Puppy Adolescence

The Smart and Beautiful Foster Puppy Girl Lovey

Puppies like people go through an adolescence phase in their natural development. From a training perspective this presents potential problems. If you have a puppy in your pack, you need to at least be aware of this phenomena.

Generally dogs are considered adults at around 12 months of age.  The adolescence phase can begin at any point between about 6 months and about 18 months. The repetitively good news is that it does not last as long as it does in people. Usually in dogs it last from a few weeks to a couple of months or so.

The adolescence is brought about by physiological, mainly hormonal changes in the dog as part of his/her growth to adulthood. The thing that seems a bit counter intuitive, to me at least, is that altering the dog (spay/neuter) does not seem to have a great effect on the behavior during adolescence.

Well, here is the bad news: During adolescence it is not uncommon for you sweet little well behaved and polite dog to seemingly forget everything that you worked so hard teach him/her.

Housebreaking accidents are common. General misbehavior is common. An article on Petfinder.com really describes it well; "At times he may look at you as though you had just addressed him in Mandarin, trying to convince you that you never taught him the sit command"

This is really serious stuff. Many dogs end up in shelters because their people do not understand what is going on here. This condition is temporary and there are things that you can do about it. It is far from a hopeless situation. It can however, be extremely frustrating.

Foster Boy Biscuit taking a nap

This kinda hits close to home for the Lovely Shane and myself. Our current foster boy, Biscuit is going through this now. We welcomed him to our home a couple of weeks ago and he was making great progress. Housebreaking was going great! He was learning basic commands and doing them very well. He was becoming a very polite little guy.

Foster Boy Biscuit... ain't that a pretty face!

Biscuit is about 9 or 10 months old. It is apparent, to me at least , that he is now beginning that wonderful adolescence phase. He has suddenly forgotten that he should only relief himself outside. He is becoming generally more stubborn. He is sort of testing the limits that we put upon him. All of this is natural and extremely frustrating!

 What you have to do is remain calm, be patient, and take several steps back in your training (this will be temporary). Treat him/her like they are learning this stuff for the first time.

As I have written before, dogs sense our emotions. They know when you are frustrated. Be careful to remain calm when working with them. I realize this is difficult when a housebroken pup pees on your furniture. Or it is difficult to remain calm when that well behaved little guy forgets how to sit properly or jumps all over you. But try to remember that this too will pass and you will have your old dog back soon. Perhaps it will not seem as bad if you remember some of the odd stuff you may have done as an adolescent.

If you are getting really frustrated and need help with your adolescent pup, I will be more than happy to talk to you about it and possibly show you some techniques to deal with it better. Please contact me at anytime!

Till next time

-William-

William Moore
William Moore Canine Training
fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com
678-702-4791

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Polite Dogs...... Happy People

William Moore Canine Training
678-702-4791
http://fayettedogtrainer.blogspot.com

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William Moore will work with you and your dog in your home for one hour. As part of the session, He will work with you to develop a training plan that addresses your unique training needs. He will begin teaching you how to work with your dog to achieve a more polite and better behaved dog. Because..... Polite Dogs... mean... Happy People!

William Moore Canine Training uses only positive reinforcement methods.

This offer is valid for sessions that are paid for before October 10, 2013. No obligation for additional sessions required.

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The Foster File - Update on our foster pups

Tiny Beagle Penny
Our first foster girl

 I thought this may be a good opportunity to update you on the Dogs that the Lovely Shane and I have been fostering in our home lately.

Penny: As you may remember, Penny found a wonderful forever home with people who treat her very well (we do not use the word "spoil" :) ).

Foster Girl Lovey

While the Lovely Shane and I were on our cruise, we understand that Penny brought her new people to Petco on that Saturday to visit the groomers and the BullyWag volunteers. I understand that she is doing very well and is very happy!


After Penny found her forever people, we were blessed to foster an energetic little girl named Lovey. Lovey is a pit-bull mix. We think she is mixed with Border Collie. During the time she was with us she progressed very well. She learned to walk on a leash better (she still pulls a little). She learned all the behavioral stuff the rest of our pack knows like sit, stay, wait, leave it, etc. She is a very smart and active puppy. She is much younger and more energetic than the rest of our pack. Last Saturday, she went to a different foster home with more energetic pack mates. I am sure she is loving it! If you would like to add Lovey to your pack, she is still available and would make a great addition!

Foster Boy Whiskey

We also got to spend about a week with a wonderful little puppy named Whiskey. Whiskey is some sort of small hound mix. We think there may be some Dachshund in there. We are not certain what other breeds are in his genetics but it is something fairly small.

