Help! My Dog is Digging Up My Yard!

There are several reasons leading a dog to becoming a back yard excavator. Sometimes it’s their breed: Northern breeds are avid diggers, instincts telling them to dig to get away from the heat. Or terriers digging to get those varmints. Suburban varmints are rabbits, squirrels, moles—oh my!

Sometimes dogs have an unfulfilled life, are bored and give themselves the job of landscaper or escape artist. Yes, you have a “nice back yard,” however that’s not enough for dogs. They need to be walked daily, sometimes long walks—check out the correct distance for your dog’s breed and age. Dogs need to be mentally stimulated by taking them out into the world. Maybe you can start a dog training class or visit the local dog park, or better yet—all of the above! 

HOLES HOLES EVERYWHERE!

 

Once your yard has holes, don't repair the holes with your dog around. If your dog started digging after watching you gardening…that might be part of the problem. Your dog is part monkey: Monkey see…

Refill the holes with dirt and cover the patched holes with wet straw or hay. There’s something about the smell that tends to keep dogs away. You might have to reapply the straw/hay if it blows away.

Create a special place for your dog to dig. Instead of a sandbox, a "dig box." This boundary lets your dog know that this area has the seal of approval for all his digging needs. You can start the new digging habit in the digging box by burying a bully stick, treat-filled Kong or other treats that get your dog motivated to dig. Once he starts—praise the behavior. 

If your dog continues to dig where he shouldn’t, don’t give him attention by punishing him—it hasn’t worked and he’s enjoyed the attention he’s gotten from you, even though it’s negative attention. When he’s digging in the wrong place—merely call him over to the digging box in an excited, happy voice and get him to dig there instead. He will be rewarded time and time again with your attention whenever he’s digging in the right place. Also, if you “catch” him digging in the digging box, make sure to praise him and give him lots of attention. 

Dig?

My Dog Eats Too Fast!

I've heard this time and time again, and I've got one of these gluttonous hounds in my house. I've tried every trick in the book:

• Putting a giant rock in the middle of her bowl, that way it takes her 30 seconds to scarf down her food instead of 10 seconds. 
• Adding water--at least it'll be easier on her digestive track. 
• Making her work for each morsel of food by turning meals into training sessions. Realistically, with three dogs to feed, I don't have time to do this twice a day.
• Putting food into a Kong or Smart Toy. I don't have this option since I have multiple dogs. Otherwise this is a great idea. The kibble would be dispensed slowly and the dog is psychologically challenged: working for his food. LOVE IT!

But then--SHAZAM! I found something that works:

• Put the usual amount of kibble in your dog's bowl
• Cover the bottom the bowl with a little bit of water
• If you mix the kibble with wet food, fantastic! Don't add water, merely mix in the wet food
• Put the bowl in the freezer
• When feeding time arrives, I just take it out and voila!

Instead of inhaling her food, my reigned in canine had to work to lick and pry her food from the bottom of her dish and then more licking, licking...it was like a kibble-sicle. For once my Shih Tzu finished his food LONG before she was licking the frozen bits from the corners of her dish.

Other freezing tips:
When using peanut butter or Kong filling, fill the toy or hollow bone and then freeze the toy/bone. That filling doesn't last long, however when it's frozen it lasts longer for those car rides or for anxious dogs left at home.

When to Praise Your Dog

Two common mistakes I see dog owners make when praising their dogs:

1. People chase their dog’s mistakes yet rarely praise their dog’s good behavior. 
I often hear, “No! Stop! Off! Leave it!” A barrage of corrections letting their dog know when they’ve messed up. It’s not that these people aren’t loving and affectionate dog owners. To the contrary, they lavish affection on their pooch, but their affection carries no meaning since it’s not shared at meaningful times.

What should you do instead? Use praise and affection to communicate to your dog: “Yes, I want you to do this behavior more.”

