Cue an epic road trip! Today, Brad, Keaton, and I embark on an exciting six-week road trip in our vintage VW Vanagon. Picture us cruising along scenic highways, the open road stretching before us, on an epic journey to Colorado and back.

Our top priority is keeping everyone safe and comfortable, especially ensuring Keaton feels happy and secure while on the road.

Are you interested in road-tripping with your dog? Ensuring your dog’s safety and physical and emotional comfort will help him enjoy time on the road, which means you enjoy your time, too. Keaton loves to take short rides in our bus, so in preparation for this long road trip, we did a two-week shakedown trip to Florida and back over the winter. It went well because we anticipated his needs and purchased items that would keep him safe and comfortable and make our lives easy while on the road. We’d already taken him on short overnight trips.

On this trip, we’re taking most of the same safety and comfort items we took on our shake-down road trip.

We invested in a Mt. Bachelor Pad Dog Bed, Knot-a-Hitch Camping Dog Hitching System, and a Lunen High-vis Water Repellant Dog Jacket, all from Ruffwear. These products are not inexpensive, but they are a worthwhile investment if you plan to engage in outdoor activities with your dog.

We used the dog bed during camping, dined at dog-friendly restaurants, and in our rental homes. The rain jacket proved its worth during a day of rain, and even though we didn’t use the dog hitching system, Keaton was perfectly comfortable with a 15-foot Biothane leash that was attached to a Kurgo Direct to Seat Belt Tether. during our camping days.

We also took along a few of his favorite toys, plenty of his food, his bowls, towels for wiping paws, a grooming brush, a first aid kit, and lots of training treats to reinforce him during opportunistic training for all the new situations we knew he’d encounter. We’ll be doing the same on this trip.

Travels with your dog may not require some of the same gear, but when you put forethought into your dog’s physical needs and training needs, it’ll help your trip end in fun memories for humans and canines alike.

You can follow our epic journey on Instagram @buellerthebus.

Happy Traveling!

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Admittedly, my friends thought I was crazy when I told them I wanted to continue training dogs after my death. Death is an uncomfortable thought for some, yet it’s the topic of discussion in the Compassion Consortium Animal Chaplaincy Training Program from which I’m about to graduate. 

When I began studying dog behavior in the early 2000s, I gained an appreciation for their extraordinary abilities as a species. But in 2010, after reading Alexandra Horowitz’s book Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell and Know, my interest and appreciation skyrocketed.

Horowitz helped me understand that dogs see the world through their noses, unlike humans, who see the world through their eyes. Dogs possess up to 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses, compared to 6 million in humans. The part of their brain that analyzes smells is 40 times bigger in dogs than humans. That’s a lot of capability!

It’s that keen sense of smell that helps drug dogs sniff out illegal drugs, search and rescue (SAR) dogs find lost people, and cadaver dogs pick up the scent of human remains and find bodies. Cadaver dogs play an essential role in resolving cases of missing or deceased persons and bringing closure to family members.

As with my prior dogs, I’m training Keaton, my nine-month-old Australian Shepherd, in K9 Nose Work. It’s a fun search and scenting canine sport inspired by working detection dogs. I get such pleasure watching him do what he was born to do: use his nose to find the odors used in the sport (birch, anise, and clove). And it’s fantastic mental enrichment for him, too.

While I enjoy K9 Nose Work for fun, I know trainer colleagues who train their dogs to work as cadaver dogs. They spend untold hours training their dogs to perform this vital service. These teams undergo rigorous training and must meet strict standards before being used on a mission. Ongoing training and education are required to maintain their skills at the required levels.

It’s because I appreciate the work cadaver dog teams do and their essential ongoing training needs that I decided after my death to have my body donated to Western North Carolina’s body farm. It’s part of the university’s Forensic Anthropology Program, where they maintain what’s referred to as “The Forest,” where bodies decompose to help forensic scientists understand how to solve cases of the missing and murdered and where cadaver dog teams train. It’s one of seven facilities in the United States.

I never thought there would be a way to continue training dogs beyond the grave, yet I found a way. What joy it gives me knowing that my decomposing body will someday help cadaver dog teams hone their skills. 

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Not everyone understands the depth of grief a person experiences when a beloved dog passes, but those of us who develop a strong human-animal bond with a four-legged family member are hit with deep emotional pain,.

And grief hurts physically too.

It’s normal to have body pain, headaches, joint stiffness, and lethargy caused by the incredible amount of stress hormones released during a period of grieving. 

Four of my training colleagues experienced the loss of one or more animals recently. And I lost my precious Cailie, my four-year-old joyful and comedic companion. To say we’re all still grappling with those losses is to make light of our feelings. 

Grief is a common conversation with many of our clients whose hearts are wrenched due to a loss in their life. It could be the death of a dog or cat in the home, or it may be the loss of a way of life when a dog is experiencing a serious behavior challenge or debilitating health issue. 

To better understand how to support our clients and help ourselves through periods of deep grief, I invited Tom Favale, DVM and Licensed Master Social Worker to be a guest speaker for our group of trainers mourning the deaths of our dogs. Tom is the grief counselor for the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine (UTCVM). His understanding and compassion are immense for those grappling with grief.  

Tom helped us understand the differences between anticipatory grief, disenfranchised grief, and echoing grief (also known as mirroring grief).

One of the biggest takeaways from Tom’s time with us was gaining confirmation that the grief process isn’t linear.

Moving through grief is more like a spiral or squiggly line that travels forward, backward, up, and down, and then repeats the random pattern. There’s also no one way or right way to move through and reach the other side of grief. 

One thing that helps everyone, no matter the type of grief they’re experiencing, is professional grief counseling. And you need not pay for it. Take advantage of Tom’s expertise. UTCVM Veterinary Social Work Department offers four free grief counseling sessions to anyone in or outside the U.S. Get help here.  I found great benefit from using their services and believe you will too. Because of my own journey with grief, I created a Grief Support resource page. May you find benefit from the variety of articles, videos, and podcast listed there. 

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<p>The post Grieving the Death of a Dog first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

It’s two years ago today that I said goodbye to Willow, our 6 year-old Aussie. She was, without a doubt, my heart dog, though the words “heart dog” really don’t even begin to describe my love for her. 

After two weeks of her being critically ill and six of those days spent in a critical care facility, we made the excruciating decision to euthanize her.

I have no words to adequately convey how empty and devastated I was. I felt as if I lost my heart when I lost her. 

I wanted to write about her then, and I wanted to write about her as the days stretched into weeks and months without her. Write about my feelings and the darkness of my world, which had turned to black and white. I wanted to express the pain I was experiencing and how much I missed her. I wanted to share with the world, in words, what an amazing dog she was. About how she not only changed my life, but the lives of so many others with her gift of being a canine teacher in our business. I wanted to write about the many lessons I learned from her. I wanted to honor her. 

But I wasn’t emotionally ready, for in order to write about her I had to remember. The memories brought so much pain each time I realized she was no longer by my side. Nor did I have the ability to describe the incredible gift I received having been her person: the person who loved her beyond measure and the person who received the depth of her never-ending, unconditional love. We were devoted to one another. I always said I loved her more than life itself. 

But time marched on. I wrote nothing. Then I felt guilty because I hadn’t honored her in a way I felt was fitting. Oh, the roller coaster of emotions!  

Her death changed me. But her life also changed me. 

So here I sit two years later, finally feeling ready to begin putting into words the emotions that have been swirling around in my heart for these past two years.

I plan to write a book about the learning journey with each of my dogs, the deaths of three young dogs, the deep and dark places I visited after their deaths and the uncanny way that immense grief and sorrow can lead to pure joy. It’s a love story filled with tragedy, anger, guilt, second-guessing and, ultimately, acceptance. It feels like an epic undertaking, and distilling it down to those few sentences doesn’t quite do it justice in my mind. 

Two years have given me the perspective I feel I need to embark on this writing journey to not only honor Willow, but the five other amazing dogs who have forever changed my life with their lives, and the important lessons each taught me: 

• Abbey, our first dog, a stray we rescued, who lived to be 12 and who helped me learn about canine cognitive dysfunction. 
• Carter, our first Aussie and my crossover dog, whose tragic death at 2 years old propelled me into professional dog training. 
• Gibson, who helped me hone my professional training skills and who died at 8 years old. 
• Cody, who rocked our world with behavior challenges early on and is thankfully still with us. 
• Willow, who changed my life in more ways than I’ll likely be able to express, and whose death came way too soon. 
• And Cailie, now 2 years of age, who has taught me to love again. 

It’s a funny thing, making an internal decision to write a book. It starts to feel real. And then it’s another thing to actually say it out loud. Yikes, it was scary! I had to slay some feelings of inadequacy before I could even mention my goal to family and friends (of course, they were all so supportive). 

Then I finally mustered up the courage to reach out to a few published authors and editors in the dog training industry. Thank you, Malena DeMartini, Eileen Anderson, John Visconti, Coleen Ellis, and Adrienne Hovey for your graciousness, support and wise counsel in regard to how to begin this process. I feel like the Lion in the Wizard of Oz who just gained his courage. 

I’m retooling, reorganizing my Doga Studio to allow space for writing (as well as dog training), and I’m making time to work on assignments to enhance my writing skills. 

I’ve found myself again. It’s a been a long journey. 

Nora McInerny said in her TED Talk, “We don’t ‘move on’ from grief. We move forward with it.” 

I’m moving forward with trust that I have it in me to adequately share how each of my dogs’ lives and their deaths has made me a better person. 

It’s really a book for me. And maybe, when I finish it, it will be for you too. 

Update December 2025—I was making significant progress with the book I speak about above when my beautiful girl Cailie (pictured in the photo) died expectedly in June of 2022 at only four years of age. Once again, I found myself immersed in grief and guilt too. It’s taken a couple years to gather my thoughts and emotions and I’m finally writing again. My hope is that this book, The Death of a Dog Changes You, will be published before the end of 2026. If you’re grieving the loss of an animal or a human loved one, please take advantage of the grief support resources on our website. May you always feel your loved one beside you. 

<p>The post The Death of a Dog Changes You first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

Targeting is the first thing I teach my dog.

It’s also one of the first things I help a client teach their dog.

Targeting is easy to train, dogs love the exercise, and once trained there are myriad of uses in daily life.

But what is targeting?

When I describe the goal of targeting—teaching your dog to touch their nose to the palm of your hand—a puzzled look usually appears on the face of the client in front of me. But once I explain the real life uses, they love it too. 

Targeting has many uses:  

• can help a shy or timid dog gain confidence
• an effective technique to position your dog wherever you want him 
• to get your dog off of anything (bed, sofa, coffee table) or on anything (the scale at the veterinarian’s office)
• aids in training your dog a Rocket Recall 
• an effective lure to use in order to obtain a new behavior 
• to keep your dog busy and less stressed at the veterinarian’s office
• to turn a light switch on or off, open or close a cabinet door
• and many more!

I always begin teaching a dog to touch his nose to the palm of my hand. Since dogs are naturally curious and like to sniff our hands, it’s easy to get the behavior. 

With your dog in front of you, encourage the dog to touch his nose to your hand by placing your hand (fingers together and pointed down or to the side, palm facing the dog) one inch in front of the dog’s nose. Your dog will likely lean forward to investigate and then touch his nose to your palm. The moment you feel his nose touch your palm, say Yes! and give him a treat from your other hand, then return your target hand to your side. Repeat the sequence four or five times. When the dog is eagerly touching your palm,  you can begin to add the verbal cue “nose.” Say “nose”, then present your target hand close to your dog’s nose, and when he touches it, say Yes. Repeat five to ten times. 

When your dog is responding reliably to the cue, move your hand to different places near your body so he learns to move toward the target when it’s farther away, when it’s in motion, and when it’s above or below his nose level.  

Practice makes all things possible.

Happy Targeting!

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No matter what you call it—polite walking, loose leash walking or walking nicely on leash—if we asked a dog’s thoughts about the necessity of walking slowly on leash next to their human, they’d shout out loud and clear, “Absolutely not!” 

When do you ever see a dog walking slowly in a straight line looking ahead? Never. 

Dogs see the world through their noses and move at a pace that allows them to explore their world at their own speed, sometimes racing ahead and other times slowing down to explore or enjoy something our noses can’t detect—those glorious smells left by who knows what creature and reveling in the glory of the moment. 

If you want your dog to walk politely on leash, it’s time to teach your dog loose leash walking—it’s a learned skill.

Training tools I use are a front clip harness for the dog, a six-foot leash, and a wearable treat bag filled with something your dog loves. 

I first teach my dog the Box Step. It’s a fun exercise that’s a precursor to loose leash walking. Once I’ve gained success with the box step, I start practicing straight line walking, also known as polite walking. 

Loose Leash Walking  Tips

Begin with your dog on leash on your left or right side. It doesn’t matter which side, just be consistent so that your dog learns to walk on one side before you teach the other side. 

With your forearms against the sides of your torso and both hands resting lightly against your stomach, look down at your dog and take one step forward. As he moves with you, deliver a treat to your at your pant seam. 

Take another step forward, give your dog another treat. Then another step, and deliver a treat. Continue for three or four feet, then give your dog permission to move forward without you (I use the words “free” or “go sniff”). After a minute or so of sniffing, encourage your dog to return to you, and repeat the steps. 

Practice this skill inside your house and gain success there before moving to a slightly more distracting location, such as your front porch. Gain success on the porch before moving to your yard. 

I’ve been practicing this skill at home, then in a class at Noah’s Play and Train in Franklin, North Carolina. 

The cones in the photo are reminders for students to reinforce their dogs at each cone (every step!). Each week the instructor adds another level of distraction so the dog is set up for success to gradually train through distractions. 

Last week we took training on the road and practiced loose leash walking at Lowes.

The video below is deceiving. I didn’t think to film the first five to ten minutes walking into and through the first half of Lowes. I wish we had that footage to share. Trust me, you would have seen different a different dog.

Keaton wasn’t at all focused on me because he was overly interested in other people and new smells, so I reinforced him for any look my way, any movement toward me—in general, ANY orientation to me. Before long, we were able to move into practicing loose leash walking, what I most often refer to as Polite Walking.

 

Practice makes it possible! Loose leash walking is a learned skill.

It’s not natural for a dog to wear a collar and/or harness while attached on a leash to a person walking slow in a straight line. After teaching your dog a skill in a low-distraction area (in and about your home), next move to a low-distraction time at a location in your community to continue helping your dog learn the skill in a new environment.

 

In this video you see me practicing loose leash walking with Keaton in Lowe’s during a less busy time of day.

 

I chose isles that had fewer people so that Keaton had a better chance of succeeding. I must admit I never expected we’d reach this level of progress on this first visit to Lowes.

 

The art of possible. Happy Training!  

 

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My favorite expression is, “You don’t know what you don’t know till you know it.”

That was true when I sought dog training information in 2003 before I became a certified professional dog trainer. Luckily, I found my way to modern, scientific, humane dog training information, which led me to a passionate career helping dog owners and their canine companions. 

Fast forward to today, and there’s no lack of information at the tip of your fingers. The challenge is finding  information you can trust where the training techniques enhance the bond between you and your dog. 

Within the last year several books have been published that are solid in the information shared and fun to read. 

Here are two of my favorites, and the author’s have engaging writing voices.  You can order from your local bookseller and they are also available through Amazon:

Puppy Socialization: What It Is and How to Do It, by Marge Rogers and Eileen Anderson. 

A must-have for anyone with a new puppy or planning to add a new puppy to their home. Thankfully, the general public seems to understand socialization is needed for a new pup, yet doesn’t understand the full extent of what socializing a puppy really means. Most think it’s merely getting the puppy out in public, yet there are many important components for doing it right to ensure the puppy’s comfort. With photos (print book) and videos (e-book) Rogers and Anderson educate owners to understand how to set their puppies up for a lifetime of emotional comfort while educating the puppy parent every step of the way,

Level Up Your Dog Training: How to Teach Your Dog Anything, by Natalie Bridger Watson. 

No matter your experience in training your own dog, Watson’s first book about dog training is sure to give you valuable information you may not yet know. There’s both art and science involved in explaining dog training and this book has both. Her easy-to-understand training recipe for success will help you gleefully succeed in training must-have behaviors dogs need to learn to co-exist peacefully in your home. 

Another book that’s near and dear to my heart is the one I’ve been writing: The Original Rocket Recall: Teach Your Dog to Come. It’s scheduled to be released in a few weeks. You can learn more about it and add your name to be notified of the book’s release at www.rocketrecall.com 

Happy Training!

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Separation anxiety is a common anxiety disorder in dogs. It can be triggered by rehoming, changes in the household composition (such as key people in the dog’s life moving out), moving, or traumatic experiences (for example, the dog is home alone during a break-in to the house). 

A 2020 study by Luciana de Assis and colleagues shared that between 22.3 and 50% of the general dog population is believed to show signs of separation anxiety. There are 77 million dogs in the United States.

Do the math—that means 15 to 38 million dogs suffer anxiety when home alone. This condition is a welfare issue for both the dogs and the people who love them. 

 

What is Separation Anxiety?

Separation anxiety in dogs is the fear of being left alone and the equivalent of a full-blown panic attack in a human being. Hormonal and neuro-chemical processes change in the dog’s body, and the dog has no control over those changes. Think of a time you were anxious. All the logic in the world probably didn’t help you change your feelings about the cause of your anxiety. 

Two terms are used to describe this condition: separation anxiety and isolation distress. 

There are lots of different terms used to describe the anxiety a dog feels when home alone: separation anxiety, home alone syndrome, separation-related behavior, home alone anxiety, canine alone distress disorder (CADD), owner hyper attachment, and isolation distress to name a few.

The term separation anxiety refers to a clinically diagnosed condition by a licensed veterinarian. The dog displays a hyper-attachment to one individual and becomes panicked without that person, regardless of who else is present.

Isolation distress is the term given to dogs who become anxious when home alone, but are comfortable when left with any other person (rather than the need to have a specific person present).

The catch-all term to describe both types of conditions is separation anxiety. 

Separation Anxiety Symptoms

Dogs display a wide range of symptoms when alone and anxious, but the top three symptoms are excessive vocalization, destruction around the entry and exit points of the home, and urination and defecation (all when owners are away).

Other symptoms can be damage to heavily owner-scented items (furniture, clothing, eyeglasses), bent crate door or wires, shredded crate bedding, or flooring.

Many dogs with separation anxiety also present with confinement anxiety, so crating adds additional stress. 

 

If you have a dog who suffers from this condition, please know two things: you did not cause this behavior, and your dog can recover. Treatment includes addressing the underlying anxiety, not the symptoms. The behavior modification training protocol used is desensitization—exposing the dog to that which scares him—the human’s absence—in small enough increments of time so that the dog “does not” feel anxious during the training. The repeated small duration absences increase over time.

If you suspect your dog is anxious when home alone, video your dog when you’re away using Zoom, Skype, or your smartphone. If you suspect anxiety, reach out to your veterinarian or a trainer skilled in behavior modification for fear and anxiety issues. Left untreated separation anxiety usually worsens, but with treatment, recovery is possible. 

I was honored to share information about separation anxiety a few weeks ago on the Local 3 News 3 Plus You show in Chattanooga.

If your dog is anxious home alone, please know there is hope for recovery. Seek the assistance of a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer (CSAT). These skilled trainers have lengthy and specialized education to help dogs recover. You can reach out to Bob Ryder of Pawsitive Transformations or Jenna Powell of Powell’s Pups. 

Please know there is hope!

<p>The post Separation Anxiety Affects Millions of Dogs first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

I’m pet sitting for friends this weekend and have the pleasure of walking a different dog in another neighborhood. It’s been a nice change of pace, especially after being mostly homebound due to the pandemic.

Why Dogs Enjoy Sniffing During a Walk

In addition to enjoying my own change of scenery, I couldn’t help but chuckle when thinking about how my friends’ dog, Freya’s sniffing reminds me of how humans check their social media accounts. Not unlike most dogs, she has landmarks throughout the neighborhood that she just MUST stop to sniff. This happens during every walk, every day, no matter how often we pass those items.

There’s a telephone pole, a green and yellow fire hydrant, one specific bush, and a mailbox post made of three vertical logs surrounded by some frayed rope.

As a dog trainer, I understand why she’s stopping and what she’s getting out of sniffing these locations each time. Dogs use their noses to understand their environment and gather information about who and what has been there earlier in the day. So, I thoroughly enjoy watching her make these discoveries. But, as I stand patiently waiting for her to finish sniffing, I’m struck by the feeling that many people would become frustrated by her behavior and try to pull her away or even raise their voice to startle her and get her moving again. They may even reach out to a trainer like myself to see how they could get their dog to stop this exact behavior that I encourage and enjoy.  

Dogs See the World Through Their Nose

I wonder if it would be helpful for these pet guardians to think of their dogs’ stopping to sniff being similar to how they check their social media and email throughout the day. Sniffing is a dog’s way of learning about what’s happening in their world. Other dogs left information, not unlike the information in a post on Instagram. Your dog is reading some interesting “pee mail”—he’s simply scrolling through and reading information important to him.