He loved playing with Lovey while he was with us! He also got along great with the rest of the pack! He is also a smart little guy. He was picking up very quickly on our pack's routines and already knew most of the behavioral stuff.

The really great news is that he found his forever home on Saturday! We can not wait to hear how he is doing

Foster boy Biscuit

On Saturday, we were thrilled to welcome Biscuit as the newest foster member of the pack!

Biscuit is an adorable hound mix. He is about 8 months old (I think that is close).  Not sure of his ancestry either. Some have speculated Dachshund/Basset mix. That could be accurate, but I also think there is some larger dog like a Labrador in there as well. When I watch him walk and play I am reminded of the Bloodhound. I am the only one who has noted that, however.

Biscuit is ,sadly, a former victim of neglect. He was kept outside on a short chain in the weather.  I don't think he had much human contact.

He is not anxious so far as we can tell. He is very clingy, however. He follows us around closely. We have to be careful not to accidentally step on him. He loves affection! He is truly a scent hound. He loves treats. He loves any sort of food. He fits in very well with the Beagle boys in our pack! I know I have written this about all of our fosters but, he is very smart!

Foster Boy Biscuit at rest

He knew the sit command when he first arrived. He has already learned down and we are working on leave it.

The first time I put a leash on him he almost pulled my shoulder out of the socket. He pulls hard. I think it is because he spent so much time on the chain. I have been working with him on a no-pull harness. He is learning but we still need more time to work.

If you would like to add a good little hound boy to your pack, Biscuit is certainly worth considering!

Please remember, if you are think of getting a dog to add to your pack, there are a lot of sweet little guys and girls like the ones in this post. They need homes. They need love. Contact me before you contact a breeder or pet store. I will be happy to help you find a rescued dog who would love to live with you forever!

Also, if you have a new dog and are ready to begin training to get a polite and well behaved little guy or girl, please contact me at any time!

Till Next Time

-William -

William Moore Canine Training
678-702-4791
fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com

How to help a dog that is afraid of nail clipping.

Our little Beagle, Cody really does not like to have his nails clipped. He is a senior guy and his nails are thick and they seem to grow fast.

The Lovely Shane and I adopted Cody in June. Since then, we have noticed that he is really anxious in certain situations. He does not like getting shots at the veterinarian. I can't say that I blame him, I am afraid of needles too! However, Cody yelps like he is in extreme pain before the needle ever touches him. (I have stopped yelping when the doctor pulls out the needle... now I close my eyes)
He only has to see the needle to become anxious. I suppose he is associating the needle with the pain of the stick ( not an irrational thing to do at all in my opinion).

Cody in his basket.

He is also afraid of the nail clippers. I speculate that perhaps at some point in his life, someone accidentally cut into the quick and hurt him. Of course now, I speculate, that he is associating the pain he once experienced with the nail clipper. We could use one of those dremel tool type devices that grinds the nail but I doubt he would be thrilled about that either.

The problem, in my opinion (based upon experience with other dogs), is that he is associating people doing things to his nails with some painful earlier experience. Much like people, some dogs are just naturally more anxious than others. Cody is generally slightly more high strung than our Whopper Beagle, Copper. Copper generally does not get nearly as anxious as Cody.

There is a reason I am writing about Cody's anxiety here. There is a technique for addressing this problem. I have had a lot of success with it in the past. Dog Trainers call this technique Counter Conditioning and Desensitization. Sometimes, just so we can sound cool, we abbreviate it CC&D.

Cody and I ready for a little nap.

It is outside the scope of this blog post to teach you all the details of this method. However, the way I usually explain it to people is as follows:

As I mentioned, the real issue here seems to be that the dog is associating pain or something negative with the nail clippers. Simply put, our objective is to get the dog to associate something positive with the dreaded nail clippers rather than something negative.

It is important that you remain patient during this process. It will not happen immediately. It takes slow, methodical steps. Like virtually everything else in dog training, patience and routine are really the keys to success here. It is very important that you not get frustrated.

What we do is find something that the dog loves.It should be something that motivates him. Something that is of "high value" to the dog. For some dogs this may be a food item like a frankfurter (we do not say hot dog :) ) or cheese. For some dogs this may be a favorite toy.

Me when I learn the Doctor is going to need
to use a needle.

Once we have identified the motivation, we very slowly, in a controlled environment begin to get the dog to associate the motivator with the nail clippers. In other words, we are desensitizing him (making him less sensitive) to the nail clippers by associating the nail clippers with the motivator (maybe a nice piece of stinky cheese). This helps to "counter-condition" him from associating the clippers with pain and he begins associating the clippers with fun good stuff.

