Who Has Time for This?

Posted on Nov 15 in Small Dog Behaviorby Jeff K.Print

Does your dog behave like a nutcase? At Kelsey’s Dog House, we see every type of dog behavior, ranging from those you would call calm, sedate, or secure, to those you might label crazy, irritable, or neurotic. Almost invariably, the dogs who act crazy don’t seem to know what is expected of them. They are freewheeling and nearly out of control. I would liken it to a child going through its “terrible twos”; or an untied balloon full of air that is released to fly crazy patterns. Something is wrong, but there is an answer.

Here is what author and dog trainer Jon Katz has to say about the problem and the answer in his book “The New Work of Dogs” (Villard Books, 2003):

“Trainers, breeders, and behaviorists uniformly speak of the critical need to train dogs in some intelligent, clear, and positive way. Training not only keeps them safe—away from cars and streets, for instance—but it brings order to their relationship with people, provides them with a notion of place in their social structure, gives shape to their working instincts. It helps them to make sense of their world.

“Like kids, dogs need to understand what the rules are so that they can relax, obey them, and feel safe. Natural dog behavior often doesn’t mesh with human customs. When dogs don’t know the rules, don’t understand where to eliminate, what to chew, how to behave, they get into trouble. They grow confused and frightened, they anger or upset the humans they live with, and may develop a wide range of neurotic and aggressive behaviors that make everyone unhappy.”

Here is another observation on the importance of leading your dog. This comes from dog trainer Karen Steinrock in her article “How to Deal with a Nervous Dog,” Allentown Morning News, Sept. 9, 2008:

“I often remind dog-manners students who have trouble delivering meaningful commands that the happiest, most well-adjusted dogs on the planet are those involved in obedience, pet therapy, agility, doggie dancing — any number of “jobs.” The most neurotic [dogs] are doted on by owners who think giving Fido unconditional, unearned love will result in good behaviors.

“It’s really the other way around. If we are strong leaders, our dogs reward US with unconditional love and the mannerly behavior we want.”

I believe most people understand the need to train their dog and yet, so many dogs go untrained. Many of us simply do not have the time it takes to train a dog. When we need something done, we need it done now. Training a dog does not happen overnight. Animal behaviorist Stanley Coren says in his book “Dog Intelligence” it may take up to 2000 repetitions of a command and a response from your dog before the dog reliably responds to the command. Who has time for that?

There are two solutions. First, you can hire a trainer for one-on-one work, or you and your dog can attend a training class. Second, you can figure out a way to fit dog training into your busy schedule. Here are some suggestions from dog training examiner Jeff Millman in an article posted at Examiner.com, Sept. 2, 2008:

• Do short training sessions before EVERYTHING that your dog wants. Examples include walks, dinner, belly rubs, games of fetch.
• Use what I call the Calorie Bowl. Portion out your dog’s daily food including a few tasty treats and put it on the counter out of reach. Grab handfuls of it throughout the day and do quick training sessions. When the food is done, your dog is done eating for the day. No worries about overfeeding and it forces you to think about daily training.
• Use Kongs to feed your dog. Extracting food out of Kongs is a great way to provide your dog with mental stimulation.
• Have a favorite outside-only toy that your dog gets for good behavior on walks. Give it to him or her for a snappy behavior such as walking next to you for 20 steps. Then, take it away and ask for more of the behavior before your dog gets it back.
• One of my favorites: put training sessions in your calendar. Everything else is scheduled, why not training? One of my private client’s favorite things about our sessions is that it reminds them to do weekly training. If you schedule it, you will find the time!

If you own a dog that is not well-behaved, you do not need me to tell you how difficult that is. Fortunately, misbehaving dogs are simply dogs that have not yet been trained how to behave. The process of training a dog to behave well is not all that complicated, and it works at any stage of a dog’s life. It simply takes a bit of time.

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• When to Feed a Small Dog says:

  June 3, 2009 at 12:51 pm

  [...] As you would guess, timed feeding is the opposite of free feeding. In timed feeding you place a food bowl on the floor at a specific time of day, or after a specific activity, such as an evening walk. Timed feedings may be delivered once a day; or, parts of a full day’s ration may be delivered two or more times per day. In general, puppies, like human babies, need to eat several times per day. Adult dogs can take all their nutrition in one or two meals per day. There is also a school of thought that says a dog’s entire daily ration of food can be handed out a little at a time in response to good behavior or as part of a training regimen. You can find an article on that method here. [...]