Destructive Chewing

Given that I've just been back visiting puppies for the weekend I thought it'd be fitting to make this week's post about how to stop, or at least lower the frequency of unwanted chewing behaviors. The general approaches to resolving this unwanted behavior include bitter apple spray (or an equivalent), taking away options and replacing them with toys, and hiding all items that might be chewed. Note that many dogs chew to relieve issues with their situation and environment so it may be worth looking into when and why your dog is chewing.




According to Easy Dog Training the top 3 reasons for chewing are 

1. Natural desire to chew. Dogs naturally explore the world with their mouths; thus, chewing for them is innately fun, stimulating, and self-rewarding (especially if chewing on something tasty).
2. Nervousness, loneliness, or boredom. Dogs use chewing as an emotional outlet. Dog chewing makes up for a good pastime and is also soothing or comforting especially for anxious dogs.
3. Lack of exercise. Under-exercised dogs are more likely to chew as a way of burning up all their pent-up energy.

The bitter apple spray approach occasionally doesn't work because some dogs don't care about the bad taste, but for the rest it's wonderful at providing classical conditioning which pairs chewing with a bad taste. Replacing whatever the dog is chewing with a toy or otherwise interrupting the dog to do something else is great at forcing the dog to think about something else. 

Down

Now that you've theoretically been practicing sit with your dog every day for more than a week, let's go ahead and introduce down. Training your dog to lay down is interesting because (in my experience) 50% of dogs want to lay down and be mentally checked out, the other 50% would much rather obstinately operate on selective hearing and well not lay down.

Much like I explained in my "The Sit" post, this is a command that different trainers all have different approaches and opinions on. Dog obedience instructors I've had despise the use of food in introducing a command because they usually think it's distracting. Personally, I want my extremely food-driven dog to think of laying down on command fondly. Praise will work just fine if your dog is attentive and listens well.

To begin with have the dog sit next to you in a heeling position. Then take your right hand and step in front of the dog and squat down and hover your flat hand in front of the dog about a half foot above the ground.

Kneel down with the dog while saying "down" (if you want the dog to be on a verbal cue...you can just stick with the visual hand signal). When the dog lays down completely reward him/her.

Other sets of instructions for how to train your dog to lay down are Dog Training Central and Petplace. For trouble shooting I recommend visiting The Dog Guide.

Puppies Update
The 2.5 week old litter has their eyes open and are starting to play and develop personalities.

Fetch

I'm going to preface this post by stating that I have never really dealt with a dog which actually fetches. We've found as a breed that Keeshonds see very little point in fetching toys except for a scarce few with more traditional hunting breeding lines in them. Therefore today we'll be reading a post from Dummies.com for those of you with dogs which are remotely interested in fetching.

Teaching Fetch

The instinct to retrieve is all in your dog's genes. Some types of dogs take to it naturally, some don’t. As the name says, any type of retriever loves chasing things and bringing them back (of course, getting them to give you what they caught make take some training!). But if you have a terrier, for example, whose instinct is to burrow, trying to teach “Fetch” will probably just frustrate you both.

To teach a full retrieve — go out, bring it back, and give it up — you go through each of the steps individually before bringing them together.

Anything a dog puts in her mouth is special, at least to her. So the first step in teaching her to retrieve is to get your dog psyched to show you her “treasure.” All your pooch has to do to learn this step is come back with her prize. The focus here is on the Bring, not the Give.

1. Line up several toys and treats.
   If your dog is too treat focused and won’t leave your side if there’s a treat on the scene, leave food rewards out of the picture. In this case your overwhelming enthusiasm will be your dog’s reward.
2. Gently toss a toy a few feet away from you and point to it.
3. As your dog brings the toy back to you, shower her with praise but don’t take the toy away.
   If your dog ignores you when she gets the toy, try running away from her after she’s picked it up. If she still won’t bring it back, pretend to eat some of her treat.
4. As your dog catches on and trots happily back to you, say “Bring.”
5. When your dog arrives, toy in mouth, praise and pet her heartily (give her a treat if you like), leaving the object in her mouth.
6. Toss a different toy and go through the procedure again.

Dummies also notes that if your dog is playing keep away to stop and move to a smaller room where the dog can't run. Personally, I would say that if the dog wants to play keep away after playing fetch for a while to just go ahead and stop training for the day and let the dog be. Or if you're so inclined you could keep playing with yourself and turn it into a game of "throw"

Week-old Puppies "Celebrating" Easter

Heel

There's a lot to be said for being able to take your dog for a walk and not have to deal with pulling or lagging. Towards the end of this post I'll include a couple photos of the now four day old puppies.

Training

When it comes to teaching your dog to heel I've found that it's all about practice. All one really needs to start the process is a leash and some motivating treats. Personally, I would recommend a chain collar and a non-extending leash because leashes that extend make no sense when you want the dog to stay by your side and the chain collar if you don't abuse it and hurt the dog is good for small corrections.

Given my background in AKC dog performance events I have the dog always on my left because that's just what is accepted. If your dog is a companion dog the side which the dog heels on doesn't really matter, just in my case I see no point having the dog heel on a side which I don't want them to in competition (aside from agility).

All you need to do is hold the leash in your hand (attached to the dog's collar obviously) with a little looseness. Think of the looseness as a little slack for the dog to miss a step occasionally. Some people with stronger dogs will need to hold the loose part of the leash in their other hand so as to maintain control while the dog is still learning.

Otherwise just reward your dog when they are doing what you want them to. I would do some figure 8s and turn a lot so your dog gets use to having to watch you for direction.

Puppies
My dog's great niece's 5 puppies were born Thursday the 10th. They're all spoken for and going to great homes.