EXAMPLE:
Let's say you have a dog who usually jumps up on people, you can play a modified game of "Hot and Cold," but instead you use the words: "Good and Eh-eh,"  to arrive at the destination, which is keeping all four feet on the floor.

• Your dog jumps up--mark that exact moment of jumping up by saying, "Eh-eh" firmly 
• At the same moment, turn with folded arms and walk away 
• Wait a 10-15 seconds, then call your dog to you excitedly to illicit this jumping response again 
• If he jumps up, repeat the above steps
• IF he jumps a little but then after your "Eh-eh" correction or on his own he puts his feet back on the floor, say, "GOOD!" And pet him. You're now letting him know that feet on the ground is what you want. 
• If you reach to pet him and he jumps back up--Your praise=excitement. Repeat the above. The goal is: Your praise=calm.
• After even five minutes, if your timing is good, you will start to see your dog's jumping start to extinguish. 
• If he manages to come to you without jumping--praise him like he's hit the jackpot. "Good!" TONS of pets and praise.
• Repeat during the day and every day, different people in the house should play this game. 
• Only when he's calm does he get affection or attention. Really notice when he does manage to keep all four on the floor and tell him, "Good!"
• Otherwise you merely say, "Eh-eh" and walk away. No more negative attention ("Off! No Fido! Stop!" and pushing him, touching him...attention, attention, attention) for his bad behavior.

Timing and consistency are everything. Sure, keep the corrections, however the praises should be used as much, if not more, because they are the behavioral road you are paving for your dog to travel.

2. Owners praise their dog at the wrong time. 

• Their dog growls at someone and they lean down and pet their dog, “Shhh! No-no. It’s okay baby.” 
• Their dog is very excited and they pet their dog to calm him down. 
• Their dog jumps up to get their attention and they say, "No!" but then pet their dog.

The message they are unintentionally sending is: “I condone your behavior. I want the behavior you’re exhibiting to continue." Sometimes clients say what they're doing works, the growling/excitement/jumping stops. Yes, for that moment, but they are building a reinforcement history for their dog to continue the unwanted behavior more, and for them to soothe him again, repeat, repeat, repeat. We're looking at extinguishing the unwanted behavior altogether.  

It's difficult with dog training to figure out when you correct, ignore or redirect an unwanted behavior. However it's very easy to remember, when you share affection you are sharing affection with their state of mind. 

Treats and Training Wheels

“If I use treats, will my dog only perform when I have treats?” This is a great question. I don’t use treats for every aspect of training, however there is a time and place where treat training comes into play.

  

Treats can be like training wheels on a bike. Would a parent feel badly about sending a toddler out on their unsteady bike without training wheels? Doubtful.

“Woe is me Roger! Little Shirley’s going to turn 13 in 10 years and be the only kid in junior high with training wheels!”

“Great gadzooks Marcia! If she still needs these wheels when she’s at Harvard, we’ll have failed her!”

Highly unlikely scenario. These parents would probably realize using training wheels is a fantastic way to get their child used to balancing and coordinating all of those new skills. If Shirley continually fell off her non-training-wheeled bike, she might associate it with failure, or worse, with her parents saying the bike was safe and not trust them when they next try to convince her that the green goop on her plate is also "safe."

It's similar in dog training. Let’s take this bike metaphor for a metaphorical ride:

Let's say we're training Fido to sit and stay when guests enter the home. Usually it takes minutes with treats to capture this new behavior. We reinforce Fido’s new greeting routine daily because for the past months? Years? Fido has been in the habit of greeting guests any way he sees fit. By using treats as training wheels, we forge a steady, safe passage to this new, more desired behavior.

When Fido has mastered his new skill and both owner and Fido are confident, it’s time to raise the training wheels just a little. Fido’s owner treats less often, interjecting more praise, but still has treats in hand so those training wheels are in place if needed. Much further down the road the training wheels come up a bit further, then further.  

