Be Your Dog's Best Friend
Module 3 - Section 3
Module 3 - Section 3
First Exercises to bring in
- Putting on a Collar and Lead for the first time
- Calming your pup down
- Dealing with Tantrums
- Food Bowl Exercises
- Bite Inhibition, Mouthing, Nipping and Swap
- Walking/Exercising your Pup
The exercises below will all be taught at puppy school. If the schools differs from the manner in which we explain, please go with the method taught at the school, as long on the Positive Reinforcement manner.
- 1.Putting on a Collar and Lead for the first time
It is advisable to teach this as soon as possible and not leave it to the last minute before the puppy classes start. Puppy school is a new and alien place for a puppy, which it has never seen before. There are new dogs; new people, new objects and noises to deal with, and we don’t want to add any unnecessary stresses.
Many clients ask, ‘should I leave the collar on my dog’. In general, the answer to this is no. The reason for this is that it is very easy for a pup or dog to get the collar caught
on an object and strangle itself, or to give itself a huge fright which may impact on its life – one event learning again. There are collars on the market that when they have a lot of pressure exerted on them, the clip opens by itself and the collar comes off but getting hooked on something can still be a stressful experience for the pup.
Many people will put a collar on a puppy and just leave it on, believing that the pup will get used to it in time – we used to do the same thing ourselves before we knew better! However, we have seen umpteen dogs that have collar issues and on asking their owners what the pups’ reaction was when the collar was introduced (if they had the dogs from pups), every single one of them reacted badly the very first time it was put on.
A situation such as the above where the pup is showing signs that not happy with the collar, and the owner is aware of it, is that it can be inadvertently reinforced by the owner if they take the collar off whenever the pup objects – who wins? – the pup - it has successfully trained the owner not to use the collar and later attempts will prove harder, and be less likely to succeed unless the pup is re-introduced to the collar again in the correct manner.
This does not mean that all pups will react in this way, rather avoid one event learning and go slowly. At the end of the day, who are we to determine how traumatic the putting on of a collar may be – we would imagine that if somebody put a collar around our own necks, we would find it rather uncomfortable for a while, although we are sure we would eventually get used to it – however, if we were one of those people who hated wearing anything around their neck, our reaction could be stronger than just being uncomfortable - rather safe than sorry.
If we bear in mind that going for a walk will be one of your dog’s most pleasurable experiences, why take the chance of spoiling a wonderful outing by having a dog that is afraid or hesitant to have a collar on or to go on lead?
Our main aim here is to make the introduction of the collar a pleasurable experience. The underside of a dog’s neck is a very vulnerable place and his innate behaviour will be to protect it and to get rid of anything that is touching this area. For this reason, we start off by using a very light collar which can be fastened, instead of one which slips over the neck, which may make a puppy panic. We suggest a cat collar initially as they are much softer and more pliable than dog collars.
Many pups will accept the collar being put on and then just forget about it and no work is needed to get it habituated to the collar – all pups are different. If you intend to use a harness, you can follow the same procedure.
1. Firstly, have some really nice treats (or a full meal) with you, and make sure your puppy is hungry. Use, as stated above, a light collar. Place it over the back of the neck and fasten it very loosely under the neck, not even touching the skin. Do this slowly and gently. Give a few treats or even a full meal, given one piece of kibble at a time, and then take the collar off. The important thing is that as the collar is taken off, the treats stop. Place it back on, then repeat the treating. If the pup is objecting at all at this stage, then go back a step just place the collar on the back of the neck and then work from there, remembering to treat and praise at every stage.
Do this over the next one or two days, as many times per day as possible. You can even feed your pup its daily rations from your hand at the same time as doing this exercise. Once the puppy is happy with this, start to leave it on for a minute or two, keeping the interaction with your puppy going, by treating and even playing with a toy with him while the collar is on. The end result of this is that the puppy will associate the collar being put on as a rewarding experience rather than a traumatic experience. Remember, that as soon as the collar comes off – all treats stop.
You will have to gauge the reaction of the pup yourself, as stated before, all pups will react differently, and you may be able to put the collar on first time and leave it on – important thing is to ‘go where the puppy is at’, as we say in TTouch.
2. When he is happy with above, repeat the above process, very slowly making the collar a little tighter until it fits snugly on the neck. Practice this way for another few days until your pup is completely happy with the collar. Don’t rush this, your pup has just come home and every experience it has is a new experience. Puppies grow very quickly, so keep on checking that the collar is not getting too tight for your pup.
3. The next step is to clip on the lead, but only do this after the pup is completely happy with the collar. If the pup stressed about putting the collar on, rather wait a day or two before attaching the lead.
4. Once again ensure that you use a very light lead with a small clasp and repeat the process of treating as soon as the lead is attached - take the lead off and on and the pup only gets the treat when the lead is attached. Once the pup accepts this, leave the lead on the floor and move about 3 steps away from him and call him to you, even luring the pup and showing him the treat. If pup is hesitant, you can treat from a kneeling position as the pup comes to you. (Kneeling down initially will make it easier for the pup to come to you) Gradually make the distance a little further making sure that there is nothing that can snag the lead and jerk the collar.
