Benny's Best Dog Training

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Benny's Best Dog Training

Dog training, behavior modification, & pet sitting services offered by a certified trainer. Serving Olympia & surrounding areas 💜

07/02/2022

With over 60% of pet dogs in the U.S. being terrified of fireworks, the upcoming holiday is a stressful and frustrating time for many of us pet guardians and our pets.

Let's talk about how you can prepare your dog for the 4th of July:

💜 Keep your pets indoors. Even if your dog is good about staying near their home and is not a fence climber, the presence of something scary elicits a flight response which often supersedes any learned behavior. When walking your dog outside, attach your dog's harness to their collar using a carabiner. This way, if they attempt to slip out of their walking equipment, you still have a hold on your dog.

💜 Close your blinds and curtains to minimize sound. If you have a relatively soundproof room in your house (usually a closet or bathroom), spend some time in there with your pup.

💜 Turn on the fan, TV, or radio, to mask any sound coming from outside. My personal favorite is a box fan, as it moves enough air to block most sounds. Place it between your pup and the source of most noise and have it face the wall.

💜 Use a Thundershirt or a make-shift pressure wrap. Applying steady pressure on your dog's body for 20-30 minutes at a time has a relaxing effect on their nervous system. Cuddling, talking to, and petting your dog also provides them with safety and comfort they need during this scary time.

💜 Provide your dog with food-based enrichment. Prepare a lick mat, puzzle toy, or a Kong filled with your dog's favorite treats and have your pup work on them in their quiet space. Licking and chewing helps release serotonin, which plays a crucial role in reducing anxiety. It also serves as a good distraction and helps tire your dog out.

💜 Talk to your vet about anti-anxiety medication.

06/14/2022

Whether you just got a new puppy or adopted an older dog, you will likely run into moments here and there where your pup gets a little confused and has an accident indoors. Accidents happen and are a part of the potty training process! Your puppy is not going to have full bladder control until they are about 20 weeks old. So a little patience and understanding will go a long way!

Let’s talk about the most important steps you can take to ensure your potty training routine is quick and efficient:

💜 Do not give your pup access to the entire home right away. Introduce them to new rooms one by one over a longer period of time. We want to ensure your pup doesn’t wander off and potty in inappropriate places without your immediate knowledge.

💜 Take your dog out every hour (or every 15-30 minutes, if accidents are more frequent). Gradually increase the time between bathroom breaks if there have been no accidents for at least a week.

💜 Every single time your pup potties, reward them *instantly*. Timing and consistency are crucial in this process.

💜 If they haven’t pottied on your walk, wait 5-15 minutes and take them out again. Keep them in the crate, play pen, gated off kitchen, or any other smaller area of your home until they’ve gone out again. Watch them like a hawk!

💜 Don’t wait for your pup to tell you when they need to go out. By the time they bark, scratch or whine at the door, their bladder is so full they are in pain. Not only is it unpleasant for your dog, it increases the chances of UTIs.

💜 If your pup does have an accident, don’t make a fuss about it. It’s on you, not the dog. Raising your voice, saying "no" sternly, or anything that can be perceived as a punishment by a puppy will lead to them hiding their accidents better, and simply not going to the bathroom when outside with you.

💜 Clean up any accidents with an enzymatic cleaner. No other cleaner will efficiently get rid of the smell, which is a neon sign to your dog that this is where the bathroom is located.

💜 Keep a log of the times your dog goes to the bathroom. This will help you fine-tune your potty training routine.

💜 Pay attention to the times your pup is more likely to go to the bathroom, such as:

- right after eating or drinking
- during or right after prolonged & hard play
- they look confused and are looking around
- every time they sniff the floor (especially the areas where they’ve gone in the past)
- they suddenly stop what they’re doing and get up
- after they’ve been released from confinement

05/26/2022

Let’s talk muzzles!

What was your reaction seeing a picture of Benny in a muzzle?