“Holy Toledo Roger! Poor little Shirley can’t ride her bike on gravel, sidewalks, or on hills. Bike riding isn’t for Shirley. Let’s get her a recorder.”

Hopefully Shirley’s parents wouldn’t jump to the assumption above. They would see that Shirley needs to practice daily under various biking conditions.

Similarly, Fido needs to practice, even if guests don’t enter the home daily. Practicing going to his spot at the door and eliciting an excited response by knocking on the door, or asking a family member to go outside and having daily “Fido drills,” all strengthen Fido’s new behavior. When guests do arrive and Fido’s shuffled off to another room, everyone has missed a great learning opportunity.

Remember those tikes with the training wheels so far off the ground they no longer served any real purpose? This is when the behavior is so well-established, Fido and owner knows what’s expected when the doorbell rings.

That’s when the training wheels come off!

**Warning: Once Shirley’s training wheels come off and she takes a three year hiatus from bike riding in her 20’s to pursue basket weaving in Timbuktu, chances are she’ll get back on her bike with little to no effort. 

Not so with Fido. If there’s a lapse in training with Fido, oftentimes the training wheels have to be reattached for a while to get him back on the road to success.

Puppy Biting

One client, Zach*, had a 9 week old puppy that constantly bit and he wanted to make sure it wasn’t viscous. Zach’s friends were telling him that he wasn’t being tough enough with this little ball of fur and he needed to roll him on his back when he bit, or slap him, or pinch him, or use a more firm tone and yell at the puppy.

At the same time Zach was very concerned about bonding with this rescued puppy. Why wasn’t this puppy coming to him? When would he view Zach as the source of “all that is?”

There were other basic puppy issues, but these questions kept coming up over and over as the puppy obviously was biting and nipping as a 9 week old often does, and was pulling away from Zach the full length of his leash and not coming when Zach said, “Tabor! Come! Tabor!”

I showed Zach how easy it was to get Tabor to stop biting. “First of all, your puppy is not viscous. Secondly, you are his teacher and every time you are with him is time to shape his behavior. Instead of chasing away the things we don’t want, let’s focus on the things we do want.” I find this approach much more rewarding for the dog and the human.

Humans who spend all their time and energy, whether with dogs or otherwise, chasing bad behavior are searching out bad behavior, are frustrated because of the way the bad behavior makes them feel and frustrated with how discipline makes them feel. Instead, the flip side is chasing good behavior.

 

“Look,” I said pointing at the puppy, “Tabor kept his paws on the ground and didn’t bite for 3 whole seconds,” so I gave him a little morsel of hot dog. This excited Tabor and he then chewed on my finger. “Eh-eh!” I said.

I explained that “Eh-eh” isn’t a magic word, I use it because it replaces, “No,” and it also replaces, “No! Stop, Tabor, sit, stop biting, quit. Get over here…” The word, “No!” by the time I get to my clients has quite a negative charge to it that dogs shut down to. They fight or flight or avoid when they hear it. Or on the flip side and more the usual, I hear a monologue of what they don’t want their dog to do and then what they want their dog to do and they use their dog’s name while angry. How confusing!

 

By simply saying, “Eh-eh,” the person has a neutral feeling about the word, so the dog and human can start over with proper communication. Just the basics: Yes I want this: “Good.” No I don’t want you to do that: “Eh-eh.” It’s THAT easy---on the training side.

Zach watched as Tabor learned within 10 minutes what, “Eh-eh” and “Good” meant. Tabor also learned, “Sit.” When he bit my fingers he didn’t get a treat. He didn’t get hit or rolled or even an angry human. He quickly learned that it was much better for him to not bite because he got more attention when he didn’t bite. It wasn’t all about hotdogs. I also gave Tabor praise and pets and attention.

 

I asked Zach to give it a go and he was very commanding. “Tabor, come!” He pulled at the leash and instantly Tabor started looking away from Zach and pulling.

