Training, toys can help you tucker out dogs
It is turning out to be a hot summer. Our young dog is not getting enough exercise, which is making him difficult to live with. How can we tire our dog during the summer heat?
This summer has been particularly difficult for young dogs and their people. Heat stroke is a very real risk.
Alternate activities can take the edge off. Busy toys, bones and enrichment actives are good pacifiers. Independent activities can keep dogs out of trouble.
Mental activities, such as training, are a great way to tire a dog out. Just like people become exhausted after doing challenging math problems, dog training can make up for the lack of physical exercise on hot days.
Sign up for a trick class. Dog sports such as rally or freestyle are often taught indoors and are suitable for dogs of all breeds, shapes and sizes.
Working in a class environment has the added benefit of teaching pets to focus and ignore distractions such as other dogs and people. We have a saloon style doggie door for our rescue dog. She will not come back into the house through the door unless we hold it open for her. I don’t want to leave her out there, hoping she figures it out. I feel it may make her reluctant to go out in the first place. How can I teach her to push through the door on her own?
Letting a dog figure things out by themselves presumes that the de- sire to get back inside supersedes the reluctance to push through the door.
While it may work for some, it backfires on many. Leaving dogs unsupervised risks their exposure to the elements and people who might pester, harm or steal a pet.
Instead, split the problem into smaller steps. There are literally an infinite number of baby steps that range between an open door and a closed one.
In dog training, dividing a skill into smaller slivers is called, “Splitting criteria.” The opposite, called lumping, results in a dog that quits trying. The jump in difficulty is too large.
Start with what the dog can do. Work in sets of 10. Sets of 10 allow owners to be reasonably certain that good performance is not a fluke. Open the door and lure the dog through. Reward the dog with a special treat. Since the dog is already capable of this skill, success is virtually guaranteed. Use a piece of food to lure or entice the dog through the door.
Gradually fade or remove this incentive when the dog demonstrates speed and confidence.
On the next set of 10 repetitions, open the door one centimetre less than the last time. Such tiny increases in difficulty are so minor that the dog might not even perceive a difference.
Success again comes quickly because the dog is being asked to do something they are capable of doing. Continue opening the door one centimetre less on subsequent sets, moving forward when the dog is ready.
Progress tends to happen quickly because the dog is barely aware that the exercise is growing more diffi- cult. They don’t recognize that they are facing something they disliked because it is being presented in such a subtle way.
Dogs may hesitate when they need to start pushing at the door. Stick at this level until the dog’s confidence resurfaces. It’s all about baby steps.
Do not push to complete the task in one day.
Five sets is sufficient homework for one day.
Splitting criteria may seem tedious and time consuming.
The irony is that splitting creates an animal that is very quick to learn. Yvette Van Veen is an animal behaviour consultant. Write her at advice@awesomedogs.ca.