QUESTION:

My 8 week old puppy won’t sleep in her cage and when ever she is in it she whines even if I’m still beside her and no body can sleep what should we do?

ANSWER:

Brittany, it’s a good thing that you’re asking now rather than waiting several more months when the behavior is even worse. This is a common problem that many new puppy owners have. And it’s made worse when they let the whining puppy out because then the pup quickly learns that whining works and now, can whine for hours on end.

While people might think that just nixing the crate expectations will solve the problem-you’re right in pursuing the issue. Your pup gets frustrated and anxious when she can’t get to you on her own terms.  Right now it’s just the crate but down the road you’d probably find the same results if you separate her from you by putting her in another room, on the other side of a babygate or just tethering her by leash on the other side of your backyard.

Crate Training Starts by Feeding the Pup All of Her Meals in Her Crate

The first thing you can do is feed all over your pups meals in her crate. If your dog really dislikes being confined, start by feeding her daily meals just outside the crate. When she’s comfortably eating her meals in this new location, move the food just inside the crate so that she has to stick his head in to eat. Within a days or two, you should be able to move the feeding location farther in the crate so that she has to step in with her front feet. In this manner, move the feeding location farther and farther in. Once she easily goes in and out on his own, which usually takes no more than a few days, you can start shutting the door while she’s eating or putting her in with a special toy, which can be a Nylabone® Rhino or a tasty bone. As soon as he’s finished, or just before, open the door to let him out. You can also randomly place secret food surprises for Fido to find in her crate. Try peanut butter smeared on the back wall of the crate or pieces of hot dog under his blanket. This process sounds like it will take a long time, but in reality it usually takes less than a week, even with adult dogs that don’t like the crate.

Put Really Tough Puppies through the Learn to Earn Program

If the above method doesn’t work within a week or her behavior gets worse, it’s time to teach Fido that they only way she gets your attention is when she sits or lies down away from you. This is part of what is called the Learn to Earn Program where dogs learn to say please by sitting to get whatever they want.

First Teach Her To Say Please By Sitting

This starts first by teaching her to sit automatically to get treats from you. Just hold the bite-sized treats in your hand and stand completely still. When she sits, immediately get the treat to her while she’s still sitting. Then give her a few more treats sequentially for remaining seated. For fast training, it’s best to have her earn her entire meal for automatically sitting but spread it out a kibble at a time, throughout the day.  If she’s earning 100-200 kibble for sitting and remaining seated, she’ll learn to sit when she wants things from you virtually overnight.

[Watch the MannersMinder DVD chapters on say please by sitting which is soon to appear on the Online Animal Behavior Courses at www.AskDryin.com/elearning]

Next Apply the Automatic Sit to Other Situations

Next it’s time to apply the sit to other things she wants. One exercise is called the “leave-it game.” Have her on leash and toss a treat out of her range. When she gets to the end of the leash, she’ll pull for a few seconds, then when she figures out she can’t get the treat she’ll come back and sit and look at you. When she does, give her a treat for the polite “say please” behavior and then a few more for continuing to look at you. When she’s stable at looking at you then reward the eye contact by letting her get the treat on the floor. The goal of this exercise is to teach her self control. That instead of impulsively demanding what she wants, she controls her excitement and asks politely you by politely sitting and looking at you.

Now Train Her That Sitting or Lying Down Calmly Get Her Your Attention

Ok, now for the real work. She knows to automatically sit for treats and to get an item that’s out of her reach. Now we are going to make you the item out of her reach that she must sit or lie down calmly for in order to gain access. Tether her 2-10 feet away from you while you watch T.V. or are engaged in some other activity. Ignore her pulling, whining, pacing to get to you. When she sits politely, give her several treats in a row and/or pet her for 5 seconds at a time if she’ll remain seated when you do so. Then toss a treat on the floor so she’ll get up and you can repeat the exercise. You may need to wait 20-30 minute for the first sit. But if your timing is good and you pair the reward with her sitting, then next sit will take probably ½ the time. And shortly thereafter she’ll be sitting every 30 seconds.

