As a side note, I forgot to tell you that not only was your presentation in Hammack’s bio class SO informative and fun, it was also such a treat to watch a gifted teacher practicing her craft.  You are so clear and so patient, and those are hard things to come by.  As one teacher to another, I give you big props!!

Thanks, Paris!

And from Janise, of Amore Pet Sitting Services, regarding her severely toy-obsessed Boston terrier, Starsky:

Hi Jenna,

Thank you for coming to our home and working with us yesterday!!!! I am so impressed with your knowledge and abilities- WOW!!!!!

As we discussed, when I get a chance I am going to post your dog walking technique on my Amore Webpage along with your link.

Starsky is already doing much better….actually he is pooped out and too tired to be naughty LOL !

I feel so relieved to have found you!!!

Kindest Regards,

 Janise Burford
Amore Pet Sitting Services

I’ve forgotten what it’s like to get up EARLY because the puppy can’t hold it like my adult dogs can — 10 hours regularly overnight, and 12-16 if it’s my day off and I’m feeling really lazy! At 9 months, it’s possible for a puppy to hold it that long if you’ve worked on it. But a dog that isn’t housebroken and isn’t used to holding it — even an adult dog — can’t do that!

The best way to potty train any dog, regardless of age, is crate training. I know, I know — it’s MUCH easier to get puppy pads, if your dog will use them, and do it that way. And if you have a job where you work 8 hours and can’t get away, and no neighbor to let your puppy out after 4 hours, then that might be your only solution. However, puppy pads teach your dog something else: to pee in the house. It’s very common for a dog to look for the next thing closest to a puppy pad when you take the pads away: carpet. Small dogs are especially prone to peeing in the house when they don’t like it outside because it’s too cold or too wet. (Another option is to litter train them, so you never have to worry about it. Yes, they make litter boxes for small dogs!)

If you want your dog to potty outside, the best best best way is crate training. Let’s talk about crate training.

There are some common concerns I hear:

1. It seems cruel.

I know people have a hard time believing this, but a crate for a dog is like their den. Unless your dog has had some major trauma in a crate, and I mean major trauma, once they get used to it they’re not going to have any qualms about spending large amounts of time in one. Puppies especially should be sleeping 15-20 hours a day, depending on the age of the puppy. We keep our puppies awake MUCH longer than is healthy for them, assuming that’s normal. A crate gives your puppy a chance to calm down long enough to get the sleep they need in a quiet, dark, undisturbed place. This will make everyone’s life much easier, and your puppy happier, healthier, and easier to train!

2. My dog/puppy barks and whines and I CAN’T STAND IT!

Okay, I can’t blame you, there. I can’t stand it, either! There are two easy solutions, though, other than the usual “just ignore it and they’ll stop” solution you normally hear. (Trust me, I understand that frustration — I’m a dog trainer, and I can’t ignore it until it stops! I’m very noise sensitive, and it drives me bonkers!)

The first solution is to say, “Quiet,” and then tap the crate on the side. If it doesn’t work, tap a little harder. You can tap hard enough to jiggle the crate just a bit. (I’ve been known to hook the lip with my fingers and pluck the near edge off the ground by a finger’s width.) You’re creating a mini-earthquake, so the dog learns that barking or whining will make the world shake a tiny bit. It’s not comfortable!

Concerns: I have heard other trainers say, “This will make a dog feel unsafe or scared of his crate.” In ten years, I’ve never seen that happen.

The second solution is to get a squirt bottle. I don’t mean a little mister, I mean a bottle from Lowe’s that’s meant to have cleaner or something in it! Something with a powerful stream on it. This stream needs to get through the air, the bars of the crate, and hit your dog with enough force for your dog to feel it! A mist won’t do. You need a squirt! Don’t aim for your dogs face if you can avoid it; we don’t want to hit the eyes. And DON’T put anything but water in it!

Concerns: From trainers, I occasionally hear the same concern as above, and the answer is also the same! From owners, I hear: “But my dog LIKES water.” My dogs both LOVE water! They hate, however, the squirt bottle. There’s a big difference between getting into water willingly and getting squirted with something cold and wet surprisingly. It startles them out of their bad behavior, and that’s all we really want. Even dogs who aren’t particularly bothered by a squirt bottle will usually stop barking; it annoys them into good behavior!

