Home But Not Alone

I have spent more than thirty years attempting to make dog trainers out of clients. There is a good percentage of people who get into it and go on to enjoy agility, nosework, canine therapy work or just spending more quality time with a well mannered dog. But a couple years ago I finally figured it wasn’t a realistic expectation for most people. Their rationale was that life was so busy there was very little time or inclination to work the dog. Now, after a few days of “sheltering in place,” the extended close proximity with dearest ones may generate an inclination to train unruly household members. (Full disclosure: the following training advice is geared towards dogs and kids and is not intended for husband training. After 30 odd years of marriage, I am often reminded I remain a work in progress).

If the family fur ball has a housebreaking issue, having people home bound provides a great opportunity. Get Spiffy out, where you want her to go, at least every hour on the hour. Use a leash, if necessary, at first. Immediately praise your clever pup for success, followed by a valued treat. Do not let Spiffy have free run of the house until she has proven herself.. In general, most dogs won’t mess up where they eat, sleep, play and hang out. If you think Spiffster should have attended to business but didn’t, confine her in a small space or monitor her on leash. Take her out again after fifteen or twenty minutes. Keep a record of Spiffy’s schedule. There are certain times- when she wakes up, after she eats, when excited, if she starts circling or sniffing, that you know she will have to go. What goes in at a certain time will come out at a certain time. Do not free feed- rather pick up uneaten food after a time you are comfortable with- fifteen, twenty minutes, whatever works for you. A reward schedule for clever kids who are tasked with vigilance to help Spiffy get outside in a regular and timely fashion may be in order. Behaviors that are rewarded are more likely to be repeated by hounds and hominids alike. Very importantly, teach all family members to watch how Spiffy communicates when she has to go. Teaching a Touch cue to instruct Spiffy to ring a bell to signal she needs out would be a fun project. ( A quick internet search will provide instruction. And for people who have dogs who are the boss of them an artful puppy could learn to ring a bell for room service).

Add a Dog Training component to your home schooling curriculum. A minimum of 15 minutes a day is good but more minutes and additional trainers will expedite success. There are a number of elements intrinsic to a well rounded doggie education in addition to Training. The syllabus should include Foreign Language Study. English is a second language for dogs just as canine communication has to be learned by us. Dogs are much more adept at reading us than we are fluent at reading and speaking dog. The internet has some great videos that can help human family members of all ages correctly interpret what Spiffy is attempting to transmit via her body language. An educational module on Management 101- how to keep the Spiffers out of trouble when no family member is in training mode, is in order. After passing this basic primer, all family members are hereby employed and promoted to High Management. Spiff should not have the opportunity to make a mistake. Depending on your choice(s), the use of crates, tethers, baby gates, exercise pens, closed doors, having her on leash, stuffed kongs (if safe) should be understood by all. A component of Nutrition could be an important unit of study. Learning that good nutrition extends to pets as well as people could start with learning to read dog and people food labels together and learning about healthy ingredients. For extra credit, if, indeed, any parents are still seeking more quality time with their kids, you can make/bake simple doggie snacks and even healthy food for Spifferoo. Often neglected, Grooming and Handling can be challenging for adults and kids alike. This is a great opportunity to spend time teaching kids to properly handle and brush pets, even give vet checks. There should be no taboo body parts. If a dog is wiggly, resistant or hostile, it would be best for a parent to work with the dog until it is completely comfortable and then supervise interactions with kids. This may be the ideal time to slowly acclimate a pooch to nail trimming. More on this in a later post. (The first time I heard and then saw the Lab that adopted us, she was screaming, being pinned by three people, who were attempting to trim her nails. It took the better part of a year but eventually she tolerated trimming well enough.). Unfortunately Social Studies will no longer be available in the foreseeable future. This is lamentable but we have to deal with it. At this point, PE, in the form of walks, is still available. Often, a walk is not enough aerobic exercise but there now may be time for several walks. Additional ways to exercise Spiffy is to have sequestered siblings practice a Daily Minimum Recall Requirement (DMRR) of 20 -30 repetitions. More detail and structure on this later but calling Spiff back and forth, calling her repeatedly to an empty bowl and rewarding her with a small portion of her meal, sending her to find Jill or Johnny by playing hide and seek can expedite energy depletion. Teaching a solid retrieve can also supplement Spiff’s exercise regime. Again, develop a reward structure for each of the cooperative kids in your clan. We all like to be told we are clever- dogs and people of all ages!