During our most recent walk, I had fun picturing that the telephone pole was Freya’s Twitter account, the brightly colored fire hydrant was Instagram, the bush was her Facebook feed and the mailbox post was, of course, her email inbox. I smiled and waited patiently each time she stopped knowing that she was gathering the latest information, and possibly juicy gossip, from her fellow neighborhood dogs and leaving a little of her own behind for them to read, I mean sniff.

So, I hope the next time your dog takes a little longer than you’d like sniffing around a certain spot, you’ll remember what the walk is really for—take the time to stop and enjoy watching her while she learns about her furry friends and their little community.

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These powerful lessons can improve your overall relationship with your dog and improve his behavior as a positive side effect.

Almost 30 years ago, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Stephen Covey was published for the first time. The self-help book went on to be called the “most influential business book of the 20th century.” To date, more then 25 million copies of the book have been sold.

As a small business owner, I found the book very enlightening and helpful, but I mostly found myself relating to Dr. Covey’s “7 habits” as things that would really help anyone who lived with and worked with dogs!

“The Dog Just Won’t Listen”

As a professional dog trainer, I get to work with people from all walks of life and the dogs they love.

Interestingly, no matter who they are, what they do for a living, or what kind of dog they have, their issues are similar: They call me because they want their dog to stop doing “X.” Usually, they say they have “tried everything, but the dog just won’t listen.”

I love the opportunities I have to work with so many amazing dogs.

“Look at Things Differently”

But a lot of what I do comes down to coaching the dog’s owners on how to look at things differently to obtain a new outcome.

With Dr. Covey’s “seven habits for success in business” in mind, allow me to apply them to people who want a more successful relationship with their dogs.

1. Be proactive.

Much of the old-fashioned dog training we were exposed to growing up focused on waiting for the dog to make a mistake and then harshly correcting him. While most of us simply accepted this as “how you train a dog,” we were missing the bigger picture. This method never taught the dog what he was supposed to do in that situation the next time.

It doesn’t make sense to let an untrained dog loose in your house and then follow behind correcting him with “No! Don’t! Off! Stop! Get down! Quit that!” for every wrong decision he makes. It is much more effective and productive to take the time to teach this new family member how to act appropriately in your home.

In modern, science-based animal training we understand the importance of teaching the learner, in this case the dog, what to do by being proactive. To use the example above as what not to do when you bring your new dog or puppy home, start things off on the right foot by first showing your new family member where she is supposed to go potty – before you ever bring her indoors! Stay out there until she goes, and immediately reward her with treats and praise!

Then, instead of turning her loose in her new home, allow your new dog to have access to just one room or area in the house at first – a place where she won’t be able to make mistakes like jumping up on the bird cage, soiling a precious rug, or chewing up a family heirloom. Allow her to relax in an area where it’s safe to explore without being able to make any major mistakes and where her water, food, toys, and beds are located. Reward her for sitting politely as she meets each member of the family and each visitor to the home!

Dogs do what works for them and what’s safe for them. If you introduce behaviors that are safe for the dog and work for you both, your dog will begin to choose them naturally.

2. Begin with the end in mind.

To change an unwanted behavior, you first need to decide what you want your learner to do instead. It is very easy to say, “I want my dog to stop jumping” or “I don’t want my dog to bark at the mailman.” You need to turn that around and decide exactly what you’d rather have your dog do in those moments.

To modify the unwanted behavior, we must be able to picture the final goal. If your dog is jumping on guests, you would probably prefer that he sit politely instead. If your dog is barking, you may decide you want him to play with his toy or go to his bed while the mailman passes by. These are the finished behaviors you can have in mind, so you know exactly what you’re going to teach your dog to do.

If you don’t have a goal in mind and you’re only focused on stopping a behavior, your dog will never learn what he’s supposed to do the next time a guest comes to visit, or the mailman delivers a package. This will set up an endless cycle of wrong behavior, harsh correction, confused and scared dog, frustrated guardian. This cycle can be broken easily if you begin dealing with your dog with your end goal in mind.

3. Put first things first.

Prioritizing is a necessity in all aspects of our lives. Working with your dog is no exception. There will probably be several things you wish to change or work on with your dog, but certain ones should take precedent. Any behavior that is necessary to keep your dog and other family members safe should be a top priority.

This could be teaching your dog to come when called because you live near a busy street. It may be working on creating positive associations for your dog with babies because you’re expecting. If you’ve recently brought home a new puppy, proper and humane socialization should be your number one priority due to the brief window of time puppies have to learn about their world and whether it’s safe.

Focus on teaching your dog whatever behaviors meet your immediate needs; usually, the rest can be handled with proper management such as baby gates, fences, a leash, stuffed food toys, etc. There is nothing wrong with using management to keep everyone safe and happy until you have a chance to work on that next issue with your dog.

4. Think win-win.

Always think in terms of mutual benefit when working with your dog. I doubt you added a dog to your family to spend the next 10 to 15 years in an adversarial relationship. Therefore, it’s not helpful to think in terms of dominating your dog or expecting your dog to spend his life trying to please you.

Instead, make the things you ask your dog to do just as beneficial for him as they are for you. Thankfully, this couldn’t be easier, since most dogs will gladly work for food, toys, praise, and/or petting.

Your relationship with your dog should be like any other in your family, built on mutual respect and love for one another. If you stop and consider how your dog must feel in a given situation – just as you would for your partner or child – you can then approach it in a way in which you both receive what you need in that moment: a win-win.

5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

Humans are quick to demand full and complete comprehension from our dogs. It’s surprising when you consider we expect this from an entirely different species – one that doesn’t speak our language!

On the flip side, consider that dogs speak to us all day long with their ritualized body language. Sadly, most humans have never learned this language.

Dr. Covey wrote in his book, “Seek first to listen with the intent to understand the thoughts and feelings of others, then seek to effectively communicate your own thoughts and feelings.”

We must remember that our dogs have their own thoughts and feelings and that the environment we subject them to affects both. If you cue your dog to sit or lie down while at the vet clinic or on a busy street corner and he doesn’t do it, it’s not because he is being stubborn.

Your dog may be scared, anxious, or overwhelmed in this situation and feels that it would be unsafe or uncomfortable to sit or lie down. He is not defiantly disobeying your orders. He is responding to his instinct and emotions in the moment. Every one of us does this when we feel scared or threatened.

Learning how your dog communicates with his body means you care about this family member with whom you share your life. It also shows your dog that he can trust you to help him out of overwhelming moments and you will understand what he needs. What an amazing gift to be able to offer him!

6. Synergize.

This means recognizing your own strengths and celebrating the strengths of those around you. You may have adopted a dog because you thought it would be nice to visit nursing homes and cheer up people with a sweet, fluffy therapy dog. However, the dog you end up with might be full of energy and better-suited for an agility field.

Instead of seeing this as a failure in your dog’s ability to be a therapy dog, consider the amazing possibilities you could have doing something more active together. Perhaps this unexpected development will open up a new world to you, with like-minded friends and fun travel. (And perhaps your dog will grow to share your interest in providing comfort to people later in his life!)

Just as you would with a child, try meeting your dog where he is, accepting him for who he is today. Be open to discovering the wonderful gifts he can bring to your life right now.

7. Sharpen the saw.

There isn’t an individual on this planet that ever stops learning. In fact, learning is always taking place, even when we don’t realize it.

If you think of training a dog as something you do haphazardly (when you find the time) for the first few weeks he’s in your home, you will not be happy with the results. Alternatively, if you weave training into your everyday life with your dog, thinking of each brief interaction as a teaching moment, you will be amazed by the outcome.

Your dog will receive clear and consistent messages from you in all types of settings and situations. This will allow him to develop into a calm, confident dog who truly understands what is expected of him and which behaviors are appropriate to choose on his own.

“Learning is Always Happening”

It’s not uncommon for someone to ask me, “How long will it take before my dog is trained?”

The truth is, there really isn’t an answer to this question because there should not be an “ed” on the end of the word train.

As long as we are alive, learning is always happening and none of us is ever fully “trained.”

Instead of being disappointed by this and thinking that you will have to train your dog for the rest of his life, I encourage you to flip that narrative and become excited about the opportunity to share a mutual journey in learning alongside each other – a journey that builds a bond like no other.

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<p>The post The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Dog Owners first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

<p>The post When It Comes To Crates, Think Outside The Box first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

It’s a virtual world.

I used to think that term only referred to playing “virtual” video games, but it seems to be a part of everyone’s life these days, no matter where you live in the world.

I started working virtually in 1998 as an executive recruiter. When I entered professional dog training in 2004 all my work was in-person until 2014 when I gained an additional certification in separation anxiety and began supporting clients and their dogs remotely using video conferencing. When this pandemic hit, all of our trainers were already skilled and tooled to continue serving the needs of our local, US and global clients.

One result of this pandemic is that many people are with their dog nearly 24/7.

Even six months into this pandemic, everyone’s life is still in upheaval in one way or another. You may be trying to figure out how to keep your dog quiet during your work at home conference calls. Or maybe it’s trying to figure out what to do if you can’t give your dog the exercise needed to burn off energy. Or maybe it’s a behavioral change that has you stymied. it could be there’s a new puppy in your home who desperately needs training for all that puppy nipping and biting. These are just a few examples of how we’re helping our virtual clients.

Just this past week our trainers have rolled out online training with clients in Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia, Virginia, Oregon, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, as well as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Easy and effective dog training with virtual training.

We use a video conferencing app called Zoom that most people are now familiar with. It’s free and easy to download. Once you have the app on your phone or computer, all you need is the link to connect with us virtually. Really seamless! The only downside is that when working with puppies, we’re unable to smell the puppy breath! Now, if someone would create an app that allows us to “smell” too!

There are so many benefits to remote training. We can observe a dog in its home environment without the presence of an unknown trainer (who smells like treats and all the dogs touched that day), we’re able to demonstrate with our own dogs (live, on camera) so you can easily see the goal behavior we suggest for your dog, the ability to seamlessly provide mid-week support, as well as ease of scheduling at a time that’s convenient for you.

Virtual learning is the norm.

It’s true that virtual learning is becoming the norm today in nearly every industry. And effective virtual dog training is no exception.

 

Sign Up For:

The Original Rocket Recall Self-Paced Program

Enroll Now

<p>The post The Changing Face of Dog Training first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

Do you feed your dog from the table?

If you answered “yes,” you’re not alone. That act alone doesn’t necessarily mean your dog will beg for food while you’re eating. 

With Thanksgiving around the corner, no one wants a begging dog at the table.

It’s not the fact that you feed food from your plate that causes the begging, it’s ‘how’ and ‘when’ you feed the food.  

We often eat at the coffee table in our small living room. We don’t mind that the dogs are nearby.  They’re part of the family. We do prefer Cody and Cailie to be in a ‘sit’ or a ‘down’ when we put our plates on the table.

We taught each dog a solid “leave it” making it easy to set the plate down without their sweet muzzles reaching toward our plates.

https://youtu.be/PG5AKdbBybo

Once we’re seated, I verbally cue them to ‘down” and they happily comply.   

I might give them a morsel of healthy food from my plate (yes, people food, but not fatty pieces) or a piece of kibble from a small container sitting on the table. 

Remember reinforcement drives behavior.

If your dog is sitting or in a down position when near the table, then by all means give them some food! Any food they like. People food. Dog food. A dog treat. That bit of food you give the dog while in a sit or down reinforces that position. You’ll get more sits or downs. 

On the other hand, if your dog is nudging your arm or breathing on your hand and you deliver a piece of food at that moment, guess what? You’ll get more nudging and breathing on your hand. 

Teach your dog what “to do.”

Before you begin training your dog to sit or down near the table, teach these two impulse control behaviors to your dog – away from the table.

When your dog can reliably “sit” and “down” on a verbal cue or a hand signal, then you’re ready to do some training near the table with empty plates before training with food on the plates. 

Use food wisely.

Set your dog up for success so that they get it right. Getting it “right” means they’ll earn reinforcement and the behavior you desire will increase. You can enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner without a begging dog.

Happy Training! 

<p>The post How to Prevent Your Dog From Begging at the Table first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

It’s safe to say the current Covid-19 pandemic is a sudden and drastic change in all our lives and in our dogs’ lives as well.

For some dogs, this strange, new (hopefully temporary) way of life will be taken in stride the same way they adjust to most things.

However, there will be many dogs who experience stress, anxiety and even panic when their routines begin to shift back toward normal. 

As a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer (CSAT), I have found these changes can be especially challenging for dogs who have suffered from anxiety in the past. 

The good news is there are ways to help your dog cope with these unprecedented times and thankfully they are all quite simple:

• Keep a daily routine that closely resembles the one you had in place prior to your stay-at-home orders (similar bedtime, similar shower time, etc.)
• Practice brief absences from the house so your dog continues to feel comfortable being alone (taking a walk around the neighborhood, reading in the car, hopping on your bicycle for a quick ride, pulling weeds in your flowerbeds)
• Incorporate daily mental enrichment for your dog to keep her brain active and engaged (puzzle toys, interactive feeding toys, hiding toys or kibble throughout the house for her to find)
• Gradually build the duration you’re out of the house as you transition to a more normal workday (plan at least 1-2 weeks to slowly build time outside the house before heading back to work)
• Use a camera or free app on your phone to check in and see how your dog is handling your absences. Observing her body language will give you helpful information about her comfort level while alone.

If your dog appears stressed during these brief practice absences, you’ll want to back up a bit and shorten the amount of time you’re outside.

Ideally, you will return before she displays signs of distress (this could be under 1-2 minutes for some dogs).

There are also a few products on the market which may reduce some of your dog’s anxiety: Dog-appeasing pheromone (DAP), white noise, and nutraceuticals like Anxitane or Zylkene are all options to try, but please always check with your veterinarian first. 

Click this link for a free download of this information for you to share with friends and family!

If your dog is still experiencing stress, anxiety and panic when you leave the house, it’s time to consult your veterinarian, a veterinary behaviorist or a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer to help your dog feel calm and relaxed again. 

Tiffany Lovell, CSAT, CPDT-KA, AAI, operates Cold Nose College, Space Coast in Brevard County, Florida and offers force-free training and behavior consulting. She specializes in coaching & training, separation-anxiety training and behavior consults with virtual training to anywhere in the U.S. & internationally. (321) 757-2059; coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post Helping to Prevent Separation Anxiety in Our Dogs During Covid-19 first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

Is your dog a scaredy cat?

The majority of our work in shelter and rescue environments has been focused on fearful dogs. We have also been the owners of dogs with these struggles. We understand how draining, frustrating, and defeating life can be with a fearful dog. But working with fearful dogs has also been some of our most  rewarding experiences.

Whether you have one of your own or you encounter them in your profession, this series of articles will cover useful information to know for working with fearful dogs.

What Is a Fearful Dog?

Like true scientists, let’s start with a definition. Our definition is “a dog who displays one or more fearful behaviors in response to a person, animal, object, sound, smell, or situation.” 

Note that we didn’t say “a dog who is habitually fearful.” For many of the serious cases, it can feel like the dog is fearful and anxious to their core.

But it is important to remember that being afraid is an emotional state and not a personality trait.

Any dog can feel fearful or stressed in one context and very confident and comfortable in another.

That was our first dog, Artemis. In the face of strangers or noises like thunder and fireworks, she was nervous, panicky, and afraid. But give her a ball to fetch or play a training game and she was focused, happy, and confident.

Artemis feeling nervous (below)

Artemis feeling relaxed (below)

For this series, we will focus on dogs who are afraid of people, places, things, and situations. While the issue of being afraid of other dogs is an important topic, it is also a lengthy one and bleeds into the areas of reactivity and aggression. However, we would argue those responses are fundamentally fearful.

Now that we have operationalized the phrase “fearful dogs”, we will use it in this discussion solely for the purpose of being concise. 

We prefer to focus on what can be observed – all of the dog’s behavior and the context – rather than using a label.

What Are Fearful Behaviors?

The list of behaviors that indicate fear or stress is long and they range from subtle to obvious. Many great minds have already written extensively on dog body language, so we will not reinvent the wheel.

To prepare our rescue volunteers for working with dogs, we provide them with two wonderful handouts: Dr. Sophia Yin’s Body Language of Fear in Dogs and Lili Chin’s Doggie Language with Boogie the Boston Terrier.

You can also find a comprehensive list of dog behaviors and what they mean in the Canine Body Language article on the Victoria Stilwell Positively blog.

 

 

Lili Chin’s Doggie Language with Boogie the Boston Terrier

NOTE: If your dog recently started displaying fearful behavior and this is a departure from their normal behavior—STOP HERE. Put down your phone or computer and make an appointment with your veterinarian or shelter/rescue medical staff. A sudden change in behavior is usually explained by an underlying medical condition. Please have a full workup done on the dog before proceeding with any training.

A dog’s fearful response is often categorized into one of four types: fight, flight, fidget and freeze. While these response types are accurate, they are also a bit reductive and interfere with recognizing fear at an early stage. 

Dogs display so many subtle signals before their behavior looks overtly like a fight, flight, fidget and freeze response.

When those subtle signs are ignored, the dog becomes increasingly more afraid and moves to more obvious behaviors, such as lunging and growling. At this point, the dog is considered “over threshold” and we want to prevent this at all costs. We will go into more detail about thresholds when we discuss behavior modification in part 3 of this series.

While some dogs may tend to express one response type habitually, these response types are not mutually exclusive. The dog’s fearful response may depend on the situation:

• Some dogs will bark, lunge, and growl at a scary stranger.
• Some dogs will pace or run away after hearing a thunderclap.
• Some dogs lock up when they see the groomer with a brush and just pray it all ends soon.
• The same dog may first run away, then freeze if cornered, and then snap and bite when the situation continues to escalate.

Any dog is capable of each response, even within the same situation.

All dogs have teeth, which means all dogs can bite—yes, even the sweetest golden retriever.

Canine Case Studies

 

Luna

Meet Luna, a goofy and confident lab mix from our rescue who has now found a home. Luna was a great example of how a dog is still capable of having a fearful reaction that seems out of the blue. Luna had a sleepover at our home one night. In the morning we went for a nice walk and then she settled down for a nap while I got ready for work. I emerged from the bedroom smelling clean and wearing different clothes and wearing my hair down. Luna stood up and started growling and backing away; she was very confused about who I was. But once I started talking to her sweetly, her body loosened, her tail wagged excitedly, and she came over for some belly rubs. 

What we learned: dogs observe holistically.

A dog’s brain, like a human’s brain, is a pattern-recognition and prediction engine. A dog takes in the whole picture of a person (e.g., their scent, shape, clothing, and voice) and the context of the environment. If you meet that dog again in a different environment, it is not uncommon for the dog to be confused.

Luna was looking at a jigsaw puzzle where some of the pieces were missing. But with my voice she was able to make out the full picture. When building a relationship with a fearful dog, it’s best to give them as many pleasant patterns as you can: talk to them in a soothing voice, play the “look at me” game, let them sniff you if they initiate it, and do this in different environments and wearing different clothes and hairstyles.

Having these additional patterns to positively associate with a human friend will help that dog recognize them in the future. Check out this video to see a dog like Luna who had trouble recognizing his owner.

 

 

Sunny

Meet Sunny who cowered at the back of her kennel whenever a stranger approached. Sunny was one of those puppies who simply did not have many experiences with humans. I waited three months to physically touch her. All we did during this time was walk by her kennel and throw some chicken. Through patience, I earned her permission when one day she placed her paw on my knee. A couple of months later, Sunny trusted us enough to stay overnight in our home and we saw her play with a toy for the first time. Building a bond takes time, but it pays off. Shortly after the new year, Sunny was lucky to go to a home with owners who understand this and visited her weekly in the months leading up to taking her home.

What we learned: when it comes to conquering fear, the “fastest path is the slowest.”

I first heard this phrase when I assisted a therapist treating a veteran with PTSD.

The therapist’s point was that taking small, slow steps would be the quickest way to recovery. This is 100% true for working with a fearful dog.

The most important skills for the therapist/trainer to have are compassion and patience. Rushing the process will lead to regression and a breach of trust. But small wins add up to bigger wins. That is the only way to long-lasting recovery.

Stay tuned for the next part of this series, where we’ll discuss how you can prepare yourself, the dog, and your environment for success as you strive to build confidence in a fearful dog.

 

Lisa and Mike Corcoran are the owners of The Confident Hound, which provides force-free, reward-based dog training to the Central Texas area. Their mission is to build confidence in dogs and their humans so they can make the most of their precious time together. 

Lisa Corcoran, VSA-CDT, is a graduate with distinction of the Victoria Stilwell Academy for Dog Training & Behavior. Lisa’s background is in mental health, which helps her understand why both her canine and human clients do what they do. She loves a good puzzle and is always on the search for the next learning opportunity. Since 2017, Lisa has volunteered weekly at shelters and rescues to rehabilitate dogs looking for good homes. She is passionate about giving back choice to a dog that feels helpless, rebuilding their confidence, and working with a dog’s instincts instead of against them.

