One of the things we will do thousands of times throughout the life of our dog is to go through a door with him.
Task: Check off the word that best describes how you and your dog go out of a door:
a) explode, b) rush, c) stumble, d) shoot, e) ejaculate, f) careen.
When dogs are excited, they do not understand anything we say. “Now, Sarge, I want you to be a good boy now and we’re going to do this door thing calmly and slowly ...” sounds like “Blah, Sarge, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah ...” to the dog.
To lower the excitement we need to shut the dog down. He must change the way he is thinking. You do this by asking him to sit comfortably four or five feet from the door. If you have trouble getting him to do this, do the sit away from the door. As the dog sits beside you, you simply stand there like you are waiting for a bus. If the dog moves or gets up, put him back into the sit position and continue to let him get the experience of waiting.
You may do the above exercise and decide not to go through the door that day. Take the time required.
The next step is to do the sit one foot closer to the door until he is sitting right in front of the door. Then open the door with the dog remaining in the sit. Next, go through the door calmly and ask for the sit. While the dog is seated, close the door.
Work your way out to the road or sidewalk with repeated sits to break up the forward movement. Techniques can vary with different dogs; use what works. Food rewards like small cubes of cheese, cooked liver, or meat may be offered as the dog obeys your request.
Touching or verbal praise may create excitement (which is not what you want), but you won’t know what works with your dog until you try. I like to work quietly; the intimacy is stronger; I feel that we connect on a more primal level. Many people develop empathic telepathy with animals they work with and this is best done in silence.
As you are working with the purpose of shutting the dog down so that he can think clearly, you should monitor yourself on the calm meter to make sure that you don’t get tense or agitated. The work of training (and learning) is a multi-tiered process that requires patience, calm repetition and full attention on both your parts.
Task: Check off the word that best describes how you and your dog go out of a door:
Glide, b) exit, c) pas de deux, d) départ, e) advance.
Always remember that you can put your own style into the work. I am personally very fond of the graceful pas de deux.
Next week: Helpful tips on dog yards
Ravinn O. West is kennel master and trainer at Ravendale Kennel and Training Centre at Cochrane, Alberta. Her latest book, The Tao of Dogs is available from www.ravinnwest.com. You may send questions or comments to her via [email protected].
