Raising the Perfect Dog; The Secrets of Law Enforcement K9 Trainers (9 page)

Destroying things in your home when you are not there.
Once you have the nipping, chewing on objects, and outing objects while you are home under control, the next problem may be your dog chewing or destroying things in your home while you are gone. One of the main causes of this problem is simply leaving your dog unsupervised before he is mentally capable of handling the responsibility. If your dog is only six or seven months old, he is about the mental equivalent of a four-year-old child. So, ask yourself, “What would happen if I left my four-year-old out in the house while I went to work?” Likely, the same thing that happens when you leave your dog out—he would find things and destroy them. So, if you leave your dog out, and every day you come home to find things have been ruined, you may want to consider crating your dog until he is older.

Generally, we find that most dogs do well enough to be left unattended in the house at about 18 months of age. At that age, he has the mental capability to handle the responsibility. Additionally, he has had a year and a half of you correcting him when he chews on something that isn’t his. So, by this time, he has learned what toys are his and what things are yours. Again, this is a generalization based on working with hundreds of dogs and clients. Therefore, your dog may need more or less time than this.

Once you feel your dog is able to be in the house unsupervised, start this process in small time increments and by giving limited access of the house to your dog. Do not just leave him out with free rein of the house for an entire eight hours. Start by giving him access just to a bedroom for 20 to 30 minutes, and if he does well, expand that time. As he is left alone longer and longer with no incidents, expand the roaming space, meaning, take it from a bedroom to an entire floor. Slowly work up to giving him the entire house. Once taking this step, many people then just keep all bedroom doors shut, essentially leaving the dog to roam freely in the living room, kitchen, and hallway. Doing this will drastically eliminate problems, especially if you have children with toys in their rooms. So, just like with all of the training, start off in small times and spaces, then slowly increase both as your dog gets better and your confidence in him or her increases.

As I touched on at the beginning of this book, the second common cause of a dog destroying things in the house is lack of exercise and stimulation. Remember, “If you do not give your dog a job to do, they will become self-employed. A self-employed dog will always cost the owner money.” When a dog does not get exercised regularly or have some form of mental stimulation through obedience or games, he looks for things on which to take out his excess energy. One great way for dogs to burn energy is through running or chewing, which is what they are doing when they lie down and chew on a bone until it disappears. So when your dog has excess energy built up and you are away, he will look for things to chew. If nothing is available, he will chew walls, couches, chair legs, etc. Keep in mind, your dog is not chewing the couch to sabotage you and ruin your life, he just sees it as something to chew on for entertainment.

To prevent your dog from becoming a self-employed dog, ensure he is getting plenty of exercise. Remember, one or two walks per day is not sufficient exercise for most high-energy dogs. They need a lot of mental stimulation or a lot of exercise, meaning, off-leash, running around, with a lot of open-space exercise. Mental and physical stimulation will fully benefit you and your dog.

If you follow the guidance on using the crate and providing your dog with daily physical and mental stimulation, you will almost completely eliminate the problem of things in your home being chewed on or destroyed by the new member of your family.

Separation anxiety
is when your dog becomes very saddened or depressed when left alone. Some common symptoms of separation anxiety is your dog destroying things in the house; relieving himself in the house when you are away; excessive barking, pacing, and panting when he knows you are about to leave; and breaking out of his crate.

Separation anxiety can be caused by numerous things. Dogs are very social creatures to begin with. Constantly being with a “pack” is just in their nature. Dogs are descendants of wolves, which are always in a pack. Wolves know they need to be in a pack to survive. Therefore, they are very rarely alone. Separation anxiety is more prevalent in some breeds than in others. For example, shepherds, Malinois, and collies are more likely to have separation anxiety than a breed such as a pug. Separation anxiety is somewhat common in shelter or rescue dogs, as well. These dogs can develop separation anxiety when they are adopted by a new family. While in the shelter or rescue, they are always around other dogs and people. When they go to a new family and routine, they may be in their crate or left alone for eight hours while the family goes to work or school. So the dog goes from constantly being with people and animals to being left alone. This can create separation anxiety.

Separation anxiety can also be caused by the dog being taken from its mother too early; it may not have developed the social bonds that a puppy normally would. Puppies removed from their mother and siblings too early are more likely to develop separation anxiety and excessive barking problems. That is why it is essential to find a good breeder who will not give puppies away until they are at least eight weeks old.

Lastly, a major change in the dog’s routine can cause separation anxiety. For example, if it is summertime and you or your children are home a lot or you go on a long vacation together, your dog gets adapted to being with the pack every day for a prolonged period of time. If suddenly your routine changes—you go back to work and the kids go back to school—your dog suddenly finds himself home alone every day, causing him separation anxiety.

There are numerous things you can do to drastically curb this separation anxiety behavior and ultimately eliminate it. First off, never punish your dog for this behavior. Remember, they are exhibiting this behavior because they miss you so much. Obviously, you never punish a dog because he misses you and does not know how to act when you’re not around.

One of the main things you can do to help is providing more separation, meaning, make the dog spend more time alone. Do not let him be so clingy when you are home with him. If you have a fenced-in backyard, make him go out and stay out there for short periods of time. If you are home, put him in a separate room or in his crate throughout the day. While he is separated from you (in a different room or crate) give him his favorite toy or treat, so he starts associating being separated from you as getting a reward and it gives him something to do other than thinking about you. Again, never let him out of the room or crate while he is barking or whining—this will teach him that barking or whining will get him out. Wait for him to be calm and quiet, go to him, praise him, and let him come back to the family. That way, he gets used to being separated when you are there, which slowly makes the separation when you are gone much easier.

