Training Your Dog During the Lockdown
By Britt Alwerud Brown
While humans struggle with COVID-19 shutting down life as we know it, dogs around the world are rejoicing now that their humans are forced to stay home. Instead of woefully watching as you gather your things to leave for the office, your dog can now happily watch you all day as you Netflix and chill in the same outfit that you wore the day before. This outfit probably has your dog’s glitter all over it, because who needs lint rollers these days?
Our lives have been turned ‘outside-in’ as we get used to our new stay-at-home routines, and our dogs have to get used to it too. We’ve checked in with a lot of our DogZenergy clients and many of them have concerns about how their dogs have been affected by the lockdown. Several clients have reported that their dogs seem a lot happier that they are home more, while others have said that their dogs seem more anxious and have been displaying strange behaviors toward strangers and other dogs while on a leash. We’ve also noticed that a lot of our clients and our friends have adopted a new furry family member into their lives during the lockdown. It’s a perfect time for people to get a new puppy because they are working from home and it’s a great distraction for their families to bring a sweet, happy puppy into their lives. It’s also a great time to potty train and create a routine for your puppy. However, there are some reasons to be concerned about how the lockdown will affect your puppy as he grows up in isolation. Here are four ways to set your new furry family member up for success during the stay-at-home orders:
Preventing separation anxiety. - It’s a wonderful time to bond with your new pup during this time, however, when life goes back to normal your pup might be shocked by the new routine. If you’re spending 24/7 together, but then all of a sudden you have to return to the office from 9-5, your pup may experience separation anxiety. Dogs seek outlets for their stress by barking, whining, howling, chewing, and jumping up on people. It is so much easier to prevent separation anxiety than it is to “fix it”. To prevent it, slowly get your pup used to spending time alone with a very high-value chew toy. Take your dog for a long walk or a trip to the dog park to exhaust all of their energy. When they are tired and ready for a nap, put them in their crate or a safe room. Ask them to go to their “place” and then say, “yes!” or “good!” when all four paws are on their dog bed. Then give them their chew toy. We recommend frozen raw marrow bones or a Kong stuffed with wet dog food or peanut butter. You can freeze it to make the Kong last even longer. Once your dog is happily working on his chew toy, leave the room. Work up to longer amounts of time that your pup is left alone and come back in before you sense that your dog will finish with his chew toy. If your dog falls asleep after his exercise and chew session, you’ll know that your dog is perfectly happy with his alone time. If your dog can’t chew on his treat when you leave the room and gets up to whine or bark, then you may be dealing with some separation anxiety and we recommend seeking out professional dog training help. We recommend the same steps mentioned above, but instead of leaving the room, try tying your dog’s leash to a heavy table and put his bed right next to it. Ask him to go to his “place” and then give him his high-value chew toy reward. In addition to the chew toy, you can sprinkle very small pieces of chicken or cheese all around his place along with his chew toy to encourage him to start eating and relaxing. Then try sitting on the other side of the room within eyesight. Once your dog can relax and happily chew on his toy at this point, then you can increase the distance and go out of eyesight. It may take many sessions where you gradually increase the distance and time that your dog is comfortable with. The key is to take tiny, tiny steps over time until your dog associates you leaving with high-value rewards and understands that you will return. When you do return to your dog after being gone for any length of time, be sure to stay calm when you approach them and use a steady, calm voice. Do not get overly excited or use a high pitched voice. Stay calm and ask them to sit before you pet them. The same goes for when you prepare to leave your dog. Try not to make a big deal out of it when you leave them. Channel the Terminator and simply say, “I’ll be back.” Prevention is the best cure, so be sure to practice this exercise with your new pup before they develop separation anxiety.
Socializing your puppy with other dogs and people. - One of the major drawbacks of the 6’ social distancing rules is that dogs are not able to socialize while out on a walk. So many dogs already suffer from leash aggression and we fear that this may become an even bigger problem with social distancing rules in place. One way to prevent leash aggression with your new dog is to teach your dog how to react when seeing new dogs and people. It is a natural inclination for dogs to want to run up to and greet others when they are off-leash, but when they are on a leash they try to lunge and pull towards the new person. This puts pressure on the trachea and makes it difficult to breathe which heightens their anxiety. Try putting your hand up to your throat and pushing into it as though you had a collar around your neck. It instantly raises your stress level. When your dog tries to drag you over to the other dog it heightens their stress level and causes a lot of frustration. Over time, this frustration can compound into aggression. To prevent this, make sure that your dog wears a well-fitted harness with a front attachment for the leash. This way, your dog will not experience the choking sensation and when he pulls his shoulders will be brought back around towards you. Load up a treat pouch with tiny pieces of chicken or cheese (we’re talking pea size) and every time you come across another dog or human, ask your pup to sit, make a kissy noise and say “look!”. When your pup looks at you instead of the other dog or human, say “yes!” and quickly give them five pieces of chicken in a row. Make it a party and either continue to feed your dog treats in rapid succession as the other dog approaches you or turn and walk away as though there is a really fun thing happening in the other direction. The key here is to keep your dog’s attention and to not pull your dog away from the other dog. This means that you may have to start your party 100’ away from the other dog. The closer your dog is to the other dog, the harder it will be to get their attention. You have to figure out how far away your dog can keep calm and then close the gap as your dog’s ability to focus on you improves. If your dog will not take a treat and is too hyper-focused, pulling, or barking at the other dog, then you need to start this exercise at a much greater distance. You might also have to use a parked car as a visual block from the other dog. If your dog isn’t food motivated, you can also bring along a squeaker tug toy to reward your dog for keeping his attention on you. Remember to keep your dog’s walk engaging and fun, so that it doesn’t turn into a stressful experience.
Socializing your puppy in new places. - Successfully socializing your puppy means spending a lot of time at new places experiencing new people, things, sights, sounds, and smells. Before the stay-at-home orders, this would mean exposing your puppy to at least 10 new people per day, 5 new dogs, and going to at least 2 new places. It’s so important for puppies to go everywhere with you in the first year of their life especially so that they can learn to calmly lay at your feet while at a coffee shop, vet office, park, etc. Even though coffee shops and restaurants are sadly off-limits at the moment, it’s so important to take the time to sit on a bench with your dog to take in the sights and smells of people and dogs walking by. You can also do this in front of your home. Work on your puppy’s basic commands such as “look”, “touch”, “sit”, “down”, “leave it” and “stay” outside with a lot of distractions. You may have to start with just the first two, and then work your way up to a long “stay”. You may have to start in your backyard and then work your way up to adding more distractions. Always remember to set your dog up for success by starting with fewer distractions, less time, and more distance and then make it more challenging as you practice together.
4. Making sure your puppy is getting adequate exercise and positive attention. - Even though we’re all cooped up at home, it’s amazing how busy life can be. Working from home and having kids learning from home can be challenging enough, but training a new pup can really add to the stress. As hard as it might be, try to schedule in your dog’s special exercise time with you or their dog walker early on in the day so that your dog will be calm and Zen the rest of the day. We recommend at least one 30-60 minute walk or off-leash playtime in the morning and another walk in the evening. If your dog isn’t getting adequate exercise, they are going to look for their own extracurricular activities and that might include shoe chewing, sock stealing, or couch shredding. If you find yourself getting frustrated with your dog, you will both benefit from a good long walk. Just remember, a tired dog is a good, Zen dog.