How to Teach Your Dog to Release the Tug Toy

October 14, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Teaching Your Dog to Release a Toy During Play

How to Teach a Dog to Drop a Toy — oneinchpunch/iStock

When playing tug with your dog, sometimes your dog just doesn’t want to let go of the toy. It’s very common because tug is super fun! It’s important to know that your dog is refusing to let go of the toy because releasing it means the game is over. It’s that simple. Check out these dog training tips for teaching your dog to release a toy.

Step 1) Keep Tug Toy Still

Dogs tug on toys because it’s fun and you’re tugging back. When you wave, toss or tug on a toy with your dog, it’s a super fun game. When you stop moving the toy, this should tell your dog to release the toy. When the toy stops moving, it’s no longer fun for your dog. Here’s how to teach a “release” behavior.

Start playing tug with your dog for 1-2 minutes.
Hold the toy completely still and wait for your dog to release the toy. In the beginning, this may take a few seconds or even a full minute, but it will happen.
Patience is key here. Continue to hold the toy still even as your dog pulls and bites at the toy.

WATCH: Teach Your Dog the Tug Game

Step 2) Teach Your Dog That Release Means Another Game

The moment your dog lets go of the toy (removes mouth from toy), start moving the toy around to play another game of tug. Your dog will learn that releasing the toy makes another tug game happen. Let’s try it again.

Pull, tug and shake the toy around for a couple of minutes with your dog, then stop moving the toy again. You’ll likely notice your dog releasing the toy a bit quicker this time because he’s learning that stillness means to “release.” The moment your dog releases the toy, make the game start again.

When teaching the release behavior with a toy, there’s no need for a verbal cue. Your dog will learn that stillness is the signal to release the toy. Omitting a verbal cue works quicker because most verbal cues are used too early or too late, which confuses the dog. Toy movement means the game is on! When you stop moving the toy, it means your dog should release the toy.

Game Over

We all wish fun games would continue forever, but it’s not realistic. When it’s time to end a game of tug for the day, just stop moving the toy. When your dog releases the toy, say “all done” while tossing several treats in the opposite direction of the toy. When your dog runs over to eat his treats, put the tug toy away.

Good luck, and let me know how it goes!

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5 Tips To Help You Get The Most Out Of Private Dog Training Lessons

October 10, 2016 by Fanna Easter

How to Prepare for Private Dog Training Lessons

Coming prepared to private dog training lessons will get you the best results. Private dog training lessons usually last 1-2 hours, and a great amount of information is discussed within that short period of time. To maximize private lessons, I recommend following a few tips to get the most bang for your buck. These tips will also ensure a smooth and stress-free private dog training lesson for you, your dog and your dog trainer.

Know Your Dog Training Goals

Before your first private lesson, really think about your and your dog’s training goals. Most pet owners focus primarily on what their dogs do wrong. Instead, flip your thought process around and figure out how your dog should positively respond in a situation.

Focusing on a solution is a game-changer because now you have a plan. Your dog trainer will teach you how to put your plan into action. A solution-focused example is teaching your dog to sit as guests enter through the front door instead of jumping on visitors.

Pack Yummy Treats

You’ll need at least 50-100 pea-sized training treats for each private dog training lesson. Remember, dog training treats are your dog’s paycheck, so reward with super yummy ones. Fresh treats always work best, such as chopped hot dogs, baked chicken or cheese.

Discuss 1-2 Topics Per Private Lesson

It’s so tempting to list all your questions and concerns during a private lesson because this is your chance to finally be heard. However, discussing too much information in such a short time will confuse you and your dog. Instead, choose 1-2 topics to cover per lesson. I ask clients to choose their most pressing issues, and we discuss them during our first private lesson.

Usually, once a pet owner’s main concerns are addressed, the other little things really don’t matter. If you have additional topics, I recommend scheduling another private lesson to discuss. Trust me, if every topic is discussed within a 1-2 hour time frame, it will leave your head spinning in confusion. 🙂

Have Realistic Expectations

Teaching new behaviors to your dog is a process; it will take longer than 1-2 hours. As professional dog trainers, we want instant gratification too, but dogs are living beings that need time to learn new skills. Think about it this way: if dog trainers could wave a magic wand or reset a few buttons on dogs, all animal shelters would be completely empty. 🙂

During private lessons, your dog trainer will show you how to teach your dog. Usually, a dog trainer will explain and demonstrate how to teach your dog a behavior and then provide feedback as you practice. It takes time for humans to learn too, so be kind and patient to yourself.

