SitStayFetch: Consultation With Mark

Hi Daniel,

Being a cat lover I had never imagined that I would have dogs once I bought and shifted into my own home. However my new neighbor introduced me to her delightful little Bichon Frise and ever since I have been captivated by it.

I have read up on the breed and spoken to breeders and I think one of these little dogs would be perfect for me, even though I know that their onerous grooming and bathing requirements may have a detrimental effect on my bachelorhood!

While I tend to spend most of my free time either around the house or doing things where a dog can accompany me, I do work full time. I will be able to get quite a lot of time off to spend the first few months getting a new dog used to being by itself, hopefully even to the extent of being able to work from home.

So I suppose my questions are:- will the puppy be happy on its own during the day?- would it be better to get two puppies from the same litter, so that they can keep each other company?- If the answer to the second question is yes, then which sexes should I choose?- Is it possible to train puppies to do their business in the doggy equivalent of a cat litter tray?

I would be grateful for any advice as I only want to get a puppy if I can provide for all of its needs.

Cheers,
Mark.
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SitStayFetch Reply:

Hi Mark,

First and foremost- you are to be congratulated on your attitude to dog ownership! The fact that you are taking so much trouble to find out what is best for your new dog suggests that you will make an excellent owner, and your puppy will have landed on its paws when it joins your household!

Obviously working full time is not ideal when owning a dog, but it is not an impossible situation and, provided that you make good use of the time that you are at home and provide the dog with adequate social, mental and physical stimulation, you should be able to avoid any major problems.

Taking time off from work when your puppy arrives is to be recommended but during those first few weeks it is important to start as you mean to go on and ensure that your new family member does not have constant company as he may come to rely upon it.

Gradually increase the time that he is left alone, and ensure that he is safe and secure when you are not there; the use of an indoor pen is certainly to be recommended at this stage. A pen will also help in house training, if you are able to devote your full attention to this process and ensure that your puppy is able to go outside when he needs to go to the toilet. You will be pleasantly surprised by how quick it can be. Check out the bonus Housetraining mini ebook for plenty of tips and tricks to make sure that it is a success.

If you need to go back to work while your puppy is still very young, try to get someone to let him out to relieve himself during the day rather than allow him to form new associations with an indoor latrine! If you do not have any family or friends who can do this then you may wish to hire a pet-sitter for the short-term.

Regarding your query about getting 2 puppies, I would recommend that start with one. Getting littermates is always something that people find appealing but it often ends in tears. Two puppys who spend a lot of time together will communicate more effectively with each other than their owners, often making training difficult. Also siblings can be very closely matched in terms of size and strength, which can also lead to problems.

I hope this helps and good luck! If you don't understand anything that I have said please email me for clarification.

Click here to learn more.

Kind regards,

Daniel Stevens and the SitStayFetch Team

Click here to learn the truth about Dog Food Secrets.

Testimonial From Gisela

"Attached is the photo of our family with our pet labradoodle, Jem. A little background of our family: We live on the Central Coast in Australia. Like any responsible “parent”, our family prepared for the arrival of our newest “member”, our darling labradoodle puppy, Jem. Part of our preparations was the purchase of the sitstayfetch e-book. The book is so comprehensive, easy to understand and well-presented that is why I did not hesitate to instruct my sons to read it as well so each one of us knows how to become an “alpha dog” and how to issue commands consistently.

It is recommended here in Australia to attend a puppy pre-school class for training and socialisation. We started Jem’s home training based on sitstayfetch way before he started his "formal training". There’s nothing new we learned from the pre-school class that we haven’t learned from your e-book first. As a result, Jem finished “valedictorian” in his class. Thanks Daniel!"

-- Gisela Grace S. Alvarez (Australia)

Click HERE for more detail on SitStayFetch.

Kind regards,

Daniel Stevens and the SitStayFetch Team

Click here to learn the truth about Dog Food Secrets.

SitStayFetch: Consultation With Juliette

Hi Daniel,

My labrador cross, Basil, has had major behavioral changes since my husband and I separated 6 months ago. He used to be the sweetest, most adorable dog ever, but now I am pulling my hair out trying to keep him under control.

He is though still very affectionate towards me and I am sure that he is very much affected by my husbands departure. He looks quite sad and apathetic pretty much all the time. I have been trying to cheer him up by taking him on long walks and exercising him a lot. It just makes it very hard to punish him when I know that he is missing his former master.

