Teaching Your Small Dog to Love Getting Picked Up

Building off of our Small Dogs Need Training Too blog from a few weeks ago, today we’re going to talk about how to teach your small dog or puppy to feel comfortable when you pick them up!  This is applicable to dogs of all sizes, but especially important for small dogs who will likely have to experience being picked up more frequently throughout their life.

Here are a few reasons that we might need to pick up our small dog or puppy:

• Safety – something dangerous is coming and we need to get them to safety

• Hot surface – boosting puppy across asphalt that might burn their paws

• Over obstacles – up and down stairs, over a fallen log on a hiking trail

 When we are raising a puppy, we also usually carry them more frequently to get them to potty areas on time, to avoid contact with outside surfaces prior to vaccination, and because they just can’t walk as far as an older dog.  At first, most pups tolerate this carrying behavior pretty well, but it’s not uncommon for puppies to get to a point where being carried is not as comfortable or pleasant as it used to be!  This is when you might see unwanted behaviors emerging like squirming to get down, whining, biting at your fingers, or growling – your puppy is using these behaviors to tell you that they don’t like what you are doing!  This change in tolerance to being picked up can happen to some extent as part of a pup’s normal physical development (i.e getting bigger makes being picked up less comfortable), but often it is also a result of us over-using picking up or not teaching the puppy how to feel calm and confident about being picked up. 

The good news is that there are a quite a few things that you can do with your puppy or older small dog to help them learn a calm picking up behavior. 

1.     Limit Use: Let your puppy walk as much as possible, and use picking up sparingly and only as-needed. Yes, it can be very convenient to carry a pup around to hurry things up, but the more we do it, the more withdrawals we are making from this behavior bank account. Try to save picking your puppy up for necessary situations only (like going up and down stairs) and avoid using this tactic at other times.   It is also important to avoid picking your puppy up as a removal from an exciting situation, as this can really add negative emotions about being picked up.  It’s so easy to see our puppy getting into trouble (like chewing on something inappropriately) and scoop them up to redirect, but this can be extra frustrating for our pups.  Instead, try redirecting them in a different way that allows them to keep all four feet on the ground!

2.     Use a Cue: Make sure the puppy knows you are about to pick them up ahead of time by adding a cue!  I use the word “Boost” for Jamie.  When I started conditioning this word, I would give it as I reached down for him, just a split second before actually picking him up.  At the beginning, I always followed each cued pick up with a reward (see #3!).  Now, a few months later, I give it the verbal cue a bit further in advance (1-2 full seconds) and wait for his consent (see #5).

3.     Keep it Pleasant: We want our small pups to think getting picked up is a great thing! Condition pleasant things for calm in your arms.  I follow “Boost” with a treat, and rehearse with my puppy the short sequence of “Boost” —> pick up —> treat —> release back to the floor —> repeat.  We want the puppy to know that getting picked up doesn’t always mean a long carry or squeeze in your arms, but sometimes they get to go right back to what they were doing before.  It’s also important to make sure that we aren’t startling our dogs when we scoop them up, as this can be very unpleasant!  So using a cue to alert your pup to what is happening is tied into this point as well. 

4.     Calm Gets Down: We can teach our pups that being calm in our arms actually gets them out of our arms!  This goes back to the keeping it short and sweet intervals from #3 - if you pick up your puppy and they are calm for a few seconds, put them down.  Repeat!  When they are still and relaxed, they get to go down.  Now, we also have to keep in mind that if a puppy is really struggling to get out of your arms, not much good is served by forcing them to stay in your arms until they settle down. This will likely only exacerbate the situation. Try to notice calm behaviors to reinforce within the short intervals of time that our pups can handle, and if they are always getting to a struggling, biting mode then we are pushing things too far!

5.     Work Towards Voluntary Participation: Your dog can learn to tell you “Yes, I’m ready to be picked up!” When I first started working on conditioning pick up skills with Jamie, I didn’t really wait for his permission to pick him up per-se, but I also didn’t pick him up if he was actively trying to avoid it. If your pup exhibits finger biting or active avoidance (walking/running away) as soon as you reach for him, we have a bit of other conditioning and baby steps we need to do first in order to build back up to picking him up. But as we are seeing a good foundation being built where our puppies are having pleasant experiences when they are being picked up, the next layer that I like to add is getting my puppy to volunteer to be picked up.  At first this looked like Jamie giving a little weight shift up and into my hand as I placed it under his stomach.  I’d say “Boost” and because he knew what was coming, he’d do a little rise up off the ground (really slight at first, almost like he was going up on tip-toes), and then I would pick him up.  Once I started seeing this weight shift consistently, I started waiting to get this little bit of consent before lifting him. If I said “Boost,” reached down to pick him up, and he didn’t offer weight shift, I just waited in that position.  Usually he would offer the weight shift within a few seconds, and started learning through this that he had control over the situation - I wouldn’t pick him up if I didn’t get his buy-in.  Now that weight shift has morphed into a full launch-into-arms behavior, so most of the time he is participating actively in getting picked up instead of getting scooped.  This control goes a long way to building a resilient behavior that the dog will want to participate in.  This isn’t something to expect overnight (Jamie and I have been working on this for about 5 months now), but start with steps 1-4 above and then move to this when you are ready!

Jamie demonstrating a voluntary boost behavior with Charlie.

 Troubleshooting

• What if your puppy growls on one occasion when you pick them up? What do you do?

 If it’s a one-off event or the first time it’s happened, don’t panic.  Put your puppy down, and take stock of your environment.  Was something different about this picture than previous times you have picked your puppy up (i.e. perhaps a bone resource you were pulling your puppy away from, or perhaps they had just woken up from a nap)?  The more details you can collect and observe, the more information you will have to develop some training plan options for moving forward. 