Mike Corcoran, CSB-D, has a background in computer science, which gives him a unique perspective of dog behavior problems as being similar to bugs in computer software. Having grown up with dogs that displayed fearful and aggressive behaviors, Mike made it his mission to specialize in helping dogs like these be more confident and content in their surroundings. Combined with his experience as a rifleman in the United States Marine Corps, where he learned that true leadership doesn’t rely on using fear or punishment, Mike brings a systems-based approach to dog training. Mike is IAABC Certified in Shelter Dog Behavior (CSB-D) and spends much of his free time with the shelter dogs he’s devoted years to helping.

<p>The post Working with Fearful Dogs – Part One first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

It’s a fact: there is no normal right now.

Not for you.

Not for your dog. 

Think about what you used to do with your dog. Think about what you’re doing now vs. before the stay at home requirements.

How does that differ?

How can you, with a little added time and attention, create opportunities for your dog to “feel normal?”

It’s important to optimize your dog’s routine so that “what used to be normal” continues (to the best of your ability).

Our own case in point: Cailie and the Car.

It took a long time and a lot of counter conditioning and training with Cailie as a puppy (and even into her adolescence) to help her overcome her dislike of the car because of early car sickness. I certainly don’t want her to lose the comfort that was so hard to gain! 

We work from home and while our home/work life hasn’t changed drastically, we have to adhere to the stay at home orders. That means we’re not leaving the house by car very often.

A few days ago, I made a commitment to take Cailie for a short car ride a few times each week.

It’s definitely needed.

A month ago, she happily hopped into her crate in the car. A few days ago, she would not. Thankfully, with a little coaxing in the moment, we were successful.

Cailie’s hesitation to get in the car made it apparent to me that her former comfort in the car had diminished.

Now it’s time to find ways to take short car ride while she’s enjoying a stuffed Kong and other car rides that end in fun experiences for her. 

With that goal in mind, yesterday we headed out of the house again and enjoyed a fun time at the Murphy Riverwalk which is a meandering path that follows the Valley River. It was a joy for me to say Hello and wave at people from a distance and Cailie left no bush, no grass and no tree unsniffed!

It takes a bit of creativity to think of places to visit with Cailie during this pandemic, but with a little effort it’s possible. The new sights and sounds are enriching for me and the sniff walk is fabulous mental stimulation for her.

Ideas for you and your dog:

If your dog loves car rides, then make it a point a few times a week to drive to a new area of your town. The new scenery will be good for you and your dog.

If you’re limited to walking in your own neighborhood, walk the opposite direction than your normal route. Choose entirely different neighborhood areas to walk in.

If you’re in an urban environment and unable to do daily walks with your dog, then enrichment to the rescue!

Mental stimulation is key for your dog, especially in times where there’s no ability to give a dog physical enrichment.

You can enhance your dog’s day with a variety of interactive food toys. Here are a few ideas:

The Muffin Tin Game

The Find It Game

On your mark, get set, Snuffle!

Creating opportunities for your dog to snuffle for food is an excellent way to provide mental stimulation during times when you can’t get out of doors.

Bosco loves sticking his little hound nose into the soft felt pockets of this 72 pocket flower/veggie/herb planting bag.

If you’re like us, there’s always a box laying around from a home delivery. They make excellent, inexpensive items to use for enrichment activities for your dog. The items shown here are sturdy cardboard inserts. Each one has several little pockets and crevices to hide treats creating perfect, free puzzle toys!

Now that you’re home and confined with your dog, you may be noticing things your dog is doing that really bug you. Make a list of those things and consider with you’d like your dog “to do” instead. Then you can focus on a training goal for the “top of the list” issue.

Consider your dog’s life from their point of view.

What is it your dog may need help with right now? Set a training goal and begin working slowly toward it. Or set a goal for an excursion outside your home. The new surroundings will be good medicine for you and your dog.

If you need help, reach out to us! We can help you prioritize your goals and get started making progress with our dog to bring about some peace of mind.

Whether it’s finding a way to keep your dog quiet during at-home conference calls and Zoom sessions or optimizing your routine to prevent separation anxiety in your dog as your life starts to return to normal, we’re here for you. Just click on the “Book Now” button on our virtual training page.

Setting a goal gives me a sense of purpose.

My training goal for Cailie and the Car has already given me a sense of purpose. It’s something “to do” that provides some semblance of normalcy, for me and for Cailie.

Taking action will help you and your dog find some semblance of normalcy. Happy Training!

Lisa Lyle Waggoner is a CPDT-KA, a CSAT (Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer), a Pat Miller Certified Trainer Level 2, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior, a dog*tec Certified Professional Dog Walker and the founder of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina. She enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities and distance consults for clients, dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. and Europe. www.coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post Creating Normalcy for Your Dog During COVID first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

It takes a lot of focus to accept the uncertainty that abounds in our lives during this pandemic.

We imagine that rings true for you, too.

It’s normal to have fear and anxiety during this pandemic. An appropriate level of these can be productive – it keeps you as safe as possible. 

Safety is our focus for you and your dogs.

With that said, we’ve suspended all in-person training for an indefinite period of time. 

But we’re still busy training dogs and clients!

One result of the new “stay at home” requirements is that you’re with your dog nearly 24/7. Our lives are in upheaval in one way or another. You’re trying to figure out how to keep your dog quiet during your work at home conference calls. Or maybe it’s trying to figure out what to do if you can’t give your dog the exercise needed to burn off energy. Or maybe it’s a behavioral change that has you stymied. All these are a few examples of what we’re currently working on with our virtual clients. We can help!

Just this past week we’ve rolled out virtual training with clients in Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia, Virginia, Oregon, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, as well as the United Kingdom.

We’re thankful that much of our dog training work with clients is already accomplished via distance consults using video conferencing.

For six years we’ve worked with dog guardians throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia and it’s just like being there! 

The technology we use is quite easy and amazingly efficient.

We use a video conferencing app that’s free and easy to download and once you have the app on your phone or computer, all you need is the link to connect with us virtually.

Really seamless!

We can continue to help you reach your goals for your dog with online training while maintaining the needed physical distancing from other people.

The only downside is that when working with puppies, we’re unable to smell the puppy breath! Now, if someone would create an app that allows us to “smell” too!

There are so many important early socialization and training needs for new puppies! Even though you can’t get out and about as you normally would with the “shelter at home” restrictions, we can help you strategize and find ways to meet those vital needs for your new puppy through remote virtual training consults.

In addition to our private virtual training consults with clients, we’ve been rolling out virtual training for the Rescued Program, the jail dog program we’ve been involved with for 8 years. The detainees and dogs continue to make progress weekly during our live, online consult training sessions.

Our clients say it best and we never tire of hearing how we’ve made a difference:

“We are first time dog parents of a 2 year old dog from a shelter.  Feeling a bit overwhelmed with potty training and dealing with barking at other dogs, we turned to Rachel. Our initial consultation was so reassuring.  She was extremely knowledgeable and her recommendations made so much practical sense!  Love the idea of  “setting up a positive dialogue” with our dog—it totally changed our point of view.  She was super respectful of the value of the time we had booked with her and packed the half hour consultation with tons of useful info.  We are now going to sign up for 4 weeks of online training so we can make some substantial progress with our new furry friend!  Thanks Rachel!” Megan and Matt Moyneur, West Sacramento, CA

If you’re looking for ways to ease the stress you may be feeling right now, here are some things we’ve been doing:  

• Take comfort in the bond you have with your dog. Spend time together. Enjoy snuggling.
• Pack a picnic lunch and enjoy lunch out of doors with your dog whether it be in your back yard or an open outdoor area away with an appropriate distance away from others.
• Take frequent breaks from technology, social media and news channels by taking your dog for a sniff walk.
• Find a few minutes each day for training – you’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll make progress. 

We’re ready to work with you to solve your dog’s training or behavior needs or get your new puppy started off on the “right paw” with a remote consult. We can assist you in feeling comfortable with online training so that you can achieve your goals!

Join the Cold Nose College Virtual Training Team!

From all of us at Cold Nose College, we wish you safety, health and Happy Training in the upcoming days and weeks ahead.

Lisa Lyle Waggoner is a CPDT-KA, a CSAT (Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer), a Pat Miller Certified Trainer Level 2, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior, a dogbiz Certified Professional Dog Walker and the founder of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina.  She enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities and distance consults for clients, dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. and Europe. 

<p>The post Virtual Dog Training During the Coronavirus Pandemic first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

Is your dog a member of The Poop Patrol? If you teach your dog to find their poop it makes cleaning up much easier, especially when autumn leaves fall.  

While on vacation some time ago and visiting Bob and Susan Ryder of Pawsitive Transformations, I watched there dog Daisy help Bob clean up. I thought it was so fun that Bob taught Daisy to find her poop. I never considered it.

So what to do? Grab some footage of the goal behavior of Find Your Poop and share it.

And it’s a great alternative behavior to train if your dog experiences coprophagia.

In the below video, Bob Ryder of Pawsitive Transformations, LLC is showing how he sends Daisy to find the spots where she’s pooped. Next, Cailie and I get in the game. In the video at around 4:15 I sincerely believe Cailie is taking me on a wild goose chase, then at around 5:17 she totally surprises me. Oh me of little faith!

It’s an easy behavior teach and put on cue so that your dog can help in the cleanup process.

Here’s how I trained Cailie to “Find Your Poop” 

Most dogs will sniff an area where they pooped (or another dog has pooped). I used the training process of capturing to help Cailie learn what I wanted. Capturing is taking advantage of a behavior your dog offers naturally and then marking and reinforcing that behavior. 

When out on a walk and Cailie stopped to poop, I’d watch and wait patiently. As soon as she finished her business and turned around to sniff that fresh pile of stinky poop (stinky to me, likely not her!), I “captured” the naturally occurring behavior of “sniffing the poop.”  I used a verbal marker (the word Yes!) and followed with a reinforcer (piece of yummy food your dog really likes).  

Because Cailie was so consistent in turning around to sniff that stinky pile, I began adding the verbal cue “Find Your Poop” just a few seconds before she began sniffing. I repeated this for a few days.

Next I begin adding the cue. When we walked about and I saw a pile of poop I had yet to pick up, I’d say the cue “Find Your Poop” as we neared the pile. She sniffed it and I marked and reinforced her.  Voila! A trained behavior on cue. 

Sure, you can scout around your yard or property cleaning up by yourself or you can be aided in the search by the four-legged expert with their nose! Just might save cleaning your shoes too. 

<p>The post The Poop Patrol. Steps for teaching your dog to help clean up. first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

On November 22nd of 2019, my husband and I moved our two cats and dog, Kirby, from Denver, Colorado to Portland, Maine. With me originally from New York, Luke from South Dakota, and all our pets adopted in Colorado, none of us had never lived in Maine.

We had planned a seamless move and read all about how to help our pets adjust during a move.

We did not think anyone would mind the move that much, after all, we joked we had traded views of the Rocky Mountains for view the Atlantic Ocean.

In the first week after the move we made sure Kirby and the cats maintained their normal routines to reduce the stress of the move. 

Since we had only changed location, but not much else about our lifestyle, in my eyes the pets would adjust well.

We had moved from one apartment to another, the streets were similar in terms of traffic and noise, and Luke and I still kept the same work routine as the one we did in Denver.

The animals ate the same food, at the same time. We had even prioritized moving the dog bed and cat tower over our own possessions.

Kirby enjoyed the same walk and play times. Very little had changed to them. Could they really even tell we were in Maine, not Colorado, given that we lived in a city? 

About a week after the move I woke up one Saturday craving my usual Saturday ritual. A morning run with Kirby, yoga, and a home cooked meal in the evening. The pets had kept the same routine, why shouldn’t I return to mine? 

I did just that and completed my entire routine. However, by the evening I was so exhausted that the best I could do was crawl onto the couch with a glass of wine. 

As I sat on the couch, tears brimming in my eyes, I could not place why my normal routine had overwhelmed instead of energized me. 

It must be this new city. I thought bitterly. The bitter thoughts faded with some wine and I realized it was not the city itself but the newness of everything I had done. I reflected on my day, actually processing all the ways my routine was not routine to me yet. 

On the run Kirby and I had to be aware of where we ran to avoid getting lost in our neighborhood. I had to GPS everywhere I drove that day. Even at the yoga studio I had to observe the new studio norms. Where did people put their shoes? What was the culture of space between mats at this studio? I even had to ask where the bathroom was located. 

I wandered in the grocery store which was frustratingly organized differently than the one I had shopped at for six years. Even cooking was different in another kitchen. Although on paper this Saturday was the same as the ones in Denver, it was radically different in so many miniscule ways. 

While I was contemplating my day, Kirby curled up on the couch next to me. This was odd. She usually begs for me to play with her whenever I sit on the couch. 

Could Kirby be just as impacted by the little changes as I was?

I resolved to look at the move through her eyes too. 

Over the next few days, I did just that, and I noticed Kirby experiencing the same drain despite my attempt to keep our old routines. On our morning walks, which normally would have been 45 minutes or longer, Kirby seemed tired after only ten minutes. The smells in our neighborhood were so foreign to Kirby that one short walk of sniffing smells wiped her out for the day. 

Although she had been around snow her entire life, the snow in Maine was not the same. Snow in Denver melts within a day. It never lasts long enough to accumulate. While here in Maine it stays, cramping the already narrow New England streets. Kirby was even unsure how to go to the bathroom on top of all the snow.

Although, Kirby had long been trained to not obsessively drag me toward squirrels in Denver, this did not hold true in Maine. 

On one of our first runs in Portland she darted so fast after a squirrel that she knocked me down. At first I was upset our training had regressed. It was just another squirrel? Until I looked at the squirrel from her perspective. I knew it was a squirrel but she did not. In Denver, the squirrels were smaller and brown, here the large eastern grey squirrel was a foreign animal to Kirby. 

Just as I was impacted by the move, Kirby was a different dog. We kept to our normal routines and moved from one city to another but I forgot to account that we had moved to literally a whole new world for Kirby. 

It does not always take uprooting your life to notice a change in your dog. 

This change in behavior can even be caused by smaller events. Take for example, the Holiday Season. Granted, it’s only a few days of celebrations. It’s referred to as a time when we are out of our routine, despite the fact most of the time we are around familiar people, our own homes, and traditional food. Yet it is exhausting because of all the small deviations from our everyday life. 

It is the same with your dog and can even happen on a micro level. Ever take a left instead of a right turn on a walk with your dog and they begin to act like you have moved them across the country? 

Does your dog act differently or have trouble focusing on you when a new person comes to visit your house? 

Change in your dog’s environment can often be the main cause of why a behavior has changed. 

Although it might not be a cross country move, even the smallest changes in your dog’s routine or environment can be a major change for them. 

Just as I finally did with Kirby, I urge you to look at all experiences through your dog’s eyes. 

If your dog is suddenly struggling to keep focus or cannot perform a previously mastered cue, it could be the result of a minor change. 

Have patience with your dog as they adjust to even minute changes in their lives. Using empathy and looking at what is new with your dog could help make progress with training and daily routines. 

I urge you to ask yourself what is different from my dog’s perspective? 

Kristen Renaud, JD/MBA, is a graduate of the Victoria Stilwell Academy’s Dog Trainer Course. She believes in positive, force free training to create a thriving team between you and your dog. After several years as a Management Consultant Kristen realized she could combine her passion for problem solving and consulting with her love of dogs. 

Kristen founded Kirby’s Canine Academy in 2019. Kirby’s Canine Academystrives to work with each individual dog and guardian to create a truly sustainable approach to your dog trainingneeds, helping you enjoy your dog for life. 

Kristen currently lives in Portland, Maine with her husband Luke, dog Kirby, and two cats, Diggs and Ollivander.

<p>The post Looking at Life Changes Through Your Dog’s Eyes first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

In July of 2016 I sat at a MaxFund Animal Shelter holding a tiny puppy in my arms. Eight pounds of wriggling love. Looking at that tiny motherless puppy, covered in her own poop, and shedding so much fur I thought she might be bald in a day, I knew I had found my dog.

I called my boyfriend, Luke, (now husband) and said “I’ve found our dog.” Within a matter of days the little pup came with us to a new home, her own bed, and a pink collar with a name tag “Kirby.” 

Everything about Kirby’s adoption was wrong for us.

Both fresh out of graduate school Luke and I were broke. Free time for a puppy was nonexistent as I studied for the Bar Exam and Luke began a new job. Although potty training proved easy since I was awake studying all hours of the day and night. But that was not the “wrong” part of the adoption. 

The issue is that we adopted Kirby without a second thought of training or what the future might look like with this little dog. All we knew about our dog was that she had been rescued from a box on the side of the road in New Mexico. A so called “reservation dog.”

Little did we know that these dogs, from the Southwest area of the United States, are genetically predisposed to anxiety, fearfulness and many other issues. 

For nine wonderful months Kirby was like any other puppy. She garnered adoring fans at the park, frolicked in the Rocky Mountains, and explored the city of Denver with us. I passed the Bar Exam. Both Luke and I began new jobs. Kirby graduated puppy grade school, posed with Santa during the Holidays, and gained the friendship of our cat. Luke and I became engaged. We were a happy family. 

When Kirby was between nine and ten months old, which is around when these challenging issues can begin to show, she changed for the worse.

Kirby began growling at noises, and barking at other dogs. Even dogs that were a football field away upset Kirby. She nipped and cowered when other dogs passed. The entire city seemed to terrify her. In fact the only creature, besides Luke and I, she still seemed to tolerate was the cat. Going to the park, dog day care, or even on walks where we lived in downtown Denver, became impossible. 

Unwilling to give up our dog and desperate to find a solution, we turned to advanced dog training. The lawyer in me researched every training method and possible way to help Kirby. Luke, my meticulous data driven husband, researched stats and studies on dog training. We both arrived at the same conclusion.

Positive training was the best option.

In fact, positive training was the only option we could imagine trying. 

So what exactly is positive training and why did I pick it over the other methods?

It is a method of training that relies on positive reinforcement to reward (reinforce) the dog for the desired behavior. Reinforcement can be anything from treats, attention, walks or play time.

Positive training does not mean that your dog doesn’t know boundaries and gets what it wants all the time. Quite the opposite actually.

Positive training redirects rather than punishes the unwanted behavior. With positive training dogs are taught what “to do” instead of only being told what not to do, leading to a dog that is willing to problem solve for the desired behavior.

When done right, it can lead to a lifetime of results, rather than always using punishment to control your dog. In fact, the most current research indicates that positive training is the most effective training method.

Note that positive training does not use any force, fear or aversive methods to train the dog.

Most important of all, to Luke and I, was that positive training helped dogs overcome anxiety, fearful behaviors and aggression. While the other types of training including the use of shock collars, yelling or the use of force were linked to increased stress, and more anxiety. Luke and I were certainly not going to use any training method that was linked to the type of behavior we were trying to alleviate. 

Knowing our path forward, we began with a positive trainer in Denver. We did weekly private sessions with Wag and Train, now called Star Dog in the Denver Area. Within one session we saw an improvement in Kirby!

Positive training taught us not only how to manage the problem (management solutions meant walking ten stories up our apartment building to avoid dogs in the elevator every time Kirby went out), but also how to train Kirby with sustained results.

Luke and I trained with Kirby every day.

We trained during the private sessions with stuffed animal dogs to mimic real dogs.

We carried treats and tennis balls all the time.

Amazingly, we managed to find ways to avoid dogs in the city and mountains until Kirby was ready.

I’m sure we looked crazy on the street pointing out dogs to Kirby at a distance and then throwing parties with praises and treats when she glanced at dog and didn’t react.

Most of all, we did not push Kirby into any situation that amplified her fear. All of it paid off. 

Kirby’s anxiety is under control because positive training leads to sustainable results. Kirby is now three and a half years old and still benefits from the training. We taught Kirby how to handle her anxiety, which is the true success of positive training. If we had punished Kirby for reacting our results might have been disastrous. After all, punishing a dog for displaying warning signs can actually lead to more dog bites and attacks.

Just the other day Kirby and I were walking down the street and Kirby happily passed within ten feet of a dog. I smiled to myself knowing that I had made the right choice with positive training. I have my happy family back. 

Kristen Renaud, JD/MBA, is a graduate of the Victoria Stilwell Academy’s Online Dog Trainer Course. She believes in positive, force free training to create a thriving team between you and your dog. After several years as a Management Consultant, Kristen realized she could combine her passion for problem solving and consulting with her love of dogs. 

Kristen founded Kirby’s Canine Academy in 2019. Kirby’s Canine Academy strives to work with each individual dog and guardian to create a truly sustainable approach to your dog training needs, helping you enjoy your dog for life. Kristen currently lives in Portland, Maine with her husband Luke, dog Kirby, and two cats, Diggs and Ollivander.

<p>The post Why Am I Positive? first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

by Sandy Oelschlegel

Today I walked into the bedroom and Taylor was in the center of the bed calmly looking at me. I gave him his goodbye dog cookie and turned around to leave. I knew he was aware that I was leaving the house because I had given him all the well-rehearsed departure cues.

I changed clothes and shoes, turned the hairdryer on briefly, closed the curtain on the patio door and put on the radio. He had watched me do all those things.

Then he chose to hop on the bed to take a nap instead of clamoring to follow me, or pacing with anxiety.

We have certainly come a long way.  You see, Taylor came to us as a heart worm positive, owner surrender foster displaying “separation anxiety.”

