Getting started on training with your rescue dog

March 2, 2020August 10, 2021djm10003

Your new dog is a stranger in a strange land

Imagine how you would feel if you were dropped into a foreign country where you did not speak the language, you didn’t have any money, and you didn’t know how to get your needs met. How scary would that be? Imagine if every time you did something wrong or tried to ask a question, someone yelled “NO!” at you? How scary and difficult would it be to learn the language and how to get a meal? That is exactly what we do with rescue dogs. These dogs don’t know how to get their needs met. They don’t know if they’re safe. They don’t know who to trust, and they don’t speak English.

Many of our rescue dogs come from unknown backgrounds. We don’t know if they have ever been hit, yelled at or abused. We also don’t know what they have seen or been socialized to. Yet we expect them to know and follow our rules. We think they should know how they are supposed to behave. They should know what they are and are not supposed to chew on. We think they should know where the bathroom is and how to tell us they need to go, the list goes on and on.

By showing your new dog kindness and compassion through positive training – being clear on your expectations, and rewarding behaviors you want more of and preventing behaviors you don’t want more of – you will set your newly adopted rescue dog up success with you in your home.

When and how to get started on training

The best time to start on training your new dog is the first day you bring your dog home. Training on the first day is all about setting your dog up for success. Establish routines, boundaries, and habits to last a lifetime with your dog. Keep things simple. Reward behaviors you want more of – like sitting for petting and not jumping, sitting to have the leash put on, and politely waiting for a food bowl. Make sure to not reward behaviors you don’t want more of. Yelling at or trying to correct a dog for jumping gives the dog a simple message “I love it when you do that! Please do it again!” because to a dog, all attention is good attention (they can’t easily differentiate between good attention and bad attention).

Of course, you can’t always just ignore behavior that you don’t like in your new dog. Behaviors like trying to run out of doors, jumping up on people, and stealing things off the counter are all things that we don’t want more of, so we need to prevent from happening in the first place. By simply following the two-week shutdown rule and keeping your dog on a leash, you can prevent your dog from running out the front door, jumping up on people, and stealing things off of the counter.

2 Simple things to do with your new rescue dog

Dog on leash have fewer house training accidents. If your dog is on the leash and you are paying attention to her, you will notice when she starts to sniff the floor or walk in a circle or start to squat – all signs that she is about to go to the bathroom – you can quickly run her outside your potty spot.

You should also keep your dog’s world small. Your dog does not need access to your entire house on day 1. Start by handing him in one or 2 rooms – with you actively supervising him on leash to prevent chewing problems and house soiling accidents.

What training methods work best with rescue dogs?

We recommend you use positive reinforcement training with your newly adopted dog. The premise of positive reinforcement training is simple: you reward behaviors you want more of. You also prevent behaviors you don’t want more of by using a leash or crate or active supervision. This prevents the dog from rehearsing unwanted behaviors. The more your dog rehearses behaviors that you like, the more he’ll realize how to get his needs met. He will offer these pleasant and positive behaviors more and more, because they work for him. Rewards that your dog can earn are food, treats, play and toys, access to the yard or a walk, petting, and praise. Consistency and contingency are key. They speed up your dog’s learning because he learns that he has the power to make things happen.

Tools like shock collars, prong collars, e-collars, choke colors, pinch collars are all punishment-based training methods. The premise of punishment-based training is the dog learns how to avoid pain or fear. Punishment does not teach the dog what he is supposed to do. Dogs can have their necks punctured by prong collars if they suddenly pull or lunge. Prong collars can also pop off without warning. Choke collars can crush tracheas. Shock collars or e-collars can make dogs nervous, fearful, and unpredictable in situations they find scary or intimidating.

Almost all aggressive behavior is rooted in the dog being fearful. By punishing the dog for telling you he’s afraid – be it a growl, snarl, or refusal to do something – you do not make the dog’s fear go away. The dog learns that it’s not safe to show you he’s afraid, so behavior can be much more unpredictable. Also, if you punish a dog for growling, you risk him escalating his behavior the next time he’s afraid. The next time he is afraid, instead of saying “I am afraid” with a growl, he may say “I am afraid” with the snap because the last time he growled it got him a shock to his neck and the scary thing didn’t go away. For more information on the negative effects of punishment-based training, read this article published by the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior: https://avsab.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Punishment_Position_Statement-download_-_10-6-14.pdf

Training and bonding takes time and patience

Studies have documented that it takes 3-4 days for dogs’ stress hormones to return to normal after going to a new home. It can take 3-4 weeks for the dog to feel safe, and 3-6 months for his personality to start to really show. What this means to the new dog owner is that it will take time and patience for you and your new dog to settle in and feel comfortable with each other. Look for teachable moments in the first few weeks with your dog. Teach them to say please and they say it over and over again when they want something.

