Be a Resource Full Puppy Owner

We though wed best follow up our joint-post about Books for Before & After you get a Puppy or Dog with some further resources. 

Because lets face it - you can never have enough resources to consult with a new puppy in the family! 

Here are some of our primary go-to places and wed love to hear your suggestions in the comments section below - lets turn this into a great resource-full page for everyone!

Mia & Julie

The Other End of The Leash ~ Patricia McConnell
In 2012, McConnell gave her website a major overhaul. Readers can now follow along her weekly blog, as well as search by interest area and easily link to relevant blog posts and videos.

McConnell’s Reading Room has drop down menus where you can access Training Your Dog, Behavior & Health, Solving Behavior Problemsand Finding Resources. Have a question about aggression? Go to Solving Behavior Problems. What do you think the "Guilty Look" is all about? Check out the Emotions section in Behavior & Health. 


The Art & Science of Animal Behavior ~ Sophia Yin
An incredibly user-friendly website jam packed with all sorts of information. Yin’s blog and resources are searchable so just type in a term (e.g. toilet training) and take a look! 

Julies favorite video shows counter conditioning of a dog displaying aggression.

Dog Star Daily ~ Ian Dunbar and co.
Dog Star Daily is a resource-laden website populated by Dunbar and a lot of other trainers. 

Take some time to look through their many many videos.

New resources to watch

AVSAB
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) new website includes a free newsletter (you can sign up using your email address or access the archives online) and blog. Considering that AVSAB tackles such topics as Cat Body Language as well as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Military dogs, it’s definitely a great resource for everyone!

Pet Pages
Pet Pages features content from lots of different sources. Animal behaviourist Kate Mornement writes regular posts on different topics that can be searched.

Commercial sites

Dr Joanne Righetti has helped Purina populate their Puppy Club website with helpful information.

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When To Crate Train Your Puppy

While doing a search for some Talented K9 things, I came across another site that used my article Talented K9 Crate Training Tips. I am happy they thought my article was worthy of posting on their own site. So I wanted to give another thank you and a link back.

Visit them at When To Crate Train Your Puppy

The post was published a while ago, but better late than never right!? They also have some other good tips and articles on there, so its worth checking out.

Enjoy!


Image Source: Commons.wikimedia

Amy @ Talentedk9
talentedk9@yahoo.com
www.talentedk9.com

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Kunox our new dachshund puppy from Germany

It was a week ago, on Wednesday, when John and I drove to Newark International Airport to pick up our new puppy from Germany - Kunox der von der Dohlmühle. Kunox  arrived in the United States, all happy and wiggly, not showing any sign of stress.

Interestingly, we did not plan to get a new puppy this fall, but sometimes an opportunity presents itself and cannot be denied. It was almost four weeks ago when Stefan Fuß of "von der Bismarck-Eiche" kennel in Germany posted some information on Facebook about a male "von der Dohlmühle" puppy looking for a hunting home due to some unexpected circumstances. When I (Jolanta) saw the pups picture and outstanding pedigree, I knew that we must have him. More about his pedigree and family later.

So many, many thanks go to Stefan who made it all possible and to Annelie Grauer, Kunoxs breeder, who trusted us with her puppy.

John has already started to work with Kunox and this is what he wrote: As Jolanta points out, we were lucky to get a puppy with such an outstanding pedigree for  blood tracking. Fortunately little Kunox doesnt know about the pedigree and how  good he is supposed to be. He is a nice, relaxed dog with good social skills around humans and canines. He departed from Lufthansa at Newark Airport totally relaxed and ready to sleep on my lap all the way home.

Of course the Old Man was especially interested in Kunoxs desire and ability for tracking. The second day after his arrival in Berne we tried the first liver drag of 20 yards. No problem, but he learned what it was all about and had a fine chew on the deer liver at the end of the drag. The next day Kunox had a liver drag twice as long. Clearly it was too easy, but he liked the liver. On day three the liver drag was nearly 100 yards and an hour old. It was windy but Kunox got his nose down in the grass and  held to the scent line. Now he was ready for something more challenging.

