Recipe for Creating a Cuddly Puppy

What you’ll need: 1 tired out puppy

5 cups of love

15-30 minutes of time

1 treat pouch

1/4 cup of soft, smelly, yummy treats

1 bully stick or chew toy

Directions:

There’s nothing better than a sleepy, relaxed dog to cuddle with, but some dogs are not naturally the cuddly type. Dogs don’t hug and squeeze each other and they certainly don’t hold each other. Most dogs prefer to sleep by themselves and not in a dog pile. They definitely don’t give one another pats on the head. In order to teach your dog to be really relaxed and comfortable with being handled by everyone and anyone, it’s important to teach them to love being petted, hugged and touched all over. Taking the time to handle your puppy and teach him to be calm in someone’s lap, sit still for ear and mouth exams, and be comfortable with his paws being handled is extremely important for trips to the vet and groomer. It’s also an important way to bond with your new puppy and teaches him to be very calm when petted. A lot of dogs get overly excited when they are petted or given attention and end up jumping on people and getting out of control. By spending quiet, cuddly time with your puppy you will be positively reinforcing his calm, Zen behavior instead.

1. Make sure your puppy gets an appropriate amount of mental and physical exercise during the day. Puppies eat, poo, pee, play and crash, all day long. If you try to get your puppy to relax in your lap when he’s amped up and in the puppy crazy mode, he’s going to become mouthy and will resist the handling. Play fun games with your puppy and wear him out with a game of fetch or hide and go seek before you initiate cuddle time.

2. In a quiet place away from a lot of distractions, put your puppy in your lap or on the floor next to you. With one hand, lure him into a down with a piece of treat and while feeding the treat, pet your puppy’s back or shoulder with the other hand in a slow methodical way. Keep feeding your puppy tiny pieces of treats and slowly start to pet his legs and then start moving down towards the paws.

2. If your puppy gets uncomfortable or starts to bite your hand, stop giving treats, stop petting and remove your attention for a minute or two. Once your puppy calms down, try again and reward frequently for letting you pet more sensitive areas like his ears, paws, tail or the top of his head.

3. If your puppy is completely relaxed, floppy and enjoys being handled already, rub his belly and gently encourage him to lay on his back. A dog that is comfortable on his back is showing you that he is relaxed and totally calm and confident in you.

4. If your puppy is really mouthy, make sure that you have a bully stick or a chew toy to offer him whenever you want to pet and handle him. Whenever his is chewing on his toy and not on your hand praise him and tell him he’s a good puppy. Make sure you don’t get into a habit of letting him bite and then giving him a toy because you don’t want to accidentally reward biting behavior by giving him the toy.

5. Once your puppy is nice and relaxed, practice scooping him up in your arms and gently give him a little hug. If you doesn’t squirm, praise him and then immediately release him back onto the ground. If your puppy wiggles and starts biting your hands, make sure that you hold him so that he can’t bite your hands by gently holding him around his shoulders. Do not let go of your puppy while he is squirming, patiently wait for him to calm down and then tell him “good boy” and then release him. After a few sessions doing this, your puppy will learn that calm, floppy behavior is much more relaxing and enjoyable than resisting and struggling.

6. Just remember that dogs react to your energy level, your tone of voice and your body language. If you use an excited, high-pitched tone and “scruff” up your dog with vigorous petting, you will get him all excited and it will result in more biting. If you are calm, use a soothing low voice and pet him slowly with long or circular movements you will end up putting your puppy to sleep. Think about how nice and calming it is to get a massage and then use those same movements on your puppy. In no time your puppy will learn to absolutely love being hugged, petted and cuddled.

Below are old photos of me and Taj when he was a puppy. There’s nothing better than puppy breath and falling asleep together after a long day of fun!

How to Train Your Puppy to Heel

What you’ll need:

1 cute puppy 2 cups of love 5 cups of patience 1 Easy Walk Training Harness by Premier 6 ft Hands free leash 1 treat pouch 1 clicker 1/2 cup of soft smelly treats (cheese, chopped chicken, soft jerky treats, Zukes Mini Naturals or Ziwi Peak)

Directions:

1. Before you even clip on the leash or step outside, make sure that your puppy knows what heel means (also make sure that you know what it means!). A lot of dogs and their humans think that it means jerk on the leash and say heel whenever your puppy pulls. This only results in tug of war, frustration and a choking dog. Heel means that your puppy must stay by your side with his head lined up by your leg and his body parallel to yours. When your inside your house with no distractions lure your puppy to your side with a treat and click and feed once he is in the right position. Keep reinforcing your puppy for staying by your side in a standing position by clicking/treating. Then next step is to take a step forward and encourage your puppy to take a step forward with you. Keep your hand with the treat on the seam of your pants and when your puppy’s head is by your side click/treat. Keep doing this until you’re able to take several steps with your puppy walking right next to your side. Then take the lure away by guiding your puppy with your hand and without the treat in it. Click/treat when his head is by your side and then reach your hand into to your pouch to give him his reward.