According to Lisa Lyle Waggoner, Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer (CSAT); “Separation anxiety is a common anxiety disorder among dogs. It can be triggered by re-homing, changes in the household composition (such as key people in the dog’s life moving out), moving, or traumatic experiences…. Separation anxiety normally worsens over time without treatment.”

It was on January 27^thof 2018 that we met ABR volunteer Rachel Arden-Atkins at a PetSmart in East Tennessee. She and her husband had intercepted 7-year-old Taylor as his owner was about to leave him at a shelter. Thanks goodness!

He was now an ABR dog. The introductions to our two ABR Brittanys went well and we became fosters for the first time.

One of my first emails to our wonderful regional coordinator Rebecca Rockwell Wallace said “I wanted to update you on Taylor. The anxiety I mentioned before is pretty strong, and he barks and whines when left in the house, confined or not confined, with the other dogs in the house or without them. He gets quite worked up panting and trembling but he is not at all destructive, which is good!”

My second email included a detailed list of his symptoms 

• Shaking and trembling when placed in a crate.
• Yipping and whining all night unless he is sleeping in a room with a human. 
• Yodeling and howling when left in the house while we go out to the barn or yard. 
• Shaking and trembling and yipping and yodeling and howling when we leave the property in the car.

And so, our introduction to separation anxiety began.

Rebecca was wonderful and helpful and always there for us as a resource. She fielded many emails from me about his incremental progress with the anxiety as well as his heartworm treatment.

Taylor had to be kept quiet during his 60 plus days of heartworm treatment and that meant we could not let him get upset and anxious. We had to make many compromises. To prevent him from getting too worked up about us leaving the house together, we took turns staying inside with him. One of us would always stay home if there was shopping or other errands to be done.

In order to get a good night’s sleep, I moved a crate into my room where he could sleep without vocalizing. I have learned that many people who have dogs with separation anxiety make such adjustments and compromises, and it has an impact on their life. In fact, these dogs can end up in animal shelters when it all becomes too much.

But there is hope. And Taylor is proof.

By mid-February we were looking for answers. With Rebecca’s blessing we contacted a behavior program at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. Unfortunately, their next available appointment for a consult was the end of March, and they mentioned using drugs to relieve the anxiety as a primary solution, which we were not comfortable with. 

Rebecca then told us about a trainer, Lisa Lyle Waggoner at Cold Nose College, that was a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer who worked with people around the United States by using Zoom video conference technology.

Lisa’s work with separation anxiety dogs is based on desensitization, which as she explained to me is “presenting the stimulus that stresses the dog at an intensity low enough so that the dog does not to respond to the stimulus.”

In the case of separation anxiety, the stimuli are all things related to the owner’s departure.

With the blessing and support of ABR Rebecca contacted and arranged for us to begin a month-long intensive separation anxiety program with Lisa.

The program used by Cold Nose College is highly customized, designed specifically for each dog, and based on the specific situation involved around the departure.

In order to desensitize the dog to absences, the parts of the owner’s departure are introduced in very small increments over and over and with varied duration.

This is all based on science that is proven to work.

It is important that the dog does not experience anxiety or panic during the steps. After an initial assessment where we left the house and Lisa viewed Taylor’s behavior via Zoom, we were given an assignment of activities to do daily, which Lisa varied based on her observations. We also had an online log to complete each day, which Lisa reviewed. Each week we would meet with her via Zoom to discuss the progress or problems, we would then leave the house with the video on the dogs so Lisa could assess Taylor’s progress.

Working through the program was very interesting and we took it very seriously. Mindful of the fact that ABR was sponsoring us, we dug in and applied ourselves. It was quite a commitment to do the activities every day, record the dogs with a video during the activity, and then transcribe Taylor’s behavior into the online spreadsheet. 

Here is an example of one of the daily exercises which was done during the second week in the program. Each departure cue is done with only 60-90 seconds between them and the total time for each exercise is 20-30 minutes.

Of course, this was designed for Taylor. The stimulus in your home will be different so, as they say – don’t try this at home!

• Bathroom routine w/hair dryer, walk to door, exit, immediately return
• Bathroom routine with hair dryer, purse and keys, exit, wait 5 seconds return
• Close blinds, exit, wait 10 seconds, return 
• With purse and keys, exit, walk to car open/close car doors (do not get in), immediately return
• Exit, wait 20 seconds, return
• Bathroom routine w/hair dryer, with purse and keys, exit, walk to car, open/close car doors (do not get in), immediately return
• With purse and keys, exit, walk to car, get in, close doors, start engine, wait 10 seconds return
• Bathroom routine without hairdryer, exit, wait 5 seconds, return
• Bathroom routine w/hair dryer, with purse and keys, exit, walk to car, open/close car doors (do not get in), immediately return
• With purse and keys, exit, walk to car, get in, back out of carport and right back in, return
• With purse and keys, exit, wait 15 seconds, return
• Bathroom routine w/hair dryer, walk to car, get in, drive half way to the gate, turn around and return 

As you can see it is repetitive, and boring, which is the whole point.

While we were doing this the dogs got so perplexed, and then bored with it, they eventually just sat or laid down and watched. The last step was always an actual “departure” with us leaving for variable lengths of time, sometimes just starting the car, later, backing out of the car port, or down the driveway and back. The video recordings showed that Taylor was quiet for longer and longer during departures.

In early June we finished working with Lisa, and we had accomplished a lot. Lisa commented that we had come further, faster than most of the dogs she has worked with. She believed, as we do, that the good progress is because of the work we did before we started with her, and because of our lifestyle where we are in and out all day working around the farm.

Taylor does not get upset when left in the house anymore, he sleeps through the night without being near a human, he calmly accepts that we sometimes leave in the car.

But the work is not over. Separation anxiety is a condition that requires a commitment over time. We continue to use departure cues before we leave because it seems to calm Taylor to know what is about to happen. We leave for several hours now, but as the absence lengthens, it seems that he has more anxiety. 

Now we are approaching our 1-year anniversary with this sweet little gentleman. I wanted to share our story so that others can see that there is hope for this condition.

We did not have the heart to move Taylor again to another home, he is our foster failure. On my birthday in July, Rebecca asked if we wanted to adopt him and of course we said YES. He is a beautiful little gentleman who just wants to know that he won’t be left behind again- so he joined our family, now we have Zeebo, Liberty and Taylor too.

Sandy is a volunteer and member of the Board of Directors of the American Brittany Rescue. She is a recently retired medical librarian with a long history of working with a variety of animal species. She lives with her husband, their 3 Brittanys, her 33 year old mule, Barbados sheep, and many show pigeons and bantam chickens.

<p>The post Please Don’t Leave Me! Tackling Separation Anxiety first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

I actually prefer the term Tug of Love. It’s hard to imagine that it was once thought that playing tug with your dog would cause him to become aggressive. Thankfully, we now know that’s not true.

What “is” true is the number of benefits derived from playing tug with your dog.  There are many!

Let’s take a look at some of those benefits.

• Tug is a great bond building game. The two of you are focused on one goal and it’s a give and take game.
• Tug is a great game to play to help teach a solid “drop it” behavior.
• Tug is a great mental workout for your dog.
• Tug is also a great physical exercise. 
• Tug can be used to redirect inappropriate chewing and mouthing. 
• Tug can be used to redirect attention back to you in a distracting environment.
• Tug is a great game for teaching impulse control. 
• Tug can also be a great reinforcer for teaching all kinds of behaviors. 

Tug does have a few rules in order to keep everybody safe:  

• The tug toy should be long enough to prevent teeth from reaching your hands. If the dog begins to work his way up the toy and reaches your hand,  merely end the game and start again a few moments later. He’ll soon learn to keep his mouth on his end of the toy.
• There should only be one or two toys that you use to play tug. These toys are kept out of the dog’s general play toys and brought out only when you’re ready to tug. This helps the dog learn that not everything in his mouth is tuggable. When play is over, put the tug toy away.
• When tugging, shake left and right, not up and down. This is to protect the dog’s neck from injury. 

We all know that our dogs tug at our heart strings so now let’s break out that tug toy and have a big ol’ Tug of Love. 

Brad Waggoner is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, a KPA Certified Training Partner (CTP), a Dogbiz Certified Dog Walker, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior and Partner of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina. He enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities for dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. www.coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post Tug of War, What is it Good For? first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

Incarceration is defined as “the state of being confined in prison; imprisonment.” 

All your choices are made by others when you’re incarcerated. Someone other than you decides what you wear, when you sleep, when you get up, when and what you eat and how much you get to eat. Activities you would normally do without thinking are prohibited. 

This strange new world with lack of choice would be confusing and stressful and you just might act out in frustration. 

So what does all of this have to do with dog training? Quite frankly, a lot.

Our dogs need choice in their lives.  

If you think about the lives of dogs in our homes, they’re essentially incarcerated. They have little choice. We control nearly every aspect of their life.  Most often we expect a dog to understand and comply without question or protest. 

Consider this: A dog has wants and needs, just as humans do. And they also need choice in their life, just as you do. 

When we bring a dog into our home, we owe it to the dog to provide for all of his needs and many of his wants. 

It’s our responsibility to provide enrichment activities (mental stimulation), physical exercise and social interactions (with people and with dogs). 

An easy enrichment idea is to simply take your dog for a nice slow walk, merely following behind your dog (yes, let your dog lead!). Let him explore and sniff each and every leaf, twig, tree stump and rock and other dogs’ “pee-mail” too. We call that a sniff walk. Your dog gathers more information with their nose than we’ll ever be able to fully comprehend. 

Nose games are a great way to provide mental enrichment. Every dog has a seeking system, so why not let them use that sense to find yummy treats or valued toys? Not only is it great for your dog, it’s fascinating to watch a dog work with their nose. Trust me, you will be entertained and impressed. 

Repeat after me, “Play With Your Dog.” One more time, please. “Play With Your Dog.” 

Whether it’s a rousing game of tug, the Find It Game or the ever-popular Chase Me game where dog always wins by catching up to you, it’s fun for you and your dog!

There’s nothing better than seeing the look on your dog’s face when they’re having fun interacting with you. After all, you are their hero. 

And there’s an additional benefit in all that game playing. You’re building a strong reinforcement history with your dog.

Reinforcement strengthens behavior. 

And dogs learn by association too. By playing and spending time with your dog, they’ll see you as the source of fun times and good things. That bond you’re building with your dog really comes in handy when beginning to train needed family manners and also recall.  

Let’s take recall (calling your dog to come), for example. Try to think about it from the dog’s perspective. Your dog is outside (nirvana) on the other side of the yard and fully engaged in exploring some fantastic smell, and you call your dog to come to you. In order to leave that amazing smell behind, there needs to be a really “good” reason to return. That smell is highly reinforcing!

If you’ve played with your dog and spent time with your dog, you’ve developed a powerful reinforcement history and it makes the choice much easier for your dog. It’s worth it to bound over to you!  

Say “No” to further incarceration.

Bust your dog out of jail!

Go play with your dog. Take your dog for long slow walk and let them sniff. Play games with our dog. Have some fun together. Play is good for both ends of the leash! 

Jim Ross is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) and the owner of Cold Nose College Blue Ridge. He studied at the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Training and Behavior, is professional member of the Pet Professional Guild (PPG), the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT), is trained in pet first aid and CPR and carries the Pet-Tech First Aid/Canine CPR caregiver designation. Jim is also a volunteer professional dog trainer working with the detainees and their shelter dogs within the Rescued Program at the Colwell Probation Detention Center in Blairsville, Ga. 

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<p>The post Bust Your Dog Out of Jail first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

An estimated 40 to 45% of American adults make one or more resolutions this time of year. By far, the top 3 new year’s resolutions are:

– weight loss,

– exercise program,

– stop smoking.

Other popular resolutions deal with debt reduction and better money management in the year to come. But what about including your dog in your New Year’s resolutions this year? We all have at least one or two (probably more) behaviors we would like our dogs to do on a more reliable and consistent basis. Why not make training your dog the focus of your resolution in 2020?

Much like with exercise and weight loss resolutions, you must first put in the time and effort to teach your dog what it is you want him to do. Only then can you expect to see the results you’re looking for.

The great news is that setting aside even ten minutes a day to practice with your dog will start to make a big difference. And let’s face it, hanging with our dogs is much more fun than trudging through a money management spreadsheet!

If I were to make a list of the top 3 behaviors most of my clients would want to focus on they would be:

• Polite greeting (sitting or standing instead of jumping on guests)
• Recall (coming when called)
• Reduced barking (alert bark and then quiet)

All of these and more can be trained if you can commit just a little time each day to practice, using modern, force-free methods.

This training time can be at any time of the day that works with your schedule and can also be loads of fun for both you and your dog. Creating training exercises which are more like games will ensure that you’ll both want to continue practicing.

If you’re unsure how to make your training fun, let us know and we can show you how. And no matter where you are geographically, we can help you achieve your goals with a convenient online consult.

In addition to your goal of more consistent and reliable behaviors, brief, regular training time with your dog can lead to many other positive results.

These include:

• Better communication and understanding
• Physical exercise for each of you
• Mental exercise for each of you
• Stronger bond
• Better impulse control from your dog
• More pleasant relationship overall

Of course, there are those who think New Year’s resolutions are a waste of time. They are convinced that everyone gives up on them within a few weeks or months anyway, so what’s the point?

While it is true that many of us fail to follow through the entire year, you may be surprised that of the 40-45% of American who set resolutions, approximately half (46%) are still going strong after 6 months.

So, don’t let the naysayers discourage you. If you want to set resolutions for yourself, go for it! If you want those goals to include your dog, I think that’s even better! Continuing to complain about how we wish our dog’s behavior was different is the same as complaining about our weight or debt.

Only action will bring about the change we’re looking for in ourselves AND our dogs.

Tiffany Lovell, CSAT, CPDT-KA, AAI, operates Cold Nose College, Space Coast in Brevard County, Florida and offers force-free training and behavior consulting. She specializes in private in-home coaching & training, separation-anxiety training (local & remote to anywhere in the U.S. & internationally) and behavior consults. (321) 757-2059; coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post New Year’s Resolutions first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

November and December are the months of the year when the Cold Nose College phone rings with urgent training needs for a family dog. 

Example requests: “Help! My son’s family will be visiting over the holidays. They’re bringing their dog and my dog doesn’t get along with other dogs. I need you to help her like other dogs.”  

Reread that sentence and replace children with dogs. Those calls come in too. 

It’s not uncommon for a dog to not like other dogs or children.

If a dog hasn’t been properly socialized at a young age to either, the dog maybe be uncomfortable.

Distance increasing behaviors a dog may display are barking, lunging or growling attempt to make the “scary thing” go away. 

Remember, a growl is a good thing. It’s information that your dog is uncomfortable and needs help…..from you.

Your dog is not giving you a hard time, your dog is having a hard time.

It’s possible to modify unwanted behaviors through counter conditioning and desensitization, though major behavior change for dogs and humans takes time. It rarely happens in a few weeks.

Is it easy for you to immediately decide to diet and reach your goal weight in two or three weeks? Or perhaps it’s quitting smoking or eliminating sugar from your diet. Easy or challenging?

When there isn’t time to embark on a behavior modification protocol, then it’s “management” to the rescue!

Management means manipulating the dog’s environment so that you prevent the dog from practicing unwanted behaviors. 

Suggested management strategies for the two scenarios above:  

My dog doesn’t like other dogs

As my dog’s advocate, I have learned to offer a polite “no” response to well-meaning friends who ask if their dog can accompany them to our home.

Not all dogs immediately enjoy an interloper in their own home.

Besides, we have cats in our house, so I don’t trust unknown dogs around our furry felines. And just because your own dog has always interacted well with new, unknown dogs, you need to be proactive and consider leaving your dog at home when visiting a friend or relative or use a reputable boarding facility, such as our local Camp Happy Dog. It’s much more fun to visit with without worrying about how the dogs get along.

My dog doesn’t like children

This is different, because you DO want your family to bring their children. You can board your dog at a reputable boarding facility or when children are in the room with the family, place the dog in another room of the house. Make that area a veritable Disneyland for the dog (soft mat, food toys, chew items such as bully sticks or stuffed Kongs, squeaky toys). 

Be creative. Add an appropriate management strategy and you’ll have a more relaxed visit with family and friends. And if you need help being creative in determining appropriate management plans, we’re here to help!

Lisa Lyle Waggoner is a CPDT-KA, a CSAT (Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer), a Pat Miller Certified Trainer Level 2, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior, a dog*biz Certified Professional Dog Walker and the founder of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina.  She enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities and distance consults for clients, dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. and Europe.

<p>The post Hurry, My Dog Needs Training! first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

Here we are in what’s known as The Dog Days of Summer. In Western North Carolina where we live, August is typically the hottest and muggiest month of the summer.  

Honestly it’s hard to believe it could be any hotter than it was just a few short weeks ago when the temperatures hit the low to mid-90s. The forecast says those 90+ degree days are returning soon.  

I don’t know about you, but getting out and exercising in this heat is unbearable for me and not safe either. It’s the same for your furry canine companion. The risk of overheating is real for you and your dog.

But what to do if your dog turns into a whirling dervish if she (or he) doesn’t get enough physical exercise? 

Our dog, Cailie, who is quite the high-energy young girl (a 14th month old Australian Shepherd), usually gets at least two solid hours of physical exercise each day. It’s just too uncomfortable for us to be outside in the heat past the 10:00 am mark. Cailie was recently spayed and was put on 7 days of on-leash, restricted activity. Even one day of inactivity brings about restlessness in our high-energy girl.  

Even though I took her on multiple, slow, on-leash “sniff walks” during the cool mornings and late evenings, I noticed she has a little less tolerant for frustration and was more tempted to use her mouth on inappropriate objects. In general, she was a little more fractious. Time to add brain games to Cailie’s day.

Brain games are mental enrichment for your dog. 

Brain work. In the wild, dogs spend a great deal of their waking time trying to obtain food.  Think of the mental (and certainly physical) exercise this quest demands.  Plopping down an entire bowl of food and having your dog gobble it up in less than a minute certainly nixes nature’s design.

Drawing out the length of time it takes your dog to eat, and having him work to get the food out of something other than a traditional food bowl, adds fantastic mental stimulation.  

Mental enrichment can tire a dog just as much as physical exercise. Think about it. It’s the same for you. After the end of a long day of using your brain, you’re worn out. Same for your dog. Thankfully there are some fantastic inexpensive, interactive puzzle toys for dogs. Little physical energy is required to enjoy the toys and each toy provides problem solving opportunities.

Here are three activities that we often use (a quick Google search will show you hundreds of others): 

The Find It Game. It’s an active game, great fun and fantastic mental stimulation. Ask your dog to wait (or have someone hold your dog), place the toy in another room, return to your dog and tell your dog to “find it.” In this video Cailie’s searching for a toy, though you can also use food. 

A KONG Wobbler. The Wobbler is a food-dispensing toy that is weighted on the bottom and sits upright until pushed by a dog’s nose or paw and then periodically dispenses as it wobbles and rolls around. The unpredictable movement keeps dogs challenged. It unscrews for easy filling and cleaning. 

The Muffin Tin Game. This is such an easy and inexpensive way to give your dog some mental enrichment. All it takes is a muffin tin, tennis balls (or other toys) and yummy treats your dog likes. Place a tiny treat under each tennis ball, set the muffin tin down on the floor and enjoy watching your dog search for the smell of the treat and then figure out how to move the ball to get to the treat, then sit back and watch your dog enjoy the game!

So beat the heat, help your dog be a better problem solver and enjoy a stronger relationship with your furry friend by playing brain games with your dog.

Check out our YouTube Channel to see other videos of our dogs, Cody and Cailie, along with our former girl, Willow, enjoying Brain Games.

Lisa Lyle Waggoner is a CPDT-KA, a CSAT (Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer), a Pat Miller Certified Trainer Level 2, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior, a dog*tec Certified Professional Dog Walker and the founder of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina. She enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities and distance consults for clients, dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. and Europe. www.coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post Brain Games for the Dog Days of Summer first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

Our adorable girl, Cailie, turned one year old in June. It’s hard to believe how quickly she moved from a little fluffy, spirited puppy into a beautiful adolescent dog.

There are multiple developmental stages in dogs and for most dog guardians, the adolescent phase can be the most trying. Never fear! You can get through this phase with a smile on your face.

Dogs move through puppyhood, into adolescence and on into adulthood. Each stage brings about typical species behaviors.

The developmental phases consist of prenatal, which is prior to birth (known as in utero); neonatal, from the time the puppy is born up to two weeks; the transitional stage, which is two to three weeks of age; the socialization phase which is three weeks to 12 weeks of age and when your puppy is most open to being appropriately conditioned to all the people, places, things, sounds and surfaces; the juvenile stage from 12 weeks to sexual maturity; the adolescent phase from sexual maturity to social maturity (usually around six months to 18 months and up to 24 months); adulthood, understood as social maturity; and lastly our dogs move into the senior phase which is eight years and beyond.

Understanding each of the phases will help you know what to expect during that specific developmental period and how to meet your dog’s differing needs during that time.

