Diary Of A Dog Trainer

The sooner in your pregnancy that you start to practice with your dog how best to interact with your new baby, the better off you will be because:

1. You will have more time to achieve your training goals
2. You feel better earlier in the pregnancy.

Better yet, if you plan to have children in your future,  start this training with your dog BEFORE you become pregnant!

LEARNING YOUR DOG

Becoming aware of your dog’s sensitivities or reactivity is an important part of behavior management and prevention.  For instance:

• Does your dog startle at noises?
• Does perfume make your dog sneeze or back away from you?
• Does your dog chase lights or fast-moving objects?
• Do sudden movements cause your dog to become stressed or fearful?
• Do hats, umbrellas, briefcases, bags, or sunglasses spook your dog?
• Does your dog respond when you call his or her name?
• Does direct eye contact make your dog uncomfortable?

Dogs use “Calming Signals” to convey emotions.  Read the book “Calming Signals” by Turid Rugaas to learn about the following:

• Turning Away
• Half-Moon Eyes
• Squinting Eyes
• Blinking Eyes
• Tail Postures
• Freezing
• Slow Movements
• Play Bow
• Turning Back/Sitting Down
• Lying Down
• Yawning
• Sniffing
• Curving
• Going In Between
• Paw Lift

Often dogs use these calming signals in an attempt to communicate.  If the adults and children don’t recognize these communication signals, the dog’s attempts go unnoticed.  If these subtle attempts are not understood the dog may feel the need to use a more forceful and obvious attempt to communicate their emotions, such as biting.

Growling is a form of communication used as a warning that a bite may follow.  NEVER punish your dog for growling or they may simply stop using it and just go directly to the bite.

Learn dog body language!  We’ve all seen photos of dogs “snuggling” the baby by putting their head on the baby’s neck.  This is NOT snuggling – this is resource guarding and while it may appear cute, it is potentially quite dangerous.  An uncomfortable dog is likely to bite in order to get away from the discomfort.  Dogs DO NOT like hugs!

BASIC BEHAVIORS

Your dog needs to be reliable with the following behaviors: Sit, Down, Stay, Place, Settle, Come, Leave, Take It, and Clean It Up (to give the dog a place to wait for permission to clean up the floor, to reduce begging and grabbing of toddler’s food from the child’s hands).

BEING A LEADER TO YOUR DOG
All dogs need leadership and it is vital that your dog comprehends that he can trust you to be an effective leader so that in times of uncertainty your dog trusts that he can depend on you to provide proper and understandable guidance.  They understand hierarchy, so we want to adhere to a leader-and-follower structure in our homes. It is important that your dog knows that you’re capable of handling the role of leader, or your dog will take control and establish his own rules.

Leadership doesn’t mean it’s necessary that we act like a dog, nor use force, fear or intimidation techniques.  Quite the contrary.  A proper leader establishes his position by creating an environment that is fair and firm, where others want him to be in the leadership role and are willing followers.  Leaders are privileged, influential with the dog’s pack and possess authority roles to make decisions for the welfare of the pack.

The following steps will help you establish a leadership position with your dog. Start these no later than 12 weeks or the day you bring home your puppy or adult dog.

LEADERSHIP GUIDANCE

With an effective leadership program you don’t need force to demonstrate to your dog that you’re the person in charge.  You need only to control their most-desired resources so they can earn them back from you by performing a simple obedience cue, such as sit.  Everything in your house belongs to you, including the dog’s items: the toys, bones, food, crate, bowls, bed (your’s and their’s), couch, chairs, throw rug.  You allow your dog to borrow them.  You should be able to handle, move, or remove any of these items and resources without harassment from your dog – including removing your dog from your bed or couch. This rule teaching begins as the adult role in the household (you) and once the dog starts to understand the rules, then you will help your child to take a leadership role.  But YOU, as the adult, must first teach the rules to your dog!  Just because you bought the dog for your 8-year-old daughter doesn’t mean that you can thrust the responsibility of teaching the dog on her.