Move slowly, reward often and remember that practice makes perfect; hence, do your homework. Homework provides plenty of time for both pet owner and dog to learn together, so plan to practice homework 3-5 minutes each day.

Have an Open Mind

This is a huge tip! You’ve probably tried different dog training methods, suggestions or tips in the past, and they didn’t work out well. I highly recommend you open your mind and thoroughly listen to your positive reinforcement dog trainer’s suggestions.

Many times, certain tips and suggestions just need a few tweaks to clear up any confusion. Remember, each dog is an individual, so something that worked for someone else’s dog may not work for your dog. Your dog trainer will provide invaluable feedback, so absorb it like a sponge!

Preparation is key to success! Don’t be afraid to ask your dog trainer for additional preparation tips.

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Dog Shredding Paper Tips That Will Save Your Paper

October 7, 2016 by Fanna Easter

How to Stop Your Dog From Shredding Paper

Dogs love to shred paper. No one knows exactly why, but dogs just love it. Now, some dogs enjoy paper shredding more than others, and certain dogs enjoy swallowing paper once they’ve shredded it. When it comes to paper products, each dog has his or her preference. 🙂 Some dogs enjoy shredding and chewing tissue paper while other dogs enjoy anything made of paper. Regardless of your dog’s preferred paper product to shred, here are a few tips to stop your dog from shredding paper.

How to Prevent Your Dog From Shredding Paper

This dog training tip works best! If your dog has turned into a paper shredder, it’s best to keep paper products away from your dog. Keep extra rolls of toilet paper behind cabinet doors and place tissue boxes out of reach from your dog. If your dog shreds your mail, it’s best to keep mail on kitchen countertops or your desk.

Sometimes, dogs will raid your trash can too, so I recommend purchasing a heavy-lidded trash can. Now, if your dog is stealing paper from countertops or your desk (I know several dogs that are really good at this), I recommend placing paper products behind pantry cabinets or placing mail inside a lidded box.

Prevention doesn’t mean you’re ignoring your dog’s paper addiction. Prevention actually changes your dog’s behavior. When dogs are unable to practice a behavior (e.g. paper shredding or stealing), the behavior will go away. If your dog doesn’t have paper to shred, he’ll stop shredding paper.

Why Do Dogs Shred Paper?

Paper shredding behavior usually suggests a bored dog. I suggest providing different forms of daily mental enrichment, such as providing your dog with frozen food stuffed toys or puzzles. If your dog steals and shreds paper when you’re not home, it’s best to always crate your dog with a super yummy food stuffed toy. Prevention and mental enrichment are key.

How to Train Your Dog to Stop Shredding Paper

It’s going to happen; don’t worry. If you see or hear your dog shredding paper, here’s what you should do. Grab bits of cheese or lunch meat, and ask your dog to “trade.” Don’t chase your dog; just stand still and offer food from your hand. It may take a few seconds, but let your dog think through the situation.

The moment your dog walks toward the offered treat, toss the food in the opposite direction of the paper. As your dog goes for the thrown treat, grab the paper and discard it in a heavy lidded trash can.

Teaching your dog to “trade” is an invaluable skill. You never know what your dog will pick up and try to swallow. “Trade” isn’t bribery. You’re teaching your dog to drop something. After practicing the “trade” behavior several times, your dog will learn that “trade” means “drop whatever you have and get your reward for dropping it.”

What Doesn’t Work

Chasing your dog for shredding paper doesn’t work. It just becomes a fun game for your dog. Punishment doesn’t work either. If you yell or physically punish your dog for chewing or shredding paper, your dog will learn to shred and swallow toilet paper quietly in another room or when you’re not home.

Prevention and the “trade” game work wonders—even for the best paper shredding dogs in the world!

