Help! My Dog Refuses to Walk

February 4, 2015 by Fanna Easter

What to Do When Your Dog Refuses to Walk

Most likely, you’ve had this happen during walks. When you’re heading home after a fun walk in the park, your healthy dog flattens himself to the ground, refusing to walk any farther. I call this “pancake dog,” meaning a dog will splat himself against the ground and refuse to walk.

Now, if your dog is limping, ill or injured, this doesn’t apply. Bring your dog to the vet ASAP.

Why Dogs Refuse to Walk

Below are a few reasons why a dog refuses to walk and flatten himself onto the ground.

Fearful

About 50% of the time, I notice puppies and dogs refuse to move forward due to fear. Usually, their bodies are lying backwards away from whatever is frightening them. This happens because a puppy or dog is scared of whatever he is approaching at the time. This could be another dog, person, narrow space, barrier or she has not learned how to walk on a leash. Honestly, it could be anything.

Never force or drag a dog past a scary object. Instead, stop to give your dog some time to process the situation. If she’s still scared, use the Hansel and Gretel technique described below. For smaller dogs, it may be easier to pick them up and walk past the scary thing. At home, practice confidence building games, such as Touch the Goblin.

RELATED: How to Train Fearful Dogs

Don’t Let the Fun End

Dog Training Tips — Learn tips to get your dog happily moving forward!

And this is the other 50%. 🙂 Puppies and dogs are smart. They’ve learned that splatting against the ground and holding firm keeps them in their favorite environment longer. Dogs will refuse to move usually once you turn to head home. I’ve had puppies splat after class. They don’t want to leave. 🙂

The Hansel and Gretel technique will get them moving. Also, practice randomly walking away from the park and then rewarding good behavior (non-splatting) by walking back to the park for another game of fetch. No one wants the fun to end, but by making the act of going home fun, you don’t have to worry about pancaking along the way.

Un-Pancaking Your Dog

The goal of this dog training exercise is to get your dog up and willingly move forward, which builds confidence. Studies have shown giving dogs choices and allowing them to choose is just as reinforcing as treats—something to ponder!

Hansel and Gretel

Unlike the children’s fable, you’re moving your dog away from the monster not toward it. Sprinkle yummy treats in a trail past the scary thing. Using super yummy treats will really help. Your dog (or puppy) will eat the treats while keeping an eye on the monster. But he’s moved himself, which is a big step forward!

Plus, pairing yummy treats with something scary, well, makes things less scary. If you were stuck in an elevator, you would probably freak out. But what if you were stuck in an elevator with a dozen delicious cupcakes or a six-pack of your favorite beer? Not so bad, huh? You’ll indulge while waiting for someone to rescue you. 🙂

Touch the Goblin

During this game, you’ll need a clicker and lots of yummy treats. Introduce something odd in your home, such as the vacuum or folding step stool (both usually freak dogs out). Practice each step 10 times and then move onto the next one. If your dog becomes frightened, take 1 to 2 steps back.

Never move, wiggle or touch the scary thing during training sessions. This just makes the scary thing even more terrifying to your dog.

Click and treat when your dog looks at the scary object.
Now, click and treat when your dog walks over to the scary thing.
Usually, after a few sessions, dogs will try to touch the scary thing with craned necks, wide eyes and splayed out back legs. Click and treat this behavior. They are being pretty darn brave right now.
Say “touch the goblin” as they lean forward, trying to touch it with their muzzle.
After a few touches, your dog will exude confidence. He successfully slayed the dragon so be proud! We call this building confidence. 🙂

After a few “touch the goblin” sessions with different scary things, you’ll notice your dog will likely march right up and touch the next scary thing. He’s learning that scary things will not harm him.

WATCH: How to Get a Dog Moving When He Refuses to Walk

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Teach Your Dog the “Off” Command

February 3, 2015 by Fanna Easter

Train Your Dog “Off”

How to Keep Dog Off Couch — Say “off” while tossing yummy treats on the ground. Voila!

Very often during puppy and adult group classes, I’m asked to teach clients the “off” command. Yesterday, a puppy pet parent admitted to standing up when eating all meals, as his puppy mugs him for food. Follow this one super easy step for teaching your dog “off.”

When to Use the “Off” Cue

Use the “off” cue when asking your dog to jump off something, such as:

Furniture
Bed
You
Guests

Use the “off” cue after your dog understands not to jump on guests. Think of it as a reminder when she gets really excited. If your dog continues to jump on guests, it’s time for remedial “no jumping” practice).

