Weekly Dog Training Tip: Not In There, Please! (June 13th)
June 13, 2009
Are there certain locations / rooms that you would prefer your dog to not venture into … the basement, the living room, or the kitchen, etc?
You can train your dog to stay out of certain rooms and locations.
The first step is management. It is important to have the door closed or some blockade up that prevents your dog from entering into that location / room. Some examples are a dog gate, boxes, a board cut to fit the length to the room’s entrance.
Management allows your dog to not develop a bad habit of going into that room when you are not training him.
The next step is to set up training sessions. Have many treats and a clicker. Walk a foot into the forbidden room. C/T (click and treat) if your dog did not follow you into the room. Walk up to your dog to give him a treat or throw him a few treats on the floor in the room he is allowed to be in.
If you dog begins to follows you into the forbidden room body block him. This means you walk into your dog a bit. You are not pushing your dog or hitting him. Actually you aren’t really touching him at all. You are just moving into your dog’s space. Your dog should back up and go back into the allowed room.
Repeat this step multiple times until your dog is reliably staying in the allowed room (s).
Next, repeat the above steps and walk 2 feet into the forbidden room. Then repeat the steps again walking 3 feet into the room, then 4 feet, etc.
Once you can walk all the way into the room without your dog following you, begin increasing the duration he needs to stay out of the forbidden room. Use a stop watch or a second hand and gradually increase the time frame that your needs to remain out of the forbidden room with you in the forbidden room. Give your dog treats at the end of the each time frame. Eventually, your dog should choose to lay down somewhere else and be happy to stay in the allowed rooms.
Spread the Word:
Puppy Kindergarten and Elementary Obedience Courses starting today and continuing until the end of the year. Join at anytime. The sooner you join the sooner you create the obedient dog of your dreams
Best Training Wishes!
Johanna Teresi, Professional Trainer and Owner of Four Legged Scholars LLC
Entry Filed under: Be in the Moment, Clicker Training, Creating the Obedience Dog You Want, Dog Training is Easy, Dog University, Positive Training for Dogs, Problem Solving with Dogs, Reward-Based Training, Weekly Dog Training Tips, dog training. Tags: Body Blocking with Dogs, Clicker Training, dog, Dog Obedience, dog training, dogs, Four Legged Scholars, Johanna Teresi, Positive Reinforcement, puppies, puppy, puppy obedience, Reward-Based Training, Stay Out, Staying out of rooms, Training an Alternate Behavior, Weekly Dog Training Tip, Weekly Dog Training Tips.
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