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, in over your head, or don’t know what to do with your new dog – ask for help! A class or few lessons with a positive reinforcement trainer are very effective ways to get started on a great life with their dog. If you see behavior that looks aggressive or scary, definitely don’t wait to ask for help. The longer you wait to start to change this behavior the harder the process can be and the lower the likelihood for success.

About Pepper’s Paws Dog Training

Pepper’s Paws, LLC provides in home dog training for basic manners, behavior problems, and fear aggression in Rehoboth Beach, DE. We also offer private, in home lessons in Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, Bethany Beach and surrounding communities. Zoom lessons are available dog training and behavior modification if you do not live in our service area.

Head trainer Deb Murray, is Certified Canine Behavior Consultant (CBCC-KA) and Certified Professional Dog Training (CPDT-KA) by the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers, a Fear Free Certified Trainer, an AKC Evaluator, and a Distinguished Graduate and Mentor Trainer for the Catch Canine Academy.

National Train Your Dog Month

January 4, 2019August 10, 2021djm10003

Did you know that January is National Train Your Dog Month?

The Association of Professional Dog Trainers started National Train Your Month 8 years ago to promote training your family dog to have everyday manners. Their website, trainyourdogmonth.com is chock full training tips and videos on everything from new puppy challenges, safe interactions between dogs and kids, what to know when you own a large breed dog, and how to choose a kennel or groomer. New content will be added throughout the month too. Make sure to check out their site.

Why should you bother training your dog?

Dogs who have had some training are less likely to end up in shelters or being returned to rescues or breeders. Dogs who get regular mental stimulation through training are happier, more relaxed, and are easier to live with because they aren’t always brimming with unbridled energy. Training can take the edge off of a nervous or anxious dog. Training teaches a dog to look to his owner for guidance. And last but not least, training is fun for dogs and people.

What behaviors should you train?

Start with the basics. Sit, Lay Down, Come, Stay, and Touch are great commands to begin with. Think of your dog learning these commands as putting tools in your toolbox – behaviors you can call on your dog to do instead of things you don’t want him to do.

Have a dog that jumps on people? Teach him a rock solid sit and call on this behavior when she wants to greet people. If she sits, she gets attention, and a dog that is sitting can’t be jumping at the same time! Same thing with a solid down – a dog that is lying down is not jumping on people. A dog who comes when called can’t be doing a myriad of other things we don’t like – barking at other dogs, getting into the trash, chewing on your shoes – the list is endless!

By teaching your dog to follow these commands you are effectively teaching replacement behaviors – things your dog can do instead of the things he is doing that you don’t like. Remember – training and investing in your dog really is all about you. Training makes your life with your dog more fun (and the dog gets the benefit too!)

How do you get started?

If you are a DYI kind of person, YouTube and Facebook have great training videos and groups. Our recommendation for training is always to use positive training methods. Our favorite YouTube channels for this are Kikopup and Zak George. These two trainers have hundreds of great videos that are easy to follow and get great results.

If you prefer to have someone teach you one on one, private dog training lessons are the way to go. When we work with clients we customize our programs to meet our clients goals and dreams for their dogs. We provide written training plans and handouts and lots of other great materials to support you in your training.

No matter what route you take to train your train, remember to have patience with your dog. Dogs don’t speak English, and some dogs take longer to learn new things than others do. If you dog doesn’t follow your commands, assume he needs a minute to translate from people to dog language or he doesn’t understand what you want him to do. Believe it or not, most dogs are not stubborn. We just haven’t made our instructions clear enough for them 🙂

Pepper’s Paws, LLC provides in home dog training for basic manners, behavior problems, and fear aggression in Rehoboth Beach, DE and surrounding areas. We also offer lessons via Zoom for anyone not in our in person service area.

