dog World Sarasota Dog Training

This is one of the most common questions a dog owner asks, because everyone would love for their dog to learn without pain. Of course No trainer in the world would EVER tell you that they will torture your dog.
But how does the question “What tools do you use?” help you to find out what you really want to know? Which is “Is my dog going to still be happy and joyful after graduation?” !
If you are going under a surgery, would you ask your doctor what tools he uses, or would you be more concerned that he does the best job possible?
Would your car mechanic use the same wrench for all bolts …in all different cars?
All dog training equipment is designed to curb bad behaviors, and to give you ability to control your dog easier than other tools. Each year there are more and more products.
More and more advertisements for the latest magic ( good luck!) most of which
are out of the market in a year or two.
Moreover a trainer that only works with dogs from breeds such as border collies and golden retrievers very rarely have to use the equipment that a protection trained dogs may need. The later dogs are selectively bred for their pain threshold, aggression and
fighting traits. They will not respond to the same training approach!
Different breeds, different individuals, different levels of severity of the problem (s), is it a life threatening issue, different physical ability of the owner, how reliable the dog must be… these are only some of the factors an experienced instructor will have to take under consideration when choosing the right tools and approach.
As an owner, don’t get stuck on the equipment used, instead take a look at your dog’s tail. Is it wagging happily, or is it tucked under its belly? Does it looks stressed, lost weight, showing fear, trying to run away , or fight , or be afraid to move at all!? Does it still like to play and take treats? Look for signs, use your feeling, you know your dog don’t you?
Oh yeah and don’t forget that besides being happy it has to
listen to you too . This is not an easy task at times, and to be accomplished
your instructor has to have excellent knowledge and experience, backed up by easy to prove credentials.

www.DogWorldSarasota.com

Positively Immobilized

In the hands of masters of the art, dog training through the use of the principles of operant conditioning looks gloriously effective and deceptively easy.

So how come all of our dogs aren’t getting high scores in competitions? Why do some dogs that are trained with nothing, but positive motivation and positive reinforcement refuse to obey their handler at a trial? How come some dogs trained using only positive motivation obedience classes, would come when called, or down stay reliably and others do not?

Dog World Sarasota trainers are firm believers in the powers of positive thinking. But like any training tool, misuse can cause more problems than you originally started with, and you can find very quickly find yourself in a very large hole. We’d like to present some theories on the nature of positive failures, and suggest some things that might help you out of that hole. Let’s start with human factors. Many people’s training attitudes become factors in their dog’s training. People become devotees of the positive approach after surviving traumas associated with poorly-used or abusive negative techniques. They vow never to hurt their dogs again in the name of the sport of obedience, and by God, they will stick to the rules of operant conditioning, and simply ignore unwanted behavior, and wait to reward correct behavior. This militant attitude puts a lot of limitations on the trainer´s options for methods of communication, while offering no limits to the dog. This is not as good for the dog as you might think, especially if the trainer actually has a very specific behavior in mind at the time of the training session, and the dog has no clue what that behavior might be. The trainer may have to wait for a long time for the correct behavior to be offered, and the dog may get frustrated and quit before the
happy accident occurs. Then you have both dog and trainer immobilized. This part of the syndrome can be worse with a previously trained dog than it is with a new puppy who is more than thrilled to offer random behaviors at high speed. With no negative for the unwanted behavior you may inadvertently be shaping an unwanted behavior.

Our suggestion is to take the word “rules” out of your association with operant conditioning techniques. Operant conditioning is a broad science which is based on some generalizations about behavior patterns that have been observed. For example, “behaviors that a subject finds rewarding will tend to be repeated” (our italics). I’s an informative generalization, but it is not a rule. You can tell it is not a rule by the number of dogs that have been repeatedly rewarded for a behavior, but that don’t repeat the behavior. Ah, but there is a reason for that, found in another part of operant conditioning theory, that is a rule, but is usually perceived as a definition. This is the part that says, a positive reinforcer is something which the subject finds rewarding enough to cause the behavior associated with it to tend be repeated. The unspoken part of this little rule is that the hot dog that your subject finds rewarding enough to cause repetition of behavior in your back yard does not compare with the rewards of gopher hunting in the grass at the park. This is where your fanatic devotion to purely positive reinforcement will be severely challenged, because you will have to either make yourself and the behavior you desire the dog to perform, be associated with something more rewarding than gopher hunting; or you will have to find a way to make gopher hunting less rewarding than the reward that you
are prepared to produce.

Now you could go the distance and put a gopher down the front of your shirt so that your dog will now associate you with hunting gophers. Or you could consider applying enough negative reinforcers and/or punishment to lessen the attractiveness of gopher hunting for the dog, and make heeling seem like a great deal of fun by comparison.

Dog World Sarasota, LLC

Housebreaking your puppy or dog.

From puppy age onwards, dogs display a natural tendency to select and repeatedly use particular locations for elimination. Essentially, all owners have to do is steer the development of this location to preference in the desired direction by doing whatever is necessary to ensure that the puppy relieves only at the desired place at the desired location for a few weeks. Effective housebreaking involves arranging conditions so that the animal only eliminates outside in places acceptable to the owner. If this is achieved, the dogs preference for relieving at these sites, and its related tendency to inhibit elimination at others, develops without having to train the dog to do anything in the normal sense of the term. The following rules should be applied with young dogs:

1) Scheduling

The dog should be taken outside to the place the owner wishes it to eliminate at times when it´s likely
that it will soon need to relieve itself.

