Exercise & Play
Exercise your dog then go for a walk
How To:
Exercise your dog and then go for a walk -- a human walk is not sufficient exercise for a young dog!!!
Things to know about dogs:
Most dogs are:
Dogs are master problem solvers as well as opportunists. They explore and investigate the environment with their nose and mouth. It is important to let your dog run, sniff and explore for a minimum of 45 minutes (blood pumping, heart pounding cardio) per day unless you don’t mind them finding something to do on their own. Many orthopedic specialists warn people not to run with their dogs until the dogs are 2 years old. You might be saying to yourself "But I got him so I would have a dog to run with me!!" The reason for this is because regular trotting/running on hard surfaces for miles will injure the joints of an adolescent canine, and dogs are adolescents until they're at least two. Now, if people want to run on trails, and their dogs are off-leash and running here, trotting there, stopping to sniff, running to catch up, etc, that's different (although illegal, but that's a whole different problem.)However you can have your dog dragging a 30 ft water repellent long line. It's the on-leash, staying at the owner's side, trotting for miles that can be harmful.
People need to be creative in exercising their dogs, until the dog is old enough to run. Please read below for a helpful start.
Toys not hands
Always have a toy between you & your dog. Man-handling a dog or using your hands to play prey games only stimulates a dog to play with your hands. Dogs play by biting whatever they are playing with. There will be times when your dog is calm. But when your dog is soliciting play he will use his mouth. Your shoelaces, clothes or hands are not to be played with by the dog. You must be prepared to offer him something appropriate to play with.
Chase It! - Toy on a stick game - www.chaseitpettoys.com
Hang a toy on a rope from the end of a stick or broom handle. When playing with your dog, allow him to chase the toy as it hangs from the stick or broom handle. In this way, your dog can be exercised without chasing you or other members of your family. Your dog can attempt to run and catch the toy. He can jump and grab for the toy. While your dog plays with the toy in this manner, he will not be able to be chasing you or grabbing for you. He will learn appropriate play as opposed to inappropriate play that allows him to touch you or others with his mouth. This type of play will prevent what you do not want, a dog that chases and bites people, while it teaches what you do want, a dog that concentrates on playing with toys.
Once the dog understands the game, you can initiate the game with a verbal cue such as “where is your toy?” Eventually, if the verbal cue is used consistently, your dog will begin to look for the toy when he hears the verbal cue. The verbal cue can then be used anytime you would like your dog to change his focus to the toy.
Play with a purpose
Use your dog’s natural tendency to “trade up” to your advantage. Aesop’s fable about the dog losing a bone in the pool of water because his reflection had a bigger bone is an accurate portrayal of dog behavior! You should always look and act like you are better or have something better than the environment. Play the Trade Up Game with your dog. Play trade games – give him something better in place of what he has. It is the basis for “Drop It” and Fetching.
HIDE & SEEK
This game sets the “Psyche” that your dog should always be watching you because you could disappear at any moment. It creates a habit of your dog checking back with you. Done properly, your dog will retain the habit for the rest of his/her life.
Go to an unfamiliar environment, but safe, enclosed area with your dog wearing his/her floor cord or 25 ft line. Wait for your dog to get distracted, and then hide. Watch to see when your dog notices you are gone. When your dog looks “lost”, pop out and say your dogs name, followed by puppie, puppie!” and give the re-call hand signal. Your dog should come racing to you out of sheer relief. After you reinforce with food, release your dog and move away from him/her. LET them get distracted again and repeat the sequence.
Your dog should get to the point where he/she will move away from you but will keep an eye on your whereabouts. You want to create a scenario where you cannot “ditch” your dog because he/she is always “checking back” to see where you are.
This game sets the "psyche" that your dog should always be watching you because you could disappear at any moment. It creates the habit of your dog checking back with you. Done properly, your dog will retain this habit for the rest of his life.
Go to an unfamiliar, but safe, enclosed area with your dog wearing the floor cord or dragging the 25-30 foot long line. Wait for your dog to get distracted, then you hide. Watch to see when your dog notices you are gone. When they look "lost", pop out and say your dog's name, followed by "pup-pup-puppiee!" or your dogs name, and give the recall signal. Your dog should come racing to you out of sheer relief. After you reinforce with food, release your dog and move away from them. Let them get distracted again and repeat the sequence.
Your dog should get to the point where he'll move away from you but will keep an eye on your whereabouts. You want to create a scenario where you cannot, "ditch" your dog because he is always "checking back" to see where you are.
Play appropriately with your dog and exercise them before they behave inappropriately. If your dog mouths you, and then you tether them, it is too late. Your dog has already been reinforced, just by being able to touch you with their mouth.
