July 31st, 2008
By Eric Letendre
One of the main reasons for this behavior problem is because of how we greet our dogs. The dog is usually excited that company is there and when we greet we are bending over the dog. If you think about it from the dog’s point of view the dog is looking up at the person, the guest is towering over the dog. This body posture can intimidate a submissive dog which triggers the urination.
It’s important for you or your guests to keep the greeting very low-key. When your dog gets excited your dog has a much more difficult time controlling his bodily functions.
Pay close attention to your body language. Don’t lean over your dog. Squat down so you are not bending over your dog, this way you can greet your dog without triggering the submissive urination.
Have treats close to the front door when you come in. This way you can grab some or your guests can. When you greet your dog you can toss the treats a few feet in front of your dog. This will get your dog to focus on the treats and not so much on your greeting. You don’t want to give your dog the treat from your hand because you will be bending over your dog.
Once your dog calms a little have your guests come in and sit down. This way your dog will be able to come over and greet your guests without them standing over your dog.
Most dogs calm down a few minutes after you come home or your guests arrive. You want to try and get your dog to calm as quickly as possible.
Dogs that have this problem are usually a little fearful. Don’t yell or scream when this behavior occurs. It will only make it worse. Try to build your dogs confidence a little. This can be done through positive training and agility training. Training your dog in agility can do a lot to develop confidence.
July 31st, 2008
By Eric Letendre
How to Use A Clicker For Housetraining Problems
Not too long ago I was over a friend’s house. She was telling me that she could not housetrain her dog and that her dog was starting to bite her. A few minutes later I understood why her dog was having problems and biting her. Another friend came into the house and her dog became very excited. Her dog peed, she immediately picked up the dog and very firmly smacked her. She then tossed her dog into the crate. My friend said, “No matter how much I smack her she still goes in the house.”
My question was – if what you’re doing is not working why do you keep doing the same thing. We all know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Her dog was starting to bite her because she was smacking the dog a lot. Any living creature can only handle so much punishment before they start to lash out. The problem with housetraining is that it is not a behavior problem, it’s a location problem. We just need to teach our dogs the proper location. This is done by clearly communicating to your dog.
A clicker is such a great training tool because it helps you pinpoint the behavior you are trying to teach. When you first start using a clicker you need to teach your dog that the sound of the clicker is followed by a treat.
This is called classical conditioning. You click and then give a treat. You do this over and over until your dog here’s the sound of the click and expects a treat. When you first start using the clicker you don’t ask your dog to do any command. You just click and treat over and over. Within a short period of time your dog will know the sound of the clicker.
Once your dog understands the sound of the clicker you can start to use it to shape behavior. You have a tool that lets your dog know that they are being rewarded for doing a certain behavior.
It really is an amazing training tool. A lot of dogs get confused about housetraining because they are not rewarded for going in the right place or they don’t understand that they are getting the reward for going.
Now you can start to use the clicker to teach your dog where to go. The first step is to manage your dog’s behavior. When you can’t watch your dog you should put your dog in a crate. Most dogs won’t go in the crate. When you can watch your dog keep a close eye on your him. If your dog shows any signs of going quickly bring your dog outside.
Bring your dog outside on leash. It’s important that your dog is on leash. You need to be close to your dog to properly communicate to him. As your dog is walking around sniffing the ground getting ready to go start saying, “Get busy,” “Get busy,” and wait until your dog goes. As soon as your dog starts to go don’t say anything.
The second your dog is finished, click and treat your dog. Do this every time you bring your dog out. The important point to remember is that you need to be really consistent. You have to make sure that you are there every time your dog goes outside and you have to make sure you don’t give your dog the opportunity to go in the house.
July 30th, 2008
By Eric Letendre
Not too long ago I was over a friend’s house. She was telling me that she could not housetrain her dog and that her dog was starting to bite her. A few minutes later I understood why her dog was having problems and biting her. Another friend came into the house and her dog became very excited. Her dog peed, she immediately picked up the dog and very firmly smacked her. She then tossed her dog into the crate. My friend said, “No matter how much I smack her she still goes in the house.”
My question was – if what you’re doing is not working why do you keep doing the same thing. We all know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Her dog was starting to bite her because she was smacking the dog a lot. Any living creature can only handle so much punishment before they start to lash out. The problem with housetraining is that it is not a behavior problem, it’s a location problem. We just need to teach our dogs the proper location. This is done by clearly communicating to your dog.