These are:
-Shortly after eating/drinking
-As soon as the owner returns after being away from home for some time
-Whenever the owner notices that the dog is engaging in pre-eliminating behaviors such as circling, sniffing, becoming restless etc.
-After a certain period of time has passed since it last eliminated. This varies from dog to dog, and owners must therefore adjust their tactics to their dogs particular rhythm.
-Right before going to bed

2) Supervision

The dog should be closely supervised when the owner is home particularly when considerable time has passed since the last elimination or when the dog goes to the room or the corner where it has eliminated previously.

3) Punishment

Mild punishment like startling the dog with a handclap or other loud noise is appropriate, but only if it´s actually caught in the act of eliminating or squatting. This will interrupt the elimination so that the dog can be taken immediately outside to eliminate at the desired place instead. Be aware that harsh punishment in this case will cause your dog to hide from you while eliminating and this isn´t the goal of housebreaking. If you discover that your dog has already eliminated anywhere in the house – there’s nothing you can or should do to the dog! DO NOT punish the dog if you don´t catch it in the act. The dog would not understand why it´s being punished for, even when you show it the spot.

4) Confinement

When left in the house alone, the dog should be kept under conditions, which it is likely to inhibit elimination until the owner returns. For example it can be confined in a room where it has never eliminated before, or use a baby gate to confine it to a small area (close to its bed or blanket). Areas preferred by puppies for elimination are always some ways away from their usual sleeping place. Dogs don´t like to soil their den.

5) Paper/Training Pad Training

When the owner is going to be gone for too long for the puppy to inhibit its elimination, newspapers can
be laid down over the area where the dog is likely to relieve. This prevents the formation of other surface preferences (e.g. on the carpets) and the size and location of areas covered by newspapers can be easily manipulated later to help in the housebreaking process if a strong preference for eliminating on them does indeed develop.

6) Cleaning

In case of accident we recommend to clean the spot as soon as you discovered it, with “Natures Miracle” which is found in most pet stores. DO NOT clean with a general cleaner products that contain Ammonia. Ammonia is also found in the urine and basically you are not really removing the scent away, but replacing it.

7) Eliminating

Eliminating in the right place – Praise quietly as the puppy goes on the desired place, and give food reward immediately after it eliminates. Praise and reward will really speed up the process of house training. The Adult Dog the same basic housebreaking techniques are used to house train adult dogs, which have never been well housebroken, or have lost their inhibition against eliminating inside for some reason. Depending on the specifics of the case one or more of the following methods may be also helpful: Reward the dog for eliminating outside. As soon as it starts eliminating, quietly praise it, and
may give food reward after it relieves. Putting the dog on feeding and water schedule. For example, do not feed your dog late at night if it eliminates at 4 am (before you wake up). When alone the dog can be kept close to its bed by keeping it on tie-down or confining it in a crate along with its bed.
The dog should be gradually accustomed to being in the crate by placing its bed and using food/toys as rewards. You should work on getting the dog used to the crate for the next several days, teach it to stay inside the crate with the door left open for increasingly longer periods of time. Then start closing the crate briefly and again start increasing the time the dog stays in the crate with closed door
If the dog is strongly accustomed to relieving at a particular time in the night, and there is no medical problem, you may try to “train” its intestinal system by first getting up for example at 12midnight to take the dog outside, and then over a period of two weeks, getting up progressively later at 1pm, 2pm, etc. etc. until the dog learns to hold it during the night. If you keep missing when your dog is eliminating in the house, you may keep the dog on short leash tied to your belt, when it is not confined so you can pay attention to the signs we mentioned above. Never give “the run of the house” to a puppy, or new adult dog without close supervision. This will prevent the dog from hiding and eliminating somewhere in the house. If accidents occur it will be at only one location in the house. Once you see that the dog understands and keeps the place clean, start gradually to give more freedom.

The small breed of dog problem:

As strange as it may seem the small breed dogs are the hardest to housetrain, all rules and suggestion described above apply but need to be reinforced even more with most small dogs. If it looks like you have tried it all, but you are still loosing the ballte of housebraking, then you may want to consider placing a pad somewhere in your home where the small dog can go at all times. There are few companies that make them as housetraining tools for puppies but they work great for small dogs too.

When do you consult a dog behaviorist?

Marking:

This is a behavior problem almost exclusively involving male dogs. If your dog keeps urinating inside the
house, never really empty itself, but leaves few drops on specific places in the house (leg of the table, chair etc.) some different approach should be taken on individual basis.

Submissive urination:

Submissive urination is a behavior related to a social status/ranking. It is seen mostly with puppies and younger dogs. It occurs when the dog feels confronted by someone that it perceives to be socially dominant or threatening. Submissive urination may also occur when the dog is over excited. NEVER use punishment to correct this problem In both situations you should consult with a dog behaviorist for
correcting the problem on an individual basis.

Dog World Sarasota, LLC