Muzzle training is a controversial topic in the dog world. When we see a dog in a muzzle, we can’t help but to assume there are some aggressive tendencies there. We also tend to be worried about the dog’s quality of life: Does he have access to water? Is he able to pant properly? How can he go about doing fun dog things outside when he’s locked in “face prison”?

Yes, muzzles are frequently used on dogs who exhibit aggressive behavior. It is a great management tool that keeps everyone safe. Knowing that, we tend to consciously or subconsciously label certain dogs as “vicious” when we see them in a muzzle. We judge, become worried, and stay out of their way.

A muzzled dog is still a good dog, and not every muzzled dog bites. There are actually multiple reasons why a dog may need to wear a muzzle:

💜 Emergency situations: A dog who is scared or in pain is more likely to bite. It is a good idea to muzzle your dog in case you need to treat or move them after an injury. This way, everyone involved remains safe.

💜 Safety at the vet: There are likely times your dog is muzzled by your vet or groomer. They are often placed on a dog on the spot and in an abrupt fashion, often using a restrictive gauze wrap or a tight cloth muzzle. It can be very traumatic in an already stressful situation, risking your dog becoming more fearful and reactive every time they are handled by a third person in the future.
You can help your dog become more comfortable in those situations by desensitizing them to a muzzle early on, and helping create positive associations with the tool.

💜 Exposing to new people/animals: If you just adopted your dog or got a puppy who hasn’t been exposed to little humans or other animals, it’s a good idea to muzzle your pup during their first interaction. It takes away a great deal of worry and helps you better gauge how your newly adopted dog and your toddler or resident cat get along with each other.

💜 Picking up unsafe items: dogs (especially puppies) often explore the world with their mouths. Some have a learned tendency to scavenge and eat everything off the ground, or consume treats from the kitty litter box. Muzzling is a safer and more humane alternative to worrying about your lab who swallows rocks, a terrier who has a history of killing and/or consuming wildlife in your yard, or a beagle who goes after a chicken bone or a saucy knife, not stopping for anything.
In the photo, Benny wears a muzzle because he has a tendency to eat large amounts of plants when excited or stressed.

Your dog doesn’t have to hate the muzzle!

First and foremost, make sure you choose the type of muzzle that is comfortable for your pup.
Cloth and mesh muzzles are great options for short-term use when grooming or during an unpleasant procedure. They’re foldable and easy to slip on, but are also designed to keep the muzzle closed, making it less pleasant for your dog to wear.
For longer-term use, condition your dog to wear a basket muzzle. It allows your pup to pant, yawn, drink, and accept treats.

It is important to go at your dog’s pace when doing muzzle conditioning. Start by giving your dog high-value treats just for looking at the muzzle, then sniffing it, followed by briefly placing their nose in the muzzle. Encourage your dog to move into the muzzle, instead of placing it on them, while continuously giving treats. Work your way up to briefly closing the strap, then releasing and taking the muzzle off. When conditioning is done step-by-step, your dog will ultimately be excited to wear their muzzle!

05/03/2022

You may have heard yourself say one of the following: “He only barks at other dogs when he’s on leash”; “he always stays by my side when he’s off-leash, but pulls like a maniac as soon as the lead goes on”; or “he’s very polite on leash on his own, but starts pulling when he walks with his siblings.”

Dogs are not born with innate leash-walking skills, and 80% of the world dog population has not even seen a collar or a lead, yet alone have had to wear such equipment. Yet, we tend to take those skills for granted. A tether is a relatively new invention in the pet world, but a necessary one, given the ever-growing population and traffic.

We have historically focused on teaching our dogs how to walk on leash, without considering why they pull and act otherwise unpredictably as soon as we clip them in.

So this post focuses on the “why”:

Some of you may have heard the expression “Tension on the leash equals tension in the environment”, or a similar phrase.