A clicker is such a great training tool because it helps you pinpoint the behavior you are trying to teach. When you first start using a clicker you need to teach your dog that the sound of the clicker is followed by a treat.
This is called classical conditioning. You click and then give a treat. You do this over and over until your dog here’s the sound of the click and expects a treat. When you first start using the clicker you don’t ask your dog to do any command. You just click and treat over and over. Within a short period of time your dog will know the sound of the clicker.
Once your dog understands the sound of the clicker you can start to use it to shape behavior. You have a tool that lets your dog know that they are being rewarded for doing a certain behavior.
It really is an amazing training tool. A lot of dogs get confused about housetraining because they are not rewarded for going in the right place or they don’t understand that they are getting the reward for going.
Now you can start to use the clicker to teach your dog where to go. The first step is to manage your dog’s behavior. When you can’t watch your dog you should put your dog in a crate. Most dogs won’t go in the crate. When you can watch your dog keep a close eye on your him. If your dog shows any signs of going quickly bring your dog outside.
Bring your dog outside on leash. It’s important that your dog is on leash. You need to be close to your dog to properly communicate to him. As your dog is walking around sniffing the ground getting ready to go start saying, “Get busy,” “Get busy,” and wait until your dog goes. As soon as your dog starts to go don’t say anything.
The second your dog is finished, click and treat your dog. Do this every time you bring your dog out. The important point to remember is that you need to be really consistent. You have to make sure that you are there every time your dog goes outside and you have to make sure you don’t give your dog the opportunity to go in the house.
May 18th, 2007
By Eric Letendre
This was a rough week training dogs for your friend The Amazing Dog Training Man. This past week I was called a blankhole not once but twice. Now for those of you that know me, you know that I am a very non-confrontational, laid back, easy to get along with type of guy. But I did rub a couple of people the wrong way this week.
Let me tell you about one of the instances. The local humane society asked me to take a look at a dog that they adopted out. The dog was having two problems: dog to dog aggression and housetraining.
No problem, I drove out to the house to evaluate the dog. The owner informed me that his dog wanted to kill other dogs and was urinating on his carpet. I had to wait around for about an hour for someone to walk their dog down the street so I could see the dog’s behavior. Finally a dog showed up and I quickly learned that the dog was not aggressive. He wanted to play! The owner, through no fault of his own, thought his dog was being aggressive. I informed the owner that he should take his dog to a group obedience class that I was teaching at the shelter. He agreed.
On Wednesday when he came he said that there was no way he could attend the class. He still thought that his dog was going to beat up the other dogs and be disruptive. I had one of my helpers handle his dog and we showed him that his dog was fine.
The whole time he was complaining about his dog. Every time I showed him how good his dog was, he came up with a reason why his dog was bad. He then said that his dog was peeing all over his kitchen. I told him that the easiest way to help him with the housetraining problem was to use a crate. He said that no way was he going to use a crate. He said that he would bring the dog back before he would use a crate.
I explained his options:
He told me that all of those options were unacceptable. He would bring the dog back before he did any of those options. That’s when I realized that he didn’t want the dog and was looking for a way to put the blame on me because he was feeling guilty about bringing the dog back. I said that the best thing to do was to probably bring the dog back to the shelter.
That’s when he got really upset with me. I didn’t get angry because I knew that it was a difficult decision for him, and if it made him feel better to put the blame on me that was fine because in the long run the dog would be better off.
I understand why people get upset when they feel that there is no alternative but to bring their dog back to a shelter but they really shouldn’t. Not every dog is for every person, and shelter dogs especially come with their own unique set of challenges.
Adopting a dog from a shelter can be a very rewarding experience. Two of my dogs are “pound puppies,” and they’ve added tremendously to my life. A good piece of advice though before you bring home a dog from your local shelter is to get as much information from the staff and volunteers first to make sure that it has the potential to work. And then, think of the first few weeks as just a trial. If it works out – great! If not – don’t feel bad or guilty about having to bring the dog back, it just wasn’t meant to be.