“I don’t think it’s your lack of toughness with your puppy that’s the problem, I think it might be your lack of playfulness. If you can’t access that naturally, you raise your voice and speed it up a bit. Try it.” At this point Tabor had yet to come to Zach, look at him or interact when it wasn’t forced upon him.

Zach did as instructed, raising his voice and I’m guessing he felt a little silly. However, Tabor instantly turned around, looked at Zach and as fast as a lil 9 week old puppy can run, ran over to his shocked owner. Zach was thrilled.

“I’m just so happy! It just didn’t feel right to hit my puppy or roll him over or yell at him. This feels so much better. I just can’t believe that it’s this easy!”

*Client's name has been changed for his privacy

Dog Walking Tips

Holt Harness

If your dog is reactive on walks, lunges at bikes, dogs, barks at squirrels and generally makes you want to hang up the leash and never walk your pooch again--here are tips I give my clients to help them instantly improve their walks:

• Change your gear: The only domesticated animal we don't lead around by the head is the dog.
• Keep the leash VERY short, arm down, loose, relaxed at your side. Your dog is now beside you constantly. No yo-yo on the leash and he's not out in front of you.
• Project the energy you want your dog to mirror: calm, cool, happy, confident, positive. Fonzie--Ayyyy!
• Don’t “hunt” for people with their dogs or whatever it is that triggers your dog to escalate. Your dog is copying your behavior.
• Signs of your dog escalating: tension in body, maybe a slight crouch, ears forward and up, eyes locked, neck locked, nose pointed at “target”*
• Say "hello" in happy, upbeat voice to your dog's trigger when they're walking towards you.
• If you have to pop the leash, tug and pull and say, “Eh eh,” over and over—you’ve already lost the battle. Aggression begets aggression.
• When your dog pulls or refuses to go—hold onto the tension. Wait him out until he comes or returns to you. Train him to be near you—don’t let him train you to go where he wants.
• Catch your dog before he barks and lunges and loses his marbles. When he first tenses and starts escalating, or eyeballs his target, THAT is your teachable moment to correct, "Eh-eh!" 
• When your dog encounters his target and doesn't react negatively, he doesn't escalate in excitement PRAISE him!
• Your dog flips out and is barking and lunging--but hasn't hurt anyone. People ARE LOOKING. Use humor to defuse the situation: “Wow, whose dog is that? Oh--It's mine!" or "Is that a dog bird I hear? Such a beautiful tune.” You are no longer joining your dog in freaking out.
• If someone approaches and you know it's unwise for them to pet your dog, put your hand out and merely state, “My dog is in training right now. Just standing where you are and saying hello is helping.” If you say, “My dog bites,” or “My dog is aggressive,” then you're continually projecting that onto your dog and in your mind. Make sure everyone is safe, however, your dog IS learning and changing.
• Lead your dog through situations where he might be frightened. On the walk, navigate your dog confidently through the scary event without saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay!”

If you have a dog that bites, has attacked before or that you're afraid to walk--seek professional help. It is amazing how pairing the right tools (information) with the right energy can change the walk. 


*Target in this instance is whatever causes your dog to escalate in excitement, whether that be a person, other dogs, prey (rabbits, squirrels, birds), bikes, skateboarders, or children. The closer dogs are to their target the stronger their reaction. 

Dog Aggression--A Dream Comes True!

Almost a year ago I met with Adam, his mother and their dog Malachi. This beautiful Yellow Lab's world had gotten smaller and smaller as the years ticked away.

He attacked a small dog in his home requiring the dog be reassembled at the vet. His aggression didn't stop at dogs when a repairman was bitten. That's when I was called.

To assess Malachi's reactivity to dogs, I had my husband walk one of our dogs 50 yards in front of Malachi and I could barely hold onto him. He not only whined, whimpered and made noises like I was torturing him, he lunged and spun like I was reeling in a 200lb deep sea trophy fish.

