January 31st, 2010
By Eric Letendre
Exercise for dogs is an important topic to discuss. One of the main reasons we have behavior problems with dogs is there lack of exercise. Pent up energy in dogs can create havoc in most households. It’s important to understand that there are two types of exercise for dogs: Mental exercise and physical exercise.
It’s good to give your dog mental activities to do when you are away for long periods of time. In the videos you’ll see my two favorite types of mental exercises for dogs.
June 4th, 2009
By Eric Letendre
Not too long ago I was working with a dog and her owner this when the 3rd biggest dog training mistake reared it’s ugly head.
During the training session, I quickly observed a big problem between the owner and her dog.
It was the second time meeting with and I knew what she was going to ask me.
You see, we were outside and her dog was not listening to her. Her dog was grabbing the leash, not coming back to her when she called and could care less when she said "Stay."
About 20 minutes into the session she turned to me and said: "My dog listens to you but she won’t listen to me. How can I get her to listen to me?"
Instead of telling her how to fix the problem I asked her some questions. I asked her:
"Do you have your dog do a sit stay for meals?"
"No."
"Do you let your dog win tug games?"
"Yes."
"Do you ever chase you dog around the house?"
"Yes."
"Do you ever tell your dog to get off the couch?"
"No."
I thanked her for being honest, and then I told her what the problem was.
Leadership!
Her dog did not look to her as the leader, and when this happens, your dog will not respond to you the way you want him to.
It really is easy to teach your dog that you are the leader. All you need to do is control the food, games, sleeping areas and social contact.
The next time your dog is not listening to you, stop and evaluate your relationship with your dog.
Are there steps you could take to become a stronger leader. You’ll see big changes in your dog’s behavior.
Good Luck!
All the best,
Eric
P.S. If you’re looking for more info on how to become the pack leader, hop on over to the Dog Training Inner Circle – complete with videos, audio and articles on the best ways to teach your dog. http://dogtraininginnercircle.com
September 9th, 2008
By Eric Letendre
Everything was going great. Rach had a big pot of chili cooking on the stove, I was sitting in front of my big screen TV, favorite adult beverage in hand, enjoying the afternoon when disaster struck.
Tom Brady, last year’s league MVP, arguably one of the best players to ever suit up, the quarterback for the mighty New England Patriots went down with a season ending knee injury. As depression set in I decided that I couldn’t let it effect me. I had to be pro-active about this and decided to take my dogs for a hike in the woods.
As I was walking with my dogs I thought about how important it is for our dogs to get regular exercise and activity. A lot of behavior problems are exercise problems. Many of the dogs that I see are not suffering from a behavior problem; they simply have too much pent-up energy and need exercise.
In this article you’ll learn the two forms of exercise that all dogs need. It’s important to understand that a lot of behavior problems stem from the dog having too much pent-up energy. Young dogs (4 to 14 months) have an unlimited amount of energy. In today’s society, a lot of dogs spend long hours by themselves. A lot of dogs are left in crates or in the house while their owners are at work. Day after day the dog waits around to do something. This pent-up energy builds and manifests itself into a behavior problem.
No amount of training can overcome an exercise problem.
The first step to overcoming your dog’s behavior problems is to physically exercise your dog. A lot of dogs spend a lot of time by themselves waiting for us to do something with them. Today there are many more resources for dogs than ever before. One of the best activities you can do with your dog is dog daycare. Dog daycare allows your dog to spend the day playing with other dog-friendly dogs. If a dog daycare is not right for your dog, a dog walker may be the answer.