Let’s talk a bit about adolescence, which is exactly where Cailie is right now. The adolescent developmental period begins around 6 months of age and lasts till around 18-24 months. Of course, this varies by breed and these ages are approximate (just as children reach puberty at different ages). Because of the brain changes, hormonal changes and growth of a dog’s body, a dog’s behavior will also change.

The adolescent stage is when most dogs are relinquished to shelters.

Fractious puppy behaviors that were once ignored or inadvertently reinforced are no longer appreciated as the dog has grown into a larger, stronger body.

If you’ve implemented early puppy training it will benefit you greatly in helping you survive your dog’s adolescence!

https://youtu.be/Su2mbyGaDAQ

When our former girl, Willow, turned 6 month of age, I swore that someone broke into our home in the middle of the night and replaced my sweet little puppy with a look alike dog……..with a new slew of obnoxious behaviors.

The impulse control she had gained seemed to fly right out the window. The patience she formerly had around other dogs disappeared. Her focus on me was more difficult to gain.

Fortunately, because of all the early training I did with Willow, we moved through her adolescent period easily. Thankfully this is also the case with Cailie.

The adolescent period is when a dog begins to explore their world, so it’s no wonder the dog’s attention is sometimes more difficult to gain.

Instead of becoming frustrated, it’s important to focus on what you can do.

Be patient.

Continue to help your dog learn in short daily training sessions. You may need to back up a bit in training to where you dog was last successful, before again moving forward. 

Here’s a post I shared on our Cold Nose College Facebook page a few months ago:  “Patience and deep breathing. As I sit here at 7:00 am on a Sunday getting ready to put up another post about dog training, Cailie, who is now 7 months old as of yesterday, is raring to go! Come on, Mom, play with me! We’ve been up since 5:45 am and after outside potty time, she’s already finished her breakfast out of a Kong Wobbler, enjoyed some Greek yogurt on a LickiMat (which gave us time enough to down a cup of coffee), chewed on a bully stick for a sufficient amount of time (before she buried it for later enjoyment) and licked on a cheese-stuffed hoof. All of the things I’ve mentioned are management tools. We’re preventing unwanted behavior (fractiousness) and giving her something else to keep her from pummeling our 19 year old cat with normal dog play and also preventing her from being too rowdy with our other dog, Cody, who is 12 years of age. He doesn’t appreciate the over the top effervescent play this early in the morning. It would be easy to get frustrated with her incredible energy while we wait for daylight. Instead, we take lots of deep breaths and keep her busy until we can get outside and let her burn off all that adolescent Australian Shepherd energy. Mental stimulation and physical exercise are needs that must be met for all dogs. After one more deep breath, I think we’re headed outside before daylight!

Management is arranging the dog’s environment to prevent unwanted behaviors.

Vitally important in puppyhood, management is also important during adolescence (and by the way, throughout your dog’s life).

Sometimes all you need is management!

Example: Instead of trying to train your dog to stay out of the trash can (oh so tempting!), merely put a lid on it.

We still use a pet gate to keep Cailie out of the kitchen when the cat is eating. While she now waits patiently outside the open kitchen gate when we’re in the kitchen (even if the cat is eating), all bets are off if we leave.

Management to the rescue – we merely close the gate when we leave the kitchen to prevent her from eating the cat’s food (thereby getting reinforced from doing so). Reinforcement causes behavior to happen again and in this case not something we want, so we employ management. 

Mental stimulation and physical exercise are two important needs all dogs have, particularly active adolescent dogs.

Make good use of interactive puzzle toys, sniffy walks (amble along and let your dog sniff to her heart’s content) and playing hide n’ seek. All are lovely ways to enrich your dog’s life.

Cailie particularly loves The Muffin Tin Game, an easy and inexpensive way to provide mental enrichment.

https://youtu.be/0rZ1ueox8xw

Meeting your dog’s physical exercise and mental enrichment needs (what we refer to as brain games) is important throughout your dog’s life. Even more so during adolescence. When you do, you’ll see less unwanted adolescent behaviors.

Understanding your dog’s needs and focusing on what you “can” do during your dog’s adolescence, will help you weather this oftentimes challenging developmental phase. And will help you enjoy every moment of your dog’s adolescence….with a smile!

Lisa Lyle Waggoner is the author of The Original Rocket Recall: Teach Your Dog to Come. She’s a CPDT-KA, a CSAT (Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer), a Pat Miller Certified Trainer Level 2, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior, a dog*tec Certified Professional Dog Walker and the founder of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina. The company’s trainers enjoy providing virtual behavior consulting and training solutions to clients around the globe and offers coaching, mentoring and behavior case support for pet professionals. www.coldnosecollege.

<p>The post The Key to Adolescent Dogs – Patience, Management and Training first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

Teaching your dog to park himself on a mat might be one of the most useful skills you could ever train.

Once your dog has learned the skill, there are countless ways to use it. For example:

• When your dog is a little too excited and needs to settle, the mat becomes a place to relax and practice patience.
• When you need to give your guests some extra space.
• When someone knocks at your door or rings the doorbell, cue the dog to go to mat so that your visitor isn’t mobbed by an excited canine.
• When you’re enjoying a meal.
• Multiple dog homes can run with less chaos if each dog is able to go to his mat on cue. When you’re training, invite your dog to settle on a mat as a break between sessions or while you work with another dog. Taking turns is an important lesson for dogs, too.
• When you need to build self-control, send the dog to mat and incrementally add greater levels of distraction to help the dog build steadiness and control.
• The mat is a great way to train a dog to be calm and quiet in his crate. Once he understands the behavior designated by the mat, use it to facilitate that same relaxed down in the car.
• When the dog needs a clearly defined boundary, the mat designates where the dog should be and where children should not be. Explain to children that the mat is the dog’s “home base,” a space that the dog can call his own.
• To keep your dog clean, the mat provides a comfortable spot where she is protected from heat, cold, or damp surfaces.

You can build your dog’s confidence by teaching him to go to mat.

When taking my dogs to a new location or to meet new friends, I often take a mat. When I do this, I’m taking a “known behavior” — something the dog has been trained to do and for which he has been heavily reinforced. It’s a safe, familiar spot for my dog to hang out.

“Go to mat” can also solve some common problem behaviors like counter-surfing, jumping or door dashing. If your dog is lying comfortably on his mat, he can’t also be carrying out those behaviors.

Here’s how to
teach your dog to “go to mat.”

Begin by adding value to the mat 

Help your dog value the mat by association before you even begin formal training. When I’m watching TV, relaxing on the sofa or working on my computer, I place the mat nearby. I invite my dog to lay on the mat and slowly, calmly and steadily drop treats around him. Sometimes I feed his entire meal just by dribbling pieces of kibble around him while he is on the mat.

After several reinforcing visits to the mat, the pup begins to value that space and seek it out in hopes of more reinforcement. When you’ve added value to the mat, it will becomes like a magnet! Your pup will be immediately attracted to the mat when you get it out.

Train your dog to “go to mat” 

When your dog understands that the mat has value, it will be difficult to even place the mat on the floor because the pup is so eager to get on it.

Once you’ve established that magnetic attraction, training is easy!

If your dog needs
a little hint – if he doesn’t feel irresistibly attracted to the mat – you can
either continue to add value to the mat or you can set him up for success via
savvy placement of the mat.

In the next video
example, I place the mat between me and the young pup and then toss a treat on
the other side
of the mat. I knew the puppy was likely to turn and move back toward me after
grabbing his treat, so I placed the mat where he is
almost guaranteed to step on.

Remember to click
when the pup offers the behavior you want, and then give him his reward.

Training Tip: In the early stages of training, toss the treat onto the mat when the dog goes to mat. Toss several treats, one a time, then, try tossing one treat off the mat. If the pup really understands the behavior you are reinforcing, he will quickly go right back to the mat. When he is consistently grabbing his treat and quickly turning back to get on the mat, you will know he knows the job.

Remember that, as always, there is no need to add a cue until the pup understands the behavior.

When he is quickly turning back to mat from any direction, add the cue just as he is orienting back to the mat. I use the cue “place,” but any cue will work. I’ve heard “mat,” “go to bed,” “settle,” and “hit the sack.” 

Slip your cue in just as the dog is turning to come back to the mat.

Later, you can begin to say the word a little earlier, but initially just say the word as he is returning to mat so that he begins to connect that behavior with that word. When that connection is made, you can say the word anytime and the dog will trot quickly to the mat.

Watch for the magical “down” on the mat

At some point, your dog is likely to offer a down when he gets on the mat. I wait for my dogs to offer the down on their own, but some people cue “down” when their dog is confidently hopping on the mat.

When the dog readily offers a down on the mat, you can change your criteria.

Now you can wait for your dog to lie down on mat and then click and reinforce. You will no longer reinforce your dog for simply going to the mat; now your dog should go to the mat and lie down to complete the behavior.

Build duration slowly

OK, your dog can “go to mat.” Now you’ll need to teach him that you’d like him to stay there for a few minutes. Maybe you ultimately want him to stay while you go answer the door, eat your dinner, train another dog, or unload the dishwasher. Any of those activities take time. Build your dog’s duration slowly and incrementally.

When your dog
goes to mat and lies down, wait one second and then click and treat. Then,
stretch to two seconds, then three, and continue to build that duration slowly
so that you aren’t asking for more than your dog is ready to give. Build
success upon success.

Add distractions

As your dog is able to stay on the mat for some duration (I suggest about 30 seconds), begin to incrementally introduce distractions. Start with something easy like shifting your weight. Slowly increase the difficulty by taking one step away, then two steps, roll a ball or open a door. Teach your dog to stay on the mat until you release them to the next activity.

Change the cue

Now that your dog can “go to mat” and “stay on mat,” there are so many fun things you can do. You can teach your dog that a knock on the door or the ring of the doorbell is the new cue. How nice it is when your dog automatically goes to his mat and waits whenever someone comes to the door!

Training Tip for adding a new cue: Use the new cue, then use the old cue, then wait for the behavior and click and treat. After a few repetitions, your dog will begin to associate the behavior with the new cue and you can fade the old cue completely.

In this example, Nya is learning that the new cue to go to mat is the sound of the doorbell.

Can you think of more practical (or fun) uses for “go to mat”? Please share them! We’d love to see pictures of your dog showing off his mat skills!

Rachel Thornton is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed, a graduate of the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Training and Behavior and Owner of Cold Nose College Natchez Trace located in Hamilton, Alabama. She’s also well-known trainer and mentor in the service dog community. Rachel offers force-free training and behavior consulting to clients in the tri-state area of Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi. 205-412-3612; www.coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post The Magic of Teaching Your Dog to Go to Mat first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

I wrote this article some years ago and it popped into my mind again today.  I’ve been thinking about all the things I want to teach Cailie, our now 7 month old Australian Shepherd.

We’ve focused mostly on tricks (fun for her, fun for me!) and family manners – the myriad of things a dog needs to know to co-exist peacefully in our home (such as Leave It, Trade, Wait at the Door, Impulse Control, etc.).

There are so many other possibilities for us to learn together! I’m interested in canine sports (dock diving and K9 Nose Work), yet we’ll need to determine what she really likes.

 Here were my thoughts four years ago. They’re as true today as they were then:  

“As I was driving and listening to a talk radio show this week, the guest speaker made a comment about politics in general, he said,

“It’s about the Art of Possible, not the Art of Perfect.” 

My mind went immediately to dog training and I made the observation that the statement was certainly very true for every client and every dog I’ve ever had in class.  And true, in fact, for me too.

Clients come to us for a variety of reasons, but most often because they want their dog to stop displaying some unwanted behavior (chewing a rug, jumping on a visitor, pulling on leash, etc.).  They’d like their dog’s behavior to be “perfect.” 

But how do you define perfect? 

Even if you’re able to give a reasonably apt description of perfect, is perfection really attainable?

When I begin working on something specific that I want my own dog, Willow, to learn, I do have a goal for the finished behavior.  Operative word:  finished.  However, there may be a long line of steps and days, weeks or months of learning to make it toward the end goal…that finished behavior. 

For dogs and people too, there are 4 stages of learning:

Acquisition:  This is the teaching stage where the dog is beginning to acquire the ability to perform the behavior, for instance a Sit. The dog may not sit every time, but with consistent reinforcement, that Sit will become close to fluent.

Fluency:  This is the stage where the dog becomes really good at performing the Sit.  The dog will easily Sit when you give the Sit cue.  The cue could be a word, a hand signal or some other environmental signal.

Generalization:  This is the stage where you need to take your training on the road.  You need to help your dog learn to Sit (by continuing to reinforce that behavior) inside your home, outside on the porch, in your yard, at a friend’s house, in the presence of another dog, etc.  You train in a variety of places. In the midst of a variety of distractions, never proceeding too fast, because you want your dog to get it right. Getting “it right” means he’ll earn reinforcement (preferably a yummy piece of food). Reinforcement increases the likelihood that the Sit will happen again…and again.

Automatic/Maintenance:  In this fourth stage of learning, the dog has practiced the Sit so many times and in so many places and has been reinforced for performing the Sit so many times that it becomes automatic. However, in order to keep the behavior strong, you’ll still need to periodically reinforce the Sit. Any learned skill without practice or reinforcement will vanish.  I know.  I used to play the mandolin reasonably well. Not any longer. I haven’t practiced.

One thing I’m sure of is that whatever you want your dog “to do,” I’m reasonably sure you can get there if you have a realistic goal in mind and you actually pick up the leash and get started.  

If you need help, we’re here for you with a variety of ways to help you and your dog. Whether you’re local to each of our locations (Florida, Mississippi and Georgia) and choose in-home training or located far from us, there’s the ability to for us to help you train your dog with virtual training. Technology allows us the ability to be very effective with long distance training. We promise we’ll do our best to make it effective and FUN for you & your dog.

Perfection may not be fully attainable, but learning IS possible.  Ah yes, the Art of Possible.”

Lisa Lyle Waggoner is a CPDT-KA, a CSAT (Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer), a Pat Miller Certified Trainer Level 2, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior, a Dogbiz Certified Professional Dog Walker and the founder of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina.  She enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities and distance consults for clients, dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. and Europe.  www.coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post The Art of Possible first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

Training your dog is sometimes an activity that slips naturally into the flow of your interactions with your dog throughout the day and sometimes it’s an intentional activity which is purposefully planned. And sometimes we teach our things just for fun.

At the present, I’m teaching one of my young dogs how to weave between my legs while I walk. That may not be very practical, but it’s a fun trick!

Then there are skills we also train that are practical needs and that help our day together flow more easily. For example, my dogs learn to sit while I attach the leash. It makes my life easier. But sometimes the skills we train are for SAFETY. A behavior that is not only practical, but also helps to keep my dog from getting hurt.

DOOR MANNERS are skills that help keep my dog SAFE.

If an open door is an invitation for a dog to bolt outside and explore, the dog could get injured or lost. My dogs need to learn to WAIT TO BE RELEASED when the door is opened so that they don’t end up in the road.

One way to keep the dog safe around doors is to train the people in the house to keep the doors closed when the dog is near the exit. But what about visitors who don’t know the rules? And children who forget to think about the rules . . . sometimes I forget!

So my dogs need to know that an open door is NOT an invitation to bolt outside.

First, I teach a dog to SIT. That part is easy. I begin to teach that as soon as the puppy enters my home. I want my puppy to be able to communicate with me when she wants something.

SIT is the way I teach my puppy to say “please.”

I usually teach this skill by capturing it. I just wait for the young pup to SIT, I click, toss a treat on the floor for them to go eat which reinforces them for the sit AND then gets them up so that they can SIT again. Since SIT gets lots of reinforcement around my house, my dogs offer SIT whenever they want something.

Next, I need for the pup to understand SIT near a doorway (and maybe with a leash on). Dogs don’t necessarily generalize behavior to all situations and all locations, so my puppy, Kip, and I visit doors all around our house. We practice the SIT behavior in front of each door, while wearing a leash and at other times without a leash. Move to a nearby door, cue the SIT, mark and reinforce. Repeat. Find another door. Repeat.

Remember, when we train a dog, we are teaching the dog what she SHOULD do rather than what she SHOULDN’T do.

My goal is door manners. To me this means the dog waits for my cue before going through the door. “Sit” is just a simple way for me to ask the dog to wait for what I might cue next. If the puppy is sitting, she isn’t bolting through the doorway.

Next, I want to transfer the cue. I want the behavior to be default, which means that when no information is offered, the dog “defaults” to a specific behavior. I don’t want to have to say “sit” each time we approach a door. I might forget. Or I might have visitors who haven’t been coached to say “sit” every time they open a door.

The new cue for “sit” will be “touching the doorknob.” To teach the dog the new cue, we visit doors in my house again. As I approach the door, I reach out and touch the doorknob (that’s the new cue), then I say the word ‘sit’ (that’s the old cue). The dog sits, I click and reinforce. And repeat. And repeat again.

Eventually the dog begins to anticipate the verbal cue “sit.” I watch for the dog’s weight to shift in anticipation as I touch the doorknob – I know she is anticipating my next word. I wait before saying “sit” because I know she is now associating ‘touching the doorknob’ with the old cue “sit”; I don’t need to say the word anymore. The cue has been transferred.

Next step – Pup remains sitting while I open the door. My goal is for my pup to succeed, so I am only going to slightly open the door. Dog is sitting. Click and reinforce. Close door. If she stands or moves toward the door, I just calmly close the door and try again. But that next time, I make it easier for her and open the door even less. I want her to succeed. As she is able to remain sitting for the tiniest opening of the door, I incrementally begin to open it wider and wider.

If she ever gets up or approaches the door, I merely start all over. I call that “going back to kindergarten.”

When a puppy makes a mistake in learning, I go back to a place where I know she will succeed and begin to slowly add difficulty again. The more times she succeeds, the more confident she becomes and the better she is able to learn new concepts and succeed with more difficult criteria.

Next step – Duration. I’d like my pup to remain seated while the door is open for longer periods of time. I add that time in incrementally – starting with just a second (literally) and adding in small bits of time until she understands the idea of remaining seated at the door for longer periods of time.

Finally – Add distractions. Sometimes I need the pup to remain inside while I go out and come back in. As she is able to maintain her sit with the door open, I begin to introduce the idea of me walking through the door. Often at my house, I need one dog to remain inside while another goes out. I introduce and train these distractions small slices very slowly approximating real life situations.

Now to begin to make training look more like real life. I move more naturally. Open the door more confidently. Move comfortably in and out of the doorway.

In the below example, I didn’t really need to carry these empty boxes in and out; I was just trying to approximate real life situations for Ari’s training. Notice Ari is not sitting. When I was teaching door manners to Ari, I didn’t ask that she sit – I just asked that she remain inside. The goal behavior is waiting to go out until she is released.

Knowing how to wait at the door is good manners. I don’t want to be crowded by dogs when I go in and out. But, much more importantly, knowing how to wait at the door is an issue of safety. I don’t want to risk loss or injury simply because I didn’t teach my dog the importance of waiting at an open door.

Here’s a video that summarizes most of the steps :

Sit at closed door on verbal cue
Transferring cue
New cue: Turning doorknob
Opening door
Adding duration
Release to go thru door
Reinforcing turn-back after going thru door

I’d love to see video of your dogs showing off their door manners! Please share. And, as always, Happy Training!

Rachel Thornton is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed, a graduate of the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Training and Behavior and Owner of Cold Nose College Natchez Trace located in Hamilton, Alabama. She’s also well-known trainer and mentor in the service dog community. Rachel offers force-free training and behavior consulting to clients in the tri-state area of Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi. 205-412-3612; www.coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post Is Your Dog a Door Dasher? Teach Your Dog Door Manners. first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

I’m here to report that I’ve been doing a stellar job of teaching Cailie (our 7 month old Australian Shepherd) to counter surf.

Ok, I can hear you right now saying “What! Why would you ever want to teach a dog to counter surf?”

I definitely understand why you ask.

After all, counter surfing is something many forlorn clients call us about in hopes of stopping their dog from doing it. Counter surfing is such a common term that I likely don’t need to define it. But I will – it’s when a dog puts two front paws up on the kitchen counter or other surface and selectively takes something with their mouth that looks interesting. Then off they go to enjoy it or perhaps they eat it on the spot.

So why would I want to train that? Here’s the truth: I didn’t mean to!

If you understand how dogs learn which is, by the way, how humans learn, anytime a dog gets reinforced for doing something, the chance of the dog doing that certain “something” again increases. It’s learning by consequence. If the outcome of a certain behavior is rewarding, the dog will want to do it again.

New puppy brings new challenges.

When we brought Cailie home at 8 weeks of age, it was evident very early on that she was extremely inquisitive, had an amazing nose that could sniff out anything and was quite tenacious. Even though she was much too small to reach counter tops or tables, that didn’t stop her from being extremely interested in whatever was on the surface, whether it was a food item or not.

This was new for us in comparison to our existing guy, Cody (a 12 year old Australian Shepherd), as well as our former Aussies, Willow and Gibson. These dogs could have cared less what was on top of surfaces – even when it was food. We often thawed chicken or meats on the counter top, many times left partially eaten cat food on top of the counter and once, Brad even left out four pounds of pork tenderloin he had taken off the grill (that he was prepping for home cooked dog food) and Cody and Willow never ventured into the kitchen. Of course, we taught them to wait outside of the kitchen.