How to Teach “Off”

When you notice your puppy (or dog) on the sofa, grab a few pieces of yummy treats and walk over to the sofa.
Say “off” while tossing yummy treats on the ground. Voila!
Your dog will jump right down and wolf down the treats. If he doesn’t, you’re probably not using super yummy treats.

Yes, it’s that simple. Soon your dog will learn “off” means to jump down for yummy treats. You’re not rewarding your puppy for jumping on the sofa. Instead, you are rewarding her for jumping off.

RELATED: Choosing Dog Training Treats

About treats, they really do matter. Would you get out of a warm bed for pennies? Probably not. What if I offered you a $100 bill? I think you would get the point. 🙂

Teaching Your Dog “Off” Video

Punishment Doesn’t Work

When polling past clients, most walk over and push their dogs off the sofa or bed. Well, it works sometimes. Opposition reflux comes into play here. You push and your dog pushes back against you. The more you push, the more she pushes back, which is not working. Plus, using a physical cue, such as touching or pushing, is hard to fade unless you really like walking over and pushing your dog off the furniture every time. A verbal cue can be given from across the room so it’s much easier. 🙂

Another thing about punishment is it’s labor intensive. Let’s say you’re speeding down I65 and you’re pulled over by the police and given a speeding ticket. For the next week or two, depending on how expensive your speeding ticket was, you’ll drive slow. But what happens later? You start scanning your environment for police cars. After a week or two, you notice a lack of police cars so what happens? Well, you know, you start speeding again. Not as fast as you once were, you’ll usually build in 5 mph increments. As you’re giggling, this is punishment. It’s a short term solution that causes fear and confusion.

Tossing a few treats on the ground when teaching “off” provides a plentiful ROI (return on investment).

Oh, and One More Thing

There’s nothing wrong with allowing your dog or puppy to nap on the sofa or sleep with you at night. Many, many years ago, someone mentioned dominance with allowing dogs on furniture. This is a myth. Snuggle with your fuzzy baby. 🙂

READ ALSO: Stop Your Dog From Digging

Zak George’s Dog Training Contributions

February 2, 2015 by Fanna Easter

Zak George Promotes Positive Training Methods

Zak George Dog Training — Courtesy of Zak George’s YouTube Channel

Who is Zak George?

Zak George may be a newcomer to the dog training world, but he’s been widely popular with pet parents since he began creating free dog training videos on his YouTube channel.

In the videos, he shows pet owners how to teach their dog’s polite behaviors. With his charismatic charm sprinkled in each video, it’s no wonder he starred in TV shows, such as SuperFetch on Animal Planet and CBBC’s “Who Let the Dogs Out?”

Despite his growing popularity, you can find Zak George creating videos for his website and YouTube. His most recent video for Grouchy Puppy, a fabulous website by Sharon Castellanos, shows an uncut version of the dog trainer. The authenticity of his character is much admired.

WATCH: Grouchy Puppy’s Interview

Zak George’s Training Philosophy

Zak’s contribution to the dog training world started on social media, and he has since been taking the power of positive reinforcement to the masses one video and blog at a time. His philosophy is to make training your dog fun and rewarding. He is fondest of Pitties (American Pit Bull Terriers) and has the most positive energy ever, so what’s not to love?

RELATED: Dog Obedience Training

Thank You, Zak George

I want to thank Zak George for his contribution to the dog training industry. His fun, creative, energetic and informative videos are a must for dog owners to view. Given the easy accessibility of the Internet, there’s no reason not to tune into Zak George’s YouTube channel.

Remember spending hours looking for one answer among your childhood encyclopedias back in the 1980s—or is that just me? Anyways, I subscribe to Zak’s YouTube channel and recommend my group class clients pop in and watch as a refresher or just to get a breath of fresh air about dog training.

Go, Zak, go! Tell us what you think about Zak George in the comments section below!

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Training Your Dog to Leave It

December 31, 2014 by Fanna Easter

How to Train Your Dog in Real Life Scenarios

Training your dog to leave it is vital so we’ll discuss how to train your dog during real life scenarios. It’s all good and well when your dog ignores treats in your hand, but will he ignore a chicken bone? If not, take a peek at these dog training tips.

Before Moving Forward:

Your dog will ignore your closed and open handed treats on cue.
If not, read this article before proceeding.
While it’s extremely tempting to push forward, the behavior will collapse and become unreliable. For “leave it,” start with foundation behaviors first, then move forward. Usually, a dog will reach the last step within a week. Steps 1-3 can easily be taught within a few days, practicing 1-2 minutes per day.

