by Zak George
How should you handle this? You can try to redirect your dog’s attention from a leash to a tug rope or other tug toy. Your goal is to make the tug toy very enticing and exciting, moving it around on the ground or right in front of your dog’s face. It’s normal for your dog to be a little distracted and to go back and forth between the toy and the leash at first. However, be persistent about redirecting her to the appropriate toy—eventually, your dog will learn that when she bites on the tug toy instead of her leash, life is more fun because there’s someone on the other end of the toy, purposely pulling it, trying to engage her in an exciting game. For most dogs, this is ultimately more gratifying than biting the leash and constantly being redirected.
If your dog still seems to think, “No, I still want to play with the leash” and continues biting at the leash for whatever reason, a simple training exercise is in order. Just place a treat at her nose and request a “sit” and a “look at me.” Treat for compliance no matter how small at first. Yes, you’re going to have to do this a lot initially—this process can take days, even weeks. Like anything, generously reward in the beginning stages.
HANDLING A DOG WHO FREEZES UP ON A LEASH
Some dogs might have the opposite issue of pulling on a leash. Instead, they freeze up and become dead weight. In most cases, this is because a dog is not used to being on leash, so just be patient and dedicate some primary training sessions to luring her back and forth with a treat while she’s on leash. Also, let her walk around your house with the leash hanging and just get her used to wearing it. For a visual lesson on how to do this, check out my YouTube video with BB-8, the Alaskan Klee Kai, How to Teach Your New Puppy to Walk on Leash!
However, sometimes dogs freeze up on their leashes because of something causing them anxiety. For example, some may freeze up when the surface beneath their feet changes from concrete to grass. Or they may freeze up when approaching something making a loud sound.
As with virtually all training, don’t wait until you are confronted with your dog becoming uncooperative to then try to overcome this. Instead, be proactive and set up dedicated training sessions for these issues.
For instance, let’s say your dog freezes up when walking on grass, as might be the case for some city dogs. Be sure to spend significant time hanging out near a grassy area so that your dog gets more familiar with the grass nearby. First, work on your general leash training with lots of treats or playtime on the sidewalk near the grass. This helps your dog develop a positive association of being near the grass. Then, as your dog adapts to the environment, attempt to lure her onto the grass. If she seems to so much as think about stepping on the grass, generously reward her. The magic moment here is when your dog places one paw on the grass.
At first you may meet resistance with this, but that’s okay. It’s really important to go slowly if your dog is afraid of something. You may make little progress in your first couple of training sessions, but if you remain patient and understanding, you ought to steadily see improvement. See chapter 15 for more information on dealing with issues that make your dog fearful.
TEACHING MULTIPLE DOGS PROPER LEASH WALKING
Even if you have more than one dog, you need to teach each of your pets proper leash walking one-on-one first. Yes, this means leaving one dog inside while you take the other one out for training.
Why must you train them separately? Whereas before, you set up distractions like randomly throwing a treat or toy to test your dog, now you are adding a more significant distraction: another dog who just might be her best friend! Also, dogs are particularly quick to note when your attention is divided.
Once you’ve taught each dog to walk well while alone on leash, the process of getting them to walk well together should be pretty smooth sailing. The steps are the same; now you’re just doing the training sessions with multiple dogs instead of one. For instance, you’d teach two or more dogs to walk acceptably while together from inside your residence, then in front of it, and then while walking up and down the street nearest your home. However, if you run into difficulty, you might need to just take a step back in order to reteach some aspects of leash training to each dog independently. In general, teaching multiple dogs to walk nicely together requires a combination of frequently occurring lessons with the dogs apart and then gradually with them together.
SPECIAL COLLARS AND OTHER SUPPLIES FOR LEASH WALKING
Do: Basket Muzzles. Training in public requires you to be prepared for handling situations where you encounter other dogs, other animals, small children, or other people. It’s pretty much impossible to always strictly control the environment when you are in public. If you are unsure as to how your dog might react in these situations, it might be a good idea to condition her to enjoy wearing a basket muzzle. In fact, I think all dogs should at least learn to love wearing a muzzle just in case you ever need to use one. Basket muzzles are the most humane muzzles I’ve come across. They still allow dogs to pant, drink, and receive treats while preventing them from being able to bite should an unforeseen circumstance arise. Of course, don’t leave your dog in a basket muzzle for longer than necessary and never put her in one unsupervised. Check out my video How and Why Every Dog Should Love Wearing a Muzzle to learn how to properly put a basket muzzle on your dog and use it appropriately.
