Picking the best food for your dog

Try on this perspective on today’s dog food industry. Imagine if you woke up 50 years from now and your child was feeding your grandchild something called 'kid food,’ essentially cereal. Like today, there are many brands of cereal with different flavors and recipes and claims to nutrition and quality. So your child asks you what is the best 'kid food' to feed your grandchild, because the Kashi of kid food is the healthiest, but his child prefers the Frosted Flakes of kid food, which claims to have daily vitamins, but is full of sugar. You would think, “what the heck! Don't feed your kids that and only that. That isn't all kids are supposed to be eating!” This is the current state of dog food. Dog’s are not designed to eat a diet of only cooked food and all kibble is cooked. It also is augmented with filler ingredients other than animal protein that are not healthy for dogs to have a daily basis. While some people argue that they can digest it, therefore it’s an appropriate diet, to that I reply that just because I CAN digest McDonald’s, doesn’t mean I should, and certainly not on a daily basis.

Zoe switched to raw right after Haley joined the team and she never looked back

The modern concept of dog food began after World War II, before which dogs ate a combination of table scraps and scraps from the butcher. During this period, many pet dogs were put out during the day and allowed to wander, therefore, kill small prey or scavenge to supplement their diet. During WWII, tin was rationed, which put a stop to dog food canning. In an effort to keep factories productive after the war, dog food made from meat byproduct and cheap fillers that could be dried and bagged was the perfect answer to meet this commercial and industrial need. This type of feeding was easier and more palatable for pet owners, who traditionally don’t enjoy handling the raw meat and organs that dogs need. The smell of kibble has actually been scientifically balanced to find the perfect balance between a rancid enough to entice dogs and a palatable enough for humans to stomach and to keep in their homes.

The design of dog food has evolved to meet the desires of dog owners, which is now gravitating towards people’s limited knowledge of the benefit of raw food. Unfortunately, this lures owners with limited education into a false sense of doing what is best for their dogs. Unlike what the salesman at even the best pet store will tell you, raw food and kibble utilize very different digestive processes and should never be mixed. Not in the same day, not in the same diet, not ever. A proper diet must be only raw or only kibble, with canned food only being fed when prescribed by the vet for short term treatment of digestive issues or not at all.

How to tell if your food is good
Just like humans, a dog should be regularly having healthy, solid bowl movements. A dog’s stool is the best indicator of the quality of their food and how well it is agreeing with them. You don’t want your dog’s poo to be too large for the size of your dog, fluffy or soft (like frozen yogurt), uniformly shaped (like a sausage), stinky, acidic, frequent or too light or dark in color. The more fillers a dog food has, the more metabolically expensive it can be for your dog - the energy that it takes to digest and process their low quality food can negate it’s limited nutritional benefits. When nutrition is limited, a dog’s body will stop nourishing the less essential organs, such as eyes, ears, skin, and coat. When your dog has abundant nutrition, you will notice that their coat becomes incredibly soft and shiny, their ears cleaner.

Rules of thumb for buying kibble
Start at a pet store. If you can buy dog food at the grocery store, price will be cheap and the quality will be poor. Pet food should only be purchased at a pet store, ideally one that will take back a partially full bag as you try to find a food that is the right fit for your dog. Don’t be seduced into buying treats or raw toppers, those don’t align with my understanding of the canine digestive process. I don’t feed my dog any food outside of a full meal. Dogs are not designed to snack and one bite of food produces a meals worth of acid. Instead, dogs are designed to fast, eating only when they are able to kill or scavenge instead of on a regular feeding schedule. At all costs avoid any food with food coloring. Science Diet is the lowest possible quality and not only should you not purchase it, but you should avoid doing business with any vet who sells it as they value brand funding over your animal’s health. It is important to know that vets, just like pet store employees, do not receive a comprehensive education in nutrition. They will often caution against feeding raw because of the potential liability. To that I would counter that dog foods have had many recalls over the years, but how many recalls have there been for human grade chicken or other meats? While humans are protected from parasites and bacteria in meat by cooking our food, our dogs have stomach acid that is 10 times stronger than ours. The same way they can eat carrion that is beginning to decay and not get sick, they can eat raw meat in a way that isn’t safe for a human to do.

When feeding dry food, it is important not to free feed, leaving a bowl down all day and giving your dog a choice about when and how much to eat. Our dog’s stomachs are not designed to snack, but rather eat and fast. Because kibble isn’t an ideal food source, it make’s your dog’s stomach too acidic, requiring them to eat twice a day to keep their stomach bile at bay. We have all had a dog puke up foul smelling yellow foam if a meal is late. When you free feed, you create a stomach environment that is consistently far too acidic. There is nothing wrong with a dog skipping a meal and waiting until the next one! It’s natural for dogs to self fast and can be very healthy, the same way I skip meals or eat light some days. Free feeding has even been linked to a shorter life span. This is why I recommend leaving food down for 15 minutes then picking it up until the next meal, regardless of how much my dog eats. If your dog is chronically disinterested in their food, they don’t like it or it doesn’t make them feel good and you need to find a different one. Imagine if you had to eat a brand of cereal you hated for every meal and couldn’t communicate with your owner how much you didn’t like it? Best to err on the side of caution and transition to something different.

Kibble Recommendations

Open Farm (This is my number one choice and the brand I ask everyone to switch to if their food isn’t working)
•Instinct
•Merrick
•Merrick wild freeze dried raw infused
•Canidae
•Wellness
•Wellness Core
•Fromm
•Natural Balance
•Zignature

Dehydrated

Small Batch

Fresh Food

Just Food for Pets

Switching foods
When you try a new dry food, it is important to switch foods slowly. Some dogs with iron stomachs can tolerate a quick switch, but it is safest to switch slowly. Feeding each for two days: 1/8th, 1/4th, 1/2th, 3/4th of the new food until your dog is fully switched over. Your dog’s poo may be less that ideal during the transition if they are very sensitive, but ideally should balance out within a week to solid, contoured, and healthy looking.

When selecting a brand, do research online, but know that there is an evolution in quality within brands over time. Orijin and Merrick were two of my favorite foods until their popularity led to one of them being purchased by Purina, who promptly raised prices and lowered quality to the point where I stopped recommending them. How could I tell? The poo of the dog’s who were on those foods degraded to a level where I could tell their stomach were unhappy and the food was being padded with fillers. Fillers are nutritionally costly to a dog and can use more metabolic energy to push through the digestive process than is offset by the limited nutrition contained in the food.

Feeding Raw
Frozen pre-packaged raw food has become a popular option for owners who understand the benefits of going raw. These foods are expensive, easy and not quite completely sound from a raw perspective. These prepackaged bags can be a part of raw food, but are not a complete diet as they lack the bone that is an important source of fiber, jaw exercise and teeth cleaning that dog’s need. Raw bone, unlike cooked, is incredibly healthy for dogs and an essential part of the raw diet. Cooked bones, as most of us know, are dangerous for dogs as they are apt to splinter when being chewed and can even puncture their intestines. Raw bones, on the other hand, are healthy, safe and they provide natural exercise for a dog’s jaw and even help to keep teeth clean!

When transitioning, I fast my dog for a full 24 hours and make the switch completely, not feeling kibble again unless I am fully switching back. Begin by feeding one meat source only. I like to start with a chicken drumstick, thigh or back as chicken is easily digested and the bones are soft and easy to chew. After a day of fasting, most dogs are happy to be presented with raw meat for the first time in their life. They will start by licking it to begin breaking down the muscle, then chewing it, intuitively knowing how to consume whole meat. Some owners are concerned about giving their dog such a primal food source, but watching a dog eat their first piece of chicken is amazing and exciting. In a life that is mostly civilized, it is a rare opportunity to see your dog’s animal nature in action.

Porter never had a normal poo in his life till he got on raw food. Now he is healthy and can run all day to his hearts content!

How much to feed
Picking the amount of food per day is trial and error. Shoot to feed 2-3% of your dog’s ideal body weight. My 12lb Dachshund eats a drumstick or one puck consisting of a bone, red muscle meat, organ combination that I get from the farmers market with enzymes and probiotic sprinkled on top. A 50lb dog who is getting substantial exercise will eat two chicken quarters a day, fed at once or split into two meals a day. I alternate between the bone in meat and pucks, feeding more when my dog looks skinny and less when she starts to lose her hourglass dip near her hips.

For raw, each meal should ideally be 65% muscle meat, 20% bone, 10% heart, 5% liver. Their general diet also contains 65% boned meat, such as chicken legs, backs and lamb necks for example. Suggested meat progressions when starting out on raw are chicken backs, chicken drumsticks or quarters, turkey necks, pork, fish canned in water such as salmon or mackerel or raw fish, lamb and beef. After a month, add in some organ meat like organic hearts, livers and kidneys. It’s important to get livers organic as they process what the conventionally raised animals are fed, which are not chemicals we want in our pets. It is also a good idea to introduce egg including the shell, garlic, apple cider vinegar, yogurt and leftovers from the fridge that you would eat yourself, not scraps of overly fatty meat, as well as some cooked or raw vegetables.

