Calming A Hyper Dog With A Thundershirt

October 6, 2014 by Fanna Easter

Thundershirt for Hyper Dogs — I need a Thundershirt!

Thundershirt for Dogs

Does your dog have tons of energy? You know what I mean: he bounces off the walls and sometimes off you too! Well, we recommend a product that can calm your hyper dog. Meet the Thundershirt.

Thundershirts for Excited Dogs, Really?

Yes! While Thundershirts for dogs do a great job at calming dogs afraid of storms, they’re fabulous for easily excited or hyper dogs as well. When wrapped correctly, Thundershirts press on acupressure points, which promotes calmness and soothes excited dogs. Think of a swaddled baby when crying. If you swaddle him correctly, it’s very soothing and he usually stops crying and falls asleep.

Of course, Thundershirts for dogs shouldn’t replace daily walks, food puzzles and family interactions. They’re simply a tool that teaches your dog how to calm himself down. It’s fun when adrenaline is pushing through your body, so it’s pretty important to teach our dogs how to bring themselves down and self-soothe.

WATCH: Thundershirt for Dogs

Teaching Your Dog to Wear a Thundershirt

Give your dog yummy treats as he sniffs the Thundershirt.
As you’re putting on the shirt, give him a finger full of peanut butter, as you know it takes awhile for dogs to remove peanut butter from the roof of their mouths.
Give your dog a yummy food stuffed toy when he’s wearing his Thundershirt, so he learns Thundershirt equals yummy food toy.
Follow the fitting instructions correctly. You don’t want it too loose or too tight.

If You’re New to Thundershirts

There seems to be many opinions about the effectiveness of Thundershirts for dogs. As a professional dog trainer of 22 years, they work. As with anything, they must:

Be introduced to the dog positively, so he enjoys wearing them
Fit properly

Now, nothing works 100% for all dogs, but in my classes, we have an 80% success rate with Thundershirts. Once your dog understands the process, you can keep the Thundershirt around for stressful events, such as traveling, visiting the vet, guests visiting or moving to a new home.

Lastly, I wish they made Thundershirts for people. I’d buy one!

What are your thoughts on Thundershirts for dogs? Comment in the section below!

Kong Wobbler

October 2, 2014 by Fanna Easter

Games for Dogs

Does your dog or puppy have a ton of energy? First, this is totally normal. Second, learn how to burn some of that extra energy using games for dogs. I highly recommend a Kong Wobbler!

How does it work?

Kong Wobbler has a weighted bottom and it moves similar to a Weeble Wobble. When pushed, it bounces back forward. Your dog pushes, nudges and paws at the Wobbler and rewarded when food is dispensed!

Which game should I choose for my dog?

There are a ton of games and food puzzles, and I’ve tried 90% of them. After all the setting up and testing, my dogs really like the Kong Wobbler. It’s super easy to use. I like the ease of refilling and cleaning. 🙂

Before starting, set your dog up for success and make it easy for him to earn the kibble.

Fill the Wobbler.
Drop a few kibble pieces next to the Wobbler.
Move the Wobbler around so your dog watches kibble or treats fall out the opening.

Always supervise your dog when he’s playing with the Wobbler. As you can see in the video, my Rottie has tried to chew the top. I recommend feeding your dog’s morning and evening meals using the Wobbler. Also, the plastic does not scratch wooden floors nor is it excessively noisy, which is a huge plus.

Which size Kong Wobbler should you choose?

I recommend the larger Kong Wobbler for dogs over 30 pounds, and the smaller version for dogs under 30 pounds. When in doubt, choose a larger size, as small dogs are powerful chewers (hint hint, terriers!). Now, a tiny Chihuahua or Yorkie will not have the strength to push a large Wobbler around. They are pretty heavy and we certainly don’t want to accidentally squish a tiny dog. 🙂

VIDEO: Kong Wobbler

It’s your turn. Does your dog love his Kong Wobbler? Comment in the section below. I want to hear from you. 🙂

Top 5 Tips for Training Rescue Dogs

October 1, 2014 by Fanna Easter

Five Things You Need to Know About Rescuing a Dog

These five professional dog trainer tips are important when you bring home a rescue dog as you’ll need to incorporate them into your daily routine quickly. This way your rescue dog learns polite behaviors immediately. Plus, spending time with your new dog will build a strong bond of trust so start training now.

Enroll in a Dog Training Class

Completing a dog training class within two weeks of adoption will build a bond between you and your rescue dog. Your new pooch will learn polite manners while earning luscious treats, which means they will love you even more!
Choose a dog trainer that uses positive reinforcement. This means no yelling, pushing, yanking or pulling your puppy around. During classes, choose treats your dog loves!

