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Get Your Dog to Listen To You
Why Won't My Dog Listen To Me?
This is common question that most first-time dog owners ask me. Before I answer your question, let me ask you a few instead.
Do you use cookies, collars, head halters or clickers to make your dog listen to your commands?
Do you have to raise your voice every time you want your dog to listen to you?
Does your dog always come or sit on command - anytime and anywhere you want him to?
If your answers are mostly in the negative, its time you seriously reconsider your role as a sincere dog trainer and an ideal pet parent.
Get Your Dog to Listen To You
Before you begin any training, you must first establish yourself as the "ALPHA". Your dog must know that you’re the leader of the pack and it is YOU who is in charge.
Here is a list of simple DO's and DONT's that you must follow if you want to be the Alpha:
Always go out or come in through the door first - remember you are the leader;
Always eat first - give your dog something to eat only after you've finished your meal;
Don’t circle around your dog when he is lying on the floor - make your dog move out of your way instead;
Don't let your dog set the rules - pay attention to him when you think fit and not whenever he demands;
Don’t permit your doggie to sleep with you in your bed - demarcate his sleeping area clearly.
Once you successfully established yourself as the Alpha, training your dog and making him listen will be a lot easier than you can imagine. Remember, if your dog does not learn to "listen", all your training effort will be in vain!
If you want your dog to "listen" to your commands, you must first consider the genetic makeup of your dog. Training a Golden or a Labrador Retriever to "fetch" is far more easier than training the same trick to an Alsatian or a Poodle.
Does your dog know his name? Does your dog look at you whenever you call him by his name? This is the first and the most critical thing that you must teach your dog. If your dog doesn't respond to his name, you cannot have his attention for teaching him any other commands.
To make sure that your dog recognizes his name, take a treat in your hand and hold it away from your body. Call your dog's name. He is most likely to look at the treat in your hand. Continue calling his name untill he turns and looks at your eyes. Give him the treat immediately. Repeat this exercise by holding the treat in the other hand. Once you're sure that your dog has learnt to recognize his name, just call his name and reward him for looking at you by petting or with a hug.
You must understand that dogs respond far better to positive reinforcement than they do to coercion or force.
How can I stop my Whippet from jumping up on my guests and me?
This is a common problem for most Whippet owners and can cause quite a few embarrassing situations. No matter how much you hate it, dogs will jump on guests unless you teach him a better way of showing his excitement.
The best thing that you can do to prevent this is to ignore your dog completely until he calms down. The ideal reaction to your dog’s jumping should be no reaction at all.
Remember, if you’re paying attention to him, you’re actually rewarding inappropriate behavior as your attention is just what he wants.
Whenever your dog jumps up on you, turn away from him abruptly with your arms folded across your chest. This has to be practiced by all the members in the house for the training to be really effective. This means that everyone must react in the same way whenever your dog jumps up on them.
As you teach your dog to "sit", give the command with "arms crossed" in front of your chest . This will actually teach him that "crossed arms" are a signal for him to "sit". If you're successful in teaching this to your dog, you can simply ask your guests to enter your house with arms crossed to avoid being licked!
This behavior modification should start early as it is much easier to train a dog early in life. Once your dog learns to sit, teach him the "off" command.
Here are 3 simple steps that you can follow:
Number one: If your puppy sits for a treat, then the first step in teaching him "Off" is by taking a small treat, and as the puppy nibbles at your fingers, gently push your hand towards the puppy, causing him to take one or more steps away from you. Feed a larger piece with every step.
Number two: When your puppy readily goes back a few steps, it is time to add "Off" command. Remember, it doesn't matter what word you choose to teach your dog, but you should see to it that all the members in the house use the same word. If it's "off", all members must say "off" and nothing else.
Number three: Now, hold the treat behind your back! Move one step towards your dog while giving the command "Off." By now, your puppy has had so much practice, he should take a few steps away as soon as he sees you moving towards him. Immediately REWARD him with the treat for taking that step away.
In this way you can easily teach your dog to do whatever you want whenever you say "off". Before he jumps up, command him to be "off" and reward him as soon as he obeys you.
Try to get a neighbor or a friend to help you by knocking and entering your house as often as possible in the course of the training. Tell him/her what is to be done as soon as he/she enters the house. You must try to do this with as many friends and relatives as possible so that your dog gets lots of practice.
Don’t forget to reward your dog when he does not jump up. Reward non-jumping behavior with food treats. If you consistently reward good behavior and ignore jumping, your dog can quickly learn to keep his feet on the ground instead of jumping up. Be consistent and don’t lose patience.
Dealing with dog stealing – a common problem for Whippet owners
Whether its the pair of socks in the laundry, cookies from the table, kids toys, television remote or trash from the garbage can – dogs more often than not steal things that they shouldn't touch. Dealing with such misbehavior is a common problem for all dog owners.
Here is a list of a few things that you can do to prevent your dog from stealing:
Try to zero in on the cause of your dog's stealing habit.
“Dog proof” the areas that you don't want you’re pet to enter.
Keep food, dirty clothes, toys and garbage out of your dog's reach.
If your doggy is stealing mainly food items, you need to check your dog's feeding schedule and also the type of food he is currently having. You must keep all food items and garbage away from him if you want to prevent him. Is your dog just chewing on the objects he steals? Give him some new chew toys as he might be bored with the chew toys that he already has!
Some dogs steal things to draw attention. Do you chase your dog when he runs off with the newspaper? If you do, you've just created an attractive chase game which is exactly what your dog wants. By chasing him you're actually rewarding wrong behaviour. Once your dog runs off with the paper, you must ignore him and not chase him. This will take the fun out of his game and it'll be easier for you to train him not to do that in future.
