How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend

by Monks of New Skete

  During the thirty years we have been training dogs of all breeds, one of the clearest lessons we have learned is that each dog is a unique creature. Despite the fact that selective breeding has resulted in a certain general predictability regarding breed characteristics, there are plenty of individual representatives who vary from the norm. Contrary to what one might ordinarily expect, we've trained extroverted shar-peis as well as bashful golden retrievers. No two dogs are the same, which is why we never grow bored with them and why we find them endlessly fascinating.

  Good training should allow your dog's uniqueness to blossom in a way that enhances your relationship. However, to accomplish this goal, you have to be an educated and sensitive observer of your dog, recognizing that general training guidelines always have to be tailored and adapted to each particular dog and not always applied in the same way. Throughout your life with your dog, it is crucial to remember this basic principle: with respect to training, always take into account the dog at the end of the leash. Any specific training approach has to be adapted to the particular personality of the individual dog in question.

  If we are going to be good trainers, we have to be flexible and continually learning. Rather than being captive to any one "system," we may have to become familiar with a number of different approaches and draw from that knowledge as circumstances require. We want to be able to focus on the needs and temperament of an individual dog, on what will most help this particular dog learn in this particular situation. Sometimes that may involve food inducement, at other times, much less so; sometimes a prong collar may be particularly helpful in training, in other cases it would be positively harmful.

  Taking this approach toward the individual dog requires that owners understand something about their dog's personality. For a dog lacking in self-confidence — like Sasha, for example — food rewards and enthusiastic praise are valuable motivators to help her get out of herself and into a positive, self-confident demeanor with respect to the training. That might not be the case with an exuberant, happy-go-lucky standard poodle.

  Consider the Dog

  Personality refers to the particular canine temperament that your dog manifests. Broadly understood, this includes genetically determined behavior as well as behavior that has been shaped by your dog's particular environment. For example, all dogs possess a number of instinctive behaviors, or drives, which strongly influence how they interact with the world, and in turn respond to training:*

  ■ Prey drive, made up of behaviors associated with hunting, killing, and eating, manifests itself when your dog chases after a speedy squirrel in the backyard or vigorously shakes the play rope. A dog with a high degree of prey drive is challenging for an owner to train, since the dog is easily distracted by moving objects and may require a lot of work with set-up situations that teach him to focus on the handler.

  ■ Pack drive involves social behaviors related to your dog's being part of a pack; it includes sexual and parental behavior and is also readily seen when your dog actively solicits play from the dog next door, for example, or when he shadows you around the house. Since a vital aspect of pack behavior is the willingness to work as part of a team, this is the drive you'll most frequently draw upon when teaching obedience exercises. A dog with a high pack drive is easier to train because she responds readily to touch and praise. She enjoys being with you and finds training stimulating and enjoyable.

  ■ Defense drive includes those behaviors related to survival and self-preservation that are manifested in either fighting or fleeing, as when your dog scoots away from a loud noise or barks threateningly at the door after the doorbell has rung. Whereas a dog with strong fight instincts demands solid leadership skills and probably has little problem with firm corrections in training, a dog with a high defense drive oriented to flight needs to be watched carefully. You need to keep your training positive and upbeat, avoiding any force training and most likely using an elevated, pleasant tone of voice and food reinforcement.

  Though all dogs possess these drives to varying degrees, what is important to be aware of is that each dog manifests them in different ways, in different combinations. And this is not the end of it. Environmental experiences can either reinforce or modify these instinctive drives — for example, the crucial role of early socialization in puppyhood, the effect of traumatic experiences such as gunshots, fireworks, and car backfires, and the basic health or confusion of the owner-dog relationship. Now we can begin to appreciate the complex character of an individual dog's personality. Even though Sasha happened to be a rottweiler (a breed that traditionally manifests a high degree of protective/defensive drives), her particular personality expressed itself more neutrally, or even with what we would describe as a noticeable lack of self-confidence. Good training tries to deal with the dog as she is and then discover the best way to realize her potential within the bounds of her living situation.

  So how can we apply this principle? In our discussion of puppy temperament testing in The Art of Raising a Puppy,*we describe the puppy test we use here at New Skete to aid us in placing our German shepherd pups in their new homes. From our experience using this test in connection with puppy placement and obedience potential, we are able to single out three aspects of canine personality relating to their drives that strongly influence how you go about training your dog: sociability, dominance, and touch sensitivity. All dogs manifest varying degrees of these traits. To train your dog intelligently and successfully, it is vital to have a clear sense of how your dog fits these three categories.

  Sociability, Dominance, Touch Sensitivity

  1. Is your dog outgoing and people-oriented? Or perhaps she is somewhat reserved and aloof? Usually this is fairly easy to judge. The happy dog who eagerly solicits attention from houseguests by jumping all over them is clearly the people-oriented extrovert, whereas the independent, reserved dog may give a few barks and then simply retire off to the side and want little to do with the visitors. More extreme yet is the shy dog who shivers and shakes in the corner when faced with an unfamiliar face. Such a dog may even growl or bark in distress with his tail tucked.