Now that we’ve stopped the barking issue, let’s talk about making the crate an okay place to be. When I start crating dogs, I make sure they have at least two toys in their crate that they like. Every time they go in their crate, they get a treat. I feed them in their crates as well. I also put their bed in their crate (or piles of old towels, if you’re afraid they’ll chew up their bed out of boredom) so it’s comfy. Think of it as a kid’s bedroom: it needs all the stuff in it they might want so they can hang out and ignore their parents!

Once you have all that good stuff in their crate, start tossing treats in there. Leave the door open until they’re comfortable to go in, get the treats, sniff around for more, and come back out. You can give them more treats while they’re in there, too. Once they can do that, start closing the door for a few seconds at a time, giving them more treats while they’re in there. Once they can do that, start leaving them in there for a few minutes at a time. If they’re comfortable eating in there, give them dinner with the door closed and leave them in for ten minutes after they finish.

Build up the time slowly; when they get comfortable, add more time. It generally takes a day or two if you’re home all day and can devote time to it. If you aren’t, or if your dog has some trauma associated with crate training that needs to be overcome, it could take up to a week. I hate to say it, but usually if it takes longer than that, someone is letting them out when they cry — though the person may not even be aware of it!

All right, all that said… I’m going back to bed! All this getting up early to let the puppy out has worn me down!

(Not quite what you were looking for? Wondering how to potty train once Fido’s crate trained? Have no fear, just click here!)

Jenna

However, to manage allergies, there are some things you can do.

1. Obviously, if you can cut out whatever’s causing the allergies — do so!

2. Benedryl. Benedryl only works on 30% of dogs, but if your dog is itchy (and you know it’s not fleas!), try it! Give a dose appropriate to your dog’s weight. Cash, my 110 pound shepherd, gets an adult dose. Lily, my 60 pound pit, gets a child’s dose.

3. Honey. Cash got 1/4 tsp of locally grown honey with his meals every day for 2 months to help him become immune to his pollen allergy. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. Note, however, the TINY amount — and my holistic vet did warn me that if it made him itchier, I needed to cut back!

4. Fish oil. This actually helps moisturize their skin and coats. Dry skin can cause itching.

5. Baths. If your dog has an environmental allergy, more baths can often help! Make sure you use a hypoallergenic shampoo. (You might have to look around for one that really helps; there are only two that work for Cash!) You might also add fish oil to their diet, if you’re bathing them often, as bathing will dry out their skin!

Not sure if your dog has allergies? Check their bellies and the insides of their ears. You shouldn’t see speckles (a sign of flea bites), but rather a general pinkness to the skin. Most dogs have little to no pink tone to their skin, instead having a very white or slightly brown look. Pink is usually a sign of inflammation!

Good luck!

I just wanted to note that dog park and recall classes are by request at the moment. If you’re hoping for those classes, let me know: I typically wait for enough interest to warrant running one, and then start putting them together again!

If you want more information about classes, click here!

Scenario 1:

Matrix is a ten-year-old shepherd cross. She lives with 2 children, ages 4 and 2. Matrix doesn’t much like the children: she growls if they get too close, and has even snapped at them for playing near her. Whenever her owners leave the room, they call her with them because she can’t be trusted.

Scenario 2:

Max is a four-year-old terrier cross. He lives with one child, age 2. He loves children, and his child loves him. They play together and adore each other. Max can be trusted with children, and has never shown any aggression toward them, no matter what’s going on.

Which of these scenarios is better?

Matrix’s parents realized they had a problem, and they called me. We taught Matrix to leave when the children walked up to her. Her owners still call her with them when they leave the room, in case a child trips and falls on her, and when friends come over to play she takes a rest in her own room, protected from the children, with her toys and her bed.

Since Max didn’t have any problem with kids, there was no reason to call a trainer. (I do know Max, as he was in training for leash manners, and I saw him around his boy. There was no doubt they loved each other.) When Max’s boy tried to give him a hug one day, Max was trapped, unable to escape, and nearly crushed by a child much larger than he was. In a panic and hurting, he snapped to get away. The boy went to the emergency room, and Max was put down.

Small dogs and dogs in pain are at great risk from children. My dog, Cash, is 110 pounds and loves kids. That said, if one of them lays on him, he’s too big (and too fit and young) to be hurt by it, and he’s big enough to get away. Most dogs don’t have that ability; most dogs are either too small or too old to escape like that. If your child is too young to understand that they need to be gentle and never hang onto a dog that’s trying to leave, then they’re probably too young to be left alone with the dog. What will your dog do when it’s trapped and hurting? Grab your dog’s leg when they’re walking and refuse to let go, or grab them around the neck and lay on them. Whatever they do, imagine if they did that while your child’s face was next to theirs, because your child was giving them a hug.