Many people suggest letting the pup run around with the lead on to get used to it in the home – we have seen too many pups who have got the lead snagged and been badly jerked to use this method (which could lead to problems on lead at a later stage) – rather control the situation and by doing this you can ensure that the experience is a positive one for the pup.
a. Now, have the puppy sitting, pick up the lead, and move one or two steps away, repeating the process as above, kneel down, calling the puppies name and treating as the puppy comes to you. Gradually make the distance a bit further. If your puppy shows any resistance, go back to the last step and practice that until the puppy is comfortable with it. If your puppy refuses to go with you, don’t pull on the lead as this is the beginning of a bad habit, and every time the puppy ‘wins’ the behaviour of sitting and refusing to go, is reinforced. When a pup engages in a behaviour such as this, it is a variation of the Freeze behaviour – the pup is not coping. As above, go back to where the pup was happy being on lead and go forward very slowly.
b. It is important to work at the pups’ pace. This will ensure that he is not forced to take steps he can’t deal with. All puppies learn and accept new things into their lives at different rates. Some puppies can become used to collars and lead within an hour or a day, showing no signs of stress as you progress, while others can take up to a week to accept the restraint around their necks. We do find, in general, that pups taken away from mom and litter mates before 8 weeks old, do tend to battle with this exercise initially – not enough self-confidence.
c. The next step is to start to get the pup to walk next to you while on lead. Put on the lead in your right hand, which will be the one furthest away from the pup – and the lure (food) held in our left hand, encourage the pup to walk with you for a few steps rewarding with the treat after one or two steps. Gradually building up the distance until the puppy can happily walk around for a fair distance.
If the pup has started trying to chew on the lead, this is a sign of stress - the pup is not coping - just go back a few steps and start again and go a bit slower.
2 Calming your pup down
As adorable as pups can be, they can also be totally overactive little things and very easily get over excited. One of the best ways to help a pup such as this is to have routines that you stick too and interrupt and stop the pup before it gets OTT (over the top).
Another way to help the pup to calm down is to do as much ‘settle’ work as possible in all different situations. The settle exercise is simply to interrupt play sessions on a regular basis. Restrain the pup by holding it between your legs, stroking the ears or body, saying ‘settle’ over and over and after a few minutes; release the pup with the cue ‘Free’. We are then showing our pups that the fun is not over when we interrupt a game, rather that if it settles down quietly for a while, the fun will soon begin again – a bit like play time for children at school –when the bell rings the first time it is play time, and when it rings again, it is time to go back to class. Additionally, as we teach children to sit down quietly and read a book, we are teaching our pups to settle down on a regular basis. This skill will also help a pup to settle quietly in its basket or bed if practised enough. If the pup objects and starts having a tantrum, then just do the Tantrum exercise below. The odds are the play has been going for too long when this happens - so just reduce the play session and practice in shorter increments.
A mistake that owners often make is that because the dog may be a breed that is known to be excitable and hyper active, they ignore the OTT behaviour and blame it on the breed. Nonsense, each and every pup and dog needs to learn how to settle down.
One of the tips we have at TTouch is ‘calm the tail and you calm the dog’. While you contain the pup quietly, in addition simply place your hand on the tail and hold it against the body for a few seconds – this is normally enough to calm the dog for a second, so you can get its attention, lead it away and do some ‘settle’ exercises.
3. Tantrums in Puppies
Many owners think it is rather cute when their pups first offer a temper tantrum when they don’t get their own way, and the most common one we would see in puppy class is when the owner picks the pup up when it is busy playing with the other pups or the play escalates. Heavens, some of them look like worms, wriggling and struggling to get out of their owners’ arms and this can lead to reactive behaviour.
The very worst thing an owner can do in these circumstances is to give into the puppy. This may be rather hard especially when your adorable little bundle of fluff has started to take the behaviour further and its teeth are firmly embedded in your hand! A puppy tantrum is not funny; it is serious and must be addressed immediately to ensure that it does not happen again.
If the pup is throwing a tantrum, continue holding onto to the puppy as calmly and quietly as possible, holding one hand on the chest and the other on the back of the collar which may help to prevent you being bitten. You can even just hold on with the hand on the chest. If you do already have a tantrum throwing pup, you may find it helpful to kneel on the ground with legs splayed and contain the puppy gently in the gap between your legs. This often helps to prevent nips and it gives you more control and prevents your neck and face being nipped.
When the pup has settled, even for one or two seconds, release the puppy in a happy tone of voice, using the ‘Free’ cue, and tell it to go and play – here we do not praise and treat – the reward is the pup gets what it wanted – to be free – but on your terms, not the pups. Only then do you wash your hand and reach for the plasters. While the pup is engaging in the tantrum, you do not talk, shout or perform, stay totally silent and just continue holding on. The message we are giving is that ‘we do not tolerate this behaviour’. If you do let the puppy go, the next time the tantrum occurs it is likely to be worse. Rather get it sorted out while the pup is young enough to restrain and the teeth can do minimum damage.
If the pup is throwing regular tantrums– please speak to puppy school if this situation arises.
