How to manage a dog in your house

There are barely any hard rules in dog training. This is why a lot of people do different things. My goal with a pet dog is to integrate the dog into society and to be social and defer to their handler for any minor things. This is when I take a dog out into the world and see how they are when it comes to new experiences- objects, people, environments, other dogs or animals. This is important to me because I want a dog who is confident but not aggressive or fearful. I will discuss this training in another article. But today I’m going to be talking about how you live with your dog in your home. Check out my blog post titled “ 6 tools needed for a new puppy” to get started. After that you are ready to start managing your dog. You need rules, a schedule, management skills, and what to do when a dog is acting a specific way.

Rules

You need rules to establish yourself and so that your dog knows what to expect. You shouldn’t hold a dog accountable for something he has not learned yet. Some example of rules is:

1. When Im not around my dog is in the crate

2. no begging for food. when we eat my dog goes to its dog bed

3. no jumping on furniture

4. not allowed in certain rooms

5. my dog will eat in its crate

This is not a full list just a sample. It depends on what you like

Schedule

Being on a schedule makes life for a dog predictable. Which makes life for him easier and in turn easier for you too. Being on a schedule is just doing the same things at the same time everyday.

For instance,

8am walk my dog

10 am - 12pm relax in xpen

1pm feed ( if its a puppy) then walk the dog 15 minutes later

6pm feed and walk my dog

Management skills

It is best to be proactive then reactive. I always recommend redirecting a dog in the beginning stages of a behavior that might be a problem such as barking, staring and eventually lunging at other dogs, digging, biting on furniture, and others. So when your dog is digging and its a puppy or just started doing this behavior it is best to tap your dog on its butt, or get its attention somehow, and redirect your dog away from the digging site. Have the mindset of” instead of digging come play this little game with me over here”. The same goes with staring. Once you notice your young dog staring too long, then redirect them away from the dog. After a while you will start to notice what causes your dog to react whether its another dog, cars, or loud noise from a construction site. Now you are prepare and can begin to proactively avoiding an outburst from your dog. If you see a dog coming then immediately whip out some treats and start playing food games. Same thing goes if you are going pass a construction site or people your dog doesn’t like. Avoid the problem so your dog doesn’t get a chance to practice negative behavior.

What to do when your dog act in certain ways

Hire a professional dog trainer!!! No seriously, I get calls from people thinking they can solve problems that is too complicated for someone not knowing what they are doing. Its not a simple as punish a dog and reward a dog. Sometimes there are psychological factors we have to consider. For example, if your dog lunges at another dog you can punish that behavior. The problem with this and what Ive notice is that dogs who have this happen to them tend to become unpredictable. SInce they are afraid to exhibit their true emotional state they will do it in unpredictable ways.

Hope you guys enjoyed this post. Let me know if you have any questions

Potty training 101

If you follow this process that I’m going to explain to you then you should have a dog that is potty trained in a matter of time. The #1 rule for potty training is to never take your eyes off the dog. This is crucial and why so many people come home and step in accidents on the foul. If you want to get your dog to understand how to use the bathroom outside then you must have a process to teach your dog.

Another rule of mine is to never punish the dog for making mistakes. I know that old school way of taking him back to the scene of the crime, mushing his nose in it, then smacking him with a newspaper. PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS!!! It is ineffective at best and damaging your dog’s relationship with you at worst.

Quick note: Notice when your dog has to go to the bathroom. Usually its first thing in the morning. Sometimes they will play and get worked up then drink a lot of water. Next thing you know they are peeing out a river.

For those of you using wee wee pads get off my site and don’t ever come back. If I see you in the street don’t say nothing to me. You are lazy and don’t want to walk your dog and I will not tolerate that. HAHAHAHA Im just kidding. We will talk about wee wee pads later on and how to use them and what not to do with them. But first lets discuss the process to potty train your dog.

1. Feed you dog.

   Put down a bowl of dog food and give your dog 15 minutes to eat. The bowl should not be left down all day. If the bowl is left down your dog will nibble on food throughout the day and this will make it harder to time when they have to go to the bathroom. After they eat or even if they don’t pick up the bowl at the 15 minute mark. and move on to step 2

2. Wait 15 minutes before taking your dog for a walk.

   It will vary from dog to dog, but this will work for most. During the 15 minutes make sure to keep your eyes on your dog and that you can see them at all times. Be proactive. If you see your dog sniffing the ground a lot then they might be sniffing for a spot to release their load. Pick them up if they are small enough and take them outside immediately. If they are big just run with them outside.