Day four: This time I laid out a line with droplets of deer blood through  the labyrinth of paths in our running enclosure. There were many right angles to overshoot, and I let it age for  four hours. The line was only about 150 yards long, but there were many complicated turns. Kunox marched through it with ease, never overshooting a turn by more than five feet before checking and correcting himself. At the deer skin he approached with caution, but after my assurances he grabbed on. The prey drive was there! He actually preferred shaking the deer hide to eating the deer heart treats.

I kind of like this puppy!

This puppy loves his food, even home-grown kale. We need to take just a little bit of weight off him.

He is a low-key pup that can just relax and sleep while we go about our daily routine.

Kunox has met most of our dogs and proved to have good social skills. Mielikki is a good playmate as she is patient and gentle with him...up to the point. She set some boundaries by now for Kunox and one of them is that he is not allowed to hump her (he tried).

 

Kunox has been accepted by his new family; the picture shows Paika and Sky

Kunox licking Billys face

Kunox has a very good switch: he is on in the field...

...and off in the house. Dont you love a puppy that you can take a nap with?

 ??

Kunoxs dam is Gwendoline der von der Dohlmühle, who just three days ago won the International Vp test in Italy with maximum number of points of 280. Gwennies mother Elsebeere von der Bismarck-Eiche got 268 points. Both got their CACIT (Certificat d’Aptitude au Championnat International de Travail) and became International Working Champions.

When we were in Germany in 1999 we visited Manfred Siekmann of von Rominten kennel. He is an extremely knowledgeable and accomplished breeder and handler, and we learned from him a lot. At the time his male Nurmi von Rominten was flying high as a blood tracker. I think he won Chorin Suche blood tracking championship twice. We loved the dog, and we saw him again on subsequent trips. He got to live to be 15. We always wanted a puppy sired by him but it has never worked out. The sire of Kunox is IACh GS BSS Doktor von Rominten, who is linebred tightly on Nurmi, and is an outstanding dog in his own right.

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Doggone Safe Coordinator Tonji Stewart Wins Video Contest

We are thrilled to announce that Doggone Safe Eastern Canada Coordinator Tonji Stewart was the co-grand prize winner of the Canis Film Festival. The award was presented at Clicker Expo in Chicago on the weekend. This is an international video contest for clicker trainers and the videos must demonstrate how to teach something using clicker training. The videos are judged on entertainment and teaching value and the winners must demonstrate excellence in the application of clicker training principles in training.

We are very proud of Tonjis accomplishment and her efforts to promote force free training methods that are safe for kids and dogs.

Click here to listen to an interview with Tonji on CBC radio

Click here to see all the winning videos

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2015 Puppy New Year! Get some science into your dog

2015 is a bright and shiny new year for canine science! 

But first, this face:

After being a dog-less household for eight months (you might remember we sadly farewelled Elke in 2013 and gut-wrenchingly, also old man Caleb, in the first half of 2014) we welcomed a new member to the family at the end of 2014. 

Those paws. Not photoshopped.

If Im honest with you, Id been stalking PetRescue quietly for a month or so, not really sure if the time was right, but also open to being inspired to make it the right time to welcome a new dog into our lives. I eventually made a call to a shelter a long, long way away about a dog Id seen who looked like the kind of dog I thought would be a good fit for our family over the next fifteen years. His profile had been up for a few weeks and I was concerned he might be nearly out of time to be adopted. The lovely shelter staff let me know hed actually just been adopted that morning - I was thrilled for him and his new family. Probably a good thing anyway, that shelter was 5 hours drive away - no small distance. 

The following day I received a message from the shelter staff - there was another dog - a younger pup, similar type, would I be interested? "Send me some photos and a video clip of him" I said... and they did. I told Julie about the pup and how far away he was. "Love this story!! Keep it coming ;)" she said via email. Huh, I thought - what an adventure this could be to meet a new family member - and luckily, my partner agreed!

So a week later, coincidentally on my birthday, we headed off after lunch on a 400km (thats 250miles to those of you who prefer miles) drive to a faraway coastal town south west of Melbourne to meet this four month old pup. He had come into the regional shelter as a stray. Whether he was deliberately dumped, wandered off through an open gate, or actively strayed by jumping a fence - well never know. Thats part of the shelter dog story - not necessarily knowing what came before. 