In the pictures below, you will see the exercise of Pass the Puppy being done. This is an excellent exercise to practice with family members and also visitors. As the pup is passed around each person gives the pup a few treats while patting it, lifting it up and containing it. If a tantrum is thrown the
same exercise as above is carried out. If your pup is fearful of people, don’t do this exercise – get help from Puppy school, or call in a professional to assist.
4.Food Bowl Exercises
Teaching a pup that people touching its food bowl is a good thing, is one of the most important exercises you can do with your pup and will help to prevent future resource guarding of such a valuable item.
Although much of the pup’s food will either given by hand or in a Busy Buddy, a portion of the day’s food should be given in a bowl and the following exercise undertaken. This will ensure that the pup will associate people touching the bowl and the pup itself while eating will be a positive association.
5.Bite/snatch Inhibition-Mouthing-Nipping-Leave – Swap Exercises
Together with ensuring that our dogs receive extensive socialization, Bite/snatch inhibition is one of the most important exercises we can teach our dogs, whether it is a puppy or an adult dog. This is an exercise that, once taught, should be reinforced throughout the dog’s life.
Bite inhibition is a learned response wherein the dog consciously inhibits the full force of its biting ability, and by teaching and maintaining these simple exercises you will ensure that the dog ends up with a ‘soft bite’ – the dog learns to inhibit the force of its bite, and if the circumstances do occur where a bite is forthcoming, the odds are that it will be a lot less severe.
These exercises are based on the relationship between a whelping bitch and her puppies as well the play relationship between puppies. When the teeth of a whelping pup start to appear, and it suddenly bites down hard on the teat, the mother normally gets up and walks away, sometimes with a vocal reprimand to the pup. The lesson that is learned – bite too hard and you do without! The same sort of situation occurs between 2 or more puppies playing. If one of the pup bites down too hard, the one that is nipped will yelp and dash away – again the same message is given – you hurt me, so I won’t play with you anymore! Remember, this is one of the most important phases that a pup misses out on if taken away from litter mates at 5-6 weeks of age, as well as discipline from the mother dog.
The last thing that anybody wants is to have a dog that snatches food out of our hands, especially if we have children. So often when we offer a dog a treat, you are lucky to come away with your fingers intact.
By teaching the following exercises the pup learns to have control over his jaws. This does not mean that he will never bite, but he does learn to control the force of the bite thus reducing the chance of serious damage. This exercise must ALWAYS be taught on its own and never included with any training.
In training we train with a lure in our hand to entice the dog into the heel position and if you started shouting at a pup/dog for snatching you would simply destroy the training side and your relationship as well as damage your bond with your pup. If your dog snatches at your fingers when training, just take a newspaper, roll it up tightly and then hit yourself over the head with the newspaper for not practising these exercises enough! Seriously though, in this type of situation, until the pup has learnt to take food gently, rather offer the food with your hand held open while training – this will stop the situation occurring and you can continue practicing the bite inhibition exercises in between.
Bite inhibition may help to lessen the severity of a bite in the situation of a dog fight, both from the point of view of the other dog and that of redirected aggression (in the case of trying to stop a dog fight and the dog turns and bites you by accident).
What we need to remember is that the biting is a totally natural behaviour and to stop the pup doing this completely is simply an injustice! Pups need to mouth, bite down on us – otherwise how can we give them the information they need that human skin is just far too delicate to bite on? This exercise should be practised as a separate exercise as mentioned, as often as possible daily and even when the pup has good bite control, practice this exercise at least once a day, to keep the ‘soft bite’ in place.
Exercise 1 – Taking food from the hand gently – Bite Inhibition
After you have done this several times and the dog is gaining an understanding that grabbing at food results in both you and the food leaving, you can start on the other exercises. In some cases, it is necessary to do both of these at the same time.
HOW TO:
Teaching a pup that people touching its food bowl is a good thing, is one of the most important exercises you can do with your pup and will help to prevent future resource guarding of such a valuable item.
Although much of the pup’s food will either given by hand or in a Busy Buddy, a portion of the day’s food should be given in a bowl and the following exercise undertaken. This will ensure that the pup will associate people touching the bowl and the pup itself while eating will be a positive association.
- Place a little kibble in the bowl. Stand or sit next to the pup’s bowl and have nice treats in your hand
- As you touch the bowl, offer the pup a treat. Praise the pup continually as you do these exercises.
- Pick up the bowl slightly and at the same time offer the pup a treat. A variation of this can be done by holding the bowl and with the other hand pop in a nice treat.
- As the pup gets used to this, then offer a piece of food as you touch the pup. Gradually touch the pup all over its body, while making it a positive experience by offering treats as you do this. You can talks softly at the same time.
- Lift the bowl slightly away from the pup, pop in a delicious treat, and offer the bowl to the pup.
- You can do variations of the above and this should be practised daily and during the rest of the pup’s life. When starting this exercise the owners does it and then extend to other members of the family. Children should also do this exercise, however only when the pup is completely happy with the exercises and always under adult supervision.
- If, at any time, aggression is show, please get in the help of a professional.
5.Bite/snatch Inhibition-Mouthing-Nipping-Leave – Swap Exercises
Together with ensuring that our dogs receive extensive socialization, Bite/snatch inhibition is one of the most important exercises we can teach our dogs, whether it is a puppy or an adult dog. This is an exercise that, once taught, should be reinforced throughout the dog’s life.