Leash reactivity is often a result of barrier frustration. Your anxious dog knows they have nowhere to run or hide when on a leash, so they exhibit ritualized aggression (typically in the form of barking and lunging) to signal to the other dogs that they need space.
Secondly, your normally dog-friendly pup may scream and lunge at other dogs on the leash because they are not able to follow a standard greeting pattern, which includes slowly walking towards each other while moving their bodies side-to-side and sniffing each other’s special parts for no more than a few seconds. Being on leash forces them to approach another dog head-on: a clear sign of threat. They respond vocally and erratically to prevent a potential altercation that those unintended messages have communicated.
A reactive dog may further associate the discomfort and pain on their neck from pulling on the lead attached to their collar with a passing dog, which further exasperates their reactivity. This is one of the many reasons I always recommend using a back-clip harness.

A pet dog doesn’t usually want to be far from their handler, but they want the option to step away if there is an interesting smell or a rabbit crossing their path. Being on a tether signifies a lost opportunity to engage in fun things, so they stop more frequently and pull harder to give themselves that freedom.

Lastly, being social animals, they cannot stand the thought of being left behind. Losing a member of your group in nature signifies injury or even death. They do their best to make sure the group stays together, which often translates into pulling on leash to stay ahead.

So how does one keep pressure off of the lead?

💜 Use a longer leash:
If the environment is appropriate, walk your dog on a leash that is longer than 6ft (local laws and regulations permitting). This will allow for some slack and more relaxed walks.

💜 Decompression walks:
Try to find times of the day to walk your dog when you’re not in a hurry to go to work or get ready for bed. Use a longer lead and follow your dog wherever they want to go. Let them follow a scent, sniff a bush for 5 minutes, roll in smelly things, or splash in water. Allowing your dog to practice these natural behaviors will keep them stimulated, happy, and much more relaxed during your regular walks.

💜 Hand Target (or “Touch”):
Think of the leash as a seatbelt, not a steering wheel. It is just there for safety. Avoid getting into the habit of moving your pup around using the leash - instead, teach your dog Hand Target and practice it on walks. This activity serves as a fun distraction while helping to reposition your dog without the use of pressure.

💜 Walk up the leash:
When your dog pulls and won’t respond to you, stop and move towards your dog by “climbing” up the leash, without adding any additional pressure (pretend like you’re climbing the rope at the gym class, except that it’s positioned horizontally). Gently touch them on the side or place a treat in front of their face and lure them away. Often moving in their space is enough to get them to refocus.

💜 Have a home base for your leash-holding hand:
When our dogs pull, we instinctively pull back, creating more pressure. This is our way of establishing equilibrium when we think we’re about to fall over from being pulled or pushed. To prevent that, determine what is an appropriate length for your leash, and place the hand that is holding the leash firmly on your hip or chest. Do not move it from that spot. If you need to shorten your leash, you have your other hand for that.

💜 Emergency U-Turn:
Teach your dog to do a 180° turn on cue to remove yourselves from a sticky situation.

04/08/2022

How?
Establish a relationship with your dog.

Your relationship is the basis for trust and safety. It is what helps your dog to recognize that YOU make the right decisions, so they don't feel the need to step up to the plate when a situation may call for it (what we define as "misbehavior").

Consider this: would you be more likely to trust and work for an employer who berates, demeans you, claims your work is inadequate, underpays, and is known to make wrong decisions for the company, or would you be more inclined to have faith in and work at a company where your employer acknowledges your hard work, doesn't judge, pays well, offers help, encourages open communication, and is experienced in building a successful company?

As it turns out, dogs are no different from us in that regard. Encouragement, reinforcement, and providing a safe and comfortable environment means the world to your dog. They deserve to know that they can hang their hat on you no matter what.

A common way to think about it is in terms of Relationship-Trust Account. It is your communal bank account, where you contribute a little at a time as soon as you open that account.
Let's say you've had largely positive experiences with your pup throughout their life. Inevitably there is going to be a time when you have to make a withdrawal, either in the form of bathing your pup, brushing their teeth, or restraining them at the vet during an unpleasant procedure. You want there to be enough in the account to ensure that when you occasionally have to make a withdrawal, it won't affect the relationship you've built. So the more you have in your account, the better.