2. Once your puppy is happily heeling by your side in the house you can attach your hands-free leash to your waist and to your dog’s front connecting harness. Ask him to sit and stay at the door and then release him with “ok!” once the door is all the way open. If his bottom pops up, close the door and repeat until he’s able to stay calmly as you open the door. Once you get outside the door ask him to sit calmly again. Ask your puppy to “look” and click/treat him for giving you attention. Then release him with an “ok, heel!” and walk off quickly in the direction you want to go.

3. When walking your puppy, pretend like you are the Queen (or King) of dogs and walk as quickly as you can. When dogs are in a trotting pace, they know that you mean business and that you’re traveling somewhere together. If you walk slowly, your dog will want to do a lot more sniffing which results in more pulling. Plus, your dog will think you’re more fun if you’re walking quickly and happily. Also, leave your phone at home! If you’re not paying attention to your puppy he will ignore you too and will want to drag you to every bush in the neighborhood to check his pee-mail.

4. Just like in the house, capture and reinforce your puppy’s good behavior with lots of “good heel!” and click/treats. Remember to feed right by your side near the seam of your pants. When distractions come your way, click/treat more quickly.

5. If your puppy pulls you or ignores you due to distractions, ask him to “look” or use the kissy noise to get his attention back to you. if he ignores you after two tries, quickly turn and go the other way. It will keep him on his toes and ‘reset’ the heel. If your dog lunges or pulls for something, you can also stop dead in your tracks and ‘be a tree’ until your dog calms down, stops pulling and takes the tension off his lead. A tight leash means your puppy goes nowhere and doesn’t get to check out whatever he wants to move towards. A loose leash is good and means that he gets to go towards what he wants to check out. Moving forward is a reward. Pulling equals stopping which is the consequence.

6. Be consistent and your puppy will be walking beautifully by your side in no time! Once he knows what “heel” means you can start weaning him off the treats and just use lots of praise and attention when he’s traveling by your side. Also, remember to reward your dog with “ok go ahead!” Which means he’s allowed to go out on the end of his leash and sniff and smell all the flowers and bushes that his heart desires!

Below is a quick clip of a training session with Lego today! Lego is a 4 month old adorable shepherd/lab mix puppy who is learning how to walk on a loose lead and walk nicely with distractions. This is his first time learning the heel command, therefore we are using lots of repetition and treats, but gradually we phase out the clicker and the treats to replace it with life rewards and praise. For instance, the reason why dogs want to pull is because they want to sniff and smell. So you can reward them by releasing them from your side with a "Ok! Go ahead" and allow them to go to the end of the leash to sniff, smell, explore and be a dog. They still shouldn't pull you so if your dog does, 'be a tree' and do not move until they loosen the tension on the lead and give you attention.

Lego's first leash lesson (click on the lick for a quick video demo)

Happy training!

Sit-for-Pets: The key to a polite and patient dog

Want to know the quickest, easiest way to transform you dog's behavior? Simply ask your dog to sit in front of you if he wants to be petted. Sit-for-Pets is a a very simple and easy way to teach your puppy to always approach you or another person and sit nicely to wait for attention, pets and love. The most common behavior complaints that people have about their dogs are jumping and barking for attention, but both of these can be easily fixed by asking your dog to automatically approach you and sit if they want attention. You're probably thinking, "But that's way too easy! My dog is terrible and won't stop jumping on me no matter what I do!". Remember that the key to successful dog training is to turn a negative situation into a positive one so that you're better able to communicate to your dog what you want him to do in place of the undesirable behavior. For instance, instead of saying "I hate it when my dog jumps on me," switch it to "I love it when my dog approaches me calmly and sits and waits to be petted." So the first step is to identify a solution to the problem and the next step is to execute it and extinguish the 'bad' behavior.