Here are 41 ideas to help you give your dog physical exercise:
1. Memory retrieve
2. Two-Person recalls
3. Treasure hunt
4. Service dog gofer
5. Hide and seek
6. Leg weaves
7. Weaving with ski poles
8. Agility
9. Digging for objects
10. Herding indestructible ball
11. Chase remote control car
12. Chase object on fishing pole
13. Chase light
14. Chase racquetball bounce back
15. Chase remote control airplane
16. Chase hose with water
17. Chase ball
18. Lure coursing
19. Swimming free
20. Swim next to canoe
21. Swimming relay race with bumpers
22. Water Kong retrieve
23. Jumping over picnic benches
24. Skateboarding
25. Fly ball
26. Frisbee
27. Mountain Bike
28. Run through powder snow
29. Run through sand dunes
30. Sled dog
31. Treadmill
32. Run a race track
33. Jog with dog
34. Rollerblade
35. Backpacking
36. Carting
37. Skijor
38. Run hills
39. Walk/run stairs
40. Throw ball downstairs
41. Throw ball upstairs.
Give your dog some mental exercise. Mental activities include: obedience training, tricks, agility, flyball and tracking. Mental activities are extremely important for your dog. I have seen very active, hyper dogs lie down and take a nap after a 10- to 15-minute obedience session.
The activities listed above are done with the owner. When you leave your dog alone, two of my favorite toys to leave with the dog are Buster Cubes and Kong toys. A Buster Cube is a hard plastic cube that has some compartments inside. You can pour some kibble into the cube and shake it up. When you put it on the ground your dog will smell the food in the cube and start to paw at it. Some of the kibble will drop out of the cube and this is what will keep your dog interested in the cube. I have seen dogs play with their Buster Cube for as long as an hour. It’s a great toy to leave with your dog when you have to be away for long periods.
Another great toy for your dog is the Kong toy. Kong toys are very popular and they make great toys because they are indestructible and are hollow which allows you to stuff the toy. Kong toys can be stuffed with peanut butter or cream cheese. You can also pack in a few biscuits. Once the Kong toy is stuffed you can leave a few around the house for your dog and keep her occupied for long periods.
Once your dog is getting enough physical and mental exercise you’ll see big changes in your dog’s behavior. A very popular and useful saying among dog trainers is: "The only good dog is a tired dog."
August 25th, 2008
By Eric Letendre
Imagine coming home and finding a dog in your house that did not belong to you.
Not only does the dog not belong to you, but the dog has also chewed your chews, destroyed your couch, and peed on your floor.
This happened once with a dog that I was hired to work with. Let me back up a little and explain the situation.
More than a few years back I got a call from a very exasperated women who sounded very frazzled. As she was talking, I could tell she was on the verge of tears. She began telling me all the problems that she was having with her dog, that she loved her dog but after what had happened today she was not sure she would be able to keep him. I agreed to meet her the next day and added that I would do everything I could to help her keep her dog.
When I arrived the next day I met Tyler, a great looking ten month border collie. Tyler was a litle aloof, like a lot of border collies, but did warm up to me and came over to say "Hi". As I sat there petting Tyler, I knew that I had my hands full and I keep thinking that maybe she would have to find Tyler a new home. Not the kind of advice I like to give but if it’s in the best interest of the dog I will recommend it.
You see, Tyler lived in a very small apartment and his owner worked ten, sometimes twelve-hour days. If you know anything about border collies, you’ll agree with me that they are extremely active dogs – mentally and physically. Border collies love to work long hours. They live to round up and herd anything that moves, even if it takes them all day to do it.
A bored border collie can wreak havoc and this one did.
The problem started months ago and became progressively worse. Tyler started chewing and digging up her carpet. She tried to crate him, but could not do that when she was gone for ten hours at a time. Her house looked like someone had walked in, dropped a hand grenade, and walked out – it was a disaster. Most of her furniture was wrecked, the linoleom and carpet were gone and she had nothing on the counters or tables. She said that she had been living like this for a while and would continue to. She loved Tyler and did not want to get rid of him but… What he had recently done was the last straw.
With tears in her eyes she took me into her bedroom. Her bedroom looked like every other room in the house, but there was also a large blanket nailed to the wall. She walked up to the blanket and pulled it back. What I saw even made me blink twice.
Tyler had chewed a hole through the wall into her neighbor’s apartment.