What we do know is this: 

• He was not identified by microchip, had no collar with ID and was not desexed
• No one came looking for him during his two weeks in the shelter
• On meeting us, he was excitable, mouthy and jumpy, but calmed down fairly quickly
• We have named him Rudy (roo-dee), inspired by Rudolph as it was Christmas week

What is he?

Weve been asked that a lot! Rudy is a Staghound. Staghounds in Australia are similar to Lurchers and Longdogs in the UK - a type of dog, rather than a breed. Staghounds are generally greyhound x deerhound with maybe a bit of whatever else was around the area in them too. They can vary widely in looks as they are bred with an emphasis on health, performance and longevity, rather than to a physical standard. They are generally bred to help with hunting in rural areas, but like greyhounds, can make excellent companions as well. As youd expect, they are highly distracted by moving things.

A diet of science

Inevitably, were feeding Rudy a daily dose of science. If you want to keep up with how hes going, you can follow the #RaisingRudy hashtag on Twitter, keep up with our Do you Believe in Dog? Facebook posts, or check in here at the blog for regular updates. Ive never claimed to be a dog trainer, but Im certainly aware of the importance of putting the wide array of scientific findings into practice with our dogs to help them have a great life and help us enjoy our time with them.

So far, over the first couple of weeks Rudys been with us, this has looked a bit like this:

In these early days, were focusing on socialisation (new experiences, places, people, surfaces, sounds, smells), basic training (toilet training, recall, sit, leash walking, house behaviour, independent time outside) and getting to know Rudy (learning how he responds to new places, loud noises, other dogs and people, etc.). Were marvelling at those ears. 

Were remembering what having a puppy in the house means (e.g. encouraging the puppy to splash its feet in a toddler pool is super funny and cute, until it starts repeating that behaviour in the indoor water bowl and floods your laundry!). Were a tidier household for it (Shoes go in cupboards! Pre-schoolers toys get put away! Remote controls go up high!).

If, like us, its been a while since you raised a puppy, you might enjoy the back seat experience (sometimes hilarious, sometimes frustrating!) offered by the new BBC documentary series Six Puppies and Us - Episode 1 linked here:

What science have you fed your dog recently? 
What should I be sure to feed mine? 

Let us know your thoughts by commenting on the blog, Facebook or Twitter - and join in #RaisingRudy.

Til next time, 

Mia

p.s. No, this hasnt turned into just a puppy blog! The Do You Believe in Dog? team will still be bringing you regular guest posts from fellow canine scientists, monthly updates on the science thats caught our attention and news on major events we attend in 2015.

Further reading:
Kidd A.H. & Kidd, R.M. (1989). Factors in Adults Attitudes Toward Pets, Psychological Reports, 65 (3) 903-910. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1989.65.3.903 

Hiby E.F., Rooney N.J. & Bradshaw J.W.S. (2004). Dog training methods: their use, effectiveness and interaction with behaviour and welfare. , Animal Welfare, 13 (1) 63-70. 

© Mia Cobb | Do You Believe in Dog? 2015

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Boston Newsies With Dog 1909

Its 5 am on a Sunday, in October 1909, and a gaggle of impoverished child laborers are going to sell ground up trees with 5-day old news to people on the street. The boss man look on, and the dog is there for moral support.

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How to Teach Your Puppy not to Bite Part 4

By Joan Orr

This is Part 4 of an ongoing series. We recommend that you read the previous articles since we are not going to repeat anything here. Here is a link to the other articles in the series and some related articles:  Puppy Biting series

Teaching your puppy to control his mouth and to keep his teeth to himself requires a multi-faceted approach which is a combination of management and training. In this article I will talk about the first of two very effective training approaches that you can take to help your puppy learn not to bite. These are as follows:

1. Teach the puppy to give kisses instead of biting.
2. Teach the puppy the meaning of a cue that means "take your mouth off" and subsequently "leave your mouth off".

How to Give Kisses

Most puppies are generous with kisses and you can encourage this by saying "kisses" and welcoming the kisses when the puppy offers them. Of course if you dont want the puppy slobbering all over you, then just ignore the kisses or move the attractive body part out of range. Your puppy will soon learn that if you say "kisses" you will welcome his licking you and otherwise you will not welcome this. Never scold or punish or take away your attention altogether from a kissing puppy.