Raw poo
After an initial adjustment in their digestive process, your dog’s poo should be smaller, denser and break down into a white powder, unlike the poo of conventionally fed dogs, which do not break down over time, another red flag on their quality that even the flies don’t want to eat it. If your dog’s poo is too loose, add more bone. If it’s too dry or your dog is straining to get it out, add more muscle meat. Too much bone can cause constipation and the surplus of calcium can block the absorption of other nutrients. When my dog was on kibble I needed to pay to have her anal glands expressed and they now express naturally in the process of moving her firm, raw bowels.

Types of bones
Raw meaty bones (RMBs) that are large, inedible and have a small amount of meat, marrow and cartilage on them are a great form of recreation for your dog. I always have a bag in my freezer that I rinse under water and throw outside for my dog to enjoy. These bones are best purchased from a butcher, ethnic market or raw feeding cooperative as they will be much cheaper from those sources than from the pet store. These bones can be marrow, soup or knuckle. RMBs are gnawed on, not consumed and have little meat. Bones that can be fed and consumed include chicken necks, backs, and leg quarters; turkey necks; lamb breast and necks; pork breast (riblets) and necks; and canned fish with bones, such as jack mackerel, pink salmon, and sardines (packed in water rather than oil).

The bones that can be consumed should make up 30 to 50 percent (one third to one half) of the total diet, or possibly a little more if the parts you feed have a great deal more meat than bone (e.g., whole chickens or rabbits). The natural diet of the wolf in the wild contains 15 percent bone or less, based on the amount of edible bone in the large prey they feed upon. While a reasonable amount more won’t harm an adult dog, it’s not needed and reduces the amount of other valuable foods that can be fed.

Transitioning
This philosophy of feeding is referred to as the Whole Prey Model and is designed to mimic the experience of eating a whole animal that was caught and killed. While it may seem intimidating at first, feeding raw is quite easy and intuitive for both owner and dog. While your dog may have an initial ‘healing crisis’ that involves a dip of health now that they have a stable and nutritious diet and can address some chronic by minor health issues. After three months, your dog will show signs of abundant nutrition in their coat, eyes and ears. When strangers remark on how soft their coat is you will know you are there!

Big dogs eat raw too! It’s worth every penny to see your dog vitally healthy.

There are very few dogs who do not do well on a raw diet, or even more rare, don’t like it. It is important to approach it exactly the way I describe and not be seduced into going back to kibble as your dog adjusts their palate. For the first three days, offer a drumstick or bowl of meat mix twice a day, trying to find their preferred protein and favorite time to dine. If they don’t eat, simply pick it up and wait till the next meal. No dog will let themselves starve and the more stubborn pups need a bit more incentivizing to try something new. If after 3 days of fasting your dog still refuses to eat, try a different food source or go back to the best quality kibble you can find.

After a few months you should have a good sense of how much your dog eats, what types of proteins agree with them and what cuts of meat they prefer. This will help guide you in what and how much to purchase, but does take time to figure out. Utilizing the freezer helps ensure that nothing goes bad, although dogs can safely eat meat that is slightly beyond consumable for a human.

Feeding raw in Austin
I like to start out with a package of drumsticks or chicken quarters from the grocery store. I put 3-4 in a baggie, leaving one bag out in the fridge and freezing the rest. If you would like to buy in bulk, place an order with East Side Poultry. I let the box of meat defrost then separate and freeze it in baggies. Then I don’t have to worry about it for another month or two. For dogs, defrosting and refreezing meat is no problem as they will not turn their nose up at the texture.

For the pucks, I order from Jake and Blue, which now has home delivery as well as a stall at a farmers market. Be sure to get ground bone as the pucks can create loose poo and need that extra fiber to be added. We also order marrow bones from them to feed as a treat. I love the quality and these pucks seem to keep my dog more full than the grocery store brands, although some clients are happy on brands like Northeast Naturals available at Bark and Purr or Hollywood Feed.

There is another delivery service called Texas Tripe that drives through Austin once a month so owners can collect bulk amounts of meat. I used to buy their tripe and meat mix tubes, bulk boxes of chicken parts and bones.

There is a local raw feeding collective, ARF, but they require a monthly volunteer shift in order to have access to their collectively purchased meat sources so be ready to jump in with both feet!

Lucy loving raw life

I’m excited for you to start your dog food journey! Remember to move slowly when changing and supplementing your dog’s diet and follow my recommendations as closely as possible. This isn’t an area where there is much room for creativity. Imformation available from vets, pet stores and online articles will be confusing and contradictory, but after a decade of feeding my dog raw and helping owners transition to the raw diet, this post is a comprehensive guide for what I know to be true and effective. Just ask Harley! She is going strong after a decade and gets compliments on her soft coat and vitality all the time.

Like a dog with a marrow bone

How to make your dog’s crate a great place

That is a fabulous idea! When determining if a dog was eligible to board with us, we always ask if the dog is crate trained. Trainers do it. Vets do it. Groomers do it. Airplanes do it. Boarding facilities do it. At some point, your dog’s life will include being crated, so you should do it, too.

I am a trainer who loves crates! I love them because I know that my dog and my home are both safe when I’m out. Dogs love being in crates  when the crate is comfortable, covered with a sheet, and feels like a den. As long as your dog is getting enough exercise every day, they don’t need to be free in the house while you’re out. Being free in the house can sometimes be stressful for a dog. Especially when our dogs are home alone. Having free run of the house can feel like we are asking them to protect the house. This can be taxing and exacerbate stress barking or separation anxiety. It can also lead to scratched doors, chewed furniture and potty accidents.

No dog is too old: but it's a good idea to introduce your dog to the crate as a puppy. 

It’s better to create a positive experience than to try to fix a bad one, so take your time. 

Picking the right crate

As you can see in the photos, my favorite crate is wire because it allows for maximum airflow. Unless you are conditioning your dog to fly in an airplane there is no need to get a solid plastic sided crate. The soft crates are relatively useless because they are so easy to get out of and should be avoided. Expensive heavy duty crates are only necessary for true escape artists - which your dog isn’t likely to become if you introduce them to the crate in the way I describe.

You can easily find a used wire crate on Craigslist, Nextdoor or Facebook Marketplace for under $50 and disinfect it with a diluted bleach solution that you then rinse off and let dry in the sun. If you have a growing puppy this can be the best option. You might buy a larger crate for the size you expect them to be and block off unneeded space as they grow, but if you err on the side of too large you may end up trading it out anyway.

To find the right size measure your dog from nose to tail and top of head to the floor. That should be the bottom dimensions so your dog can lay flat on their side with their legs extended. You also want to make sure the height allows for them to stand without ducking. You don’t need to feel guilty leaving a dog in a well sized crate because they can’t be more comfortable than that outside of it. If your crate is so small that your dog has to curl their legs to lay down and they don’t have room to stretch that is similar to trying to sleep in the backseat of a small car with no room to stretch your legs and it would be understandable if they didn’t like spending time in there.

Generous pet owners may try to get a larger crate, but your dog doesn’t really need room to take any steps and for potty training puppies more space could allow them to designate one side as the bathroom and the other as the bedroom, which we don’t want.

Start by making your crate a nice cozy space in the common area. You could even pick up your other dog beds so the crate is the comfiest place in the room. Think of it like their bedroom or a little dog cave. 

• You can get a cute vintage sheet from a second hand store large enough to drape over your crate so it reaches the floor. A nice color or pattern keeps the crate from being an eyesore and a covered space feels more contained to your pup, like a bedroom or cave. You want to be sure you invest minimally at this point because your crate cover could get torn up in a frustrated moment during the learning process. Do NOT use a blanket or towel or custom crate cover because these do not allow for as much airflow and trap the body heat dogs let off. You want your dog’s space to be the same temperature as the climate controlled room they are in.

• For the bedding, start simple with a bed or towel. There is a chance that it may get chewed in the learning stages, so don’t start out by putting your finest dog bedding in there. 

  • Lots of owners wash blankets before it goes in the crate. I can assure you that your dog does not appreciate the fresh scent of Tide. The best bedding is something you have slept with, sat on or otherwise gotten your scent on. Shoving new blankets in the dirty clothes bin (after an initial wash for chemical residue) is heavenly for a dog. Don’t judge ‘em! Show your love by giving the pup the stinky bedding they want.

After you have made the crate as cozy as possible, start making it happy by building positive associations.

• First get some really high quality treats. From now on, at least for a while, this will be a crate only delicacy - gotta be in the crate if you want to enjoy it! 

  • For this I like freeze dried treats, bully sticks, pigs ears, frozen marrow bones or whatever else makes your dog happy.