Reward Good Behavior

When your rescue dog behaves as expected reward him with treats. Positive rewards are a great way to reinforce the desired behavior of your dog. Rewards can include a game of tug or snuggle time. It’s a great idea to keep a bowl of treats nearby for quick rewards. You can reward your rescue dog for things, such as: going potty outside, laying quietly at your feet, not barking, sitting when putting on his leash and coming when called.

Crate Training

This is your rescue dog’s sanctuary. He is safe and can relax so make it fun and rewarding to be in his crate. Feed your dog meals in his crate and provide special food stuffed toys for him to enjoy while he relaxes in his crate.

Come When Called

Teach your rescue dog that it’s fun to come back to you! While a rescue dog may have learned this behavior, it’s vital he learns to come back to you specifically. He’s still adjusting to his new home.
Use the ER Recall: Stand still, squat down and say “Puppy Puppy Puppy” using a high-pitched sound. Dogs really respond to high-pitched rapid repeating sounds. Have a party when your dog returns to you. Give him 5 treats and do the Happy Dance (always make it a big deal). You need to be much more interesting than the squirrel outside.

Engage in Daily Mental Stimulation

This is just as important as physical exercise.

Walk your rescue dog on leash for 30 minutes per day. Allow him plenty of sniffing opportunities. This is equivalent to reading his Facebook page. By sniffing, he is reading “posts” and may answer “posts” back. The more often you take your dog for a walk, the less likely he is to have an accident in the house.
Feed your dog meals using interactive toys. Pour his kibble into a food dispensing toy so that he needs to push or paw the toy to dispense his food — it’s like solving puzzles. Meals times are 20 minutes long instead of 30 seconds, and your dog will be tired afterwards.

Bark back. I want to hear back from you! How have these tips helped your rescue dog acclimate to your household?

READ ALSO: Adopting a Rescue Dog

Come When Called Part 3: Adding Distractions

September 26, 2014 by Fanna Easter

Teaching Your Dog to Come When Called

Adding Distractions to “Come” Cue

If your dog ignores you and runs off, it might need some specific training. Here is the final installment of a four-part series on training your dog to come. You’ll learn:

How to perform an emergency recall
To call your dog indoors from the backyard
To call your dog back to you around distractions (squirrels, etc.)
How to teach multiple dogs to come back to you
Fun games

Directions

View first video and practice homework for seven days.
View second video, practice homework for seven days.
View third video, practice homework for seven days.
View fourth, and final, video.

Each video contains tons of information so re-watch them several times. Bookmark for easy future reference.

What you will need:

Delicious treats the size of a pea
Six-foot leash
Flat buckle collar or body harness
Clicker

Note: Always enroll your dog in a group dog training class. This video should not be used in place of dog training class attendance.

You’ve completed the “Come When Called” series. Revisit the videos as often as necessary for polite greeting behavior!

In case you missed it: Come When Called Part 1: Intro

Multiple Dog Household Tips

September 22, 2014 by Fanna Easter

How to Manage a Multi-Dog Household

Do you live with two or more dogs? Are you fostering or pet sitting? I have fabulous multiple dog household tips for you! And yes, it’s possible to expect polite dog behavior even if you have a furry gang.

As a dog trainer, my home has fluctuated having between 2-4 dogs for the last 20 years. While each dog and situation is different, there are a few really good best practices to follow. Here are mine!

Provide each dog with his own area for eating

Preferably, it’s best to feed dogs in their crates with the door closed and latched. While some dogs may not have an issue, some dogs can resource guard (protect their food bowls) so an ounce of prevention is worth its weight in gold!

Don’t allow bullying behavior

If one dog is constantly bullying, scaring or pushing another dog around, don’t allow this to continue or let the dogs work it out amongst themselves. This almost always makes the behavior much worse. Instead, step in and teach dogs how to behave politely to each other. I recommend tethering the bullying dog. It’s not fair to the bullied dog, as I would not want to live with a bully for my entire life.

RELATED: Supervised Dog Tethering

Leaving dogs alone at home: When leaving dogs alone, always crate your dogs.

