The Dog Blog

This past week I’ve gotten several calls from people who where concerned that their dog was digging up their back yard or was eating portions of their house and lawn furniture when they were left alone during the day. 

Well, the truth is that dogs get bored just like people do.  If you toss your pup out in the back yard when it’s time to go to work and then leave it out there for eight or ten hours a day things are going to happen.  Bad things are going to happen.  I mean, what would you do if someone locked you out there for that length of time??  You’d find something to entertain yourself and that is exactly what these guys are doing.  You pup is going to fine something they can drag around and play with (cushions from the lawn chairs) or something they can chew on (the siding of the house) or, horrors of horrors, something they can chase and stalk (bugs in the grass and yard) which leads to digging.  Now, each of those isn’t so bad if it only goes on for a few minutes, but if you live in a nice quiet suburban area where things are quiet, there’s  nothing to break their attention from the task at hand so the behavior gets worse.

What I’ve been telling people to do is to find some great toys and buy several to put out in the yard when you leave for work.  These toys need to be interactive in some way and not just a stuffed animal or ball.  My favorites are Kongs and these neat new things called Twist and Treats.  These things keep the pups occupied and when they finish with one of them they will generally lay down for a nice nap.  It’s a great way to keep them from finding destructive ways to entertain themselves and to keep your lawn furniture from being eaten.

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
Fidelio Dog Works
512.231.8095

O.K. Just had to write this tonight. Many of my clients find me through strange and unusual means, but more and more they’ve heard about me from a wonderful little boutique store here in Austin called Fetch. This little jewel of a store is in Westlake at 3636 Westlake drive. Cynthia, the owner of Fetch and a superlative dog person, has done a first class job in stocking the store with things that the other dog stores in town haven’t even heard of yet. She has wonderful exotic toys, very neat fashion accessories (rhinestone collars anyone…) and some of the most fantastic leashes I’ve ever seen. Like I said, it’s the best dog store in Austin bar none. Fetch is well worth the trip, and by all means take your pup with you! Cynthia has an open door policy for all pets so they can pick out their own toys (she has them all arranged on the floor at dog level). Enjoy! Steve Haynes Austin Dog Trainer Fidelio Dog Works 512.231.8095

Well, not all dogs live the life of the back yard, some not only have to be house trained but they also need to be trained how and where their potty is on their private jets.

This one isn’t new to me, I’ve dealt with clients that took their dogs on long trips in their planes before but the approach we took this time was a bit different.

Since my client was going to be flying for over 6 hours at a time and they had a young puppy we needed a solution to keep the dog from messing up the carpets on their Gulfstream. After running through the ideas about Wee pads (they smell and often leak) and the unpalatable idea of keeping the pup in it’s crate for that long a period, we started thinking about having some real live turf in the plane. Well, as luck would have it, there is a market for this idea and it’s already been done. There is a wonderful lady I found in Los Angeles (where else would she be) that designs boxes which hold squares of real live growing sod for use as puppy bathrooms. What genius. It seems that the movie and music A list have been successfully using these things for quite some time backstage, in their set trailers, and on their planes.

These sod boxes, accurately and appropriately called PoochPotties are a great idea for a couple of really neat reasons:

First, we generally want to teach puppies that pottying on grass is the only acceptable surface for releiving itself, and the PoochPotty does that by using real grass.

Second, once the grass in the PoochPotty is messed up enough (you know what I mean) you just yank it out, toss the piece(s) of sod, and drop in new ones. Your pup is always getting the reinforcement of potty training on reall grass. The cool thing about this is that PoochPotty will supply you with new sod if you live in L.A., New York, or Chicago, or have fresh grass waiting for you at whichever airport you set your plane down. Alas, here in Austin we’ll just be running down to the garden supply store to pick up some new pieces when we need them. Easy enough!

For my clients that are really having difficulty house training their pups I’m going to start recommending a PoochPotty for the more pedestrian use in the home. The idea that we can now associate grass with going to the bathroom while the pup is still in the family room is just too compelling for this dog trainer to pass up. Steve Haynes Austin Dog Trainer Fidelio Dog Works 512.231.8095

I get asked this question a lot - can I train a dog that has been purchased from the pound? As you might expect there is no simple answer to this however, I have a few rule of thumbs I can pass along to you before you make the purchase. First, plan to spend a LOT of time with the pup you are interested in. Shelters are VERY STRESSFUL for dogs and with all that noise and activity going on you don’t always get a true representation of the pups personality if you just meet and greet them in their run at the shelter. Be sure to take them out for a walk on the grounds to see how they act away from all the chaos. Plan to go out on a picnic with them there so you can see how they act over the hour or so it takes to munch your sandwich. See how they act around the food you bring. How do they interact with your children or spouse? All these things are important to find out before you bring the pup home to your house. Second, make sure that the shelter will allow you to take the pup for a few days if you are really getting serious about it. This is a tough call for shelters but some are willing to do it. It’s a lot of work to "check" the dog out and then check it back in if things don’t really work out but you can’t get any better idea of how the pup is going to do with Fluffy your cat than to bring it home. Third, whether it’s a trial basis or for good, introduce the pup to your home while it’s on leash. Most people don’t uderstand that you can use a leash in the house to prevent craziness just like you use it outside. It’s a good idea to keep the new pup under control for the first couple of hours in the new home and the leash is just the tool for the job. Fourth, Find a dog trainer IMMEDIATELY. A well trained dog is a safe dog, and you want to teach your new best friend manners just like you would a child. It needs to know how to greet people, how to walk on a leash properly, and how to get along with other dogs. All these things take training and attention and it’s just easier to learn how to do that from a professional trainer. Fifth, dogs take a lot of work, but they also bring tremendous joy. Take the time to understand your new pup and to socialize it correctly. You’ll be glad you did and your dog will be happier to be a member in good standing of society. Steve Haynes Austin Dog Trainer Fidelio Dog Works 512.231.8095