Here are the key ways to help build and maintain a relationship with your pup:

💜 Meet your dog’s needs: provide proper nutrition, vet care, mental and physical stimulation, routine, companionship, and safety.

💜Learn how your dog communicates with you and the environment. Read up on dog body language (I highly recommend “Calming Signals” by Turid Rugaas), and pay attention to when your dog is excited, anxious, happy, uncomfortable, or frightened. Most stress signals are incredibly subtle and often misinterpreted by us.

💜 Be fun to be around and vary your rewards. Want a solid recall? Ensure you practice it early on and continuously, using anything your pup enjoys, from toys, sticks, access to certain areas, praise, treats, to your chipper disposition. Avoid getting angry and only calling your dog over to end fun things (e.g. going home from the dog park or getting their nails clipped).

💜 Manage your environment: keep all surfaces clear if your dog is a counter surfer. If they’re a digger, set up barriers around the areas where they dig and provide them with a dig box. We can’t expect our dogs to behave better if we can't at least meet them halfway.

💜 Do not force your anxious dog to socialize with other dogs. It is okay to not want to be friends with everyone out there, just like you don’t like every person you’ve ever met. Make it clear to your dog that you hear them and will keep them safe no matter what.

💜Practice cooperative care procedures. This once again boils down to reading what your dog is telling you. You’d be surprised by how willing your dog will be to say “yes” if you respect the times when they tell you “no”.

💜 Avoid punishing your dog. Nothing puts a bigger dent in a relationship than coming off scary and unpredictable to your dog.

03/30/2022

How we define "naughty" is relative - it depends on the environment we've set up for ourselves and our dogs, & the rules we've put in place.

Unwanted behaviors arise from a number of things, such as:
💜 not understanding the rules
💜 not having an appropriate outlet
💜 attention-seeking
💜 a means to gain access to a resource
💜 need to explore and discover
💜 distress

The majority of problem behaviors arise from miscommunication - barking to alert us an intruder is coming, chewing on the table leg because their gums hurt, nipping at the ankles because they don't know who or what else they can herd.

We are programmed to become emotional in response to problem behaviors. When Spot rips up the dog bed after we've been gone for several hours, we often say "No", raise our voices, or reprimand the pup in other ways, because "he should know better".

We assume that Spot did it out of spite, while in reality he was distressed, and that ripped up bed was a note he left for you, explaining how scared and confused he was because he did not know why you abandoned him. Ripping the bed was the most sensical cry for help at the time, because all other forms of communication were ignored. Now he is even more confused by your response, because, well, "didn't you read the note?".

Certain problem behaviors may cease in response to punishment, but all you're doing is suppressing the behaviors instead of trying to figure out and work with the root cause of those behaviors. We are not actually listening to what our dog is trying to tell us and provide them with appropriate answers. You often see other problem behaviors pop up as a result of unmet needs.

If we obviously don't or can't be bothered to speak Dog, or give them the benefit of the doubt, how can we expect them to understand our words, actions, or how we feel?

Think of it this way: If a person stranded on an island shoots flare guns as you fly by on a helicopter, do you criticize the person for polluting the environment and fly off, or do you go down there and help them?

You recently adopted a lab because your previous dog was the sweetest most well-behaved lab?

So now your current dog has some pretty big shoes to fill. Max never got into the trash or stole food from the table, so why can't Charlie do better? Consider whether you previously lived on a farm where Max had more freedom to roam and play. Or he was probably just not that motivated by food. Every so often we get those "easy" dogs who don't need much and were just happy to be with you. But that is not the norm, you simply got lucky.

Expecting your dog to live up to your previous pup's expectations without putting in any work is inevitably setting them up to fail, and they are then labeled as "bad". It's very easy to put blame on others instead of considering whether there is something we could do differently to help them meet their needs and understand the rules. I'm certainly guilty of it.

