The temperature has been unbearable and it’s been too hot to let Rover out to get his daily exercise. So, what can you do to make Rover happy?

Mental stimulation will tire your dog out faster and for longer periods than physical exercise, when done correctly. The great thing about giving your dog mental stimulation is you can do it in your own living room and sitting on your own couch.

Dogs have a brain and they must be allowed to use it. If we don’t give them ways to use their brain, they will find other things to do and I can guarantee they are going to be things that you don’t like. Chewing up the rug, surfing the counters or running around the house with the remote are just a few things that come to mind.

Mental stimulation is where you are going to ask the dog to think for himself and to figure out what he needs to do to get something he likes. For example, lets say he wants a piece of his kibble or a dog treat, he will first try a behavior that always works, one that always gets your attention, no matter what. Unfortunately, that behavior is usually jumping. So Rover jumps up on you to try and get you to give him a treat. This is what we call an “offered behavior”. The dog is offering a behavior to get something he wants. But, we don’t want the jump to work, so we don’t give him the treat and we don’t acknowledge his presence. When he stops jumping, because it isn’t working, he will try something else, like putting his butt on the floor. As soon as he puts his butt on the floor, tell him “good boy” and give him a treat. By doing this, you have showed him that jumping on you doesn’t earn the treat, but putting your butt on the floor does earn him the treat. He has just used his brain to problem-solve to get something he wanted. When playing this game with him, you must remain quiet and not give him any commands. Telling him what to do isn’t teaching him to use his brain or problem-solve therefore, he won’t be getting any mental stimulation. You can also do this when you are putting on his leash to go outside to potty. Hold the leash, wait until he offers you a behavior that you like and once he offers it, put on his leash. Remember, don’t tell him what he is doing wrong and don’t acknowledge him at all until he does something that you like.

Once your dog has learned to do a couple of things for his treats, start asking for new behaviors before rewarding him like backing up, standing, offering a paw, speaking, fetching his toy or rolling over.

For more information on giving your dog mental stimulation, email me at info@dogspeak101.com or call me at 207.5932

Many times I’ve left the house with my good clothes on only to be “tagged” by my neighbor’s lab. With no time for changing, I often venture off to work with two muddy paw prints on my shirt. Luckily, most of my clients are dogs that don’t care if I’m dirty because they are going to “tag” me as soon as I walk in the door anyway.

I’m sure this has happened to you by your own dog. So once and for all, I’m going to help you fix this problem.

Dogs use jumping as an offered behavior to get your attention. Each time they jump and you give them acknowledgement, negative or positive, they store it in their memory bank as a behavior that works. When your dog jumps on you and you look at him, tell him “no”, push him off or pet him, you are acknowledging the behavior and inadvertently rewarding it.

What is the opposite of acknowledging? Ignoring. Ignoring is a very powerful tool but most people are not very good at it. They seem to misunderstand how ignoring works and often times don’t even realize that they do in fact acknowledge unwanted behavior. The next time your dog jumps on you, you need to look away, turn your back and even walk away if you have to. When your dog does have four on the floor for at least five seconds, you may reward with a treat, a pet or just by telling him what a good boy he is. If he begins to jump while you are rewarding, you immediately stop acknowledging and ignore.

Jumping is more than jumping on you, so it is important that we understand the other times your dog is jumping and you may be acknowledging. I see many dogs jump on a fence or a baby gate and get acknowledged. I see dogs jump up for their toy and the owner throws it and I see dogs put two feet on the couch to be close to their owner just to have their owner love on them or push them off. In each situation, the dog is being acknowledged. These behaviors must be ignored as well.

If you stay consistent and aware of your reactions, your dogs jumping will improve within a few days. If after a week, your dog’s jumping has not improved, start looking around to find where the jumping may be getting rewarded. I guarantee you that if he is still jumping, it is getting rewarded somewhere. Being rewarded one out of five times will cause the behavior to be repeated.

If everyone in your house is being consistent but your dog is still jumping, then we must look outside the home. Other people can reward your dog for jumping. My next article will discuss the best way to keep others from ruining all your hard work.

For questions, feel free to email me at info@dogspeak101.com.