Dogs Love School

Dog's Behavior Changes After Moving
A dog misbehaves while adjusting to her new home.

Q. My beautiful 4-year-old dog, previously without any behavior issues, has been urinating and defecating on the bathroom carpet for the past two weeks. Four months ago we moved into my boyfriend’s home, which has been an adjustment for her. Here, she is not allowed to sit on the sofa nor sleep in the bedroom. Before, she slept in my bed and had free range of my apartment.

Most of the time she plays well with my boyfriend, but on occasion she growls and shows her teeth when he pets her. My boyfriend has spent more time playing with her and has started feeding her. For my part, I spend about 30 minutes to an hour cuddling her in my lap on the sofa before we go to bed.

I don’t know what else to do ... and I am really heartbroken over this.

A. Whenever a dog has sudden changes in elimination habits, it’s important to take her to the veterinarian to rule out health problems as a cause. She’s not sleeping in your bedroom, so when she needs to eliminate at night she may not be able to get your attention. These nighttime messes didn’t start right away when you moved in with your boyfriend, so try and think of anything that may have changed in your routine during the past two weeks.

Your dog has lost some of the comforts and pleasures she enjoyed before the move to your new home. Compromise is always necessary when sharing living space, and you’ve been doing that all along. But you’ve been there for four months and your boyfriend has seen that your dog has good house manners, so maybe it’s time to adjust the rules a bit. If your dog didn’t damage your sofa or harm your furnishings in your old apartment, there’s no reason to suspect she might behave destructively if given more freedom in your new home.

It’s understandable that your boyfriend might feel better without your dog in the bedroom, but she does need a comfortable spot to sleep. You’re already cuddling her in your lap before bed, so it sounds like you’re making some changes in that direction. Perhaps a washable slipcover on the couch would help your case. Many stores and catalogs sell attractive covers for couches — buy two, so one can be on the couch while the other is laundered.

Having your boyfriend play with, pet, and feed your dog is a good idea, but her growling indicates she doesn’t yet consider him “family.” It might help to enroll as a family in a reward-based training class and take turns working with your dog. Also, when you take your dog for walks, let your boyfriend hold the leash. As the two of them become more comfortable with each other, he could sometimes take her for walks without you. The two of them spending quality time together will help them forge their own friendship.

Turning three individuals into a family takes time and patience. You love your boyfriend, but at this point your dog only loves you. If she can regain some of the home comforts she lost in the move, and learn through experience that your boyfriend will always be kind to her, she’ll come around and start loving him, too.

 Shetland Sheepdog Rummages Through Trash
Dogs rummaging through trash can be prevented with dog-proof containers.

Q: My 5-year-old Sheltie gets in the kitchen trash, bathroom trash, and bedroom wastebasket whenever I am not watching him or not at home. It usually happens when I am not at home and forget to put him in his crate.  How do I train him to not rummage through trash?

A: If you go by the seven dog years per human year age estimate, a dog's habit of five years would be roughly equivalent to a human habit of 35 years. Quitting a habit that ingrained is not easy.

He knows you don't approve of his habit, but sometimes 'forgets' that the trash is off limits. You know he tends to do that, but sometimes you 'forget' to crate him when you leave home. To help your dog quit such a strong a habit, you'll need to be consistent. And part of that is making all your trash containers dog-proof, so it's impossible (not just difficult) for your Sheltie to practice his trash-rummaging habit. You need to either secure the trash or secure the dog -- preferably both. Habits eventually fade when there's zero opportunity to practice them, but they stay strong when occasionally rewarded.

To help your dog give up his undesirable habit, help him form a new one in its place. He needs something interesting to keep his mind and body occupied when he's home alone. His trash habit is like a hobby. It gives him fun and satisfaction to sniff and find all those hidden goodies and tear them up or eat them. A treat-loaded rubber or plastic puzzle toy would be a safe and satisfying alternative to trash rummaging. Give him two food-puzzles when you leave him alone, and secure the trash so he can't get to it.