Basil has started snarling and growling at visitors, especially if they are male. He will try and get in between the visitor and me and start growling, usually when the visitor tries to approach me.

His appetite has diminished considerably, he used to eat full amounts all the time and now he doesn't seem to have the heart to eat as much as he should. Not only that, Basil has gone from being a fully housetrained dog to one that cocks his leg quite often inside the house. For some reason it seems to be rooms that haven't been used much.

Anything you can recommend will be much appreciated.

Yours,

Juliette.
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SitStayFetch Reply: Hi Juliette

I can imagine that it is quite a difficult situation for Basil and yourself. You are quite right to think that Basil's behavior changes are associated with the loss of his master. This is actually reasonably common behavior when a family member leaves or passes away.

Besides the growling at visitors and urinating inside the house, other common symptoms of grief can include your dog:

- becoming depressed,
- not sleeping much (or sleeping a lot),
- chewing their paws,
- whining,
- becoming morose.

It is very important that you stick as much as possible to your normal routines, both with respect to your dog and your daily life. You will have to be quite patient as it may take some time for Basil to become his old self again.

The protective behavior that Basil is portraying, especially when men approach you, is likely to stem from his fear and anxiety at not having his protective master around. Also as he is now more dependant on you for food, shelter, etc you have become much more valuable to him. Therefore he feels a greater need to keep you safe, which in turn leads to his being aggressive towards approaching visitors as he mistakenly thinks his innate guard dog instincts are required.

As your husbands scent reduces Basil's feelings of insecurity are likely to increase. Therefore he needs his own form of reassurance, which he gets by urinating and leaving his own scent around the house. This behavior can be overcome to a certain extent by using a dog appeasing pheromone diffuser. These types of scent diffusers are available from either your vet or well stocked pet store. They work by releasing a canine scent that indicates to him that rooms are safe and secure. Look for D.A.P. products at PETsMART

To overcome Basil's lack of appetite, try offering him his most favorite food and treats to tempt him into eating more.

Punishment is not a good option as it is likely to just increase his insecurity, when in actual fact you should be trying to regain his confidence and decrease his anxiety. It is also important that you try to get Basil to form good relationships with other people from inside and outside of the household.

If Basil is still displaying the symptoms of grief in a months time then I would suggest that you take him to a dog behavior counsellor to have him fully assessed.

I hope this helps and good luck! If you don't understand anything that I have said please email me for clarification (emails can be ambiguous at times despite the best intentions!).

Click HERE to get your copy of SitStayFetch

Kind regards

Daniel Stevens and the SitStayFetch Team

Click here to learn the truth about Dog Food Secrets.

Testimonial From Tahara

"Hi Daniel, I am actually using your expert advice this week. A while ago I wrote in that my mother's dog, a four year old brown lab named Molly, was coming to stay with us for a week. My husband and I have a 1-year old beagle named Bernie. Bernie is very playful. And Molly is receptive at first but after a little while, she tires of Bernie and her constant source of energy. Molly is very much "Let's rest a while" and Bernie is "Play with me! Look at me! Why aren't you playing or looking at me!" When it gets to be too much, Molly tries to show her dominance in creative ways.

I feared that I would have to keep them apart the entire week Molly was visting. So I wrote to your site and was advised that by already treating Molly like the dominant dog (even though it was Bernie's house) Molly wouldn't have to take matters into her own paws. By greeting Molly first and feeding her first, both dogs would get the hint. And it's been working!

Bernie still loves to play but thanks to your techniques, my husband and I have been able to give Molly some relief and keep her from acting out too aggresively when she has had enough of our Bernie. Now Bernie and Molly can pal around without much trouble. Attached is our picture with Bernie. I can send one of Bernie and Molly if you'd like. Thanks and best wishes."

-- Tahara Lo (USA)

Click HERE for more information on SitStayFetch

Kind regards,

Daniel Stevens and the SitStayFetch Team

Click here to learn the truth about Dog Food Secrets.

SitStayFetch: Consultation With Geoff

Hello Daniel,

I am 76 years old. As a child I had 4 dogs at different times. All were killed by cars. As an adult our family has had 7 dogs over 50 years. 3 were purchased as puppies, the others from shelters.