Most dogs that bite are already aggressive. Once pushed to that point, they’ll bite more easily the next time because they learn that it works. This bit of truth is wrong, though, when small children are involved. A trapped, hurting dog will bite even if they’re not aggressive. Calling your dog out of the room with you takes two extra seconds, and ensures that your child won’t hurt your dog — and can, therefore, save your dog’s life.

I would like to say this doesn’t happen often, but this winter alone I know of two dogs — friendly, sweet, child-loving dogs — who were put down after biting children who hurt them, trying to hug them. Is a hug worth your dog’s life? Please, teach your children to be gentle. Teach them to let go when the dog leaves. And until they’re old enough to remember to do so reliably, call your dog with you when you leave the room. It could mean the world to your family.

There’s a trick to keeping a dog from going after presents (or food or counters or trash or anything else, really). First off, don’t go showing things to your dog. That makes them interesting! Don’t wander around cooing over those fancy packages, if you can avoid it. Don’t point them out to your pup and then firmly tell him to leave them alone; all your dog knows is that you drew his attention to them, so they must be important!

But most importantly, when you see your dog LOOKING at those things, make a noise that will startle them (clapping, a hissst noise, slapping a newspaper against your thigh, etc) and when they jump away, call them away and praise them for leaving.

Note that I said to do it when your dog looks at the packages. If your dog gets used to ignoring them completely, then when you leave they might visually check it out, but they won’t tear into things. If you let them look, then when you leave they’ll still take it one step farther: tearing into things! You always want to correct for better behavior than you really care about, so that when push comes to shove and the line gets blurred, it doesn’t get blurred very far, and your dog walks away still well behaved!

Meantime, have fun opening presents!

J

Many people think that taking Fido out for his daily walk means he’s going to drag you down the street, pausing to sniff and pee, taking a look at the world and everything in it as it goes by — and that this is good for him.

The truth is, this kind of walk will only wind him up without giving him enough exercise, and teach him that the world is over-exciting and the person on the other end of the leash — you — can be ignored.

Pet People would be happy to put you in touch with trainers who can teach you and Fido how to walk together, but in case that’s not an option or you’d like to give it a go yourself, here’s a guide toward proper dog walking that will exercise your dog’s body and mind.

When walking a dog, there are certain things you want to accomplish.

• You want your dog to walk on a loose leash beside you.
• You want your dog to continue to walk on without stopping to sniff or go potty, until you tell them it’s okay.
• You want your dog to walk politely past other dogs, people, and frightening things.
• You want your dog to walk calmly and happily.

A dog doing those things is tuned into her owner, she’s paying attention and learning what the appropriate reaction is from you, and she’s working as part of a pack, all of which exercise her mind and help her be calm, happy, and stable. The following are steps you can take to help accomplish this goal.

Please note that if you are having severe problems or problems with aggression, I strongly suggest you hire a knowledgeable dog trainer to help you. 

1. Leashing

Your walk starts before you even leave the house. Your dog should sit quietly while you put a leash on him, and then wait for you to open the door. If your dog is running all over the house, first bring him by taking his collar to where you want him to sit, then give him his ‘sit’ command. If he doesn’t know his sit command, pull up on his collar while pushing down on his hips. When he sits, praise him quietly but happily.

A note on praise: if you are excited, your dog will be excited, too. We want clear thinking, not mania, so when you praise your dog be sure to remain calm. Give him loving energy and petting while not getting riled up! If he gets over excited, stop praising him. If he can’t have praise without getting over excited, then try calmly giving him a treat, instead.

Now, while your dog is sitting, put his leash on. Praise him again. If he gets up, just ask him to sit like you did before, each time telling him he’s a good dog even if you have to make him sit.

Note: This step sounds easy, but if it takes you twenty minutes, don’t be discouraged: that happens! Stick with it, and very soon you’ll be down to two minutes.

2. Walking out the Door

The next step is to open the door without her pulling you out. If you are not already at the door, tell your dog to come and start toward it. If your dog races past you, turn sharply and walk away from the door. Your dog will come with you; she has to, since she’s on the other end of your leash! When she catches up to you again, turn and walk back toward the door. If she runs past you, walk the other way. You are teaching your dog that dragging you toward the door will result in the opposite of what she wants, and is uncomfortable in the process.

When you reach the door, stop, ask her to sit again, and then open it. If she runs out, bring her back and ask her to sit. Ask her to look at you. You can use a treat, call her name, or make a funny noise to gain her attention — as long as her eyes come to you. When that happens, tell her she’s good and step outside.