But really, unattended dogs and all that accessible food….so tempting! But, they never touched it. That’s hard to believe for most dog guardians as it really is quite unusual; however, that was just the “norm” for us in our home with own dogs. With Cailie’s inquisitiveness and penchant for exploration, we knew things were about to change.

In order to prevent counter surfing, it’s important to manage the dog’s environment.

Management means arranging things in your home so that the dog doesn’t get to practice the unwanted behavior, which gives you time to begin training an incompatible behavior. Examples of incompatible behaviors for counter surfing are: the dog lying in a down position just outside the kitchen entrance or perhaps merely standing in the kitchen with four feet on the floor.

Management strategies in regard to counter surfing are keeping your countertops clear of anything your dog might have the slightest inclination to enjoy or preventing access to the kitchen with a pet gate.

Most of the time, we keep the pet gate to the kitchen closed and do our best to keep counter tops clean. Periodically though, one of us will forget and in a nano second, Cailie, now older and taller, will grab something off the counter top and off she’ll run with it. Frustrating as heck, because it’s our fault: management fail!

One morning not too long ago while coffee was still trying to makes its way into our sleepy bodies, we had no less than four…count them 1, 2, 3, 4 management fails – one – right – after – the other! First, she got the top to the cat food can, then she got the Ziploc bag that Cody’s food was in, then she tried to lick the knife with remnants of peanut butter on it, and then there was an empty cat food can within reach that we had forgotten about. Yep, Cailie got that too.

Argh! She had just been reinforced four times for putting her paws up on the counter, all in less then 30 minutes. I was frustrated, but frustrated in myself. Screaming in frustration would do nothing to help in the moment and besides, I don’t want my dog to fear me. What I really wanted to do was take a newspaper and hit myself over the head! Silly dog trainers, better tighten up your management plan!

So that’s what we’ve been doing. With more stringent management strategies there are less opportunities for her to grab something. And now, Cailie also has a well-trained “leave it” so that when we see her eyeing something with that glean in her eye, we can say “leave it” and she will. And thank heavens we’ve taught her to trade. Such an important behavior for a dog to learn. When she does happen to pick up something she doesn’t need to have, whether it’s on the counter tops or not, we ask her to “trade” and she readily drops it.

Management and training go hand in hand in dog training.

Both are important in teaching your dog what you want them to do. Take the time to think about what it is you want your dog “to do”, prevent the unwanted behavior from occurring through management and generously and consistently reinforce your dog for getting it right!

Lisa Lyle Waggoner is a CPDT-KA, a CSAT (Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer), a Pat Miller Certified Trainer Level 2, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior, a dog*tec Certified Professional Dog Walker and the founder of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina.  She enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities and distance consults for clients, dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. and Europe.  www.coldnosecollege.com

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Many pet stores and dog training websites offer plenty of suggestions on how to stop your dog from _____________. Just  fill in the blank. Many of these suggestions involve what’s billed as a “quick fix.”

These so-called “quick-fixes” involve shocking, spraying or other aversive stimulation intended to startle the dog or cause pain to the dog.

Some of these devices, such as invisible shock fences provide a warning signal before the painful stimulus occurs. It doesn’t take long for the dog to figure out (through associative learning) that the warning signal predicts punishment. While the dog may not receive the shock or other intended punishment, because the sound has been paired with discomfort or pain, the dog still has the same negative emotional response, which causes them pain emotionally if not physically. This can ultimately result in the dog no longer being as engaged with others and in some cases can lead to fearful displays and aggressive behaviors. Not what the dog’s guardian intended.

Let’s try to think and learn like a dog for a moment (they learn like we do!).

You are out and about doing what comes naturally when suddenly you hear a strange noise followed shortly by an unpleasant or painful experience. Wow, where did that come from? All I was doing was walking through the yard!

A little while later, you are out in the yard again and the same thing happens. Apparently, when I get near a certain place in the yard, bad things happen. You start to make associations between that place in the yard, that odd sound, and the pain. Now that I think about it, every time this happens there is a child near the fence. I think children are interesting, but this one isn’t nice because every time I go over to check him out, I get zapped and feel pain. From now on I am going to stay away from children. In fact, I pretty much don’t like them anymore and might bark or lunge or growl to try to make them go away.

There are so many unintended consequences to using aversive techniques.

The next day, out walking through the yard you hear that sound again. You freeze in your tracks, sure you’re going to get zapped again. Whew that was close! I heard the noise, but nothing happened. Regardless, your heart is racing and your paws are shaking, just as if you got zapped. Now you’re unsure what to do to keep from getting zapped, so you shut down, give up and don’t do anything. You’re in a state of learned helplessness, afraid to do anything for fear of doing something that will earn you a zap and cause pain.

This is what can happen to our dogs when we attempt to employ a quick-fix solution. It’s not good for the dog emotionally nor physically. A quick fix is usually neither. Instead of correcting or punishing undesirable behavior, let’s teach our dogs what we want them “to do” instead.

Jim Ross is the owner of Cold Nose College Blue Ridge. He studied at the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Training and Behavior, is member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, is trained in pet first aid and CPR and carries the Pet-Tech First Aid/Canine CPR caregiver designation. Jim is also a volunteer dog trainer working with the detainees and their shelter dogs within the Rescued Program. 

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We’ve recently talked a lot about Cailie, our new puppy. There’s another Australian Shepherd dog in our home, too, and his name is Cody. He’s now almost 12 years of age. Sometimes I wonder, “How did he get that old?” Then I look in the mirror and realize there’s some gray in my muzzle, too.

As our dogs age we must take extra steps to help them stay healthy and in the game.

Exactly when a dog enters those senior years varies on size and breed. Great Danes, for example, are considered seniors by five or six years old; chihuahuas, on the other hand, not until 10 or 11.

Like us, our dogs can develop a variety of health issues as the years creep up. These could include hearing, vision and dental issues. Kidney, liver, and heart disease are also often seen at this stage. Canine cognitive dysfunction, sometimes referred to as doggy Alzheimer’s, can arise. Our first dog, Abbey, suffered from this in her later years. With our guy Cody, arthritis is his biggest issue. We see a veterinary pain specialist who helps us keep him as pain free as possible. (Pain can sometimes be the cause of behavioral changes. We all get grumpy when we’re in pain.)

When your dog becomes a senior, he will need to see the veterinarian for health checks and blood work more often so that any issues can be dealt with as early as possible. This can prevent the problem from becoming worse (which can also keep veterinary expenses lower for you).

Along with more frequent vet checks, there are other things we can do to keep our dogs healthy, active and comfortable. Managing their weight is critical, especially if they have any joint issues. Proper and senior-appropriate exercise can help. While they may not be able to run all day as they once could, your senior dog shouldn’t become too sedentary. Mental stimulation is also vital. You can keep your senior dog’s brain active with easy training games. Feed meals out of an interactive food toy, for example, and play simple nose games around the house.

As our dogs age they may become less tolerant of things they once accepted.

They may be more sensitive to noises like thunder or fireworks. Strangers or children could begin to annoy them. It’s our job to recognize these changes and act to keep the dog feeling safe and not overwhelmed. Be your dog’s advocate, no matter their age.

If you’re considering adding a puppy to your home, you’ll need to take extra steps to make sure your senior dog is not overwhelmed by the puppy’s energy.

This is something we’ve experienced firsthand. Seven years ago, Cody handled the addition of a puppy very well. Now that he’s older, he had a much harder time adjusting when Cailie came home, which meant we had to manage her energy and playfulness to keep Cody comfortable. Now that she’s an adolescent he’s more accepting of her. 

With some extra attention and care as your canine companion ages, you can embrace that gray muzzle and recognize and honor a life well lived.

Brad Waggoner is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, a KPA Certified Training Partner (CTP), a Dogbiz Certified Dog Walker, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior and Partner of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina. He enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities for dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. www.coldnosecollege.com

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You may be shocked to hear a trainer giving you this advice, but I promise you there’s a good reason. I used to ask my clients to schedule five to 10 minutes up to three times each day  to train their dogs. But when I would arrive for the next session, most hadn’t found the time to practice. Now, I have wonderful clients and they all have very good intentions to work with their dogs. But adding one more thing to their long to-do lists can feel impossible, no matter how eager they are to see changes in their dog’s behavior.

So, now I take a different approach. Instead of piling on another daily chore, I help my clients see each interaction with their dog as a possible teaching opportunity, no matter how brief. 

This way, training becomes an organic part of their everyday lives with their four-legged family members. They begin to see the results they’re looking for without it feeling like work for them or their dog.

Here are just a few ways to do this:

If you’re in one part of the house and your dog is in another, call your dog in a happy, excited voice and reward him with food or a toy when he comes. If he doesn’t come, you’ll need to start from across the same room until he understands the concept. Be sure to generously reward and praise your dog every time he shows up. Making this a simple and fun game to play while you’re folding laundry or cooking dinner will go a long way toward building a solid recall with your dog./dog-training-videos-on-dvd/

If you feed your dog twice a day from a bowl, this is a perfect opportunity to work on “sit” or other specific behaviors like “down” or targeting. Simply ask your dog to sit and then reward him with the food bowl.

The same goes for sitting before going outside. Asking your dog to sit and stay while you open the door teaches him impulse control. Be sure to use a “release cue” to tell your dog he is free to get up and go outside. Access to the safely fenced yard is his reward for his patient sit and stay behavior.

While I recommend using most interactions to teach or reinforce behavior your dog already knows, I would caution against making every interaction a teachable moment.

There are some times when you and your dog should just be able to enjoy each other’s company and affection without any performance requirements involved.

The possibilities are endless when you approach teaching and training your dog this way; it becomes a natural way of interacting together. Your dog’s need for learning and your obligation for teaching him no longer feel like a chore, but instead become a few moments in your day to be shared and enjoyed.

Tiffany Lovell, CSAT, CPDT-KA, AAI, operates Cold Nose College, Space Coast in Brevard County, Florida and offers force-free training and behavior consulting. She specializes in private in-home coaching & training, separation-anxiety training (local & remote to anywhere in the U.S. & internationally) and behavior consults. (321) 757-2059; coldnosecollege.com

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I have a new puppy! Well, she isn’t actually totally new, she’s just a little bit new. Kip is a 6 month old lab. That means lots of ENERGY and lots of FUN. It exciting, but there is a lot to train your dog on in the first few months.

But sometimes it can be overwhelming…….because she’s a PUPPY!

It can also be overwhelming to try to figure out what to teach Kip and to remember what we last worked on. There are so many things that a new pup needs to learn. I consider certain behaviors “foundational” because they are the things upon which other behaviors are built and they are core to developing good manners in the home and with people. Some of the skills that I consider foundational are Loose Leash Walking, Sit, Down, Focus, Target Go to Mat, Crate and Recall.

Ah! That’s a lot of things to train your dog on, especially when there are other life things that invade my time with Kip, as well as other dogs in my house to train.

Here are a few secrets to success: 

1. Break up the time to train your dog into multiple brief sessions. I aim for two minute sessions with Kip.
2. Have a plan to train your dog. My plan is based upon Sue Ailsby’s Training Levels which focuses on introducing these foundational behaviors and then building on them incrementally, in very small slices, such that neither of us are overwhelmed.
3. Make notes so that you’ll know where to start to train your dog next time.
4. Work short sessions into your daily life such that you are training your pup “as you go”- sometimes in the laundry room while you are starting your laundry, sometimes in the kitchen before or after doing the dishes, sometimes in the bathroom when you go to brush your teeth.
5. Plant visual reminders around your house so that you are gently prompted to train as you move throughout your typical day.

Visual Reminders to Train Your Dog

Here’s an example of one of my visual reminders – I use craft sticks. I write one behavior per stick and I place the sticks into a coffee mug in my kitchen. The mugs sit on my counter. I pass in and out of my kitchen all day and the mugs are easily visible and remind me of something that Kip and I need to train.

For example, I just went into my kitchen to start dinner. There they are! My training mugs, right in the center of my table. I grab a craft stick and read “loose leash”. Since I keep Kip’s sessions brief, I have time for a 2 minute Loose Leash session in my kitchen. As we finish our session, I move the “Loose Leash craft stick” to the other mug. After i get dinner in the oven, I grab another stick which reads Sit. I spend about 2 minutes reviewing Sit and then move that craft stick to the other mug.

My gentle visual reminders scattered all around my house ensure that Kip and I train at various times of the day, in various rooms of the house, building on a variety of foundational skills, and keeping our sessions short and fun. The reminders are really helpful when you want to train your dog.

Most importantly the craft sticks keep me from feeling overwhelmed.

Are there ways that you plan training for your dog that are helpful? Do share. I love to hear new ideas!

Rachel Thornton is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed, a graduate of the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Training and Behavior and Owner of Cold Nose College Natchez Trace located in Hamilton, Alabama. She’s also well-known trainer and mentor in the service dog community. Rachel offers force-free training and behavior consulting to clients in the tri-state area of Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi. 205-412-3612; www.coldnosecollege.com

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Sit. This seems to be the first behavior people think of when they start training their dogs. Have you ever wondered why we teach sit? Some say that its goes back to the competition obedience ring. But what if you don’t compete in that sport? Why should you train your dog to sit?

The reason became clear to me when we brought a new puppy into our home. Cailie is a delight, but impulse control was not her strongest suit. It seemed logical that if she was sitting, she wasn’t jumping.

Sit or Stand

Of course, we could teach her to stand calmly. After all, when dogs are greeting each other or checking out something new they are standing. But if our puppy was standing it was much easier for her to jump up or move forward.

Over time, we will also teach her a nice stand, keeping all four feet on the floor, and teach her to wait, but first we start easy, with Sit and teach other behaviors later.

This article in the IAABC Journal is about why we should or should not teach sit. I agree that you should not train your dog to sit in every situation. Many dogs have difficulty sitting due to their build or physical ailments, and we don’t want to ask a dog to do anything that is uncomfortable physically or emotionally.

NILIF

Some people adapt the “Nothing in Life is Free” protocol (NILIF) which requires the dog to perform some trained behavior before receiving anything. In my opinion, this is taking things a bit far. Kathy Sdao’s book, Plenty in Life is Free, offers a great perspective on how in some cases, NILIF can be employed properly, though taken too far, it can become a slippery slope and be detrimental to your relationship with your dog.

So, why start with sit? As I mentioned, a sit is an incompatible behavior to jumping. If our puppy Cailie is sitting, she can’t be jumping up. It’s a good first behavior to teach before you begin to work on a nice stand and wait behavior. Sit is easy for most dogs to do, so they can easily earn reinforcement (reinforcement is what causes a behavior to happen again). And when the human end of the leash has success teaching and reinforcing sit, they tend to want to reinforce more behaviors. So, sit can become a “gateway behavior” that jumpstarts training.

So, train your dog to sit, but use it wisely. 

Brad Waggoner is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, a KPA Certified Training Partner (CTP), a Dogbiz Certified Dog Walker, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior and Partner of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina. He enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities for dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. Contact us for more information. www.coldnosecollege.com

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We’ve all seen the heart warming videos of cute puppies wearing big red bows. The look of excitement on the faces of children is the draw. Who can resist? Resisting may be a good idea.

We recently added a new puppy to our own home.  I was once again reminded of the amount of work that goes into raising a puppy.

If you’re thinking about a pup for your young kids this holiday season, you have to be realistic. Ask yourself, “Am I ready to raise this puppy?” Know that the responsibility will ultimately fall on you, the adult in the house, no matter what the kids say. A holiday puppy has so many important needs during the first few months in your home, including socialization and early training. And house training is also a more challenging task mid-winter.

A Holiday Puppy – Never for Outside the Home

If you’re thinking about surprising someone outside of your own home with a new puppy, please think again. The gift of a holiday puppy might be well received, though the gift of a living, breathing, sentient being  certainly may not be welcomed. Being saddled with a 10 to 15 year commitment of time and money that one wasn’t expecting can be quite a burden.

My goal as a professional dog trainer is for the dog to live happily with its new family for its entire lifetime.

A big part of this success is having the entire family on board with the selection of the dog. Everyone needs to agree. It’s vitally important to consider the dog’s temperament.  Additionally energy level, exercise and grooming needs have to to fit the family’s lifestyle. Sadly I have seen fantastic dogs that were merely in the wrong home and great people with the wrong dog.

This is why doing research and selecting the right dog is so important.

If the family is on board or your friend has indicated that a new dog or puppy would be a good addition to their home, consider this. The holidays are very busy and may not be the best time to bring the new dog or puppy home. Instead, think about the surprise of a basket of dog toys and dog gear. Items such as a collar, leash, food bowl, bed, toys, crates and perhaps even a training gift certificate. Then, everyone can get together and select the exact right dog. If the pet is for someone outside your family, remember that choosing a pet can be a very personal decision. Instead, you could give a gift certificate to cover the cost of adoption, training, veterinary visits, grooming, boarding or daycare. Offer to pet sit for the recipient who will no doubt need a break from puppy duty.

There are lots of great dogs out there looking for their forever homes. Whether from the local shelter, rescue groups, or reputable breeders. We owe it to these dogs to make the right decisions as to which specific dog is right for our home and lifestyle. And when to best bring them home.

Brad Waggoner is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, a KPA Certified Training Partner (CTP), a Dogbiz Certified Dog Walker, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior and Partner of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina. He enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities for dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. www.coldnosecollege.com

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A New Addition

Puppy Socialization: There’s a new puppy in the house! While we’re still grieving the loss of our amazing girl, Willow, it seems the stars aligned to lead us to Cailie.  Cailie is a now 14-week old Australian Shepherd puppy who joined our home at 8 weeks. She’s helping us create some new memories, even while our hearts are still heavy. Cailie is quite the handful, as most puppies are.  We’re celebrating the ability to watch her grow and change daily right before our very own eyes. It’s fascinating!

Raising a puppy so that your pup turns into an optimist vs. a pessimist (thank you Pat Miller of Peaceable Paws for that verbiage) takes forethought, time, attention and training. This also applies to a new dog in your home, no matter the age. It’s never too early and it’s never too late to begin training and socialization. We’re also posting socialization and training information on the Cold Nose College Facebook page. Feel free to check in there too: https://www.facebook.com/coldnosecollege

What Puppy Socialization is All About

Let’s talk about puppy socialization. You’ve heard it’s important and it is! The prime period of socialization for a puppy is the first three months of a puppy’s life. That’s when appropriate puppy socialization and training should commence so that unwanted behaviors are prevented. We call early puppy socialization and training “behavioral vaccinations”. However, it must be “appropriate” socialization, which takes careful thought and planning.

When embarking on a puppy socialization journey with your puppy you must have the ability to be able to read your puppy’s body language to understand if she is 1) truly comfortable (if so, continue); 2) merely feeling “ok” about the experience (find a way to help make it even better, perhaps yummier food); or 3) feeling uncomfortable (head home).

The First Outing

Getting to know your puppy BEFORE embarking on an outing is important. After a week in our home and doing our very best to pair all her new experiences with “good stuff” (think associative learning), she’s quite the confident pup. We’ve had friends and clients over to the house and she’s met another 6 month old puppy. We then felt it was time to hit the road and take her to Lowe’s (thank you for being pet friendly!).

Ahead of time we planned for her comfort in the crate while in the car (favorite toys, chews and water). Once we arrived and were getting her out of her crate, we were ready to pair any new sound or sight with a tasty piece of food. We took her crate pad to put in the buggy, along with a chew and a toy, and off we went (rolling paradise). You can see the result. Happy puppy with a brand new experience. Puppy Socialization Mission Accomplished!

Contact us with any questions!

Lisa Lyle Waggoner is a CPDT-KA, a CSAT (Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer), a Pat Miller Certified Trainer Level 2, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior, a dog*tec Certified Professional Dog Walker and the founder of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina.  She enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities and distance consults for clients, dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. and Europe.  www.coldnosecollege.com

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Who doesn’t love a puppy? They are utterly adorable and give us a healthy dose of oxytocin. What’s not to love? Well, maybe those sharp, little shark teeth—all that puppy nipping and biting! Our new puppy Cailie is bringing to mind all the former puppies we’ve had and how we’ve channeled that puppy energy and mouth to other objects. It’s self-preservation, mind you!

Puppies explore the world with their mouths.

If they’re not checking out every single nook and cranny of your home to see what new and exciting item or object may be there for their entertainment, the pup is likely using those little shark teeth on your pant legs, your shoes, your calves, or when jumping, even your knees! Even with the best of management, when you have a puppy, then you surely have at least a few nicks and cuts on your hands or arms from those little shark teeth. Surviving the puppy period can be challenging.

So what do you do?

It’s vitally important to help your puppy learn what “to do” versus always trying to stop the nipping and biting. Management to the rescue!

Management means manipulating the puppy’s environment so the pup can’t practice the unwanted behavior (puppy nipping and biting) and sets the puppy up to “get it right.” If the puppy “gets it right,” she earns reinforcement and reinforcement is what makes a behavior more likely to happen again. Got it? Reinforcement helps YOU get more of the things YOU want from your puppy!

