HOUSE RULES
All the following exercises are based on how dogs interact with one another and are really the ABC of behaviour modification. These will assist in raising you(and the rest of the family) higher in the combined human/canine hierarchy which will result in your dog feeling more secure as you are taking charge. The result of this is that the dog will relax more as the position of being in charge has now been filled and the end result of this will be that stress levels will decrease.
During the pups first 16 weeks of life, in a pack situation, they are allowed to get away with inappropriate behaviour from the other dogs - they will be very tolerant of them. However, after this period has passed, the older and adult dogs will start to put the pups in their place and teach them what is and is not acceptable. This will be done by way of a stare, a growl, lifted lip and even an air bite.
Where we humans are concerned we do not have the facility to do this properly, so it is far better to bring in the House Rules that you do want, rather than change bad habits at a later stage.
a. Ignoring your dog when you arrive home. (done in silence)
One of the most important exercises and for the first week at least, this exercise is carried out in silence. Why? We are using out bodies to communicate to our dog's what we do, and do not accept. think about it, have you every seen a pack of dog's sitting around having a bone party and discussing with one another what Zeus did to Fluffy? Of course not, dog's communicate more with their bodies that in any other manner.
To start this off you must ignore your dog when you come home. The behaviour at present may be that you are jumped on, barked at, attention is demanded etc., and, every single time you give the dog that attention, you are reinforcing that you are not an adequate leader – an Alpha dog would not allow this! Remember that to a dog, attention is attention, whether it is negative or positive, so even shouting at the dog for jumping up on you is going to end up making the problem worse.
How To - Summary:
This exercise must take place the second you have your first interaction with your dog. Avoid all eye contact with your dog and if he/she jumps up, either turn away or gently put the feet down on the floor. No talking at all. You can even fold your arms and turn your body, as well as your eyes, away from the dog. This body language indicates - I am not interested and is based on the calming signals that dogs exhibit (as discussed).
Depending on how bad the situation currently is, it may take your dog a bit of time initially to calm down but it eventually will – either by giving up and going away or lying down etc. From this point of surrender you will time 10 seconds and then call your dog to you, ask for a sit - reward first with praise and then a treat (we always treat 100% of the time initially and then will fade the reward - notes supplied) . You are indicating to the dog that the demanding/OTT behaviour is not acceptable, but the behaviour of coming to you when called and sitting, or greeting you quietly, is the behaviour that you want.
c.. Attention on your terms or not at all (done is silence)
We are not always aware how often our dogs do demand attention from us; they often do it without us realizing. It may be a case of the dog jumping onto the chair and sitting on our lap or next to us, bringing a toy to be played with, insisting on a tummy rub, nudging us, mouthing us, pawing us etc. When your dog exhibits the demanding behaviour, ignore the dog completely whether you are outside or inside. From this time onwards, attention is given only on your terms.
If you are sitting on the couch and your dog either jumps up or demands attention, just put it back on the floor without saying a word. You may even have to move from one chair to another or in the extreme, leave the room. This is a form of what is termed negative punishment – you are taking away from the dog that it most wants – you! After the dog has settled for the 10 second period, you can call it back to you and again ask for a sit and give the attention you want too. Once the dog has understood what gains attention and what does not, then vary this exercise, sometimes ignoring the pup completely, other times calling it and at other times leave the room yourself.
This does not mean that you can’t have your dog on the couch with you any more, of course you can, but at your invitation only! If your dog normally lies on couches, there is no reason to stop this - the exercise above will only apply if the dog comes and jumps up onto you, or next to you.
We are not telling our dogs we don’t love them, we are showing them that attention is given only on our terms. Although this may seem to be extreme, what we are teaching the dog is that we are in control. As the dog becomes aware of this it will stop trying to be in charge – the stress will lessen, it will feel safe and secure and the behavioural concerns will lessen.
This is a sequence that is not to be done only for a few weeks, do it forever, and include every single member of the family. It is one of the easiest and most effective ways to have a well behaved dog and will go a long way to building the dog’s confidence in your ability to lead appropriately.
d.Work to Earn
Work to Earn If you think about it, with our 10 fingers we supply all our dog’s needs – food, walks, play, petting exercise etc. and together with our voices gives us excellent tools with which to control our dogs resources. It is always important to be consistent when working with dogs, the dog needs to learn that it can rely on you every single time to be its protector and pack leader. As we all have to ‘work for our living’ so too does your dog from now on. If we relate this to pack behaviour, every single dog has a job, or combined jobs to perform – looking after the pups, guarding the pack, cleaning the den (faeces), hunting for food etc. So if you look at it that way, why not have your dog working for its living? The more you take control of all the resources, the more your dog will view you, and the rest of the family, as the pack leaders and will be more likely to relax knowing you are in charge and not try to take charge itself. This will result in good behaviour, reduction of existing behaviour problems and less likelihood of future bad habits developing.
