What is GOING ON RIGHT NOW????!!!!
Training NEVER ENDS!
When we have a little puppy, everything gets started on the right foot. The crate is utilized to help with potty training. The puppy is likely kept on some sort of a schedule. There is a big focus on training. We’ve got to train the puppy to sit. CHECK. Done. We’ve got to train the puppy to come when called. CHECK. Done. We’ve got to be able to walk this dog so leash training begins. CHECK. Done. Oh yeah! If only my puppy would learn to stay, that would be great. Hello, YouTube? Done. Puppy stays now until a treat is placed on the floor and then allowed to run and go get it. CHECK and DONE. Now let’s teach the puppy some fun tricks – roll over, shake hands, put a treat on the nose and flip it up and catch it. Done. Ok. So now your puppy is 6 months old and your training mission is complete, right? You’re done, right? Well, not exactly.
Now let’s roll the clock forward 2 years and your young dog is over 2 years old and a long time ago you took the crate out of the house and the dog sleeps wherever it pleases and possibly even in someone’s bed. Your walks have become a fight and struggle all the time. You encounter other dogs on walks and all hell breaks loose with your dog. Maybe it is jumping all around but at the very least its barking and lunging. Embarrassing at best, dangerous at worst. But yet you finished your training when the puppy was a baby. What could possibly be happening here? The inside of your house looks and sounds like a crazy dog lives in it. There may be counter surfing, jumping all over the furniture, barking and lunging at the windows as dogs are walked past your home and crazy jumping on people when they come in for a visit. What has happened? I trained. My dog is broken. My dog is stupid. I’m a bad trainer. STOP!!!
No your dog isn’t stupid, nor is it broken. You aren’t a bad trainer. But you did take the wheels off the dog’s proverbial cart by removing the crate from the daily life and you stopped with that nice, predictable schedule you started that puppy on. When you take the crate out of the dog’s life you actually do much more harm than good. You then make the inside of your home like your dog’s crate and the dog is now free to run around and bounce off the walls at will and likely does when you aren’t around. This begins the process of eroding your solid foundation of respect and healthy boundaries. Begin by implementing the crate and a nice predictable schedule in the dog’s day, every day. Go back to what was once working in your puppy’s early days. It worked because dog’s (all dogs – young and old) thrive on consistency and solid, healthy boundaries.
Once you have the crate back in the dog’s life, stop free feeding. In other words, stop allowing your dog to eat whenever it wants. Teach your dog to eat when you feed it. Give your dog its food and in 10 minutes take the bowl away whether the dog has eaten or not. This process may take a couple of days but soon enough the dog will learn to eat when you feed it. This will have such wonderful benefits for your home balance and for your dog. With these two pieces in place you are now ready to fully jump back in to training. But if you skip these two pieces your training will be like a house built on sand. You will not have a solid foundation so despite what you are thinking, believe me, don’t skip these first two steps. Now on to training. Training is never done.
Yes you got a good start when the dog was a puppy but you are never actually done with training. Dogs need to be worked with every day to promote a healthy, sound relationship between you and the dog and to keep up on their skills. Remember to mix in plenty of fun walks in the warm sunshine and maybe some swimming in a pond. All good fun for both of you. Or grab a ball and play fetch for a bit. Sit down and read a book to your dog. Your dog loves to hear your voice and this can be sweet bonding time as well. The quality time you spend with your dog whether training or playing will really help to strengthen your relationship.
How Can I Assist You With Training?
Julie Nelson
Owner, Paws In Time and Lifestyle Dog Training