Remember not to punish your dog even if you catch him in the act. Punishing your dog will either make him fearful or aggressive. He will even learn to hide whatever he has taken to avoid punishment!
Be pro-active rather than reactive while dealing with dog behaviour problems.
How to stop your Whippet Digging:
So, your dog is always busy digging his way up your well-groomed lawn? Instead of screaming your heart out why not try to figure out the reasons behind the act? While most dog owners find this annoying and troublesome, a dog digs for a definite reason.
Reasons for digging:
For entertainment
For seeking prey
For comfort or protection
For drawing attention
For seeking escape
Many dogs dig to bury or to retrieve bones or even toys that they had hidden. On hot summer days, most dogs dig to find a cooler place to rest. Dogs, like terriers, dig to catch rodents and other creatures in the garden. Lack of sufficient physical exercise, prolonged confinement and boredom can also result in digging.
Once your dog starts digging, it can quickly become a habit. In order to get to the root of the problem and to treat it effectively, you need to know why your dog is digging.
Answer some basic questions:
When does the dog dig?
Is it when he or she is left alone or when you give them a toy or bone?
Does your dog dig up the same spot every time?
Is the dog digging near a fence as if trying to get out?
After you’ve figured out why your dog is digging, it is far easier for you to find a suitable solution to the problem. If it is an animal causing the problem then you should call an exterminator or animal control to take care of the matter.
For instinctive diggers, you must try to provide an acceptable spot for them to dig in. You can create special pits, filled with soft dirt and with some treats buried deep within, for your dogs to dig in.
If you're dog is left alone for a long period of time, he might take up digging to get rid of his boredom and also to release his pent up energy. In such a situation you must make sure that you take your dog for a walk regularly. Supply interesting toys to keep your dog busy even when you’re not around.
Never punish your dog for digging as it is easier to get him out of the habit with love and understanding. This does not address the cause of his misbehaviour and may lead to anxiety and more digging.
Lastly, why not try to protect your flower bed instead? This could save you a lot of unnecessary heartbreaks!
WHY does my Whippet Eat Poop?
Coprophagy, or eating faeces, is a natural habit of dogs which owners find utterly disgusting. Faeces found in kitty's litter box is an especially favourite treat.
Causes:
Dogs who eat their faeces usually do not have a dietary deficiency, though this is a common misconception among dog owners. Some others believe that dogs may eat faeces if they are anxious or stressed. Another theory about this agonising behaviour is that coprophagy is a hereditory trait passed down by the dog's cousins, the wolves and coyotes, who often eat feces if food is in short supply.
Solutions:
Use Forbid or any other deterrent.
Try pouring Tabasco sauce on the stools.
Clean up the yard after each defecation so as to prevent the problem in the first place. Do not give him the opportunity to indulge himself.
Follow your dogs on bathroom trips.
If your dog continues to be fond of faeces, teach your dog not to touch it using the command 'Off.' Walk your dog on leash by some faeces. As soon as he starts showing any interest in it, tell him, 'OFF!!!' If he continues, pull him away from it with a short, sharp tug on the leash. When he stops, don't forget to praise him and give him a treat. Continue practicing until he gets the idea that you strongly disapprove of his nasty habits. Be consistent in your training process and don't lose patience.
How to Bond with Your Whippet?
Building a bond with your Whippet is the first and the most crucial step to training him successfully. As soon as you bring a dog home, you must first try to develop a caring and loving relationship with him in order to win his trust and confidence.
When your dog is secure in the knowledge that he belongs to the family, he is more likely to respond better to your training commands. Just like with any relationship, there must be mutual trust and respect between you and your dog.
Trust takes time to develop and respect comes from defining boundaries and treating any breach of those boundaries with firmness and fairness.
Without enforceable limitations, respect can’t be developed. And when there is no respect, building a bond with your dog is almost impossible.
If you want to build a bond with your Whippet, you must follow 4 golden rules:
Spend quality time together;
Take him out in the world and experience life together;
Establish and promote a level of mutual respect; and
Develop a way of communicating to understand each other's needs.
Building a bond with your dog will not only help you manage him better but will also make your dog calm, quiet and an extremely well-adjusted pet.
Love Your Dog and He Will Love you back
Once you're successful in building a bond with your dog, you can rest assured that training him and teaching him new and clever tricks will be a cakewalk.
How Your Whippet Learns...
Your Whippet's learning period can be divided into five phases:
The Teaching Phase - This is the phase where you must physically demonstrate to your dog exactly what you want him to do.
The Practicing Phase - Practice makes perfect. Once a lesson is learnt, practice with your dog what you have just taught him.
The Generalizing Phase - Here you must continue practicing with your dog in different locations and in an environment with few distractions. You can take your dog out for a walk, or to a nearby park and command him to practice whatever you've taught him.
Practicing the learned lessons in multiple locations and in the presence of small distractions will help learn and retain lessons better.
The Testing Phase - Once you're sure that your dog has achieved almost 90% success....he responds correctly almost every time you give a command, you must start testing his accuracy in newer locations with a lot of distractions.
Example: Take him to the local shopping mall and ask him to obey your command. He may not come up with the correct response at the very first time, but you must not lose hope.
The idea is to test your dog to see how he responds in an environment which is new to him. Set-up a situation where you are in control of the environment and your dog.
There are only 2 possibilities:
a) your dog succeeds!!! (Trumpets please!)
b) In case your dog fails, re-examine the situation. Review and/or change your training. Then try testing again.
Internalizing Phase
finally, comes the extremely rewarding phase where your dog does everything he is taught to do even without your commands.
Remember:
Never scold your dog if he fails. It's not his fault. You have failed as a trainer!
You must be patient and persistent for your efforts to show rewards.
Appreciate and love your dog when he does it right! A little encouragement will work wonders for your dog.
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