When your service dog is more photogenic than you’ve ever been.
[Image Description first photo:
Ponyboy the pitbull is sitting in a empty shed, wearing his head halter, collar, and a purple, green, white tie-dye bandana. A black leash is hanging from his halter. He has green boots on his front paws, grey on his back. He is looking past the camera to his handler, and his left lip is stuck folded under itself, while his ears are perked causing his forehead to be wrinkly. His right paw is lifted up and under himself, mid wave.
Second picture description: Seconds after the first picture. His paw is lowering now, and he has shifted his eyes from me to the treat in my hand.
On today’s episode of “things I’m pms-ing too hard to handle”
My new puppy and my heart dog took a nap together this afternoon, side by side blepping
Yes I got a new puppy!
She can see and hear (which is so weird lol) and she looks exactly like a Tasmanian devil so her name is Tasmania. She is 8 weeks old and she likes to launch herself off of high ledges which has been so fun and not at all stressful.
On today’s episode of “things I’m pms-ing too hard to handle”
My new puppy and my heart dog took a nap together this afternoon, side by side blepping
Yes I got a new puppy!
She can see and hear (which is so weird lol) and she looks exactly like a Tasmanian devil so her name is Tasmania. She is 8 weeks old and she likes to launch herself off of high ledges which has been so fun and not at all stressful.
And all these dogs are super fear-aggressive towards strangers as well. The vast, *vast*, majority of dogs a year old or less that we have come in for my shelter’s spay/neuter services are either borderline-traumatized fearful and shut down or they are trying to bite me for the crime of existing within 10 feet of them.
It is not ‘normal’ for a 4 month old shih-tzu puppy to be growling at me from 5 feet away.
It is not ‘normal’ for a 7 month old aussie to lunge for my face when I offered him some food.
It is not ‘normal’ for the 9 month old lab mix to be completely uncontrollable by the owners, up to and including grabbing their arms with his mouth when they tried to put him on the scale and literally knocking them over and dragging them away.
It is not ‘normal’ for the 6 month old golden to be cowering and urinating in fear.
This is a major issue that every level of veterinary and animal care professional is going to be dealing with for the next 15+ years. I sincerely believe that in a few more years, the rate of behavioural euthanasias is going to skyrocket and we’ll be seeing massive increases in incidences of dog bites.
@ all the people in the notes shrieking that because of the pandemic you couldn’t take your dog out: unless you were in one of the few places that had a truly extended lock down, most of this year you have been totally able to take your dog out and let it see the world. Socialization isn’t all about meeting and greeting- exposure is a big part of the program (and too often neglected, but I digress). But meeting “strangers” was not impossible. You probably have people and dogs in your life already you trust enough to meet your puppy at the end of a leash while you stand back. This is honestly who I want a new dog’s first experiences with “strangers” to be with anyway-no surprises because they’re not strangers to me.
It’s also not impossible to avoid separation anxiety when you work from home most of the time. People who work from home or stay home already schedule alone time so their dogs are OK when they do go out for a day.
There were always options. People were ignorant, and wound up with dogs that know them and only them, and the consequences are here. Ignorance isn’t a crime, but you need to own up to all your mistakes as an owner, even the ones you weren’t aware you were making. It’s how you grow as an owner and trainer.
Also it’s never too late to train! Yes some of you may have older dogs, but they just need a little more time, attention, and patience. There’s still hope to socialize them again and help them become the happy pups they were always meant to be. Just make sure to get good info from experienced people and trainers. In general don’t be afraid to ask for help, it’s been a rough year. But usually people are willing to provide help if they can tell you want better for your animal <3
Some of you may have been wondering why the blogging hiatus. That’s because I’ve been extremely busy raising a litter of growlybiteyjumpy things, er– Hokkaido Ken puppies. Since two of them will be staying for at least another month until they can fly to their new homes, I thought I’d go ahead and share my tried and true methods for potty training.
Note: I’ll be using the term “puppy” in this post. However, this post applies to adult dogs just as easily!
The first thing you’ll need is a means of containment for your puppy. For now, start with a crate. All puppies coming from a responsible breeder or experienced foster home should have already been desensitized to being in a crate. If your puppy is coming from a shelter, pet store, or backyard breeder, I highly recommend starting with Susan Garret’s Crate Games DVD as quickly as possible. Crates should be just big enough for your puppy to curl up and lay down in. If the crate is too big, this will make potty training much harder because they will begin to designate a specific side of their crate for pottying in vs sleeping in. PUPPIES DO NOT LIKE TO POTTY WHERE THEY SLEEP! We’re going to work with this. Many crates these days come with wire dividers so you can gradually adjust the size of the crate to fit your growing puppy. If your crate does not come with such divider, using a cardboard box to divide the crate and gradually reducing the size of the box works as well! (Though you may have issues with your puppy chewing the box.)
Your puppy will need to be let out every hour during the day, and every time he starts to cry at night. Just because your puppy can “hold it” while he’s sleeping at night does not mean he can do the same during the day. When you let him out, leash him and take him directly to his potty place (typically outside, but I realize running down three flights of stairs if you live in an apartment isn’t always feasible; sod potty patches or piddle pads are also acceptable).
