Harness your dog's imagination!

Here at Brilliant Family Dog we hear so often about the woeful things dogs have got up to.

It’s all about the dreadful things they’ve dreamed up and the bad things they’ve done. They’ve chewed things up, they’ve managed to escape, they’ve re-arranged your flowerbeds …

Perversely, I’m pleased to hear these stories.

Why?

Because it shows that the dog is exercising his imagination!

In the absence of being given interesting things to do, he’s making up his own entertainment.

This shows that he is resourceful, enterprising, thoughtful, and eminently teachable!

What can I teach him to do instead?

Let’s have a look at a really simple, basic, but highly amusing “toy”: a cardboard box. Get one big enough for your dog to clamber into - at least get his front paws in. Check it over for sharp staples.

Now let’s see what he can do with it! Some of this will need your input, some you can happily let your dog discover.

• front paws in

• front paws on

• all paws in

• all paws on

• whole body in (box collapsed yet?)

• find hidden toys in it

• find toy amongst masses of screwed-up paper

• find toy amongst loads of empty plastic bottles, or smaller boxes

• hide food in cardboard tubes or small boxes - to be found and shredded

• put toy in

• take toy out

• hide a toy in a smaller box

• put smaller box into large box

• crawl through a cut-out “door”

• teach scent by hiding something in one of many boxes

• push it

• curl up in it

• drag it

• chew it up . . .

For your older, bored, dog, this is going to be heaven!

For your young puppy it’s an essential stage of getting her used to strange surfaces, wobbly things, things that slip and slide, noisy things, crunchy things, rattly things. I call this Puppy Gym and it’s a vital part of my puppy classes and the Brilliant Family Dog Academy

Some older dogs, especially those who’ve been used to being told what to do, will be perplexed by this box. You’ll need to spice it up a bit to pique their interest - perhaps toss a few treats in to get them interacting with it.  

And please don’t worry about mess! Mess is a by-product of living, and this is going to be a controlled mess, of your choosing.

Isn’t that far better than the mess you find when your bored dog entertains himself by chewing your computer cables, or loving your slippers to death?

Let me know in the comments how you got on with this possibly new game!

And for more fun for your dog, get our free email course here

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Why is my dog biting me?

This question usually comes as a bit of a whine. People take it personally!

Now, if the biting is serious, intentional, does damage, then you need to seek professional help - “boots on the ground” as a wise colleague puts it. You need a force-free trainer to see just what’s going on, and help you make the necessary changes to make sure everyone is safe. That includes your dog. A dog who bites and does damage is definitely not safe - his life is at risk!

But let’s assume you have a dog who is enthusiastically taking lumps out of your jumper sleeves, grabbing your hands, tugging on your trousers or socks - but without any malicious intent. This is misdirected excitement.

You don’t need to take it personally! He’s not trying to hurt you. He just wants to play, and you haven’t yet taught him how.

This dog simply doesn’t know how to play according to our rules!

Puppies learn in the litter in weeks 6-8 that playing rough loses you playmates. The other pups will shun a painful biter until he mends his ways. This is the reason those two weeks are SO important!

And it’s why you should never take a puppy less than 8 weeks old.

It’s the most labour-intensive time for a breeder, and this is where genuine breeders earn their money.

“Greeders”, puppy-farmers, people who couldn’t be bothered and whose bitch was “caught”, are not going to want to spend time with this additional work. But it’s vital.

It’s when your puppy learns bite inhibition.

Bite inhibition

This is what we call a soft mouth. Your dog understands how to inhibit his bite so he can adapt it to what the teeth are touching.

Rule 1: Dogs’ teeth never touch human skin.

And they learn this very fast when they are young enough to take the lesson quickly, at a few weeks old.

They can still learn it when they’re older, of course! But it takes a little more sustained input from you.

Tug

Tug is the best game ever for teaching this. Your dog can enthusiastically grab, chomp, tug, and play with you, with perfect control of his gnashers.

He moves from high arousal to thoughtful control.

In the Brilliant Family Dog Academy we teach people just how to achieve this happy state! And it’s all done without any NOOOs or nose-taps or any other form of punishment.

It’s a game you can both enjoy - for life.

In this image you can see 9-week-old Coco waiting for the cue to start play - and then his vigorous tugging in the image at the top of the post!

Puppy Nipping

People write for advice with their pup’s nipping. They often say, “I expected him to bite, but I thought it would stop now he’s 6 months old …”

There are three fallacies here -

1. Any biting should stop within his first week with you.

2. Such rewarding fun (you dance and squawk and get excited) is not going to go away on its own: you have to train your dog how you want him to play.

3. AND - what you expect is what you get!

That goes for everything, in dog training - and in life. If you expect him to bite you, that’s just what will happen.