• Lead your dog to the crate, toss the treat in the back, then help guide your dog in with encouraging words, and happy energy. You can stick your arm inside to pat the bedding and wave the treat. Once they pop in, give pets, scratches and verbal praise,

  • If this doesn’t work, you can add a few little leading tugs on the collar or ‘pulsing’ pushes on your dog’s booty. 

• Then, once they are able to stand in there for a few seconds without you holding or blocking them, slowly let them out. You don’t want a starting gate break, just a casual saunter. 

  • If you are feeding a long chewing treat like a bully stick or marrow bone, toss it back into the crate if they try to bring it out to enjoy. 

  • You can sit by the open crate or close it and stay within the view of the opening that isn’t covered by the sheet.

  • If the treat isn’t enough to keep your dog occupied, take time sitting with them by the open crate and petting them while they are inside. *Whatever motivates your dog, reserve it and try to associate it with the crate. 

Once your pup is comfortable with the space, start feeding all meals in the crate. For most dogs, you haven’t shut the door yet as we are just acclimating. 

• Food should be placed against the back wall. 

  • If your dog chooses to miss a meal avoiding the crate, that is okay! Sometimes people skip meals too and they’re alright. Your dog will likely eat the next one. Good things come to those who get in their crate.

When your dog has a meal or two in the crate, go ahead and try shutting the door while they eat, first staying in the room. 

• Shut the door. Open the door. 

  • The door is shut momentarily at first so your dog knows they won’t be in there forever. You can do this many times a day, leaving the door shut for seconds, then minutes, growing longer each time.

• Shut the door for the whole meal and let your dog out after they are done but before they whine or fuss. 

  • If your dog does start to whine, it’s very important that you don’t let them out till they have settled for at least 5-10 seconds. Otherwise you teach them the way out is to whine and you will very much regret creating that association! An important factor in crate training success is how tired your dog is. Trying to get an energetic dog to settle and be happy in a crate is an uphill journey.

• Try to work your crate training schedule to follow some good vigorous exercise, some water drinking, then potty time. Your dog should be happy to kennel up at that point!

  • If you have a lot of energy, you don't want to be forced to sit still! If you are exhausted, however, you are happy to bring on a comfy place to rest where you don’t have to worry about being bothered. The first time you leave your house, it’s only going to be for a second. Literally a second. 

• Crate your dog, walk around the house for a few minutes doing chores or something other than your ‘getting ready to leave’ routine. Then without saying anything to your dog, walk out your door, shut it, take one breath, then walk back in, again not saying anything to your dog. 

  • If your dog is alert, but not whining, you can let them out, being sure to ignore any excited behavior. 

  • If they are whining, wait for them to settle. 

  • If they are pretty content, maybe try leaving them in and going outside for another round. 

• You want to briefly crate your dog then go in and out of your door as many times as possible this week, making it longer and longer till you can sit outside for 15 minutes playing on your phone or doing those push ups you have been putting off. 

• After that, try to go run a quick errand.

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Coming out of the crate is a great opportunity to practice the ‘wait’ command. In our training sessions we talk about impulse inhibition, your dog’s ability to regulate himself and his emotions. 

• Wait until your dog has calmed themself before you even approach the crate. 

  • If your dog’s excitement level rises as you approach, stop, turn away, take a few steps back, or even leave the room so your dog can calm down.

  • You want to teach your dog that only a calm pup gets let out.”Calming down is the toll you have to pay at the crate door.”

• Lean down to unlatch the door and say “waaaait” in a calm, low voice. 

  • If your dog is overly excited they won't do very well here, so their excitement level has to be at a moderately contained stage before we begin.

• Start to open the door,  and say, “wait” again, and slowly increase the size of the gap, staring at the base of the crate and watching your dog from your peripheral vision. 

  • If your dog makes a move for the opening,quickly close it. Even if your dog has squeezed part way through, grab them and put them back in. 

  • It is really important that they don’t dart out of crates, or out of any doors. To be honest, there should not be a lot of darting going on, period. 

  • Frantically rushing out the opening can make your dog feel more anxious about being in and let out of your crate. 

• Once the door is fully open, slowly stand up, still watching your dog out of the corner of your eye. Be ready to shut that door if your dog makes a run for it. 

• After you get all the way up, I’ll take a breath and wiggle your shoulders to be sure your tension isn’t what is holding your dog in place. 

• Then, with calm energy say “okay” or “let’s go” and slowly start to walk away, ready to correct any jumping, whining or over excitement.

 Many a crate training has been disrupted by whining. When people hear a dog whine, they associate it with crying and assume their dog is distressed. Most of the time it’s more of a temper tantrum. Your dog is frustrated because, likely, they almost always get what they want and right now they want to be with you instead of in their crate. When we let our dog out in response to whining we teach them that they can have their way and that whining is the way to get there. You will surely earn yourself more whining by responding favorably to it. Even though, whining is unpleasant, your dog needs to understand, just like a toddler, that ‘go to bed’ means ‘go to bed’ and it isn't a negotiation. 

• First ignore the whine, go about your business. This is called waiting for the behavior to go extinct by not rewarding it. Sometimes it works, so always try it first, but often this alone won’t do the job.

  • Be prepared for the ‘extinction burst.’ This is another term that means it will get worse before it gets better. Basically, your dog is going to pull out all of the stops, and if not even that works, then, and only then will they extinguish the behavior.  

If ignoring the whining doesn’t make it stop,don’t suffer in silence. Try to find a way to express to your dog that nothing bad is happening and they need to accept that the crate, like a dentist appointment, is just part of life. 

• Start with a verbal correction that you will deliver without going into the room or, ideally, even stopping what you are doing. Call out a firm, but gentle “eh’eh” or say “dog no” or “quit” and then wait a beat to see what happens.

  • If your dog stops, great! If not, increase the pressure. Call again with more intensity from another room. 

  • If your dog is really fussing, go right into the room where the crate is and repeat your verbal correction. 

  • It’s important to remember that your dog wants you to come into the room to let them out, so you need to be sure that your dog knows the moment you cross the threshold that the desired result has not been achieved. In fact, this isn’t a version of you he recognizes at all. You have booty kicking energy and should not be messed with. Say “QUIT” in a loud, sharp voice then stomp out of the room, closing the door. 

  • If this doesn’t work, it’s trainer time! Give us a call to get a hand dealing with the tough to train pup who seems resistant to my ‘best of crate training’ suggestions. Sometimes there are relational cues that we give our dog in other areas that can undermine our training results.

Every dog poops - What makes a good one?

A lot of clients have poo related questions, so I decided to go ahead and write a blog post so I could share what I know. This post contains a series of pictures and explanations to help you identify a healthy dog poop. Checking the quality of your dog’s poo is the best way to make sure your dog's food is agreeing with them. Dogs are mammals, so a healthy dog poo shouldn't look all that different from a healthy human poo. 

The main factors I evaluate are size, density, color, smell and frequency. For each of these factors, I'm looking for moderation - the poo shouldn't be too big or small, too firm or soft, too light or dark, too stinky or acidic smelling or too frequent. 

While dry dog food is the most convenient and common way to feed a dog, it is a fairly recent invention for dog diets, popularized after World War II as an easy and affordable way of feeding our dogs. While dogs have adapted to the diet, not all of them do well on kibble and, given their evolutionary history, that is no surprise. Before dry food became popular, dogs were fed a combination of scraps from the table and the butcher. 

Today, those who don't feed dry food either cook for their dog or feed a raw diet (ideally the whole prey model). 

Some of the dogs in my pack today are fed a raw diet, including my own. If anyone is interested in learning more, please contact me! I am a huge proponent of this diet and have seen dogs with troubled digestive systems have the first healthy poo of their lives after eating raw. 

That being said, and as you will see in the photos, there are also dogs that do well on dry food. Your dog’s poo is the best testimony to your food! If you are so inclined, keep reading to take a look at the photos of today's dog poo and my evaluations of each. For purposes of privacy, the dogs will be kept anonymous. I am not a veterinarian, but I am around a lot of dog poo! Taking out 5- 8 dogs a day, I am guaranteed to see (and pick up) more that most owners see every day. Over the course of a year, that adds up! From dealing with dogs of different sizes, history, breeds and ages and talking to owners about different foods, I have learned a few things I would like to share.

Not so good

This poo is light in color and very soft and shapeless by the end, the consistency of frozen yogurt. You can see the solid first nugget at the bottom of the photo, then this poo quickly deteriorates. This is still pretty early in the hike, so the poo shouldn't be of such poor quality. I would definitely change this dog’s food.

A sneaky raw poo

If you can spot it through this grass, this raw poo is an A+ on color (nice and dark but still brown, not black), size, density and don't smell. These poos break down into white dust in a few days. Raw-fed dogs are easy to distinguish by their poo.