• Leaders do not use fear, force or intimidation techniques such as hitting, rolling, hanging, pinching, dunking, or flooding.  Leaders are not vindictive.  Leaders do not throw shaker cans or chains at their dogs nor spray water in their dog’s face. They are firm, fair, dependable, consistent in adhering to the rules, willing to gently demonstrate the rules, and they are wonderful to be with.  Leaders learn to “listen” to their dog’s input and make decisions based on what they may be trying to tell us.

• Your dog is NEVER allowed to bite, nip or mouth anyone at any time – not even during play.

• No sleeping on the bed or any piece of furniture until he learns to sit as his way of asking for an invitation from you and until you issue that invitation.  If he is already growling at your or any other family member while on the bed or furniture, do not allow him access to that furniture and immediately call a professional positive reinforcement trainer or behaviorist.  Your dog is ‘resource guarding’ and is letting you know by growling that he claims that area.  This will likely become a much more aggressive behavior resulting in his biting one of you.

• Dogs who demand to be picked up by jumping, pawing or barking should not be touched until they sit and are quiet.  Also, if they demand to be put down, you must wait until the barking and squirming stops.  After they are quiet and settled, you may pick up or put down on the floor.  Otherwise you are teaching them to use bad manners to control you.

• Petting or other attention should not be given if your dog nudges or paws you.  If this happens, ignore it and when he starts to walk away you can then call him back to you to give attention.  You are the leader and leaders decide when attention is to be given, not the dog by using bad manners.

• A simple manners cue, such as “sit”, needs to be executed before you give your dog any attention such as throwing a toy, getting on furniture, petting, getting on your lap, giving food, going out/in the door or car or crate.  This “sit” becomes your dog’s way of “asking your permission” in order to earn his most-desired goodies.

• Sit means sit now not when you get around to doing what I request. However, you need to practice with your dog in order for him to learn that he needs to perform your request the first time, every time.

• Your dog needs to be taught how to move out of your path on a floor or stairway or doorway even if you can easily step over or walk around him.  You should not step around them – leaders have the right-of-way.

• No free feeding meals.  Do not leave your dog’s food out all day so they can eat when they desire.  Your dog needs to understand where their food comes from (you) and that they need to earn their food, whether from your hand or in a bowl.  Feed scheduled meals and have your dog sit and stay in the sit until the bowl is on the floor and you have given him permission to eat.  Leave it there for no longer than 30 minutes and then remove the food until the next meal.  Your dog doesn’t need to graze.

• He who gets out the door first is the winner!  Therefore, YOU will always go out the door first and release him from the other side.  You need to go out first until he learns to wait at the door for your decision on whether you will go first or simply release him from inside.  Be sure, too, that he doesn’t bolt back into the house until you have given him permission to enter.  Teach him to sit/wait until you give him permission to go through the door.

• Your dog needs to make eye contact with you whenever you request it.  But, NO stare-down contests, please, because your dog might see it as a threat.  Direct eye contact to a dog is rude behavior, however it is also vital that they learn to make direct eye contact with us in order to understand our guidance.  Therefore, you must include teaching eye contact as part of your training plans.

• Teach your dog a solid “drop it” for things in his mouth you don’t want him to have.  Prevent your dog from taking (stealing) your belongings, but if it does happen, he needs to be taught how to release the item at your request, and this also needs to be practiced on a daily basis. Be sure, too, that you aren’t putting your dog into an environment where they can’t possibly resist temptation – like with your kids’ toys.  You have to set up your dog for success rather than leaving them to no choice but to fail.

• ALL dogs need training and should know eye contact, sit, down, stay, drop it, leave it, come, wait at the door, wait for permission, settle and walking nicely on leash without pulling.