How Long Is Too Long to Crate a Dog?
Dogs should not be spending all day crated.

Q. My 2-year-old dog, Zoe, is a lovable, friendly, fun-loving part of our family. She is also the first pet I’ve ever had. We have cratetrained her since she was 7 weeks old. When she first came to live with us, I was not working outside the home and we only crated her when we all went out. I now work full time and am gone for eight hours a day. I feel bad about leaving her in her crate for so long. I walk her and she gets exercise with our 9-year-old son, but I wonder if she would be OK uncrated when we are gone, so she could walk around the house. She hates being closed up in another room, so I don’t want to confine her like that. We don’t crate her at night -- she usually sleeps in our son’s room, on our bedroom floor, or in her open crate. I’m also afraid that if we don’t crate her when we’re gone, if we ever need to crate her if she’s sick or needs surgery, she won’t want to get in it.

A. You’re right to be concerned about crating Zoe for eight to 10 hours every day. That’s not really good for dogs, as they need to move around and change positions more than a crate allows. Crating is mostly to protect the dog and the household furnishings through the potty training and teething stages of puppyhood and adolescence. Zoe is a full adult now, and if she doesn’t tend to chew your belongings or have potty accidents when you’re not watching, there’s really no need to crate her all day. If she doesn’t behave irresponsibly while you’re asleep at night, she should be ready to graduate from her crate in the daytime, too.

Try it out on a weekend, when you’re not gone all day. Leave Zoe alone, loose in the house, for an hour. If she doesn’t cause any damage or become overly anxious during that time, try it again for two hours later that day. If she can be left alone that long without misbehaving, she can probably handle your workday schedule without being crated. Leave the crate where it is for a few months, and if she continues to bed down in it for naps or nighttime, you could keep it available permanently, with the door open. That way, if there’s ever a reason to temporarily confine her, the crate will be convenient and she’s already comfortable in it.

Since Zoe has had her whole life to get used to being crated, and even goes into it on her own sometimes, she shouldn’t have any problem being crated for medical reasons.

Please contact us for an in-home or phone consultation.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Stop Dog From Pulling On Leash
Teach your dog that pulling on the leash doesn’t help quicken your pace.

Q. My yellow Labrador Retriever is 2 years old. I walk him every day, sometimes twice. What more can I do to stop him from pulling on the leash? He doesn't do it all the time, but it seems he will just be walking along and forget, then kind of speed up.

A. Dogs pull ahead when they want to get somewhere faster than the person at the other end of the leash happens to be walking. This often works well for the dog, because pulling tends to cause the person to speed up a bit. If it didn’t work this way, dogs wouldn’t pull on leash. The way to end your Lab’s pulling habit is to make it stop working for him.

Instead of speeding up when he starts to pull, try slowing down. If he pulls harder, stop walking and stand in one place. If he continues to pull once you’ve halted, start walking slowly backwards.

This tactic will teach your Lab that pulling no longer works the way he’d like it to. He’ll discover that pulling on leash now activates your brakes instead of your accelerator, and that continued pulling actually moves him farther from his intended goal, not closer. You must be consistent about doing this whenever he pulls, even a little bit. If other people walk him, too, make sure they also know and follow the new “rule”. It may take him a week or two to fully realize this new result of pulling is permanent and universal, but once he catches on, he’ll try to keep some slack in his leash, even when he gets excited about enticing scents or sights urging him onward.

The Dog Who Eats Rocks
Until a dog no longer wants to eat rocks, she must be prevented from doing it.

Q. Why does our 1-year-old Lab eat rocks? We have already paid $1,200 to get a rock out of her stomach and she just continually eats them. There is no way to watch her constantly. It makes me sad, but I am thinking we may have to give her away to someone that deal with her. I hate the thought of muzzling her and kenneling her. Any suggestions? She is pretty anxious and nervous. She gets stressed easily. I don't think she had a very good life while she was a puppy. Help!