Bite inhibition is a learned response wherein the dog consciously inhibits the full force of its biting ability, and by teaching and maintaining these simple exercises you will ensure that the dog ends up with a ‘soft bite’ – the dog learns to inhibit the force of its bite, and if the circumstances do occur where a bite is forthcoming, the odds are that it will be a lot less severe.
These exercises are based on the relationship between a whelping bitch and her puppies as well the play relationship between puppies. When the teeth of a whelping pup start to appear, and it suddenly bites down hard on the teat, the mother normally gets up and walks away, sometimes with a vocal reprimand to the pup. The lesson that is learned – bite too hard and you do without! The same sort of situation occurs between 2 or more puppies playing. If one of the pup bites down too hard, the one that is nipped will yelp and dash away – again the same message is given – you hurt me, so I won’t play with you anymore! Remember, this is one of the most important phases that a pup misses out on if taken away from litter mates at 5-6 weeks of age, as well as discipline from the mother dog.
The last thing that anybody wants is to have a dog that snatches food out of our hands, especially if we have children. So often when we offer a dog a treat, you are lucky to come away with your fingers intact.
By teaching the following exercises the pup learns to have control over his jaws. This does not mean that he will never bite, but he does learn to control the force of the bite thus reducing the chance of serious damage. This exercise must ALWAYS be taught on its own and never included with any training.
In training we train with a lure in our hand to entice the dog into the heel position and if you started shouting at a pup/dog for snatching you would simply destroy the training side and your relationship as well as damage your bond with your pup. If your dog snatches at your fingers when training, just take a newspaper, roll it up tightly and then hit yourself over the head with the newspaper for not practising these exercises enough! Seriously though, in this type of situation, until the pup has learnt to take food gently, rather offer the food with your hand held open while training – this will stop the situation occurring and you can continue practicing the bite inhibition exercises in between.
Bite inhibition may help to lessen the severity of a bite in the situation of a dog fight, both from the point of view of the other dog and that of redirected aggression (in the case of trying to stop a dog fight and the dog turns and bites you by accident).
What we need to remember is that the biting is a totally natural behaviour and to stop the pup doing this completely is simply an injustice! Pups need to mouth, bite down on us – otherwise how can we give them the information they need that human skin is just far too delicate to bite on? This exercise should be practised as a separate exercise as mentioned, as often as possible daily and even when the pup has good bite control, practice this exercise at least once a day, to keep the ‘soft bite’ in place.
Exercise 1 – Taking food from the hand gently – Bite Inhibition
After you have done this several times and the dog is gaining an understanding that grabbing at food results in both you and the food leaving, you can start on the other exercises. In some cases, it is necessary to do both of these at the same time.
HOW TO:
- A soft treat here is preferable to start with, something along the lines of a chicken Vienna sausage – this is to discourage the pup from biting down too hard.
- Hold the treat in your fingers, with the top end of the sausage just sticking out and offer the end of the sausage to the pup – it is often easier to start this with the pup sitting down, however, having said that, once the pup has mastered the exercise, the same exercise to be done with you standing, so that the pup learns to do in both situation..
- Allow pup to nibble and lick it and praise quietly while the pup is taking it gently and even bring in a command of ‘gently’ or similar.
- If the dog snatches at the sausages or bites down hard, shout OUCH! in the loudest voice you can muster and storm away with your arms folded. It doesn’t matter if it did not hurt; it is the effect we are going for.
- Your pup may look totally amazed and try to follow you. Turn away a few times ignoring it. Come back as if nothing has happened, then ask the pup to sit and once again offer the treat, repeating the sequence over and over if the pup snatches or bites hard and praising him quietly if he takes it gently, by saying ‘good gently’ or similar.
- The importance here is the timing (exactly when he bites down too hard), the marching away (it must not be a casual walk, really mean it and fold your arms and appear furious, and lastly the shout - really sound like it was unbelievable sore).
- As your pup gets better with the soft food you can ask for a softer and softer bite, and then start bringing in some harder food, such as a dog biscuit. When this happens go right back to the beginning, remembering that there will be more likelihood of him biting harder to begin with.
- As soon as the pup has an understanding of what you expect, start to feed all meals from by hand only, off and on for a period of time. This will really reinforce the bite inhibition.
Exercise 2 – Reducing the force of the mouthing
It is all very well for our little bundle of fluff to chew on us as a 2kg pup, but what happens when Fido weighs 45kg and has big teeth and doesn’t know how to inhibit his bite! I am not saying that a dog should not mouth us at all – of course they should, especially when they are puppies, otherwise they will never learn how to inhibit the force of their bite on human skin.
A puppy should be allowed to mouth us so that it learns how to inhibit its bite, up to the age of about 4 months (when adult teeth start coming through) – after that mouthing should not be allowed at all, unless you are engaging in play fighting (insert) to reinforce the bite inhibition.