We currently have a Yellow Lab mix from a shelter. He was 15 mos. when we brought him home last Dec. We took him knowing he had problems, having been returned to the Brooklyn, N.Y. pound several times. Lab rescue brought him to a rural Connecticut shelter where we got him.

His big problem has always been his mouth. He was really bad at first. Not biting, but mouthing constantly. We discovered early that he does not respond to loud voices when scolding and stopped his mouthing by holding his mouth closed while petting him. Only one problem persists. The world is his playground. All he wants do do is play, play, play. The problem we cannot seem to solve is that his playing consists of baring his teeth and growling, and biting at clothing. He is not vicious. He hasn't tried to bite flesh, but he has a great time biting clothing while evading the person he is playing with.

On lead he is super. He obviously had to be obedience trained in the city for his daily exercize. As long as he is on lead he obeys every command flawlessly. Off lead, however, only when it is convenient.

As an adult, I have never hit any of our dogs, nor do I intend to start. When I hold our Lab's mouth closed he cries like I'm beating him. The same applies to holding him by the scruff and scolding him eye to eye. He does not try to bite, but correcting him in either manner does not last.

I really need help.He knows we are alpha, but he just wants to playall the time. By the way, he is the first dog we have had that loves toys, and he has a large variety, plus other things he finds himself to play with outdoors.

Yours,

Geoff.
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SitStayFetch Reply:

Hi Geoff,

There are obviously a few behaviorial issues going on here that may be difficult to solve. Anyhow we will give it a go!

The fact that your dog responds well when he is on the leash and not at all when he is off the leash suggests to me that he is not focusing enough on you and your commands when you give them. It is a priority that you are able to reinforce your commands when you give them, otherwise he will run roughshod over your commands. Now this is easier said than done, however you can try the following technique in an attempt to overcome the problem.

I would continue with the on-leash training sessions for now. I would ask you to consider where these training sessions take place. If he performs well on-leash at your home then take him to a dog park or somewhere where there are more distractions, but keep him on-leash. If you can, slowly build up the amount of distractions that are around during your training sessions. When you are satisfied that he will respond (on-leash) to you under a variety of distracting situations then try him off-leash at your home or the place that he responds to on-leash training the best. This place should have minimal distractions, by that I mean there are no other people, dogs or other animals in the vicinity.

If you are only training him in the relative quiet of your own home then if you let him off leash or put him in a new environment then it is not surprising that he responds poorly.

Now the mouthing problem should not be as difficult to solve. Try some of the following techniques. I would also recommend that you review the mini ebook "Secrets to becoming the alpha dog", even though you have said that he is aware who the alpha dog is, just check that you are not letting some of his typical canine behavior slip below the radar.

Listed below are more techniques to try, these are really anti-nipping techniques but may go some way to helping with the mouthing that is going on. You will have to make up your own mind whether they are worth using in your particular instance as their effectiveness will depend on the dog.

Technique No.1
Take the focus away from your hands when you pet him. Do this by offering him a chew bone or similar when you go to pet him. Pet him behind the ears with one hand while offering the treat with the other. Pet him for short periods of time at the beginning as you do not want to overexcite him. This technique will help him form a positive association with petting.

Technique No. 2
Try wearing gloves coated with a foul tasting substance. You should be able to buy some specific dog "aversion" substances from your vet or pet store. The drawback with this method is that you must have the gloves on every time he tries to bite and he may form the negative association with the gloves rather than the hands.

Technique No.3
If you are sure that he won't bite you too hard then you can discourage the biting by loosely holding your dog's lower jaw between your thumb and forefinger after he has taken your hand in him mouth. Don't hurt him by squeezing too hard, just gently hang on so that wherever him mouth goes your hand goes to. Hopefully this will quickly become tiresome for him and he will try to pull away. After ten seconds of him trying to pull away, release him jaw and continue to offer your hand. If he licks it or ignores it then praise him immediately. If he tries to bite your hand again then repeat the exercise.

Technique No.4
It is important to teach your dog that biting turns off any social interaction and attention that you may be giving him. When he nips you, look him in the eye and yell "Ouch" or "Arghh", then ignore him. Leave him until he has calmed down.

General stuff
Make sure that you do not slap or hit your dog in the face for nipping as this action is almost guaranteed to backfire. He may think that you are playing and get more excited, he might respond in a defensive manner or he may just become afraid of you.