As you walk, remember to keep your chin up and shoulders back. Be confident and courageous. If you don’t feel it, fake it! Your dog will respond better if you seem like you know what you’re doing (even if you don’t!).

2. Loose leash walking and keeping him beside you.

An important technique to know is the “pop.” This is most effective with any kind of training collar. Doing this with a flat collar (the one that your dog’s ID goes on) can hurt their neck and, on a small dog, windpipe.

To use a pop, first make sure your leash is loose. When your dog begins to surge forward (as soon as their shoulder is past your hip), give your leash a sharp sideways tug. This will pull your dog sideways, off balance, checking their stride and letting them know that running forward is not acceptable behavior. Note, though, that means you must pull hard enough to pull them off their stride! Once you have popped, do not keep pulling. As soon as you’ve tugged, relax your arm and make sure the leash is loose again. If you continuing pulling, then your dog will simply pull back — and your dog will probably win! What you’re trying to do is surprise your dog with a sharp tug, not drag him back into position. Also keep in mind that you need to pop before your dog is too far ahead of you. You can’t pop if your dog is already at the end of his leash. The time to pop is just when he’s starting to pull ahead, when his ribs are at your hip.

Your dog has had months or years of practice pulling you around; don’t expect him to give in on the first tug! Be vigilant, and especially in the first walk be prepared to tug quite often! If you find that your dog is too fast, and you can’t tug before he’s all the way ahead of you and pulling, then when he races past you turn and walk the other way just like you did in the house. You might not get very far on your walk the first time, but he’ll learn quickly and then you can enjoy him without being dragged around!

Optional: If you like, you can take a pocket full of treats and when your dog is walking in the correct position — that’s his shoulder to your hip — you can tell him “good dog!” and give him a treat. If you don’t want your pants to smell like dog treats, there are travel pouches for carrying treats while you walk.

Note: If your dog starts to cough or choke, make sure you’re either using a prong collar (which look evil, but will protect their windpipe) or your collar is high up under their chin. Do not continue if your dog is coughing or choking!

Next note: NEVER do this with a face harness. You can seriously injure your dog’s neck.

3. Walking without stopping to sniff or pee.

Often, people use walks for potty breaks. Great! Just make sure that your dog potties when you tell her to, not every ten feet! Like a human, a dog can hold their bladder for hours at a time. If your dog is stopping to pee every few feet, it is not because they need to go potty, but rather because they’re marking where other dogs have marked. Both male and female dogs do this, and they can do it both with urine and feces.

When your dog stops to sniff, give her a tug and continue walking. Don’t pause and look down to see what she’s doing or to ask if she’s all right; just keep going. She will quickly learn that when you are out, it’s time to walk — not pee! If you want her to go potty while you’re out then pick her favorite place and when you get there, stop and tell her “Go potty” (or your usual command), then wait. She will learn  quickly when it’s time to go! If she decides she’s going to pee even without permission, keep walking. It’s not comfortable to pee and walk at the same time — she won’t want to do that again! (If she poops, make sure you circle back to pick it up!)

If you would like your dog to have a chance to sniff and explore the world, then take her somewhere she might like to sniff, and stop walking. Giving her a command (such as “relax” or “break time!”) will let her know that this is her chance to look around. Remember: just walking with you, she’s getting hundreds of new scents! She doesn’t need to stop and check every single one out!

4. Walking past other people and dogs.

Congratulations, your dog is learning to walk nicely when there are no distractions! Give yourself a pat on the back, because this is the first step toward walking nicely all the time.

Now, your dog might be behaving perfectly — and then they see a friend they really want to greet! There go the manners, right out the window. Don’t despair; it only takes practice. When you see your dog get excited or start staring, pop then or ask him to focus on you. Call his name and praise him when he looks at you. Don’t wait until he’s already pulling to do either of these. We know he’s excited, but he needs to remember to listen to you. If he pulls anyway, bring him back to where he belongs and keep going.

If this is someone you would like to stop and talk to, then ask your dog to sit and look at you. Reward him for looking at you with praise, petting, or treats. If he would then like to greet the friendly new person or dog, you can give him the same release command he already knows — “relax” or “take a break” or whatever is easy for you to remember. (Since “Okay” is used in our everyday conversation, I would not recommend using that as a release word. You may end up releasing your dog when you don’t mean to!) Alternately, if it’s better for him to remain sitting with you, then simply remind him to sit every time he stands up and he’ll learn.