The other thing I always check if I have a dog exhibit a one-off growling incident in response to a physical interaction is whether there is any pain or discomfort that I wasn’t aware of.  Sometimes our pups might be sore from playing rough with a friend, or maybe they have a burr stuck in their armpit that caused a pinch.  Rule out the potential influence of pain before proceeding to any significant behavior modification plan. 

Next, make a plan to review some picking up confidence!  Go back a few levels in difficulty (i.e. start with just reaching towards your puppy) and make it positive and fun!  Even if the incident was a one-off expression of discomfort for some reason, it’s always good to go back and review and build up that picking up behavior bank account.   

• What if your puppy or dog always growls when you pick them up?

Time to avoid picking them up at all costs for now, and work on some easier steps (like just reaching towards your puppy = treat) for the time being.  A dog trainer would be a great asset to your team to help you create a step-by-step conditioning plan to help your puppy feel more comfortable with this routine!

• What if your puppy or dog’s behavior towards you when you try to pick them up is pretty severe, resulting in attempted or successful bite towards you or a family member?

It’s time to enlist a behavior professional to help you create a step-by-step plan to modify this behavior sequence.  In the meantime, avoid picking up your dog at all costs, as this will likely just continue to make this situation worse.   

Surviving Puppy Adolescence With Your Sanity (and Love for Your Puppy) Intact

Blog post by Amber Quann KPA-CTP, CPDT-KSA

Jamie is 7.5 months old now, and based on the behaviors we are seeing emerge over the past few weeks, I think it’s safe to say that we’ve officially entered into the “adolescence” developmental phase.  

Puppies start to enter this developmental period around 6-8 months of age, and it typically lasts through the dog’s young adulthood at around 2 years of age.  Of course the adolescent developmental period is wonderful, magical, beautiful and harmonious, and “teenaged” puppies are always perfect and well behaved.

Just kidding. Puppy adolescence is one of the toughest periods of development for many dogs, which makes it a pretty challenging and frustrating time for puppy guardians as well!

What does Adolescence Look Like?

During adolescence, certain behavior patterns emerge or intensify that make our beautiful baby puppies feel like little monsters!  Some of the things to look out for:

• Increased Independence - This increased independence has biological motivations across species, encouraging young to start adventuring out on their own and “leaving the nest” so to speak. It just so happens that this isn’t something we really want our household dogs to be doing much of, so it can cause a bit of conflict!

• “Forgetting” How to Respond to Know Cues - During this time, I often hear things from puppy parents such as “But he KNOWS how to come when called, he’s just choosing not to!” or “He used to be so good at potty training, now he is having accidents in the house again.”  We might be tempted to label this as “stubbornness” rearing its ugly head, but we have to recognize that this is a normal behavior of the adolescent period and not something that is inherently wrong with our puppies. 

• High Energy & Impulsiveness - At a time when our puppies are ramping up in their physical stamina and energy, they are also usually exhibiting an increase of what we might call “impulsive” behaviors.  By this I mean behaviors that choose immediate reinforcement (feels good, gratifies urges, etc.) over delayed reinforcement.  So our puppies have a lot more energy, and a lot less self-control at this stage, which can compound into all sorts of troublesome behaviors!  Counter-surfing, chewing on inappropriate items, running away from you to keep playing in the yard instead of coming when called, etc.  Your puppy is now charged up and ready to go, and their lack of self-control is allowing them to barrel off in all sorts of inappropriate directions! 

What’s the Brain Up to?

While there isn’t a lot of research on brain development during adolescence in dogs specifically, there is research on this topic that has been done on adolescents of human, non-human primates, and rodent populations.  The behaviors that emerge during adolescence in these species are similar to the ones that we observe in our young dog population, so while we still need more quality research specifically on adolescence in dogs, in the meantime we can use some of what we know from these other studies to get a closer idea of what might be happening to our puppies’ brains during this developmental period.  

Basically, what we learn from studying adolescence in other species, is that this is a period where there is a lot of extra activity of the limbic system while the prefrontal cortex is still in development. 

Limbic System - “A complex system of nerves and networks in the brain, involving several areas near the edge of the cortex concerned with instinct and mood. It controls the basic emotions (fear, pleasure, anger) and drives (hunger, sex, care of offspring).”

Prefrontal Cortex - “The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the cerebral cortex covering the front part of the frontal lobe. This brain region has been implicated in planning complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision making, and moderating social behaviour.”

So as individuals enter adolescence, they experience an increase in activity in the part of their brain that controls mood, emotions, and drive to fulfill urges.  Simultaneously, the prefrontal cortex that is responsible for things like self-control, calm & rational decision making, and other functions that make the individual a pleasant member of a social group is still under development.  

For our puppies, this looks like a lot of acting on what feels good in the moment instead of rational, self-controlled decisions (“I’m gonna run off and chase this butterfly even though my human is calling me!”).  This is an oversimplification of the science, for sure, but I hope that it gives us all a little bit more compassion for our puppies as they are making decisions based on the brain power that is currently at their disposal, which is often less than what we’d like them to have when they are going through this challenging developmental stage! 

What can We Do?  (Save my Sanity!) 

The good news is that this is a developmental period, meaning it’s not forever!  Our puppies do “grow up” and learn how to control their impulses and make better decisions. They just need a little time, patience, and support to get through this!  Here are a few practical suggestions for saving your sanity and continuing to love and enjoy your puppy through this adolescent period. 

• Don’t Put the Crate Away Yet - Even if your puppy is doing great with potty training, chewing, and sleeping through the night, the crate can be a really helpful tool for surviving adolescence with your sanity intact. Your puppy still needs quality naps, and as their energy increases into adolescence, they may have difficulty putting themselves into sleep mode on their own.  This is where the crate time comes in.  If you have done your crate training work well as a puppy, this should be easy to carry over into adolescence.  The crate can be substituted for other types of management like exercise pen set ups, baby-gated into a quiet “nap-zone” like the laundry room, etc.  Jamie still takes at least one nap in his crate every day, to supplement the brief naps he is choosing on his own while he is out and about.  His naps in the crate are much deeper and longer than any of his self-chosen naps in another location, so the crate is still helping him get some good quality sleep that is essential for him making good decisions during awake time!