In the case where you have a dog that jumps up on people, you can incorporate the work to earn system by taking control of your dogs daily ration of food - simply call the dog, ask for a sit, take a few paces away and then repeat. Do this inside the home, in the garden and on walks. You will quickly have a dog that will sit immediately in front of all humans as it is rewarding to the dog. When you get to this stage, you can then start to fade the reward.
Here are some ideas you can incorporate. The list is really endless and the more you do the more your dog will listen and regard you (and all family members) as being in charge:-
e. NRM - Non Reward Marker
Very often, a dog has heard the word ‘no’ so many times that it becomes white noise and is totally ignored and this is why I prefer the use of a word that is not used in our daily conversation such as ‘uhuh’, poofy etc. It does not matter what word you use as long as it is not part of your daily conversation.
Additionally, it is very difficult to tell our dogs to do nothing! You may be able to say to your children ‘please don’t walk on the tiles, I just washed them’, but your dog would not understand a word of this. When you start using the NRM system, you tell your dog ‘uhuh’, I don’t like that behaviour, followed immediately with ‘good boy/girl’ the second the dog stops the behaviour. You are now opening up excellent lines of communication and your dog knows exactly what is acceptable and what is not.
The beauty of having a cue such as ‘uhuh’ is that you can control the volume of same and the manner in which you say it with your voice. It is always better to talk to a dog in a soft voice, and use the loud voice for when the dog has really misbehaved.
What is very important, is to bring in the use of the NRM while the dog the dog is engaged in the inappropriate behaviour, even a few seconds after the event is too late and the dog will not relate the NRM to the past behaviour. Remember to always praise (quietly) when the dog stops and do not use the dog's name.
During the pups first 16 weeks of life, in a pack situation, they are allowed to get away with inappropriate behaviour from the other dogs - they will be very tolerant of them. However, after this period has passed, the older and adult dogs will start to put the pups in their place and teach them what is and is not acceptable. This will be done by way of a stare, a growl, lifted lip and even an air bite.
Where we humans are concerned we do not have the facility to do this properly, so it is far better to bring in the House Rules that you do want, rather than change bad habits at a later stage.
a. Ignoring your dog when you arrive home. (done in silence)
One of the most important exercises and for the first week at least, this exercise is carried out in silence. Why? We are using out bodies to communicate to our dog's what we do, and do not accept. think about it, have you every seen a pack of dog's sitting around having a bone party and discussing with one another what Zeus did to Fluffy? Of course not, dog's communicate more with their bodies that in any other manner.
To start this off you must ignore your dog when you come home. The behaviour at present may be that you are jumped on, barked at, attention is demanded etc., and, every single time you give the dog that attention, you are reinforcing that you are not an adequate leader – an Alpha dog would not allow this! Remember that to a dog, attention is attention, whether it is negative or positive, so even shouting at the dog for jumping up on you is going to end up making the problem worse.
How To - Summary:
- As you see the pup/dog for the first time, stop, stand still, fold your arms, turn your head away, dont look at the pup/dog - totally ignore the pup and do not talk to it. Make your body language stiff and uninviting i.e. stand ramrod straight, arms folded and stiff.
- Pup/Dog will either sit down or start to walk away . When either of these occurs, wait 10 seconds, then call the pup/dog, request a sit, praise and give a treat.
- There after walk away from the door and take the pup/dog to another area and give all the love you want. By not giving attention at the door, you are preventing future problems in this area.
This exercise must take place the second you have your first interaction with your dog. Avoid all eye contact with your dog and if he/she jumps up, either turn away or gently put the feet down on the floor. No talking at all. You can even fold your arms and turn your body, as well as your eyes, away from the dog. This body language indicates - I am not interested and is based on the calming signals that dogs exhibit (as discussed).
