Rosie is the second dog we have trained with Judith and cannot recommend her enough, her training method is firm but kind. Her love of dogs is obvious.

Rules for Rewards and Tidbits made easy

1. Special, keep treats to use when training, not to be given freely.
2. Do not be mean, reward frequently for correct behaviour only, so have plenty.
3. Do not be afraid to use rewards/tidbits, these are your dog’s wages for working for you. You would not work for no reward.
4. Size. Small is best. The treat should be big enough for your dog to know it has had a treat, but small enough to be swallowed quickly.
5. Always have rewards/tidbits with you when you are out to reward good behaviour.
6. Keep tidbits in an easily accessible pocket or bum bag, not plastic bags or tight jeans.
7. Rewards/tidbits should not be dropped on the floor. If they are, do not allow your dog to eat them, pick it up or you will be rewarding your dog for the wrong thing.
8. Hungry dogs work best and learn the quickest, so train/walk them before feeding and do not feed before class.
9. Your reward is when you have got your dogs attention all the time and your dog does as you ask the first time. When other people see how well trained and responsive your dog is to you your reward will be even better.

Types of reward/tidbit

Biscuit type treats are too big and when broken often crumble ending up on the floor.

The dogs usual food often is not interesting enough, after all the dog can have that several times a day when there is nothing better to occupy its minds.

Sausages, cheese and other meats are good, or why not try giving your dog a homemade dog treat and watch how fast it learns.

Homemade recipes for rewards and tidbits

Liver Cake

Ingredients:

• 250g/9oz raw diced liver
• 2 medium eggs
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 125ml/¼pint of cold water
• 180g/6½ oz self-raising flour

For dogs with wheat gluten allergy replace flour with oats.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to gas mark 5 or 180° electric, 160° fan oven.
2. In a food processor or blender, puree the liver, eggs, garlic and water.
3. Add flour and blend. Mixture should be thick but still pourable. Add a little more water if needed.
4. Use sunflower oil to grease a 25cm/10inch cake tin and line with freshly made breadcrumbs for a non-stick cake.
5. Pour mixtures into tin and bake for about 25 minutes or until firm.
6. Cut into squares when cool.
7. Refrigerate and use within a couple of days. Can be frozen for up to one month.

Fish Cake

Ingredients:

• Tin of sardines or pilchards
• 1 egg
• Enough flour to make cake consistency
• 1 clove of chopped garlic, optional

Method:

Mix all ingredients, and cook same as liver cake.

Being consistent with command words and training is the key to a happy well-trained dog.

Do not use any ONE word for more than ONE meaning i.e. sit-down, lie-down, down when you mean off. Humans might know what it means but for dogs one word must have one meaning only!

We have a sample dog command word list in our downloads section which you may print out and use as a starting point. Put this list up on the wall where everyone can see it so everyone knows the dogs command words.

Please have a family meeting to discus the words you are going to use and fill in the spaces on your command word list. The words must suit everyone that comes into regular contact with your dog. Please do not change your words to mine if your dog responds well to the words you are currently using.

Dogs raised in a house hold where things are done calmly, the games are Bouncy Castles controlled, the dog as plenty of exercise and mental stimulation, the owners use a crate or indoor kennel for time-out sessions to contain their dog and control situations, preventing the dog from becoming over excited. These dogs are going to be calm and well mannered.

Prevention

Prevention is always better and easier than cure. It is better to behave in the same manner around a puppy as you would a full-grown adult dog. When greeting a puppy always go down to the puppies level in this way it as no need to jump up. Teach your puppy from day one that the correct way to greet you is to sit calmly and have a fuss. The same rules apply to rescue/re-homed dogs whether they are puppies or older dogs. Do not allow the dog to jump up for several days or weeks because he has not been taught any manners, it is your job to train the dog so start on day one by putting simple rules in place the moment the dog comes through the door. In this way you will not confuse the poor rescue, moor than he has been, when you suddenly decide that you have had enough. Use your dog lead or a house line for control, refer to your booklets or ask me.