• Use ALL the Enrichment Games & Puzzles - If your puppy has extra energy in the morning and evenings around mealtime, this is a perfect time to utilize their food from the bowl for some positive activity instead of “getting into trouble”.  We’ve written here and here about our favorite types of food puzzles.  You can also turn mealtimes into training times as well!   I also recommend having some pacifier “lickable” toys (like Kongs, West-Paws, etc.) stocked up in the freezer so that you can pull this out easily throughout the day as your adolescent puppy needs a calming activity.

• Get Creative With Your Reinforcement - Sometimes the treat in your hand just won’t be as exciting as the opportunity to chase that squirrel across the yard, especially during adolescence.  This is a great time to get creative with your reinforcement strategies, and be a little unpredictable and fun for your puppy.  Here are a few ideas for adding real-life reinforcers into your routine. Think about the 5 things that your adolescent puppy is most distracted by on your walks or other outdoor adventures. You can actually turn these into reinforcers for your puppy by giving them access to these distractions when they do something that you like.  Additionally, incorporate some spontaneous reinforcements into your routine with your puppy, where your puppy gets a big enthusiastic “surprise” treat for doing something small like looking up at you when you are in the yard.  My colleague Nina has some great thoughts on this here. 

• Review Basics - It’s never a bad time to go back and do a little review, and as your puppy is entering adolescence it is even more important.  If you see your puppy “forgetting” how to do some of the cues they were a rockstar at previously, go back a few steps and build the behavior back up.  The good news is that the behavior fluency will return post adolescence, if we continue to help our puppies remember that these good behaviors pay off consistently!  Adventure Puppy Basics in our Virtual Classroom is a great way to start off with some review!

• Set Your Puppy Up for Success - As your puppy is working through this developmental period, there might be situations that they just can’t handle responsibly & appropriately yet. Sometimes the best thing we can do to help our puppy during this is to modify the situation to a level they can handle, or avoid these situations entirely.  For example, if your puppy has recently started jumping up on EVERY person that it sees with such enthusiasm, it’s probably a good idea to avoid areas with large crowds until your puppy has some improved self-control (comes with prefrontal cortex development) and has been able to rehearse a better behavior quite a bit. Instead, stand on the outskirts and let your puppy look and get rewarded for being calm near people.  Similarly, if your puppy’s recall behavior suddenly falls apart (like Jamie’s has been), go back a step in your criteria and rely on some management tools like a long-line to make sure that they aren’t rehearsing and getting rewarded for the unwanted behavior of running off.  I’m not saying to avoid difficult situations with your puppy entirely, but think about what behaviors you want your puppy practicing a lot of, and set up the situation so that those behaviors are most likely to happen!  You and your puppy will both leave the situation feeling happier and more successful, which means you’ll want to go practice together again! 

One last note - Adolescence is often a time period where the use of aversive training methods becomes really tempting, and it is even prescribed starting at this age by some behavior practitioners.  I totally get it - after recently watching my puppy dance away from me with a “treasure” in his mouth instead of coming back when I called him, I understand the frustration!  However, if we rush to apply unpleasant stimuli as punishment in situations where our dogs are primarily acting very consistently with their developmental stage, we can potentially do more harm than good.  Since the limbic system is in hyperactive mode of feelings over-drive, the fallout of applying aversive training techniques during this developmental time period may be more severe. 

Instead, let’s do our best to remember that this is a developmental period that we need to train & manage our puppies through with patience and grace instead of enforcing the law.  If you see something you don’t like (like Jamie running away instead of coming when called!), go back to the drawing board of your training plan and pick a few places to do some workshopping. 

Puppies entering adolescence are just that - young, socially immature creatures with very little self-control and a lot of drive to get their needs met as fast as possible.  It can be very frustrating for us in the middle of it, but the good news is that it isn’t permanent!  Pull out the whiteboard with your training plan and all the patience and love you can muster.  

Your puppy needs you on their team during this developmental period, and this starts by recognizing that your puppy really isn’t trying to give you a hard time - they are just doing what puppies do, the best way that they know how right at this moment of development! 

Keep your chins & paws up!   We’ll get through this together!

Small Dogs Need Training Too!

Blog post by Jess Cytron, Summit Client Communications Expert

If you are the proud pet parent of a petite pooch (how fun is that to say?!), then you have likely heard various disparaging comments claiming that they are not “real” dogs. Maybe you’ve been told that your pocket sized pal does “less” than their larger counterparts. How about the term “foo foo” dog? These comments are made jokingly by friends and family, however they carry a message that I for one am getting tired of hearing: you don’t need to do as much with your small dog. Additionally, the expectations around their behavior in society, unfortunately, seem lower. 

This has always irked me as an animal advocate (and animal welfare professional) because I think it greatly neglects the individuality that our dogs possess! Little dogs are not all one personality-type with the same behaviors, desires or drives. Too often in the shelter/rescue and pet care world we see behavior issues dismissed or not taken seriously enough because “well, he’s little.” We see this from coworkers, adopters, clients, and community members. It is understandable that some folks may hold this opinion. I won’t pretend that it isn’t important to consider body size when assessing a dog’s behavior in society, especially in regards to community safety. However, this does not mean that little dogs shouldn’t receive training and behavior modification when appropriate! And yes, everyone should train their dog (of any size!). Let’s talk about why!

Jess’s adventure crew! Photo credit: Silver Paw Studio.