Dogs learn by repetition and consistency so it's very important to be mindful of your everyday interactions with your dog. By training yourself not to pet your dog absentmindedly, you will be learning to save your 'pets' for your dog's good behaviors throughout the day. I can't tell you how many people absentmindedly pet their dog whenever their dogs use 'pushy' and demanding behavior. Then they ask me why their dogs bark for attention, paw and scratch, whine etc. It's because they've been rewarding the behavior without even knowing it! People often worry about always having to use treats to get their dogs to do things. First of all, this means that you have not been successful in phasing out the food reward and second of all, this means that your dog is being spoiled and not treated. Phase out the use of food rewards by replacing the food with pets, toys or life rewards (getting the leash on, going outside, greeting another dog etc.). If you give out free pets all day long, you just might be rewarding your dog for unwanted behaviors, like pawing and begging for attention with barking. If you become mindful about only petting your dog for good behaviors, your dog's behavior will be positively reinforced all day long and not only in your training sessions.

Don't worry! This doesn't mean that you'll never be petting your dog, quite the opposite! Be prepared to pet your dog even more love throughout the day. You dog will love getting attention for being calm and polite and will be automatically sitting in front of you in no time, looking for more belly rubs and pats. If you are extremely consistent about only petting your dog when he is sitting calmly, your dog will learn how to greet you more politely when you walk in the door at the end of the day, when he comes running up to you from a full sprint, when guests come to your house and when you're out and about greeting people on the street. It all starts with you learning how to always ask your dog to sit before giving him pets.

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Sadie, Samantha, Bailey and Bernini showing off their Zen Sit-for-Pets skills. 

If your dog's rear end pops up the second you touch him, calmly stand up and stop petting. As soon as he sits again, start petting. If he gets up, remove your hand again, until he learns that sitting calmly with his bottom glued to the floor is the best way to be petted. Dogs who jump up and get really excited may need a lot more reinforcement in the beginning of these exercises and may need a food reward dropped on the ground by your feet as they approach you. Keeping dropping treats on the ground as he approaches so that he is thinking about keeping his paws on the floor and not on your pants. Once your dog is approaching you calmly and thinking that good things come from the ground (and not up by your hands and face- the reason why dogs want to jump up in the first place), start asking him to sit and then give a treat right to his mouth so that he is not encouraged to jump up and grab it from your hand. As he learns to sit politely, extend the amount of time that you feed the treat so that he is learning to stay seated in front of you for a longer period before he earns the treat. Once your dog knows that sitting in front of you is the only way that he will earn your rewards and attention, start using just pets.

Other exercises that you can do include backing away from your dog and then as he approaches you wait calmly for him to automatically sit. Then treat or pet and then repeat the exercise. Keep practicing moving around and freezing until your dog automatically sits in front of you before rewarding him. If your dog doesn't seem very  motivated, make your movements quick and fun so that they are following you around happily and waiting for you  to stop so that he can sit. Make it into a fun game and your dog will be politely and automatically sitting like a little gentleman in no time!

Weave Sit-for-Pets into your daily life with your dog and you will see a dramatic change in your dog's behavior and happiness. A sitting dog is a good dog and a Zen dog.

Happy Training!

Snap, crackle, pop! Why is my dog scared of certain noises?

Dear Zen Dog Girl,

This is Danielle (Wally's mom) we were in your puppy class almost a year ago now. We are close to moving into a house and once we do we would love to schedule individual training sessions. I really want to teach Wally that the street is a bad place. He is very good about staying close to me, but if he were to ever get out for any reason I am very scared he would go in the street. My brother in law lost his puppy about 6 months ago in the street because the landscaper opened the gate. We will definitely be extremely careful, but as a part of that I want to spend more time doing training with Wally.

However, the reason I am emailing you tonight is because Wally has developed a new fear. Any time we make a crackling noise he runs like the wind into the closet and hides in the hanging clothes. When we cook something on the stove, open a bag, or crack our knuckles he runs in there. He also does it when we put his food in his bowl, even if we try to do it quietly.

I am not sure what has spurred this behavior because we have only seen it for a week or two. Several months ago (about August or September) I roasted vegetables in a glass Pyrex dish, but I accidentally placed it on a hot burner, and it exploded all over the kitchen. We are thinking that may have scared him- but he has not been so scared of these little noises until recently. He is terrified of fireworks and thunder, which is understandable and we keep him away as best as possible. I am just baffled by this fear of opening a chip bag or his food bag, or cracking knuckles. Some noises, like opening a soda can he is not scared of. I hope you have an idea of what we can do to help him because he runs into the closet more than 10 times a day, just by us doing our normal things.

