08 OctEpisode 173 | Dog Training Q and A! 10/7/2021: Are small dogs harder to train? Also: Dogs who have issues going in the yard, a Chihuahua who turns into “Cujo” on leash & puppies who jump (FT: Marigold Pedicone)
This is a recording of a live Q and A done on Instagram, @schoolforthedogs. Annie had no childcare while doing this episode and hoped her infant would stay asleep the whole time, but...she didn't!
Annie answer's listener's questions about...
-An older Cheweenie who has stopped peeing/pooping in the yard ever since a younger, smaller dog came to live with them.
-A dog who will only go in the yard when the owner is there with him.
-A newly-adopted senior Chihuahua who is goes bonkers when seeing other dogs on the street
and
-A Bernedoodle who is jumping on people.
Get alerted about the next one or ask a question in advance at schoolforthedogs.com/qanda.
Subscribe: iTunes
Mentioned in this episode:
Episode 55 | How to train a dog to pee and poop inside – School For The Dogs
SFTD's Sidewalks Psychos class
Transcript:
[music and intro]
Annie:
I am recording this Q and A for the podcast, but I am conducting it on Instagram Live. And if you have a question and you would like to put it in the chat, I will try to answer it. However, full disclosure, I have a huge backload of questions to answer because people do submit questions to me at anniegrossman.com/ask. You are welcome to submit a question there and I will try and answer it.
I'm a little embarrassed though, because I logged in today to look at the question file, and there were a whole bunch of questions that have come in, cause I haven't done a Q and A in a while. So if you asked a question a few months ago and I have not gotten to it, I'm sorry. I will try to be more on top of it.
I squarely placed the blame on my infant daughter. She stands in the way of some things, but she's actually really wonderful and I'm mentioning her because I scheduled this Q and A right now at a time where I don't have anyone helping me with her. And so she is right next to me and she is fast asleep and I'm hoping she will stay asleep. but she might wake up. In which case you might end up seeing me giving a bottle to a three month old while answering dog training questions. I'm a modern woman who can do it all.
All right, let's see. Let's see here. Two questions here from Chihuahua owners. The first one — Oh, oh, oh right on cue! She wakes up. Hold on. I can pacify her with a pacifier. Right. Bought myself another minute now, perhaps. Let's see. All right. First question is from Michelle. Hi, Rhilyn. Hi, Frieda. Thanks for being here. Actually let's first do Sadie's question.
Sadie has a nine pound Chihuahua who she says was born in 2012. So I guess that makes her [baby crying in background] — ugh, babies, dogs. My Instagram Live is a mess. Here is Marigold.
Sadie lives in Jackson Heights. She has a dog who was born in 2012. So that's like a nine year old, nine pound Chihuahua, and Sadie writes:
We adopted our senior Chihuahua this past February, and he immediately showed signs of fear aggression towards other dogs. We are very aware of this problem because our last senior adoptee, a toy rat terrier, had the same issue. If we see any other dog while out for a walk in the neighborhood, he goes berserk. I had worked with a trainer with our last dog, so I immediately started the positive reward method. I carry a bag of small treats with me, and as soon as I see that he’s seen the other dog, I say ‘yes,’ and give him a treat. I do this a few times as we maneuver away from the other dog, but in our neighborhood, we often turn away from one dog just to run into another one behind us.
We've had limited success. We've gone from level 10 Cujo to level 9 Cujo. Some improvement, but not much. And it's such a shame because walking is so stressful when it should be such a joy. Obviously I will take any and all advice you have to give me. But my specific question is whether it's harder to train small breed dogs? They just seem to be so, so stubborn.
So anyone who knows, I guess what you could call the School for the Dogs approach — oh, I should say thank you for those questions. Very good question. Anyone who knows the School for the Dogs approach, you know, we try and avoid using words like stubborn. Most positive reinforcement based dog trainers do, only because labeling is not usually super helpful. And I think of something like stubbornness as basically — [baby cries] alright, okay. Bottle is coming into the baby's mouth.
I think of something as stubbornness as really, you know, there's something that the dog wants that is of higher value than whatever it is you are offering. And if you think about it in terms of people, that's kind of what stubbornness is as well, right? What I want is just more important than whatever it is you want me to do. So I like to break down stubbornness thinking about it more that way.
Are small dogs harder to train and then big dogs? I mean my simplest answer would be no. By and large, dogs are individuals. Some are going to be more difficult in some ways than others. It also depends on what we're asking them to do.
I have heard the argument that small dogs can sometimes be more dangerous than big dogs, because people don't think about doing training so much with small dogs, or it's easier to think I don't need to train the dog because he's small, he's never going to hurt anyone.