Our compact canine companions can make fantastic adventure buddies. I think it is incredibly important to commit to giving your little dog a “bigger life” by setting them up for success through training. When I am out with my 30 lb poodle mix, or my 20 lb terrier mix, or my 9 lb chihuahua mix - my goal is that all of us enjoy ourselves. In the past, this has been difficult to manage because my terrier mix is on-leash reactive to people and other dogs. We’ve had instances where he’s redirected on my other two, though he’s never redirected onto me or my partner. I care deeply about both of us enjoying our outdoor time together, so I knew I needed to work on this with him!

While training my terrier mix, I’ve learned that every time we leave the house there are always chances to reinforce his behavior - yep, this is training! When he sees someone two blocks away and doesn’t react, or better yet, chooses to look for me (he’s ready for his treat and some reassurance!), I have the chance to reward him in the hopes that he’ll offer that same behavior next time we’re on a walk. This opportunity can present itself even if we are just loading up into the car. I know to keep his treats on me and reward whenever possible because that way, the next time I really need him to not react when we are hiking or walking, ideally he’ll offer me his attention instead, and both of us can enjoy the experience a little more.

I believe that one of the key elements of success in training your small dog is choosing to respect their choices and preferences. It is important that we do not interpret their size as permission to coerce them into behaviors because they are easier to manipulate physically. Here are some more great small dog training tips from the Whole Dog Journal.

It seems like a simple concept - train your dog! Well... sure! Yet you may be surprised how often folks have seen me training my small dog and comment saying “he’s so little, does he really need to be trained?”, or, “why bother clicker training him?” or, “it’s not like he could do serious damage to someone” - all because of his size. This is extremely problematic and discounts the importance of behavioral and mental health for our companions and ourselves! Anyone with a reactive dog can tell you that it can definitely take a mental toll on the human and the bond we all strive to form with our dogs. 

Little dogs are more than welcome in all of our classes. Our Summit Trainers all have huge hearts for dogs of all sizes and will always cheer you on for training your little dog. It is never too late to work on your training goals with your dog and we are always here to help! Stay tuned for further training tips from our resident “little guy” Jamie and our Owner/Head Trainer, Amber! 

To learn more about training with small dogs, check out our Little Rockstars: Training With Small Dogs - Webinar Replay here!

How to Modify Your Home for an Elderly Pet - Redfin Resource

We contributed to a blog post on Redfin about this topic, and wanted to share this great resource with you as well!

How to Modify Your Home for an Elderly Pet - Read the Full Article Here

There is a shifting cultural change in how people see their pets — they’re not just pets, but family members. We love them so much that their presence in our lives improves our mood and our relationships with other people, all while promoting a host of physical benefits. Our relationship with our pets makes them feel good too! They look to us not only for food and shelter but love and support as well.

As they age, of course, they need more support from us. Elderly pets have a higher risk of arthritis and joint problems, weakness, heart disease, kidney disease, senility, and dental problems, so they need extra assistance around the house as their bodies change. Whether you live in a single-story home in Portland or a multi-level townhouse in New York, simple home modifications can offset the difficulties of aging for our furry family members.

“Since elderly or even middle-aged dogs may struggle with keeping their footing on slick non-carpeted floors, a smart investment might be a stick-on floor mat that stays put but provides the traction your senior pup needs to stay upright when navigating your home. As hard as it can be to see our senior dogs struggle, it’s important to avoid jumping up in alarm every time your pup slips or tumbles, as this can add to their stress about the event. If you see your senior dog struggling, calmly and quietly get up and go assist them to a more comfortable position.” – Summit Dog Training

Check out the full article here.

Puppies & Toddlers - Positive Introductions Through (LOTS of) Management

Puppies & human babies are both so adorable, why not put them together and get a double dose of cuteness?

Lots of reasons, actually! 

The puppy default mode is to nibble, lick, grab & tug, bounce, scratch, and generally act like baby sharks.

Toddlers . . . pretty much do the same! 

Between the two of them in a toddler-puppy combo, there is a lot of potential for winding each other up (toddler squeal can easily produce a puppy frenzy and vice versa!) and practicing not-so-great play behaviors.

So how do we foster good, calm, gentle, pleasant, happy, relaxed, peaceful, and harmonious interactions between our new puppies and their small human friends?

Management. 

This is the biggest, most important piece of a successful toddler + puppy relationship.  Without it, you are setting up both toddler and puppy for a lot of frustration with each other, with potentially longer-lasting consequences. Don’t go down that road. If you are preparing to bring home a puppy to your household with a toddler, or just introduce your puppy to small children outside of your immediate family, save yourself a lot of stress by planning your management strategies ahead of time. 

I recently had the chance to introduce Jamie to my godson, Jack.  Jack is almost 9 months old, and loves dogs. He lives with an older dog who is very gentle and tolerant, but Jamie at almost 6 months of age was a different experience for him!

We utilized several different management strategies to help both Jack and Jamie enjoy their visit together. 

• Playpen for Jack – Jamie got to come and check Jack out at his pace, without risk of Jack grabbing for Jamie’s soft ears or Jamie nibbling on Jack’s small fingers.

• Baby-gate divider when Jack was on the floor – Jamie could check out Jack crawling around from a safe distance.

• Leash for Jamie – When Jack was crawling in closer proximity, Jamie really wanted to go play a kissy (bitey) face game with him. Jamie on a leash got to practice his offered down behavior and engage/disengage game instead.

• Jamie on Couch, Jack on Floor – At one point, Jamie was happily chewing a bone on the couch while Jack played nearby on the Klimb platform that we use as a ramp up to the couch. I made sure that there was plenty of space between Jamie with his bone and Jack’s play area, so that Jamie wouldn’t feel like his resource was in jeopardy. 

• Lap Introductions – When we were ready to let Jamie & Jack do some closer interactions, we held both of them on laps so that we could easily control the interaction on both sides. Jack could decide if he wanted to interact with the puppy without Jamie jumping on him, and Jamie could decide if he wanted to interact with the toddler without Jack grabbing him. Jack reached his hand out to Jamie, and Jamie leaned forward to give it some lovely licks.  I had a toy nearby to direct Jamie to grab if he got a little more interested in using his mouth instead of his tongue to play with Jack’s fingers. 