A great way to encourage kisses instead of biting and to help a puppy learn to take treats gently is to put something like cheese spread or peanut butter  on your hand and fingers (dont use peanut butter if your puppy is going to be around children though in case of children with peanut allergies). Let the puppy lick this off, while you say the word "kisses" over and over. This helps him associate the action of licking with the word "kisses". If he is really frantic for the yummy stuff on your hand he may not be paying too much attention to what you are saying, so it could take a while for the association with the word to sink in. For some puppies this exercise is all that you will need to do teach him what "kisses" means, but others may not seem to catch on.


A better way to ensure that the puppy is thinking about what he is doing and not just madly licking is to set up the situation so that he offers a lick and is then reinforced for that so that he will repeat it with the conscious thought of doing it. To do this you need some kind of marker sound that tells the puppy he is doing the right thing. I use a clicker for this, but you can use a ball point pen or something else that makes a short sharp sound. You can also use a marker word such as "yes" or "yip", but this does not work as well as using a  clicker. Here is a video that shows how to do this. The puppy in this video was the nippiest puppy I have ever worked with and she rarely offered spontaneous kisses - she had much more fun nipping!



Offer a treat that leaves a tasty residue on your hand (put a dab of cream cheese under the treat if necessary to get things started). Click when the puppy licks and give another treat. Create the cycle: lick - click - treat - lick - click - treat. At first the puppy is just licking the treat residue of my fingers, but after a few tries she is offering a lick on purpose. Add the cue "kisses" when the puppy offers a lick when you hold out your hand. Use this cue from now on when offering treats. Gradually move from a more open hand presentation to holding the treat between thumb and forefinger. Click when the puppy licks and release the treat. Eventually the puppy will learn that the offering of a treat is the cue for "kisses" and he will lick to get the treat rather than snatching it. Practice with different people in different location.  If the puppy makes a mistake such as biting at your hand or putting his paw on you, just ignore this. You dont need to say "no" or "ah ah" or "oops" if the puppy makes a mistake. It is best just to be quiet and let the click be the only communication during this training session. The training session in this video was about a minute and a half - this is plenty long enough. After training, play for a few minutes and then do another short session. You will get much more out of five 1 minute sessions than out of one 5 minute session.

Next time I will talk about teaching your puppy the cue "off" so you can tell him you want him to stop biting or not to bite in the first place.

Read the rest of the articles in this series:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

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Bringing Home a New Puppy

Todays article Searching For a Dog was all about finding a new dog or puppy. So todays blog entry is all about bringing home a new puppy or a new dog.

The first day of bringing home a new puppy or new dog is one of the most important days for your new puppy. (New puppy will stand for new dog too from here down so I dont have to continually repeat it). The first week of bringing home a new puppy is also very important. The fist day will probably be very overwhelming for your new puppy, though you need to start with the rules of the house right away.

Teaching your puppy the rules of the house needs to start on day one. If you let your puppy get away with things on day one that you dont want him doing at all after day one, you will make things very unclear for your new puppy. So how do you go about teaching this new puppy who doesnt speak our language the rules of your house?

First things first, be sure hes on a leash! I can not say this enough! Do NOT under any circumstance let your puppy off the leash inside of your house. This is just asking for the puppy to chew things up and pee on the floor. Letting your puppy off the leash in your home on day one or even the first week for that matter, is setting both of you up to fail. I know it can be a hassle, but please, keep your puppy on leash and you will be very thankful you did.

What is the benefit of the leash? Having a leash on your new puppy, helps you keep track of your puppy. I recommend at least a 6 foot leash and if you need to, tie the end of it to your belt. Have your puppy with you guarantees your puppy can not go hide behind the sofa and pee, or find something to chew up while your not looking. It reminds you to keep an eye on your new puppy. It helps you learn your puppys signals when they need to go outside.

What happens if you are too busy and it would be impossible to have your puppy on a leash tied to you? Your puppy needs to be in a crate or pen where he can not get into any trouble or have any accidents in the house! This is a MUST not an option. Remember puppies have very small bladders, some needing to go out every 10 or 15 minutes. Set a timer so you remember to take your puppy out. For more on house training, you can read more on our house training blog entry on the link to your right. For more on Crate training, you will also find that link to your right.

