Dog Training Tip No. 1, 2 & 3
On Wednesday nights my husband and I have a meeting at church. Yesterday, like most Wednesdays, we knew that it was going to be difficult to have dinner, feed Wolfgang, get out the door, and get to the meeting on time. I scarfed down my dinner (fried chicken), fed Wolfgang, packed up dinner for my husband to eat in the car, and ran out to meet him in the driveway (he was late coming home from work). Yes! We made it on time. But only when I returned home did I realize what I had done wrong.
I left the chicken bones on the kitchen table. Now you have to realize that any food left on the table (or the counter for that matter) is at eye and nose level for the dog's taking. Very tempting.
So, did Wolfgang eat the chicken bones? NO! I'm so proud of him for doing the right thing.
Which brings me to my first dog training tip: Never, ever, ever feed the dog from the kitchen table, kitchen counter, or any place that is not his dog food bowl.
You may be thinking to yourself that your dog would never pass up yummy, greasy chicken bones. I have to be honest, there was a time that Wolfgang wouldn't pass it up either. We have caught him licking dishes in the sink, digging in the trash, eating off the counter, etc. But we've corrected him properly every time we catch him. The key is that you have to catch him in the act and correct it while he is in the act. (Training Tip no. 2) If he stops the bad behavior prior to the correction, then he's a good boy - because he stopped. 
We adopted Wolfgang when he was 4 years old and he came with a bunch of bad habits. One of them was licking the dishes in the sink. We knew he was doing this but we could never catch him.One day my husband was in the back room and heard clinking dishes. This was it! Our opportunity to correct the behavior! He snuck up on Wolfgang lapping up the leftover goodness in the sink, took a huge breath, bent his knees, hands ready, and jumped, clapped and yelled at he same time - right behind the dog. Needless to say Wolf was so terrified that in a split second he became crouching dog.
This correction was timely (in the act), in good proximity (right next to the dog- corrections aren't as effective if they're coming from the next room over), and had the extra element of surprise. About 3 seconds later he got a good boy because he stopped (very important!). Wolfgang has never licked another dish again.
Notice that we do not hit. Which brings me to Training Tip No. 3. Never hit a dog! More on this and other dog training tips later:)
posted by Rock @ 6:27 AM
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