More often than not it's not about how you fix what the dog does, it's about how we use the information given to us to change our actions and the environment. How do you teach them rules and boundaries in a way they understand?

Consider your dog's breed-specific needs. Where do you live? Are there any medical issues? What is your dog's nutrition like? Are there any changes in the household? What does your dog's learning history look like?

Embrace the naughty things. They provide us with valuable knowledge to help our dogs navigate this crazy world we've put them in.

03/21/2022

There is no doubt that wanting our pups to be well-socialized with others comes from a good place. There are many ways to do it safely, on a 6-ft leash on a sidewalk is not one of them, however.

Here are 5 reasons why:

💜 Interrupts communication:

The way dogs greet each other off-leash typically follows a certain pattern: first, they approach each other in a banana curve & with a loose body, then they sniff each other’s noses and rear ends, maintaining a focused but loose body. After a few seconds, they may go separate ways, engage in play, or sniff & run together. Having a tether and human attached on the other end of it, prevents them from following a ritualized greeting pattern, resulting in mixed messages being exchanged. This increases stress levels & the interaction could possibly end in an altercation.

💜 Leash tension leads to bad things:

We tend to be a little nervous ourselves, especially when meeting a dog we don’t know. We inadvertently keep tension on leash, pull our dogs back when they seem “rude” by sniffing another dog’s privates, or trip on the leash as the dogs go about. Tension on leash translates into tension in the environment, making everyone uncomfortable & nervous.

💜 Bad habits get reinforced:

Following your dog while they’re eagerly pulling towards another dog just sets precedence for more unwanted behavior. Maintaining calm while another dog approaches/passes should be reinforced, as overexcitement has no place in a normal greeting ritual. Wouldn’t you be freaked out if a stranger happily ran up to you and gave you a big ol’ smooch?

💜 “He just wants to say hi!”:

We need to recognize that there are dogs out there who just want to be left alone. Being in close proximity to another dog, friendly or not, can be a traumatic experience for a lot of anxious dogs. A well-intentioned "hello" can set back a great deal of progress when learning to be comfortable outdoors.

💜 Your dog may not actually like it:

Dog stress signals can be subtle and easy to miss or misinterpret. Advocate for your dog & read up on their body language. Pay attention to what they're trying to say. I guarantee that your dog won't just "get over it" if they've shown signs of being uncomfortable in the past. Instead, it creates a reactive pup who may no longer enjoy being outside.

03/18/2022

Emergency recall:

💜 Use a loud and unique-sounding device like a whistle for long-distance & emergency recall (but first make sure the sound is not aversive to your pup!)
Dogs naturally respond to the sound of a whistle, making it harder to ignore.

💜 Begin by conditioning your dog to the whistle in a low-distraction environment (e.g. your living room or your backyard), then start practicing it in other settings, gradually increasing distractions & distance. Keep your sessions short and sweet (2-3 times a day, 3-5 minutes).

💜 Use generous amounts of *highly* rewarding foods that are reserved for whistle-recall only (I'm talking 1-2 handfuls of liver or salmon treats, 1/2-1 jar of meat-based baby food, ~1/2 cup diced chicken, a whole hot dog, etc.).
We want to make sure that, when things get sticky, your pup's recall is 100% fail-proof

02/25/2022

As much as many of us hate to hear and admit it, dominance theory IS dead.

This rather far-fetched approach to dog social behavior started with observing a group of wolves at the zoo in the 1930s. Rudolph Schenkel, the Swiss researcher who carried out the study, suggested that wolves are in constant competition for a higher social status, and the only way to achieve that is by being aggressive with their "subordinates".

Since then, the term "dominance" has been used synonymously with "aggression", which contradicts its dictionary definition: priority and access to limited and/or preferred resources. Two individuals of the same rank can and often will fight over a single bone on the ground.

