Anyone who has met our fur ball knows he is so sweet and gentle, well behaved and is just a baby disguised as a dog! I thought I would walk through ways we have trained him in the hopes that our efforts are a piece of the reason for how good he is.
We adopted our sweet mutt, Loki close to 4 years ago. As far as we can tell he is a mix between a black lab and some sort of terrier and he was about a year old when we brought him home. When we were first getting to know him he was afraid of everything, but was never aggressive. We have always been so amazed by how fast he learns and training your dog is a lot like parenting. There are some things that will work for most dogs, regardless of their temperament and breed, but every dog is different. These are some of the things I’ve learned as a dog mama the last 4 years:
Boundaries
By far one of the most important things, in any relationship, is having boundaries that are consistent and clear! Communicating with our furry friends can be trickier, we have to demonstrate our boundaries with actions. Though some words can definitely be understood... for us we can't say "treat," "eat," "outside," or "food" otherwise Loki will get hyper to go potty or start licking his chomps in anticipation of snacks... actions are learned and condition a dog and their behavior quickly.
What boundaries should I set for my dog? That is completely up to you. We are dog people, but I am not a fan of having a dog under my feet when I am cooking or eating at the table. I honestly find it rude and intrusive to have a dog looking at me while I munch on my food. I also knew there would be people visiting who might not be used to dogs or impossible as it sounds, not like dogs and I wanted our pup to learn certain boundaries for any guest that enters our home. Because of this we established early on the boundary of no Loki in the kitchen and no Loki under the table when people are eating. When Chris and I are in the kitchen making dinner, Loki has learned where the "line" is and that he is not to cross it. He also knows when we sit down to eat he is to lay in his bed.
Another boundary we wanted to establish was a "Safe Zone" for him. We are planning to have children someday and we want him to know that there will be specific zones he can go to, to have space from kids if he needs it. His beds are his sanctuary and when he is laying there we know he wants his space. This boundary will more be for us to teach our future kids but it's something we think will be helpful for our whole family some day.
Just like kids, dogs like having that structure. Loki knows what to expect and respects it.
Tricks
"Sit," "stay," and "down," are all great tricks to teach your canine friend, but here are a few more that we have found helpful in our home.
"Leave It:" There are some things that dogs should not eat (chocolate, grapes and onions to name a few) so teaching your dog the "Leave It" command can be helpful there. We have also found it has caused Loki to become a better listener. He approaches things more cautiously and it is almost as if he is waiting for our approval. We can also have a peaceful breakfast in bed experience while simultaneously snuggling our boy without worry of him snatching or vigorously sniffing at our food. He knows to leave it alone!
"Settle:" We've been slowly preparing Loki for a day when he's not the only "little" we love. We want him to be prepared for life with a baby, toddler and kids. He has done excellent when friends come over with their kids, but to live with one is an entirely other situation. He can get really excited and hyper, especially with specific tones of voice. So we know there is a high percentage chance that when we are on the floor playing with future baby, those higher pitched sounds will get him excited and assume we want to play with him. To try and combat that we have been teaching him the "Settle" command. We started demonstrating this when he was already settled: laying on his side and staying still, we would say "good boy" and stroke him while saying "Settle." Now whenever he gets too hyper we can say this command and he knows it's time to cool down.
Human Food
Very rarely does Loki get human food. Typically when he does it's popcorn from his Aunts and Papa ;) We don't like giving him our food because he has a bazillion different types of his own treats we can give him, plus he has always been an excellent eater and we don't want that to change by spoiling him with our food. Another reason we don't give him our food is the issue of begging. In my opinion our pups can't learn to respect our eating space if they know they can get a nibble of your food. If you want to cease the begging habit, try ending the human food habit.
Toys/Playtime
Loki, like most dogs, loves playing. It's in their nature to rough house a little and sometimes it can look wild. There was one time I grabbed his tug toy and started a game of Tug o' War. Now when we first got him he was the quietest dog in the world, never barked or made a single peep when playing. So this game he started growling, which we saw as a huge improvement, but my curiosity was when does a growl go from playful to aggressive? Like any good dog parent I searched the internet to make sure we weren't enabling aggression in our home! We weren't, but I did learn that it is always best for us, the humans, to start with a game of tug, if our dogs start it, it can lead to more aggressive and entitled behavior. We also should never tease or play with our dogs with our hands as that can confuse them into associating hands as toys, which you don't want. Toys and food are for the mouth, hands are for pets and belly rubs
Greeting
Here is an area that we are just now starting to enter into. Again we adopted a very shy and quiet dog, but we are learning he has some areas that he, or rather we can improve on. I recently learned about why dogs paw. This can be cute at first, and it comes in many different forms. Pawing for attention, pawing for more pets, jumping up when people enter the home. Our area of improvement revolves around the greeting we and others receive from Loki when they enter our home. It is also the hardest to do. We are currently in the process of training Loki to learn that he does not dictate when he gets attention from us. This currently looks like getting home after a long day to our boy excited to greet us, our initial response is to squeal and make a fuss over seeing, arguably, the most important member of our little family. But because of this, when we enter our home we have a dog who bolts to the door expecting our attention and he'll jump up to get that. We are now training to curb that behavior.
Training in general is hard work and it truly is more of us becoming the disciplined ones. Don't expect magic to happen over night after one session with your pooch. It takes time, patience and cooperation from everyone who interacts with them. Be upfront with your boundaries, don't be afraid to explain the rules to guests so they can assist during their visit if need be and stay firm to them for a quicker learning experience for your dogs. Don't be afraid to play, they will have a blast, just be sure you are staying safe and if you notice any questionable behavior, end the play session immediately. Teaching tricks is both fun and helpful for so many different scenarios. Reach out to your local trainers or try an at home tutorial, there's dozens online.
Most of all remember that your dogs love you more than anything on this earth, respect them and they'll respect you. They truly are the most loyal companions. I don't want to imagine what life would be like without my baby boy. I am beyond blessed to have this sweet and spunky dog in my life.
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