Don’t: Choke, Prong, or Electric Collars. By now you might be asking yourself why not just use a training collar like a choke, prong, or electric collar? After all, if you use these devices “correctly” by providing a rapid, harsh “pop” of the collar when leash pulling occurs, then a dog is likely to stop pulling. However, I really advise against using these devices. First, they can hurt your dog. Second, there’s no way to harm your relationship with your pet faster than by causing her pain. It’s critical to the training process that you keep your dog in an optimistic, fun state of mind as much as possible because this contributes to a bond and willingness to learn like nothing else. Also, even though these devices might help with leash walking as they provide a highly unpleasant consequence to pulling, they are just a bandage, not a solution. In other words, they are the epitome of outside-in training: at best, your dog learns not to pull because you are going to provide a painful punishment, not because she is generalizing how to behave in a variety of environments and contexts.
CHAPTER 10
BEGGING AND OTHER PUSHY BEHAVIORS
Begging and constant attention seeking drive a lot of people crazy. You’ve probably experienced such behavior at one point or another. You know, when your dog just stares at you, insisting that you drop a scrap of food on the floor or stop what you’re doing to give him a belly rub. Of course, there are times when we just want our dogs to calm down and give us some space. Maybe you have company over or maybe you just want to eat dinner without your dog making you feel really guilty that you’re not sharing it with him.
If you watch my videos, you’re probably familiar with Jacob, an adorable Pit Bull–mix rescue dog. Jacob’s quick backstory is that he was up for adoption at a shelter in New Orleans, where I live. At the same time, I was looking for a dog who had zero training but lots of energy for a video I wanted to make for my YouTube channel. I was purposefully looking for a challenging dog, and Jacob was perfect for the job! He was as wild and spirited as a dog can be—a proper high-energy dog who was far from trained. He was about a year old and seventy pounds of pure muscle. Long story short, my wife’s dad, Mike, fell in love with Jacob upon meeting him and adopted him on the spot. Jacob became great material for a whole series of videos that we ended up producing, and Mike and I certainly had a lot of fun training him together! I’m reminded what an amazing dog he is every time I see him.
One of the videos I made with Jacob was called How to Train Your Dog to Stop Begging and Settle Down, and it’s one of my favorite training videos I’ve ever made. Jacob wasn’t just a beggar for food—he demanded attention at all times. Watch the video—at first Jacob
was so relentless with his need for my attention, it’s a miracle I was able to film it. However, I eventually got this loving, pushy dog to really calm down. In this chapter, I’ll teach you how you can do that with your dog, too.
WHY DO DOGS BEG AND DEMAND ATTENTION?
It’s easy for this behavior to become well established early because all it takes is feeding your dog a couple of times while you’re eating something for him to always start expecting you to share. Also, many dogs are opportunists and seek attention and engagement from anyone and everyone. If that behavior goes unchecked, it’ll just continue. Reversing this established bad habit can be a bit more challenging than preventing it in the first place, but it’s doable!
WHAT TO DO ABOUT BEGGING AND OTHER PUSHY BEHAVIORS
Resolving behaviors like begging and pushiness comes down to showing your dog how you’d prefer he’d behave instead. Not only do we want our dogs to stop being so insistent for attention or food, but we also want to teach them how to settle down and tune out, too. In other words, teaching your dog “settle” is your way of telling your dog, “Calm down. I’m busy right now.” And it’s the key for resolving these particular behaviors.
Believe me, teaching this skill really comes in handy! I can remember many times being at the park with my Border Collies playing Frisbee over the years. It was great to be able to tell them, “Settle please” and have them behave any time I needed a break or wanted to talk to someone.
There are some significant prerequisites to teaching “settle.” Your dog must know a reliable “down” and “stay”—so reliable that you are past giving him a reward every time he does those things. See this page and this page, chapter 3, for a refresher on these skills. Also, check out my YouTube video How to Get Your Dog to Listen Without Treats for an illustration of how to wean your dog off treats over time. Chapter 22 covers the topic in depth, too.
The reason a “down” and a “stay” without a food reward is vital here is that your dog needs to have generalized these skills for many minutes at a time in day-to-day life. Also, rewarding your dog with food while teaching him not to beg for food might be a bit confusing.
Throughout this particular training, the idea is to keep your dog in a calm, relaxed mood. Also, we won’t wait until the begging or pushiness organically occurs to address this. You must set up training scenarios that mimic real life if you are to truly prepare your dog. Teaching “settle” is a slow process since it’s not so much a physical position you’re teaching as it is a relaxed state of mind. By waiting until your actual mealtime or when you have guests over, your attention is likely to be divided and your dog might become way too riled up. You can’t teach that way! Maximize your training time when things are calm and free of major distractions.
Lastly, if your dog happens to be high-energy like Jacob is, then exercise just before these primary training sessions is critical. It also helps if your dog has a full stomach during these sessions if begging is his particular issue—if he’s extra-hungry, it makes sense that he’ll more likely beg for food. So, let’s teach your dog “settle.”
Settle
A textbook “settle” is where a dog lies down and tunes out. He’s not anticipating additional instructions from you as he might in a more formal “down” or a “stay.” Instead, he just chill outs and relaxes—he can even take a nap! Just keep in mind that this is a more advanced skill that does require some maturity, so don’t expect a three-month-old hyper puppy to catch on to this one! Usually, a dog can learn “settle” once he has a strong grasp of basic skills, which can take a few months of training.