All the best,
Eric
Free video dog training and behavior lessons, articles and tips. Go to AmazingDogTrainingMan.com
May 11th, 2007
By Eric Letendre
Seems like I spent most of the week helping new puppy owners housetrain their pups. Housetraining can be accomplished in as little as ten days if you follow a plan, a plan that has worked for many dog owners. The closer you follow the plan, the better the results.
Step 1: Understand dog behavior – dogs do not know right from wrong. What they understand is safe and dangerous. When your puppy comes into your house he doesn’t understand that it is “bad” behavior to urinate on your carpet.
We want to teach your dog that going in the house is unacceptable. We do this by catching your dog in the act – not after the behavior has occurred but while the behavior is happening. Punishing your dog after the behavior has occurred can confuse your dog, making the housetraining process much more difficult.
Step 2: Understand your dog’s digestive system – A dog’s digestive system is much shorter than a humans. We have about 26 feet of intestines, a dog has about 8 feet, so the whole process is going to happen much faster. It is also important to remember that what goes in must come out.
Some dog food companies recommend feeding a puppy four times a day. That can make the housetraining process very, very difficult on the puppy and the owner. I have always fed my puppies twice a day. You can meet all of their nutritional requirements and make it much easier to housetrain on this feeding schedule, which leads us to step 3…
Step 3: Develop a schedule – Putting your dog on a feeding schedule during the housetraining process can make your efforts much more successful. A dog or puppy that is allowed to eat whenever she wants will make housetraining very difficult. Also, developing a schedule to take your dog outside will make it easier on you. I always bring a dog outside within 15 to 20 minutes after meals.
Step 4: Manage your dog’s behavior – One of the most important steps in the housetraining process is the proper management of your dog’s behavior. In step 1 we discussed catching your dog in the act, not after the fact. Using a crate can help you when you are too busy to watch your pup.
Most pups and dogs will not eliminate in their crate. When you need to go to work or have to leave the house for a while, you can put your pup in her crate. When you come home, you can immediately take her outside and not give her the opportunity to make a mistake in the house.
Using a crate is excellent for young dogs. At some point in your dog’s life he will probably have to go into a crate. The vet, travel, and grooming visits all require your dog to go into a crate. It is better to get him used to one while he is young. I also recommend crates because as a former animal control officer, I have seen plenty of young dogs that became injured – some seriously – because they were allowed too much freedom while unattended.
Step 5: Influence your dog’s behavior – Just as you need to catch your dog in the act, you also need to let your dog know that she is doing the right behavior. During the housetraining process it is a good idea to take your dog out on leash. If you let your dog out into a fenced in area and you are not there, you will not be able to communicate to your dog that she is doing the right behavior.
When your pup needs to go out, put your pup on leash and as she is sniffing the ground say a command like, “get busy” or “do your business,” and keep saying that until your pup starts to go. Once she starts, don’t say anything else. Once your pup is finished, praise and reward her immediately.
Step 6: Proper clean up – When I am helping someone housetrain their pup, one of the first questions I ask is “What are you cleaning up the mess with?” A lot of people get commercial cleaners at the supermarket. A lot of these products contain ammonia. Ammonia smells like urine to your dog. So if your dog urinates on the carpet and you clean with an ammonia product, your dog will come back to that spot and think that a strange dog has gone on the carpet. Your dog will eliminate again on that same spot to cover it.
Nature’s Miracle is an excellent product that has enzymes to break down the scent of urine naturally.
Step 7: Get everyone involved – if you live by yourself with your dog this step will be easy. If your dog lives in a house with more than one person, make sure that everyone is taking the steps to make the housetraining process quick and easy. The closer everyone sticks to the plan, the faster the training will progress.
Conclusion – Dog training really boils down to timing, consistency, and motivation. When we are housetraining a dog, we need to make sure that our timing is good – catching your dog in the act. We need to make sure that we are consistent with the training – same feeding schedule, outside schedule, and everyone in the house is on the same page. Motivation is rewarding your dog for going outside and startling your dog when they start to eliminate in the house.
Click here for my complete housetraining report.
Free video dog training and behavior lessons, articles and tips. Go to AmazingDogTrainingMan.com
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Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States. For more than 20 years, he has been developing dog training "hacks" that have worked for dog owners all over the world. Eric operates from a home office or a laptop while traveling and draws on his experience and passion for dog training to show others how to develop a dog that is truly “Man’s Best Friend”.
Eric is the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Hack Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