The dog’s way of greeting each other

Packs of wild dogs have a hierarchy that every dog must follow to prevent the higher members of the pack attacking the lower pack members. When dogs return to the pack the lower members will lick the face of higher members in a submissive display saying I am no threat to you. When you return home your dog will want to lick your face in the same manner as a wild dog, his natural instincts are the same, and the only way he can do this is to jump up. If you respond in an aggressive way shouting and raging at the dog, you leave the dog with no option other than to repeatedly jump up to try and lick your face in an attempt to calm you down, the dog will continually try to tell you that there is no need to be aggressive, as I the dog am not looking for a fight with you the owner. Therefore if you always go down to the dogs level and greet your puppy/dog in a calm manner, there is no need for the dog to think it must jump up to greet you. You can train your dog not to lick your face by distracting his attention with a game instead of fussing the dog. It’s amazing how quickly a dog will learn to bring you a toy when you return home.

How to deal with the jumping up problem

The best plan of action is to totally ignore the dog when it jumps up, simply keep on walking through the house, do not speak, touch or even look at the dog.

When you get up in the morning and on every occasion that you return home totally ignore all the dogs attempts to gain your attention for at least 15 minutes or until the dog has been quietly lying down for 5 minutes. If it is necessary to let the dog out straight away, do it with out any form of contact, let it back in with out any contact. Make a cup of tea and drink it, before you make a fuss of the dog. When you do make a fuss do it calmly taking care not to encourage the behaviour that you are trying to cure.

If you find it difficult to ignore the dog or it is simply to boisterous walk either into a room allowing the dog to follow you, then walk out and shut the door, or go into the garden allowing the dog to follow and again go in and shut the door leaving the dog on its own. If shutting doors encourages the dog to scratch at doors then use a baby gate. The use of indoor kennels or crates as the dogs sleeping place also helps, as you do not let the dog out for the first 15 minutes and then you do it calmly.

Teaching your dog to sit on command is another good way of dealing with a dog that jumps up, if it is sitting it cannot possibly jump up.

The most contact that you should ever allow yourself is one firm get off as you continue walking, do not stop to praise the dog for getting off as that may well encourage it to jump up and lick your face to show its submission to you.

Do not push the dog off of you in an attempt to make it stop jumping up, as this will instigate a play fighting game encouraging the dog to be even more boisterous.

Do not say down if you use down as your command for the dog to lie on the floor. Dogs cannot understand the use of one word having two or three different meanings in the same way that we can.

Within 2 weeks the jumping up should stop. If it does not let me know and we will look at the problem in more detail.

Visitors

If your dog gets excited about visitors and jumps up them, remove the dog from the door and put it in a room that the visitors are not going to go in. Invite your visitors in allow 15 minutes for the excitement to die down, then ask your visitors to all sit down with some titbits for the dog. Bring your dog in on a lead to give maximum control and ask each visitor to command the dog to sit and give a titbit for doing so. When the dog is calm take off the lead and carry on as normal. If the dog becomes excited again simply remove it from the room using a lead if necessary and put it in its bed.

Jumping up at strangers

Never allow your dog to jump up at any one, even if they don’t mind, this can lead dogs to jump up people that do not like dogs or cause serious problems if a dog jumps up at a child whose parents are horrified and accuse you of owning a dangerous dog. You should be aware that the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 states that any dog, no matter how large or small, and of any breed type including cross breeds and mongrels, only has to frighten someone (not actually bite), for you to be prosecuted.

If your dog does try jumping up at strangers use your lead to control the dog and ask dog friendly members of the public to reward your dog for sitting. Again a well-trained sit on command gives you the control you need to deal with the problem.