The next day I brought in my champ, Archie who I've used with dogs like Malachi. I walked with Malachi and had my husband quickly hand off Archie to my other side. Before Malachi knew what hit him he was walking next to another dog, the first time in years. Archie did what he does best, ignores "bad energy." And Malachi was that. After walking with Malachi pulling and whining a little, finally I let Malachi sniff Archie. Malachi was sooooo relieved. You could feel the relief wash over him--finally he was meeting another dog.

Dogs are meant to be social. When they're cooped up behind a fence or in a home for years they become anxious and want to meet other dogs, but it's expressed in nervous, reactive energy. At one point Malachi was a loving, sweet Lab who played with other dogs. That social muscle had atrophied.

Showing Adam and his mother that Malachi wasn't "broken" was the first step. Inside their home with my dog Archie, I was answering their questions as they pet Malachi. I watched as suddenly Malachi turned to eye Archie for an attack. I simply gave Malachi a verbal, "Eh-eh!" and he stopped.

They continued to pet him as I explained what had just happened. Then explained that they should not continue petting him. This is where proper praise comes into place. If you praise your dog when he misbehaves or is nervous--you send the message, "I agree with that behavior." In other words, "Malachi, we agree with your guarding behavior in our home." This gave me insight into what might have happened to the little dog Malachi attacked and even the repairman. Malachi was easy to verbally correct, he just needed proper communication from his humans.

I showed Adam how to properly walk Malachi and told him to walk Malachi daily, starting slowly and short walks due to a torn ligament he was recovering from and to make Malachi's walks successful.

I asked Adam what his goal for Malachi was, no matter how unlikely or huge. He said he wanted be able to take Malachi to dog parks. I told him we'd achieve that goal if he stuck to the training program.

Adam is in my neighborhood and I would see him out there with Malachi walking even when the weather was snowy, raining, early morning, or getting hot. The dedication of that 14 year old was amazing.

Months later I ran into Adam while on a run with my Golden. Malachi met my Golden with no reaction whatsoever. Adam was calm, relaxed and cool, Malachi mirrored his energy. I was so excited to see their progress. Over the months I kept running into Adam and Malachi, often with all 3 of my dogs, and Malachi had no problem meeting my dogs.

It's been almost a year since my first meeting with Malachi and I told Adam months ago that Malachi's ready for the dog park whenever Adam was ready. Last weekend we finally made Adam's dream come true as we went to the dog park with Malachi and my dogs. Adam was a little nervous, but I gave him the dog park drill on the walk there.

It was amazing. Malachi behaved like a pro. The park was filled to the brim with dogs large and small and Malachi went from dog-to-dog. Oftentimes he was surrounded by dogs and stood comfortably while they sniffed. He was confident and relaxed. We didn't spend much time there as I wanted to make sure our first visit was positive.

Adam's looking forward to going back again and again. It's really great to see a dream finally come true.

Dog Codependency

The definition of a codependent relationship is an, "Unhealthy love and a tendency to behave in overly passive or excessively caretaking way that harms one's relationships and quality of life."

I'm not surprised to hear that dogs I come across who are in a codependent relationship with their owner started out "fine" or "normal" but are now insecure, or fear aggressive, guarding dogs. These dog owners, typically women, probably liked the first time their dog growled at someone and behaved like an over-possessive, jealous boyfriend. It made them feel loved and protected.

Later when the aggression increased and they were the only ones their dogs could be near, that made them feel special, so they rewarded the aggressive behavior. Oftentimes they take the side of the dog, "He's scared!" Positively reinforcing the aggression with coddling.

The first case I'll discuss is from an owner named Suzy in her 3rd year at CU. She had a Chihuahua who had been practicing this codependent behavior for many years, and it had escalated for so long, Suzy could no longer take Tank on walks or out of the house because he would try to attack humans and dogs alike.

As soon as I walked into her house, I was instantly bitten by a streak of beige as Tank darted across the floor and took a chunk out of my leg, again disappearing under a table. What always interests me in aggression cases is the reaction of the owners. Suzy did and said nothing to reprimand Tank.

