Correction vs. Punishment

When training a dog it is important to have a balanced mix of reward and correction. You can't only reward your dog when he is doing something right, but not let him know when he is doing something 'wrong'. Your dog needs to know what to do as well as what not to do. This is where corrections come into play.
A correction is not to be confused with a punishment. They are completely different things, and when it comes to dog training corrections are what you need to use. I will explain why later.
Types of corrections vary, but the fundamental purpose of one is to let your dog know when he is doing something you don't want him doing, and to discourage him from doing it in the future. It usually takes multiple corrections until your dog will stop a certain behavior.
A correction can be as simple as using your voice to tell your dog no, or it could involve a touch to the neck, a snap of the leash and any other technique as long as it makes a clear point to your dog to stop what he is doing. I prefer not to use anything that actually causes physical pain or discomfort to my dogs, like prong and shock collars. A correction is not meant to hurt your dog.

 

Something I want to mention is the form of correction where you make your dog 'submit' to you by pushing his neck to the ground or rolling him onto his back. I do not like this method, and in my experience it has usually made the dog act out aggressively or defensively and does more harm than good. This is usually because I or someone is doing it wrong, or at the wrong time. I believe that, unless you really know what you are doing, it is best to not use this form of correction. Dogs are not wolves, and a firm no and snap of the leash will suffice just fine.

Timing is very important when it comes to correcting your dog. Your correction needs to be at the most a few seconds after your dog has done something bad, otherwise he will not be able to connect the correction with his actions. This is where dog training and, say, teaching your child not to do something differs; dogs live in the moment, and can't relate present punishments with past actions. Yes, this means that rubbing your dogs nose in its pee is not going to do any good, it actually may make your dog aggressive or fearful towards you.

 This brings me to punishments, and why they do not work with dogs. A punishment is doing something your dog finds unpleasant in order to 'teach' him a lesson, like locking him in his kennel when you come home because he got in the trash. Your dog has no idea why you are mad, and cannot 'think about what he has done' after he has done it.Time out won't teach your dog that what he did an hour ago was bad. The only time I use time out is when my dog needs to calm down or take a breather.



As a side note, there is a training trick called the bridge effect. This is where you repeatedly say "No no no no no!!!" to your dog until you are able to reach him and give him a correction. For example, if your puppy is all the way on the other side of the room, and starts peeing, you can continuously say no! until you can reach your dog and take her outside. This can increase your time of correction by eight seconds.

Jake update

Here's a little update on foster dog Jake.

Jake is a one of a kind GSP who we absolutely adore. He is so calm and sweet, and hasn't required near as much training as our previous GSP. His training is going great, he is walking very well on a leash with the help of a Freedom No Pull Harness.









He is very friendly with people and big dogs. He does act very differently around little dogs though, barking, whining, getting overly excited and alert when one comes near. We have not decided if this because he thinks they are prey or is overwhelmed by his prey drive, or if he just really wants to play with a little dog. Time shall tell.
Jake is now sitting without any reluctance at all, and the down command is my next goal for him. Like I have mentioned in many of my posts, dog training takes tons of time and patience, nothing happens overnight.
Sleeping in a crate seems to suit Jake just fine, which is best for us since he is very restless in the early mornings. He is no longer startled by loud noises, and a firm no will stop him from barking if he does startle.
The one, and so far only, bad habit that Jake has is poop eating. YUCK! My lab has finally grown out of his habit of poop eating, but now I must address this new problem.
Jake seems to do this out of either enjoyment, or a lack of some nutrient, and since we feed our dogs high quality food, I'm guessing it is the former. To help break him of this habit, I clean the yard every morning and supervise Jake when he goes outside. If I catch him in the act, I give him a firm no and if he doesn't listen at first I redirect his attention by body blocking him from his snack, saying no once again, and making him go inside.
Hopefully this habit will clear up eventually. Even though it is disgusting, you have to remember that they are dogs, and sometimes dogs do things we will never understand, and it is important not to get mad at them for being dogs.
Dogs will be dogs.

Foster Dog Jake

 

Saturday we picked up our new GSP foster dog named Jake. He is the sweetest dog who loves anyone no matter what. It is so much fun watching him develop and thrive in our home. His training is a great real world example of what this blog is about.
When he first arrived, we let him get to know the yard, and took him for a short walk around the block. I had someone else walk one of our labs in front of Jake, so that Jake could get used to him from afar. After he was nonreactive to the sight of our lab, I brought Jake closer until he was able to sniff and greet our lab for a few seconds. Once they were bored with each other, we brought them into our yard once again and let them run and sniff together. We repeated this with our second lab.
Once the introductions were over, we let Jake into our house on leash, watching him very closely. He had recently been neutered so he had the urge to pee on everything, even our couch. After a few hours we were able to trust him to wander around parts of the house without following him.
He sleeps in a kennel so that he doesn't pee in the house during the night, and is not allowed to go outside unsupervised.
Jake has a problem with sitting when told. To help this, I take a hand full high value treats (cooked chicken) and let him know I have them. I tell him to sit in a happy voice and when he does I praise him very enthusiastically and give him his chicken. Soon I will not show him that I have the chicken, it is important not to bribe your dog in order to get him to do what he's told.
Jake was also afraid of the bathroom and hardwood floors. This was easily fixed by feeding him his meals in places he is unsure of.
Soon I will take him out on a long leash and practice recall and more commands. Until then happy training!