Thank You!

Danielle, Steve, and Wally

Hi Danielle, Steve and Wally!

So good to hear from you! Sounds like poor little Wally does need some therapy! We can set up a training session for whenever you like. In the meantime, here are a few things that you can start doing immediately. Begin by desensitizing and conditioning him to very "quiet" noises. It takes a lot of patience and time to desensitize dogs to scary, stressful stimuli, but Wally is still young and you are the perfect owner to work with him because you are patient and willing to do what it takes to make him confident and happy. Follow these three steps and Wally will be loving snap, crackle, pop noises before you know it!

Step 1: Even though it may be tough, resist all urges to coddle, cradle, pet and/or coo, "It's okay Wally!". It's our natural reaction to want to comfort our dogs when they are scared, but doing so gives them lots of attention for the behavior that they are displaying. When Wally is scared, he finds comfort by escaping into the closet and then probably waits for you to follow him there and tell him that 'it's okay' to act that way. His behavior will be positively reinforced if he gets attention for this. You want to make sure that you don't give any attention to his scaredy cat behaviors and you never ever want to follow him to the closet so that he can learn that tiny little noises aren't going to kill him. Also, make sure to observe your own reaction to a noise. By this time you have also probably been trained to hear a certain noise and then unconsciously look over at Wally worried that he will have a bad reaction to it. This small act may even be cuing him to react fearfully. Make sure that you always smile, be calm and be confident. When Wally doesn't display any fearful behavior to a noise, you can give him all of the love and attention in the world!

Step 2: Learn to recognize his threshold or tolerance levels to certain noises and then set up situations to work with him slowly by using clicker training. For instance, take a piece of paper, crinkle it a little bit and see what his reaction is to it. If he isn't startled, this is a good thing. You don't want to stress him out at all at this point. You want to start with a noise that he is very tolerant of and then build up the loudness based on his progress. If the piece of paper crinkling doesn't set him off, crinkle it, set it on the floor, and if he steps forward to investigate, you will click the second he takes his first step and then treat him by dropping the treat away from the paper so that he has to turn away from it. When he returns to investigate it again, click and treat away from the paper. Then crinkle the paper again and drop it on the ground. When he steps forward towards it, click and treat again. Keep doing this until he is able to walk all the way up the paper. Attach a cue to this, by saying, "check it out". Then you will be able to slowly increase the intensity of the noise by doing this type of exercise with other items that make noise. Make sure that you do not 'up the ante' too quickly and that you only proceed if Wally's body language is calm and happy. Look for good eye contact with you, tail held low and wagging, ears forward and not back. There should be no wincing, backing away, tail tucking or nervous signs like excessive panting, salivating or yawning. Set him up for success and just do a few repetitions a couple of times a day. You will have more success with several 5-10 minute training sessions spaced out throughout the day than you will with an hour long one once a day.

Step 3: Once Wally is feeling comfortable and confident with the slightest noises, start walking around your house making small noises like a small snap of your fingers, lightly setting a book on the table, touching a plastic bag etc. and randomly make the noise and happily say, "check it out!". Then nonchalantly drop several high value rewards (pieces of chicken, cheese, or any type of super smelly, yummy, soft treats) at your feet. Keep your treat pouch on you at all times around the house or place treat jars strategically around your house where you can easily grab some. Also, whenever you hear a noise that you know Wally is comfortable with, praise him and give him lots of attention for not reacting to the noise. Also, practice your basic commands (sit, down, look, touch, stay, leave it, go to bed, crawl, back etc.) with him everyday for at least 15 minutes. Get creative and play games with him or teach him a new trick everyday. Ask Steve to make a few quiet noises in the background while Wally is preoccupied with you playing the games. Build up his confidence all around and pretty soon Wally will be running towards noises!

It's great that you want to street train Wally and we will easily be able to teach him this during our session together. Go ahead and check out my article "

Doggy Street Smarts in 7 Steps

" for some helpful tips in the meantime. Looking forward to working with you more and I can't wait to see Wally's progress! Happy training!

Peace, Paws, and Love,

Zen Dog Girl : )

Update:

Thank you so much!!! We have been working with him the last few days and Wally is doing much better. Still nervous but he hasn't run into the closet at all! Thank you very much for responding! We will hopefully schedule a time with you very shortly!!!

Happy new year!!