So follow the guidance in this post:

https://www.brilliantfamilydog.com/blog/10-ways-to-stop-puppy-biting

Whatever age your dog is, you can change this!

For more about the Brilliant Family Dog Academy I mentioned above, watch our free Workshop and learn all about how you can transform your Li’l Nipper into your Brilliant Family Dog!

 

Should your dog play with other dogs?

It seems to be the thing, that if you have a dog, you think all dogs are the same as your dog. Natural enough . . .

But sadly, not true!

There are all sorts of dogs - bold dogs, funny dogs, friendly dogs, fearful dogs, anxious dogs, rowdy dogs, sniffy dogs, old dogs . . . and every one of them deserves to have their feelings noticed and respected.

If you have a Growly Dog - a fearful, shy, reactive, “aggressive”, dog - then you’ll already know that they need a LOT of space!

The fewer dogs or people they see on a regular basis, the happier they are.

But many folk don’t appreciate these dogs’ need for distance. Their cry of “I want to be alone,” (to quote Greta Garbo) is often not heeded.

So if you are the joyful owner of an easygoing, happy-go-lucky, into-everything dog,

1. Hooray! Enjoy your dog and your freedom.

2. Please spare a thought for others whose dogs are not so ebullient or resilient.

3. Ask the other owner before unleashing your fun-loving dog to “play” with their dog.

4. If play is welcomed, then be sure to interrupt frequently to give both parties a chance to regroup and recover.

5. Ensure play is “equal”: I chase you, you chase me, we run together.

Different dogs like different types of play

There are dogs who love to race and chase - think Collies and herding dogs. There are dogs who love to run at speed - think sighthounds. There are dogs who want nothing more than to roly-poly about on the ground - think Spaniels. And there are dogs who love to crash and bash - think Labradors and Staffies.

Wherever possible, match your dog with another dog with a similar play-style.

A Collie or a Whippet would be mortally offended if a Lab crashed into them!

A speeding sighthound can cause frustration in a would-be chaser, who will take shortcuts and attempt to bring the running dog down by grabbing it, and many sighthounds have very thin skin . . .

And that Labrador would not be amused by being invited to chase round in circles when he just wants to bodyslam.

You can improve your walks immensely - for yourself and your dog as well as all the other dogs you come across on your outings - by observing these guidelines.

And comment below to tell us what sort of play your dog favours!

Watch our free Masterclass to start the change you want

Digging, Chewing, Chasing, Barking: Instinctive Drives you Love or Hate?

 First published at positively.com and reprinted with permission

Instinctive drives are hard-wired behaviours with which we all come equipped. The most obvious one would be eating. We all have to eat. And trying to suppress that desire will only drive it underground. If someone’s hungry and is prevented from eating, they will steal food. If you try to control something that strongly embedded, you’ll get evasive and deceitful responses.

So too with many of the behaviours we see in our dogs. Taken to excess, these compulsions would become annoying or even dangerous. But if you can accommodate them - by giving your dog an outlet for his natural inclinations - you’ll have no trouble with them.

Don’t fight nature!

The Four Instinctive Drives people struggle with

There are four instinctive drives that people tend to complain about most. Contrary to popular perception, all dogs don’t do all these things. It’s not something you have to resign yourself to when you get a puppy. Many dogs will indulge them just a little, some just during puppyhood, and some not at all. But they can all be modified without taking the dog’s enjoyment and basic needs away from him!

Here are some ideas to get you started.

1. Digging

Particularly evident in earth dogs - terriers, ratters - though by no means confined to them. Provide digging opportunities for your digger! 

• Half-bury old bones, plastic bottles and such like in a part of the garden you earmark for digging. Don’t leave your dog outside unattended - telling him off after the event is a waste of time. As soon as he starts digging, run excitedly to your dig-spot and start digging yourself. Encourage him to dig himself to a standstill!

• Indoors you can play “Dig for the Toy (or Person) Under the Duvet” games. Be sure to protect the person’s face from those ravaging claws. This exciting game usually results in much laughter all round! Let them dig their bed to bits. Instead of one boring piece of padded bed, give them lots of cushions and blankets they can rearrange and tunnel into. They enjoy the release of energy in ferocious digging, so they need to be able to do it. So what if they damage their bed? It’s their bed. And you can get a new one if they shred it.

• Digging often wanes with age. My Border Collie Rollo used to pounce on the grass and dig as a puppy - clearly he could hear something creeping about in the earth. He lets the underground traffic of mice and beetles carry on unheeded now. I captured the entertaining pouncing action though, and he’ll still rear up and dive when I say “Rabbit!” Cricket the Whippet enjoys digging so much that she is encouraged to dig her bed, and we’ve kept that behaviour of frantic digging going - long past puppyhood!