1. Start your “settle” training sessions when your dog is at his most low-key and relaxed—maybe after a long walk or game of fetch. “Settle” should mean “lie down, stay, and relax until further notice.” As your dog holds his stay, pet him softly and say, “Settle.” Remain calm and relaxed yourself, too—your dog picks up on your mood! You likely need to do this over several sessions for your dog to begin to understand what “settle” means. Prioritize teaching this while you’re watching TV or doing other low-key activities around the house.
2. Another ideal time to teach a good “settle” is when your dog is already doing it naturally. This is called capturing a behavior. Say “Settle” any time your dog begins to lie down and relax on his own. This way you’re introducing the term very clearly. This takes dozens of repetitions over time, but dogs do catch on to what these requests mean when introduced contextually.
3. Once you think your dog understands “settle,” set up a five- to ten-minute training session that specifically teaches him to settle during mealtime. Call or escort your dog over to his bed or other area where he’s likely to be comfortable and ask him to settle. For now, it’s best for your dog to remain in sight. Be patient! When your dog seems to relax momentarily, subtly acknowledge his success and go back to the table. You might softly say, “Good boy, thank you for settling.” Sit at the table with food in front of you—it can be anything your dog might want (which, if your dogs are anything like mine, is pretty much everything!). If your dog breaks his “settle” at any time, calmly escort him back to his spot and repeat the drill as necessary. If you notice that your dog is just too excited and not complying, then take a step back. Maybe you need to go back to teaching “settle” a little better or perhaps you’re just asking him to settle for too long. Remember, small steps lead to faster progress.
4. Now that you’ve addressed begging during training, up the ante. Maybe you can have more people sitting at the table or even include more varieties of tempting foods. You can also stay at the table longer—work from five to ten minutes of simulated training up to thirty minutes or longer at a real meal (as long as you’re willing to snap into training mode during mealtime). Plus, you can start addressing other pushy behaviors, like when you have company over and your dog is insisting they pay attention to him. Or maybe you’re with your dog at a friend’s house, and you want him to settle while you enjoy your visit. The good news is you can handle those other pushy behaviors in the same exact way you handle begging.
5. A big part of teaching dogs is keeping instances of unwanted behavior from occurring at all if possible, or at least greatly minimizing them. There may be times where teaching your dog not to beg or be pushy is less practical for one reason or another. Maybe, for instance, you’re in a hurry to finish breakfast because you’re running behind. Or perhaps you’re having a party at your house, and the excitement is too much for your dog. You just might not have time to ask your dog to settle and make sure he remains in that position. In that case, it’s best to put your dog in another room so that he doesn’t even have an opportunity to beg. That way, at least, your dog is not falling back into the pushy behavior.
6. There’s no harm in rewarding your dog after you are done eating or after your dog has held a nice settle while company is over. However, these rewards should be given nonchalantly as if to say, “Thank you for behaving nicely.” Teaching “settle” to my own dogs taught me that dogs really can understand these nuanced concepts.
CHAPTER 11
STEALING
If left to their own devices, dogs are usually major opportunists! For instance, if your dog sees something interesting, like your lunch or even your phone on the coffee table, she might grab it and do what she wants with it if you haven’t taught her how to handle these types of temptations. It’s on us to make sure we train our dogs how not to steal things—or to stop doing so if they’ve already picked up the bad habit. Either way, I’ll teach you how to get this under control.
WHY DO DOGS STEAL?
Dogs steal things for several reasons. Of course, it’s pretty obvious why your dog might try to steal the meatball sub or chicken drumstick you left sitting out on the kitchen counter. She wants to devour every single morsel! Also, dogs are curious creatures, and they might steal something simply because they want to investigate it further.
I’ve taught many dogs, including my own, to not touch a plate of food I leave on the floor. I know that might seem impossible, but I promise you, it’s not that difficult. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to get your dog to stop stealing:
1. The first step is to make it virtually impossible for your dog to steal. By doing so, you manage your dog’s behavior and bring the habit to a standstill (or, better yet, prevent it from occurring in the first place). This is done by limiting your dog’s access to things that might tempt her by keeping her on leash and attached to you. If you rely on a strategy of trying to rush to your dog and interrupt a “theft” in progress, you’ll almost certainly be too late most of the time to actually teach her.
2. Next, plan a primary training session. You first need to teach your dog a solid “leave it,” which I cover on this page, chapter 3. Then, continue teaching her “leave it” in a variety of situations that resemble real-life circumstances over the coming weeks. Tempt your dog with various foods and other objects. The video How to Teach Your Puppy to Actually Listen to You When It Counts! (Real-Life “Leave It” Explained!) teaches this really well. The dog in that specific video, Izzy, was very young, yet she excelled at this concept. It really only takes a training session or two to get traction on this skill.