The Top 5 Indoor Games You can Play with Your Dog on a Hot Day!

I love dogs, I really do.  And I spend a lot of time trying to prove how smart and easy to teach they are.  And it's true!  They are smart and easy to teach. . . but there's one thing that you can't teach. . . you can't teach them how to quit! 

Dogs don't know how to set limits for themselves!  You've got to do it for them.  My dog, Porter will chase a ball for hours.  He doesn't care if it's -4 below or 115 degrees in the shade.  The dog thinks of one thing and one thing only. . . chasing a ball.  He will literally chase a ball until he falls over.  Since he doesn't think about it, I need to and give him a break.  On days like this, I'll let him chase a ball for a few minutes, but only a couple of throws and then back in the house.  Not nearly enough energy draining for my 1 1/2 year old border collie mix!

So, on this day when the forecast hits triple digits in Philadelphia and it's surrounding areas. . . here's a little advice to keep your dog healthy and you sane in the heat. Check out my list of the top 5 doggie pacifying games that you can play in the AC!

1. Clicker train a trick:  If you've done lessons with me, you know where my sympathies lie. . . I love clicker training!  Mostly because it makes dogs think!  If your dog knows a clicker or marker word, teach them a new trick or work on some obedience.  Need some inspiration?  Check out this fun game that I play with my dogs all the time: http://www.clickertraining.com/node/167.
2. Hide & Seek:  A great way to practice your obedience and have some fun!  Put your dog in a stay in a room where he can't see you (If your dog's stay is not so good, have another family member hold him) while you hide somewhere in the house.  Then call your dog to find you and praise or play a game when the dog gets to you.  The possibilities are only limited to your creativity. . . so try under the covers of your bed, in the closet, or anywhere else that your dog may not suspect. 
3. Track the Treat:  This one is Uluru's favorite!  Teach your dog a little bit of scent work by hiding treats around the house so they can find them.  Put your dog on a sit stay in a room of the house where he can't see what you are doing (or if your dog is too excited to stay, close them in a room while you do the next step).  While your dog is on a stay or in a room away from the action, hide small bits of treats around the house, then release your dog to find them.  At first, make it very obvious by hiding them in very easy places like in the middle of the floor or around the edge of the room and helping them find the treats.  But as your dog gets better at this game, you can hide them in tougher places like on baseboards, on chairs, in  your shoes, or behind barriers.
4. Pupsicles:  When I worked at the animal shelter, I had a core group of volunteers who would help me with this, and the dogs absolutely loved it!  We would make Pupsicles for the dogs to give them a little relief from the heat and kennel stress.  In disposable dixie cups, we would pour canned chicken or beef vegetable soup and freeze them overnight until they were rock solid.  About halfway through, we would stick a rawhide stick into the pupsicle so that it looked like an actual doggie pupsicle and continue to freeze it.  No time to make a dog pupsicle?  Go to the grocery store and buy some frozen soup bones (beef only!) and give the dog the whole frozen bone.  That will keep him cool and busy for a while!
5. Pet Store Trip:  Itching to get out of the house?  Petco has air conditioning!  Take a trip to a dog friendly store to pick up a treat or a bag of food and take your pup with you.  My dogs are always tired, even after a quick trip to the pet store, because there is so much to see and smell there.  Don't forget to incorporate a bit of obedience into your trip. . . make your dog sit as other customers oooohhh and ahhhh over how cute he is.  Or make your dog stay while you read the labels on their favorite treat.  And don't forget the 'leave it' command for walking by the parrot cages!

So even though it may be too hot to hike today, there are lots of fun activities that you can do to wear your dog out both physically and mentally today!  Now go spend some time with your pup!

Dog Training TV Shows Good or Bad?

I hear it at practically every first lesson I go to.  Sometimes it is disguised as an innocuous "ssssshhhhhttttt" and a finger poke to the ribs of a dog when he doesn't do what they want.  Other times, people will just come out and ask me, and it usually sounds like this "What do you think of insert name of basic cable dog training personality here?  You probably hate so-and-so, huh?”

And my response to people is always the same, (Fellow dog trainers, don't bail out just yet.), I don't hate them.  No, not even Caesar!

Now, if I had my druthers, and was to choose one of these personalities to train my own dog, it would probably be Victoria Stillwell.  Not because I think she's a  super fabulous trainer or anything, I just think that methodology wise, we would probably mesh as well as possible with such a limited pool to choose from.  However it's always in my mind that while these people may be dog trainers, above all, they are television personalities. But I digress, that's not what this blog is about.

This blog is about why I personally like dog training TV shows, not so much for the content, but for what it can do for our nation's dogs and for me as a dog trainer and small business owner!  Without further adieu, here are the top 3 reasons that I love dog training TV shows!

1.     Dog training shows let people see that there are dogs out there worse than their own:  And this is important!  People watch those shows portray some pretty significant behavior problems.  And with clever editing, those behavior problems end up looking really severe!  And then, in 45 minutes, POOF!, those behavior problems are fixed!  These programs show people that there is hope for even the most advanced behavior problems.  And how do you fix them?  Why, you get a dog trainer of course!  Transition to. . .

2.     Dog training shows let people know you are out there: Think about it, if people didn't know that resources were out there, where would their ill-behaved dogs go?  The shelter?  That big farm in the sky?  Or worse...dumped somewhere to face a slow and uncertain death? Lucky for dog training professionals like me, network TV has pointed all of these unknowing citizens right in our direction!  No dog owner, you can’t have Cesar Millan come to your house, but you can have Philly Unleashed!  In the owner’s mind, almost as good, but less expensive!  In the dog’s mind, even better! Transition to. . .

3.     Dog training shows make me look smart:  Know what’s exciting? Taking 4-6 sessions worth of knowledge and squeezing it into about 45 minutes of the ‘cool stuff’ to make for good TV.

Know what's not exciting?  A dog trainer waxing poetic about the intricacies of changing emotional response to a trigger, desensitization to aversive stimuli, or the 10-step program details that an owner needs to follow to stop their dog from flying off the handle when you touch said dog’s stuff. 

Why?  Not good TV.  But that's the kind of stuff that a dog trainer needs to have a working knowledge of and teach to a client so they can modify the dog’s behavior, not just put a band aid over it!  And trust me, I’ve seen a lot of people try a quick fix by another trainer or do something they’ve seen on one of these shows, and it backfires, and when it does, they are more than happy to hear someone who knows their stuff wax on about behavioral theory!

And all of a sudden, (see point 2), you are not almost as good as the TV personality. . . YOU ARE WAY BETTER!

So, next time somebody asks me what I think of a certain dog training TV show personality, I’ll point them to this blog!  That’s my stance, and I’m sticking to it!  Now go outside spend some time with your dog!