• Never play tug-of-war games with your dog until:
  1.  Your dog has learned a solid “drop it” so you can keep his emotions from escalating to an aggressively competitive state
  2. You start and you end the game – not the dog
  3. Your dog knows that teeth on skin is NEVER acceptable.  Even if it was an accident, you must immediately end the game
  4.  Your children know they are never allowed to play tug games with the dog

• Your dog should NEVER be left unsupervised with children or anyone who cannot maintain leadership with your dog. Your child should NEVER hit, scold, pinch, kick, or throw anything at your dog … nor should your child ever take away a toy, bone or food from your dog.  These are adult responsibilities.

• The one with the higher head is king!  Do not put yourself in a lesser height level than your dog.  Children, especially, should not lie on the floor for any reason with the dog until your dog has learned how to behave calmly around your child.  ANY child under 8 years old does not possess mature reasoning skills of an adult.  Children under 8 need to be CONSTANTLY SUPERVISED with the dog.  Your dog’s antics of hair grabbing, ear biting, climbing on your child’s back, and nipping noses are never acceptable.  Teach your children never to encourage your dog by giggling or using their hands as toys when the dog bites their nose, hair, face and head. Remember that 79% of dog bites to children happen around their head.  Dogs are born with “natural opposition reflex” which means they will push at whatever pushes them, and pull against whatever pulls them.  If your child pushes your dog away from them, the dog will simply come right back at your child.  Remember that what your child learns with your dog they will also do with a strange dog and that dog may aggressively refuse of your child’s interactions.  Set up safety for both your children and your dog!  

• Your dog should be taught not to pull when walking on a leash. This is called Loose Leash walking. Your dog needs to learn to walk on your side, not in front of you pulling on a retractable leash.  Remember – you can be in the leader OR the follower position.  If your dog is in front of you, that makes him the leader.  YOU control the walk.  When on a walk your dog doesn’t need to sniff or mark everything in order to enjoy himself.  Your dog needs to learn to pace himself to you.  You may decide that it is ok for your dog to sniff something — BUT you need to follow leadership rules of having him sit first and then walking over to the item — NEVER allowing him to pull you to it.

• Put your dog in the crate other than when you leave the house.  First, teach your dog a cue for going into the crate so this isn’t a struggle.  (If it is, you need a crate training program.)  Let your dog learn to settle while you are cooking, eating meals, visiting with guests, watching tv, playing games with the kids, reading a book, taking a nap, on the phone.  You are the leader and you decide when your dog needs to take a relaxation period, even if that happens when you’re home.  Remember that your dog needs to learn to sit and wait in the crate until you open the door and give him the release cue to exit.

THE SPECIFICS

• Get a doll and set up the baby’s room and things now.  Setting up the baby’s room will allow your dog to become accustomed to the new surroundings.  Help your dog become familiar with how to behave when you’re holding a baby … such as how your posture changes when you’re holding the baby, how you walk when holding the baby, how you move when carrying the baby in the baby carrier (add some additional weight, 5-8 lbs. if needed because the doll doesn’t weigh enough) … put the doll in the baby carrier, swing, high chair, bouncer and use the baby’s name, then reward the dog for calm behavior … practice training with your dog while you’re holding the doll … sit on the floor with the doll … lay down on the floor, couch, bed with the doll.

• Review ALL of the behaviors that your dog knows and practice them from every piece of furniture, from your bed, while you are standing, sitting, on the floor and lying down.  You might find yourself holding the baby on the couch while you are lying down and have to tell the dog to sit or leave it, etc.  Remember they are very sensitive to body language, so if you’ve never told your dog to sit while you were across the room or while you were laying down or while your back was turned to the dog – start practicing now.

• Start carrying around the doll now and feeding it, change diapers, rock, etc.  You want to learn where the dog might get under your feet (such as the stairway) so you can teach the dog how to behave.  You might want to teach the dog to walk behind you in hallways, or to wait at one of the hallway until you call her to the other end.  Teach the dog to wait calmly while you change the baby’s diapers or feed the baby.