  2. To get a clear idea of the broad range of possibilities in regard to canine dominance, think of the pack. In a pack you always have alpha (first) and omega (last) members, with the rest ranking somewhere in between. The dominant alpha exhibits dominant body posture: head-on greetings with strong eye contact and raised hackles (neck and back hairs). The tail is held high, with ears erect. Such a dog exudes confidence. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the highly submissive dog who greets other pack members by rolling on his back and submissively urinating. Such a dog is a placater, who will grovel to defuse any threat he perceives from a more dominant pack member.

  3. Finally, dogs manifest various degrees of touch sensitivity. Some dogs are touch-insensitive, which means that they do not react as negatively to circumstances other dogs might find unpleasant. One of our German shepherds, for example, loved to go after porcupines — even after she had been quilled several times — and reveled in racing through our creek . . . evenin freezing-cold temperatures! At the other extreme are touch-sensitive dogs, who are very sensitive to any discomfort whatsoever. Such a dog may balk at going out to relieve himself when it's raining, or whimper and cry at the slightest muscle strain and dislike being petted. Dogs in between, of a more normal sensitivity, respond evenly to leash pops and recover quickly from unexpected exertion or tumbles they might experience playing with another dog.

  Given these realities, you as a responsible owner want to take into account the particular personality traits your dog exhibits and tailor your training methods accordingly. It is beyond the scope of this book to script all the possible variations in canine personality and the different ways to approach training, but we can give you some clues. These insights, combined with your own knowledge, intuition, and observation of your dog, will help you move in the right direction. By taking into account your dog's personality, you can reasonably antici
pate how he will respond to training and can predict the type of demeanor appropriate for you so that you will be more effective. It will also help you judge the appropriateness of certain kinds of training equipment.

  For example, just as it makes little sense to use heavy doses of compulsive training with a wallflower-type dog who withers merely at a piercing glance, it may be entirely necessary and appropriate to use a prong collar with a larger, more dominant dog who is touch-insensitive. With the former, food is particularly helpful in training. It is also crucial to praise and affirm only "brave" actions and to avoid any sort of sentimental, smothering type of behavior that inadvertently reinforces the fearful, submissive behavior. With the more dominant dog the trainer needs to manifest strong leadership and firm selfconfidence. Such a dog responds well to crisp leash corrections and must never be allowed to lead. You'll need to hold his attention by keeping the pace of training quick and filled with praise.

  The independent, aloof dog (often found in many of the Oriental breeds) is different still. Such a dog, often lacking in pack drive, can be extremely stubborn in training, making it difficult to force her to do something she doesn't want to do. Instead of declaring war with force, it is much better to induce her into doing what you want and then make her feel as though it were her idea. Food is a helpful motivator here. She needs to do an exercise a number of times before she feels comfortable with it, but then responds well.

  Then in turn there is the "live wire," high in prey and pack instinct, who may find it difficult to focus on any one exercise since he is ready and looking to act on every distraction that comes his way. Aside from making sure this dog gets lots of exercise, you need to keep his training sessions short and positive; light, frequent leash corrections can help maintain his focus, and your calm demeanor helps the dog progressively to extend the length of his attention span.

  Different still is the more even-tempered dog who relishes the opportunity to work and learn new things and who is on the lookout for the first sign of an upcoming training session. This dog responds well to inviting body language and warm praise; she handles light corrections easily and responds to the tone of your voice. Such a dog has the ability to make a novice trainer look like a pro simply because she is so connected to the training adventure — and forgiving of mistakes!

  Can we say which sort of personality is best? In a word, no. The ideal canine personality is always an extremely subjective concept: it depends entirely on what your needs and desires are. Often it is determined by the work the dog has been bred and selected for. Though many trainers prefer working with dogs who have high pack drive and moderate levels of prey and defense drives since they respond so nicely to training, others enjoy the challenge of working with breeds that are not generally known for their trainability. We know one trainer who relishes training "hard" dogs (high in prey and defense drives, lower in pack) because of the spirit they show in advanced forms of protection training, yet who would be the first to point out how ill suited such a dog may be for a family with small kids living in suburbia. And we know still another dog owner who loves her three shih tzus simply for their capacity to bring comfort and pleasure to her but who has no illusions about how challenging they are to train in simple obedience. Though this book is geared especially for owners whose prime reason for having a dog is companionship and who will most likely be interested in higher levels of sociability and friendliness (with moderate to lower levels of prey and defense drives), we have tried to present our approach in a way that is helpful also to owners with dogs who fall into other, more challenging categories.

  39

  House Training

  There is no area of dog training where more myths abound than house training. House training should be a simple procedure, but for many owners it is a drudgery that sometimes never ends. It's surprising the number of clients we see who have owned dogs for over two years and confess, "He's really never been housebroken." Later we come to find that this can mean that the dog has the problem on a daily, and even twice-daily, basis. If house training had been approached correctly and consistently at first, the problem would have been short-lived.

  Myth Number 1: When you find an accident, rub the dog's nose in it. Do not do this, ever. You defeat your own purpose, risk infecting the dog, and encourage stool consumption.