It is all very well for our little bundle of fluff to chew on us as a 2kg pup, but what happens when Fido weighs 45kg and has big teeth and doesn’t know how to inhibit his bite! I am not saying that a dog should not mouth us at all – of course they should, especially when they are puppies, otherwise they will never learn how to inhibit the force of their bite on human skin.
A puppy should be allowed to mouth us so that it learns how to inhibit its bite, up to the age of about 4 months (when adult teeth start coming through) – after that mouthing should not be allowed at all, unless you are engaging in play fighting (insert) to reinforce the bite inhibition.
- This is best done sitting on the floor and playing with the pup with your hand. As the puppy mouths on you and it is a bit too hard, say a loud ‘ouch’ such as above and bring your hand/arm upwards and close to your body and pretend that it really hurt, even going to the extent of saying ‘Oh that was really sore’. Your pup will probably exhibit a look of amazement and try to lick you. Take a very short time out by turning away, then turn back to your pup and ask it to come to you sit then down as a way of apology and then continue playing. The pup also comes to realize that biting too hard brings a good game to an end. This exercise is based on what dogs do themselves when playing - if one pup bites down too hard, the other will more often than not, run away and possibly yelping at the same time - the message is that if you hurt me all fun stops.
Exercise 3 - Nipping
Mouthing and nipping are two different issues. Mouthing is allowable up to about four months of age and nipping is something that is not allowed at all! Nipping between pups often occurs during play and is one of the ways that the pup gets to determine its rank and what behaviour it can get away with, and what behaviour does not work.
Initially use the ‘oh that was sore’ or even just ‘ouch!’ exercise as above and if that does not work, as the pup bites down hard, scream loud and this time storm away and walk out the door and close it behind you. Stay there for about 5 seconds and then walk back in as if nothing happened and go back to the exact same location and exercise as caused the nipping in the first place. If the nipping happens again - then another warning by way of a Screech is given and if the pup continues leave the room again. This is called a Reverse Time out and is a form of negative punishment to the pup - we are taking away from it what it want the most - you! This is a very effective manner of teaching.
One thing, as in the Tantrum section, that you must not do, is to pull you hand away, although this can be rather painful – just keep the plasters nearby! To pull your hand away, would only reinforce the behaviour. If a pup is engaging in this on a regular basis, it needs to be determined whether the pup is getting enough physical and mental stimulation and that there are sufficient legal chew toys available do look at this aspect and increase mental and physical stimulation.
We do find very often that with pups that are nipping that perhaps a member of the family is playing games such as tuggies, wrestling or teasing with the pups. All games such as these must be stopped immediately and the then start the bite inhibition work from the beginning. When the pup has cottoned onto what is allowable, then games such as tuggies can be brought back in, but with short time periods and totally supervised. Under no circumstances should pups or dogs, be teased or wrestled with and one should never rough play with a pup or dog – this just increases the chances of aggressive behaviour, and additionally, you are lowering yourself in the human/canine social structure – think about it – would you rough play or wrestle with your boss, or your child with a teacher?
If the pup has turned professional with this behaviour (often happens in the case whereby the owner has not had the correct tools to eliminate the behaviour and by screaming, shouting etc, the behaviour has been unintentionally reinforced – this can happen in a very short period of time), an additional tool can be used in the way of management – put a few drops of pure Citronella Oil on your hands, feet, or where ever the puppy is nipping. As the pup sniffs the oil it will probably back away or pull its head away. Take this opportunity of praising the puppy for the behaviour you do want – not nipping. You could say, good leave, good gently, or similar. If the pup is still engaging in the nipping behaviour, do get professional help immediately. www.animal-behaviour.org.za
Some of the older methods of dealing with nipping and mouthing involved rather harsh discipline by slapping the pup under the chin or holding the mouth closed. This could well cause pain or fear in the pup and may well result in reactive behaviour. Pain can increase aggression and, in the case where an owner had been playing rough games with the pup, it may well perceive such behaviours as an escalation in the game and become even more excited and try to retaliate.
Exercise 4 - Swap Exercise
Do you know why dogs are often hesitant about releasing objects already in their control? Simple, we take the object away and don’t give it back! In these circumstances it is no wonder that a dog does not want to give up its possessions.
Method 1 - This is a simple exercise to practice and it is best to start this off with an object that does not have great value to the dog, rather than a new chew toy which it loves. If the pup enjoys tug ropes this is what we normally start with, as it gives us control over the situation as we are holding one end of the rope.
The secret here is to have two of the objects with you i.e. 2 tug ropes the same. The reason we say the same, is that we have found that some dogs have a favourite rope which they are reluctant to give up, so rather start with 2 objects the dog does not value too highly or buy two new ones. Hold the rope toy in your hand, with the 2nd rope held out of sight behind your back and have a few seconds game of pullies and what is important is not to let the pup get too excited. Then bring the other rope out from behind your back, offer it to your dog and say ‘swap’ at the same time. You may find that your pup looks totally startled but will then eagerly take the new rope. Here, if you want to, you can add in the cue of ‘thank you’. Repeat this over and over.
If at any time the dog the pup refuses to release the rope, take it away with the words ‘finished’ and walk away. After a few minutes, return to the pup and start again. Your pup will figure out very quickly that in order to keep this game going it needs to relinquish what is in its mouth.