If this is not a friend or someone you wish to greet, then when you see your dog begin to stare give him a pop. Staring is not a friendly gesture among dogs! They are telling each other — and any humans they’re staring at — that they’re ready to take on a fight. Ask your dog to focus on you, instead, even while you’re walking. Again, when they focus on you praise them, pet them, or give them a treat.

Simply stopping your dog from staring will also stop the inclination to rush toward other dogs; it will remind him before he goes too far that he needs to behave!

5. Walking past frightening objects.

Sometimes you’ll see things that are new and scary. When this happens, stop walking, ask your dog to sit, and let them look at whatever is frightening them. Praise them lavishly for sitting even when they’re scared! When they’ve calmed down, step confidently forward and begin walking again. Remember: your confidence will give your dog confidence!

If she panics and refuses to sit, simply stand calmly and confidently. If you need to, put some more space between you and the scary object, then give her a chance to realize it’s not chasing or hurting her and let her become calm. Do not try to soothe her. She will only see that you’re distressed, and think it’s because you’re afraid, too! Give her some time and as soon as she stops panicking, praise her lavishly and joyously for being brave. When she’s calm enough to sit, you know she’s ready to walk by. She will probably still avoid the scary thing, but remember that now she’s seen it. Keep walking straight, pull her to where she belongs beside you, and tell her she’s just being silly. Keep walking! Once you’re past, you can praise her again for bravely, successfully, walking past the scary thing.

If the scary thing is a person and they’re willing to help, you can walk up to them and ask her to sit. While you talk to them, she can see that they aren’t going to hurt her and get a sniff. If you have a treat, they can give her one. Do not let them pet her until she’s happy to walk up to people. We want her to know you won’t force her into a stressful situation, that she can trust you when you tell her scary things won’t hurt her. Having a stranger’s hands on her might be more frightening than enjoyable, so be her champion and let her wait until she’s happy to see people before those people pet her.

Congratulations on walking your dog!

As it happens, my dogs are really good about having their teeth brushed, but if your dogs aren’t, there are some things you should know (including how to make it happen).

First, dental cleanings are supposed to happen every two years, unless you brush your dog’s teeth. That’s several hundred dollars saved every couple of years — I like that!

Second, chewing rope toys (or toys with thread) brings a very slight chance that the threads will wrap around the base of your dog’s tooth and kill the tooth within six months. It’s a very slight chance — let me repeat, VERY SLIGHT — but since my dog, Lily, chews cloth and rope like it’s going out of style, it’s a chance I don’t want to take!

Now, teeth brushing for a dog is much simpler than for a person. You stroke each tooth 3-4 times with downward strokes; no scrubbing needed. (Though… I still scrub. If my dogs will tolerate it, and they do, I figure I might as well! I scrub the insides of their teeth, too, though I’ve never heard anyone saying that’s nesecary.)

If your dog is like most dogs and doesn’t want to tolerate teeth brushing, training them otherwise is simple, though it takes a few months and some patience. Each step should be completed at the dog’s speed: when your dog will tolerate step one, move on to step two, and so on. Let it take as long as it needs; in some cases, this could take weeks.

Step 1. Touching your dog’s muzzle.

If your dog really won’t tolerate this, start at the top of their skull and stroke downward, then give them a treat as you reach their muzzle or right after you’ve petted. When they’ll allow that, try rubbing the sides, and treat.  When they’ll tolerate that, you can segue into the next step by rubbing their lips hard enough to lift slightly. Don’t expect this to work overnight; more like a week!

Step 2. Showing teeth.

You need to see your dog’s teeth before you can brush them. Once you can rub their muzzle, start lifting their lips to spot the teeth. Again, lift and treat. When they’ll let you lift, then work on lifting for longer. If your dog isn’t nippy, you can always try to hold their head somewhat still, but do so in a happy, laughing, having-fun kind of way. If they’re really determined to fight you, you’re pushing too hard and need to back off. Creating a real fight will only make the whole thing something your dog wants to avoid! You can also start putting toothpaste on the tips of their teeth; dog toothpaste tastes good, and it’s an instant treat and incentive to let you touch their teeth.

3. Brushing!

Once you can lift your dog’s lips enough to see canine teeth, you can start brushing! Use a dog toothbrush, your finger, or a little finger-cover. Stroke down over one tooth, praise and treat! Don’t worry about getting the gumline or anything like that; that can come later. By this time, you can start using toothpaste, and that’ll help in both cleaning and treating.