3. Take your dog outside to a designated area

   IN the beginning this is important. Many people have spots all over their yard because they allow the dog to pee everywhere. Its important to take your dog on a leash and allow her to sniff the same spot and pee in the same spot.

   You ever notice how your dog might have an accident in the house but it always that same spot whether behind the couch or in the living room on the carpet.

   We can use this to our advantage. This also saves time. When you are in a rush and you know your dog has to go to the bathroom you can avoid all the sniffing and take them to their designated area to relieve themselves.

4. Once your dog is sniffing and decided to use the bathroom then its praise time

   Give your dog a lot of praise when they use the bathroom. They need to know that they did a great thing. Mark the behavior by saying “pee pee” , “poop poop”, or whatever else you want to use to signal to your dog that its go to the bathroom time. I see some people give a treat but this can cause your dog to fake it just to get a treat.

What if you are struggling and your dog doesn’t use the bathroom?

I would first ask you “ did you get your dog from a pet shop or puppy mill. Those dogs can sometimes have a harder time because they are use to stepping and laying in their own feces. There are little tricks you can do, but lets stay on task here.

If you adopted your dog or brought them from a reputable breeder, then we need to fix this problem.

Remember the #1 rule of never take your eyes off the dog. Well when we step away from our dog we will put them in a crate. If we go outside for a while and we don’t have luck, we will come back inside and put our dogs in the crate and try again in 10 minutes.

My method is if they are never allowed to pee or poop in the house then they wont do it. They don’t get a chance to practice bad behavior.

“SO Donald what about wee wee pads”?

Well wee wee pads are helpful definitely for smaller dogs and especially during the winter months here in NYC.

SOme tips for using wee pads:

Use only one pad. Many people use a bunch of pads all throughout the house, but this can be confusing to the dog. Remember we want her to go to a designated area.

You also can’t get mad if your dog missed the pad by a little. It is not crystal clear to the dog. Using the bathroom inside of the house and outside in the yard is a clear difference.

One thing you can try is elevating the wee pad on something. The difference between an elevated object and an object flat on the ground is also a clear difference for the dog.

You can also try to put the pad in place where your dog likes to pee anyways like the bathroom or down the hallway.

That pretty much sums up potty training 101. If you have any questions email me at fraternityk9@gmail.com or comment below

6 tools needed for a new puppy

These are the 6 important tools for a young puppy

Harness

A harness is what I use mostly for young puppies because it allows a puppy to pull. Puppies have no concept of not pulling and walking nice on a leash usually. This also prevents them from choking themselves out with a flat buckle collar. The strongest part of a dogs body is the chest. By using a harness we also prevent unnecessary stress on our young puppies. 

4 or 6ft leash

I usually have one of these. It is usually light weighted so the dog can drag it with no problem. The only issue you will face with this leash is that a puppy doesn't understand leash pressure and how to give in. You will notice this when you pull a puppy forward and they resist by pulling in the opposite direction. This is also known as an oppositional reflex. Eventually as the puppy gets older we teach them how to give in to pressure. A little stress is not a bad thing for our dog but we have to set them up for success. 

flat buckle collar

These are your regular flat collars most dogs have. I like to keep this in my arsenal but i prefer a harness more. Again, puppies can choke themselves with these collars when they are young. I still condition them to this collar because we will be using it a lot later on. As your dog gets bigger, a harness reinforces your dog pulling. This is when i prefer a flat collar. It gives us more control of the dog's head. If we can control their head then we can control what we want them to look at and not look at.

Flexilead

This is my favorite tool for young pups. Its like having a regular leash and a long line in one.  You can let the dog go 20ft away from you or stay right next to you. A puppy natural instinct is to follow the group or leader. If your puppy is 20 ft away you will notice that he/she might naturally run to catch with you so they are not too far away from you. What I also like about the flexilead is that you still have control of your dog just in case your puppy sees a leaf or paper or some other object they want to chase across the street. You can immediately change the leash from a long line to a 4 or 6 ft leash.

Crate

A crate has been called many things( a den, the dog's safehaven, etc). A crate, to me, is a simple management tool. If the dog is in its crate he/she can not get into trouble( chewing on shoes, soiling everywhere, biting on furniture). Puppies sleep in crates and spend time in it when we leave the home. I would suggest that you don't get your dog a crate the size of a mini mansion. They only need to be able to stand up, turn around, and lay down.

Xpen

An xpen is a great tool. Its like a crate but bigger. You can put your puppy in it and throw in some chew toys. This prevents boredom and it allows your puppy to feel included in the family. This will prevent running around the house yet will give your puppy enough space to have fun.