Checklist

1. Puppies and adult dogs of both sexes can suffer from kidney / bladder / urinary-tract infections which will most certainly affect the puppy/dog’s ability to have Jumping castles for sale good control over when and were to pass urine. There may also be more serious problems affecting the dog’s ability to control his/her bladder. Puppies/dogs may also suffer from digestive problems again affecting their ability to control their bowels properly, infections, incorrect feeding and food allergies may well be the cause. If you are having difficulty toilet training your dog you should always have a vet check to be on the safe side.
2. Stomach upsets will cause temporary lose of toilet training. Do not make a fuss or stress the dog about it and things will return to normal with the dogs return to health.
3. Behavioural problems may cause inappropriate toileting. Separation anxiety is generally the main cause; a simple desensitisation program will correct this problem. Other symptoms of separation anxiety are distress every time you leave the room or house, the dog constantly following you every where never letting you out of sight, destructive behaviour, barking / whining when left alone.
4. Lack of correct training.
5. Confusion about where and when to go to the toilet.
6. Punishment for house soiling.
7. Bitches coming into season/heat and during their season/heat have an increased need to urinate. This type of urinating is generally due to the marking of her territory, notifying all male dogs in the area of her condition and would normally take place outside. It may be the cause of inappropriate toileting.
8. Putting the clocks forward in spring and back in autumn can be the cause of sudden lose of toilet training and will correct its self if you do not make a fuss or stress the dog about accidents. Allow 2 weeks.

Ways to improve house training

1. Before you bring your puppy/dog home decide were the dogs toileting area is going to be in the garden, and what word you are going to use to command the puppy/dog to perform. If you want your puppy/dog to only use one area in the garden it is a good idea to erect a temporary fence to stop the puppy/dog from going any-where else to do his/her business or always have the puppy/dog on a long lead. The command words could be some thing like toilet, be quick, hurry up or anything else you have no objection to saying in public should the need arise. All dogs should be trained to do their toileting on your property were you are able to clean up and disinfect the area properly. Going for walks is a time for fun and games not a toileting time. Please make sure that you always carry poop scoop bags with you when out walking your dog and make sure that you always clear up after your dog no matter were you are.
2. On arrival home take the puppy/dog straight to the toileting area in the garden, regardless of the weather conditions and wait with the puppy/dog until the dog has been to the toilet, giving lots of praise. This establishes the puppy/dog’s toileting place before any bad habits start.
3. Restrict the puppy/dog to one room in the house that has an easy to clean floor covering, until it is reliable house trained. The use of baby gates are a good way of restricting the puppy/dogs movements around the house but please make sure that the puppy cannot get its head stuck in the bars, you may need to put some wire mesh around the gate until the puppy grows. The use of indoor kennels/crates are ideal ways to house train young puppies, put newspaper at the back of the crate and the dogs bed at the front near the door, in this way the puppy will not have to walk through any thing unpleasant to get to you. Put the water bowl in a ring attached to the side of the crate or use a no spill water bowl.
4. Clean up any accidents the puppy/dog has with a solution of biological soap powder or use a disinfectant from the pet shop or vets for this purpose. Most house hold disinfectants contain ammonia which puts back the smell that you are trying to get rid of there by encouraging the puppy/dog to constantly go back to the same place to toilet.
5. You need to establish the puppy/dogs toileting routine. Take the puppy/dog outside every time he/she wakes up, after meals and at any time the puppy/dog looks agitated, sniffs at the floor a lot or starts circling. Always take the puppy/dog outside in a calm matter of fact way not a mad panic or dash, as that will unnerve the puppy/dog. When puppy is playing take him/her outside every 20/30 minutes to empty, allow 5 minutes for them to go to the toilet, if the puppy does not perform, take him/her back inside and restrict the puppy to his bed and try again 5/10 minutes later. For older dogs take them out every hour to start with and restrict them to their bed if they do not go to the toilet, allow them more freedom when they have been to the toilet. When you have established the puppy/dogs toileting needs slowly extend the time between visits to the toilet area to encourage the puppy/dog to control its bladder and bowels better.
6. When toilet training always stay outside with your dog puppy no matter what the weather conditions are, until the puppy/dog has performed and reward outside instantly. Do not take the dog inside for his/her reward.
7. Never punish a dog for making mistakes or having accidents you will only confuse and distress the puppy/dog the result will be a puppy/dog that only goes to the toilet when you are not looking, not there or one that goes and hides behind the furniture to go to the toilet. If your puppy/dog as an accident that is your fault for not watching him/her properly so learn to be more vigilant. Punishing puppy/dog’s for toilet accidents can make them so insecure that they will not go to the toilet when you are present outside ether in the garden or out on walks. You may end up with a dog that comes home and hides to go to the toilet even after a 3 hour walk!
8. Allow re-homed and rescue puppies/dogs time to get used to your routine. With the best will in the world your routine will differ from the pups/dogs original one and it may take several weeks for this new puppy/dog to settle in.