And then what can happen is someone has a dog who is under socialized, under-trained, and they're carrying the dog around a lot, which does not allow the dog — especially a very small dog like a Chihuahua might spend a lot of time in a bag or whatever. The dog does not have the ability to run away in a situation where the dog is uncomfortable, and that might result in the dog biting.
So, where another larger dog, even a dog on a leash might run away, the small dog who's being held can only protect himself or herself by biting. And I think that's one reason why small dogs, I think there are more reports of smaller breed dogs biting actually than larger breed dogs. But overall, no, I don't think that small dogs are harder to train then big dogs, but let's talk more specifically about this question.
If you had asked the question, is it harder to train a dog in New York City in Jackson Heights where you are than it is to train a dog who is reactive to other dogs on the street in, I don't know, of rural Wyoming, I would say yes. And a lot of what we do at School for the Dogs is help people who have the very unique problem of trying to train a dog in an urban environment where there are lots of other dogs around and you can't necessarily control what the other dogs are doing, where they're appearing, et cetera, et cetera.
So I guess my, my first suggestion to Sadie who is in New York City, you're not super close to our location. We're in the East Village in Manhattan, but if you can make your way to us for our Sidewalk Psychos class, I would highly recommend that. We specifically set this class up to help people who are dealing with dogs who are reactive to other dogs on leash in an urban environment where you can't necessarily set up trials where you're setting up the dog for success easily.
So many dog trainers in other places in the country are working in parking lots, or on, I don't know, soccer fields, or places where you can get a lot of distance between one dog and another dog and then slowly shape the dog, the reactive dog to be able to exist in a calm fashion, closer and closer to to the other dog. But in New York City, that is quite hard. So number one, suggestion is get yourself to our Sidewalks Psychos class, go to SchoolfortheDogs.com/services to see when the next one is. And I think it is really worth coming.
Oh, thanks. We have Rosella Picks who is writing on Instagram, “Sidewalks Psychos is an amazing class, totally transformed our walking experience, highly recommend.” Thank you for that plug. I do really think it is an amazing class. There are people who I know I've taken it several times with their dogs just because they get more and more out of it each time.
Beyond that, if you had a puppy, my advice might be different, but your dog is already nine years old, and it's a Chihuahua. So — not ‘it.’ I don't like saying dogs are ‘it.’ He, or she, I forget? I forget, I think your dog is a she. Anyway, your dog, he or she, is very small and pretty old. I might actually suggest that you go on walks as rarely as possible and bring your dog in a bag — when you are going to walk your dog, bring your dog in a bag, assuming that your dog is able to go in a bag, which I think when you have a small dog is a really useful thing to train.
Bring your dog to a place where there are not a lot of other dogs for walks to start with and then work on doing some indoor pottying. So you can get a grass patch from one of these companies, Doggie Lawn is one, Fresh Patch is another you can teach your dog to go on. Wee wee pads. You could teach your dog to go even in like dog litter boxes that they make.
But rather than right away focusing on how you can improve the behavior as soon as you walk out your door on a busy city street where you can’t control whether or not there are going to be other dogs there, I'd suggest trying to reduce your dog's stress level overall by practicing indoor ponying which is another subject. I can send you, I think some podcasts episodes I've done on this topic, Sadie, and focusing on making sure that your outings are as well controlled as possible.
Giving treats when you see another dog outside, I think that is a great idea. But if you're only seeing a little bit of success with that, I think management of the situation is going to be key. You might also try and give that reward outside as soon as you see another dog, even before the other dog, your dog sees the other dog and make sure you're using something really, really good, whatever your dog's favorite thing is.
It might also be useful to spend some time outside with your dog where you're not actually walking. So bring your dog — [baby cooing] baby is back for an encore appearance. Bring your dog to a place where she — again, I'm sorry. I keep forgetting whether your dog is a she. I have to look at the question again. She… he, sorry. Where he can just be outside with you, just doing some fun training.
Oh, good burp. That's going to sound great on the podcast, Marigold. Nice job. [laughing] Isn't this fun guys?
Yeah, so just go to the park, go somewhere where you can do some fun training with your dog so that your dog can have some good outside experiences without other dogs around.
Also might be helpful — I don't know how your dog does with other dogs off leash, but it might be helpful to try and do some like off-leash time with your dog and another dog in a safe environment, maybe your apartment, so that your dog can have some — even if it's just existing in the same room, they don't even necessarily need to be playing. But I'm curious how your dog would be with other dogs if both of those dogs are off-leash. Okay. I hope that is helpful. Again, I suggest coming to School for the Dogs, Sadie, if you can make it.
Aright. Another question here about a Chihuahua. Chihuahua is named Prissy. This question comes from Andrea, who lives in Flower Mound, Texas. Prissy is a 10 pound, oh, Chihuahua-dachshund mix — a chiweenie — also roughly nine years old. Andrea says:
My fiance and I have a rescue dog named Prissy. We had her for about three years before getting a puppy last March. Okay. The puppy is a Chihuahua mix and is about half of Prissy’s size. Her name is Dora and she is full of energy, where Prissy is very calm, nervous, and docile. Up until we got Dora, Prissy’s favorite place was the backyard. She would explore as long as we would let her, and pee and poop.