Can bunnies and dogs get along? Can you clicker train a rabbit? Yes and yes!

Living with two golden retrievers and a big orange cat is a recipe for lots of dust bunnies living in every nook and cranny of our house, so making the decision to bring a real live bunny into it seemed only natural. Last week we brought home Bob the bunny and now our lives are enriched with lots of cuteness, bunny poops, laughs and constant entertainment.

I'm not going to lie, I was pretty nervous at first about introducing Bob to my dog Daisy. Daisy has a high prey drive and has been known to chase a squirrel or two. However, with clicker training, the proper setup and a few positive training sessions, it's more than possible to have a peaceful, multi-species household. The first step to introducing new animals into a household is to "manage" the situation safely. Your bunny (or cat), should always have they're very own space that your dog cannot get into that is dog-proof. Bunnies can stress out very easily so it's important to have a place for them where it's quiet and free of other animals. Next, make sure that you have an exercise pen so that you can have an area where you can sit with your bunny with your dog on the other side. You must also have a clicker and a pouch full of carrot shavings. Luckily, my dog Daisy loves carrots as much as Bob the bunny does.

The first part of the training process is to teach your bunny what the clicker means. My goal is to teach Bob how to come when called, put two feet on my leg when I'm sitting, jump up into my lap, stand on his back legs, and go to a book and sit on it. These tricks are easy for bunnies to learn if you're using a clicker. I first taught him how to follow my finger, by clicking every time he hopped towards my finger to investigate it. Then I would take a piece of carrot out from behind my back and offer him a nibble. After one nibble, I'd put it back behind my back and then repeat the process. As soon as he started to reliably follow my finger and recognize that the click means he gets a nibble of carrot, I was able to attach the cue, "Come Bob!". In the meantime, as I was clicking and treating Bob, I had Daisy in a down/stay by my side on the other side of the cage. Every time that Daisy seemed disinterested in Bob, I would drop a piece of carrot between her two front paws. This was not as easy to do as it sounds, because Daisy was so obsessed with Bob that she would whine non-stop. It took a good fifteen to twenty minutes of down stays before she stopped whining and intensely staring at little Bob. For three days, the three of us sat on the floor a couple of times a day getting to know each other very well. Bob LOVES carrots and will do anything for clicks and nibbles. Daisy has learned to LOVE Bob because Bob means carrot time. It's a case of classical conditioning at it's best.

Once your dog has learned to "lose interest" in the bunny and once your bunny seems more comfortable with your dog, you can hold your bunny in front of your dog's nose and let your dog smell the front and back of him. Make sure that you tell your dog to sit and stay before you do this. You must always be in control of the situation byconstantly telling your dog what to do. If not, your dog will do what he naturally wants to do, which might be to eat the bunny. Tell your dog, "gentle" and if your dog gets too aroused simply take the bunny away and go back to working with your dog and bunny with the safety of the exercise pen. If your dog stays calm, let him investigate the bunny more. It's important to not let your bunny down at this point, because if your bunny runs away, your dog's natural instinct will be to run after him. Also, make sure that you do not restrain your dog by the collar and/or with a leash. Restraining your dog will only create more frustration toward the bunny. Keep your training sessions calm, happy and stress free.

After a couple days of desensitizing Daisy and teaching Bob what the clicker means, I was able to put Bob on the floor in a small room with Daisy and I. You can use your bathroom or a blocked off kitchen. Have lots of carrots and/or high value dog treats on hand for this big moment. Ask your dog to sit and stay and treat your dog profusely for staying put and for not intensely staring at the bunny. If your dog can't take his eyes off of him, you're definitely not ready for this step yet. You should be able to get your dog's attention easily and he should be happily staring at you waiting for his treat. It's okay if your dog casually glances at the bunny, but no staring allowed. Also, if your dog is food aggressive at all, it's very important not to do these exercises with your dog and the bunny without a fence to keep the two of them safely apart. After a few 15 minute sessions each day for two days, Daisy was completely bored of Bob and now lets Bob run and poop all over the house. Once I figure out how to potty train a bunny, I'll get back to you on that!

Today, we were all cooking dinner in the kitchen and Daisy, Taj and Bob were all laying at my feet patiently waiting for their scraps of carrots and broccoli. I couldn't believe my eyes when Bob hopped up onto Daisy's back and just sat there. Daisy just looked at me with her head on the floor probably thinking, "Seriously? A bunny? On my back? I better be getting two carrots for this."

Happy training!