• Nap Times in Crate (& Playpen) – Both boys took several naps during their visits, Jamie in his crate and Jack in his playpen. Quality of interactions is better than Quantity, and both Jamie and Jack did much better for having some recovery time completely separate in their safe areas. 

Can you spot the management we are using in each of these photos?

Training.

In addition to management, there are some training skills that you can start with for both the puppy and the toddler! The puppy has to learn how it is appropriate to interact with a young human, within the limits of its ability as a puppy.  The toddler has to learn how it is appropriate to interact with a dog, within their limits as a young human.  Both pieces of this education are important, and again remember – you are dealing with two babies here, not just one.  So until you are well on your way down your training plan with both the child and the puppy, you will NEED management in your routine.  Don’t forget that essential piece.  

Training for the puppy – Here are a few skills that I find helpful for puppy to know to help them make good decisions about their behavior around a toddler. Remember, the puppy’s ability to do these things will depend on their age and development (and whether they have learned that these behaviors pay off!).

• Offered Down Behavior – Jamie knows that offering a down behavior is a good, calm way to ask for things or get rewarded from me.  Check out this video to get started with this behavior.

• Engage/Disengage (Look at That) Concept – Jamie knows that he gets rewarded from me for looking at exciting things and then turning away. Check out this video to get started with this behavior.

Training for the toddler – The toddler’s ability to do this will depend on their age and development.  

• Touch Gently Instead of Grab – Model this behavior. You can hold the child’s hand as they reach towards the pup and help them keep their fingers relaxed. Label it (such as “touch gently”), and remind & redirect the child to this behavior. Praise them when they get it right!  If they can’t touch gently yet, go back to management strategies above.

Remember, QUALITY over QUANTITY should be your mantra. Start with just a few minutes (or even just a few seconds) of quality interactions under the management conditions above, then separate the puppy and toddler completely to give them both a break.  Build up slowly, and practice your training skills to help both the child and the puppy know how they should be interacting with each other.  

For puppies and older children, there are some additional training & management strategies that can be used to help everyone have a safe and fun time. Stay tuned for additional blog posts on that topic in the future!  

It's Ok to Be Alone - Helping Our Dogs Prepare for the Return to Normal

We love the extra time we're getting to spend with our dogs.  

But the truth is we're going to need to go back to work at some point.

The more we can do right now throughout this quarantine period to help our dogs prepare for that, the better. This is especially important if you have a new puppy at home.

A few weeks ago, I teamed up with Megan Wallace of Dogs Deciphered on two weeks of daily challenges focused on preparing our dogs for separation from us when the world returns to normal after Covid-19.

Here are some simple things you can be doing to help your pup prepare to send you back to your out-of-the house routine with confidence.

This is only half of the challenge content - for the other 5 daily challenges, be sure to check out Dogs Deciphered’s blog on this same topic! You’ll find the missing Odd Numbered challenges on the Dogs Deciphered blog.

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#2 - Add Separation to Your Routine

While you are stuck at home, think about adding some routine times when your dog is on the other side of a barrier from you, or just out of sight. One easy way to add this to your routine would be at meal times!

When you give your dog their regular meals, intentionally leave the room for a few minutes. You don't have to be out of sight if that's too difficult for your dog at first. Just start by stepping over a baby gate and getting some distance from your dog while they eat.  

After a few times of this, if it's getting easier for your dog to relax and eat with a baby gate separating you, start ducking out of sight for that time.

Remember, go slowly. If your dog is panicking or stressed out, break down the difficulty a little bit and work up more slowly. 

Check out the whole post on Facebook here.

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#4 - Get In the Crate!

Building off of Dog Deciphered's first challenge post, let’s talk about foundation crate skills!

This is especially relevant if you have a new puppy, but even older dogs can use a brush up on crate skills every now and then.  

Crates are used for so many beneficial things throughout your dog's life:

❤️ Safe alone time when you aren't home.
❤️ Restraint at a groomers or veterinarian office.
❤️ Riding safely in the car.

We can teach our dogs to love their crate, and one of the first steps for that is teaching them how to "crate up" on their own four feet instead of needing to be placed inside.

Watch the video to see Jamie learn the foundation step of walking into his crate on his own!

Check out the whole post on Facebook here.

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#6 - Take a Nap in the Crate!

For puppies (and adult dogs too), being able to nap calmly when in a crate or behind a barrier is an essential life skill.

On today's edition of the #itsoktobealone challenge, join Amber as she puts puppy Jamie down for a nap. We made a few cuts to reduce the video in length, but otherwise you'll see some real-time steps that Amber takes to help Jamie relax (and eventually fall asleep) easily in his crate, without a lot of crying & panicking.  

Supporting our dogs to calmer behaviors before leaving them is actually a critical piece of preventing separation anxiety. If we leave our dogs when they are upset, we are just giving them more opportunities to rehearse stressed behaviors. (If you need a refresher on what stressed behavior looks like, check out Dogs Deciphered’s post #5 for some resources!)

Check out the whole post on Facebook here.

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#8 - Use Technology to Collect Data

Technology can be our friend, especially when it comes to evaluating our dogs' behaviors when we aren't home.

This next installment of the #itsoktobealone challenge: Leave your house for a bit (maybe run to the store or take a walk around the block) and record your dog while you are gone!

When you get back, watch the footage and take a few pieces of data.  

1. How long does it take your dog to settle down after you leave?

2. If your dog is relaxed when you leave, is there a point where they start exhibiting anxious behavior further into your absence?

3. What body language do you observe from your dog throughout your absence?

Taking data on these three points will help you evaluate how your dog feels when you leave them. From there, you can best plan your separation anxiety prevention or modification plan. 

Check out the whole post on Facebook here.