By doing these two things, your puppy will be well on his way to success in learning the rules in your home and developing wonderful habits! Keep a Clicker and some treats on hand so you can reward your puppy any time they do something good. What kind of good things can your puppy do good? Well lets see...

Any time your puppy sits, lays down, chews on his own toys, potties outside, is quiet in the crate, is keeping the leash loose, or is walking by your side. All of these are reward-able and your puppy will offer on his own all of these. Using the Clicker you can capture each of these and get a head start on training your new puppy. You didnt even have to do anything! Your puppy offered them all!

By following this simple plan, your new dog or puppy will be well on their way to being a well behaved dog in your home. Be sure to get your copies of Click for Joy! and Clicking With Your Dog.

If youd like something to really get you started with your new puppy, check out Karen Pryor, Getting Started: Clicker Training for Dogs Kit that should cover everything you need to get started! Getting these books beforehand is also a great idea and will give you a lot of ideas on what you can do on your first day. If your one of those people who would rather watch a DVD than read a book and get started right away, check out Karen Pryor, Clicker Puppy DVD it will give you a lot of great tips to get you started!


Good luck with bringing home a new puppy! Before you leave, heres a nice video I found on the perfect puppy setup.



A Great set up I have to agree, but not all houses are set up that nicely. You can also train your puppy barrier control easy enough with out the use of baby gates. Check out Don Sullivans Secrets to Training the Perfect Dog [DVD]. Though Don doesnt use treats in training, Im sure you could find a way to use the clicker to train the barriers. Don doesnt just do barriers in the house, but also outside to keep your dog in the yard. His DVD is high priced at Amazon, you can get it a lot cheaper at Thane.com

You might also check out our latest Squidoo page on Puppy Teething

Happy Training!

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Why So Few Positive Mentions of Dogs in the Bible

Dogs dont get many positive mentions in the Bible. Good people can disagree why. Some think its because prior to the modern age of vaccines and pesticides, dogs carried rabies, fleas, and ticks. Others think its because feral dogs were associated with trash and grave robbing. The real reason, of course, is that Noah got tired of holding the damn umbrella.

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Alabama blood tracking dachshund puppies

This picture of Tom Munoz was taken at the 2011 UBT Trackfest in Arkansas. Tom is holding Jack (Joeri/Greta son) and Meg (mom to the current puppies).

Tom and Jackie Munozs puppies have turned two weeks old. A couple of boys are still available to serious blood tracking homes (see pictures below)! Both parents of the litter are active, accomplished blood trackers.

Dam of the litter, Meg, is a granddaughter of Agata v Moosbach-Zuzelek, and she was sired by Nicki von Velbert, who was imported from Germany. The pups were sired by eight-year-old Fred (Frederick der Trakker Yergz), a full brother to Gail Bergers Pepper. Freds lines go back to Asko von der Drachenburg, Sabina von Moosbach-Zuzelek, Traelborgs Herbert "Skyder", vom Dornenfeld and Springwoods.

Tom and Jackie Munozs website is at www.alabamadeertracking.com. They can be contacted at deertrackingdog@gmail.com or 256-426-3199. Pups are in Alabama.

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How to Teach Your Puppy Not to Bite Part 6

Puppies are furry, friendly and programmed for learning. Now is the time to teach your puppy about the things that people, especially kids might do, that dogs do not naturally accept. Things like toddlers pulling his tail, people taking his toys, kids going near his food bowl or kids taking over his special sleeping area.

To prevent biting accidents later in life you can condition your puppy to tolerate and even enjoy any kind of handling. Give him hugs, pull gently on ears and tail, tug gently on his fur all over while at the same time feeding him goodies from your hand, or allowing him to chew on a yummy bone. Pairing with a treat can make even rough handling a positive experience. It is essential to use the goody in this type of conditioning – just doing strange things to the puppy will not necessarily teach him to tolerate this from others. When that toddler runs up and yanks on his tail, the dog is more likely to look at you as if to say “where’s my treat?”, rather than snapping at the annoyance. This touch desensitization should be done monthly throughout the dog’s life. Watch this video that illustrates the process. It is best for parents to start the process, but kids can take over once the puppy shows acceptance and enjoyment of the activity. Only adults should do this with adult dogs.