Method 2 -This exercise can also be achieved with the use of food for the Swap, especially with pups that are not Toy driven. You will do exactly the same exercise, but instead of Swapping for another toy, you swap for a piece of food - again, you immediately give the Toy back to the pup. It is a good idea to practice both options. Remember here, that if the pup bites down too hard, you need to do more work with Bite Inhibition.
You now start to ‘up the ante’ with the game by trying new and different objects gradually building up until you can say ‘swap’ from a distance and the pup will drop the object and come to you for the treat. Bear in mind that what you offer the pup in exchange must always be the same or better than the object it is holding e.g. a piece of kibble (dog cubes) does not take the place of a bone!
This exercise needs to be practiced in different locations as well – different rooms in the house, in the garden, out for a walk etc.
Pups learn so fast, and this is an ideal time to teach this exercise – we cannot emphasis enough how important it is to teach your pup to have a soft bite.
6.Walking /Exercising your pup
When we talk about how much walking/exercise a pup needs, there seems to be a lot of differences of opinion, and a lot of debate going on continually about this subject, with virtually no scientific references, except to those of Growth Plates, mentioned below.
Common sense should be used, plus we have put in some recommendations below that we found, that make sense to us.
What you do need to be mindful off, is not to do any hard, repetitive, strenuous, or excessive exercise with your pup until the Growth Plates have fully closed. Growth Plates are the area of growing tissue near the ends of the long bones, and because the growth plate material is softer than bone, it is very vulnerable to injury, especially from vigorous exercise, and the most common areas for a problem to develop is the elbow, between the ulna and radial bones of the front legs. Another common problem is the spiral fracture of the tibia – this is where the bottom half of the bone twists in one direction and the top part twists in the other direction. It is believed that 50% of all fractures occur in pups under a year of age.
Your pup will go through its fastest period of growth between the age of four to eight to nine months, so be especially careful where exercise is concerned at this age, as if damage does occur, it can easily lead to potential deformities of the leg or the joint.
One of the areas where problems can develop is the pup that is only exercised at the weekend, and then far too much exercise is given – this impact on the Growth Plates and problems can easily occur. Mind you, this does not only apply to pups, a dog of any age can sustain damage, when exercise is only given at weekends. Remember, that dogs do not show pain the way we do (signals weakness), so by the time the pup is limping, damage could already be severe - the vets often refer to this as Weekend Warrior injuries and not just limited to pups!
As a matter of interest, Growth plates are also found in children and adolescents and are known also as the epiphyseal plate or physis.
The Growth Plates close in pup’s between 12 – 18 months, and in order to determine if they have fully closed, your vet will need to take an X-ray. It is known that the larger breeds take longer to develop, so extra care is needed here. It is prior to the 12-month age period, where 50% of fractures occur in pups.
Mouthing and nipping are two different issues. Mouthing is allowable up to about four months of age and nipping is something that is not allowed at all! Nipping between pups often occurs during play and is one of the ways that the pup gets to determine its rank and what behaviour it can get away with, and what behaviour does not work.
Initially use the ‘oh that was sore’ or even just ‘ouch!’ exercise as above and if that does not work, as the pup bites down hard, scream loud and this time storm away and walk out the door and close it behind you. Stay there for about 5 seconds and then walk back in as if nothing happened and go back to the exact same location and exercise as caused the nipping in the first place. If the nipping happens again - then another warning by way of a Screech is given and if the pup continues leave the room again. This is called a Reverse Time out and is a form of negative punishment to the pup - we are taking away from it what it want the most - you! This is a very effective manner of teaching.
One thing, as in the Tantrum section, that you must not do, is to pull you hand away, although this can be rather painful – just keep the plasters nearby! To pull your hand away, would only reinforce the behaviour. If a pup is engaging in this on a regular basis, it needs to be determined whether the pup is getting enough physical and mental stimulation and that there are sufficient legal chew toys available do look at this aspect and increase mental and physical stimulation.
We do find very often that with pups that are nipping that perhaps a member of the family is playing games such as tuggies, wrestling or teasing with the pups. All games such as these must be stopped immediately and the then start the bite inhibition work from the beginning. When the pup has cottoned onto what is allowable, then games such as tuggies can be brought back in, but with short time periods and totally supervised. Under no circumstances should pups or dogs, be teased or wrestled with and one should never rough play with a pup or dog – this just increases the chances of aggressive behaviour, and additionally, you are lowering yourself in the human/canine social structure – think about it – would you rough play or wrestle with your boss, or your child with a teacher?
If the pup has turned professional with this behaviour (often happens in the case whereby the owner has not had the correct tools to eliminate the behaviour and by screaming, shouting etc, the behaviour has been unintentionally reinforced – this can happen in a very short period of time), an additional tool can be used in the way of management – put a few drops of pure Citronella Oil on your hands, feet, or where ever the puppy is nipping. As the pup sniffs the oil it will probably back away or pull its head away. Take this opportunity of praising the puppy for the behaviour you do want – not nipping. You could say, good leave, good gently, or similar. If the pup is still engaging in the nipping behaviour, do get professional help immediately. www.animal-behaviour.org.za
Some of the older methods of dealing with nipping and mouthing involved rather harsh discipline by slapping the pup under the chin or holding the mouth closed. This could well cause pain or fear in the pup and may well result in reactive behaviour. Pain can increase aggression and, in the case where an owner had been playing rough games with the pup, it may well perceive such behaviours as an escalation in the game and become even more excited and try to retaliate.