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#10 - Know When to Contact a Professional

We have talked about a lot of different ways that you can help prepare your puppy or dog for the time when you are back to work when the world is back to normal. It all starts with working on this NOW, rather than waiting until the week before or the day of.  

We talked about: 

(Remember, Odd Numbered challenges are on the Dogs Deciphered blog!)

1. Teaching your dog that going behind barriers is fun!

2. Working time behind barriers into your normal routine (like meal times)

3. Practicing leaving routines (like picking up your keys and putting on your shoes) regularly even when you don't actually leave.

4. Crate Training foundations, teaching your puppy how to put themselves into the crate on their own!

5. Getting good at recognizing dog body language, specifically stress signals that might indicate that your dog is anxious about you leaving.

6. Puppy nap times in the crate, and how to help your puppy (or older dog) get to sleep quickly with minimal stress.

7. Calming Yo-Yo game to work on building duration and distance between you and your dog behind a barrier.

8. Using technology to take data about your dog's behaviors and their comfort level when you leave them alone.

9. Adding puzzle toys and enrichment activities to their alone time to build a positive association and keep their brains engaged on good activities!

To wrap up today, let's talk briefly about how to tell if you need some additional help. You might benefit from the guidance of a professional trainer and/or a veterinary behaviorist if your dog exhibits any of the following, and working on it on your own isn't improving things:

• Extreme destructive behaviors, like destroying crate & baby gate barriers, chewing into walls & doors, etc. 

• Self-destructive behaviors, like excessive paw licking, tail chewing, etc.

• Pacing, panting, shedding, lip-licking, and other body language stress behaviors persisting throughout your absence.

• Reaction to you leaving (or pretending to leave) as you are working on exercises is getting worse, and not better, in any way.

The good news is that professional help for separation anxiety doesn't require your trainer or veterinarian to be present with you and your dog at all. 

In fact, the best separation anxiety coaching is done remotely, through video conferencing to set an appropriate training plan and then reviewing videos of your trial absences to make follow-up recommendations.  

That means that now is the perfect time to be working on this with some professional help if you feel like your dog could benefit from this!

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Thanks for joining us for this series! For additional separation anxiety resources, check out this blog from a few months ago.

Don’t forget to check out the other half of this content on the Dogs Deciphered blog!

Dog Bite Prevention

It’s National Dog Bite Prevention week, and a perfect time to share a bit of useful information that might help protect a human and a dog. Most dog bite incidences are not what you might imagine: a human getting bitten by a dog they have just met or are unfamiliar with. In fact, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, the vast majority of dog bites involve a familiar dog. A majority of those bites involves a child. These unfortunate statistics show that early education could have prevented most harm done by dog bites. The brunt of these cases are not rogue dogs running around biting strangers, they are kids missing signs to stop, give space, or find an adult. These signs are shown almost exclusively through body language, which has to be explained to be understood. Most of the kids injured by their family dog simply don’t know how to safely interact with a dog, or they are too young to be taught and should only interact with their dog under the watchful eye of an adult. If a dog is scared, stressed, threatened, easily startled, sick, or sore, it’s especially important for the adults in the equation to observe all interactions with kids. 

Of course, the rest of the dog bites that occur annually happen under different circumstances. A dog who lacked socialization as a puppy might have issues with boundaries as a grown dog. A puppy who was encouraged to play by nipping hands rather than by redirection to an appropriate toy is practicing nipping behavior with humans so biting might become a natural extension. Some dogs who are sick or injured might bite in an effort to get a human to stop handling them because it hurts. Plenty of cases fall under the old adage: “let a sleeping dog lie.” When dogs are startled out of sleep, they can be scared and might react rather than respond. Dogs with a long history of maltreatment and abuse might learn that the only way to protect themselves is with their teeth. Dogs trained with the intention of them biting, like police dogs and guard dogs cannot be discussed under the same umbrella. There are outliers in any curve, but the bulk of dog bites have the same few causes. Just like humans, dogs pushed past their threshold of bearable stress and fear may lash out. 

Without an understanding of dog body language, things get lost in translation. It’s important to remove stressors to our dogs when they first show signs of discomfort or fear, and not to allow that stress to build to the breaking point. Tense muscles, squared shoulders, curled lips, panting with no relation to temperature, trembling, cowering, and hiding are all signs that your dog is having a bad time! It’s your responsibility to find out what it is that is causing distress and to remove the dog from that situation as soon as possible. Some stressors can be very subtle, and so can the body language signs from your dog. “Calming signals” are signs that a dog is attempting to calm themselves down, and they can be as subtle as a head turned intentionally away from someone trying to interact with them, or an eye open extra wide and bugging out. The stressor might not be bothering you at all. It might be loud music, too many people in the house, too many dogs at the dog park, a kid with a nerf gun, or even a kid armed with nothing but enthusiasm. When a normally friendly dog is chased and cornered with no escape, their demeanor might change suddenly. They are scared! Each dog is different, and each day is different. Reading dog body language to the best of our abilities is a constant responsibility as dog owners and we owe it to our dogs to not set them up to fail. Listen to quiet signs that your dog is stressed and do not allow them to escalate to loud signs like growling, barking, lunging, or biting. 

There are a few scenarios that can often increase stress and pose a much greater risk.  A dog having a resource such as food or a toy is one such situation with a higher bite potential. We are lucky that we have so many dogs as house pets that do not display resource guarding (manifested in protective behaviors around food, beds, toys, etc) and we should do our best to understand those who do display the undesirable behavior. There are many training options that might help your resource-guarding dog, but the best practice from when you first notice the behavior is to manage it carefully. Do not give your kids the chance to accidentally take a valuable resource from your dog and get hurt in the process. Resource-guarding dogs should be fed on their own and toys should be carefully managed. 