The pinnacle of health

This is a raw fed dog's third poo and it happened towards the end of the hike. As you can see, it's still a good color, density and shape. Don't get tricked into thinking that exercise is a good excuse for the complete deterioration of the quality of dog poo. It is possible for the poo to look good no matter how active the dog is - as long as their diet is agreeing with them.

This one is okay

Here we have another kibble fed dog who has struggled to find the right food. This poo is appropriate for her size, good color, but a touch on the light/orange side if I am being picky. It came out in two chunks with good density and didn't smell. This owner had to try a lot of foods to find one that worked and should stick with it!

This poo looks great

This is an older dog who loves her kibble. The size is appropriate for her weight. The density is good. It has shape and contours. It feels firm and solid through the bag. The color is good, not too light or dark. This was her only poo on this hike, so frequency is great and it didn't smell. Perfect poo!

Yucky puppy poo

This poo has some shape and density at the start, but becomes fat and fluffy, breaking down to the consistency of frozen yogurt or peanut butter. The color is too light, more tan than brown. She is a big girl, but the size is still on the big side. Ideally the poo is nice and firm so it can naturally express your dog's anal glands. This poor pup even had to do the squat walk to squeeze it out.

Poor pup!

Within 10 minutes after the first poo, the puppy squeezed out the rest. This poo is more like melted frozen yogurt, as you can see from the bubbles on top and lack of shape or density. If this happens occassionally, especially after a dog has eaten something outside of their normal diet, that is ok, but if you are getting poos like this on a regular basis, you should be as concerned as if your own poo was looking this way and implement a change in diet. Again, we are early in the hike here so this is diet, and not exercise, related.

Another raw poo

This is a bit bigger than the first and has a range of color (dark at the start on the right, very light in the middle and getting a bit darker at the end on the left). The density also ranges - the start and end look great and are firm with nice contours while the middle is a bit soft and shapeless. This is the middle of the hike so this dog has been exercising. Still, I would still say this poo looks pretty good!

Not a dog poo

I took a photo of some scat on the trail My research tells me this belongs to a racoon. You can see the whole berries in it and how the density and shape more closely resemble the raw fed dog poo, but s o much darker it makes it easy to tell that some dog owner wasn't negligent in cleaning up the trail).

How to teach your dog to fetch

Our own Haley Benardino stepped off the trails and behind her computer to write today’s blog on fetch

Fetch is a great way to exercise, play and bond with your dog. We love fetch because it can help your dog direct  their  energy while using their mind in a constructive way. Some dogs are born understanding how to chase and retrieve. Others might have a bewildered look on their face when you toss a toy. Fetch should always be fun for your dog! Keep your energy happy and playful and offer fun rewards for their participation. This means you have to figure out what motivates your dog. It could be verbal or physical affection, treats, or play. 

CHOOSING THE RIGHT TOY

Finding that perfect toy for your dog is one of the most important steps. Some dogs prefer a ball or frisbee, others a plush toy. It may take a few tries to figure out what type of toy gets and keeps your dog’s attention. 

• Be sure to pick a toy that is not small enough to be accidentally swallowed. Also beware of toys that can be broken into pieces or are too hard or sharp on the edges. 

• Frisbees that are not designed for dogs can chip dogs’ teeth. The frisbees that are made for dogs have soft rubber edges that are much easier and safer to catch mid air.

Chuckit brand soft side flyer, Flying Squirrel, and Tail Spin Flyer

• Chuckit ball thrower (helpful for those slobbery pups or the ones that enjoy running a longer distance)

• Squeaky balls (that squeak when squeezed), whistle balls (whistles when thrown), or any kind of noise making ball are a favorite for lots of dogs! Squeezing the ball to get your dog’s attention or regain their focus can be handy and get their full attention on the toy.

• Nubby balls or plush toys are a favorite for dogs who are more mouthy and enjoy the gum stimulation or have a softer, more sensitive mouth.

• Rope toys are great for dogs who enjoy a little tug game when they bring the toy back to you before you ask them to “drop it”. This kind of toy comes in many varieties.

Once you have established what toy is your dog's favorite, reserve that toy for fetch practice only. Keep it out of your dog’s reach and only bring it out when it's time to play fetch. Doing this ensures that your dog won’t get bored with the toy. It will also keep your fetch toy from being destroyed.

RETRIEVING

Start small: Using the toy you picked just for this occasion, begin a session by playing with your dog, wriggling it around their face or in their mouth, playing a tug game and keeping it fun. 

• Once your dog has the toy in their mouth, reward them! This will show your dog that going for this toy is what you want. After a few minutes of good, happy play, ask your dog to drop the toy and reward it by saying “good drop.”

Toss the toy only a few feet away from you and say “go get it.” It’s best to start with short distances while you get the basic concept down.

• Run with your dog to the toy, indicating with your body and voice that you want them to grab it. 

• Once they have the toy in their mouth, reward again with a “good dog” and encourage them to bring it to you with a happy “come” or “bring it here” command.  

• When your dog comes to you, give a very happy reward like petting and saying “good come” or feeding a treat.  

• Repeat this process multiple times over the course of a few days or weeks, slowly adding a little more distance when you toss the toy away.

Repetition is key: Remember that learning new skills has to be a series of wins for your dog. They need to feel they are getting it right, so be sure you are asking your dog to do more repetitions in their skill zone than out of it and slowly expand the distance of the throws or time you play. 

• Try not to get to the point where your dog becomes bored and stops chasing the toy or bringing it back. On the other hand, if your dog really gets into the fetch and stops playing because they overexert themselves, take a break to let them catch their breath, have a drink of water, or lay in the shade with their toy until they are ready to play again. This is especially important in the hotter temperatures of summer.

 COMMON ISSUES

Your dog isn’t into toys

Before you get started it is important to understand your dog and whether they like toys or not. Some dogs don't like putting toys in their mouth. If this is the case with your dog, in order to make toys more enticing, you can try soaking a tennis ball in chicken stock, or burying one in their dry food, putting treats in an old sock and tying the end in a knot, or try using a  Kong chewer with some peanut butter stuffed inside . Making the toys a little tastier can help to show your dog that toys are great for chewing, playing, and mouthing. Most dogs love toys and it doesn't take much to entice them to play.

Your dog plays keep away

Some dogs would rather play keep away and have you chase them for the toy. Others bring the toy back to you but not all the way, stopping a few feet away from you and making you close the gap. Other dogs will bring the toy back, but don’t want to drop it so you can throw it again.

A great way to tackle these issues is to attach a long line to your dog. We like a homemade 20’ or 30’ rope with a clip or a long lead that you can order. Important note: don't throw the toy farther than the length of rope you have.

Using a Long Line 

• After your dog gets the toy, ask them to come. If they don't, call again then wait a beat and see what they do. 

• When you see the moment of hesitation cross their mind or when they make the decision not to come, give a tug on your rope and see what they do.

• At this point you would use the rope to encourage your dog to come back to you with little tugs or wiggles while saying in a nice tone “bring it here” or “come here.” 

• Make sure you are still rewarding them for coming back with the toy, especially in the beginning while they are still trying to learn what it is that you are asking for. A dog can’t be naughty if they don’t know the rules.

Bait and Switch: Another good trick for getting your dog to come back and drop the toy is a good old fashioned bait and switch. Have a second toy or squeaker ball ready so when your dog gets the first toy in their mouth and doesn’t come, you wave or squeak the second toy to encourage your dog to come back fully for the second toy. Usually they will drop the first toy to chase the second toy and then you can go grab the first toy again and repeat.

Your dog won’t drop the toy

You can use a treat to teach your dog to drop the toy. Place the treat above your dog’s nose and say “drop it.” Then wait for your dog to fully drop the toy. Pick it up and say “good drop” in a nice tone and then give the treat. Let your dog chew and swallow the treat then get their attention before throwing the toy again. Keep the treats small and only use when needed. It’s important to wean off of treats once your dog understands the basic concept because treats can easily  be turned into a bribe instead of used as a reward.

Most training issues you encounter should be resolved after the first few weeks of consistent work. Feel free to reach out for a training session if you need some additional pointers.

IN CONCLUSION

• Fetch should always be a fun experience, especially when you are first teaching it. You want your dog to love playing fetch with you. 

• If you graduate to playing outside of a fenced area, your dog should be safe off leash and respond reliably to basic commands (sit, stay, come). 

• Dogs of any age can learn to fetch. It is helpful to start them at a young age, but it can be a fun game for any energetic dog.

How to build a solid recall command: teaching your dog 'come'

The ‘come’ command is one of the most important things we can teach our dogs. Having a solid ‘come’ can help you keep your dog safe as well as open the door to a world of fun activities. A solid ‘come’ takes work and is one of the most difficult commands, and therefore we use treats for it - really good treats.