Leather Furniture And Dogs: How To Protect Your Furniture

October 5, 2016 by Fanna Easter

How to Make Leather Furniture and Dogs Work

If you share your home with dogs, you’ve likely searched for and purchased dog-friendly furniture. Like most dog owners, we purchased leather chairs and sofas because they’re easy to clean and puncture-resistant. After a few months though, our leather furniture looked beat up, and I soon learned leather isn’t indestructible. Vinyl and leather furniture options are certainly dog-friendly, but you have to take good care of them for maximum benefits.

Leather Furniture Care

Use a Quality Leather Cleaner

Every 2-3 months, your leather furniture needs a thorough cleaning with a good quality leather cleaner. Leather is tough, but temperamental, so I suggest only using gentle leather cleaners. Everyday household cleaners, vinegar, baking soda and water are simply too harsh and can harm leather. Remember, leather is cow skin that’s been tanned and dyed, so harsh chemicals can cause discoloration and dryness.

Gentle leather cleaners will remove stains, slobber and grime, and the before-and-after difference is amazing. Before using leather cleaners, it’s best to vacuum your furniture to remove any dog hair first. Then, spray leather cleaner on a soft white towel and massage the cleaner onto your leather furniture. Over the years, I’ve found small circular motions work best.

Don’t forget to clean all cushion sides and the back of your furniture. I’ve used cleaning products made especially for leather sofas in the past, however, these products either left a sticky residue or streak marks behind. We’ve used Meguiar’s Gold Class Leather & Vinyl Cleaner for years. I swear it’s magic.

Condition Leather Furniture Regularly

After cleaning your leather furniture with a gentle leather cleaner, it’s time to moisturize. If leather is allowed to dry out, it will crack, flake, discolor and become susceptible to punctures. All leather furniture needs to be conditioned every 2-3 months, especially if your furniture sits in direct sunlight, gets regular use or is located in a dry climate.

For years, we’ve used Meguiar’s Gold Class Leather Conditioner and it works wonders! Honestly, it restores leather furniture back to its original condition; I’m shocked every time. We’ve tried leather cleaning and conditioning combos in the past, and they just didn’t condition leather thoroughly. Plus, they wouldn’t last as long. If I’m doing all of this work, it must last. 🙂

Using a clean soft white cloth, pour a tiny amount of leather conditioner on the cloth and start massaging onto the leather. Use small circular strokes, and don’t forget to condition the outer sides, sides of cushions and back of leather furniture. Now, stand back and admire your work. Your leather furniture will look and feel brand new.

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Why Montreal’s City-Wide Pit Bull Ban Isn’t The Answer

October 3, 2016 by Fanna Easter

Pit Bull Bans: Why Montreal is Wrong

The City of Montreal passed a Pit Bull ban on Tuesday, September 27. New ownership of Pit Bulls and Pit Bull mixes are now banned from the city as of Monday, October 3. Previous pet owners of Pit Bulls or Pit Bull-type breeds are obligated to follow strict new laws.

Those laws require Pit Bull owners to:

Pay $150 for special permitting
Complete a criminal background check
Sterilize, microchip and vaccinate their dogs
Keep their dogs muzzled and leashed in public

If you’re not outraged yet, it gets worse. Montreal has mandated all Pit Bulls and Pit Bull mixes currently in rescue or animal control to be euthanized.

Yes, you read that right. Montreal just wrote a death sentence for innocent dogs, and this death sentence is based on complete ignorance. This new and absurd Pit Bull ban goes into effect today, and I’m livid about it.

I’m angry, and you should be too.

History of Breed-Specific Legislation

Over the last decade, American Pit Bull Terriers have been the target of completely biased discrimination. It started across the pond in Europe where the country began banning certain breeds to reduce dog bite incidents. The idea of banning what they considered were dangerous dog breeds trickled worldwide.

Not only were thousands of innocent dogs killed due to breed-specific legislation, but many families were also forced into expensive legal battles to keep their dogs. Unfortunately, many pet owners lost the legal fight and their furry family members had to pay the ultimate price.

When dog breed banning was introduced to the US, it had a domino effect. Banning certain breeds of dogs spread through cities and states like wildfire. Interestingly, breed banning picked up momentum when mainstream media discovered a huge bump in ratings while covering Pit Bull maulings. The media used this to their advantage and began reporting on Pit Bull incidents.