Leaving one dog loose: My older dog usually earns big girl privileges, which means she can safely be left loose in the house. I always crate my other dogs. Basically, only one dog is left loose in the home while the others are confined. When dogs are crated, I put visual barriers between crates to prevent any arguing when I’m not home. Visual barriers can be a wall or blanket covering one side of a dog’s crate.
Prevention: As a dog trainer, I’ve encountered numerous situations where multiple dogs can co-exist peacefully alone and loose in their home until a thunderstorm or doorbell (usually from the FedEx, UPS or solicitor) causes stress and they begin to fight. I remember one case where three dogs lived together for 5 years with no issues. Then a terrible storm passed through and two dogs killed the other one (no one was home to stop the fight). Yes, it can happen. Remember that ounce of prevention. 🙂

Training multiple dogs is much easier than you think!

Separating: When teaching new behaviors, I use treats and a clicker. To prevent one dog from outperforming the other dog, I confine one dog in another room with a luscious food stuffed toy. Then, the training dog and I practice for 2-3 minutes. Then, dogs are switched out until all dogs have had a few rounds of training.
Training together: The dog that sits first gets the treat and the dog that comes back to me the fastest gets the treat. Or, the best treat goes to the first performer, and the others get Cheerios. If you have an older dog, it’s not fair to assume a 12-year-old dog can outperform a 2-year-old dog so keep it fair. If dogs fight over treats, use praise and only train one dog at a time.

Exercising two dogs

First, teach both dogs how to walk politely on a leash separately. Use this time for training sessions and end it with a nice leisurely walk offering plenty of sniffing opportunities for your dog. Until your dogs learn polite leash manners, make sure each dog has his own handler so each dog has a different person holding his leash. Example: two dogs are walked with two people and so forth.
If your dogs become too excited and turn their over-the-top excitement on each other (start fighting), keep them separated by walking one dog at a time. Never allow this behavior to continue, it will only get worse. Focus on teaching the excited dog calm behavior. Once the excited dog learns calm behavior, then add the other dogs but only with their own handlers to hold the leash. If the excited dog has an excited moment, the other handlers should move away from the excited dog.

RELATED: Crate Training

Play sessions: Keep these under control

Even the best play sessions can become chaotic. Have you ever watched two young boys innocently wrestling? Eventually, one boy becomes upset because he was accidentally hurt, then a fight begins. This can happen with dogs too!

Too rough play: When dogs’ play session quickens or an increase of growls and snapping occur, split dogs up. You can stop dog play by making a loud repeating sound, such as smooching sounds, or calling dogs by their names. When they stop playing, call them to you and give them both treats. As a rule of thumb, when in doubt, split them up. 🙂
Bullying dog play: When one dog runs away from the other dog usually with his tail tucked, stop the play. It’s not fair to the scared dog to be constantly bullied by another dog. Tether the dog that is doing the bullying. He needs to learn this is not polite behavior and good things end when he acts rude. If you don’t step in, you are asking for a dog fight. This is a perfect time to teach consequences of behavior. If you’re rude, no more play. If you play nicely, play continues. And yes, dogs totally understand this game. 🙂
If a fight breaks out: Refrain from screaming, as this will only make it worse. Dump a bowl of water on the dog doing the biting or grab the biting dog’s back legs (by the hocks) and leave them up — kind of like a wheelbarrow — until the biting dog lets go. By lifting his back legs, he loses his balance and must let go. Still holding the dog’s back legs, grab the dog being bit and put him in another room to assess and stop the fight. Many times, if you let go of the biting dog’s legs, he will go right back and attack the other dog. It takes a lot for another dog to attack and bite a dog so I highly recommend contacting an animal behaviorist to prevent the biting dog from doing this again.

Provide each dog with his own special time with you

Provide each dog with special time alone with you. This can be individual training sessions or a walk in the park with you and one dog. Strive for individual time three to four times a week.

Toys

Now, I’m able to leave toys out at all times. Before, my four dogs would fight over who can play with certain toys. It was not pretty.

Fighting over toys: While I know you don’t want to hear this, but this is the only way to prevent fights: remove all toys. Toys are not worth having fighting dogs period. Instead, increase daily walks to 30 minutes per day and provide food puzzles while crated.
Offer food stuffed toys daily while all dogs are confined: This provides plenty of enrichment and confinement prevents fights. Use visual barriers between crates, as this prevents resource guarding. Yes, dogs can still resource guard when crated. My Rottie never ate the food out of his Kong toy. I videotaped him when I left and my Bull Terrier would growl and lunge at him through her crate, mind you, whenever he tried to lick his Kong. I was mortified! I put visual barriers in between both crates and now my Rottie enjoys his food stuffed Kong. 🙂 Yes, I confirmed it with multiple video sessions and I still check to make sure this does not happen again.

Please share a multi-dog household tip in the comment section below!

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