What that study, and many others like it, failed to account for is the fact that the wolves observed were unrelated to each other, and lived in an entirely human-controlled environment.

Imagine how you would feel being coerced into living under one roof with a group of complete strangers, with no chance of stepping away?

In the wild, a wolf pack consists of a breeding pair and their offspring of 1-3 generations, resembling a human family dynamic.

That is only one part of the problem, though: the second one is assuming that dogs are the same as wolves. While they do share 99% of genetic material, there are some very obvious differences - the most glaring one being the fact that domesticated canids do not have to compete for resources.

We also assume that our fido views us humans as a fellow canid, while it is painfully obvious to them that we are very much not the same species.

The only thing you're teaching your pup when grabbing their scruff, sticking their nose in their p**p, pinching their ears, or doing the infamous "alpha-roll", is that you are an unpredictable scary giant with a frail ego.

Think of it this way: who gets to dictate how many bathroom breaks the dog gets? Who decides how many meals they eat? What about where they sleep? Who do they get to interact and play with? Who provides access to water?

It is obvious that you provide the resources and control every minute of your dog's life.

Your dog is not trying to dominate you.

02/22/2022

And you're not alone!

Chanting the cue is one of the most common mistakes dog parents make.

If our dog doesn't perform the cue right away, we tend to repeat it. If that doesn't work we raise our voice. We assume that the pup is either stubborn or doesn't hear us (or both)..

Do me a favor and tell me what is 64 x 125, while holding a scalding cup of water in your hand. You only have two seconds to give me an answer and you can't use a calculator.

⬆️ Oftentimes this is the equivalent level of stress our dogs are under if they're meeting a stranger or are thrown into a new environment, but asked to perform a cue that they "should already know".

Here is what is likely going through your dog's head when you ask for a "Sit-Stay" while, let's say, you're about to open the front door after the doorbell rings:

- "I'm confused by this request."
- ""Sit"... "sit"... "sit"... I know that one. Hold on, I *think* I can get this one right."
- "Not now, there's an intruder I need to deal with."
- "What's in it for me?"
- "Be careful!"
- "This is too hard."
- "Omg, WHO'S AT THE DOOR?"
- "You're scaring me."

What you should do when your dog is not responding:

💜 Give them a few seconds to process the information. They'll likely get it right when you give them time to think about it.

💜 Go back to basics and practice the behavior in environments where your dog is not distracted and has no issues performing (e.g. the living room). Then, generalize the behavior by practicing it outside the learning environment and gradually adding new distractions. You're likely asking for too much too soon.

💜 Use higher-value rewards in highly distracting environments. If you're worried about bribing your dog, then consider whether getting a paycheck and an acknowledgment from your boss for a job well done would be bribing in your book.

💜 Ask your dog for a behavior they normally have no issues performing. In a high-stress environment, executing a movement-based behavior (e.g. hand target) is easier on the nerves.

💜 Stop what you're doing, take a step back, lower your tone, and smile at your dog. They didn't get it and that is 100% okay. You can pick it up again when you are both less frustrated.

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Olympia, WA
98516

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+17162456632

Website

http://www.bennysbest.org/

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Emergency recall: 💜 Use a loud and unique-sounding device like a whistle for long-distance & emergency recall (but first make sure the sound is not aversive to your pup!) Dogs naturally respond to the sound of a whistle, making it harder to ignore. 💜 Begin by conditioning your dog to the whistle in a low-distraction environment (e.g. your living room or your backyard), then start practicing it in other settings, gradually increasing distractions & distance. Keep your sessions short and sweet (2-3 times a day, 3-5 minutes). 💜 Use generous amounts of *highly* rewarding foods that are reserved for whistle-recall only (I'm talking 1-2 handfuls of liver or salmon treats, 1/2-1 jar of meat-based baby food, ~1/2 cup diced chicken, a whole hot dog, etc.). We want to make sure that, when things get sticky, your pup's recall is 100% fail-proof