The goal is that the lightbulb goes on and she understands that sitting or lying down quietly is what makes you give her your attention. From now on the only way she gets your attention is for sitting and you continue to practice tethering her away from you so you have many opportunities to make it clear that calming sitting or lying down gets her what she wants. Once she’s making the association you can walk away and then come back while she’s still sitting or lying down. Now you’re working on a sit or down-stay.

[Refer to Chapter 22 in How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves or stay tuned for the Online Education portion of AskDrYin.com]. First come back frequently and then wait longer and longer in between. Also practice walking out of the room. She must sit or lie down before you approach her.

Now Transfer the Training to the Crate

Now have her go in her crate and block her from coming right out. You can do this by shoving your hand with a treat right in her face to block her path out. Once she’s stopped  guide her into a sit with an additional treat. Better yet have her lie down.

[Refer to Chapter 21 in How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves or to the MannersMinder DVD or stay tuned for the Online Education portion of www.AskDrYin.com]

Once she’s sitting or lying down continue with a few more treats every few seconds or a short petting bouts, then stand back and go back and reward her again for remaining in place. Then let her out of the crate. Now she’s getting treat and petting rewards for going into her crate and lying down and she gets the added reward of coming out. Repeat this until she acts like she’s clearly having fun running into the crate because it predicts that she will earn your attention and get to run out. Now, with the door still open add a down or sit stay. That is, work on being able to be far away or in the other room. I find the easiest way to do this is to practice when I’m watching T.V. or working on menial tasks around the house. And, actually, I’m really lazy, so rather than my going back and forth, I prefer to use a MannersMinder, a remote controlled food-reward dispenser, to automatically dispense food at set intervals or to dispense using the remote control.

Switch to Closing the Crate Door

Next for that all-important final phase. Have the pup go into the crate and lie down, close the door, feed her treats, then open the door while she’s still lying down and let her out. So the door should just be closed for a short amount of time. Short enough so she’s just thinking about treats and rewards and not how she’s locked inside. Then systematically increase the time she’s in the crate.

Again, at this stage, I prefer to use the MannersMinder so that I can walk away and reward her with food rewards while I’m far away. The goal is that the treats are coming frequently enough so that she is focused on the food and that I get back before she has a  chance to get anxious. So I can increase the interval between treats sequentially from 5 to 7, 10, 15 or more seconds as long as the puppy remains relaxed, lying down, and focused on the food rather than looking like she wants out.

By the beginning of this stage, your problem pup should already be relaxed in the crate because she’s learned overall that remaining calm is what gives her access to you. And this final stage should go really fast.

The End Results

For me it would probably just take a day or two to get through this program, but it may take you a bit longer since you aren’t being coached through each stage. In any case, if you can get her to understand that being calm and control her emotions is what gives her access to you, you’ll have a puppy who can quietly sleep in her closed crate whenever you want! If you’re still having problems in a week or two it’s time to find professional help for her. Fast!

Sophia Yin, DVM, MS.      September 11, 2009

Ok. By now, most of you know the potty training basic plan. Take the puppy out first thing in the morning and stand around until she does #1 and #2. Then praise her when she does, give her a treat and some play time and water. Then, throughout the day either have her tethered to you or on leash nearby or in her crate where she’s not likely to potty. Or keep an eagle eye on her so you can take her out at the first sign she has to potty. That sign may be: she’s just eaten, or drunk water, or woken up for a nap, or is now sniffing around. Interrupt accidents and rush the pup to a proper potty place but don’t punish her or scare her or she may just learn to sneak off and potty behind your back. And of course clean all accidents up promptly with an enzymatic cleaner.

Every days thousands of people hear this advice and try to follow it only to be frustrated. The issue boils down to several factors, which can be addressed with a few tips.

Puppy Pottytraining Tip 1: Some dogs are potty geniuses. Others aren’t. Some dogs learn virtually by magic. You take them out frequently for a few days and all of a sudden they’re potty trained. In fact my parents’ last four dogs were like that. Meaning, if you’re sort of consistent, the pooch will learn. But in other cases, the dogs seem to be potty training dunces. Realistically, in the wild, feral dogs may keep their immediate sleeping area clean, but areas close by are “in bounds.” So it’s not that odd that your dog thinks his actual bed should not be a potty spot but the rug right next to it is ok. In these cases, potty training is really just about forming a habit-never giving Rover the opportunity to go in the wrong place. Only give him opportunities to potty in the right places.