• Put the doll in the highchair and “feed’ the doll.  Teach your dog to sit calmly away from the highchair, or to go in her crate with a stuffed Kong while you are feeding.  Babies with sticky fingers from food are easy targets for dogs to jump up to try to lick the food.

• Start putting your dog into a crate now in the middle of the day while you are home so the dog learns that you decide when she takes an enforced rest … so you are able to do this when it’s baby’s or momma’s rest time.

• If you are going to move the dog’s crate to a different area, then do it now so the dog has plenty of time to get used to it before the baby arrives … or if you want to introduce a second crate in some other spot in the house.  Make sure that the dog has easy access to her crate so that when company starts to arrive to visit the new baby, she has a place to retreat to get away from the commotion … as well as a place to get away from the baby’s crying.  The baby’s crying is just as agitating to a dog as it is to a human.  Make sure that your yard is secure.  Designate a quiet room for the dog and install a hook up high that a toddler can’t open.  Determine indoor tether areas so you aren’t searching for one when you’re busy with the baby.  Use an exercise pen so your dog has a safe place to play.  Watch for Calming Signals (see below) to ensure your dog isn’t stressed in these areas.  Don’t allow children to throw things at the dog while in these areas … or in an area, for that matter.

• Teach your dog to wait at the baby’s room door to watch you while you are interacting with the baby.  You can also install a screen door to keep the dog out, or use baby gates.  Just make sure that he dog doesn’t know how to open the gate.  Teach the dog to always lay down while in the baby’s room.

Find a place for the diaper disposal where the dog can’t get to it … AND practice ‘leave it’ with the diaper pail.  You might want to have a friend with a baby donate some of their used diapers so you can start to practice that right now because the scent will be very attracting to the dog.

• Teach your dog to go to a specific spot while you answer the door.  The last thing you want to deal with is a dog trying to push her way around you at the front door while you are holding a baby and trying to answer the doorbell.  You might want to consider teaching the dog that the doorbell automatically means to head to that specific spot.

• Your dog should wait at bottom of steps until you reach the top and call for her to come to you.  Conversely, your dog should wait at the top of steps until you reach the bottom and call for her to come to you.

Dog should become familiar with baby things so they are normal parts of the environment:

• Pacifiers
• Bottles
• High chair
• Bouncy seats
• Swings
• Dishes
• Toys
• Equipment bags
• Stroller
• Play pen

Practice ‘leave it’ with baby things that drop on the floor, like the toys, bottles, pacifiers.  Put some Bitter Apple on the baby’s toys, and then put the toys on the floor mixed in with the dog’s toys.  Reward the dog for showing interest in his toys; ignore if the dog shows interest in the baby’s toys or use ‘leave it’.

Learn to recognize typical guarding behaviors in dogs:

• Dog stiffens or freezes when you approach him
• Gobbles up her food when you approach
• Watches you out of the corner of his eye when you approach – you might see the half-moon or whites of his eye
• Tail raised straight up
• Hair on neck and back standing up

Your dog may guard items of value from your child, while they may not do so with you.  Dogs do not have the same respect for the little humans in the household that they do for the big humans.  Adhere to the leadership rules with your dog; help your children to adhere to the rules so they can establish their leadership with the dog.  Teach your children to leave the dog alone when he’s eating a treat or meal.  And ALWAYS supervise your child around your dog.   Socialize your dog around children sooner than later – before your baby is born.

• Baby equipment is noisy and some floor surfaces make them even louder.  Your dog’s hearing is much more sensitive and acute than your hearing so watch your dog’s reactions to the baby equipment.  You may have to put the dog in her quiet room when the baby’s equipment is making a lot of noise.  And watch for doorway congestion that can cause stress in a dog.  Doorway jumpers can cause reactivity in your dog because of the motion.  It also puts your dog and baby at eye level causing direct eye contact.  Direct eye contact makes dogs uncomfortable.

