In my last blog abut Rio, I mentioned he doesn’t like his nails trimmed. In an update about that, things are improving. He jumps up willing on the grooming table and his protests have diminished. I wouldn’t say he loves having his nails trimmed, but it is rapidly become a task that is easily achieved.
Several evenings a week, I give my dogs Bully Sticks, a natural dog chew, after dinner. Rio likes to take his into the living room to eat it. I never thought much of it until one night I stopped to pet him. Rio grabbed his stick and rapidly moved away. He kept maneuvering out of my reach, apparently guarding his prize from me.
I can take his food bowl away without a problem, but the Bully Stick is evidently too good to share. This concerned me. What if he picks up a bone or something worse on the street? I wouldn’t be able to get it away from him.
My goal is to get Rio to let me take things away from him without a fuss. His body language when chewing on a Bully Stick says “leave me alone and I’m not kidding!”
I don’t want a confrontation.
I want him to be calm and happy to give me his prize. Each night I give him a Bully Stick, I let him go into the other room. I wait a bit, then go in and toss him treats.
The first times, I just tossed the rewards and left. Then I began tossing treats and petting him. In this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge5Ql9VSON8
I am placing the food reward a short distance away so he leaves his chew to get the treat. I pick up the chew, give him an additional reward. Then return the Bully Stick to him. In the video, you don’t see my dog Jesse, but he enters the living room as I’m taping.
You can see Rio gets more protective of his chew. He stands up and kind of leans over it to be sure Jesse can’t get it. Jesse doesn’t even want it, but Rio is sure a theft is in the making.
Over a month, I kept practicing the treat tosses and trades. Rio keeps getting better. Last night he left the chew as soon as I came in the room and sat, wagging his tail.
That was a huge improvement from where we began. I can now take the chew directly from his mouth without either of us being stressed or worried.
It is important to teach your dog he can trust you. And to take the time to help him understand what you want and show him how to succeed.
All my work with Rio is reward based, calm and without conflict. It’s easier on all of us and gets results.