Along the same lines as resource guarding is barrier reactivity. Some dogs are happy to interact with others when there is no physical barrier between them but the presence of a barrier can change their behavior about a greeting. It can be unsafe for a kid (or an adult!) to reach over a fence to pet a dog. Further, everyone ought to know that dogs are only safely approached with permission from their owner and from the dog themselves. Some of the dog bites that occur each year happen while the owner isn’t present, and the dog is scared by a stranger approaching. Owners also often “force” their dogs to “say hi” to people when the dog is showing signs of stress. Those were missed opportunities for the humans to practice good verbal communication. For instance: “My dog doesn’t look like he feels like a greeting right now. Maybe another day.” If dog owners don’t communicate verbally, they miss opportunities to protect themselves, their dogs, and others. And, if people don’t learn to speak the language their dog speaks, misunderstanding is almost inevitable! 

It’s the hope that dog bite incidences will decrease as education on the issue increases. Dog bites can cause serious damage to people and most can be prevented! The consequences for dogs who have bitten a human are sometimes deadly, and it’s sad to know that it’s usually humans that failed the dog in those scenarios. We take our pups into our homes and our hearts and we ought to bring them into our conversations and classrooms as well. A bit of free education can go a long way in protecting harm on either side: human or canine.  

Blog post by Emily Jacobs, Summit Admin & Content Specialist 

Graphic by Amber Quann KPA-CTP, CPDT-KSA

Socializing Your Pandemic Puppy

If you recently brought home a new puppy, now’s the time to be creating positive experiences & exposing your puppy to the world. Unfortunately, with our world in a lock-down over the Covid-19 pandemic, activities we might normally think of doing in the name of “socialization” aren’t available to us right now.

That’s doesn’t mean we need to just wait around for this to blow over. Puppies don’t stop growing up, and since the prime socialization window closes at about 4 months of age, we want to make the most of the early weeks despite our social limitations currently.

The good news is that quality “socialization” doesn’t require that your puppy greets, plays, or interacts in close proximity with anyone, dog or person. In fact, over-doing it on the social greetings with young puppies can have unwanted consequences of making social interactions SO exciting and SO desirable that your puppy has a hard time responding calmly in those situations. (Check out this fascinating discussion of the differences in dog culture in the U.S. versus Europe to see how our cultural expectations that dogs should say hello to everyone might create misbehaviors instead.)

So if we can’t do greetings with other people and dogs in the name of socialization, what can we do instead?

What we are looking for in a quality socialization regime is teaching our puppies that novel is normal.

And the good news is that we can create a lot of novel without violating shelter-in-place orders or social distancing guidelines.

Of course, please take your own health and safety, as well as the specifics of your local Covid-19 ordinances, into account when planning these novel experiences for your puppy. Modify as needed to comply with any additional requirements in your individual situation.

Here are some ideas for some Novel is Normal experiences:

• Sights - Puppies need information about their world, and a big part of that comes from just observing from a safe distance and absorbing information about what they see.

  • Drive to the Grocery Store or Closed Mall: Park at the back of the parking lot and sit with your puppy on your lap, or if you are far enough away from regular traffic, on a mat just outside your car door. Let them watch the world, including traffic, shopping carts, people walking, etc.

  • Walk to Your Local Park: If you are in an area where outside exercise is still permitted, find a spot away from people at your local park and let your puppy watch the world.

  • Put on a Costume! You don’t even have to leave your house for this one. Find the Halloween bin in the storage room and raid it for all the weird things you can wear around your puppy. Remember, the more they think weird & wacky is normal and no big deal, the better!

• Surfaces - Puppies need to learn how to walk on all textures and surfaces! Raid your garage and closets and find as many options as you can. This could be camping tarps, folded up dog crates, sand paper, scraps of wood from your last home improvement project, kids toys, exercise equipment, cookie sheets. Supervise your puppy during all interactions, of course, and let them explore at their own pace. Never force your puppy to walk on something that they don’t want to!

• Sounds - You can come up with so many weird, exciting, and new sounds for your puppy to experience without leaving your house! Try finding some animal sounds clips on Youtube to play in the background during your puppy’s play time, or maybe feed your puppy around some metal kitchen utensils that clatter on the floor. Or if you have family members that play musical instruments, have them put on a show!

• Separation - Perhaps not usually thought of in the category of “socialization,” but separation training is of critical importance for young puppies, especially ones that are raised when the family is home an out-of-the-ordinary amount during their early months. We just finished a series on separation anxiety prevention on our Facebook page in collaboration with Dogs Deciphered. You can search both pages for the #itsoktobealone challenge posts and you’ll come up with some tips on that there!

When giving your puppy any new experience, keep an eye out on their body language and make sure that they are not overwhelmed. Whenever possible, allow them to determine how close they get to the new experience, and never force them closer than they are willing to go. You can provide treats and toys to make it a good experience if necessary, but for many “Novel is Normal” experiences just letting your puppy watch and gather information from a distance is enough.

Remember, we are trying to make new experiences into completely run-of-the-mill, nothing-special-to-see-here experiences!

Happy training!

For more socialization ideas and basic training assistance during this time, check out this blog by our friends at Clickety Split Dog Training. We are also offering online classes and online one-on-one coaching to help you and your puppy get off to a great start together!

Coronavirus Action Plan

UPDATE March 26th, 2020

Hi everyone,

In light of the state-wide shelter-in-place order, we will continue to be closed for another 3.5 weeks at least.

If you are enrolled in a class that was in progress, or starting on any future date, please keep an eye on your email for reschedule notices over the next few weeks. We will wait to make final reschedule decisions until it is clear when we can reopen after April 17th.

To help us be able to reopen as soon as possible - please do your very best to abide by this shelter-in-place order. The more people that follow this directive, the faster we can all get back to normal! 

In the meantime, if you are feeling stir crazy with your dogs, we have a Virtual Classroom with a lot of fun content!  
Check it out here!

