High Rise Potty Training

Michael Baugh, CPDT-KA, CDBC

Dear Michael;

I just got a little furry baby from the rescue in my area. She is a mix of who knows what, cute and cuddly with curly fur. I live in a high rise apartment building and am starting to use puppy pads for training. I know there will be times when I cannot be there to take her out. How would you suggest I use puppy pads and crate training together? We are just starting and already unsure as to how to get the message across.
Thank you, Jess
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Dear Jess,

Great questions!  Potty training a puppy is a pretty straight forward process, regardless of where you want the puppy to “go.”  Most dogs seek out absorbent surfaces, like grass.  Unfortunately some seek out carpet as well.  The potty pads are absorbent too, which is good news.  I can tell you, they are most effective if used in an area with hard flooring.  Don’t put them in a carpeted area.  If you want to train your dog to use the potty pads some or most of the time in your apartment, then lead her to the pad right after letting her out of her crate.  As soon as she’s done doing her business, praise and treat her.  Repeat this process often and she will learn the pad is the preferred indoor potty area.

(read more on All Things Dog Blog)

Something to Chew On

Michael Baugh CPDT-KA, CDBC

Dogs chew.  It’s not just a puppy thing either.  Dogs actually chew throughout their lifetime.  It helps pass the time, keep their teeth clean and diffuse stress.  More than that, it appears to be fun and satisfying for most dogs.

A lot of folks ask, “How do I get my dog to stop chewing?”  We should probably ask a different question.  Perhaps, “can I teach my dog to chew something else other than my stuff?”  Now we’re on to something.  The idea is to teach your dog to chew this and not that.  Here’s a straightforward two-step process.

Step one:  limit choices.  Make it more difficult, if not impossible, for our dog to make the wrong choice.  If your dog is chewing furniture, keep him away from his target.  If he’s tearing up clothes, make sure all the clothes are out of reach.  Woodwork?  Safely confine and carefully supervise your dog.  Some trainers call this management.  I call it good common sense.  Don’t set your dog up to lose time and time again.  The truth is your dog doesn’t live by a moral compass.  There is no right or wrong; there is only available or non-available.  Make the wrong choices hard to find.

Stewie and Stella enjoying elk antlers

Step two: make it easy to make right choices.  Give your dog chewing options which are both allowed and better than the other options (like furniture).  I’m a huge fan of fully packed Kong Toys.  Don’t just smear peanut butter in there with a measly treat.  Load that bad boy up with a meal.  Then revel in watching your dog solve the puzzle of unpacking it.  Of course, there are tons of other chewing options.  My dogs love elk antlers.  Stella, in particular, really enjoys cardboard paper towel rolls.  Of course, I give these to her and we always supervise chewing.  Avoid putting out too many choices for chewing.  Remember, we want to make the choices easy.  A room full of toys and chew sticks doesn’t make for easy choosing.  Everything looks like a chew toy in that setting, and then we’re back to square one.

Changing your dog’s behavior is all about making smart changes in the environment.  Left to their own devices dogs will do the best they can, but they won’t always make the right choices.  With just a little help from us, they can win every time.  Make it harder for them to chew on the stuff we don’t want them to chew on.  Make it easy and rewarding to chew on the right stuff.  Keep that up for a few months and watch what happens.  You’ll be so happy watching your dog chew up something you gave him that you’ll wonder why you ever wanted to make him stop.

Originally published on the Houston Pet Talk blog.

Sit Happens – No Problem

Michael Baugh CPDT-KA, CDBC

Good dog trainers know we don’t teach dogs to do anything they don’t already know how to do.  That may sound like nonsense, but it’s true.  Your dog already knows how to walk beside you, and come to you.  He also knows how to stay put and lay down.  He knows how to sit too.  The trick of training your dog is to teach him to do those things a lot, in all kinds of situations, when you ask for the behavior.

StewieSo yes, it’s true, sit happens.  It happens all the time.  In fact, most of my students have already taught their dog to sit on a verbal cue by the time they meet me.  But here’s the rub.  The dog will sit when asked so long as we’re inside, and the person is facing the dog, and (by the way) nothing much else is going on at the time.  The question we really want to ask isn’t does your dog know sit? It’s how strong is your dog’s sit, and in what context? There’s the rub indeed.

Sit can be used to remedy dozens of problems, including jumping on people (he sits instead), bolting outdoors (the dog is sitting not running), stealing things off counters (can’t do it if he’s sitting), and chasing your kids (impossible if you’ve asked him to sit instead).  Achieving these goals is very doable, but we need to start with the basics.  Never give your dog the final exam before you’ve taught him the material.  That’s just not fair.

It’s not about the word.  Start teaching sit by temporarily taking the word out of your vocabulary.  Instead, every time you see your dog sit say “yes” and give him a delicious bit of healthy food.  Once he sits, take a few steps backwards and see if he follows you and sits again.  Say “yes” and treat him again.  This is called capturing, like catching a bit of action on film (behaviors are actions).  Do this over and over, so that your dog gets hooked on sitting.  Every time he sits, after all, something great happens.

Name it. When your dog is thoroughly addicted to sitting for you, name the action.  That’s right, when you are 95% sure he’s going to do it anyway you are going to cue your dog to “sit.”  This seems backwards but it’s not.  Verbal cues (they used to call them commands) are not directions to do something; they are permission to do something.  Your dog is already begging to sit for you.  Now the word is going to give him the green light.  Say it once.  Your dog can hear you, so repeating the word sit is not useful.

Take the show on the road. Now you can start using sit as an antidote to more troubling behavior, but take it slow.  Ask for sits in gradually more difficult situations, but not so difficult that your dog fails.  Remember the rule about not giving the final exam too early.  The best way to teach your dog is to set him up to succeed, raising the bar of difficulty a little at a time.  Since your dog is working at a game he can win, he will be excited and energetic about sitting.  “Yes” and treat enthusiastically.  This is going to give you the opportunity to teach quick sits in more distracting settings.  Forcing sits by yanking a chain or pushing on hips is less exciting and slows the process (it can also hurt your dog).

Let your imagination guide you to further challenges.  What else can you teach your dog to do that is the opposite of bad behavior?  Look back and notice the things your dog is already doing well.  Capture that behavior and use it to crowd out the stuff you want him to stop doing.  Dogs who walk calmly on leash (good behavior) don’t lunge and pull (bad behavior).  Dogs who eliminate outside (good) don’t do it inside (bad).  Dogs who lay quietly on their beds with their Kong Toy (good) don’t beg at the table (bad).  You get the picture.  It’s all a matter of replacing the bad with the good.  Add to that, it’s a great way to build a relationship with your dog.  And isn’t that why you got a dog in the first place?