order of obedience training

[kathey.walker2]

Hello,

One week left until we bring home our new addition! She has minimal training, but I know she needs lots of exercise. Can I bring her to walk the loop around the local park before heel trained? Not sure what order skills need to be taught, etc...

Thanks!

[Adrienne Farricelli]

How old is your new dog going to be once in your home? If older than 16 weeks, and fully vaccinated, generally then a walk around the local park is perfectly fine. This can help you assess your new dog's level of training and responsiveness towards you and how she behaves in an area with distractions. The first couple of days, it's OK to just let her be and get used to her new place and create positive associations with all the new noises, sights sounds etc. if she shows any signs of hesitancy.

 

However, soon afterwards, you want to start training polite leash manners with the use of high-value treats, starting first in a quiet area, then practicing in the yard (if you have one), then around the neighborhood, and then around more distracting environments. The sooner you start training the better. And if you can establish a routine (or follow the routine of the previous owner if she had one), that can help her feel reassured.

 

As per the order of skills, you may find it helpful to train a little bit of everything so that you have variety and can mix-match during training to prevent those sessions from getting too boring. Most important would be sits (easy to train and a polite sit before meal, before putting the leash on are great to work on impulse control), recalls (for obvious reasons), leave its/drop its (as they are life savers) and polite walking during walks. If she is a puller, it may feel like it takes forever initially to get somewhere but it's worth the time to teach that a loose leash gets you moving and a tense leash stops you in your tracks. Then, when not training, it's a good idea to invest some time in brain games to keep her busy and help her feel more confident.

 

Something to consider with new dogs, is what's known as the "honeymoon period" during which a dog may initially act inhibited and rather suppressed, and then gradually starts opening up more and more. Once dogs feel more comfy and make themselves more at home, this is when some behavior issues may pop up, but the good news is that, if tackled quickly enough, they can be fixed before allowed to put roots.

 

Congrats, on your new addition!

Best,

Adrienne

[kathey.walker2]

She is one year and 3 mos and she has now been here for one day with us. She opened up rather quickly. Behaviors I would like to address first:

She chases the kids when she is on her tether. It's 30 feet. I've asked them not to giggle and run away, but stop and stay stilll. Is this correct?

She jumps and nips at my hands. Not sure how to ignore and reward when she stops... She doesn't nip at the kids.

She growls and barks at the cat, who also growls and hisses at her. They do not attack or chase each other.

Suggestions, please?

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi Kathey.walker2,

 

Yes, keep your kids as calm as possible around her. No running, screaming, excitable high-pitched voices, sudden movements especially for now. She needs to stay as stress-free as possible. If she knows sit, have her sit and reward that with tasty treats every time she sees your kids at a distance (best behind a baby gate for now). Distance can then be decreased when she is calmer with the help of a behavior professional. If she doesn't sit or doesn't know it, just standing and rewarding her for calmly looking is good for now to create positive associations.

 

Do not allow her to rehearse chasing behaviors. She needs to learn to be calm around your kids and your kids calm around her. Although, I have just read in your previous post that she was fine with children and the owner's cat, when dogs are introduced in a new home, stress may cause them to behave in uncharacteristic ways. Many dogs also don't generalize liking one cat to liking other cats in different home.

 

Now a disclaimer is warranted here: Supervision is always important when dogs are around kids or pets, however, wanted to point out that ironically, mishaps happen often when parents/dog owners are right there. Statistics show that when mishaps happen, parents (43 percent) and dog owners (62 percent) were actually present during the incident. The reason for this is likely because 1) dog bites happen very quickly 2) dog bites are not always preceded by obvious signs 3) dog owners/parents may fail to recognize behaviors that children carry out which may be perceived as irritating to the dog 4) dog owners/parents may not be actively supervising and 5) dogs may not have been well socialized to children.

 

This is not to alarm you, but just to emphasize of the importance of never letting your guard down even if you will be right there supervising and having a behavior professional evaluate the dog and address any behavior concerns.