  Myth Number 2: When you find a mess, you should hit the dog and then ostracize it for a good long period. Nonsense.

  Myth Number 3: After you find a mess, take the dog to the place where elimination is supposed to occur, stand over him, and scold him. This is all backwards: the dog needs praise and encouragement at this location, not punishment.

  Myth Number 4: You can train a dog to eliminate on papers or outside, or both. This myth causes more confusion than any other. Dogs need a consistent approach to house training. We never suggest paper training unless the situation absolutely demands it and the dog has no quick access to the outdoors. (For instance, because of the danger of disease, city dogs are often quarantined inside until they have had a full cycle of vaccinations, that is, about sixteen weeks of age. This demands paper training first, then house training, once your dog is able to go outside.) For owners without these specific circumstances, we find that paper training is usually an ill-conceived shortcut for the owner, a convenience at the time that later backfires if it is even successfully comprehended by the dog to begin with. If at all possible, train your dog to eliminate in one spot, outdoors.

  Here is our approach to house-training and house-soiling incidents.

  1. The basic rule is to capitalize on your dog's natural desire to keep her nest clean, an inherited characteristic. Follow the guidelines for crate training given in chapter 29. When she's not in the crate, have your dog with you, so as to monitor her. Anticipate when she wants to go out. The signs are nose grazing, obvious squatting, loitering around the door, constant activity. The times are every two hours for puppies younger than twelve weeks old (except when they are asleep), after waking from a nap, fifteen minutes to half an hour after eating, before riding in a car, after drinking a large amount of water.

  2. We suggest regular feedings for pups and older dogs, unless modified by your veterinarian's advice. We find that the "nibbler plan" (food down all day for the dog to eat at will) often encourages house soiling because the dog is not on a predictable timetable. For pups we suggest that water be offered at regular intervals, not left down all the time. Water and food should be taken up at night, giving the pup (or older dog) enough time to eliminate before he retires. Do not leave water down for a pup until you are sure of absolute sphincter control.

  3. Respect your dog's biological clock. Be consistent in the times you let her outdoors. To a degree, many human activities have to be coordinated with the dog's biological schedule until she is mature. Sleeping in, late parties, vacations, shopping trips, and other activities may have to be based on when the dog will need to go out.

  4. If you discover a mess, don't call the dog to punish him. Dogs do not understand the connection between an after-the-fact correction and the mess. All you accomplish by such a correction is to damage your relationship. To correct the dog, you must catch him in the act, using a physical correction for an adult dog and immediately taking him outside. For puppies, we discourage strong corrections — occasional accidents are part of raising a pup, and house training needs to be approached preventatively, by monitoring your pup's behavior and responding accordingly. If you observe your pup getting ready to eliminate, don't shriek or freak out — swiftly sweep him up and take him outdoors, even if this means an elevator trip. Most pups stop short and hold it until they get outside.

  5. If it's too late for that, calmly take the dog out of the room without praise, and confine her to her crate while you clean up the mess out of her sight.

  6. If you are just beginning house training, do not make a big thing over it but scold or growl to make the dog feel the effects of your displeasure. For older dogs with chronic pr
oblems, physical discipline may be in order unless they are ill, but again, only when they are caught in the act.

  7. If you catch your dog in the very beginning of the act, correct him and take him briskly to the proper place and let the dog continue there. This is essential because the dog must make the connection on where to eliminate. Stay with the dog if it's not possible to leave him alone.

  8. After you return, clean up the accident with paper towels or other absorbent materials. Paper plates cut in half make good emergency scoops. Wash the area with a 25 percent solution of white vinegar and hot water. Odor neutralizers, like Nilodor and Lysol, can be used after the vinegar treatment. It is important to remove the scent from both human and canine detection. If possible, block off the area until it is dry. An overturned chair will do. Again, do not let the dog see you clean up her mess. Seeing you clean it up encourages the "maid syndrome" in bossy pets, which is at the root of many serious house-soiling problems. You are not the maid in residence to clean up after the dog. Nor are you the doorman, there to let the dog out whenever she demands. Though house training means anticipating your dog's desires, it also means the dog must quickly learn sphincter control. You defeat this development if you play maid or doorman without taking further steps to house-train her. After a mistake, don't isolate the dog or keep scolding her. Avoid overfondling the pet at this time, unless in response to a command (come, sit, stay, lie down).

  The final problem related to house training is marking behavior. This is a trait most commonly seen in male dogs who lift their legs and deposit a splash of urine on an object. (Leg lifting also occurs less frequently with some females; however, females usually mark directly on the ground to advertise their availability when they are in season.) Behaviorists believe that in addition to marking territory, urine also provides vital information about a dog (i.e., gender, age, and rank). Male dogs lift their legs so that their scent can be placed higher than that of previous markings, and the frequency with which it occurs on walks can be nothing short of amazing! The behavior is normal and natural but can be inconvenient or embarrassing in certain circumstances. For example, you take Duke over to a friend's house (especially someone with another dog) and suddenly notice him dousing a piece of furniture. When your family moves into a new (or newly decorated) house, or when there is more than one other animal in the house, marking is prone to occur.