I know this sounds like a lot of psychological theory. I am not a psychology professor (however I do occasionally play one on T.V. :) ) I do however know what my experience has been .It does really work. I have seen it work many times. In the beginning, I was skeptical of this technique. I am a reformed believer now!

The Lovely Shane and I are going to begin this with Cody very soon. I will keep you updated on our progress.

If you have a dog that is afraid of the nail clippers or anything similar, this is a technique that we can use to help your little guy or girl. There is hope! It just takes the proper technique, time, and patience.

Please contact me and I will be glad to help you help your dog to deal with his/her anxiety.

Till Next Time

William

William Moore
William Moore Canine Training
678-702-4791
fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com

What to do when you can not take your dogs on vacation with you.

The Lovely Shane and I at the Cruise Ship Port in Nassau

Copper really missed us!

The Lovely Shane and I just returned from a Cruise to the Bahamas. Those of you who are familiar with me know that I advocate taking your well behaved little guys with you if possible. In some cases, it is simply not possible. The cruise lines do not allow pet dogs (at least Carnival does not). Therefore, we could not take our little darlings with us.

The towel animal that the crew left in our room one
day really reminded us of Cody.... Could have been Copper but would
 have required a large beach towel :)

There were many options available to us for their care. Some of the options we considered were:

• Leaving the pack at the Dog Training Shack (our home) and asking relatives to feed and walk them in addition to checking our mail, taking out the trash, etc.
• Leaving the pack at the Dog Training Shack and hiring a pet sitter to feed and walk them.
• Leaving the pack at a relative's house to be cared for over the week.
• Leaving the pack at the home of a Pet Sitter for the week.

None of these options is particularly bad. We did not really want to impose upon our family for the length of time which we were going to be away. None of our family really had the space for our pack at their houses.Our house was too far away to be practical for them to care for our guys for a week in our home.

Notice that a kennel is not on the list. We just really did not want them to be caged in a strange place for the entire week. I will not hate you if you choose a kennel. There are some good ones out there. It was just not what we wanted to do. It was really important to us that they stay with someone that we know and that will take good care of them (some folks may call it spoiling them. We prefer to call it taking good care of them :)).

The beach at Little Stirrup Cay (Bahamas)

Another note of caution. This is not really dog related but more travel related. You may notice that I did not mention my trip at all on this blog before departure. I did not mention it on Facebook or any other public electronic venue either. This was intentional. Please be cautious about posting this sort of personal information on places that may be accessed by the general public. The Lovely Shane and I were both gone so, the house was a little vulnerable. Had I posted this information about our travel plans publicly, anyone with nefarious intentions could have broken into our house. Also anyone with something against me ( I hope there are not many of you :) ) would have know my general location and could have found me. Perhaps my past career in the Computer Security business makes slightly more paranoid that most of you. But please consider this advice the next time you are planning a trip.

We decided to use a Pet Sitter. It was a little outside our budget to have them stay at our home so, we took them to the Pet Sitter's home. This was a better option anyway. At the Pet Sitters home they got more attention than they would have if left alone at our place and they got to play with other people and dogs. This sort of situation is generally much less stressful on the dogs than a kennel would be.

The Lovely Shane and I with a new DJ friend.

We use and I  highly recommend Michelle Crampo at All Things Paws. You may remember my mentioning Michelle in another post about the Local Heroes of Dog Rescue. I adopted Copper from her. She does a lot of good work saving the lives of dogs through rescue.

Copper enjoyed being back at his old foster home for a week! The rest of our pack did incredibly well too.

When you leave your pack to go on vacation, it is not uncommon for them to behave a little differently when you return. Our little guys and girl have been much more clingy. This usually lasts for a day or two.

I still strongly encourage you to take the little guys and girls with you when you go if it is possible. However, I do realize that sometimes we do not have that option. When you need to leave them behind, I strongly suggest that you leave them with someone you can trust. If you are outside the Atlanta area, check with other people in the community and get recommendations from people that you trust. If you are leaving the dogs at the sitter's home, ask for a tour of the place and perhaps bring your dogs over first to let them sniff around the place before your trip.

If you are in the South Metro Atlanta Area, I certainly recommend Michelle. If you live elsewhere in North Georgia, please contact me and I will be glad to talk with you about other sitters in the area.

Till next time

-William-

William Moore
William Moore Canine Training
678-702-4791
fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com