 

Encourage her to target your hands rather than jumping up and nipping at them. Keep your hands low. Targeting is very easy to train and dogs of this age should catch on quickly. You can find how to train targeting here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/targeting/. If she just sniffs your hand, that's good enough for now and you can reward that. If she is persistent in jumping, you can try teaching this exercise behind a baby gate.

 

Please create an area for your cat where she can get away safely and introduce them gradually over the course of several days using distance. "Look at that" which focuses on creating positive associations may come handy here too. Make a smacking sound every time your dog sees the cat at a distance and offer tasty treats. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

If she barks or growls or your cat hisses, this is a sign that they are going over threshold. Here's a read on threshold: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

 

Let us know how the evaluation with the dog behavior professional goes. He or she can best help in these initial introductions and provide an assessment. Please use a behavior professional who uses force-free methods as we do not want to create more stress in an already stressful situation (being introduced into a new home is always stressful to dogs) or create an adversarial relationship.

Edited May 13, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli

[kathey.walker2]

Thanks so much! I am confused by the 'behind a baby gate' statement, though. Is she allowed to sit with us in the living room or sleep in the room with us while the boys fall asleep?

[JMFS]

Hey there - glad she's home with y'all! I'm going to try this one. I think what's meant is when the kiddos are in action. Mornings may be a good example. When you're running around getting everyone ready for the day, keep (China? Jericho?) behind a baby gate so she doesn't have an opportunity to practice unwanted behavior. She can see y'all and take in the happenings, but she won't have the chance to make the wrong decision, like jumping on the little ones to join in the excitement. Especially since I'm sure you have your hands full and your attention will be divided and you may not catch undesirable actions as quickly as you might when you're actively training. When you're training, stay behind the gate with puppers while the kiddos are playing and reward her for remaining calm. I'm sure Adrienne can explain it better, but I wanted to give it a whirl. :)

 

If y'all are just chilling out then there's little for her to get excited about so separation shouldn't be needed. She's in a new situation with a lot of stimuli so the more you can reduce the additional craziness, the better. Think of it as the new kid in class. They don't know the rules, the personalities, or the routine, and it can be even more overwhelming when there's a language barrier.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Thanks so much! I am confused by the 'behind a baby gate' statement, though. Is she allowed to sit with us in the living room or sleep in the room with us while the boys fall asleep?

 

It all depends on how overstimulated she gets. It is difficult from a keyboard miles away providing important feedback as to whether or not she is ready for interacting freely. Since you mentioned she seems to want to chase the kids and nip/jump on you and chase the cat, it may be best to manage and prevent rehearsal of these behaviors for now as we don't want to establish new habits.

 

Generally, if a new dog appears to get too overstimulated or stressed or I am not sure how the dog may respond to given situations, I like to give such dogs an adjustment period where they can observe and absorb passively behind a baby gate or exercise pen without being overly concerned about movements/sounds happening too close to them and potentially triggering them.

 

This can also help with the habituation process and for the purpose of creating positive associations if dogs appear to startle or get overly responsive to new sounds/abrupt movements. If that's the case, I usually keep treats handy and toss them over the gate when certain sounds/movement take place until the dog no longer exhibits a startled response and it's replaced by a conditioned emotional response (dog hearing noise and looking for a treat rather than startling). During this time, I keep an eye on evident and less evident signs of stress and fear in dogs:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/signs-fear-stress-dogs/

 

Worth precising is that even with a baby gate, crate or x-pen active supervision is though needed as sometimes children may stick their fingers through the gate/pen/crate and some dogs may nip when this happens.

 

Of course, whether this form of management is needed or not and for how long it's needed varies from dog to dog, which is why I think it's important to have a force-free dog behavior professional assess things and provide assistance with this important introductory period.

 

A baby gate or x-pen is a management tool. This means that they come handy for those times when active supervision and high levels of control are not possible and when one is not certain of how dogs may react to certain things. As for sleeping arrangements, it may be best if she can be crated since you mentioned in a previous post she is already crate trained.

 

Hope this helps! Keep us posted on how the assessment goes.

Edited May 14, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli