What your dogs would do while you are out?
In previous entry titled "Doggy den as comfy place;Under the couch,under the bed, and crate ", I wrote that crate can be nice quiet place to nap while you were out for errands,
and you do not have to worry about dogs get into things they are not
supposed to such as counter surfing,getting nibbles from trash cans or
chewing furniture.
In another previous entry titled "How to keep paws off off from the table; Counter surfing", I wrote counter surfing can also be potentially dangerous to dogs. Because dogs would have no ideas as to what are toxic,what not and, they could hurt in the process of counter surfing if something fell on them.
Palette is potty trained, and she can be trusted for no chewing furniture,no counter surfing etc now so, when we leave for errands,we let the crate door open for her to go in and let her nap whenever,wherever she wants.
She usually greet us with loong stretch with big yawn, so I am guessing that she is sleeping while we are out.
For some dogs, home alone time can be mischievous time. Some people come home and find trash bins are fell over and all the trash are spread over the floor, some may find chewed up sofas,some may find emptied fridge etc..
Have you wondered why dogs love to be mischievous?
1. From dogs' point of views, when they did something mischievous, most likely catch the attention from you. Whether it is negative response, they are still succeeding to get attentions.
When Palette was puppy, she loved to play with socks.Maybe because it is floppy thing that she could shake, and it has family member's scent and it might have been very attractive items for her.
Our puppy training class trainer once told us not to chase your dogs that stole something inappropriate for chews such as socks. Because if you run after your dogs, it can turn to fun "catch me if you can" game and, it is indirectly reinforcing the behavior. So, what you like to do is to run to opposite direction and your dogs may drop the item and chase after you rather than you chasing them.
Or simply teach your dogs "Give" command.
If you teach "Give" command, it is also good idea to teach your dog "Take it" command too.
Teaching "Take it" is easy. When your dog pick up the object,if you clicker train your dog, you click and treat. And you can repeat it over and over and soon,your dog learn "Take it" means pick up the object.then,you can teach command "Give".
To teach "Give" command, hold the not so high valued item (such as not so interested toy) at first, and say "take it" and when dog grab the item, wait for a second or two and say "give" and keep holding the item dog is grabbing other end.Then, show him/her higher valued trade item. It can be special treats.
To get the treats, they need to release whatever in his/her mouth first, so you can click the clicker when they released the mouth from the item and give the treats with big praise.Then, repeat with various kinds of items over and over.
One important rule in teaching " give" command is that when you say "Give" and when your dog did not release the object in the mouth,you do not want to try to pull it to take it away. The more you try to pull it out from mouth, more they would likely to pull back. Also, you do not want to repeat the command like "Give,give,give,give". Say the command only once.
Another important rule in practicing "Give" command is to make sure you will give it back to him as soon as he release the object. This is to let your dog knows that "Give" does not mean that the precious toy or food or whatever he is having is not going to take it away forever, but it comes back to him. I practiced with Palette "Give" with many different items from ball,toy,treats/food, leash (I practiced with leash as well just because I was teaching her to bring the leash to me when we go for walk) etc..
When I was reading dog training book I got in Japan, there was a chapter talking about what kinds of games you can play with your dogs using homemade items.
One of them was to use the old towel or old sock to wrap the treats and make knots. I think idea was supposed to be like homemade treat dispenser, and dogs were supposed to work on them to get to the treats. However, I do not like the idea.
I think anything that looks similar or same shaped household items you do not like to be chewed should not be used as a toy.Dogs would not know which socks are okay to play with, which ones are old socks you do not mind them playing,or which ones are new socks you do not want them to play with. Same goes to when you choose the squeaky toys. I do not pick slippers/shoes shaped toys for Palette to play with too.
I recently came across a website that sells maple saplings for chew toy. I do not think it good idea to teach dogs to chew on sticks. I am not sure as to whether there are any difference between regular tree sticks and maple sapling but, I personally feel that eating stick is dangerous because it could splinter and should not be encouraged. Even if maple sapling were not going to splinter and okay chew, how do dogs know which sticks are okay and which sticks are maple sapling and okay to chew on?
One day I dropped a wooden spoon on the kitchen floor while I was trying to move a pots and pans to wash. My hands were soapy and I thought I would pick it up later and kept washing what were in the sink.
Next second I looked back, the wooden spoon was gone. Then, I looked and looked and here it was with Palette on her fluffy bed in other room. It did not look like the spoon splinter,but I was already nervous with that incident and encouraging her to chew on stick would not happen. I am sure that I used the wooden spoon to stir risotto so it must be like chicken flavored stick and must have been so tempting.
Wooden spoon Palette chewed up a little..
Palette smile at camera with risotto rice on her head..
2. Other than dogs love to play with what family member's scent are on, and mischievous act can make them succeed to get attention from you, dogs have very strong sense of smell, and they could see that trash bins can be treasure box of food scraps and it maybe so tempting to put their paws on.