As your dog gets better about letting you stroke, stop treating for every stroke and start using the toothpaste as a treat. Lots of praise and love, and bit by bit work up toward the gumline and start including the back teeth.

Some things to remember: don’t start a fight. If your dog is truly uninterested, slow down to an earlier step or take a break. You can use some slight restraint, but as soon as your dog starts to really pull back, stop. Restraint makes a dog much more likely to fight! Use dog toothpaste; human toothpaste is bad for dogs. Dog toothpaste tastes like chicken or peanut butter, and it’s an automatic treat!

All that said… off I go to brush my dog’s teeth. Good luck!

Jenna

Classes are on a drop-in basis, and typically only for clients who have already had an assessment. If you’re interested in a specific class, but not private training, contact me and we’ll set up a short, cut-rate assessment so you can come to class and be up to speed with the terminology and what’s expected!

Everyone must have at least a short assessment, so they know the basics. I try to make sure these classes are as safe as possible!

Available classes take place in Los Gatos, by a schedule I send out a few months ahead of time. Typically the Dogs Downtown class takes places on either Saturday or Sunday morning, every other weekend. The other classes vary.

Dogs Downtown Classes:
$15 per household prepaid (non-refundable; you can pay via paypal or check), or $20 the day of. We practice understanding dog body language, on-leash greeting, confidence building, good manners, and walking through crowds and scary downtown things. This is also a good time to catch me if you have questions or problems have cropped up, but you don’t need a whole session.

Off Leash Recall (or “come”) Classes:
$25 per dog, space is limited. You will need to bring treats and a long rope (20 ft or more), and we’ll go through how to get your dog listening and tuned in under medium-stress situations, outdoors. It’s best if your dog is at the stage where they know what “come” means, but choose not to listen occasionally.

Dog Park Classes:
Space in dog park classes is limited for safety’s sake. Cost is $25 per dog. We meet outside the dog park, practice checking dogs for good body language, spotting problems, entering, working with our dogs so they listen even at the dog park, work on recall, and learn how to know when it’s safe to be there and when it’s time to leave.

I’ve also hit a LOT of resistance from clients lately. I hear a lot of reasons as to why someone feels they don’t need to walk their dog, so I’m going to debunk some myths here.

1. My dog isn’t energetic.

That’s probably true. Dogs are like children; most kids I know would rather play video games than go to martial arts class. But just like children, going for a walk is better than napping. Whether or not they get out and work their muscles, they still have a need to exercise. The fact that they’re bottling energy up just means it has to go somewhere — likely toward whatever behavior we don’t want them doing, or to feed anxiety, aggression, and stress. A low energy dog still has energy, and in fact, many high energy dogs look lazy — they’re bottling that energy up. My pit bull, Lily, is a VERY HIGH ENERGY DOG. She sleeps all day. If I don’t make her get out and exercise, she looks low energy… and then she turns that energy she bottled up into anxiety and destruction. (Furniture, to be precise.)

2. My dog has a yard to play in.

Again, let’s look at kids. Are your kids more likely to sit and play video games, or go wander around in the yard by themselves? If they do head into the yard, do they get bored and come back in if no one is out there playing with them? And if you banish them to the trampoline by themselves, do they wear themselves out or do they come back in shortly, bored? All those same answers are true for dogs, too.

3. But training is going so well; the problem’s gone away.

The problem has gone away because you are exercising your dog and because you’re working on it. It takes both things to solve your problems. Like getting fit requires both exercise and eating healthy, and one doesn’t work without the other, keeping your dog emotionally fit requires boundaries and exercise. As soon as you stop exercising your dog, they take that energy and put it right back toward arguing with you.

People laughingly say that tired dogs are good dogs, but it’s true. Walking them works their body and drains off energy that MUST be put toward some use — if not walking, then arguing. Walking them also stimulates their minds so they aren’t just stagnant and bored and pondering bad ways to get attention. How do you feel at the end of the day if you’ve done nothing? Dissatisfied? Edgy? Cranky? Your dog is the same way. Now what if you’ve gotten something done? Do you feel accomplished? Tired? Satisfied? To a dog, walking is getting something done — they’ve followed their leader, seen new things, made sure the neighborhood is safe, worked as a team with the rest of their pack (you).

Even if you don’t walk correctly, walking is still important. It is the number one most important thing you can do.

So get out! Get some air! Get some sun and some exercise. Take your dog to the coffee shop, the post office, around the block, to the park. Enjoy the day… and make your best friend mentally and physically healthier!