Since we got Dora, she has increasingly started not wanting to go in the backyard to explore. And now she is avoiding peeing and pooping anywhere but on the deck. She wants nothing to do with going in the grass and is holding it and even going inside to avoid going in the yard. She will go potty on walks like she always has, but if she pees her poops in our yard at all now, it's on the deck, which is not ideal. We also have to spend 10 minutes at least out in the backyard with her before she will even do that. We were wondering if she doesn't like Dora scent in the yard because she goes there too. If so, what can we do? Any help you can provide would be amazing. Thank you, Andrea.
Okay. Thank you for the question, Andrea. So a few things, I'm wondering how Prissy does on walks. I don't know if that would be possible, if she would be better or worse on walks, but as someone who lives in New York City and works with people in New York City, that's one of my first thoughts, is maybe walking the dog would be a good idea. It's funny getting questions from people in other areas where walking a dog is not the obvious, first thing to do. Anyway, that could help, might not help.
But before blaming the appearance of the other dog for Prissy’s behavior issues here, which I'm not saying Dora shouldn't be blamed, she might, [laughs] you might need to blame her. I'll talk more about that in a second, but before blaming Dora, you might wanna get Prissy checked out by your vet. It's possible that it's coincidental that Dora's arrival and Prissy’s change in behavior have coincided in time. It might have nothing to do with Dora.
And to that end, it might also be useful to experiment a little bit with having Dora not be around. [Baby vocalizing] Listen, you, we talked about your behavior during this IG live slash podcast, and maybe she just wants to be a part of things. There we go.
So perhaps see if you can, if Dora has an auntie or an uncle who could watch her for a week or so, I would experiment in that way. See how Prissy does if Dora is not around for a week or two. I mean, I guess you could also try putting Dora in a crate when Prissy is outside, but I wonder, and all I know is what you wrote me so this is just a guess, but I wonder if, Dora sounds like she's a much more high energy dog, if she is kind of going after Prissy when they are outside together, and if that is keeping Prissy from wanting to be outside. How does she do if Dora is not allowed outside when Prissy is outside?
If you have one dog who is a super high energy dog and another who is calm and nervous and docile, as you said, I mean, Hey, it's totally possible that Prissy is stressed out by having Dora around. So I think, before suggesting any other, any specific training protocol, I would say you need a little bit more information, and you need to see how Prissy is when Dora isn't around.
And it's never a fun and easy thing to suggest, but sometimes when you have two dogs together you know, one of those dogs is not the right thing for the other dog. And one of those dogs might be happier without the other dog around. Now, can you do some training maybe to see if you can help their relationship improve? Certainly. But yeah, I think my suggestion would be to get a little bit more information first, see if maybe Dora can be sent on a nice vacation with a friend and then get back to me cause I'd like to know how Prissy’s behavior improves.
And to be clear, I can't think of a whole lot of situations where I've suggested that before, for what it's worth, but I do think that is my first thought here, is to see if the problem has to do with Dora or not. Like I said, it also could be something completely, completely unrelated. Okay.
Another peeing pooping outside question. This one comes from Mark, who has a corgi named Pete and lives in Asheville, North Carolina. Mark writes:
Pete is completely house trained. We have a fence yard, but he won't relieve himself unless he's on a leash and you are with him, even after being crated all night.
Oh, gosh. I mean then, I don't know, bring him out into the yard on a leash and be with him? [laughs] Cause that's what the dogs needs. Again, this is a question that's like as a New York City dog owner and dog trainer seems funny to me, like, you know what, my dog only pees and poops when I'm out and with her on a leash, right? There are worse problems.
But I suppose if you want to train a behavior where you can just let the dog go out into the yard and the dog is going to go without you having to be involved, like anything else, you can kind of shape that behavior. So start out by bringing the dog out, being with the dog, having the dog on leash, but maybe not holding the leash. Or try going outside with the dog, but don't have a leash at all. See what happens there.
Try being outside with the dog, but a little bit farther away from the dog than you normally are. You know, you said even after being crated all night, because usually dogs do have to pee and poop when they're crated all night. We control so much about our dogs lives; if the only opportunity he has to relieve himself is when he is outside and he is not leashed and you are not with him, then he is probably eventually going to go.
But you can make the whole situation more comfortable for him, like I said, by kind of incrementally changing the situation. By and large, especially when people have yards and puppies, I think it's a good thing to go out with the dog, especially in the beginning, so that you can be there to reward the dog when the dog goes. Too often people let the dog out and then reward the dog when they come back inside. But you want to be there with a treat the moment the dog pees or poops. And you can also give a cue the moment your dog pees and poops.