Dogs do not naturally share, but you can teach your puppy to give up his toys, bones, food and resting place by associating the approach of people with great things. When you first get your puppy, feed him at least some of his food by hand. If he shows any sign of being unhappy with you near his food bowl, then feed all of his food by hand for the first two weeks. This teaches the puppy that hands near his food is good. As he is eating from his bowl walk by and toss something really yummy near the bowl, so that the puppy leaves the bowl to get the treat. This teaches the puppy that it is OK to move away from his bowl when a person approaches. After a few meals, move to tossing treats into his bowl while he is eating and then to putting your hand into the bowl with the treat. This teaches the puppy that people approaching means good things. Do not take the bowl and away and give it back. This teaches the puppy that you are unreliable and he needs to protect his food or eat it really fast!

Practice exchanges with your puppy, where you get him interested in something of equal value to the toy or bone that he is playing with and you give him yours and take away his. Or give him a great treat in exchange for his toy and then give the toy back. Sit with him in his resting place and give him toys and treats. Make sure that every experience the puppy has with people approaching his things or special places come with a great reward and you will have a puppy that is happy to share and is less likely to become defensive later in life.

Read more about teaching your puppy to share

Read the rest of the articles in this series:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

 

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How to Teach your Puppy not to Bite Part 5

By Joan Orr M.Sc.

This is the fifth in our series about how to stop your puppy from biting. Please read the previous installments, since we wont be repeating information and you will want to know why it is important to teach your puppy how to bite softly and then not at all. All the strategies we offer are important and you should use them all. Click here to see all the parts in this series. Some of this article is excerpted from an article published at clickertraining.com. Click here to view the entire article if you want more details and more advanced steps once your puppy has the basic idea.

Teach the Puppy to Leave It

An important strategy in helping the puppy to learn what he can and cannot bite and whether he is biting too hard is to teach a cue that tells the puppy to leave it. Some people use the cue "leave it" or "out" or "off". In our example we will use the word "off". You can use whatever you want, just be sure that this word is unique for the purpose. For example, you would not use this to tell the puppy to get off the couch or to take his paws off you. Choose a word that is going to be easy for you to remember to use in a consistent context.

Command vs Cue

Many people train "off" as a command with its associated threat: "Leave it or else." The trouble is, once the dog has swallowed the light bulb (I am not making this up), or Grannys $3000 hearing aid, the ensuing "or else" does not do much to remedy the situation. It is not as if you can dock the dogs allowance or extract an IOU to pay for the costs of his transgression. Experienced clicker trainers, especially those whose training goals require an exceptional degree of reliability (those who work with guide dogs, service dogs, bomb detection dogs, etc.), know that training cues rather than commands produces a dog that can be counted on even in very difficult situations. Be sure to watch the video clips at the end of this article to see the results of training with cues using clicker training.

It is important to understand the difference between a cue and a command. A command implies a threat: "Do it or I will make you." A command is given before the behavior is learned, and it can be enforced if the dog does not comply. For example, a trainer may teach "sit" by pushing down on the dogs rump while saying sit, repeating the word and action over and over until the dog figures out that the word sit goes with the action of sitting, and that sitting fast enough will prevent the rump pushing. In the early stages of this kind of training, the dog associates the command "sit" with all kinds of stimuli and with actions that have nothing to do with the dog sitting on its own. Eventually after much frustration he figures it out.

"Off" is commonly trained as a command by placing a temptation near the dog and holding him back, or tugging on his leash and saying "off" in a stern tone of voice. If the dog does manage to grab the prohibited item, the command is repeated while the item is forcibly removed from the dogs mouth. This method is stressful for the dog, and he may not learn much. In many cases, the command approach may place the trainer at risk of being bitten, too.

A cue is completely different from a command. There is no threat implied with a cue. A cue is like a green light that tells the dog that now is the time to execute a behavior for the chance of reinforcement.