I was bitten at least 10 times while we stood there talking. Since I had jeans on, only half of the bites landed and broke or bruised the skin, but still, no response from Suzy. Interesting. Oftentimes owners think because I'm a trainer they're to sit back and let me take over, so I have to ask them, "How do you respond when he bites people like that?" to really assess that I'm getting an accurate picture of what happens during the regular day-to-day. Does this woman protect her guests from her dog's bites? She responded with a whining, "Taaaa-aaank. Noo-000." It didn't convince either of us, and Tank came back for another bite, maybe her words even triggered Tank's attack.

I took over and halted the assaults with firm body language and stating a firm "EH!" If Suzy wasn't going to be boss--or didn't know how--it was time to stand up to this little guy who was obviously running the show. My legs were throbbing. I didn't get bitten again. I showed Suzy how to tell Tank, "No," gently and easily, and communicate with him properly.

She showed remorse and felt sorry for her dog. Oddly enough, she never once apologized or felt sorry for the many bites I had received by her dog. She also seemed disinterested in the process with many sighs. I later found out that her roommate put her up to hiring me.

The second case of codependency I'll discuss was just as serious, however the dog was, by breed, more dangerous, since she was a Pit Bull. The owner, Jen has MS (multiple sclerosis) and is bed ridden most of the day with her dog as her snuggling companion. Jen's mother Katie takes care of her and her father who also lives in the house and has more advanced MS.

Also living in the house is Jen's 17 year old son Tim. The Pit Bull, Lucy had once had a sibling who was euthanized due to aggression. Lucy had attacked the Pug in the house, causing extensive vet bills.

Lucy had been on a walk with Jen, while Jen was in a motorized wheel chair, and Lucy pulled away and attacked a neighbor's dog, causing much damage. Lucy was now officially deemed viscous. That's when I was called as a, "Last ditch effort."

Lucy was extremely reactive and guarding. I couldn't move or talk in Jen's presence without Lucy growling, puffing her flews (lips) or barking at me. Again, nobody in the family would correct her behavior. I finally had to ask Tim to leash Lucy and pull her to the other side of the room so I could continue the initial consultation.

Even though Katie, the grandmother and Tim seemed to be motivated to do what it would take to train Lucy, Jen seemed the least enthusiastic, had reservations, excuses, and would shoot down many of my ideas. It was not her idea to call me, it was her mother who had made the call.

There seemed to be a disconnect with Jen. She wanted her dog to be able to be socialized and to be able to walk Lucy safely, however she still wanted Lucy to be a "guard dog." I explained that her dog has no obedience training and she has no control over Lucy. Lucy reacts to EVERYONE as danger and that's not going to help anyone. Even guide dogs who have been trained to never react to people or dogs have been known to react when a threat is present. THAT is the keenness that she's looking for--not a dog who sees a rocking horse in a driveway a perceives imminent danger.

I made it clear that I would not be willing to start training unless everyone was on the same page. I would be wasting their time and mine if I didn't have full cooperation.

Results:

With Tank, because it was never Suzy's idea to call in a trainer, she was never on board to do any of the work necessary to work with her dog. She relinquished her dog, and the last I heard, Tank was going on to his 2nd placement.

After several months of training, Lucy has made an 80% or more recovery. She no longer barks all day so everyone is, "No longer on eggshells." All the people in the household can easily tell Lucy a command and she will obey. This is key since Katie needs to assist Jen when she falls out of bed or needs assistance.

Lucy is less reactive on walks. Tim has taken her to an outdoor restaurant and she has sat quietly. During my visits, I can jump around, talk and yet Lucy remains relaxed and calm. Lucy gets daily walks thanks to Tim's hard work, and since the entire household is on the same page with the training, Lucy has made huge strides.

**I never got a photo of "Tank." All names have been changed but the stories are true.