Since ‘come’ is so important, it warrants the use of hot dogs! Hot dogs, the top of the dog treat pyramid, the best thing you can give a dog. For this extra important command, we are sending you to the grocery store. Buy a package of hot dogs and a box of sandwich bags. At home, slice each hot dog lengthwise, then chop them into tiny bits no bigger than the tip of your pinky finger. We want your dog to enjoy the taste, but be able to get it down with just two chomps. Put about 5-10 pieces in each sandwich bag and put them in the freezer. You want to take one bag out a day for your practice sessions. In order to preserve the sanctity of the hot dog, don’t use these treats for anything else. These are ‘come’ treats only.

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Add a stop at Home Depot to your shopping trip because you also need a light 30’ rope and a clip. You can clip or tie the rope directly on to the collar or on to the handle of your Mendota Slip Lead, because this process begins with a nice calm exit from your house and a few minutes of focused loose leash walking. 

You want to get to a nice quiet grassy area near where you live. Your yard is a good place to start practicing, but it’s a good idea to take the show on the road after a few sessions and go somewhere with new smells and more distractions. Don’t worry! You have the rope to keep your dog safe and the hot dog to keep their attention.

Wait for your dog to get interested in the environment. Once your pup figures out that hot dog is not being dished out for free they will make the most of the moment and start sniffing around. When your dog gets slightly distracted and into a groove (not too distracted mind you, we are looking for wins, especially at first) say ”DogComeCome!!” in the happiest, highest voice you can muster. You want it to all sound like one word to avoid the common mistake of pausing between saying your dog’s name and the command. You can also bend down, tapping your knees, and  opening your hands to your dog as they run towards you. Just don’t squat so low that your butt rests on your heel just in case your dog doesn’t come and you need to back up!

‘Come’ should be THE BEST! Happy voice, happy energy, happy hot dogs! Coming to me should be the best feeling in the world. When your dog comes, they should get a ‘good dog, good dog, who is such a good dog’, a hot dog chuck, and a scratch. After that, stand up and walk a few steps together until they start to sniff again. You don’t want to make your reward so exciting that they get drunk on reward energy, and start bombing away from you at warp speed, but you also don’t want them to feel like the fun is ending.

It’s not ‘come’ unless you can touch your dog. It’s important that when your dog comes to you, that you reach down to touch them around the head or neck. Do this 9/10 times so that your dog starts to learn that the post ‘come’ touch is a temporary scratch and not you reaching to grab them and take their freedom away. This way when you do need to grab your dog they don’t slip away from your hand. This slip can be a truly dangerous move - if it happens at all, even rarely, that means it could happen at the absolute wrong time, but it also speaks to what I call an attitude problem.  Where your dog has determined that you are trying to grab them and, because they don’t want to be grabbed, they evade your hand. Hopefully if you are at the stage of training where you are doing off-leash prep, you have already addressed that kind of thinking. If I do have a hand shy dog, I make sure to touch them extra until they learn to tolerate it.

Keep it interesting! Your baggie only has 5-10 chucks of hot dog because you only want to practice this a few times each session. To begin set up some wins while your dog learns what ‘come’ is and how fun it can be! You want your dog to get far enough away to where they can run back to you, but not so far and so distracted that the ‘come’ fails and you need to use the rope to reel them in. If your dog misses a ‘come,’ take a break and do some loose leash walking. If they miss two, maybe it’s time to quit for the day and try again tomorrow - after all, only dogs who come when called get to stay at the park. 

Wean off the treats: As you build on the reliability of the command, practicing it at longer intervals and with more distractions, your dog may get a treat for every other ‘come,’ then three out of five, then one out of ten.

What do you do if something goes wrong? Let’s say you belt out your most charming “come come!” and your dog doesn’t even perk an ear. Keep calling their name and the ‘come’ command at different pitches and volumes. Give a touch/release on the rope. Clap your hands and leap around trying to make yourself interesting enough to warrant a response. As you say ‘come,’ back up, almost jogging backwards as you call your dog to make it more fun for your dog to run to you. If all that fails and your dog is completely unconcerned with your movements or hollering, reel him in using the rope. First, do a tiny touch on the rope, winding it up and taking out the slack. I wait a beat to see if that was enough to get your dog’s attention, then give a heavier tug. Again, watch your dog. Are they engaged yet or do they ignore you? After that, apply pulsing pressure (touch/release) through the rope as you call your dog and start moving backwards while still calling them. The moment your dog makes the decision to stop being dragged and start moving towards you, reward them with a verbal ‘yes!’ and ‘good!” but don’t use a treat for this round. Hot dogs are only for dogs who come of their own volition.

Overall, ‘come’ should be a romping good time while still being calm and mentally engaged. You want ‘come’ to be the happiest moment of your dog’s day. You can practice twice a day or once every other day, but try to be consistent. Any treat-based training is all about repetition. You gotta put the hours in to get an ingrained response. Practicing good rules and boundaries at home will support your work in the field - don’t forget that everything is connected! 

A few of our favorite things

The Naked Dog, as the name implies, likes to keep life with dogs down to the bare minimum. We like to use our body and relationship as our main training tools. We do, however, have a few products we really love.

Our favorite tool

The Mendota Slip Lead in 3/8”x 4’

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We love the Mendota slip lead so much, we started giving it to every client who signs up for our training series. 

This leash slips over your dog’s head and can be positioned just where a leash needs to be- at the tippy top of the neck behind your dog’s ears and jaw. For us, the leash isn’t a way of controlling your dog. It’s a communication tool. When the leash is positioned on the sensitive part of the neck, it reminds your dog when they walk they are ‘on the job’ and allows you to ‘talk’ to them with a subtle movement. 

Our goal is to have no pressure on the leash from you or from your dog, so you walk together in a way that reinforces the calm, mental engagement we want from our dogs. 

This leash is easy to get off and on as you are reinforcing good behavior or reacting to changes in the environment. 

It’s great for use in the house if you have a dog who gets nervous around company or is an overzealous greeter. It’s the perfect length to wear over your neck or slung across your shoulder while you hike. I never leave home without one! 

Many of our clients have called this leash a game changer when it comes to leash reactivity or teaching a dog the skill of loose leash walking - something every dog should learn to make walks more enjoyable for everyone! 

Throw away your harness and grab yourself a slip lead today so you can see for yourself what all the fuss is about!

Made for pets

The best electronic collar on the market

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Electronic collars get a bad rap. To be honest, before I had a client insist on buying one, I didn’t want to use them. The truth is that electronic collars allow me to speak to my dog in a language they intuitively understand. If I was a bigger, stronger, faster dog, I would ‘nip’ my dog on the neck when they were getting too excited or ignoring me. Since I’m not fast or agile enough to catch my dog in a full play gallop, the Mini Educator allows us to touch our dogs without catching them. 

We don’t use collars on every dog and it isn’t the first place we go when beginning training, but it gives us a sense of security when teaching a dog to be safe off-leash. We spend a few days acclimating each dog to the collar and teaching them to associate the stimulation with our voice.

When the dog learns that I am ‘home base’ and the right answer is to come back to me if they get ‘tagged,’ they are ready to start learning to be safe off leash. They have learned to respect the boundaries I set, which are in place for safety as well as convenience. 

We love this brand because it is designed for pets, not hunting dogs, and the range allows for it to work for every dog, from the most sensitive to the thickest skinned.

For the working dog

Who wants to carry his own weight

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The Outward Hound pack occasionally makes an appearance in our hiking group for dogs who need a little extra. This pack is great for giving a strong, active dog additional exercise so they get more bang for the buck on each mile of the hike. We fill it with water bottles on hot days or soup cans when it’s all about weight. You better believe we are tough on these packs - they go swimming, run through the bushes, get rolled on in nature and survive plenty of full body shakes. The straps can be adjusted to a variety of dogs, which we love in case we switch it out mid-hike. If you want to try a pack for your high energy pup, we recommend starting very light and building up weight slowly. Working dogs love the responsibility and we love the added oomph it offers on the way to tiring out some of our super active hikers.

Stinky Collar?

Dublin Dog to the rescue!

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If your dog loves hiking and the swimming, rolling and playing that go along with it, you know the pain of a stinky collar. We are sticklers for safety, so we ask all our pups to wear collars with id tags. Washing collars seems to be one of those chores that is almost impossible to get to, but if you have to grab your dog’s collar, you will quickly regret putting it off. We love the Dublin Dog because they come in fun colors, they don’t get wet and hold moisture against your dog’s neck after a swim, and, mostly, because they never stink! A necessary accessory for any adventurous dog.

For those who need help coming back

A longline

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Here at The Naked Dog, we refer to off leash work as the graduate school of dog training. Off leash recall is built over time on a foundation of focus, boundaries, a cooperative attitude, and a calm, willing mindset that can be influenced in any situation, even with the most attractive distractions. We use a 30' long line as we build a dog’s off leash skills. The long line gives a dog the feeling of being free, while giving us the control we need to reel them in when we say come or keep them safe in unfenced environments. The long line helps us set a dog up for success on the trails or at the park and we love this training tool.

dog….Dog…DOG!