We also continue to offer virtual consults via video conferencing if you and your dog need some one-on-one assistance. Please reach out to our admin, Taylor, for questions and scheduling at admin@summitdogtraining.com. 

For continued updates, please see our website or Facebook Page.

Stay safe, love on the small businesses in your community as best as you can, and we'll all come out on the other side of this stronger and more determined than ever!

- Amber & The Summit Team

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Hi friends,

As the threat of COVID-19 continues to develop, we are implementing the following steps to ensure the safety of our staff & our students.  This is an ever-changing situation, so we will update this action plan as needed over the upcoming weeks.

• Cleaning – Additional cleaning measures have been added to our routine at the training room. This includes wiping down commonly touched surfaces with disinfectants after each class period and routine floor mopping with Lysol disinfectant in addition to our regular anti-viral floor cleaner. 

• Minimizing Risks in Group Classes – As we continue to meet for some group classes (until directed otherwise), we are taking a few measures to reduce the risks. Our class sizes are already small, so with maintaining a polite distance from each other we can still support the social distancing approach. In addition, we’ll be adding the following steps: 1) We will be washing hands our hands obsessively between each group class. Please bring hand sanitizer with you to use before entering the training building, or use some of our (limited) supply. 2) We will not be demonstrating with student dogs during class time to minimize potential germ transmission through leash handling. 3) While we normally encourage the whole family to attend classes with your dog, during this time we are encouraging our students to send one or two family members maximum to each class.   

• Summit Instructors’ Commitment to Not Teach If Sick – Often in our industry, dog trainers are tempted to teach through mild ailments because we don’t have “sick days” to use and our clients need us to be reliable for the times we have scheduled with them.  During this time each of us are going to be extremely diligent to resist the temptation to press on with our teaching schedules if we or a family member is feeling under the weather. This might mean more reschedules for privates and classes. Thank you for your understanding and flexibility in advance!

• Cancellation Policy Leniency – Our normal cancellation/reschedule period to receive a refund or credit for any service is 7 days out from the time of the service.  We are temporarily suspending this cancellation policy window for any cancellations or reschedules due to illness in the family or known exposure to others with a virus. We do still ask that you give us as much notice as you can if you need to reschedule your private lesson or cancel a group class enrollment due to illness, as this helps make sure that our instructors can fill their calendars with other students whenever possible.  Please note that this cancellation policy suspension only applies to illness-related cancellations.  

• Group Class Make-Up Options Discount – For those of you who have already started a group class, if you have to miss a week or two of your group class due to illness, we have a few different make-up options for you.  For the duration of this action plan, we are offering a discount of 30% off on these make-up class services.   This means tuition for an All-Level Drop-In make-up is $10, and tuition for a 30 Minute Make-Up Private is $28, if you have to miss a week of class and choose to do one of those two make-up options.  Please note that this discount only applies to classes missed due to illness.  

• Consider Online Private Lessons – If you have been exposed to illness or are seeking to prevent your exposure as much as possible, we highly recommend checking out our online lesson option!  We meet with you via video conferencing and you’d be surprised how much we can accomplish without being physically present with you and your dog.  Whether you are a new student just getting started, or an existing student working through a package of in-person lessons, we’d love to discuss whether private lessons would be a good option for you and your dog during this time when we are all trying to keep a little bit of extra distance! 

• Online Classes - Coming Soon! - We are working on putting together some online speciality classes to keep us (and you and your dogs) busy during this weird time. Watch our Facebook page and email newsletter for details about these when they are released!

Other Resources:

• American Veterinary Medical Association on COVID-19

• CDC FAQ About COVID-19 & Animals

We are continually monitoring the situation, and we will make adjustments to this plan as we receive additional directions from our national and local governmental authorities.

We wish you and your family and dogs all the health possible during this pandemic. If you have any questions about this action plan please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at admin@summitdogtraining.com.  Thank you for your patience and understanding as we all figure this out together!

- Amber & The Summit Team

Happy Responsible Pet Owners Month!

Did you know that February is Responsible Pet Owners Month?!

We hope every pet owner is responsible all the time, but this month we want to focus on what makes a pet owner “responsible”. Here are some easy steps you can take to be responsible for your pet and also for your community.

1. Use a Leash: There are so many reasons why following the leash laws in your area is important. Even if your dog’s recall is always reliable, there are health and safety reasons that you should be considerate with your leash use. In natural areas, your dog off-leash can do serious damage to wildlife habitat and to the wildlife itself. You also want to consider that in a leash area, other owners expect dogs to be stuck to their owner’s sides, not loose and running freely. They might bring a reactive dog to an area where they aren’t expecting to have any nose-to-nose encounters and your free dog could really ruin their day while risking everyone’s safety. Not to mention that there are lots of places where you will get fined a pretty penny if you’re caught breaking the rules! Everyone who walks their dog has the same goals for the most part: to get some exercise, have some fun, and make it home safely! Keep your pup leashed and follow the rules, responsible owners! 
   

2. Scoop the Poop: Dog poop can spread disease, medications your pup takes can make their way into the ground water and waterways, and don’t forget that it’s just plain gross when you leave your dog’s poop around! Bring clean-up bags with you on all the excursions you take. If you’re going to be awesome and pick up your dog’s poop in a bag, then don’t ruin your hard work by leaving the bagged poop on the side of the trail!  Need more reasons? We wrote about this topic more here.
   

3. Teach Polite Manners: Your dog can be a model citizen with some coaching and practice! Little spurts of training work put in on a consistent basis can generate a polite companion in the world. Training is engaging and enriching for your dog. It is great for improving mood and encouraging calm behavior in general. It’s also a great time for the human involved as well! There’s nothing quite like succeeding in learning a new skill with your dog. We’d love to help! We would love to see you in a class or a private lesson, but mostly we just hope you and your dog area having fun learning and growing!  

Thanks for going above and beyond to demonstrate responsibility for your pet in these ways and others. We appreciate you!