This is the fifth of a five part segment, to help dog owners with insecure dogs that act aggressively to strangers. A practical guide to helping owners with dogs who rush and bark at people through windows, fences, at the front door and on leash.
Bite Prevention with Guests Read More »
This is Blog #4 in helping the dog who is barking and lunging at people.
Teaching a Dog to Sit, Stay will Improve His Emotional Control Read More »
In this Blog I will teach you how to prevent your dog from biting a person by helping you understand when your dog is feeling stressed and needs more space from an unfamiliar person. Dogs will offer requests for distance, called distance cues until they learn that their requests go ignored by the human. If they are still afraid, they will simply bite as their fear overrides their ability to think.
Dog Bite Prevention Read More »
In my last blog, I mentioned that changing your dogs behavior begins with good management which prevents him from practicing the unwanted behavior.
I will now explain how to change your dog’s response when meeting a stranger, using the processes of counter-conditioning and desensitization. Counter-conditioning means changing the negative association the dog has formed about people, and replacing it with a positive, happy association using something the dog loves. Desensitization means exposing the dog to the “stimulus” (in this case, a person) at a distance, far enough away that it does not provoke a fear response from your dog, and gradually reducing the distance to the person until the dog is relaxed with the person nearby. Subsequent training can continue as your dog remains calm, and is able to accept treats or play with toys.
Dog Aggression Towards Humans Read More »
For shy or fearful dogs, having a human move into their space is very scary, and it takes away their personal choice. In the Treat and Retreat game, we reverse this situation. Instead of adding social pressure to the dogs, we remove that pressure. This adds to the dogs feeling of control while also giving the dog another opportunity to make a choice. Removal of social pressure should always be part of the Treat and Retreat game, as a way to check how the dog is doing and help keep them under threshold. If a dog goes over threshold, they learn that snapping works, period.
How to Stop Aggressive Dog Barking at People Read More »
There are many ways to get behavior from an animal, for example you can hold your dog down when he jumps up on you, this may work for you, but the negative is that your dog may start barking more when guest arrive. Some dogs will become really wiggly and jumpy with strangers as a way of showing appeasement to the guest to ward off that scary punishment of being held down. This can also make your recall much more
3 Tips for Changing Your Dogs Behavior Read More »
Many people contact me to help them with recall or getting their dog to come when they call them.
A good recall begins with a strong relationship between the human and the dog. The dog who happily comes when called shares a bond with them and trust them completely. They go to them repeatedly because they associate their owner with good things.
If you call your dog and they look at you as if to say why? “Why should I?” It would be nice if relationships were that easy, but we know any relationship has a balance of trust and respect. Anyone parenting children can see similarities as we are able to say “because I said so!” Many of us have learned to give a specific reason, expressing our intentions clearly we will have better success and maintain a healthy relationship with our children in the process.
Does Your Dog Come When You Call? Read More »
I am house training an adult 3 yr old dog that has been allowed to use pee pads all his life. This handsome mix is a very shy boy and did take a day for me to be able to body handle him without him screaming. He is vetted and in good health, just has no idea where the toilet is.
Does Age Matter?
House training a new puppy or an adult rescue dog, uses the same technique, as you are assuming the dog has no idea where to eliminate. While you are conditioning a puppy a new behavior and your are counter conditioning an adult dog a different behavior needs to be considered in your time line for sure. Counter conditioning behaviors will most often take longer.
Effective Potty Training A Puppy Read More »
On a recent trip, I found myself in a nice hotel lobby visiting friends. I decided it was time for “goodbyes” so I headed for the elevator. When the door opened, there were three rather imposing-looking men standing along the back wall. I froze for a second! Do I get in and turn my back
Fight or Flight Response in Dogs? Read More »
Do you ever wonder why your dog performs certain behaviors or motor patterns? I sure have! For example: Why does my dog roll on smelly things? Why does my dog shake his toy? Should I be worried if my dog stalks his playmate? Why does my dog guard his bones? Specific behaviors that are unique
Why Does My Dog Do That? Read More »