Puppy Pottytraining Tip 2: Some puppies will potty even when tethered close to you. For some puppies, tethering them close to you won’t prevent them from going potty it will only give you a better chance to keep an eye on them. And some puppies can potty in the blink of an eye. For these puppies you’ll have to rely on keeping them crated in a small den-like crate and then bringing them out for potty sessions where you make sure they potty before they are allowed to play. If they don’t potty quickly, they go back in their crate for 15 minutes before their next potty opportunity. They must learn to potty automatically when you take them outside and then never get the opportunity to have an accident when you’re inside. Once they potty they can play but if they’ve eaten or drunk water, you’ll have to bring them outside again after another 10-15 minutes before they go back into their crate. In fact you may be having 15-minute play sessions in he house every few hours and then long play session outside since otherwise when they’re in the house they are resting in a crate.

Puppy Pottytraining Tip 3: Realize that young puppies have frequently potty urges. Young puppies can potty a lot! Especially if they’re only 7-9 weeks old. They can drink water and then seemingly 5 minutes later pee it all out. So just because they pottied outside 5-10 minutes ago doesn’t meant they won’t do it inside as soon as you look the other way. So if you find that you have this problem of pups pottying even shortly after they’ve pottied outside, instead of saying “But they just pottied outside,” or ” I just let them play unsupervised for a minute,” get a clue! Expect them to potty even right after they’ve gone outside and whenever you leave them unsupervised and change your behavior accordingly. That is, be ready to crate them or keep your eye on them at all times.

Puppy Pottytraining Tip 4: Some puppies need to learn to hold their #1 urge a little bit. Some puppies need to learn to hold their pottying. I’m talking primarily about pee. These pups seem to just potty whenever they get a slight urge as if pottying is a pastime. These puppies need to be crated for longer periods for at least several days. In general, during the day they can be crated the same amount of time as their age in months. So an 8-week old puppy can be crated for about 2 hours and a 12 week old can be crate for around 3 hours during the day. Once your vet has assured you that the frequent piddling is not due to a urinary tract infection, start crating the puppy for longer hours. For instance start crating the 12 week old for 2-3 hours at a time so she learns to hold it and when you take her out, reward her with long play sessions so she gets enough interaction, play and training time too. But when finished, put her back in the potty-safe crate area.

Get the idea. What I’m telling you is that for some dogs, you can’t cut any corners. You can’t let them wander out of sight for 2 seconds or expect that they will hold it if they’ve just gone potty outside and had a drink of water. For these dogs you can try a doggie diaper. Maybe they won’t potty in that. Or you can try an indoor potty system where you place them in an exercise pen with a sleeping area and a fake grass potty system or pee pad potty area and no other type of surface. They can learn that the different substrates are for different purposes. But chances are you’ll have to just get realistic and alternate between strict crating, safe potty times outside, and eagle-eye supervision when they are getting their playtime. That means you’ll have to make a special effort to be sure they get enough playtime too which adds even more planning to your puppy care. But that’s the joy and pain of having a puppy. And the reward of having the house as a potty free zone is priceless.

Please share your puppy potty training story. How many accidents did he/she have. Was it easy or hard? How long did it take? Readers want to know!

Sophia Yin, DVM, MS     September 6, 2009

Ever since that great video featuring Tyson the skateboarding bulldog hit it big on youtube, skateboarding has become a standard dog trick that owners attempt to train. Most owners start by using some basic method of luring the dog onto the skateboard with a treat or pointing to the skateboard and hoping the dog will get on. If he does, then they praise and pet him like they would a child who has finally managed to ride a bike without the training wheels. They may even give the dog a treat.

For some natural-born skateboarding dogs, this crude technique works. In other cases you end up with a dog that sometimes rides the skateboard and at other times tries to eat it. Or worse, you get a dog that goes crazy every time he sees the skateboard because he wants to chomp on it like it’s a chewtoy. For those who have dogs that don’t naturally know how to get up and ride, here’s a step-by step plan. This simple dog trick starts with teaching the dog to step on objects with the two front feet on cue and progresses to stepping on moving objects such as a skateboard.