Especially since food in the trash bin are at room temperature and might smell strong, and could bring dogs curiosity "what are in the trash bin".
With the dogs that can get into the trash bins, if the trash bin contained cooked bones, it can splinter sharp when they chew them,and it could hurt them.
3. Or, maybe too much pent up energy is left in them.
If dogs do not go for walk as much as they should or physical/mental exercise did not meet their need, I can see they get bored cooped up in the house long time. I think crate training, dog proofing the house, and provide outlet of pent up energy via walks, doggy daycare, or training etc might be a good ideas. And providing appropriate chews would help too.
What dogs would do while you are out??
I came across a couple of youtube videos of mischievous acts while owners were out.
Panda
If you are a blog subscriber or reading from Facebook,please click here to watch the video.
Now you can imagine how they get into the trash bin
Dude
If you are a blog subscriber or reading from Facebook,please click here to watch the video.
Reviewing how you "dog proofing the house" might help prevent the next mischievous act. One of my favorite dog training show called "It's Me Or The Dog" on animal planet channel had one good tip on dog proofing the house.
The positive training trainer Victoria Stilwell said it is good idea to lay on the floor and see what you see around you, then dog proofing the house to prevent the possible incident; chewing cables,eating kids toys etc..
Wilson
If you are a blog subscriber or reading from Facebook,please click here to watch the video.
I was surprised to see Wilson is very persistent. Video description says he taught himself to open the fridge and ate $100 worth of groceries. So, the owner put velcro strap with metal latch on fridge. She wrote Wilson ate through the strap and opened fridge and had party. Then taught himself to open the freezer and ate frozen vegetable etc. Currently, it looks like fridge is locked and tape over the freezer. So far, it seems no food party.
I came across dog self serving water from fridge and the dog taught himself by observing kids, too. I think the dogs are very smart and very good at observing and learning. Sometimes, we have to outsmart them.
Sometimes, people say "what did you do?" to dogs and then tell them to "come". I personally think that when you call the dogs, it should always be with good positive things. If they were called every time they did something bad, "come" can mean bad thing for them so, they cannot have reliable "come" when called. If you tell them to come all the time when they did something bad, you already taught them "come means bad news, better not come". Sometimes we are reinforcing the behavior without knowledge.
Dog training is not just about 5-10 minutes' daily session or at training class, it is a life long thing and you can reinforce the bad/good behavior unintentionally throughout their life.
What your dogs would do while you are out?
In another previous entry titled "How to keep paws off off from the table; Counter surfing", I wrote counter surfing can also be potentially dangerous to dogs. Because dogs would have no ideas as to what are toxic,what not and, they could hurt in the process of counter surfing if something fell on them.
Palette is potty trained, and she can be trusted for no chewing furniture,no counter surfing etc now so, when we leave for errands,we let the crate door open for her to go in and let her nap whenever,wherever she wants.
She usually greet us with loong stretch with big yawn, so I am guessing that she is sleeping while we are out.
For some dogs, home alone time can be mischievous time. Some people come home and find trash bins are fell over and all the trash are spread over the floor, some may find chewed up sofas,some may find emptied fridge etc..
Have you wondered why dogs love to be mischievous?
1. From dogs' point of views, when they did something mischievous, most likely catch the attention from you. Whether it is negative response, they are still succeeding to get attentions.
When Palette was puppy, she loved to play with socks.Maybe because it is floppy thing that she could shake, and it has family member's scent and it might have been very attractive items for her.
Our puppy training class trainer once told us not to chase your dogs that stole something inappropriate for chews such as socks. Because if you run after your dogs, it can turn to fun "catch me if you can" game and, it is indirectly reinforcing the behavior. So, what you like to do is to run to opposite direction and your dogs may drop the item and chase after you rather than you chasing them.
Or simply teach your dogs "Give" command.
If you teach "Give" command, it is also good idea to teach your dog "Take it" command too.
Teaching "Take it" is easy. When your dog pick up the object,if you clicker train your dog, you click and treat. And you can repeat it over and over and soon,your dog learn "Take it" means pick up the object.then,you can teach command "Give".
To teach "Give" command, hold the not so high valued item (such as not so interested toy) at first, and say "take it" and when dog grab the item, wait for a second or two and say "give" and keep holding the item dog is grabbing other end.Then, show him/her higher valued trade item. It can be special treats.
To get the treats, they need to release whatever in his/her mouth first, so you can click the clicker when they released the mouth from the item and give the treats with big praise.Then, repeat with various kinds of items over and over.
One important rule in teaching " give" command is that when you say "Give" and when your dog did not release the object in the mouth,you do not want to try to pull it to take it away. The more you try to pull it out from mouth, more they would likely to pull back. Also, you do not want to repeat the command like "Give,give,give,give". Say the command only once.