Within weeks, US media broadcasted anything related to Pit Bulls, continuing to paint Pit Bulls as dangerous dogs. When Pit Bull bites decreased, media then shifted their focus to mixed breed dogs that resembled Pit Bulls. Eventually, the media would cover other dog breeds and make them look vicious too.

RELATED: Training Pit Bulls

What is Considered a Dangerous Dog

Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly dangerous dogs in the world, but that’s based on behavior and not appearance. As a professional dog trainer, I’ve met scary dogs of all sizes and shapes. I knew these dogs could certainly do some damage if provoked. Sure, large dog bites will hurt more than bites from smaller dogs, but does that constitute banning all large dog breeds? American Pit Bull Terriers are actually smaller than Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers, yet they’re the most popular dog breeds.

Pit Bulls Don’t Have More Powerful Bites

Pit Bull dogs don’t have a higher pressure per square inch (PSI) bite compared to other dogs nor do they have a “locking jaw.” Both of these ridiculous allegations are Pit Bull myths. Dr. Lehr Brisbin of the University of Georgia states: “The few studies which have been conducted of the structure of the skulls, mandibles and teeth of Pit Bulls show that, in proportion to their size, their jaw structure and thus its inferred functional morphology, is no different than that of any breed of dog.” (American Pit Bull Foundation, n.d.)

Pit Bulls Aren’t the Only Breed That Gets Banned

When breed-specific legislation became common practice, cities and countries quickly added additional breeds to their dog ban list. Within days, dog breed banning lists included Rottweilers, Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Dalmatians, Shari Peis, Bulldogs, German Shepherd Dogs, Dobermans, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, any type of Mastiff dogs and Chow Chows. Toso Inus, Dogo Argentinos and Fila Brasilerios were also added to breed bans worldwide despite being rare dog breeds. Are cities, states and countries jumping on the breed banning bandwagon? It sure seems so!

Mixed breeds are targets too. If a dog is mixed with any of the above-mentioned breeds, they’re subjected to dog ban laws as well. I’m not sure how those laws work because identifying Pit Bull mixes isn’t that easy. I’ve trained dogs for more than 23 years, and I can’t identify Pit Bull mixes. Plus, who am I to judge a dog’s fate by his appearance? Montreal passed a Pit Bull breed ban after a “Pit Bull” had killed a woman. The part that confuses me is the dog wasn’t even a Pit Bull. DNA results proved otherwise!

Why Breed Banning Doesn’t Work!

Laws are meant to keep everyone safe, including dogs. When breed-specific legislation spread across the world, something interesting happened. Studies found that banning certain breeds of dogs doesn’t work. Banning dog breeds doesn’t stop or decrease dog bites. Data shows dog bites continue to rise in areas where certain breeds of dogs are banned.

When city officials picked up on this data, many overturned Pit Bull bans. Entire countries even lifted their breed bans. Armed with this data, I don’t understand how the City of Montreal legally passed its new Pit Bull ban law when data clearly shows banning dog breeds doesn’t work.

Moreover, a task force found that the public’s safety hadn’t improved as a result of a Pit Bull ban. The county had spent more than $250,000 per year to round up and destroy banned dogs, yet safety levels remained the same (American Bar Association, 2009).

When researching credible dog bite data online, question the motive of certain organizations that cherry-pick data. Choose reputable sources with actual experts, such as the American Bar Association, CDC, ASPCA, HSUS and American Veterinary Medical Association.

What You Can Do to Save Innocent Dogs

“Doing nothing basically means you agree with the current situation.” This quote haunts me every time I stumble across an injustice. We need to do something and we need to do it now. When we work together, we can move mountains!

We can still overturn this Pit Bull law. Canadian veterinarians, Montreal SPCA, American Bar Association, outraged pet owners and ordinary people are voicing their opinions about this new law. Contact city officials or sign a petition here. If you’re a writer or blogger, please share your thoughts on Montreal’s horrible decision.

Dogs don’t have a voice, but we do. Please speak for all dogs today.

How to Teach Your Dog to Release the Tug Toy

Teaching Your Dog to Release a Toy During Play

Step 1) Keep Tug Toy Still