Understanding Socialisation

It was discovered in the 1960’s that the socialisation period for the domestic dog is 3 to 12 weeks of age, and that you should continue making it a top priority until the pup is 16 weeks old. Between 12 and 16 weeks the pups fear instincts start to kick in as a natural means of survival pasted on from their wild ancestors. So we have a very short time in which to ensure that our puppy is developing normal, well-balanced, behaviour.

Puppies that have had lots and lots of pleasant and varied experiences before they where 16 weeks old will cope with life and new situations very well. Puppies that have had limited exposure to the world will react in a surprised and fearful manner to new sights, sounds and smells. This can lead to all sorts of anxious and aggressive behavioural problems in adult dogs.

You should make an extra special effort to spend as much time as possible, to socialise your puppy as much as possible, before it is 16 weeks old. Continue to socialise and expose your dog to as many different environments and experiences until it is one year old! The learning process does not stop until your dog dies. Failure to educate a dog may cost the dog its life! Prevention is much better than cure!

The blue cross produce a very helpful wipe clean wall chart to help with socialisation. The chart is a weekly tick list to help guide you through socialising your puppy but it should be remembered that it does not cover every thing your puppy needs to experience, so please be inventive and add other things to your programme

What to do before your puppy can go down in public places?

(To ensure your puppy of any age is well adjusted to cope with life properly you will need to follow the check lists below).

Inside your home

Puppies need to experience the day to day running of your household. Give your new puppy a day or two to settle in quietly then start your socialisation program. Take a look at the list below and make sure your puppy experiences everything on the list several times every week;

• Vacuum cleaners (one of the most feared items in older dogs)
• Washing machine/tumble dryers
• Hair drier
• Ironing Board
• Pots and pans being rattled/dropped
• Sweeping brush, mop and bucket
• T.V., radio, play-stations
• Delivery persons, postman, milkman, paperboy, window cleaner

Visitors

It is very important to socialise your puppy with humans. Lots of dogs grow up and become afraid of children and men. Not all men women and children look, sound or even smell the same. Your puppy needs to meet adults of all ages, sizes, race and appearances. Children of varying age groups (preferable well behaved ones), under 5s, 5 to 10years and 10 to 15 years. It is recommended that your puppy meet 100 different people before it is 12 weeks old. So organise a few well-controlled parties for the kids and the mums and dads.

The outside world

Puppies need to be frequently and consistently exposed to the sights, sounds and smells of the outside world, your puppy can be carried out in your arms quite safely (do this after first vaccination, but remember not to put puppy on the floor!) to experience the world at large.

Try to ensure that your puppy experiences the following list several times per week;

• Traffic – start with quiet roads and build up to noisy places as your puppy’s confidence grows. Traffic should include cars, vans, motorbikes, HGV’s, buses, caravans, tractors, trailers and trains.
• Pushchairs, prams, wheelchairs, shopping trolleys.
• Busy shops and bus stations
• Schools as the children arrive and leave. It might be an idea to let the head of school know what you are doing or you may get a visit from the police for loitering with a puppy near schools or go with a fiend when they take their children to school.
• Unfamiliar houses and gardens that are secure and you are quite sure that stray dogs cannot enter.

