Flying Poodles

Who’s running the house?

Every so often I run into someone who tells me “oh, my dog is so badly behaved” or “my dog used to be crate trained but he doesn’t like it so now he isn’t.” It makes me crazy. Who has been trained here? It would appear the dog is training the person… which is not the right idea.

If you want your dog to be crate trained, make the crate a rewarding place. Throw treats in at random. Put it in a place where the dog can still see what’s going on if that matters to him. Our crates are in the bedroom so the dogs can sleep with us at night; when we go out during the day, they sleep in the same safe place.

If your dog does something that annoys you, and does it consistently, something about it is rewarding. Dogs don’t waste time on stuff that doesn’t pay off one way or another.

I get slightly nuts when I’m at someone’s house and their dog tries to play me for a sucker by bringing a ball over and over and over. I like to take the ball and ask the dog to sit… then pause for a second before I throw it. Next time, a few seconds. It’s not that hard to get the dog to sit and wait for a few minutes–the ball throw is a big reward, but it often surprises the owner when I do it.

Elly and Dancer are both trained to wait until they’re released explicitly from a sit. When we have non-dog-people over, they’re always impressed by watching Dancer and Elly wait without moving–while I have treats–until they’re released (“Okay!”). I think they’re too easily impressed; that’s an easy trick!

Training a dog is not that hard. Mainly, you need to realize that

• dogs do what’s rewarding and quit doing what isn’t; the dog defines what’s rewarding, you don’t
• you’re always training the dog, 24/7/365–be consistent and don’t think “just this once”
• Las Vegas rules apply: an occasional jackpot really keeps everyone’s interest up (so if your dog got that steak off the counter, it’s going to be a LONG time before he stops checking the counter for another steak)

And watch that you aren’t sending the wrong message. Every single time I go to Marymoor I see some poor person chasing their dog all over the park, trying to get their dog in the car. And then what do they do once they catch the dog? They yell at him and drag him to the car and force him in. Of course the dog doesn’t want to come!

A few weeks ago, I was leaving as a woman approached the next car with her reluctant dog on leash. She was yelling at the dog and it didn’t want to get in the car. She looked at me and said “I have an appointment and he won’t get in the car.” I handed her one of my chicken liver and oatmeal treats, told her to give him half and then throw the other half in the car. It worked. She said “but I can’t do that every time, it would be bribery.”

Not from the dog’s point of view: from the dog’s view, there was a liver treat in the car so he got in. Cool!

Imagine the change in the dog’s attitude if there was a liver treat in the car every single time for a while… Now switch to Las Vegas rules: sometimes there’s two or three and sometimes there’s none. The dog will still be interested, and it’s okay if you forget your treats sometimes.