Get your dog ready for Summer House Guests

Get ready for Summer House Guests:

We have all experienced the embarrassment of inviting a guest over to our house the moment the doorbell rings our dogs start barking like crazy and rush to the door. Even when we manage to beat them to the door once we open it our guests are greeted by jumping and excitement that can take awhile to finally settle into a nice calm visit. Don’t worry it doesn’t have to be this way! Here are a few helpful tips to have your next visitor seeing what a wonderful dog you know you have.

• Use a ‘House Leash’: In dog training a leash acts as our lifeline to our dogs it is our best way of being consistent and helps us follow through.  Anytime you know you will have visitors over about 15min before they are set to arrive let your dog drag a leash around the house. This will give you the ability to have more control once your guest does arrive.

• Set up ‘Practice’ scenarios often: Just like us when your dog is learning something new they need to practice daily in order to really have it stick and show results. So try to have pretend visitors as often as possible. If you have a helper that your dog is used to have them ring the doorbell and just stay outside so you can help calm your dog down without all the distractions of having to greet your guest. Or if you live alone you can knock on the door from the inside to have the same effect.

• Reward the behavior you want: Often times when we are working with dogs we get very wrapped up in what we don’t want our dogs to do and forget to let them know when they do it right. So try doing the opposite!
  • Grab some treats and stand by the front door (your dog will be with you because they are excited about the food)
  • Stand still for 1sec immediately say quiet and give them a treat (you are rewarding their success in being quiet even though they never barked, what a great life!)
  • Knock once on the door from the inside, if your dog barks stay quiet and still until they stop, the moment they stop immediately say ‘Quiet’ and give them a treat, if they stay quiet repeat. (This is an important step this tells your dog nothing happens when I bark but when I stop I get a yummy treat and that means quiet)
  • Practice this scenario often, remember practice makes perfect!

Always remember we want training to be fun for you and your dog! Check back next Tuesday for more training tips from Dog School!

Car Travel Safety & Training Tips!

Car travel safety tips:

​ A lot of people let their dogs ride loose in the car with the wind in their ears but in case of an accident it's much safer to have your dog contained so that there is not injury to them or your passengers.  

These are 3 safe riding options when traveling in the car with your dog-

Crates-

​Crates is a great way to safely transport your dog, while they feel safe and secure in their man made den. You can use crate training at home as well as in many other training scenarios.  

Seat belts-

Seat belts are another safe way to travel with your dogs while still giving them a window view without the bulk of the crate.  It may take some getting used to for your dog to wear the harness but with small steps you can easily condition your dog to wearing a doggy seat belt and keep everyone in the car safe and happy.

Barriers-

​If you have a car with a build for a dog barrier gate you can put this up as a safe option to keep you and your dog separated in case of an accident but one of the draw backs is that your dog still has a lot of room to slip and slide around.

A helpful car training tip:

Load up:

​Does your dog love to jump out of the car before you even get a chance to open the door or get a leash on them?  Or does your dog get so excited he jumps into the car taking you with him?  A great solution for this dilemma is using a training command we call "load up".  Keeping your dog in a sit until you are ready and then say "load up" when you are ready for them to jump in!  When you open the door you use the door as a barrier and say "load up", keeping them in the car, then you do not let them out until they are waiting with the door opened and you say "free" to release them from the car.

Dog Travel Supplies:

Having the right supplies on hand while you travel will make your trip that much easier.  Keep an air tight container for your food, measure out ahead of time the amount you'll need for the trip. Bring plenty of water, collapsible bowls, waste bags, leashes/collars, brush for the shedding, a pet first aid kit, a soft bed for your destination and treats with an interactive toy that you can use in the crate during the trip and also at your destination!

Motion sickness-

​Dogs can be prone to motion sickness, don't feed or water your dog a lot before the trip or while they are in a moving car.

Austin is heating up!

-Be sure to keep your dogs out of the hot car and use plenty of air conditioner while driving on these hot summer days.

-Always have plenty of water when out and about

-Avoid the hottest part of the day when exercising with your dog between the hours of 12-4.

Look for signs of heatstroke in your dog, panting hard, staggering, rapid heartbeat, delirious demeanour, restlessness, dark purple or red gums or tongue and vomiting. If you see any of these symptoms gradually lower their body temperature by moving them into the shade or air conditioning. Wet lower body with cool water, use cold packs on their belly, small amounts of water to drink or ice cubes to lick and then immediately transport them to the vet.