Exercise 4 - Swap Exercise
Do you know why dogs are often hesitant about releasing objects already in their control? Simple, we take the object away and don’t give it back! In these circumstances it is no wonder that a dog does not want to give up its possessions.
Method 1 - This is a simple exercise to practice and it is best to start this off with an object that does not have great value to the dog, rather than a new chew toy which it loves. If the pup enjoys tug ropes this is what we normally start with, as it gives us control over the situation as we are holding one end of the rope.
The secret here is to have two of the objects with you i.e. 2 tug ropes the same. The reason we say the same, is that we have found that some dogs have a favourite rope which they are reluctant to give up, so rather start with 2 objects the dog does not value too highly or buy two new ones. Hold the rope toy in your hand, with the 2nd rope held out of sight behind your back and have a few seconds game of pullies and what is important is not to let the pup get too excited. Then bring the other rope out from behind your back, offer it to your dog and say ‘swap’ at the same time. You may find that your pup looks totally startled but will then eagerly take the new rope. Here, if you want to, you can add in the cue of ‘thank you’. Repeat this over and over.
If at any time the dog the pup refuses to release the rope, take it away with the words ‘finished’ and walk away. After a few minutes, return to the pup and start again. Your pup will figure out very quickly that in order to keep this game going it needs to relinquish what is in its mouth.
Method 2 -This exercise can also be achieved with the use of food for the Swap, especially with pups that are not Toy driven. You will do exactly the same exercise, but instead of Swapping for another toy, you swap for a piece of food - again, you immediately give the Toy back to the pup. It is a good idea to practice both options. Remember here, that if the pup bites down too hard, you need to do more work with Bite Inhibition.
You now start to ‘up the ante’ with the game by trying new and different objects gradually building up until you can say ‘swap’ from a distance and the pup will drop the object and come to you for the treat. Bear in mind that what you offer the pup in exchange must always be the same or better than the object it is holding e.g. a piece of kibble (dog cubes) does not take the place of a bone!
This exercise needs to be practiced in different locations as well – different rooms in the house, in the garden, out for a walk etc.
Pups learn so fast, and this is an ideal time to teach this exercise – we cannot emphasis enough how important it is to teach your pup to have a soft bite.
6.Walking /Exercising your pup
When we talk about how much walking/exercise a pup needs, there seems to be a lot of differences of opinion, and a lot of debate going on continually about this subject, with virtually no scientific references, except to those of Growth Plates, mentioned below.
Common sense should be used, plus we have put in some recommendations below that we found, that make sense to us.
What you do need to be mindful off, is not to do any hard, repetitive, strenuous, or excessive exercise with your pup until the Growth Plates have fully closed. Growth Plates are the area of growing tissue near the ends of the long bones, and because the growth plate material is softer than bone, it is very vulnerable to injury, especially from vigorous exercise, and the most common areas for a problem to develop is the elbow, between the ulna and radial bones of the front legs. Another common problem is the spiral fracture of the tibia – this is where the bottom half of the bone twists in one direction and the top part twists in the other direction. It is believed that 50% of all fractures occur in pups under a year of age.
Your pup will go through its fastest period of growth between the age of four to eight to nine months, so be especially careful where exercise is concerned at this age, as if damage does occur, it can easily lead to potential deformities of the leg or the joint.
One of the areas where problems can develop is the pup that is only exercised at the weekend, and then far too much exercise is given – this impact on the Growth Plates and problems can easily occur. Mind you, this does not only apply to pups, a dog of any age can sustain damage, when exercise is only given at weekends. Remember, that dogs do not show pain the way we do (signals weakness), so by the time the pup is limping, damage could already be severe - the vets often refer to this as Weekend Warrior injuries and not just limited to pups!
As a matter of interest, Growth plates are also found in children and adolescents and are known also as the epiphyseal plate or physis.
The Growth Plates close in pup’s between 12 – 18 months, and in order to determine if they have fully closed, your vet will need to take an X-ray. It is known that the larger breeds take longer to develop, so extra care is needed here. It is prior to the 12-month age period, where 50% of fractures occur in pups.
You will be seeing your vet often, for the various vacs while your pup is young, so do check with him as to what he recommends when it comes to exercise.
Breeds
Some breeds require more exercise than others, due to what they were bred for, and it is always a good idea to read up on what your pup was bred for which will give you good ideas as to how to exercise him, and you may find that some breeders will give you guidelines for exercising pups, according to their own experience.
As we mentioned above, the large breed dogs take longer to mature physically, and just because your pup is a large breed dog, does not mean that they need more exercise! If you have a breed such as the Pug, Peke or Boston Terrier, for example, these types of breeds need less exercise as they are part of the Brachycephalic breeds and can have breathing problems. This is just a medical term for dogs that are flat-noses, flat faced dogs.