Resurrect Shop Class for young and older students to create hands on skills. There is an overwhelming amount of DIY projects on the internet to keep idle minds, hands and paws of all ages focused and out of mischief. Make sure what you produce is approved by the adult faculty as safe for use by Spiffles and her budding trainers. These contrivances can be as simple as placing treats underneath balls in a muffin tin, fabricating crackle bottle toys, creating tug toys from old t- shirts or pajamas (braiding techniques will be familiar from making fancy bread from recently watched baking shows), contriving bottle spin toys and even agility equipment.      

Extracurricular activities should include the teaching of tricks. Keep in mind that tricks are not only fun but are training in disguise. Teaching a Shake, Bang You’re Dead (or the more politically correct Night, Night command) can augment basic studies and bring a smile to dog and child. Claire has taught several dogs to roll over and go belly up when she begins singing “A White Sports Coat And A Pink Carnation.” (I know, it is unforgivable to install this song in the heads of incarcerated people old enough to recall it). Playing Find It games with treats, toys and yes, even scent, is a great way to have kids and Spiffle work together. Again, check the internet. nosework is a favorite of dogs, young and old. My 13 year old dog absolutely loved it. He was much more deliberate in his searches than the younger pups in class but would invariably perform equally well, eventually. As of today, it is no longer OK to work in parks but I recall at the time having to cover my car windows with a blanket as he would avidly strain and crane to see where the next hide was placed. To get the most out of nosework it would be best to research methods and to devise a thorough game plan. Agility is another excellent outlet for energy and structured fun. Improvised obstacles can be made- a tunnel from an available box, for example. Or lure a larger Spifferoo under one chair, then two, then three chairs and cover with a sheet or blanket. Find (or make- see Shop Class) a bench or table (which can also be used for Grooming and Handling). Jumps can be made from pvc or a dowel or a stick and cinder blocks. Use a hula hoop for a tire jump. Combine Agility with ideas from Rally Obedience and improvise a course with stations for Walking Politely around cones (or rocks or chalk marks), Sit/Stay, Go To Bed, Shake/Give Me Five, a Vet Check, or any of a thousand+ behaviors/tricks you wish to include. Print the tasks and place in sheet protectors to make it all look official and to mark stations. This could and should be fun stuff for everyone.

While Spiffles has not needed to read a book to train her humans it would be helpful for adults to read a few books on training to lay a solid educational foundation. Here are a few:  The Dog Vinci Code by John Rogerson, Don’t Shoot The Dog by Karen Pryor, The Puppy Whisperer by Paul Owens and Living With Kids And Dogs Without Losing Your Mind By Colleen Pelar. I would recommend parents read Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day only if they recognize the book as a fun fantasy and not a “how to” manual. Never a good idea to leave the baby alone in the house with the dog, even if he is Rottweiler. Not that anyone will be leaving the house any time soon. If you were planning to emulate Steinbeck with a present day Travels With Charley, it ain’t gonna happen for a while. But reading a book aloud to family members is a way to entertain while doing, I mean spending, time together. The Call Of The Wild, by Jack London and the The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be by Farley Mowatt come to mind for starters. This would be the ideal time for a weary Spiffy to lounge on her bed with a stuffed kong after several walks and training sessions. If anybody is still not twitchy from too much screen time, catch up with the old Lassie TV shows, revisit old favorites like Wallace and Gromit, watch doggie documentaries, positive training videos and so on. A couple short favorites are Skidboot and Turtle Taught Tricks (both on youtube). Fun doggie education for Spiffy and all her family, in combination with exercise and entertainment will help while away each eon of a cloistered day. Spiffys of all ages will shed their unruliness. And perhaps even a husband can learn a new trick or two.