A. Whether you decide to keep your Lab or re-home her, she's going to need to be closely monitored when outside and kept safely away from swallow-able rocks. Your dog obviously can't be trusted outdoors, unless vigilantly attended and/or kept away from areas with rocks. She needs to be exercised on-leash only, so you're right there to prevent her from gobbling rocks. If she's too fast to stop her from grabbing and swallowing rocks, then she needs to get used to wearing a basket muzzle when you take her outside.

You should also work on teaching her the “Leave it” cue, so she won't grab rocks or other unhealthy items, when you're there watching her. Get help from a professional dog trainer if you don't know how to do this.

Though you may “hate the thought” of muzzling a dog, that's a misguided emotion. In your dog's case, a muzzle could save her life and prevent the need for repeated, expensive, rock-removal surgeries. A muzzle is not a bad thing, and though sometimes annoying to the dog at first, most quickly adapt to wearing a muzzle without stressing out about it. Most professional dog trainers can help you with this, too.

A warning, though, you must never leave a dog muzzled when she's unattended, either indoors or outdoors, because she could get it caught on something and hurt herself struggling to get free, or could manage to remove the muzzle somehow and eat rocks.

Many dogs outgrow their rock-eating habit when they're fully mature (at around three years or so). But until a dog no longer wants to gobble rocks, she must be prevented from doing it.

Dog Howls Along With Piano
There are several things you can do to control a dog who likes to sing.

Q. My 9-month-old Dachshund howls when I play the piano. I know it's about the pitch of piano, but I can't really tell whether it's hurting his ears, or if he's just calling to me as a pack member. Either way, I will not give up piano, so what can I do about it?

A. I doubt it hurts his ears, because if it did, instead of joining in, he'd probably leave the room and find a quieter spot. I think you're closer to the right track with your "calling to me as a pack member” thought. I don't think it's so much about calling to you, though; it's more about joining with you in chorus.

Many dogs, when they hear sirens, howling, certain musical instruments, or people singing, will chime in with notes and tones of their own. Quite a few dog owners occasionally will playfully start their own dogs howling, by making howling sounds themselves. Some dogs will act like the goal of a group "sing" is to howl louder, and/or higher, than the music or sirens they're responding to. Others will move their voices up and down, and purposely harmonize with the other sounds.

Here are a couple of things you could do to control your dog's howling:

When you get ready to play, put your dog in a separate room with the door closed, as far as possible from the piano. Distance and doors will muffle the sound of your music and it will be less tempting for your dog to join in. Even if he does howl a little, it won't be as loud and distracting for you.
Or, teach your Dachshund to sing on cue. When you sit down to play, dedicate your first song to him and encourage him to sing along for the duration of the piece. Singing with your first song will satisfy his urge to howl and get it out of his system. It will also be more singing than most dogs would offer on their own, so he might actually get tired of singing before he finishes the song with you. Then you can play piano unaccompanied for the balance of your session.
By the way, if you can get him singing along in harmony with your piano, try to capture it on video!

Is It Safe to Sleep With My Dog?
Follow these guidelines when sleeping with your dog.

Q. Should you allow your dog to sleep with you?

A. Many people share their bed with pet dogs (I do!) without any problems. If your dog likes to cuddle with you, the short answer is “Sure, why not?”

Grumpier dogs who snap, or even bite, when disturbed from sleep, are a different story, which changes the answer to “Heck no!” It's too risky to allow a dog with that kind of reactive behavior to share your bed.

Here's a little checklist that may help you decide.

It's okay to let your dog sleep with you if she:

• Is clean and well-groomed
• Will move over when asked to
• Doesn't startle badly if touched when asleep
• Stays fairly still while sleeping, so you can sleep undisturbed.

If your bed is high and your dog is small, old, or has arthritis, dysplasia, or other structural issues, jumping up and down from the bed can cause pain or injury. In this case, put a ramp or a hassock or sturdy low table beside your bed as an aid for your dog to safely get up and down.

Sweet dreams!