Head trainer Deb Murray, is Certified Canine Behavior Consultant (CBCC-KA) and Certified Professional Dog Training (CPDT-KA) by the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers, a Fear Free Certified Trainer, an AKC Evaluator, and a Distinguished Graduate and Mentor Trainer for the Catch Canine Academy.

Did you know training your dog did this?

February 9, 2016August 13, 2021djm10003

There are some obvious reasons to train your dog: to teach him sit, lay down, not pull on the leash, why else should you train your dog?

Dog training can have amazing effects on your dog’s personality, confidence, and energy level. It also gives people – including children – confidence around dogs. People who train their dogs feel more bonded with their dogs, and if you watch them with their dogs, their dogs are more bonded and responsive to them too. They also feel less stressed with their dogs – at home, at the vet, on walks, meeting other dogs and people. Here are a few of their stories….

Liam’s story

Liam used to be very leash reactive. He looked like a crazed, aggressive dog when he saw another dog – from as much as 100 yards away. But when he met dogs off leash in his back yard he happy and relaxed with most dogs. Brenda needed Liam to be calmer when he saw other dogs, and desperately wanted to be able to walk him with other dogs. We set out to desensitize him to seeing other dogs – we showed him seeing other dogs was no big deal, and we counter-conditioned him seeing other dogs by showing him that seeing dogs on a walk was a good thing – it made hot dogs appear! Over a few months Liam went from doing barky, scary threat displays when he saw a dog on a walk, to a dog who saw a dog and calmly looked at his mom for guidance and reward. Liam learned to not only walk with other dogs, he started to enjoy it and was even able to help other leash reactive dogs to settle as well.

Bella’s story

Bella used to be afraid of people. Strangers made her nervous and she was reluctant to go near them. To help her, we taught Bella

Training Bella — Don’t take Bella’s word for it – train with us and see for your self!

some basic cues – Sit, Down, Touch, Stay, and Leave It – and rewarded her generously for doing these behaviors on cue. Learning these basic cues helped Bella relax and feel more in control of her environment – in her mind I think she thought she had figured us crazy humans out: “I sit, and they give me a treat, or open a door, or take off my leash – it’s so easy to get these people to do things for me!” In reality, all we did was make Bella’s world more orderly and predictable. We did most of this training while Bella was in daycare without parents present. I knew Bella was getting more comfortable with me, but the real break through came when Bella showed her parents her new people skills. During my handover session with Bella and her parents, my assistant Eryn walked into the room. Bella had never met Eryn before, and she walked right up to Eryn to greet her and turned sideways and politely asked for pets. Through training, Bella learned basics commands and she gained confidence, and we were thrilled!

Maxi’s story

When I first went to Maxi’s home she was a frantic little dog. She seemed to be going in 3 directions at once – and nipping everything in site. Maxi was anxious and nervous, and showed it with her mouth and by jumping on people. We taught Maxi that doing Sits, and Down, and Touches, and Stays made her ball fly through the air, treats appear out of no where, and petting and love come her way. In one week, Maxi went from anxious and frantic to focused and calm. Her Mom started hand feeding her and making her work for food, ask politely to get on the couch, and ignored any impolite or pushy behavior. I think it showed Maxi that there was nothing to be anxious about, Mom had the world under control, and Maxi blossomed. Maxi isn’t a perfect dog, but her progress in 1 week was fantastic! Her Mom is thrilled with her and feels much more in control of her home, and her dog, who used to be too excitable to sleep on her bed, now rests calmly at her side each night.

I can’t promise every dog will have transformations like this, or as quickly as some of these dogs did, but I can promise you this: training your dog and working with your dog will teach you and your dog to understand each other better, will help you (and often your dog) feel more confident, and it is a great way to exercise your dog’s brain, which can tire a dog out more than a long walk. Training should be fun and rewarding, for both dog and human. Give it a try, you just might love it!

Pepper’s Paws, LLC provides in home dog training in Rehoboth Beach, DE. We also offer Zoom private dog training lessons for people who do not live in our Delaware Beaches in home lessons service area.

Head trainer Deb Murray, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA is certified by the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers, an AKC Evaluator, and a Distinguished Graduate and Mentor Trainer for the Catch Canine Academy.