When leaving the house., try not to make a big deal out of it. When you put the dog in the crate or are leaving the house, try to be emotionless—do not squat down and overly pet him while talking cute: “Oh baby, we are going to miss you,” etc. Just get ready and leave the house without acknowledging the dog. If you make a big deal out of leaving, the dog, too, will see it as a big deal. The same principle applies when returning home—be emotionless. Do not open the door, rush over and pet the dog, and tell him how much you missed him. When you go, leave out toys and something that has your scent on it (an old unwashed shirt, for example). That way, he will have something that smells like you. This has been known to really help calm down a dog.

Another thing I always recommend doing is filling a Kong with peanut butter and putting in the freezer. When you are ready to leave, put the Kong out for the dog. This serves two purposes: It gives him something to do and work on and it gives him a treat when you leave (again, associating you leaving with a good thing). Also, leave the television or a radio on so the dog still hears people’s voices, creating the illusion that there are still people around.

Lastly, if you have the time and money, you can always hire a midday dog walker or take the dog to a doggy day care before you leave for work. This will give him more time with people and less time alone. However, it should be noted that this does not cure separation anxiety; it just prevents it. Meaning, it’s a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

Overall, if your dog develops or already has separation anxiety, the best cure is more time apart and even more separation. Again, it’s important to do more separation while you are home. Start in small increments and then slowly increase until your dog gets used to being apart from you. Make the separation as positive an experience as possible and use the techniques listed above. If the separation anxiety continues to worsen, contact a trained professional.

Excessive barking
is a problem many people face with their dog regardless of breed, age, or size. It can result from a number of things. Like with separation anxiety, some dogs such as hounds, shepherds, and Labs are naturally more vocal than some of the other breeds. Shepherds are protective dogs, therefore, they will bark at someone knocking on the door, a noise outside, or someone walking by the house. Labs, like shepherds, are very prey-driven dogs. Therefore, if they see a squirrel or a cat outside, often they will bark excessively. Boredom and a lack of exercise can also contribute to excessive barking.

There are a few things you can do to curb or completely eliminate this behavior. One of the easiest and most immediate fixes is the use of a bark collar. A bark collar is simply a dog collar that has a vibration sensor built into it. When the dog barks, it delivers a subtle electronic stimulation on the neck, and if the barking continues, the stimulation gets more intense until it reaches a very uncomfortable level. The dog will see that every bark is met with an increased stimulation and will begin to associate barking with the electronic stimulation. The dog will simply quit barking to avoid the stimulation. The great thing about bark collars is that they work almost immediately. Also, it does not teach your dog not to bark, it simply teaches him not to bark while the collar is on.

Of course, as stated earlier, mental and physical exercises, keeping your dog stimulated, and desensitizing him to noises and objects all will drastically help prevent your dog from barking excessively.

Aggression
is one of the most common issues that we deal with at our facility in Virginia, both dog-on-dog aggression and people aggression. As I stated earlier, almost all aggression in dogs stem from a lack of socialization with people and other animals or bad experiences with them (being bitten, beaten, etc.). That is why I cannot stress enough the importance of positive socialization with other people and animals. If your dog becomes dog- or people-aggressive, you will probably isolate him from the thing toward which he is aggressive, when in fact, you need to take the opposite approach. Isolating the dog from the problem will never address the issue. Consult a trainer who can help you deal with the issue and start positively socializing your dog around the people or dogs to whom he is aggressive.

Counter-Surfing
is another common problem for dog owners, especially with dogs who have a very high motivation for food. This is when a dog jumps up on the counters or tables in an attempt to grab some food. Obviously, this can be very annoying after you just spent time making dinner; a cake; or something special for a family or friend, only to find that your beloved furry family member has taken the liberty of sampling it for himself.

One of the best ways to stop this is by simply being proactive in prevention. Would you leave a box of candy or bars of ice cream in your five-year-old child’s room? I highly doubt it. This is because you know it would be too great of a temptation and they do not yet have the acquired discipline that it takes to refrain from eating. Your puppy or dog has the same mentality. Unless he is older, more mature, or not very food-driven, he, too, will not yet have the discipline to refrain from swiping your delicious food that is sitting just out of reach of his mouth.

Other than being proactive, there is really only one solution, which is to give your dog a consequence for his counter-surfing. This can be done in a couple of ways. If your dog does not have any advanced method of training (electronic collar or prong collar), when you catch him in the act, immediately give a timeout. As soon as you see him going for the food, give a loud “off” and put him in timeout, separating him from the family for a period of time. If your dog is trained with some advanced training method, your trainer can explain how to use that specific device to curb these behaviors.

Submission urination
is also a problem that many new dog owners encounter. It is usually seen in puppies or abused dogs. Submissive urination is not necessarily a bad thing, even though it may seem quite annoying when it happens at your house, on your new floors, or on your rug. This is simply a dog’s way of showing that he acknowledges you are the boss and he has not yet learned other ways to express this. Puppies will grow out of this behavior, especially with confidence-building drills and obedience training. If you experience this with your adult dog, it is usually due to insecurity and low confidence, which require confidence-building drills and obedience.

Never punish your dog for submissive urination—he does this because of low self–confidence, so punishment will only escalate the problem. Essentially, do nothing to your dog, meaning neither punish nor praise him. Petting him teaches that it’s a good thing (because he is praised for it). If you pet your dog and he urinates, immediately stop petting him and walk away.