This was too much for her and she really started to cry, she told me that she could not bear the thought of giving him away, that even though he had this terrible problem, she wanted to keep him and would do what ever she had to do.I told her that this was not an easy case. She had a young active dog that was left alone for long hours. I added that she did not have a behavior problem she had an exercise problem. We were going to have to develop a mental and physical workout. She assured me that she would do what ever it took. I looked her straight in the eye and said I hope so because her poor dog really was suffering and it was not fair to him to continue living like this.
Stay tuned for the program that I came up with and how we helped Tyler.
Best,
Eric
Dog Training Inner Circle
July 31st, 2008
By Eric Letendre
A lot of behavior problems are exercise problems. Many of the dogs that I see are not suffering from a behavior problem; they simply have too much pent-up energy and need exercise. In this article you’ll learn the two forms of exercise that all dogs need.
It’s important to understand that a lot of behavior problems stem from the dog having too much pent-up energy. Young dogs (4 to 14 months) have an unlimited amount of energy. In today’s society, a lot of dogs spend long hours by themselves.
A lot of dogs are left in crates or in the house while their owners are at work. Day after day the dog waits around to do something. This pent-up energy builds and manifests itself into a behavior problem. No amount of training can overcome an exercise problem.
The first step to overcoming your dog’s behavior problems is to physically exercise your dog. A lot of dogs spend a lot of time by themselves waiting for us to do something with them. Today there are many more resources for dogs than ever before.
One of the best activities you can do with your dog is dog daycare. Dog daycare allows your dog to spend the day playing with other dog-friendly dogs. If a dog daycare is not right for your dog, a dog walker may be the answer. Here are 41 ideas to help you give your dog physical exercise:
1. Memory retrieve
2. Two-Person recalls
3. Treasure hunt
4. Service dog gofer
5. Hide and seek
6. Leg weaves
7. Weaving with ski poles
8. Agility
9. Digging for objects
10. Herding indestructible ball
11. Chase remote control car
12. Chase object on fishing pole
13. Chase light
14. Chase racquetball bounce back
15. Chase remote control airplane
16. Chase hose with water
17. Chase ball
18. Lure coursing
19. Swimming free
20. Swim next to canoe
21. Swimming relay race with bumpers
22. Water Kong retrieve
23. Jumping over picnic benches
24. Skateboarding
25. Fly ball
26. Frisbee
27. Mountain Bike
28. Run through powder snow
29. Run through sand dunes
30. Sled dog
31. Treadmill
32. Run a race track
33. Jog with dog
34. Rollerblade
35. Backpacking
36. Carting
37. Skijor
38. Run hills
39. Walk/run stairs
40. Throw ball downstairs
41. Throw ball upstairs
Give your dog some mental exercise. Mental activities include: obedience training, tricks, agility, flyball and tracking. Mental activities are extremely important for your dog. I have seen very active, hyper dogs lie down and take a nap after a 10- to 15-minute obedience session.
The activities listed above are done with the owner. When you leave your dog alone, two of my favorite toys to leave with the dog are Buster Cubes and Kong toys.
A Buster Cube is a hard plastic cube that has some compartments inside. You can pour some kibble into the cube and shake it up. When you put it on the ground your dog will smell the food in the cube and start to paw at it. Some of the kibble will drop out of the cube and this is what will keep your dog interested in the cube. I have seen dogs play with their Buster Cube for as long as an hour. It’s a great toy to leave with your dog when you have to be away for long periods.
Another great toy for your dog is the Kong toy. Kong toys are very popular and they make great toys because they are indestructible and are hollow which allows you to stuff the toy. Kong toys can be stuffed with peanut butter or cream cheese. You can also pack in a few biscuits. Once the Kong toy is stuffed you can leave a few around the house for your dog and keep her occupied for long periods.
Once your dog is getting enough physical and mental exercise you’ll see big changes in your dog’s behavior. A very popular and useful saying among dog trainers is: “The only good dog is a tired dog.”
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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 techniques 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.”