In sessions I see a lot of owners saying their dog’s name in the place of giving a command. Heck, I even do it sometimes. I always compare this to trying to ask your friend or partner or client to do something by only saying their name. If I was trying to give a client coaching on loose leash walking and said, let’s say, “Jane” in a soft, friendly sing-songy voice, I may get a glance from her, but it would probably be accompanied by a raised eyebrow as she thought to herself ‘what is going on? Does she want my attention?’ Saying a name with no other words usually serves just that purpose, to get someone’s attention. 

Now let’s say she glanced at me, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I was trying to get her to slow her pace or to give her dog a cue with the leash or stop staring at her dog as she walked. I didn’t get what I wanted, so I say louder, “Jane!” And she responds with a more frustrated glance that says “what?” Clearly she is doing something I don’t want her to do, or not doing something I do want her to do, but she has no way of knowing what. I’m not giving her any instruction, I am only saying her name. 

By now she must be annoyed. She knows something is going wrong, but doesn’t know what it is or how to fix it. I’m frustrated too, because I’m not getting the desired result, so I bark out “JANE!” and storm towards her, throwing my hands in the air because I don’t understand why things are going so badly. 

Well, in this situation I would clearly be a poor communicator. If Jane had been working with me a long time and I had told her 100 times, “hey, stop staring at your dog as you walk” then I warned her that I couldn’t keep telling her the same thing over and over, when I said her name, she would probably know that I had caught her doing the thing she knew that she wasn’t supposed to be doing, she may think to herself, “crap, I was staring at my dog again!” and correct the error without my having to explain what my admonition was in reference to. I knew that she would know because we had already established that in many previous conversations.

Sometimes, you can use your dog’s name as a correction. Especially if you have more than one dog (or children)dog, the word “no” or an ‘eh-eh’ sound could apply to anyone. In this case, use your gaze, your attention and your body language to indicate wh0 your voice is being directed at. 

If your dog is consistently unreliable responding to commands, plays too rough, lags behind, wanders off or gets too far away, when caught in the act you can sharply and loudly say their name, and, realizing the jig is up, they will usually snap back into gear. When they know the behavior you want,when you call them out, they have the ability to immediately comply. 

If you say your dog’s name and they don’t connect the dots on what is going wrong, say their name again and add the command.  If that still doesn’t work, you will know that either this task has not been truly established with your dog or your dog is having a moment where they got so excited they temporarily lost their mind - or at least the part of it that is inclined being obedient.You will then approach your dog to guide them, correct them, or otherwise achieve the behavior you were looking for.

What is important that you establish what you want in each instance through training. Take your time, lay the groundwork, show your dog  right from wrong multiple times and reinforce the behaviors you want while preventing, correcting or disincentivizing those you don’t want. While teaching your dog what behavior or mentality you are looking for, it’s important that you interrupt the behavior you don’t want, you can sometimes do this by calling your dog’s name. That interruption must be quickly followed with showing your dog what you DO want. 

If your dog is playing too rough, say ‘easy’ and if they don't take it down a few notches, call them back to you or step in and interrupt their play to ask them to sit and collect themself or take a break on leash for a while.  If your dog is lagging behind, say their  name to get their attention and if they don’t automatically respond by catching up , ask them to ‘come come’ or keep moving saying ‘let’s go’ or tell them to get off the smell with a ‘leave it.’ If those don’t work, start walking back towards them, repeating the command or making sounds (Shhh Shhh, Hey, or a clap) to get their attention and let them know  you’re a comin’ for ‘em. Usually once you start making our way towards your dog they know the best option is to leave the smell and come along.

In summary, using your dog’s name is a good way to get their attention and can sometimes take the place of a command. However, if your dog doesn’t seem to understand what you want from them, it’s your job to tune into that and change your approach after the second time you use their name and don’t get the response you wanted. If you do get the response you were looking for, be sure to relax your manner and reward your dog with cooing sounds and a pet.

How to pick command words: a vocabulary lessons for dogs

I knew my English degree would come in handy someday! While much of my relationship with dogs involves learning to ‘speak dog’ by reading their body language and knowing how to interpret their behavior, part of living in a human world means that our dogs need to learn some human language, too.

In our training sessions we talk about how to give commands and recommend that owners pick a vocabulary for their dogs and stick with it. Our dogs are smart, and it is incredible that they can learn so many words, but it is too much to ask them to learn English. Expecting our dogs to understand secondary meanings for words is confusing and unnecessary. Each word should have only one meaning and we should use the same word for the same concept or behavior every time. This bit of deliberate effort on our part  can make a huge difference in our dog’s life, making it easier for them to comprehend what we are asking for and, therefore, to comply. For instance when I want my dog to lay down I say ‘down’ and when I want her to get down off the furniture, my guests legs, or the rock I asked her to jump on for a photo I say “off.”

You don’t need to use my exact list. The most important thing is that you pick a language that works for you so it is one you can use consistently. It is also helpful to associate as many of these commands as possible with a clear hand signal. Some dogs respond better to words while others prefer the visual cue (provided your dog is looking at you, of course!)

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LIST OF COMMON COMMANDS

Sit -  get your booty on the ground  

Down - lay all the way down on your belly, ideally with hips flopped

Off - get your paws (or body) off furniture, people, dogs, or whatever they are on 

Up up - jump or put your feet up on that

Kisses - lick the hand, useful for puppies who are mouthy  

Paw/shake - raise your paw  

Beg/sit pretty - balance on hind legs 

Roll over - from laying down, roll to the other side  

Crawl - wiggle/army crawl to me keeping your belly on the ground

Leave it/Take it - don’t go for it (usually the treat)/ take the treat

Gentle- take the treat more gently

Hold it- hold the object I am handing you in your mouth

Find it- sniff the ground. This can be used for enrichment training games (hide and seek, the cup game, scent games etc) as well as for a dog that is overly excited by others on leash. (if they are sniffing the ground they aren’t reacting to the dog)

Touch - touch your nose to my hand 

Load Up- get into a vehicle
—

Good (command)! - marks a positive behavior or correct response to command 

Look at Me-  Give me eye contact/put all of your attention on me. (this is usually when they are already sitting, or in a down but still highly distracted) 

Hey! - breaks a distraction to get their attention back, also used as a correction if they have ignored a command 

No! - stop doing what you are doing  

Bad! - I don't want you to do that behavior. Don't do it now or again in the future.  

Easy - (sing-songy) pay attention and slow down and bring your energy down 

Settle - especially for a puppy, calm yourself  

Out - get out of here or don't be where you are or stop doing what you are doing 

Back - back up or get out of my space 

Move - move your body out of my path

Leave it - drop what you are chewing or leave that object, dog, or person alone 

Drop - drop what is in your mouth, usually so I can throw it 

—

Wait - pause and wait for a release or further instructions, pay attention to me (eg doorways)

Stay - you stay stationary while I walk away (not the same as wait) 

Okay/free - release, you can change positions or do what you want again   

Let's go - we walk off together  

Come! - I am stationary, you come to me 

All the way - come all the way back to me and touch me 

This way - you are going the wrong way, change course & pay attention to me 

Heel up - walk to my side 

On the trail - get back on the trail 

Leash - hold still so the leash can be put on 

Fix your leash - hop one foot so the leash comes out from between your legs 

Pick up - for puppies or small dogs, hold still and brace yourself so I can pick you up 

—

Outside - let's go to the door, usually to potty 

Wanna go potty? - Do you need to pee? 

Potty, potty? - I strongly suggest you pee if possible 

When we ask the dogs to pose for pictures, we use many commands including come, sit, up, wait, down, this way, stay, off and leave it. This photos not only look great, but are a great excuse to practice obedience, patience and focus.

If you whisper to dogs, you must be very quiet

Sometimes people call us ‘dog whisperers’ because we know how to behave in a way that makes dogs intuitively engage with us with focus and respect. I appreciate the compliment and I also want to scream from the rooftops that anyone can enjoy this subtle relationship with their dog if they learn the guidelines.

My sweet dog Harley just turned ten in December. She has recently started putting herself to bed, choosing to leave my side on the couch and go to my bedroom before I do. If you have done a training session with me, you may notice that Harley sits with me on the couch and sleeps in my bed (only in the winter, as summers she prefers to be under my bed). As long as Harley is behaving and listening well, I don’t mind her having privileges! My guidelines for privileges is that my dog’s behavior be good in all other areas, so when I say ‘off’ without any hesitation or stickiness, she will oblige.