Some veterinary practices hold puppy parties; they are great fun and very informative, so ring round and see if you can take your puppy along.

All this will contribute to your puppy meeting 100 people. If your puppy is one of the large breeds try using an old pram to take it out in.

Other animals

Your puppy can have fully vaccinated dogs and puppies visit your house and you can visit theirs provided strays cannot enter the garden. Try to vary the age sex and breed of your puppy’s playmates as much as possible.

Take your puppy to see cows, horses, sheep chickens, ducks and anything else you can find easy access to.

Cats. Be careful with cats. Do not allow your puppy to chase or terrorise cats or kittens. 1, the neighbour’s will not like your full-grown dog chasing their cat. 2, you will not want your dog to loose its eye in a fight with a cat.

Noise

There are large numbers of dog unable to cope with unusual or loud noise. The blue cross produce a very useful audiotape called ‘Sounds Familiar’ designed to desensitise puppies to fireworks, gunshot, traffic, thunderstorms and many other sounds. This can be played to puppies from 3 weeks old. I recommend that everyone plays it to their puppies from 3 days after they bring them home. Dogdayz also produce a range of CD’S called ‘crash bang wallop’ (you want the one with 50 unique sound effects of general noises)

Make socialising your puppy fun

Above all make sure that your puppy enjoys its socialisation time, as it will give your puppy the start in life that it will need in order to cope with the stresses and strains of our modern busy world. If you have a timid puppy take things slowly progressing as the puppy gains its confidence. Care must always be taken not to cause distress to your puppy, but do not let that be a reason not to try, you may regret it, when your puppy grows up unable to cope with life he most certainly will!

Never to late

By the time I get to meet you and your puppy he may have gone through the most important stage in its life. If you where unaware of the socialisation period in your dogs life do not delay any longer. It is better to start late rather than not at all. If your puppy shows fear towards anything ether in the home or outside in public places you must not force your puppy to approach it. Loosen your lead to its full length and go up to what ever is worrying your puppy. Talk to and pat, the wheelie bin, park bench or flapping carrier bag, not the puppy. Your puppy will soon join you to investigate this strange item and gain confidence. Then reward your puppy for being brave and carry on as normal.

If your puppy is over 16 weeks you still need to follow the lists above to have a well adjusted puppy.

Training

Training should begin the moment you arrive home with your puppy.

1. Before taking your puppy inside you should take him out in the garden to empty in order to establish house training from the start. Wait outside with your puppy whilst he investigates the garden and until he as emptied then reward with a treat and take him in. To continue with house training take puppy out at regular intervals, stay out with him, as puppy finishes his toileting, reward with a treat and use a command word such as toilet, be busy, hurry up or one of your own choice. Never smack or rub puppy’s nose in excrement for having accidents you will only make matters worse.
2. Teach your puppy to sit for every thing from the start. He sits for all his meals, fuss and play. Never encourage puppies to jump up, you want like it when he as grown into an adult dog.
3. Handling and restraint. Gently handle every part of your dog’s body and gently restrain him everyday.
4. Discourage all biting by giving puppy a toy to bite on. Never play fight with a puppy, you want like it when he as grown into an adult dog.
5. Start gentle lead and collar training after 3 days.
6. Do not allow your puppy to do any thing now that you do not want he to do when he as grown up!
7. Join a training class especially for young puppies as soon as your puppy is fully vaccinated.

I run training classes outside and we can not allow puppies total freedom to romp around with each other, try talking to other class members to see if you can visit each others houses to let your puppies play off lead together in secure gardens. Never leave puppies playing unattended.

I also run an indoor training class for young puppies.

Please see my Class Locations and Timetables page for details.

Prevention is better than the cure!