A cue is attached to a specific behavior only after the dog is offering the behavior on his own. The "sit" cue, for example, is only given once the dog has learned to sit, and, therefore, the cue is not associated with anything other than the act of sitting. If the dog does not respond to a cue, a trainer knows that further training is required. The trainer does not assume that the dog is intentionally misbehaving and must be forced or helped to do the behavior.

Getting the Behavior 

A common and very reasonable question about teaching cues is, "How do you get the dog to sit or demonstrate the goal behavior in the first place, so that you can click/treat and eventually add a cue?"

An easy way to get the puppy to take his mouth off your hand so that you can then click (or say yes) and reinforce was described by Carolyn Clark (click here for the original article) and summarized here.

A popular method is to hold a treat in your closed fist and allow the dog to sniff, lick, paw it—whatever he wants to do to try to get the treat. Keep your fist closed until he backs off for just a fraction of a second, then click and open your hand to give him the treat. Alternatively, you can click when he backs off, and give him a better treat from your other hand. Avoid the temptation to say anything—no scolding or otherwise telling him not to pester your hand. The dog learns best if he figures it out for himself without fear of reprisal.

If the dog is too frantic to get at the treat, use something less tantalizing to start. If the dog loses interest and does not try to get the treat, use something more tantalizing.

Raise criteria gradually so that the click/treat comes only when the dog is deliberately moving his head back several inches from your hand. Raise criteria again so that the click/treat comes only when the dog makes eye contact with you after moving away from your hand. Gradually require longer periods of eye contact, until the dog backs off from your hand and maintains eye contact for three seconds. Now is the time to add the cue "off."

Show the dog your fist containing the treat. When he looks away from it and toward you, say "off," click, offer the treat, and say "take it." Teaching opposite cues in pairs like this is a really effective approach. From now on, always say "take it" when you give a treat after the dog responds to the "off" cue.

Video Demonstration

Here is a video demonstrating the method by super trainer Emily Larlham. Emily uses the cue "leave it". Notice the tone of voice; there is no threat. Note the extreme reliability of the behavior. Emily puts a plate of food down, asks the dogs to leave it and leaves the room. We recommend that you watch all of Emilys training videos!




Here is another video that demonstrates the extraordinary power of this type of training. See a dog retreiving a hot dog and another willingly relinquishing a raw steak.



More details in an article by Joan Orr

More details in an article by Carolyn Clark

Read the rest of the articles in this series:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

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Books for Before After you get a Puppy Dog

Whether you’ve lived with dogs since you were in the womb, or you’re first bringing a dog into the home at 46, how do you know where to turn when you’ve got a question? And everyone -- from the most experienced dogger to a first timer -- is bound to have a few questions along the way.

Unfortunately, not all books are created equal, and “Googling it,” can pop out some pretty scary answers. 

In response to a request on our facebook page, the Do You Believe in Dog? team has put together a short list of easy-to read books for before and after you get a puppy or dog. 

These books that are not only short and easy to read but they are easy on the wallet or even free!

Before and After You Get Your Puppy by Dr. Ian Dunbar
Dunbar has been in the dog world for a long time. He began his career studying dog hormones and behavior alongside Dr. Frank Beach and has since moved into helping dogs an humans get on the same page. His two free e-books get straight to the point:

• Before you get your puppy: Dowload Free PDF here

• After you get your puppy: Dowload Free PDF here

• Purchase a hard copy

Perfect Puppy in 7 Days by Dr. Sophia Yin 
Yin is also a veterinarian, and she specializes in behaviour. Perfect Puppy in 7 Days is available to order as book (or e-book).

 

The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey
If youre looking for something family friendly (accessible for kids to read too) on your local library shelves, try Gwen Baileys books:  Puppy handbook, The Perfect Puppy, Good Dog Behaviour or The Rescue Dog.

 

The Puppy Primer by Dr. Patricia McConnell
McConnell received her PhD in Zoology in 1988 and has been working with dogs (and their people) ever since! The Puppy Primer is a trainer favourite and describes a six-week program to get you and your puppy off on the right paw.

 

Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor
Karen Pryor, a biologist who got her start working with dolphins, has has created a wealth of information at her Clicker Training website and her book, Dont Shoot the Dog is really valuable to help understand how and why certain training methods will work better than others.

Happy reading before and after you get your new family member!

Julie & Mia

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