Depending on how bad the situation currently is, it may take your dog a bit of time initially to calm down but it eventually will – either by giving up and going away or lying down etc. From this point of surrender you will time 10 seconds and then call your dog to you, ask for a sit - reward first with praise and then a treat (we always treat 100% of the time initially and then will fade the reward - notes supplied) . You are indicating to the dog that the demanding/OTT behaviour is not acceptable, but the behaviour of coming to you when called and sitting, or greeting you quietly, is the behaviour that you want.
c.. Attention on your terms or not at all (done is silence)
We are not always aware how often our dogs do demand attention from us; they often do it without us realizing. It may be a case of the dog jumping onto the chair and sitting on our lap or next to us, bringing a toy to be played with, insisting on a tummy rub, nudging us, mouthing us, pawing us etc. When your dog exhibits the demanding behaviour, ignore the dog completely whether you are outside or inside. From this time onwards, attention is given only on your terms.
If you are sitting on the couch and your dog either jumps up or demands attention, just put it back on the floor without saying a word. You may even have to move from one chair to another or in the extreme, leave the room. This is a form of what is termed negative punishment – you are taking away from the dog that it most wants – you! After the dog has settled for the 10 second period, you can call it back to you and again ask for a sit and give the attention you want too. Once the dog has understood what gains attention and what does not, then vary this exercise, sometimes ignoring the pup completely, other times calling it and at other times leave the room yourself.
This does not mean that you can’t have your dog on the couch with you any more, of course you can, but at your invitation only! If your dog normally lies on couches, there is no reason to stop this - the exercise above will only apply if the dog comes and jumps up onto you, or next to you.
We are not telling our dogs we don’t love them, we are showing them that attention is given only on our terms. Although this may seem to be extreme, what we are teaching the dog is that we are in control. As the dog becomes aware of this it will stop trying to be in charge – the stress will lessen, it will feel safe and secure and the behavioural concerns will lessen.
This is a sequence that is not to be done only for a few weeks, do it forever, and include every single member of the family. It is one of the easiest and most effective ways to have a well behaved dog and will go a long way to building the dog’s confidence in your ability to lead appropriately.
d.Work to Earn
Work to Earn If you think about it, with our 10 fingers we supply all our dog’s needs – food, walks, play, petting exercise etc. and together with our voices gives us excellent tools with which to control our dogs resources. It is always important to be consistent when working with dogs, the dog needs to learn that it can rely on you every single time to be its protector and pack leader. As we all have to ‘work for our living’ so too does your dog from now on. If we relate this to pack behaviour, every single dog has a job, or combined jobs to perform – looking after the pups, guarding the pack, cleaning the den (faeces), hunting for food etc. So if you look at it that way, why not have your dog working for its living? The more you take control of all the resources, the more your dog will view you, and the rest of the family, as the pack leaders and will be more likely to relax knowing you are in charge and not try to take charge itself. This will result in good behaviour, reduction of existing behaviour problems and less likelihood of future bad habits developing.
In the case where you have a dog that jumps up on people, you can incorporate the work to earn system by taking control of your dogs daily ration of food - simply call the dog, ask for a sit, take a few paces away and then repeat. Do this inside the home, in the garden and on walks. You will quickly have a dog that will sit immediately in front of all humans as it is rewarding to the dog. When you get to this stage, you can then start to fade the reward.
Here are some ideas you can incorporate. The list is really endless and the more you do the more your dog will listen and regard you (and all family members) as being in charge:-
- Sit
- Down
- Watch exercise
- Wait exercise
- Recall
- Bark/Silence
e. NRM - Non Reward Marker
Very often, a dog has heard the word ‘no’ so many times that it becomes white noise and is totally ignored and this is why I prefer the use of a word that is not used in our daily conversation such as ‘uhuh’, poofy etc. It does not matter what word you use as long as it is not part of your daily conversation.
Additionally, it is very difficult to tell our dogs to do nothing! You may be able to say to your children ‘please don’t walk on the tiles, I just washed them’, but your dog would not understand a word of this. When you start using the NRM system, you tell your dog ‘uhuh’, I don’t like that behaviour, followed immediately with ‘good boy/girl’ the second the dog stops the behaviour. You are now opening up excellent lines of communication and your dog knows exactly what is acceptable and what is not.
The beauty of having a cue such as ‘uhuh’ is that you can control the volume of same and the manner in which you say it with your voice. It is always better to talk to a dog in a soft voice, and use the loud voice for when the dog has really misbehaved.
What is very important, is to bring in the use of the NRM while the dog the dog is engaged in the inappropriate behaviour, even a few seconds after the event is too late and the dog will not relate the NRM to the past behaviour. Remember to always praise (quietly) when the dog stops and do not use the dog's name.