1. Teach puppies/dogs to sit for everything Inflatables Canada before you interact with them, i.e. before feeding, playing or walking.
2. When playing or fussing your puppy/dog go down to their level. Do not allow jumping up.
3. When playing with toys play low at the dogs level and stop and sit the puppy/dog every so often before starting again. End before the dog has had enough.
4. Do not play fight or allow the dog to mouth any part of your body or jump or climb all over you.
5. When visitors arrive do not let them over excite your puppy/dog, encourage visitors to first talk to you, and then interact with your animal by going down to their level. It is never all right for any one to allow a dog of any age to get over excited and jump up.
6. Teach dogs to leave food until told to eat and do not allow begging.
7. Teach dogs to allow you through doors first, discourage puppies/dogs from leaving or entering the house or any room before you.
8. Examine and groom your dog every day to make sure they accept you touching every part of their body. Do not encourage the dog to tug or bite the towel when drying them.
9. From a very early age encourage puppies/dogs to spend time in a room on their own when you are in. Use a dog gate to prevent them from following you all over the house. This helps when being left home alone, being admitted to the vets, or being left at a groomers or kennels. This will also help prevent separation anxiety.
10. Leads and collars can be used indoors to control puppies and dogs, they are not just for outside work. Dog crates and dog gates are very good for allowing time out for over excited dogs as well as providing quiet places to rest away from busy households.

The diversity of the classes, in that there are several each week on different days, venues and times, meant that I could give all of my dogs some work each work and their general behaviour soon showed a great improvement. I found Judith very flexible in her approach to the training believing that the methods and equipment used for each client should be geared to the individual and that there was no hard and fast rules. There are only 3 prohibitions as far as I recall and they are corporal punishment, choke chains and playing with sticks! (although she isn’t very keen on flexileads either)

Judith operates the KCGC training scheme to, although clients are free to opt out of this if they prefer. Personally I find this a great incentive to persist with the work and decided to systematically put my gang through all the grades. The last test, the Gold, if done properly, is actually quite stretching even for an experienced handler and the sense of achievement when a difficult dog eventually passes this one is really fantastic.

After 4 years my Spotty (yes, honestly!), Conner, Azalea, Calli and Polly have their Gold, and Cranberry, Silvie, Panda and Essie have Silver. Little Hula, who has the attention span of a gnat, just has Bronze so far and young Shadow the Whippet has not started yet. However some training is now needed as he is getting quite naughty!

Once they have their Gold I like to continue some sort of activity with the dogs so they keep up the good work and keep their brains active.

Judith also runs fun agility courses from time to time and these are great fun for the dogs and good exercise for the owners too and well worth a try.

There are also gundog classes a couple of times a week and these too are great fun for both dogs and their people. My Spot had no interest in retrieving 2 years ago but with gentle persistence and trying numerous different objects he eventually got the hang of it and now loves his weekly gundog class. He was also extremely nervous of other dogs but is now completely different and will play happily with his gundog friends – a sight I never thought I would see. To cap it all I entered him in a Scurry (a Two Dummy Retrieve) while at the East of England Championship dog show in July 2009 and he won with the fastest time from an entry of 25 – I was over the moon! He had been the most difficult dog and all the work had paid off.

All these classes are FUN. They make the dogs into well balanced members of their human family and keep them socialised with other dogs too thus avoiding angry scenes on outings in public places. They also give owners proper control and thus more confidence and enjoyment of their pets.

Joining this club was the best thing I ever did for my pack. I would recommend anyone to give it a go!

Katie and Faith receiving their awardsIn 2008 I was very poorly and had to be in a wheelchair, but Judith helped me to train Faith to walk at the side of my wheelchair, and we taught her some tricks like saying her prayers, giving me a high 5 and crawling on her tummy. We even managed to get Faith and I through our bronze and silver Kennel Club Good Dog Citizen Awards. She is working towards her Gold award now – just for the fun of it.

Judith is SIMPLY THE BEST! (Even if she is only the dog trainer .x)

Katie Taylor.