When it comes to exercise for the Hunting and Herding breeds, care needs to be taken as well. They love to run and chase, and do not always realize themselves, when they have had enough – a bit like an overactive child!
Here are some suggestions by Jane Killion, who is the Director of the movie Puppy Culture – the Critical First 12 Weeks That Can Shape Your Puppy’s Future”, which make sense to ourselves. As we said above, the best person to ask is your vet.
Self-Directed Play
is an overriding rule for any puppy under 18 months old. The majority of his exercise should be free play, exploring, and investigating. If pup shows any fatigue, flops down, refuses to walk, just take his cue and let him rest.
Repetition
Probably the biggest cause of growth plate and soft tissue injury is repetitive exercise with a young puppy. So, until he’s about 18 months old, long hikes and walks are out and lots of free-play sessions are in.
Sniff and Stroll
While long hikes are out, just walking around the backyard and investigating with you is great. If you don’t have a backyard, or one that is not big enough, then short walks are perfect. Let your puppy sniff, explore and take it at his own pace. You can intersperse short training sessions in your walks to work on heeling/loose leash walking, but the majority of the walk should be at your puppy’s own pace.
Speaking of hikes, if you’re an outdoorsy type of person, you should bring your puppy along on hikes - its great socialization for puppies under 12 weeks old, and great enrichment for older puppies. But just like when you take a small child on a walk, be prepared to carry your puppy a good portion of the way. If you’re jogging or walking on a manicured trail or paved park road, consider investing a puppy stroller to put your little one in for most of the walk.
Kibble Trails
Kibble trails are also a great way to tire out a puppy both mentally and physically. Remember, dogs generally don’t naturally go on long “marches” - they tend to sniff around and stop and sniff a lot as they go. Kibble trails allow puppies to stay outside a long time and cover a lot of ground in a very natural way. – you can just carry some kibble with you while out on walks and put it down in a specific area – great stimulation and fund for the pup.
Free Play Sessions
Play with a well-matched and gentle playmate is ideal. Size is a factor, as a very large dog, especially one that likes to play with a lot of paw whacks, can inadvertently injure a young or small breed puppy.
Ensure that any pup or dog your own pup plays with is extremely well socialized and up to date with all vaccinations and deworming. Strict supervision must be maintained with regular ‘settle’ breaks to keep excitement levels down
Breeds
Some breeds require more exercise than others, due to what they were bred for, and it is always a good idea to read up on what your pup was bred for which will give you good ideas as to how to exercise him, and you may find that some breeders will give you guidelines for exercising pups, according to their own experience.
As we mentioned above, the large breed dogs take longer to mature physically, and just because your pup is a large breed dog, does not mean that they need more exercise! If you have a breed such as the Pug, Peke or Boston Terrier, for example, these types of breeds need less exercise as they are part of the Brachycephalic breeds and can have breathing problems. This is just a medical term for dogs that are flat-noses, flat faced dogs.
When it comes to exercise for the Hunting and Herding breeds, care needs to be taken as well. They love to run and chase, and do not always realize themselves, when they have had enough – a bit like an overactive child!
Here are some suggestions by Jane Killion, who is the Director of the movie Puppy Culture – the Critical First 12 Weeks That Can Shape Your Puppy’s Future”, which make sense to ourselves. As we said above, the best person to ask is your vet.
Self-Directed Play
is an overriding rule for any puppy under 18 months old. The majority of his exercise should be free play, exploring, and investigating. If pup shows any fatigue, flops down, refuses to walk, just take his cue and let him rest.
Repetition
Probably the biggest cause of growth plate and soft tissue injury is repetitive exercise with a young puppy. So, until he’s about 18 months old, long hikes and walks are out and lots of free-play sessions are in.
Sniff and Stroll
While long hikes are out, just walking around the backyard and investigating with you is great. If you don’t have a backyard, or one that is not big enough, then short walks are perfect. Let your puppy sniff, explore and take it at his own pace. You can intersperse short training sessions in your walks to work on heeling/loose leash walking, but the majority of the walk should be at your puppy’s own pace.
Speaking of hikes, if you’re an outdoorsy type of person, you should bring your puppy along on hikes - its great socialization for puppies under 12 weeks old, and great enrichment for older puppies. But just like when you take a small child on a walk, be prepared to carry your puppy a good portion of the way. If you’re jogging or walking on a manicured trail or paved park road, consider investing a puppy stroller to put your little one in for most of the walk.
Kibble Trails
Kibble trails are also a great way to tire out a puppy both mentally and physically. Remember, dogs generally don’t naturally go on long “marches” - they tend to sniff around and stop and sniff a lot as they go. Kibble trails allow puppies to stay outside a long time and cover a lot of ground in a very natural way. – you can just carry some kibble with you while out on walks and put it down in a specific area – great stimulation and fund for the pup.
Free Play Sessions
Play with a well-matched and gentle playmate is ideal. Size is a factor, as a very large dog, especially one that likes to play with a lot of paw whacks, can inadvertently injure a young or small breed puppy.
Ensure that any pup or dog your own pup plays with is extremely well socialized and up to date with all vaccinations and deworming. Strict supervision must be maintained with regular ‘settle’ breaks to keep excitement levels down