Also never play tug of war games with him if you are having nipping problems. This will just encourage out of control behavior.

A word of warning: Be careful with young children practicing this kind of behavior modification. A child's first reaction to being bitten is to push the dog away with their hands. Your dog is likely to interpret that action as being play, which in turn causes the dog to nip more.

Click HERE for more detail on SitStayFetch

Best of luck and kind regards,

Daniel Stevens and the SitStayFetch Team

Click here to learn the truth about Dog Food Secrets.
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Got a Dog Problem of Your Own?

While the SitStayFetch team would love to be able to answer all of the query's about dog problems that we receive, unfortunately, due to time constraints (it takes 30-40 minutes to answer a typical query properly), our consultation service is only available to those people who have purchased the SitStayFetch series of books.

If you have ordered SitStayFetch, just login to the Download Area, fill in the consultation form and we will get back to you within 1-4 working days with recommendations on how to solve it once and for all!

If you haven't ordered SitStayFetch click here to go straight to our order page!

Dog Training To STOP Your Dog's Behavior Problems!

Dear Dog Owner,

You're about to discover tons of tested and proven strategies for obedience training your dog. But before I get into the specific strategies, I'd like to explain an important concept that most professional dog trainers (even the "experts") don't "get":

Have you ever thought about why is it so important to train your dog to be obedient, and to know what is acceptable behavior and what is not?

Most people think the biggest benefit of having a dog who is well trained is that you don't have to worry about your dog ruining anything for you anymore (e.g. chewing up furniture, digging holes, aggression, biting, and so forth) -- and that's what a lot of "experts" will tell you too. But these people are completely missing the Big Picture.

You see, hazard control is a benefit, but it's hardly the biggest benefit of having a well trained dog.

The REAL biggest benefit of having a well trained dog is that you and your dog can BOTH experience personal growth in your relationship, beyond what you could ever have imagined...

Discover the proven, 'lab-tested' strategies a 34-year-old dog lover used to obedience train over 20 THOUSAND people's dogs, and experience the ENORMOUS benefits you and others will gain from obedience training your dog!

This is an important concept-- so let me break it down and explain it in detail.

Let's say your dog fights aggressively with other dogs whenever it sees them on the street, and you train your dog to curb his aggressive behavior. That means that you are no longer worried about taking your dog out for walks, which in turn means that your dog will get more walks and become healthier and happier, you will love your dog more because he doesn't frustrate you anymore, you'll have the dog you always dreamed of having, you won't be embarrassed by your dogs aggressive behavior anymore and YOUR DOG WILL EXPERIENCE PERSONAL GROWTH from learning to overcome this problem.

So suppose you have a dog that chews your furniture and/or digs holes in your lawn. If you obedience train your dog to know that this is not acceptable and what toys he can chew, and when he can dig (eg. perhaps at the park, or in a specific area), then you'll gain from not having these problems, your dog will gain from both the personal growth of the learning experience, and from you being happier with him (which means, he won't get scolded so often!)

But in order to get your dog to obey you, you must first understand the reasons behind why your dog behaves the way he does (meaning you must listen before you can expect him to listen to you). Then you must learn how to communicate to him what you want him to do and why. You must also establish yourself as the alpha dog or "pack leader".

So as you can imagine, if you understand your dog better, you can become the alpha dog quite quickly (sometimes it can take only a few minutes for your dog to get the picture!).

But if you're only using instinctive scolding techniques to get what you want from your dog, it will take you months, and it may not happen at all - to get your dog to obey you.

One of the biggest advantages I have over my competitors is that I have over 10,000 members who have successfully trained their dogs using my techniques. A certain proportion of these members take advantage of my offer of a personal email consultation (due to the average time it takes being 20-40 minutes to answer specific dog problems, this service is only available to members). Whenever we encounter a problem that we haven't discovered before (which is rare these days), I write in detail how to solve it and add it to my book, including step-by-step photos where appropriate.

My book solves so many problems, other dog trainers would take years to even think them all up. (all types of dog aggression, whining, barking, digging, chewing, shedding and much, much more!)

Click HERE for more information on SitStayFetch.

Kind regards,

Daniel Stevens and the SitStayFetch Team

Click here to learn the truth about Dog Food Secrets.