We have a really nice, um little ebook on this that you can grab if you go to SchoolfortheDogs.com/house, it goes over housetraining, but also putting pottying on cue. And also, again, wonder what this dog does when on a walk. Just curious.
All right. Last question of the day is from Michelle, who has a Bernedoodle who's about a year old Bernadoodle named Cap. Michelle is in Toledo, Ohio, and Michelle writes:
First of all, thank you for your previous advice on Instagram. It has worked for keeping my dog out of the kitchen when I'm cooking. I can't seem to keep him —
— Oh yeah. She messaged us on Instagram and I believe I sent her a podcast episode on counter surfing and jumping, which for the podcast version of this Q and A, I will put it in the show notes. Oh, Bailey just joined. Hi Bailey and David, and Julie, say hi.
However, Michelle writes, I cannot seem to keep him from jumping up on people when he greets them. I use the command Off and have guests lift their leg up to protect themselves. But it's at the point that I'm embarrassed to have people over. I've also tried having them bend over to greet him so he doesn't have to jump up to say hi, but as soon as they try to stand, he jumps on them. I've tried sending him to his until he's calmer, but he's still so excited to meet people.
Unfortunately it's really just me available to train him and I don't have a lot of time to practice with another person. Someone suggested more leash training and then having him on a leash when people come over. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Okay. So let's get real. My dog jumps on people, and as a dog trainer it is pretty embarrassing. And it is something that does take time to work on. But it also takes some coordination. And also, I should say, my dog jumps on people, and it's something that I want to work on. It's hard because, like Michelle said, it takes time. And right now, you know, I'm running a small business. I have two kids. And in order to keep her from jumping on people, one of the things that I've done is keep her in a crate when people are coming over.
Now jumping is not an inherently bad thing. Especially if you have a smaller dog. If you have a bigger dog, it really can be dangerous. If you have a smaller dog, you know, the reason dogs are jumping, it's excitement, but also they want to smell your crotch. They want to smell your butt. They want to smell your mouth. That's how dogs greet each other. So going down to the dog to greet the dog down on their level rather than bending over, I think is a smart idea.
But something else that I've done with my dog when I'm on top of things — and again, it can be, having two kids now and a small business — [baby cries] right on cue — I empathize. I empathize with my clients more than ever before. I used to live alone with my dog. I had plenty of time to train my dog. But now, time is much more limited. And so yeah, empathy for you, Michelle.
But what you can also do is keep some treats outside of your door, or on your door, outside is even better if you know people are gonna come over. If you know people are going to come over, have them throw the treats when they come inside. Now I know that that sounds sort of simplistic. But I think that sometimes throwing treats on the ground is a good way to change behaviors with dogs.
And if you can't set up the situations, you can at least keep treats outside. And you can have the person throw the treats — Again, better that your dog being the crate and you let the dog out of the crate when your dog is chill, than for your dog to be excited and then putting the dog in the crate. Letting your dog chill out in the crate, have people go greet the dog in the crate. You can do hand touches and stuff in the crate that your dog likes. When your dog is out, you can have them toss treats on a bed. That's something that I have been working on doing with my dog, Poppy, is rewarding her in a specific spot in the room.
Now you can also, again, think about shaping this behavior, the behavior of the dog being calm when people come over. You can do this even without having setups at first with other people. You can shape the dog to be calm on the bed just with you hanging out with the dog, and then up the ante a little bit, try walking around the room while your dog is calm on the bed. Try walking to the door while the dog is calm on the bed.
Are they sitting on the bed, lying down on the bed? I don't really care. As long as they're on that bed, they are not also jumping up on people coming to the door. And work up till you can go to the door, and open the door and close the door. And when that is easy, it's going to be easier to start introducing other people into the equation, maybe doing some setups, having a neighbor come over at a time when you can predict.
That's something else that I have found really hard lately with my dog and the craziness of my household, is predicting when things are going to happen. But again, it's another reason to use a crate. Make sure your dog is really comfortable in the crate so that the dog can be in the crate in situations when you're not able to control all of the variables.
Okay. Thank you everyone for being here. Thank you for putting up with me trying to be a mommy at the same time as answering dog training questions. I will end this Q and A with just a little bit of a three month old cuteness here. This is my daughter, Marigold, who is sweet and wonderful. And, this is her first Instagram Live. [laughs]
If you have a question, like I said, I will try and answer it in a timely fashion. You can submit it at anniegrossman.com/ask. You can also leave a voicemail at 917-414-2625. Make sure to check out School for the Dogs podcast, where I will be posting this. And you can also follow me on Instagram, on my own account, which is @Annie.Grossman. All right. Say bye. Say bye Marigold.
[music and outro]