Management Tips to Prevent Puppy Nipping and Biting

Puppy Proof Your House: I’ve never had two-legged children, though I know parents child proof a home—do the same for your puppy! Clear your floors and tables of anything that could be tempting or dangerous to your puppy. Use pet gates to prevent the puppy from getting into “off-limit” areas. Temporarily put away all small rugs and doormats (so tempting for a puppy!).

Have a plethora of “legal” chew items that your puppy can enjoy. In our home that’s Nylabones, rugged chew toys, such as Kong toys, Outward Hound Invincible toys, and other assorted stuffed animals with squeakers. And fleece tug toys. Refrain from thinking an old shoe or sock will do the trick. The puppy doesn’t know the difference between a new shoe and an old shoe. Pick up ALL shoes and put them out of reach. Shoes are really stinky. Yes, even YOUR shoes are stinky! Dogs love stinky. Place your shoes where the puppy can’t get to them.

Wear tight-legged pants. Think about your feet, ankles, and calves from the puppy’s perspective. Your feet are always moving, and to a puppy, that’s an opportunity to chase. Take it from me. In the first few days that Puppy Cailie was in our home, I lounged around in lightweight, cargo pants with flowy legs. Bingo! The cuffs of those pants were a target for her little sharky mouth.

By wearing tight-legged pants instead of pants with flowing legs there’s less movement around your ankles which will help diminish chasing. You notice I said “diminish,” right? It’s not going to totally prevent the puppy from grabbing at your legs, but it will certainly be beneficial in the long run. Once I switched to tight-legged jeans, her chasing diminished.

Anticipate and be ready to redirect. All puppies will chase feet, however, an Australian Shepherd puppy like Cailie is bred to nip and chase. Accept the breed characteristics of your pup and be ready to train her “to do” what you want. That means being ready to offer up something else BEFORE she latches on to your feet, ankles or pants. Thank Heavens for long tug toys!

I have several long tug toys that I carry with me as I move through the house or when out of doors when Cailie is following. If she starts bouncing toward me with her “Oh, I’m about to grab your leg!” look, I offer up the tug toy. She happily grabs it and off we go. She’s happy. My legs are spared! She’ll eventually let go of the tug toy when her focus shifts to the next interesting thing or moving object. Other times we play a game of tug, then I get the chance to “trade” her for a piece of food which helps her learn to drop something she has in her mouth.

Exercise and mental stimulation. If we could only bottle that puppy energy! That energy needs to go somewhere. You’ll experience less puppy nipping and biting if your puppy has enough exercise and mental stimulation. We’re fortunate to have seven fenced acres to enjoy with our dogs. Our morning and evening off-leash walks are a wonderful way to provide both physical exercise, as well as mental stimulation. Think about all that sniffing. Be sure to provide safe, off-leash exercise for your puppy. If you must walk on leash, think about doing sniff walks where you let the pup explore with her nose.

Ball pits, a designated area where the puppy can romp and play with multiple balls, are fabulous for enrichment.

Another fun idea is an inexpensive clothing hamper with the bottom cut out. It can provide hours of entertainment and also helps develop confidence.

Know your puppy’s arousal level. With too much play, your puppy’s arousal level can hit the roof. For our puppy, Cailie, that’s when we see an increase in her nipping and biting. Be observant of how long it takes for your puppy to ramp up in excitement. Learn when to interrupt a play session before the pup tips over to fractious behavior. You can take a short training break and work on impulse control exercises (sit and down) or give the puppy a chew item, such as stuffed Kong, to help disperse that energy.

The last hurrah (also known as the puppy bewitching hour). With every puppy in our own home and every client puppy we’ve had the pleasure of working with, there are a few predictable times of day when a puppy gets over-aroused—even with the best observation skills. When that’s the case, those sharp jaws are in overdrive! Be ready to prevent the fractious behavior by doing a short training session, a romp in the ball pit, providing a stuffed Kong or other chew item, or by using any number of food puzzle toys.

Train your puppy. Puppies are little sponges, and while they have short attention spans, they learn very quickly. Every moment with your puppy is a chance to reinforce what you like or redirect her to something of YOUR choosing, thereby helping her make wise choices that please you and please her. When I get up in the morning, I don my treat pouch and am ready, willing, and able to reinforce her for all the great choices she makes during the day.

My favorite behaviors to teach a new puppy are Focus and Attention, Sit, Down, Leave It, and Trade. If you teach your puppy to Focus on you, then you have a chance to begin training other behaviors. Teach first, then train. Sit and Down are impulse control exercises (yes, puppies can use a bit of that). Leave It helps the puppy learn to move away from a delectable object and look back at you, and Trade teaches your puppy to willingly give up something the little one managed to grab with her tiny mouth. All of these trained behaviors are useful in our own home right now. For example—now that Cailie sits immediately when I say the word “sit” (the verbal cue), when she’s bounding toward my leg with “that look” in her eye, I can cue her to “sit” which prevents the unwanted behavior of grabbing my leg with her puppy teeth. I’ve given her instruction as to what “to do” and, of course, she gets reinforced.

Puppy Cailie is eleven weeks old and has only been in our home for three weeks. With the daily focus on training, she’s pretty stellar with these training exercises. I set aside three to five minutes each day to formally work on the above exercises. Keep your formal training sessions short. Puppies have short attention spans, so quit while you’re ahead. Keep them wanting more! Remember, however, that learning happens 24/7, so be ready to catch your puppy doing what you like, reinforce her with a yummy piece of food, and you’ll be surprised how quickly she learns!

Lisa Lyle Waggoner is a CPDT-KA, a CSAT (Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer), a Pat Miller Certified Trainer Level 2, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior, a dog*tec Certified Professional Dog Walker and the founder of Cold Nose Collegein Murphy, North Carolina. She enjoys providing virtual behavior consulting and training solutions to clients around the globe and offers coaching, mentoring and behavior case support for pet professionals. www.coldnosecollege.com

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Unfortunately, it’s highly likely that you have either had a dog with cancer or know of a friend whose dog has been diagnosed with this disease. Just this past month, more than a handful of my friends and training colleagues have received cancer diagnoses for their dogs. It’s a shocking moment and hard to know where to turn when your dog has cancer.

The good news: you can turn to the book, When Your Dog Has Cancer by Lola Ball (available from www.dogwise.com). The book contains a wealth of information to help guide dog guardians.

Ball certainly knows about what she writes.

Her first dog, Porter, a chocolate lab was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma. She inadvertently was led to hospice care to help him enjoy the highest quality life possible until his death. Then during the writing of this book, her yellow lab/hound dog mix, Jasper, was diagnosed with mast cell tumor. Hospice was again her choice. Ball also has a keen understanding of research having worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Knowledge is power.

Ball shares what she learned from her experience with Porter and Jasper. She has an easy way of explaining the physical phases a dog with cancer may experience. She also explains the range of emotions the dog’s guardian will experience. Ball discusses types of cancer, treatment plans, hospice care, pain management, diet and nutrition, quality of life during treatment, prevention, the natural dying process and interesting ways to honor and remember the dog you loved so much. Ball eloquently takes you through her own challenging decisions. She offers suggestions as to how one might address specific moments during the cancer journey. She reminds us that each and every decision along the way is a very personal decision.

Treatment Plans

Though I never hope you have cause to refer to it, one of my favorite parts of the book “When Your Dog Has Cancer” is the Chapter on Treatment Plans. The detailed text is accompanied by an easy to read, multi-page comparison chart that describes a specific treatment and the pros and cons of that particular method. It’s so easy to immediately rush to consider treatment when one first is given the news their dog has cancer. We want to save our dog! Though in reality, a specific treatment may not prolong the dog’s life and could potentially add to the discomfort for the dog. The pros and cons will help you make an informed decision.

And though I shed more than a few tears, I also particularly enjoyed learning about hospice care for dogs and how to build a solid, educated and talented support team to work with the dog’s guardian and family in order to prepare for a natural death.

Real Life Experiences

The latter part of the book is complete with a number of poignant, real-life cancer experiences. Not all of which end in the loss of life of the dog…..such great news that cancer “can” oftentimes be put into remission or even cured. Ball also includes a robust resources section that covers most every topic needed in order to make educated decisions. Ball reminds us that each and every experience with canine cancer will be unique. Each of us ultimately deals with the diagnosis will also be unique. She reminds us to follow our hearts and prove that we’re worthy of the dog’s devotion.

The National Canine Cancer Foundation states that cancer amounts for half the deaths of pets over 10 years of age. Whether your dog has been diagnosed with canine cancer, whether you just wish to become more informed about canine cancer, or wish to learn more about possible ways of prevention, Ball’s book is a lovely resource to help guide you along the way.

When Your Dog Has Cancer – Making the Right Decisions for You and Your Dog – Contact Us for More Info

Lisa Lyle Waggoner is a CPDT-KA, a CSAT (Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer), a Pat Miller Certified Trainer Level 2, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior, a dog*tec Certified Professional Dog Walker and the founder of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina.  She enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities and distance consults for clients, dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. and Europe.  www.coldnosecollege.com

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If you’re reading this, you can thank a teacher. Someone taught you how to read when you were younger. They provided you with an important skill that’s expected in our society. In fact, another person taught us most of what we know and do.  The same applies to dog teaching.

So, it’s surprising that so many still consider dog teaching to be optional when it comes to the four-legged members of our family. Just as we do with a baby, when we bring a dog home we’re introducing a new member into our household. Neither the dog nor the baby understands our language, and both are completely dependent on us for every bit of information.

It’s a given that we must provide food, clean water and shelter for our dogs. Most understand the importance of regular vet check-ups and daily physical exercise for proper health. Dog teaching and training are no more options than any of these if you want a happy, healthy, well-behaved companion. Yet many forgo training until they are experiencing serious behavioral issues with their dog.  Often times they are at the point of considering rehoming or worse.

The vast majority of pets in shelters were sent there due to preventable behavioral issues. This is a direct result of a lack of training when they first arrive at their new homes. Human behavior will never come naturally to dogs. Dog behavior always will. If we want our dogs to choose something other than jumping, chewing, digging or barking, we must teach them to choose other options. This is no different than teaching a young child to choose to wait and ask politely instead of yanking on your sleeve while yelling “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” Neither the child nor the dog comes preprogrammed with our adult human list of rules and acceptable behaviors. It is up to us to guide them.

Here’s another example: When you’re traveling in a foreign country and don’t speak the language, how would you feel if a local resident yelled at you for not understanding them? Yet, isn’t that exactly what we do to our dogs who speak their own language?

Our canine companions are a different species, yet we expect them to somehow figure out what we want them to do. Without our help, they are at a complete disadvantage. If we don’t accept our responsibility to teach them, we set them up for failure.

The great news is that our dogs are eager to learn new things and its loads of fun to train them using modern, force-free methods! Teaching and learning are some of the most universally accepted concepts in our society; you’d be hard-pressed to find a person who argues against that. Teaching our beloved canine companions should be no exception.

Contact Us for more information and be sure to follow us on Facebook!

Tiffany Lovell, CSAT, CPDT-KA, AAI, operates Cold Nose College, Space Coast in Brevard County, Florida and offers force-free training and behavior consulting. She specializes in private in-home coaching & training, separation-anxiety training (local & remote to anywhere in the U.S. & internationally) and behavior consults. (321) 757-2059; coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post Dog Training is Dog Teaching first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

Teaching your dog to give up a prized possession willingly in return for something superior is an important skill. 

Teaching your dog to “trade” helps your dog stay happy and comfortable. This is especially true when you approach her while she’s enjoying something she really likes. It also prevents her from feeling stressed for fear you’ll take away that prized possession.

Each dog places a different value on food, toys, or other items, just as we do. Let’s take my love of ice cream for an example. If I’m enjoying an ice cream cone and a friend decides he wants a bite and I offer my friend the ice cream cone, but he then walks away with it and doesn’t give it back, you can be sure I’d be feeling a bit stressed! The next time he’s near me while I’m eating an ice cream cone, I’ll be much less likely to share it and may even try to protect it from him. No way he’s getting my ice cream cone again!

If you’re always snatching items out of your dog’s mouth, your dog is very likely to become possessive about the things she picks up.

Your dog may even be prone to resource guarding that item.

Resource guarding is a natural behavior for dogs. In the wild, if a dog doesn’t protect his or her food, then her chance of staying healthy is diminished.

Humans also resource guard. We lock our houses and cars. We protect our purses and wallets.  Most people wouldn’t be at all happy if someone attempted to take those prized possessions away from us.

Here’s a video describing how to begin teaching your dog to Trade. As you watch the video, keep in mind that this is a two-handed exercise.

If at any point during this exercise your dog growls at you, please stop the exercise and call a professional trainer skilled in behavior modification.

A growl is a good thing (please do not ever punish a growl)! That growl is information that lets you know your dog is uncomfortable and signals the need for force-free behavior modification.

When my girl, Willow, is eating her meal or chewing on a stuffed Kong or other yummy treat, I want her to feel totally comfortable when I’m around her. Playing the Trade Game will not only help your dog feel comfortable when you’re near her food or other items she may have in her mouth, but when she picks up a potentially dangerous item, you’ll be able to use the Trade cue so that your dog easily gives you the dangerous item, preventing an emergency trip to the vet.

Teaching your dog to give up a prized possession is possible.  The key is to modify behavior – including your own!

 

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<p>The post Teaching Your Dog to Give Up a Prized Possession first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

I received a call this week from a couple whose only complaint about their dog was her incessant barking. I could tell they were frustrated. They used the phrase “driving us insane”.  They also shared how much they love her and what a wonderful companion she is.

This is a call I receive multiple times a week. People adore their dogs but barking is a “hot button” issue. It is often the reason for tension between family members and neighbors. It even results in the relinquishment of dogs to shelters.

It’s important to understand that barking is a normal, natural canine behavior. Dogs bark for many reasons including boredom, frustration, alerting to noises, fear, reactivity and more.

When your dog barks, she’s attempting to communicate something she needs, similar to when a young child cries. As the dog’s guardian and advocate, it is up to us to listen and try to help him.

Determining the “why” behind barking and addressing it is the most important step. If your dog barks at something or someone out of fear, yelling at or punishing her will not fix the issue for either one of you. Your dog will likely become more fearful. This is due to your reaction and you’ll both experience the same situation again next time.

If your dog barks because she’s bored and frustrated from being ignored all day, you must provide the physical exercise and mental enrichment her brain and body are pleading for. These are fundamental needs which most dogs don’t receive regularly.

Almost all dogs bark to alert others in their house when they hear or see something outside. In moderation, this is barking that many humans accept as it instills a sense of safety. However, some dogs don’t understand that just a handful of barks is enough. This is where a positive interrupt cue can be used. (something invaluable I learned during one of my Peaceable Paws Academies with Pat Miller).

The positive interrupt cue does exactly what it says…it interrupts the dog’s barking in a positive way and allows you to redirect the dog’s focus.

You are basically saying “Thanks for the warning. Now let’s go do something else”.  When you teach this cue, your dog learns that it is acceptable to bark at something a few times. Then she is positively reinforced for stopping and looking at you.

The key to success with this cue is to first teach and practice it in a low distraction environment when your dog is NOT barking. You need to build a very solid foundation before expecting it to work when your dog is focused on barking at something.

In this video I’m working with my own dog, Bosco and introducing the very beginning steps of the quiet cue.

You want your dog’s head whipping back in your direction nine out of ten times after hearing your cue BEFORE you attempt to use it in a barking situation. If you don’t take time to establish this automatic response when there are zero distractions, you can’t expect it to work in a highly distracting situation.

Using patience, consistency and high value treats, you too can have a powerful positive interrupt cue which will redirect your dogs from barking and help to bring peace to your household once again.

Make sure to follow us on Facebook and contact us with any questions you have!

Tiffany Lovell, CSAT, CPDT-KA, AAI, operates Cold Nose College, Space Coast in Brevard County, Florida and offers force-free training and behavior consulting. She specializes in private in-home coaching & training, separation-anxiety training (local & remote to anywhere in the U.S. & internationally) and behavior consults. (321) 757-2059; coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post A Barking Interruptor – The Quiet Cue first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

In my first article on targeting you learned that targeting teaches your pet to touch an object with a part of his body. Dogs are most commonly taught to target an object with a nose or paw; but using shoulder, chin, or EYES are very useful (Oh wow! Could ‘focus’ be considered a type of ‘target training’? I’m sure that question could lead to some interesting dog training dialog . . . for another day, right?).

In the earlier article, targeting is an easy and FUN skill to teach and the benefits of a dog understanding the skill of targeting are HUGE:

Emotional Benefits: 

• building confidence for a shy or fearful dog
• redirecting an excited, distracted or reactive dog back to focus

Training Benefits:

• getting the dog to move wherever you want him, in any position you want him, without physical manipulation
• resetting dog to offer another repetition in a training setting
• redirecting a dog who has lost focus
• building body awareness
• guiding a dog through a distracting environment
• helping the dog to understand Loose Leash Walking
• facilitating a fun path to recall

A Foundational Skill to Fun Tricks:

• Spin
• Circle
• Paws up
• Under
• Ring a bell

A Clear Explanation to Criteria for Simple Husbandry Tasks:

• Grooming
• Getting on scales
• Exams

Service Dogs Tasks

• Close drawers and doors
• Push call button
• Push elevator button
• Turn on / off lights
• Medical Alert Skill

Once your dog learns the skill of targeting, it becomes a versatile tool that you’ll always have with you, and it is a tool that most all dogs find fun and reinforcing.

Here is a fun example of a cute trick that was possible due to target training. My favorite zoo animal, Fiona the Hippo, made this painting by targeting her nose and mouth (with a little purple paint applied thereto) to a piece of paper. TaaDaa! Thanks to target training, Fiona is an artist.

In Targeting Part One, the process was described:

• Get the behavior (nose touch to hand)
• Mark the behavior
• Reinforce the behavior
• Repeat

In ensuing sessions, as your dog excels, add only one (1) difficulty. As your dog grasps that one new concept, add only one (1) more.

Here are a few types of difficulties* that might be added to a simple nose target to hand:

• move the target (palm of your hand) HIGH, LOW, to the RIGHT, to the LEFT
• switch hands
• teach it again in a new location
• add a distraction while teaching
• wait for the dog to touch the hand more than once before marking and reinforcing
• incrementally build the duration which the dog holds his nose in place
• ask the dog to take a step to commit to following your hand

*Each of these difficulty factors can lead to new skills for the dog

This video shows an example of some of these new targeting challenges by demonstrating dogs who are committed to follow my hand:

• following my hand around me as i turn in a circle
• taking a few steps to touch my hand
• following my hand to spin
• following my hand up high to a ‘paws up’ position

Once the dog is eagerly offering the “new skill,” a cue can be added (‘follow’, ‘circle around’, ‘spin’, or ‘paws-up’ are the cues I use for these tasks).

Be sure to include training with both left and right hands and in both clockwise and counterclockwise direction, as demonstrated in the video.

This fun trick of weaving between my legs was taught by having Nya target left hand and right hand alternately as I took a step and dropped the hand by my side. As Nya understood the trick, the hand targets were faded.

By delaying the marker (and therefore the accompanying reinforcement), you can teach a dog to ‘peck’ your hand multiple times or to hold his nose in place, building some nice duration. The target can then be moved from your hand to an object, paving the way for so many new skills and tricks, such as Dabo demonstrates at the end of this video as he closes my kitchen drawers.

To explain the idea of moving the target from my hand to another object, I used these steps:

• review simple hand target
• add a small piece of duct tape to the palm of my hand
• move the duct tape from my hand to the object, leaving my hand near object
• duct tape on target object, fade proximity of my hand
• reduce size of duct tape until none is needed
• add a cue

When a dog understands targeting his nose to you or an object, it leads to so many fun and useful options.

BUT, chin targeting is my favorite! (dog targets HIS chin to you or another object).

The concept is the same. The process is the same :

• Get the behavior
• Mark the behavior
• Reinforce the behavior
• Repeat
• Add difficulty

Chin targeting can be an asset to keep the dog in position for grooming or for a vet exam. The below video shows how Ari is learning to ‘station’ or ‘park’ herself via chin targeting. In our initial sessions, I was only marking for Ari’s chin touching the target.

Notice that the target is at an ideal height for her chin to naturally land on it. And notice that I have positioned the target in between Ari and myself, setting her up to succeed in touching the target when she approached me. In ensuing sessions, I began to delay the marker to build duration. Finally, when she understand placement of chin and duration, I added the distraction of TOUCH.

Teaching a chin target is a great way to help reduce your dog’s fear and anxiety at a vet visit by equipping him to be a cooperative participant rather than robbing him of choice and requiring restraint.

Targeting: simple, easy, versatile, and empowering! What’s not to love, right?

Rachel Thornton is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed, a graduate of the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Training and Behavior and Owner of Cold Nose College Natchez Trace located in Hamilton, Alabama. She’s also well-known trainer and mentor in the service dog community. Rachel offers force-free training and behavior consulting to clients in the tri-state area of Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi. 205-412-3612; www.coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post If I Could Only Teach ONE Thing to My Dog – Targeting, Part Two first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

What do a phone, a remote control, a clicker and a jar of treats have in common? They’re all within easy reach!

