When Pigs Fly_ Training Success With Impossible Dogs - Jane Killion [73]
1. Give your dog a Buster cube or similar interactive toy. This is a round or square hard plastic cube that you put dry treats into. The dog has to figure out how to turn the toy so that the treats fall out. You can either give this to him outside or in a smooth plastic crate with no bedding in it. If you give it to him outside of his crate, he may mark up your walls with it as he pushes it to find out how to get the food out.
Dogs need mental exercise as much as physical exercise. This Bullmastiff is enjoying figuring out how to get the food out of the buster cube. This could keep her busy for a while…long enough for you to change out of your work clothes and get dinner started.
2. Tracking in your back yard. Hide portions of food around your yard. You can even do a little trail of kibble from one pile to another. Your dog will spend a lot of time searching them out, especially after he gets hip to the idea of the game.
These are mental games that will very quickly tire your dog out. In addition, you could give him something to chew on—might not challenge him mentally as much, but chewing has an overall calming effect on dogs. Some suggestions:
1. Try out a stuffed frozen Kong or similar toy. It’s a good idea to always have a few ready in the freezer for when you want to buy yourself some quiet time. Stuff them with peanut butter, wet dog food, yogurt, cream cheese or whatever else you like. You can also put bits of dog biscuits or any other treats in with the soft stuff so your dog has some variety and challenge.
2. Toss him a frozen marrow bone.
3. Give your dog a bully stick or similar suitable natural chew object. Caution: rawhide and similar natural chew objects are not for strong chewers. They present a serious choking hazard for larger/stronger dogs.
4. Test out the everlasting Treat Ball ™—hollow toy with “everlasting” edible caps on both ends that take quite a while for even the most aggressive chewers to get through.
By knowing when your dog is likely to be obnoxious, you can cut the behavior off at the pass before it starts by giving him an alternative activity. Warning! Do not wait until your dog is acting obnoxiously and then give him a toy or chew item to placate him. Give him the activity before he starts up with his nonsense. If you give him the fun activity after he has become annoying, you will be reinforcing the annoying behavior. Learn your dog’s antecedents for pesky behavior and stay a step ahead of the game. God gave you the big primate brain. Use it to your advantage!
A. Phone rings and owner answers it.
B. Dog takes off on a mission of destruction around the house.
C. Dog gets away with it for a while before owner notices, and then owner drops the phone and runs over to reprimand the dog.
Whoo-hoo! Double whammy reinforcer! Every time that phone rings, the dog knows you will be preoccupied and there is a window where he can get in all those “bad” behaviors that you thought you got rid of through punishment (they were only suppressed, waiting for the opportunity to re-surface when the threat of punishment was absent). What’s even better, is that his bad behavior gets you off of the phone and gets you to pay attention to him. Score!
There is a whole class of antecedents that roughly mean “owner preoccupied, nothing fun going to happen for dog.” Being on the phone, sitting at the computer, and reading a book are all examples of this class of antecedents. It is super easy to predict if your dog will misbehave given this type of antecedent, so plan things accordingly. Think of what you would like your dog to be doing while you are on the phone/on the computer/in the bathroom and train or manage that. Here are some good alternate scenarios:
A. Phone rings and owner answers it.
B. Owner asks the party on the other end to hold on for a second, and sends dog to crate.
C. Dog gets a big treat for going into his crate (or maybe even a chew item to keep him relaxed and quiet)