I love seeing this independence from Harley. She used to suffer from terrible separation anxiety before I started applying the methods I now teach my training clients. If you live with a Dachshund or another burrowing breed, you know that any lumpy blanket likely has a dog under it. When I got into bed the other night and she was all sleepy and snuggled, I was tempted to lift the blanket, give her a pet and tell her goodnight. This is a normal, and loving, human moment of desire. I witnessed the urge arise, but  instead of acting on it, I imagined that experience from Harley’s perspective.

If I was exhausted and went to bed early, I would certainly notice if someone joined me,but if they lifted the covers, exposing my body to cold air, rubbed on me and spoke to me, ensuring that I was roused from my sleep, I would probably be a little upset. What may be loving in human gestures, can also be a little rude, especially for a creature who doesn’t live by human cultural norms of expressing or experiencing love.

I knew Harley would love a pet, squeeze and kind word when she woke up in the morning, so I resisted the urge to tell her goodnight with words and simply thought it in my mind. Our dogs invite us to a more subtle level of communication and sensation. That lesson isn’t wasted on me. People say ‘dog whisperer’ as a compliment, but the truth is that most of the time I feel dog psychic! I’m able to ‘talk’ to dogs by shifting my attention, my energy, my body language or my gaze. It is incredible how sensitive our dogs are once they are calm and focused. It’s also a calling for me to take advantage of the opportunity to practice communicating on that level.

To me, this is love. Even though I would have liked to show Harley affection and she probably wouldn’t have minded much, for me to refrain in that moment, because I knew it wouldn’t be the best thing for my sweet, sleeping pup, felt good. It was also a moment of awareness for me that even though I have been practicing tuning into my dog and seeing things from her perspective for 10 years, I still had to remind myself to control my human urges and put what I know into practice. My training suggestions are a big change for my clients - I went through the same journey myself and still practice every day! What keeps me going is the calm, happy, attentive state my dog gets to live in as a result. If that isn’t love, putting my dog’s happiness ahead of my momentary urges, then I don’t know what is.

So you want to board your dog?

We are down to the wire on the holidays and I have been getting a lot of calls from desperate dog owners who waited to make a booking. We only do boarding for dogs in our hiking group, and even those clients started booking for holiday travel in August. It’s competitive to get the best care for your dog and smart owners (who have been burned in the past) learned the lesson to book ahead and adjust dates or cancel (with lots of notice please!) instead of scrambling days before a trip.

When I tell people I’m booked, they usually ask me for a recommendation and the truth is, I have no great ones because I haven’t been a client of any business. When I travel I have been lucky enough to always have a friend watch my sweet pup Harley or to be a client of my own business. That is wonderful because I have directly felt the value of the service we offer getting the photos of her hiking and I know I don’t need to worry about my dog because she is getting great care.

For me, step one is to train your dog!

A trained dog who is calm, obedient, and listens well to other people is going to be a much easier dog to ask someone to watch than a wild hound who jumps on people and furniture, pulls on the leash, doesn’t listen to commands, or is all around unruly.

Start building mutually beneficial relationships with your family, friends, neighbors. You can even make dog friends at neighborhood parks with the owners of dogs your dog plays well with. If you can trade off watching each other’s dogs that is a huge help! Again, people are usually more than happy to welcome an easy, well behaved dog into their home for a few days, so get your dog under control and save some money long term. All this needs to happen months and months before a big trip, not at the last minute.

If you are weeks or days away from a trip and need help, here are the pluses and minuses of all the services available. 

You almost always get what you pay for. Be wary of inexpensive services because they may make their income on quantity instead of quality. 

*Disclaimer- I haven’t used most of these services for my own dog and what is written is only my opinion from what I know and experiences of others. All circumstances vary business to business and sometimes depending what staff is on duty. The quality of the care and play time will be affected by who is on duty each day - not every staff member is equally skilled, experienced or caring. 

I like services similar to what I offer where one person cares for your dog the entire stay, but that isn’t usually possible or available. Always trust your gut and evaluate each business for yourself.

Board before you need to board

When you are first trying to find somewhere to board, it’s good to do a trial stay and see how your dog comes back. Not every environment is right for every dog and there is only one way to find out how your dog will react. 

I love switching up my dog’s routine and getting them comfortable spending time away from me.  

Are they stressed? Scratched? Overly tired in a way that indicates they didn’t rest well? Or are they comfortable and happy? For me, the mark of a good relationship with my dog and quality care is that your dog isn’t too excited to see you. That means they were comfortable where they were and would be happy to stay or to leave with you. Now let’s go over the options.

Rover, the Uber of dog care

What I like about Rover is that your dog gets to stay in someone’s home, not a kennel, which is an environment most of our pets are not used to. With Rover, there are a ton of variables. Since anyone can sign up, does the person know anything about dogs? Do they have their own dog? How many dogs will they watch at once? Where are the dogs kept? I like a situation where only one or two temperament tested dogs are there at a time, the dogs will be crated when no one is home, and where they are not left for longer than 6 hours. 

Know that during the holidays it can be tempting to overbook since so many people need help, so it’s likely that someone may take on more dogs than usual and possibly more dogs than their home and ability can handle.

Pet sitter

This can be a good option because your dog gets to stay in your home. I may prefer a college student who can stay there instead of someone who stops in, one to three times a day. Personally, my dog wouldn’t be happy spending that much time alone. If your dog is more independent, pet sitting is an option for a short trip or long day at work, just be sure your dog is getting sufficient exercise and can cope with having the house to themselves. (This is not a good fit for dogs that are crated while you are out of the house.)

Trusted Housesitter

Check out Trustedhousesitters.com as a way to find in-home and free pet care! Someone will come and stay in your home, taking care of your pets and house in exchange for a free place to stay. Use your discretion, read reviews, and have a conversation with someone before confirming the sit to make sure they can keep up with your routine, rules and boundaries and can give your dog sufficient exercise. This is the best way to keep your dog in the best possible place for them while you are way - your home!

Your vet

Please don’t leave your dog at the vet. If you went away for the weekend, would you stay in a hospital? NOPE. They smell weird and it’s not a pleasant environment.  Many times dogs are not allowed to socialize at a vet office, for obvious reasons. 

Some vets have great setups for boarding. Some offer private rooms and play areas for dogs on a whole different floor or in a different building than where the doctoring takes place. If your dog will be kept in a cage, in a kennel, or outdoors, this change in environment will be moderately unpleasant at best and traumatic at worst. This should be a last resort - depending on the set up! Ask to see where the dogs are kept before you book. 

Upside is that if your dog has health issues, or is on special medications or if your dog injures himself, they can take care of it immediately.

A kennel

Kennels are large facilities that care for many dogs at once. Their indoor setups vary,  but typically the dogs are kept in a cement floor and wired individual kennel or cage in one loud room and let out to play or walk once, twice, or several times a day. 

My dog has always been at home, so I don’t think she would be comfortable being kept in a kennel most of the day, especially in a large sterile room filled with barking dogs. That sounds like a nightmare. Especially when your hearing is as good as our dog’s is!

Pet resort

I don’t know much about these and imagine they vary from place to place, but from what I understand, dogs get their own room to stay in and have supervised play times and potty breaks. 

I like this idea for a dog’s safety and the fact that it may be more quiet in a room with walls versus an open room of crates. 

It is HARD to find any photos of facilities on the websites of local businesses. This is the only one I found for a pet resort. These rooms also often tend to have cameras so you can watch your dog. I still think my pup would be stressed and lonely here, but it seems like the best of the options so far.

Dog ranch

These could be a great fit for a larger more energetic dog. The dogs stay in kennels, sometimes in a covered outdoor area, and get to romp around a large property during the day. I wouldn’t be inclined to send a small dog here unless they have a separate area for small dogs.

Board and Train

I love board and train if you have researched the trainer and facility, gotten references of past clients and made the decision you want to dedicate 2-4 weeks and several thousand dollars to having your dog professionally trained. Ultimately how well your dog behaves in the long run will depend on how much you can keep up with the trainer’s recommendations. 

I used to get a lot of calls asking if I could ‘board and train’ for a long weekend. Someone couldn’t teach me French in 3 days, but could maybe teach me a few words and give me some basics. Same is true for our dogs and a true board and train needs to last several weeks. Board and train is expensive and not something you should rush into at the last minute because you need care and want to kill two birds with one stone. Those calls would make me really sad because it shows how our industry does a bad job of explaining how dogs learn and what different services mean.

Also- strong strong recommendation to not do board and train over a holiday. During holidays I was up to my ears in dogs and taking care of the basic needs took all my time and energy. Any dog hoping to get some extra training would be getting less than my best self and less time than I could usually dedicate. I simply wouldn’t take on this request during holiday times because I knew I couldn’t do the best job possible, but not everyone would say “no” to extra money. Please don’t  board and train over holiday times. Unless the facility’s trainers are separate from their caregivers, it’s not the best use of your dollars.