Another important rule in practicing "Give" command is to make sure you will give it back to him as soon as he release the object. This is to let your dog knows that "Give" does not mean that the precious toy or food or whatever he is having is not going to take it away forever, but it comes back to him. I practiced with Palette "Give" with many different items from ball,toy,treats/food, leash (I practiced with leash as well just because I was teaching her to bring the leash to me when we go for walk) etc..
When I was reading dog training book I got in Japan, there was a chapter talking about what kinds of games you can play with your dogs using homemade items.
One of them was to use the old towel or old sock to wrap the treats and make knots. I think idea was supposed to be like homemade treat dispenser, and dogs were supposed to work on them to get to the treats. However, I do not like the idea.
I think anything that looks similar or same shaped household items you do not like to be chewed should not be used as a toy.Dogs would not know which socks are okay to play with, which ones are old socks you do not mind them playing,or which ones are new socks you do not want them to play with. Same goes to when you choose the squeaky toys. I do not pick slippers/shoes shaped toys for Palette to play with too.
I recently came across a website that sells maple saplings for chew toy. I do not think it good idea to teach dogs to chew on sticks. I am not sure as to whether there are any difference between regular tree sticks and maple sapling but, I personally feel that eating stick is dangerous because it could splinter and should not be encouraged. Even if maple sapling were not going to splinter and okay chew, how do dogs know which sticks are okay and which sticks are maple sapling and okay to chew on?
One day I dropped a wooden spoon on the kitchen floor while I was trying to move a pots and pans to wash. My hands were soapy and I thought I would pick it up later and kept washing what were in the sink.
Next second I looked back, the wooden spoon was gone. Then, I looked and looked and here it was with Palette on her fluffy bed in other room. It did not look like the spoon splinter,but I was already nervous with that incident and encouraging her to chew on stick would not happen. I am sure that I used the wooden spoon to stir risotto so it must be like chicken flavored stick and must have been so tempting.
Wooden spoon Palette chewed up a little..
Palette smile at camera with risotto rice on her head..
2. Other than dogs love to play with what family member's scent are on, and mischievous act can make them succeed to get attention from you, dogs have very strong sense of smell, and they could see that trash bins can be treasure box of food scraps and it maybe so tempting to put their paws on.
Especially since food in the trash bin are at room temperature and might smell strong, and could bring dogs curiosity "what are in the trash bin".
With the dogs that can get into the trash bins, if the trash bin contained cooked bones, it can splinter sharp when they chew them,and it could hurt them.
3. Or, maybe too much pent up energy is left in them.
If dogs do not go for walk as much as they should or physical/mental exercise did not meet their need, I can see they get bored cooped up in the house long time. I think crate training, dog proofing the house, and provide outlet of pent up energy via walks, doggy daycare, or training etc might be a good ideas. And providing appropriate chews would help too.
What dogs would do while you are out??
I came across a couple of youtube videos of mischievous acts while owners were out.
Panda
If you are a blog subscriber or reading from Facebook,please click here to watch the video.
Now you can imagine how they get into the trash bin
Dude
If you are a blog subscriber or reading from Facebook,please click here to watch the video.
Reviewing how you "dog proofing the house" might help prevent the next mischievous act. One of my favorite dog training show called "It's Me Or The Dog" on animal planet channel had one good tip on dog proofing the house.
The positive training trainer Victoria Stilwell said it is good idea to lay on the floor and see what you see around you, then dog proofing the house to prevent the possible incident; chewing cables,eating kids toys etc..
Wilson
If you are a blog subscriber or reading from Facebook,please click here to watch the video.
I was surprised to see Wilson is very persistent. Video description says he taught himself to open the fridge and ate $100 worth of groceries. So, the owner put velcro strap with metal latch on fridge. She wrote Wilson ate through the strap and opened fridge and had party. Then taught himself to open the freezer and ate frozen vegetable etc. Currently, it looks like fridge is locked and tape over the freezer. So far, it seems no food party.
I came across dog self serving water from fridge and the dog taught himself by observing kids, too. I think the dogs are very smart and very good at observing and learning. Sometimes, we have to outsmart them.
Sometimes, people say "what did you do?" to dogs and then tell them to "come". I personally think that when you call the dogs, it should always be with good positive things. If they were called every time they did something bad, "come" can mean bad thing for them so, they cannot have reliable "come" when called. If you tell them to come all the time when they did something bad, you already taught them "come means bad news, better not come". Sometimes we are reinforcing the behavior without knowledge.
Dog training is not just about 5-10 minutes' daily session or at training class, it is a life long thing and you can reinforce the bad/good behavior unintentionally throughout their life.
What your dogs would do while you are out?
Posted by yassy at 8/3/2010 12:04 PM 
Categories: Dog training
Tags: dogs crate training counter surfing trash bin
Categories: Dog training
Tags: dogs crate training counter surfing trash bin
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