2. Chewing

If you don’t want her to chew your things, then you need to supply her with plenty of her things that she can chew. 

• Large bones she really has to stand on and fight with are the very, very best and most popular chew toys. Choose raw beef bones - ribs or larger. She’ll soon strip off anything fleshy and happily gnaw the clean bones for months. I have a multi-dog household and there are never any bone-fights.

• Rawhide chews are not the natural product you may think them to be. They’re heavily processed and may have lots of additives and junk.

• Food-toys are great to soothe anxious chewers and occupy those jaws safely. You can use anything you have handy to fill them: squeezy cheese, liver pate, peanut butter (additive-free), last night’s left-over pasta and sauce. Freezing them makes them last longer. Kibble works well in containers that have to be rolled or wobbled to give up their bounty.

• All discarded containers (like cereal boxes, toilet roll middles, plastic bottles, for instance) can become food toys. The dogs are welcome to shred them and rip them apart to reach the goodies inside. Ripping and tearing is enormously satisfying for them.

• I would not want to give my puppy anything to chew now that I didn’t want her to chew later. Old shoes, old jumpers, best Jimmy Choos, favourite blouse: how can she tell the difference? You can launder and recycle old clothes into plaited dog ropes.

3. Chasing

Chasing - you or dog-friends - in a safe area is fine. Hurtling across a road chasing a squirrel is not.

• Equal chasing - taking turns to chase each other - makes for great excitement. In a good game dogs will adjust their pace to suit their playmate. They take turns at being chaser and chasee. The game can be fast, but not intense.

• Flat-out, head-down chasing - leg-biting, flank-grabbing, frustrated barking - are not good. You’ll end up at the Vet with a dog needing stitches. Teach your frustrated chaser to hold a toy in his mouth when chasing. Hanging on to the toy gives him something else to focus on and bite down onto. It muffles the woofs too! If he can’t chase nicely, with or without a toy to hold, then he doesn’t get to chase live things - dogs, people, cats, etc. Some herding dogs and sighthounds need to learn how to chase safely, without nipping or grabbing.

• Chasing crows. As long as the area is safe I’m happy to let mine chase foraging crows off the ground as we approach. They’ll never catch them, so the birds are in no danger. This tends to be a puppy thing, as they give up the unequal contest after a number of failures. But it gives the dog an outlet for that very rewarding surge of energy and focus that comes with a good chase.

• Teach your dog to chase with rules. A flirt pole is ideal for this. He may not grab it from the air or your hand - he has to wait till you release him to pounce on it. You can build up to this level of self-control. To begin with it will be a massive outlet for his chasing desire. It will also wear him out very fast - great for days when there’s too much energy and too little opportunity to get out and use it up. Regular play with the flirt pole gives my whippet an outlet for her very strong rabbit-chasing instincts, making recalls off rabbits a snap.

• “You can’t catch me!” A chase game round the garden with a toy reward can be great fun and use up a lot of energy (for both of you!). As long as your dog will come right to you when you want to hold her collar, playing Keep Away is fine.

4. Barking

Some breeds or types of dog are very barky. It’s pointless to attempt to suppress this barking. You will lose. Try channelling it instead.

• Teach your dog to bark on cue. “Woof!” followed by “Quiet!”, repeat till your ears are ringing.

• Pair “Thank you” with a treat. Then thank your dog for alerting you to the serious danger of the mother pushing her pushchair down the road past your house, or the terrifying prospect of invasion from the postman. Reward her for coming to you when you say Thank you - every time. Quite soon you’ll have a dog who draws breath to bark, thinks again and comes trotting to you for a treat. Be sure to reward her mightily for this excellent decision!

• As soon as your dog starts barking, toss some hard treats or kibble at a hard surface (door, hard floor, cupboard door). She’ll scurry across to gobble them up, and probably look at you for more. Now you have silence and her attention! And all without shouting, yelling, or barking yourself.

• On our own in a huge forest or an empty beach is the place where my barkers are encouraged to bark themselves silly.

If you choose to share your life with a dog, you have to take the rough with the smooth. But I’ve just given you a load of sandpaper to smooth off the rough edges a bit, without suppression, judgment, or bossiness. Use your dog’s instinctive drives as a starting point for new and exciting games you can enjoy together. 

Key takeaway? Enjoy your dog as he is, not the perfect dog you thought you wanted when you got him.

Much more to learn in our free email course for common dog problems

And if your dog is chasing or barking aggressively, head here for another free email course

Watch our free Workshop to get your dog to listen, and find out just how much of the learning is for you!

Once you change what you’re doing, your dog will automatically change. Exciting!