Happy traveling and best of luck!

When commands trail off...

Austinites loooove their dogs, so when I’m out and about I get to see a lot of dog/owner interaction. One of the most common mistakes I see people make is to drop a command when their dog doesn’t comply. I think this happens so often because people simply don’t know what to do in those moments where their dog doesn’t listen.

From a training perspective, it’s important that I have a lot of integrity in my relationship with my dog. Because, ultimately, all of the training we do is for safety, it’s really really important to me that the twenty-odd times a day I give my dog a command they listen. I need for my dog to know that if I start asking them for something, I’m not going to quit till I get it. This helps my dog understand that the best way to make me quit saying that word is just to do the thing it means, then life gets fun again! If I quit, however, and don’t follow through on a command my dog learns that I have a breaking point, and if they can push me to that point they will never have to do the thing I asked them. The only way you can fail at dog training is by giving up!

I’m a dog trainer, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a person too! Sometimes I want some time off, and my dog or the dogs boarding at my home are doing something I don’t like (playing too rough in the house, going into a room they don’t belong in, barking at a noise), when this happens, I’ll start with my ‘eh-eh’ sound as a correction. ‘Eh-eh’ is great because it just means ‘stop what you are doing.’ Easy enough! If I slip up and say something like ‘sit’ and my dog, who is activated and involved in being a little naughty doesn’t comply, that means I have to get my lazy bum off the couch and walk over to my dog, get their attention, and make sure we follow through on the command I just gave.

Knowing how to teach your dog to sit is great and important. Knowing what to do when, for whatever reason, your dog doesn’t want to do that thing you are asking them to do, that you know they know how to do, is just as, if not more, important! That is one of the things we cover in our training series, and something that can really help your relationship with your pup as you guide them towards being more reliably obedient. Often those moments when it’s tough to get their attention and compliance are the ones where it can matter the most!

The short goodbye... Proper etiquette for leaving your dog

When people drop their dogs off at my house for boarding, I notice that the owner's behavior can unintentionally cause stress instead of confidence in their dogs. We love our dogs so much, but sometimes when we express that love in a human way it can actually stress out our poor pups. While goodbyes are good etiquette when it comes to human manners,  dogs don't naturally share that cultural norm.

As a new client, who has never left their dog before, you may arrive nervous,or even as a seasoned client  you know you will miss your pup, so you may draw out the goodbye, pulling your dog's attention back to you when really the dog is interested (as they should be) in being in a new place and smelling new smells.

Your nervous, unsure, emotional energy gets transmitted to your dog. Instead of being excited to be somewhere new, they take a cue from you that the situation is distressing and therefore they feel more distress than necessary.  Your dog may even start to worry about you!

In general, I find quick, unemotional hand offs are best. If you  have calm, confident energy, you passively transmit the message to your dog that everything is fine and therefore they feel good about what's happening. 

Parting with your dog is always tough. Once I see my dog is happy and content without me,usually after receiving the first photo of my dog, I can relax.. Do your dog (and your boarder!) a favor and try to have a smooth hand off when you drop your dog for boarding. 

Our favorite 4-lettered word is C-A-L-M

The reason a lot of people love dogs is their easy access to states of exuberance and joy. As anyone who has ever walked down a city street or met a dog knows, dogs are easily excitable. Most dogs today are little, furry instant gratification machines.

See another dog? Freak out. 

Human looks at you? Freak out.

Going for a walk? Freak out.

Someone has a treat? Freak out.

Dogs are natural pros at getting amped up so what they need from us is an incentive to calm down. In order to be healthy, your dog needs to learn how to regulate their emotions - just like a person! 

You can create a container where this is possible by:

Pre-empting your dog's reaction in potentially exciting situations

• When you know you are going to subject your dog to those situations that are exciting for them, such as answering the door, passing another dog on the street, getting your dog into the car or approaching water on the trail, be sure to take a deep breath, give a touch on the leash or a verbal command and ask them to focus on you. 

• Down regulate their energy before they get distracted instead of just trying to manage them after.

Making the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard

• When your dog is being reactive and getting overly excited, do what it takes to get their attention back on you and be sure to  move away from what they want instead of towards it. 

• When your dog is jumping around, panting, whining or pulling towards something, stop where you are or move away from it. 

• Only when your dog is walking calmly and retaining their composure,  can you move steadily towards the awesome thing. 

• Have a picture of what you want in your mind and do whatever it takes to make reality match.

• As a leader for your dog, it's important that you always have a picture of what you want reality to look like. 

• When you put on the leash, you want your dog sitting calmly. 

• When you open the door, you want your dog ready to wait at the threshold.

• When you walk, you want your dog by your side and not pulling. 

• When you greet another dog, you want your dog's energy to be calm. You want them to be able to approach the other dog with a cool head so they can read and demonstrate prosocial body language. 

• If your dog is matching the picture you have in your mind, great! Life can keep being awesome! 

• If your dog's behavior doesn't match what you want, apply pressure with your voice, eyes, body language, leash and energy till you have their attention and they are calm again.

Everyone lies on social media, even dogs!

We all know that someone's social media image isn't necessarily indicative of the reality of their life. Well, the same is true for dog photos. We, as humans, are terrible at reading dog body language and this holds true for photographs as well. 

One of the most common  misconceptions is an easy one. Panting looks a lot like smiling! When a dog is panting, it can mean they are hot, but it can also be a sign of anxiety. A few weeks ago on a bar patio someone offhandedly commented on all the happy dogs there. He saw a few dogs sitting or laying down and panting, or, to his eyes, smiling. What I saw was dogs that were warm and anxious. They were most likely uncomfortable on the rocks by the picnic table their owner was sitting at. The music from the nearby stage was likely too loud for them. Being held on leash or tied up in a public space where there are people and other dogs can be stressful. These dogs were okay, but it probably wasn't their favorite day. Dogs are good sports about most things, but if owners were able to accurately read their dog's body language, they may make different choices about when to bring a dog along and when the dog may prefer to be left home.

The truth is, we are part of the problem! The photos we choose to post online or send to owners conform to these misinterpretations. We may not post this photo to Instagram because the dogs all look so serious. Some are distracted by a sound, a few are looking at the camera, only one is panting, but because of their ear position they don't necessarily look happy. The truth is, these dogs are calm and focused on the job at hand, which is staying in the position we put them in and maintaining the stay till they are released, despite whatever that distracting sound off to the left is. Judging by their body language, these dogs would be able to be calmly released from the pose and continue on with the hike without too much fuss (meaning us fussing at them).

Don't these dogs look happier? I don't know how long we were hiking before this photo or how warm it was that day, but the truth is they are probably hot.

Check out Nell's expression in this photo. She looks so serious! The truth is that she is calm and focused. Her ears are perked and her tail is up, telling me that she is perfectly content. 

Beware the lie of the tail - not every wag is a happy one. A slow deliberate wag can be a sign of discomfort. A tail that is out and up, but stiff can also be a sign of tension. In both of those scenarios, I may try to get my dog's attention or shift the situation so my dog feels more comfortable.

Nell is a Rhodesian Ridgeback so she has a stripe of hair that grows in the opposite direction along her spine. On any other breed of dog, the look of her back would indicate discomfort and be referred to as 'having her hackles up'. It's the body's version of growling. 

For me, when it comes to what I want to see from my dog, I care more about a calm energy and mentality than them looking happy. Wouldn't it be weird if you had a friend that was smiling all the time? Like, all the time? Well, intermittently riling our dogs up so their affect conforms to our perception of happiness can be detrimental to your dog's mental health and general obedience. I mean, I get it. These dogs really do look a bit blue or grumpy, but this is a place we have to retrain our brains so that our perception of our dogs more closely matches the reality. While I wouldn't post these pictures because they don't match our idea of a happy dog, this is, in actuality, more of the look I want the dogs who are with me to have.

If it ain't workin', stop doing it!

I get calls from a lot of owners who are struggling in some area of their life with their dog.

"I keep going to the dog park and my dog is having problems"

"I keep letting my dog off leash and they don't listen"

"I keep having people over and my dog always jumps on them"

I feel like a big part of my job is saying things that people respond to with "oh, that seems so obvious now that you've said it." Here is my gift to you: if it isn't working, stop doing it. 

If I keep having a problem it's a sign that I have over-faced my dog and I need to step back, regroup and re-approach. It's not enough to stop doing the thing (which you should, for now, if you keep getting the same bad result). In order to change the outcome, you need to address the underlying causes outside of the high intensity situation.

That's where a good trainer comes in! While you are researching trainers or waiting for your appointment, stop doing the troublesome activity or avoid the tough situation. I love to advise my clients on what changes they can make in their behavior and the way they relate to their dog that will have exponential effects on the way that their dog views the world and conducts themselves in it. 

For now, if it ain't working, it’s best to take a break (and get a trainer on the phone!).