Tug toys
Dogs investigate the environment they live in. They are good at finding socks and shoes to play with because those socks and shoes smell like their owners. It is the owners' responsibility to keep their socks and shoes out of the reach of their dogs. Instead, tug toys can be given to your dog to play with. The toys should be stuffed in shoes overnight or you can sleep with new toys to make the tug toys more appealing to your dog.
In a litter setting, normal play consists of dogs jumping on and biting each other. Owners do not like this biting type of play when human hands and feet are involved. Tug toys are valuable tools that can be used when owners play with their dogs. Always play with your dog holding a tug toy between you and your dog's mouth. Tether your dog when you play so you can step away from your dog if he leaves the toy and goes after your hands or feet. You can then begin to play again when your dog is calm. Your dog will soon learn that rough play stops the game and appropriate play gains him social contact.
Tug toys can also take the place of floor cords and leashes that your dogs may attempt to chew on or carry in their mouths. Exchange an appealing tug toy for the floor cord or leash whenever your dog is acting inappropriately, in order for your dog to decide that the floor cord or leash is unavailable to him even though it is attached to his collar.
Tug of War is an excellent game to teach your dog for the following reasons:
Dogs can get so excited during play that they can not control themselves. At a young age most dogs desire social contact. This game will teach your dog that if they let go of the toy or lose control, they will lose social contact with you. Your dog will learn that your hands are not available and to keep their mouth on the tug-of-war toy. Dogs can learn to play appropriately.
Dog owners have been admonished for decades to never play tug of war with their dogs because of the risk of it increasing aggression and/or dominance in the dog. Even many dog resource people such as breeders, amateur trainers and veterinarians caution against this game. This is partly a failure to discriminate between agonistic behavior (conflict resolution and defensive aggression) and predatory behavior. Played with rules, tug-of-war is a tremendous predatory energy burner and good exercise for both dog and owner. It serves as a good barometer of the kind of control you have over the dog, most importantly over his jaws. The game doesn't make the dog a predator: he already is one. The game is an outlet.
Tug of war, or any vigorous activity for that matter, played without rules or functioning human brain cells is potentially dangerous. But the baby has been thrown out with the bath water in this case: why deprive dogs and owners of one of the best energy burners and outlets there is? It's good because it's intense, increases dog focus and confidence and plugs into something very deep inside dogs. The big payoff is in lowered incidence of behavior problems due to under stimulation. It's also extremely efficient for the owner in terms of space and time requirements, and it can be used as a convenient reward option in obedience.
I've personally never bought the dominance argument here either. Neither dogs nor wolves ascertain rank by grabbing the ends of an object and 'tugging to see who "wins." If anything, it is co-operative behavior. When you're playing tug of war with a dog and he "wins," i.e. you let go, he will try to get you to re-engage in the game rather than leaving and hoarding. And, when dogs do leave and hoard, it's often because the owner has made simple tactical errors. With a dog that tends to run the other way after getting control of the tug object, playing hard to get is an infinitely smarter owner strategy than chasing the dog. Avoid battles with dogs involving speed and agility - you cannot win. Psyche-outs are much better. Learn to play the Third Way!
Any informal sampling I've done has never yielded a correlation between regular tug of war games and an increased incidence of aggression. I will definitely come to full alert if anyone comes up with some hard, well-controlled data, but so far all there has been is the attitude that, well, it must be bad because the dog gets so revved up. People have such a hard time witnessing real dog behavior.
Tug of war is a bonding experience and an intense, pleasurable experience the dog will intimately associate with you. My dog will not play with me unless I have a toy, the rules in our relationship from day one and age 3 months, hands are not available, and we only play with toys. My dog is 6 years old and we have never had any behavior problems, and she still loves a good tug session. When she feels like play and needs to burn up some energy she seeks out her toy and brings it to me. Great for those rainy days I do not feel like taking her out side.
Dogs can get so excited during play that they can not control themselves. At a young age most dogs desire social contact. This game will teach your dog that if they let go of the toy or lose control, they will lose social contact with you. Your dog will learn that your hands are not available and to keep their mouth on the tug-of-war toy. Dogs can learn to play appropriately.
FETCH / RETRIEVING
Teaching your dog to play fetch with you accomplishes several great things:
When your dog comes back to you with the ball or toy, DO NOT reach out to take the toy away. Go ahead and pet your dog away from their face, and celebrate that they have the toy. The more you try to take the toy away, the more reluctant your dog will be to return to you, or they may start to play "keep away."
DOUBLE TOY TECHNIQUE: Play with 2 toys.
Most dogs are not natural retrievers. A natural retriever will go after a moving object, pick it up, return to you, spit it out and wait to have it thrown again. Most dogs will go after a moving object, grab it and then run away in order to keep it. This is normal dog behavior and your dog has already practiced this in the litter situation when they played with other puppies. During the fetch game you will use two toys of equal value to teach your dog the retrieve behavior. These toys must be very attractive to your dog and motivate them to want to play.