Start by Teaching a Simpler Dog Trick Called “Step” with the Two Front Feet

Step 1: Luring

The first stage of training this dog trick consists of teaching Fido to place two front feet on any object that you want. The benefit of this behavior is that you can also use it to teach other tricks such as shake paws, high five, wave, turn on the lights, or ring the bell.

To start, you’ll need an object that’s elevated several inches off the ground and wide enough so that your dog can’t easily walk around it. Objects I’ve used for a 40-pound dog include a step-aerobics platform, an indo board, several coffee table books placed side by side, and a square, firm doggie bed.

Next lure the dog with treats or kibble so that his front feet are on the object and then give him 5-10 more treats in a row. Then walk away so he gets off and follows you (or toss a treat on the floor so he has to move) and repeat the procedure. Repeat this step until you are able to walk towards the object with him and he steps on without hesitation consistently-meaning 5-10 times in a row-with the food lure.

Step 2: Switch to Rewarding the Desired Behavior

Next, switch to rewarding the behavior instead of luring. Walk up to the object and see if he will step up on his own. If he does, say “yes” right as he does it in a distinct voice and give him a treat within 0.5 seconds. That’s right. I said 0.5 seconds. Dogs learn best if the reward comes within a split second. That means you’ll have to whip your treat delivery hand out and get that treat right up to his face. If you’re able to do this, then “yes” will come to inform Fido exactly what he’s done right and that he’s getting a treat within an instant. Again, follow with several additional treats. Then walk away and repeat. Be sure to approach the object from different directions so that you know Fido’s focusing on stepping up onto objects rather than just on stepping on one object from one specific approach.

Step 3: Generalizing to a Few Other Objects

When he can immediately step up 5-10 times in a row from different approaches, switch to a smaller object for him to step on. Try a coffee table book or a hard-cover binder. At this point you may realize he only knows to step on the objects you just trained. So you may need to go back to step 1 when you first start with a new object. Work on several different types of objects so that you know he’s learning the concept of “step.”

Step 4: Adding the Cue Word

Once he’s regularly stepping onto the object of interest, you can start teaching the cue word “step.” Walk up to the object ahead of him and if you’re sure he’ll follow and step on it, point to it first and say “step.” It’s important that you’re sure he’s going to step up and you say the word before he’s performing the action. If you say the word and he does not perform the behavior he will not make the connection between the word and the action.

Step 5: Practicing on Random Objects to Test Fido’s Knowledge of the Cue

Now you can move to an even smaller objects or objects that are tilted slightly if you want. If the object is small it’s ok for him step with just one foot. Walk up to the next object, point to it and then stay “step.” Once he’s stepped, say “yes” and reward. Avoid staying “step” and pointing simultaneously in this step and the last step too or he’ll tend to learn just the visual pointing cue and not the verbal cue since the visual one is more obvious. Repeat step 5 in rapid succession going between different objects. When he can step on different objects on cue without hesitation, then he actually knows what the visual or verbal cue means.

This process is short. Most dogs can learn this dog trick within several sessions if they are hungry and motivated for what you have to earn. My dogs are used to working for their meals so I use their daily alottment of kibble as rewards when I want them to learn tricks such as this quickly.

Step 6: Turning this into the Skateboard Dog Trick

Now transfer this dog trick to stepping on a skateboard. Place the skateboard on a carpet or grass so it won’t move and scare him. Point and say “step.” Then reward him when he’s standing with his two front feet. Repeat 5-10 x in rapid succession. Then start requiring he step on with 3 or 4 feet before you give the reward. Once he easily steps on onto the board, sometimes reward 2 feet on and sometimes 3-4.

Next move the skateboard to a sidewalk so that it will move around and have him step on the skateboard. When he’s more excited he’ll jump on with all four feet. It’s important that he learn both 2 and 4 feet so that he can propel the board forward as well as riding on it.  Practice this dog trick in 5-15 minutes sessions several times a day and in just several days your pooch will be a skateboarding pro.