What does your dog do?

Here’s question for you: does your dog ever do something you like, on her own, without being asked? For example: Does your dog sit politely when you’re working in the kitchen? Does your dog come and get you when he or she hears someone approaching the door? If so, how do you respond? Do you reward your dog with praise or a yummy treat? If your answer is yes, then your dog is very likely to repeat that behavior again. Behaviors that are rewarded become stronger – those that are ignored tend to fade away.

Here’s a tip: Start watching for those behaviors that you like, capture them when they happen and then reward your dog for that behavior. Easy!

In my own home treats or toys are most often within an arm’s reach. Admittedly, I have to caution  guests that those jars scattered about the house aren’t filled with snacks for people. Dog’s love them. People not so much!

By keeping the treats within easy reach I’m quickly able to let my dogs know when they did something that pleases me – by immediately giving them a yummy treat!

The more I reward my dog for doing something I like, the more often she will offer that behavior again.

Think of it like a job. If your employer gave you a bonus every time you did something they liked you would probably spend a fair amount of time trying to figure out what it was that got you the bonus and how you might get another one.

Rewards

Our dogs are no different. If you reward your dog for a behavior you like, your dog will soon start trying to figure out how to get another bonus.

Make a vow to begin actively watching for the things your dog does that you like and let her know when it happens.

Your dog is always learning. Help your dog get it right.

Training isn’t really something that is “one and done.” It’s an ongoing process that requires participation on both ends of the leash.

Contact us for more info!

Jim Ross a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, and is the owner of Cold Nose College Blue Ridge. He studied at the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Training and Behavior, is member of the Pet Professional Guild, the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, is trained in pet first aid and CPR and carries the Pet-Tech First Aid/Canine CPR caregiver designation. Jim is also a volunteer dog trainer working with the detainees and their shelter dogs within the Rescued Program at the Colwell Probation Detention Center in Blairsville, Ga. 

<p>The post Catch This! How to get more of what you want from your dog. first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

Have you ever considered how terribly hard it must be for your dog to walk slowly, on leash, in a straight line beside you? We get lots of requests about to get a dog to stop pulling when on leash.  The answer is the box step.

Think about it. When have you EVER seen a dog walk slowly in a straight line?

If your dog is like mine, she’s following her nose to all sorts of glorious smells left by who knows what creature and reveling in the glory of the moment (something we should do more of…the reveling, not the smelling!). And to be in a collar or harness, attached to a person with a leash is, at bests, constraining if not down right frustrating.

How horribly boring it must be to walk in a straight line with a slow two-legged human being!

I have empathy for my when when I think of my elderly mother. I remember as she aged and moved into her early-80’s, her gait became very, very slow. In order to keep pace with her I had to adjust my own fast paced walking gait to her turtle’s pace. Not at all easy to do and sometimes quite frustrating (even though I loved her to the moon and back). It’s like that for our dogs.

Just like anything else we teach our dogs, we have to train loose leash walking (also referred to as polite walking). It’s not a natural behavior for dogs, but a learned behavior. It’s imperative to make time to practice.

In order for the dog to succeeds, we need to break down the behavior of “walking on a loose leash” into small, achievable pieces.

I strive to make polite walking practice fun and interesting for my dog. Practicing in short spurts, varying the location and keeping things upbeat is key.

Tools that are helpful are a front-clip harness (the leash hooks on the front of the harness, not the back), a flat collar and a 4 to 6-foot nylon, leather or cotton leash (no retractable leashes please…they promote pulling and aren’t at all safe), a clicker to mark the moments when the leash is loose, and high value tiny pieces of food to reinforce your dog after you click.

Before you launch into walking any distance with your dog, practice The Box Step.

I like to get the dog accustomed to the “leash clasp hanging down”. This means the leash has to be loose. I click/treat multiple times while the dog is standing still, clasp down/leash loose. The dog has to think, “It can be this easy?” After a few rounds of this, we do what I call “the Box Step.” We have fun with our clients talking about all those dancing lessons they may have had in the past.

The Box Step involves taking a tiny step to the right. The dog may or may not move with me, but as long as the clasp is hanging down and the leash is loose, I click/treat. Then I take a tiny step to the left; click/treat. Then a tiny step back; click/treat. Step forward; click/treat.

Before long, the dog decides that staying very near you with the leash loose is quite fabulous!

Once the dog follows me in small steps right/left/back/forward, I then transition, with the dog at my left, to taking two or three steps forward, clicking as the dog moves with me and delivering the treats at my left knee.

How to set your dog up for success.

Before you practice:

1) Make sure your dog has had some solid off leash exercise before practice. Otherwise the desire for exercise will far outweigh walking slowly on a leash.

2) Have a cue to start the exercise. Mine is “Let’s Walk.”

3) Have a cue to stop the exercise and let the dog go do dog things. Mine is “Go sniff.”

4) Keep practice sessions short (3 to 5 minutes is fine). 

5) Use high value soft foods (hot dogs, cheese, vienna sausage) for reinforcing your dog when practicing out of doors.

6) Make sure you’re successful inside before you ever take it outside. Increase distractions gradually.

If you keep these things in mind and practice regularly (operative word: regularly) in a variety of low distraction areas and gradually moving to higher distraction areas, I have no doubt you’ll be successful.  We’d love to see photos or videos of you and your dog practicing The Box Step, so feel free to share them with us on the Cold Nose College Facebook page.  Contact us for more information!

Happy Training!

Lisa Lyle Waggoner is a CPDT-KA, a CSAT (Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer), a Pat Miller Certified Trainer Level 2, Faculty for the Victoria Stilwell Academy of Dog Training and Behavior, a dog*tec Certified Professional Dog Walker and the founder of Cold Nose College in Murphy, North Carolina.  She enjoys providing behavior consulting and training solutions to clients in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, as well as offering educational opportunities and distance consults for clients, dog trainers and dog hobbyists throughout the U.S. and Europe.  www.coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post The Box Step – Prelude to Loose Leash Walking first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

Moving with a Dog: Shouldn’t a dog just “go with the flow” and adjust to a move?

Ideally, yes. But moving with a dog (or any pet) can be a very confusing and potentially scary.  Most dogs are comfortable with a predictable daily routine and a move suddenly changes almost everything in their world. While we can’t explain to them what’s going on with our words, we are able to do some simple things to help them feel less stressed and scared during the big move.

The boxes…Oh, the boxes!

Moving with a dog always means boxes. And, lots of them! Some dogs may be more familiar with the sight of boxes than others. Yours could have a positive association with boxes if you have yummy treats or toys delivered to your home regularly. If so, consider yourself ahead of the game!

Other dogs may be scared of a box or the sheer number of boxes typically needed for a whole house move. Here are some fun, easy ways you can help your dog learn to love the sight of boxes:

101 Things To Do With A Box

An exercise in free shaping which encourages mental flexibility and helps to build a dog’s confidence.                 All you need is an empty box, some yummy treats and either a clicker or a verbal marker. Learn more at: http://www.clickertraining.com/node/167

K9 Nose Games

A fun scenting game that allows your dog to use his amazing nose to search for hidden food inside a box. You’ll need about six empty boxes of different sizes and some extra yummy food like hot dogs or cheese. Learn more at: http://www.clickertraining.com/harnessing-the-power-of-your-dogs-nose

Agility for Fun

Let’s face it, your house is pretty much an obstacle course during the packing phase anyway. So why not take this opportunity to have some fun with your dog and do a little indoor agility?! Whether it’s in your current home while you’re packing or your new house before you’ve settled in, you can use all those boxes and suitcases as makeshift agility equipment. Please remember, safety should be your number one priority. Do not do anything that could injure your dog. Here are some suggestions:

• Lure your dog with a piece of food to jump over a low box or suitcase laying on its side
• An open box (not taped up yet) on its side can be a perfect makeshift tunnel
• A large, sturdy taped box full of items can make a nice platform to have your dog jump up on and then sit or lie down
• You can even lure your dog back and forth through a row of boxes as if they were weave poles

How to help your dog love his new home:

Sometimes people think moving with a dog ends after moving day.  Once you’ve arrived to your new abode, it’s important to remember that your dog may feel scared of where he is and if this new environment is safe. Taking some time to focus on helping him relax and realize your new home is a fun and safe place to be will go a long way in making you both feel better. Here are a few examples of simple activities you can do that will help your dog love his new home.

Treasure Hunt!

Allowing your dog to seek out yummy, hidden “treasure” in your new home is a great way to help him create a positive association with the new setting. Before you bring your dog into your new home, hide some extra special (& smelly) treats in several different places. You can also use food dispensing toys like Kongs and Squirrel Dudes stuffed with food. Then bring your dog in and let him explore. If your dog knows a “Find It!” cue, use it. Otherwise, you can point out the first one or two treats to give him the idea and then let him find the rest on his own. Imagine how amazing your new place will seem to your dog when he realizes there could be hidden food around any corner!

Lay a Scent Trail

This is another fun scenting game that allows your dog to use his nose (which works his brain, too). If your new place has a safely fenced yard, drop tiny pieces of food in a path every few inches leading towards the house. Continue this trail into the house until it reaches an extra special yummy treat (different than the others you dropped in the yard) somewhere in the middle or back of the home. Again, this is encouraging your dog to explore the new yard and go inside his new house where he finds something very special waiting for him.

Take “Sniff Walks” Around the New Neighborhood

Your dog recognizes every scent in his own yard or neighborhood and that helps him feel comfortable and secure. If possible, take your dog on a leisurely sniff walk in your new neighborhood or even just your new yard prior to your move. If you can’t do this beforehand, be sure to do it as soon as possible after you arrive. For a new home being built, go when there is no construction. Always remember to take food and a toy to pair these fun walks with their favorite game and/or treat.

It’s important to keep in mind that this walk is for and about the dog. You are not expecting an obedience “heel” or lots of focus on you. The point of the walk is to allow your dog to learn about his new environment in a relaxed and safe way, through his amazing scenting ability. It should be a fun and stress free activity for him because it’s a new experience.

Where should my dog be during the actual moving day?

When moving with a dog, we recommend having them stay somewhere safe and out of the chaos. Depending on your dog, this could be a fun afternoon at doggy daycare, a playdate with a favorite pet sitter or some one-on-one time with a family member or friend in their home.  If none of these are viable options for you, you will want to make sure your dog is safely contained in a crate or confinement area with something fun to occupy him (perhaps a frozen, stuffed Kong).

There will be open doors, strange men carrying heavy furniture and weird noises. If your dog is not safely contained at all times, he could bolt out of fear. Always be sure your dog is wearing a secure collar with current identification (remember your phone number may have changed during a move). If your dog is microchipped, please prioritize updating your address and phone number by calling the company or visiting their website. A microchip is useless if your information is out-of-date and you can’t be reached.

Moving day is extremely stressful for everyone in the family. Your dog is no different. Setting aside a little time to include these fun activities will make a big difference for your dog. It also will give you a much needed break from all the pressures of the day.  We hope you enjoyed our tips for moving with a dog!  Contact us for more information and make sure to follow us on Facebook!

Tiffany Lovell, CSAT, CPDT-KA, AAI, operates Cold Nose College, Space Coast in Brevard County, Florida and offers force-free training and behavior consulting. She specializes in private in-home coaching & training, separation-anxiety training (local & remote to anywhere in the U.S. & internationally) and behavior consults. (321) 757-2059; coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post Moving with a Dog Tips: How to Help Your Dog Adjust first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

It’s one of those things you don’t know, what you don’t know, until you know. As a force-free trainer my focus is on solving training and behavior issues through the use of Positive Reinforcement. I hope my former personal experience with using electronic shock with underground fence/shock collar systems may help others.  Pet owners should understand the serious, unintended consequences associated with these so-called fences.

When I adopted my little girl, Mercy, an adorable then 18-month old Blue Tick/Treeing Walker Coonhound mix, I wanted to give her the freedom out of doors to be a dog with lots of room to run and play. I did some (but not enough) internet research and decided the underground, hidden fence/shock collar system was a safe way to go.

I contacted a nationally franchised vendor.  $1,600 later I had an acre secured for Mercy to romp and play in.  At least that’s what I thought.

After following the provided instructions to “condition” her to run away from the barrier when she heard the “beep” that predicts the painful shock, I set her free in the back yard.

Mercy is a social butterfly and wants to greet everyone she meets, especially my weekend neighbors – she loves them! It’s when they first came over to visit that things started going south. She was outdoors when she first saw them coming and happily bounded through our driveway gate to greet them. The moment she crossed the underground barrier in the driveway gate area she got a shock.

The yelp  she let out once the shock collar engaged haunts me to this day.

It was evident from her body language she was frightened and confused. Not knowing what to do, she froze in place. I ran to her and tried to comfort her and encourage her back into the yard. Not surprisingly, she wanted nothing to do with again crossing that barrier, even though I knew she wouldn’t receive a shock for going back in. All she knew was, “If I go through the driveway gate, I get hurt.” I picked her up and carried her home, but from that day forward when I would let her outside she would frantically run the perimeter of the underground barrier. She was no longer comfortable on her own property. Shortly after that incident, her problematic barking began (what I thought was nuisance barking). Looking back and reflecting on that incident, I now realize the barking was due to stress.

In an attempt to help her feel more comfortable, I stopped just opening the door and letting her out to play, but instead walked her on a leash. Things started to improve a little, though now she hated going for a ride in the truck (because the truck had to go through that scary gate area where she was shocked), something she previously loved. She was terrified even if the shock collar was removed before crossing through the underground barrier at the end of the driveway that went across the gate area. This wasn’t the only side effect; her training was beginning to suffer. Her exuberance for training disappeared. Oh yes, she would perform the cued behaviors, though you could tell from her body language there wasn’t much enthusiasm.

I was sure there was a better way.

With the strong encouragement of Brad and Lisa of Cold Nose College, I invested in a traditional fence. The change in her behavior was amazing.  It took several months for her to trust that nothing bad was going to happen when she was outside. Today her tail is high and her nose is on the ground. She inspects every leaf, every blade of grass and every scent.

Her joy at just being a dog without the fear of receiving a painful shock is a sight to behold.

What the electronic fence companies don’t tell you when they sell you one of these systems is how the dog might become frightened of stimuli on the other side of the barrier. That squirrel or rabbit that was once fun to chase is now a predictor of bad things about to happen. The outside world is now a scary place full of potential dangers. And what do dogs do when presented with a potential danger? They may try to scare it away by barking, growling or lunging.  If none of those options work, they either aggress or run away (fight or flight). The stress caused by a situation such as this is unhealthy for dogs, just as stress is unhealthy for humans.

Other Considerations

Here’s another important point to consider – this so-called “fence” does not prevent anything or anyone else from entering your property. Recently, I had a client tell me they put in an underground fence to keep their dog safe from bears. My first question was, “How did you get a shock collar on the bear?” Fortunately, the client has a good sense of humor!

I wish I had the chance to do it differently now that I know what I know. There’s no need to use pain, fear or intimidation to keep your dog in your yard. Both ends of the leash are better served by always focusing training efforts based on force-free, humane training using positive reinforcement and building a traditional fence for your yard. Trust me, it’s worth every penny to insure your dog is safe, happy and comfortable in their own outdoor space.

Jim Ross is the owner of Cold Nose College Blue Ridge. He studied at the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Training and Behavior, is member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, is trained in pet first aid and CPR and carries the Pet-Tech First Aid/Canine CPR caregiver designation. Jim is also a volunteer dog trainer working with the detainees and their shelter dogs within the Rescued Program at the Colwell Probation Detention Center in Blairsville, Ga. 

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<p>The post It’s Shocking I Didn’t Know | Shock Collar first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>

National Train Your Dog Month exists to promote training for the family dog, and the good news is that training can be FUN and BENEFICIAL for both you and your dog! Training doesn’t need to be long or complicated. In fact, studies have shown that your student’s learning actually benefits from shorter sessions, consistently sprinkled throughout your week. These training sessions will build pride in your ability to teach and pride in your pet’s ability to learn. The mental stimulation will be like ‘brain exercise’ for your companion and will actually promote calm focus.  Make the most of this National Train your Dog Month!

If I could only teach ONE thing to my dog this National Train your Dog Month (thankfully none of us are limited to ONE thing!), it would be TARGETING SKILLS.

An understanding of targeting will be foundational for so many other skills for your pet AND will provide a better way for you to explain some core concepts.

Simply put, targeting teaches your pet to touch an object with a part of his body. The most common body parts an animal might use for targeting are nose and paws. . . and even shoulders.

Targeting is used extensively with zoo animals, enabling the zoo keepers to position huge powerful animals for needed routine husbandry tasks or for vet exams. The animal is first taught to touch a part of his body to a specific spot or object and then that skill is strengthened by adding duration and distraction to the training sessions. This video shows a baby Black Rhino being moved onto the scale in order to track his weight.  The object being targeting is a brush and the reinforcement for touching the brush is getting a good back-scratch-brushing.

It is highly unlikely that any of us will need to train a Black Rhino, BUT the same skill can be exceedingly useful and versatile for your companion!!

A few uses for target training:

• Confidence building: Having ‘touch’ on cue ensures that your hand is not a threat to your dog, but an opportunity for interaction and reinforcement.
• Husbandry tasks: brushing, trimming nails, brushing teeth, and more.
• Positioning:  moving dog from one spot to another via following your target hand)
• Recall: My dogs learn that reinforcement comes when they touch their nose to my hand, and they run swiftly when I drop my hand and extend it for a nose touch. It makes a fabulous recall signal.
• Movement: Teach your dog to follow your hand to move him from one spot to another (it’s a  much better option than dragging your dog by the collar).
• Reinforcement: My dogs have learned to love targeting so much that it is actually reinforcing to them! We turn it into a fun game. I extend my hand high and low, and to one side and then another, and the dog must quickly watch my movements to target my hand. They LOVE this game.
• Service dog work: targeting the handler is a fabulous alert for a medical condition, closing cabinets, opening doors, nudging his handler awake and more.
• Other behaviors: targeting can be useful in teaching a dog to retrieve, to find a close “front” position for obedience competition, to maintain proper heel position, fun tricks like “high 5”, “shake a paw” and “wave.”

The versatility of targeting is why this is an excellent place to start during national train your dog month

And teaching a dog to target is not only fun and useful but also easy.

This video shows a clip of  my eight-week old pup, AmosP, in his first session of target training and also shows a glimpse from a couple of weeks later; clearly, he has gained confidence and understands the task much better in a very short amount of time.

Teaching Nose Target to Hand:

Since dogs are naturally curious, if you place your target goal (flattened palm, 2 fingers extended or fist) very close directly in front of their nose, your dog will probably ask, “What’s up?” He will ask this question by moving his nose closer to investigate.

• Mark that behavior (I use a clicker) and then reinforce.
• Move your hand away while he enjoys his treat.
• Present your hand again and wait. When he moves toward your hand – or ultimately, when he touches your hand, mark and reinforce.
• Repeat about 10 times and then stop.
• Short training sessions are best for you and your dog

When your dog is reliably touching your hand with his nose, give the behavior a name. I use the cue “touch”. Say the cue as he is moving to touch your hand. As he gains practice, you will be  able to say the cue earlier such that you are saying “touch” before he moves to make contact.

Repeat, adding one variation at a time*: 

• Use your other hand
• Try a different body position (sitting in a chair, sitting on the floor, standing)
• New locations
• Distractions in background : tv, other people, other animal
• Hold hand high
• Next Hold hand low
• Lastly Hold hand to left or right

*each time you change the criteria, withhold the cue and add it back as the dog shows you he remembers the task.

When your dog excels at touching your hand, you might add a sticky note onto your palm hand. Then move the sticky note onto an object in order to teach your dog to target something off your body.

This video contains a few clips of some sessions with Ari, learning to target a specific spot on the wall:

At the end of that clip, I’m actually beginning to add some distance so that I could send her from across the room. Later, I’ll use that sticky note to teach her to close drawers and doors.

Targeting opens the doors to sooo many fun behaviors.

Practice nose targeting. Begin to ask the dog to FOLLOW the target by moving it slightly as he begins to touch. Build duration by slightly delaying the marker and reinforcement and then incrementally adding duration.

When your dog is having fun targeting your hand, try asking him to target other body parts. Your foot, your leg, your arm ….. you get the idea.

This is Ari learning to target my foot :

I’ll be back to share more target skills and their application; there is sooo much you and your pet can do with targeting skills!

National Train Your Dog Month

Contact us for more information on how Cold Nose College can help you achieve your training goals.  We provid online training options so you can be located anywhere in the world!  Make the most of National Train your Dog Month!

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Rachel Thornton is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed, a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer, a graduate of the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Training and Behavior and Owner of Cold Nose College Natchez Trace located in Hamilton, Alabama. She’s also well-known trainer and mentor in the service dog community. Rachel offers force-free training and behavior consulting to clients in the tri-state area of Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi. 205-412-3612; www.coldnosecollege.com

<p>The post If I Could Teach Only ONE Thing to my Dog | National Train Your Dog Month first appeared on Cold Nose College.</p>