What Your Dog Needs to Know First:
How to play appropriately with you (tug-of-war, fetch/retrieving, & bite inhibition)
RECIPE FOR DROP IT- or Trade ya!
Background information
THE THIRD WAY’S approach to this difficult requirement is to set up the situation so that Pup always believes that what you have for him is always better than what he already has in his mouth. In order to accomplish this psych, it is vitally important to set up situations to teach him this skill rather than waiting until he has something in his mouth that you really need him to drop. He may really want to possess in spite of what you have to offer him in trade. In other words, teach Pup this skill before you have to start fishing things out of his mouth against his will!
My friend, Jennifer Boznos, is the owner of Call of the Wild School for Dogs in Chicago and she uses THE THIRD WAY. She teaches the drop it skill in her puppy classes but uses the cue “Trade ya” instead of “Drop it”. I like this cue very much because it reminds the owner that if Pup learns the skill by choosing to trade what he has for the better thing you have, teaching the skill will be easier on both of you. This is a more reliable technique than using coercion to teach this skill.
What Pup must already know
Because this skill is taught in such a positive way, it can be taught to very young puppies. Once Pup has learned his name and the indicator and is in the process of learning the three foundation games, the Drop it skill can be taught.
Where to begin
In a room that can be completely closed off, put a few things on the floor that you think Pup will really want. Be sure that he cannot pick up and immediately swallow such as large size biscuits, dirty socks, a rawhide chew, or a large bone.
Have in your hand morsels of food that you think he will find irresistible such as bits of meat or cheese.
Drop it can be taught with many techniques.
1. If your dog plays double toy fetch AND has gotten to the point of bringing the ball and dropping it in front of you so the other ball can be thrown, THEN you can add the verbal cue "drop it" before your dog releases the ball. Eventually your dog will drop it on the verbal cue and you can pick up that ball to throw again or you can have your dog drop it into your hand. The reinforcement in this game is the ball gets thrown again.
As the toy comes out of his mouth, you can overlay the words "Drop It" on the behavior. Again, do not say, "Drop It" as he is gripping the toy. This teaches him "Drop It" means hang on.
2. If your dog plays Tug of War, during the game you can take the tug out of the game by holding the dog's collar with one hand so your dog can not back away and then holding the toy so it is not taunt between you and your dog. Hold until your dog lets go of the toy voluntarily and then reward your dog with food or resume the game. The visual cue will be your hand moving toward the dog's collar. When your dog drops the toy out of its mouth easily, then you can add the verbal cue before you start moving your hand toward the dog's collar. Eventually your dog will drop the toy on the verbal cue.
3. You can place your thumb under an object in your dog's mouth behind the lower front teeth. It may or may not be touching the dog's tongue depending on your dog's structure. Your dog will try to get the thumb out of its mouth and in so doing will voluntarily spit out the object. Reward your dog immediately with food or some other form of reinforcement (throw the ball again). The visual cue will be your thumb coming down to your dog's mouth or your thumb in their mouth. Once your dog gives up the object easily, add the verbal cue before you place your thumb in the dog's mouth.
4. Once your dog understands the verbal cue, you can make things harder and harder. You can ask your dog to drop the tug toy, and then sit or lay down.
If you have a fetching dog, you can ask them to “drop it” into a box or “drop it” and sit before the next throw. You can give something to your dog and ask them to “drop it”, using those things that are harder and harder for your dog to want to drop. So the reward better be good!!!
Remember to reward when teaching anything new including a verbal cue.
Dogs are opportunists
Management/Confinement:
Leave your dog something to do when left alone -Dogs Chew and love novel stimuli-NEW. Keep all toys in a box out of reach and eye site of pup. Rotate toys and put away after each use. Do not leave toys lying out all over the house, or in their confinement area, change daily and often.
Hide crunchy foods in containers that only release as the dog rolls the ball or square, remember dogs are problem solvers, and leave them something that takes some work. Examples… Buster Food Cube, Everlasting Dog Treat Ball, RuffDawg Stick, Like a stick, without those pesky splinters. I-Qube Puzzle Toy, Kong Time Kong Dispenser entertains your dog for hours and Squirrel Dude!
K9 Cruiser Bicycle Leash -- for dogs 8 months of age or older
Connects directly to your bike and are hands free. Also, it will appropriately exercise most dogs in just a short 15 minute ride.
Please do not use for long distances, this could injure their joints.
Receive 25% off any toys at Petopia when you mention you are one of Unleash Yourself students. Petopia Natural 14001 SE McLoughlin Blvd.
Milwaukie, OR 97267 503-607-0111
Excerpts from: Jean Donaldson, Chris Bach, Gina Micciulla and Christine Fletcher DVM