Peek-a-Boo Hand

Begin by sitting on the ground with your dog. While holding a treat in your left hand, say “leave it” as you place the treat on the ground. Keep your hand close by. If your dog moves forward, cover the treat with your hand. Once he moves back from the treat, click and say “take it.”

Dogs are extremely fast! Keep your hand close to the treat. If your dog takes the treat once or twice, then take a step back to closed and open handed games. This will teach your dog to ignore the treat instead. Never correct your dog by saying “no” or giving a leash correction, as this will only confuse your dog. Trust me, I’ve been training for a long time. It takes much longer to teach this way.

Practice 5 times, then end the training session. Keep training sessions short for maximum effectiveness. This keeps dogs from becoming bored. Practice twice a day so about 10 reps per day.

Chicken Wing on Floor

Oh, you know that feeling in your stomach when your dog spots a discarded chicken wing on the ground! Yikes, what should you do? When teaching “leave it,” it’s pretty important to scan your environment. It’s kind of hard to say “leave it” if you don’t spot the chicken wing first. Oh, and carry luscious treats. 🙂

Okay, back to the ant-covered chicken wing. Once you spot it, stop and say “leave it.” You should be standing 6 feet away, meaning your dog can not reach his object of desire. Say “leave it” once and wait. Your dog will strain against the leash. The moment he stops pulling, click and give him 3 pieces of hot dog! Once he’s done eating the last hot dog, say “let’s go” and move forward. As he follows you, click and give him 3 more pieces of hot dog. Your dog just learned to leave it alone and walk away. Good job!

Eventually, your dog will learn to ignore gross things discarded around the park, but every now and again, he may try rolling in deer poop or snack on cat feces so keep your “leave it” cue current. Hey, they’re dogs and expected to roll in grossness and try to steal stinky stuff. Have you ever watched hidden cameras of people chasing flying dollar bills around the park? Hilarious, but it’s what we do too!

Training Your Dog to Leave It – Real Life Scenarios

Train Your Dog to Leave Food on the Ground

December 31, 2014 by Fanna Easter

How to Train Your Dog to “Leave It”

Teach Your Dog to Leave It — Teach “leave it” with food on the ground. olovedog/iStock

If your dog understands to “leave it” on cue, it’s time to take it a step further! When training your dog to “leave it,” take it in small steps for maximum effectiveness. Usually, this article is step 3 for most dogs, but if your dog will reliably ignore treats in your hand 80% of the time when given the “leave it” cue, it’s time to step it up a notch.

Why Dogs Eat Things Off the Ground

There’s something about food on the ground that makes most dogs go bonkers! Usually, this is a learned behavior. They’ve been rewarded by finding small tidbits hidden from the naked human eye so this explains their enthusiasm. Shoot, I would be looking under cabinets too if I found hidden $100 bills down there. 🙂

How to Stop Your Dog From Eating Off Floors

Hidden Food Hand

While holding a treat in your closed fist, lower your hand to the ground. As you’re lowering your hand, say “leave it.” By now, your dog has learned “leave it” means to ignore your “closed treat hand,” but sometimes he regresses. The food is now on the ground, oh my!

Once your dog ignores your “treat hand,” click and give him the treat in your hand. Practice 5 times and end the sessions. Over the next two days or so, practice using treats or a few pieces of kibble from your dog’s meals.

Treat in Open Hand

Once your dog successfully ignores your hidden food hand on cue, it’s time to make it a tad tougher. Place open hand with back of hand touching ground and treat inside palm. As you’re lowering your hand, say “leave it” and open your hand. Most dogs will rush for the treat, they can see it now. Once he starts moving toward your hand, close it so he can’t get the treat. Once he moves back from your hand, click and give him the treat.

Dogs are fast! If he successfully gets the treat from you, tether or ask someone to hold the other end of the leash for you. If your dog strains to reach the visual treat, take a step back to “hidden food hand” or try with a piece of kibble instead of a hot dog. Some dogs will do anything for hot dogs! 🙂

Practice 5 times in a row, then end the training session, regardless of success. Breaks are invaluable in dog training. They prevent boredom, and I’ve found dogs excel at the next training session. It’s almost like they marinated over the previous training session, worked out the kinks, and are much more successful during the next training session.

If, even after a break, your dog is still confused, take a step back to “hidden food hand” or “adding a cue.” It’s perfectly normal to take a step back. It’s like learning a new language where you’re confused on when or how to use the new word you learned. 🙂

VIDEO: How to Train Your Dog to Ignore Food on the Ground

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