Same gender, same household.

 

Is it better to have two dogs of the same gender, or different gender? This is a question I have been asked a few times recently, and a topic that I hear many talk about. I feel like people offer advice to other people that its way better to get two different gendered dogs, or write off certain behaviors because its only to be expected when you have two dogs of the same gender. When really they are basing their "facts" on past experiences or on something they once heard.
So what do I think on this topic? I think that unless you have two un-neutered males that are at competition with one another for whatever reason, it really truly does not matter whether you have two male dogs, two female dogs or a male and a female. It all depends on that dogs personality. I've had five male dogs live in the same household together for weeks, and all of them got along just fine. I've had female and male dogs that get along, male and female dogs that don't get along. Female and female that don't get along...you get the point. If your dog has some prejudice against a certain gender dog, not only do you have a sexist dog on your hands, but you also have a dog that is, like every other dog, truly unique with a one of a kind personality and quirks. Your two female dogs that don't get along doesn't make every other female pair not get along. 

I came across this little section of a canine behavior series by Kathy Diamond Davis that I wanted to bring up to prove that some people really think this way;

"When you lose one of the dogs of the same sex, and are looking to get another dog to live with the remaining dog, I strongly recommend you get a dog of the opposite sex. Dogs of opposite sex get along so much more smoothly and safely than same-sex dogs. However--still don't give them food, treats, or edible toys when they are together. That is never safe, no matter what the combination of dogs. It may go along for awhile and seem to be okay, but it's a time bomb."

Now if you share this opinion or one similar, that's perfectly okay. I don't believe there is ever a right or wrong for these kinds of things. I just think that it depends on the dogs. Lots of people generalize their experiences or opinions to every single dog out there, or 'most' dogs like the above paragraph. It can be very misleading when soemeone says 'same sex dogs don't get along' when really they mean 'my aunts two males don't get along, and my two females don't get along, so I've come to the conclusion that same sex dogs usually don't get along.'

If everyone can keep an open mind that all of these things truly depends on the dogs themselves and not their gender, then they will realize that these situations cannot be applied to dogs as a whole.

My point: every dog is an individual and gender, or even breed, does not matter in the big picture.

Escape Artists

 

To me, this is a very important subject to talk about because one of my dogs recently got hit and killed because he managed to escape from our yard. But I feel that no matter how much someone writes on this topic, they cannot cover all of the ways a dog can possibly escape without suggesting to have them locked in a concrete cellar. Usually though, only a few precautions will prevent your dog from escaping.

First, find out why your dog is trying to escape. Separation anxiety, sexually motivated roaming, boredom and fear are a few reasons. If you can find a reason for your dogs escaping habits, try to find a solution, such as caging, neutering or providing toys for entertaining. Sometimes there is no clear reason as to why your dog is escaping, or he may escape once if the opportunity arises or he becomes scared, as in my dogs case. It is so so important to prevent this before it happens.

 

Next step is to make your yard as escape proof as possible. Make fences at least six feet tall, and if your dog is a jumper or climber, make the fences curve inward at an angle.
Make sure the fences touches the ground so that there is no room for your dog to squeeze under. Don't be fooled with chicken wire fences, ours was touching the ground with heavy rocks holding it there, and somehow our German Short-haired Pointer  pushed the rocks aside and squeezed under a space only a few inches high.
Make sure all gates can be locked from the outside so your dog cant nudge the latch and open it. This also makes it easier to check if your gait is securely latched.
Usually if your dog isn't actively trying to escape, this should be enough to prevent him from doing so. I'm sure I haven't written about half of the ways you could and should prevent your dog from escaping, as everyone's situation and yard is different, but these are a few pointers that should get you thinking; hmm... will he be able to fit through there?



This was all said and done for our yard, it was virtually dog proof and we left for the day thinking our dogs didn't have a chance at escaping. But that day the roofer was coming, it was the only thing different about that day, the only thing that could have scared our dog enough to escape. Our dog did just that and was killed hours later.
If you know that something is going to be different about that day, like fireworks, a thunderstorm, a loud party, a stranger coming over to your house, make sure your dog is caged or put in a place where he absolutely cannot escape. Even if your dog is totally fine with strangers otherwise, he may find someone climbing on his roof is worth jumping the fence for.

It's better to be safe than sorry, trust me.