When the weather is hot, your dog might not get as excited about her/his training treats as s/he usually does. Ok, some dogs get excited about the prospect of food no matter what! But not all of our dogs as excited about food in very distracting situations, and sometimes the heat is a huge distraction. The desire to stay in the shade (or air conditioning) and the lack of interest in treats can make training more difficult.
See if you can get your dog more excited about training by providing some cool refreshing treats. Some treats can be kept in the refrigerator so they are cold when given. If you’re going somewhere to train, such as to class, put the treats in the freezer for a bit before you leave or put them in a cooler with an ice pack en route so they are still cold when you arrive.
Use small ice cubes as training treats. Make ice cubes from chicken or beef broth. Put treats in an ice cube tray and then fill partially with water and let freeze. Now you have ice cubes with treats stored inside!
Find other cold tasty treats you can share with your dog and s/he just might be more interested in working during these hot summer days.
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“Dog training” works on people too!
One of my job titles is “Dog Trainer” but I often tell my clients that in reality, I am a People Trainer. While I can and do train dogs, the bulk of my job is really training or coaching people to train their own dogs.
Of course, if I advertised myself as a People Trainer, most people would not sign up for training. Although, I’ve been thinking about that and maybe there is a way to make good money touting myself as a People Trainer. While most people would not sign up for training for themselves, they just might sign up other family members for training. I am often asked if I train spouses or children. I joke that I do, but it’s much more expensive than my dog training fees.
In reality, the “dog training” I do is really positive reinforcement based training which works on all species. So, even though your spouse or child might initially be offended at your using “dog training” on them, they really won’t have any issue with it as long as you are subtle about it and don’t call it “dog training.” Who would take offense to being rewarded for good behavior?
Want to “train” your spouse or child to clean up after themselves, help with the dishes, or other chores? Don’t tell them they are being trained. Find ways to reinforce the behaviors you want in ways that will make it worthwhile to them. The trick, as it is with training our dogs, is in finding the right motivators. Don’t bribe them by offering the reward first but rather reward them unexpectedly when they do as you ask – preferably without having to ask more than once or twice.
If you want to better understand how to “train” the people in your life, pick up a copy of Karen Pryor’s Don’t Shoot the Dog! While it is a classic among Dog Trainers, it actually was written to help people “train” other people, not dogs.
World class trainers will often recommend training another species in order to make yourself a better dog trainer. Why not try training a human?
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What’s the “magic” number for maturity?
My most popular group class is Juvenile Delinquents. I work with more adolescent dogs than any other developmental stage. It should come as no surprise that the majority of dogs relinquished to shelters and rescue groups are adolescent dogs. It’s no wonder, since adolescent dogs can some days try the patience of even the most patient person on the planet.
While puppyhood can be a pain – literally, when it comes to those sharp razor-like puppy teeth – adolescence is often the more difficult period. Dogs continue to grow bigger and the adolescent period lasts longer than puppyhood. There are no hard and fast rules as to when adolescence begins and ends. It’s a gradual process, so dogs will transition gradually from puppyhood to adolescence and from adolescence to maturity.
Between the ages of four and six months is when puppies move into adolescence. Moving into maturity is a bit more of a gray area. Between one and one-and-a-half years is generally the time it takes for small breed dog to mature. For larger breed dogs, it could be one-and-a-half years, two years, three years or more.Female dogs tend to mature faster than males dogs. My apologies to those of you living with adolescent males!
Romeo and his best buddy August taking a play break on Romeo's birthday. First time they ever laid down side by side like that!
Vizlsas are considered one of the breeds slow to mature, along with labs and some others. With Romeo being a male and a Vizsla, I figured maturity would hit sometime around four years, if I were lucky. So I was pleasantly surprised to see Romeo act the part of the perfectly mature gentleman on his second birthday, back in June. Like magic, his second birthday seemed to be the date when maturity set in. Then he woke up the next morning and was back to his usual self!
There is no magic day when your dog suddenly wakes up and all the silly adolescent antics are gone. However, I have seen a big difference in Romeo lately. Two years seems to have been a pivotal time for him. Don’t get me wrong, he is still an adolescent with his adolescent moments. But those moments are much fewer and farther between, and mostly less obnoxious, than they used to be even six months ago.
We still have work to do, but I am happy to see him making better decisions and keeping his head about him more often than he did early on. Romeo is an awesome little guy, and I can’t wait to see what he’s like in another year.
So for those of you still deep in adolescence, don’t despair! It does get better. There will be slip ups along the way, but if you are working as a team with your adolescent dog, you have a fantastic mature dog in the making. Be patient and persistent and you will prevail!
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Sue Brown, MNM, CDBC, CPDT-KA
Certified Dog Behavior Consultant
Certified Professional Dog Trainer
AKC CGC Evaluator
APDT Professional Member and Colorado State Greeter
Co-Founder, Colorado Dog Trainers Network
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I am a dog trainer and behavior consultant. The Light Of Dog Newsletter is sent every other week. I post regularly about dogs, especially dog training. I also offer eClasses, workshops and seminars and products including e-books and DVD’s. My upcoming book, Juvenile Delinquents, will be published in Fall 2011 in both print and e-book format.
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