Leashing him does two important things:
It builds a positive association between the leash and good things, and
It helps him differentiate between potty time and play time
You should do minimal wandering with your puppy when you are attempting to get him to potty. Hold the end of a six foot leash. If necessary, you may take one or two steps in any direction, but no more than that. Give him five minutes to do his thing. Once he does, and wait for him to finish so you don’t cause him to STOP going, shower him with praise/treats while saying “Good GO POTTY!” Only after he potties should you unclip his leash (if he’s indoors or in a securely fenced in location) and let him sniff around or play for thirty minutes before putting him back in his crate.
This teaches him two things:
“Go potty” is something he can do on cue, and
The faster he goes potty, the faster play time comes
It’s extremely important to be consistent about your praise and your cues. If you start slacking off, the inconsistency will show.
When your puppy starts getting the hang of this, introduce an x-pen to give him more freedom. Place his crate inside the x-pen, along with the potty patch or piddle pad if you are going that route. If your puppy is successfully using the potty patch, gradually give him more freedom and start moving the potty patch closer to the door until your puppy will go to the door when he needs to potty.
Keep in mind that a puppy doesn’t have full bladder control until 16-20 weeks of age, sometimes later! Forgive mistakes, and never correct for “happy pee” (puppies eliminating themselves when excited). Remember that potty training is a long process, and while many puppies will progress very quickly using the methods above, there may still be accidents if you aren’t careful about supervising. If your puppy does have an accident and you didn’t catch them in the act, promptly clean it up with an enzymatic cleaner and avoid punishing your puppy for it. All punishment does is confuse a puppy and it can cause issues further down the road.
Still having potty training issues? Stay tuned for my next blog post on potty training troubleshooting!
Not me being targeted one of those dumb speaking dog button videos and the dog literally stress yawns while performing the behavior. Like okay. What if we just…oh I dunno just throwing this out there…learned to communicate with dogs using our knowledge of their own body language instead of forcing them to use a system that’s for our benefit and our benefit alone?
Yall know i’m not active here, I’m a senior in college and worrying about grad school and all that. I often find that I don’t have the time or energy to do the kind of training I did with Sunny Bunny when I got her over the summer where I dedicated 15-30 min to it at a time. She knows sit, down and stay (not as good as I’d want, she will stay in one spot while I walk around and do stuff but I haven’t tested it for longer periods of time or if I leave the room) and I’m gradually teaching her to bring the ball back when I throw it.
What are some ways to get basic training in when you’re low on time?
I also have a SD FAQ that has more information on SDs! If you don’t see what you need in this list or the other one please message me or send me an ask! I really want to add to this list!
“Training should be fun – not you. A common advice given to owners with dogs that are not focused, is that the trainer needs to be more “fun”. I think this is the reason why many try to lure the dog back by being “fun”. You should not be “fun”. Rewards should be fun (and of course, you are a part of the reward), and training should be fun. Fun happens with good sessions and good rewards, not with an owner that tries to look like a clown all the time. I think a lot of dogs get nervous when the owner suddenly tries to be “fun”. They will try to calm their owner down by sniffing, looking away and moving slowly (and then the trainer tries to be even more fun…).”
Whaaaat!?!? An Ethologist science based LIMA trainer actually standing up for *proper* prong collar use!?!
Yes. I’m 99% R+, but have been properly educated (& maintain ongoing training & education) in operant conditioning, classical conditioning, counter conditioning, and other training & behavioral modification methods.
YES I will only use a training tool that I have first tried on myself at MAXIMUM stimulation.
YES I use LIMA methodology and will exhaust / incorporate all other methods of R+, replacement reinforcement, & other B-mod methods before introducing / increaseing tools.
YES I train so that the tools are not needed long term. It is all about teaching the dog how to be set up for communication success! Think scaffolding on a building / sculpture. Eventually you want to see the finished piece in all it’s glory. FADING TOOLS IS IMPORTANT!
ANY Training tools (be it flat collar, harness, martingale, vibration, prong, verbal cue, sign language, body language, food, leash, etc) should be used to promote healthy communication - not punishment or feed frustration - to both ends of the leash!
NOT every training tool is for every dog. The tool is not magic and I get a disturbing number of behavioral cases from humans who thought they could just slap a prong on their dog and “fix them”. THIS IS WHY TRAINING TOOLS GET A BAD RAP!! 1) The dog didnt need fixing, they needed clarity of communication. 2) Now the uneducated but well meaning human made the issue 1000x worse and my job 1000x more difficult vs if they just sought professional help with their dog from the start.
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Personal snobbery:
@hermsprengerusa are the ONLY prong / necktech collars I’ll use. Rounded tips. High quality strong metal that doesn’t bend, warp, rust, or otherwise deteriorate into a DANGEROUS piece of trash. Dont cheap out on your gear. It isnt worth the risk.
*not sponsored but I should be*
A well fitting collar (regardless of type) and leather* leash makes a world of difference. Toss those retractable leashes and ill fitting collars in the rubbish where they belong!
* I prefer responsibly sourced leather b/c it is better on my hands, ages well & lasts FOREVER, doesn’t give me rope burns, doesn’t dry rot / deteriorate into micro plastics like vegan leather.