• Dog should learn to SIT and REMAIN CALM when the swing and bouncy seats are moving.  Remember that dogs have prey drive, and moving furniture (like the swing and bouncy seat) automatically put your baby into motion … plus babies make little noises that sound like noises that prey animals make.  The combination of the movement and noise can trigger your dog to want to pounce on the “prey”.  Put the doll in the swing and bouncy seat to practice with the dog.

• Dog should learn to walk NEXT to stroller (not in front of it – the dog is NOT the leader) without pulling.

• You can teach your dog to come to you when the baby cries.  Just expect it every time the baby cries.  Be sure to also teach your dog a release cue so the dog knows when his job is done and that you’ll now be turning your attention to the baby.  When the baby cries over the monitor, ask your dog “where’s the baby” and have him lead you to the baby.  Ask him to sit at the doorway or lay down inside the room (after you’ve given him permission to enter) and then reward him.

• Does your dog do things to get your attention?   Start a program now to change that behavior.  It’s not safe for a dog to be nudging your hand or arm when you’re holding a baby.  Examples of attention-seeking behaviors that you need to control are barking, pawing, nudging, jumping and licking.

If you baby talk your dog, it may become confusing to her when you baby talk your baby.

• Determine your daily schedule when the baby arrives so if you need to change your dog’s schedule, as in feeding times or going outdoors, you start those changes now.

• Get the dog familiar with the scent of baby lotions and soaps now.  Reward the dog when she smells the lotion so it starts to teach that the scent is good.  Put the same scent on the baby’s clothing and blankets.  Put some on the baby’s blanket when the baby is born and bring it home from the hospital (while you’re still in the hospital) so the dog can get used to the combination of the familiar smell of the lotion with the baby’s smell.  Reward the dog when she smells the blanket(s).  Use the baby’s name when the dog investigates the blanket.  Put this blanket (or more than one) in the swing, bouncy seat, crib, car seat, baby carrier, etc. so the dog can learn to connect all of these things with the familiar scent.  Rub the blanket on the dog’s food dish.  It will help her better comprehend when the baby comes home.  Practice commands around the blanket.

• Have all vet visits completed before the baby is born and plenty of food and applicable medications on hand.

• If you are going to use a dog walker and/or pet sitter to help you exercise the dog or even just play with the dog when you’re so busy with the new baby, start that now so everyone is comfortable with each other before the baby is born.  Be sure that someone exercises your dog before you come home from the hospital so the dog doesn’t have pent-up energy.

• Introduce your dog to a quality dog day care facility to help keep your dog exercised and socialized.  If you are going to use a dog day care facility, start that now so you know if your dog is comfortable attending.  Also take your dog to an overnight kennel facility several times to give your dog time to adapt to the facility in the event you have to use one during the early baby days.

• Get a CD of baby sounds from http://www.dogwise.com.  Reward calm behavior when the dog hears these new sounds.  Play it while your dog has a special treat or during his meal.  Play it while you are feeding the doll or changing diapers, rocking, etc.

• When you come home from the hospital, let dad carry in the baby while mom greets the dog.  Be sure that your dog has been exercised BEFORE you come home.  A tired dog is a calm dog.

• Keep frozen Kongs handy.

• Play catch with your dog from the bed or the couch.

• Brush your dog while the baby is sleeping (assuming your dog likes to be brushed).

• Pay attention to your stress level.  When we get stressed or overly excited our dogs often react by seeking our attention.  They will do what has worked for them in the past to get our attention and if we’re absorbed in our stress and ignore the dog, then he will resort to annoying attempts that lead to negative attention from us.  When you’re stressed or the baby is fussing, put your dog in a quiet place away from you’re the stress.  Give him a stuffed Kong to help him remain quiet.

If you normally have visiting dogs, such as the new grandparents, be sure to practice all of these steps with that dog, too.

Prior planning prevents poor performance, so the saying goes.  The better prepared your dog is for your baby’s arrival, the smoother and more successful the transition will be for you and your dog!

www.ThePetTeacher.com

Helping You & Your Dog Become A Better Team!