Mike’s Doghouse

Mike started marking in the house two weeks before he was neutered. He marked everywhere. The living room, bedroom, bathroom, etc. He marked a lot of things such as the bedpost, the wall, the recliner, Lorna’s bathroom towel (that about got the boy killed). The weirdest thing he marked was Sam and Joella’s raised food-bowl stands.

I asked a positive training list I am on for advice on how to get him to stop. I’d like to mention the ones that seemed to work.

- We limited (again) where he had unsupervised access. The gates in the living room went back up for several days. He stopped marking in the living room and because of various other stuff, I moved the gate that kept him from the rest of the house. We kept the bedroom blocked and the hallway to the bathroom blocked but he (and the others) had access to the outside, the kitchen, and the Cat Room (the room between the living room and the kitchen).

- We were cleaning up the marking with the vinegar and water spray just like we had been his peeing. I was advised to change that routine slightly. The idea for peeing is to put the dog outside or elsewhere so they can’t see you clean it up (I think the idea behind it is so they don’t think you are Mama cleaning the den and that it’s okay to continue). But for the marking, it was suggested I let him see me cleaning it up and to increase the vinegar amount in the spray bottle. Basically, I was showing him I could mark, too. After about 3 days of this, I started seeing Mike back up when he saw the bottle come out. He watched me spray his spots and would run out of the house. I didn’t fuss at him while I cleaned it, but I did talk to him about it. I told him I didn’t like it and marking inside the house was not acceptable. He could mark all he wanted outdoors, but not indoors. This “conversational discussion” worked on Sparky, a Norwegian Elkhound we had. Yelling did no good. But put your hands on your hips and talk to him? He’d hit the floor and act all repentant. I think this is going to work with Mike, too.

- It was also suggested to take him for short walks and praise like mad when he hiked his leg to urinate and/or mark. This is to put a cue word for hiking his leg. We decided to not use another cue word but continue to use “HURRY UP” which is what we used during his house training. We took him out on the leash for a few days again, reinforcing the HURRY UP and him hiking his leg. He never marked when out on the leash but we did catch him marking in the dog lot so we praised him then. For reference, marking is when they urinate just a small amount, usually in several places vs emptying the bladder in one long pee in one place.

Mike now only regularly marks indoors in one place: Joella’s raised food-bowl stand. We’ve moved it, thinking he was really marking the cabinet where it sat. Nope, he’s marking the stand. We’ve started spraying it down until it is soaked and removing Joella’s bowl from it after she is finished eating. No clue as to why he is doing that. Sometimes he will mark Sam’s stand and sometimes he will mark on the front of the dishwasher. We think he does the dishwasher because of Callie, our ancient cat who has decided litter boxes are not for her. He marks the back porch but as I spray those down, the location is moving further and further away from the door.

I also received two pieces of advice that I chose to reject.

- One was that Mike should be considered a “wash out” as a Service Dog. I see the point to it but I wanted to try and fix it, not be told to forget it. That male marking is often not un-learned and with Mike going into public areas, marking behavior is not acceptable. I agree to that last part but not to anything else. Mike is just 8 mos old. His house training was delayed due to his bladder issue. He is so smart that if I just could figure out how to train him out of it, then he and I could get beyond it. If the marking does not stop or if when I start taking him out in public he start marking there, then I will reconsider using him as a Service Dog.

- The other advice was to use a belly band or a diaper on him. The idea was that he would associate the nasty wet on his penis and stop marking. But I don’t consider this positive training. And I don’t think he would have made the connection between the wet diaper and the marking. Then there’s the increased risk of infections and skin irritations. I can see their purpose for older dogs who have lost bladder control. But I don’t see their purpose on an 8 mos old pup he has figured out he’s a male.

I’ve decided to drop out of the Basic Manners II class. Primarily because it requires more physical movement than I can do and I’m not sure I can keep up with the class in my chair. Instead, Mike and I will be taking private lessons from Gail, one of the instructors. I hope to take one class every two weeks. This will give me more time to do the training w/out over-taxing my body.

I think Mike is missing training. We put home training aside for a few weeks so I could concentrate on Joella (who is doing great). I had it in mind to start things up again this weekend. I woke up two mornings ago and couldn’t move my head. I can now turn it more but not much. So poor Mike is back in a holding pattern again.

Mike is doing great with training. There are only a few issues such as Loose Leash Walking but even that is getting better. We started Basic Manners II classes last week (then had to skip the second class last night). That class is going to be quite intensive. I’m going to have to do most of it from my chair which will be interesting.

Mike’s DOWN is great! His SIT is solid although on a slick floor, or if we remain in one place too long, he will slide down. His WAIT is good but the length of the WAIT is short. He will remain still most of the time while I move around him but he will almost always get up when I move behind him. His RECALL is excellent, too. I use two different terms for RECALL. One is his name repeated in a friendly, playful, high pitched voice (Mikeymikeymikeymikey!). The other is the usual ‘Mike, Come’ and is done in a deeper, more authoritative voice. He responds to both the same. He comes charging from wherever he was, full speed.

I’ve started switching away from the clicker and more to a voice cue (Yes!). When I use the chair, it is too difficult to maneuver the chair, hold his leash, watch where I am going, and click the clicker. He responds just fine to Yes! as long as I have a treat. He’s not too sure about it if there’s no treat involved. He is very food motivated but I think he will not be too difficult to wean away from that. But I also know I will have to keep treats with me at all times for quite a while.

The one improvement I’ve seen is he is calming down in new situations. I can put him in a DOWN and he will stay there. He’s even flopped over onto his side if I remain in one place long enough. We will be going to different places and getting him used to being calm while at my side. I will have to restrict him getting pets. With Joella, it didn’t interfere with her learning or working. But with Mike, I think it will. I think with him, wearing the cape is going to be a big signal for him. Jo is the same no matter where she is (especially once she matured). But Mike will need that cape to signal it is working time vs “the world loves me and must pet me” time.

We went a half hour early to get caught up on what we’d missed. They’d started working on LEAVE IT. I already do this with Mike due to his desire to eat anything that fits in his mouth. They’d also worked on PLACE/SPOT, which, again, Mike and I were already doing. But I liked how she suggested doing SPOT by making it an enjoyable spot to be in. So far, Mike only knows SPOT is where he is forced to go and forced to wait until his food is placed before him. We’ve got to work on that and make it more positive.

This class, we worked on the beginnings of HEEL by getting the dog to sit on the left side, facing forward like we are and walking on the left side. This is going to be difficult for me, physically. It requires twisting to the side as well as walking while twisted to that side. With Mike, though, I don’t have to do it too many times before he gets the idea. I may also sweet-talk Lorna into working with him on it.

Next week is graduation (already!) so we need to get our trick figured out. Others have really good ones going but Mike and I haven’t a clue. But the assistant trainer gave us an idea. Mike and I have worked on LEAVE IT with me putting something wonderful on my knee and him not being allowed to get it. The lady suggested I start putting it on his nose. I don’t know that we’ll get it right in just a week but we’ll give it a try!

I’ve also decided that when we do the Basics II class, I will be doing it in my wheelchair. I haven’t thus far for various reasons, the main one being it would be such a distraction to the already over stimulated dogs. But the Basics II class should be able to deal with it better. That and the spring rains have started and my body is in huge amounts of pain. Mike and I need to do some work with me in the chair. And we’ll do that as soon as it stops raining.

As a reminder, Mike and I (and Sam and Lorna) take our classes from A Good Dog’s Life here in Asheville. I highly recommend them! The Puppy Class was taught by Gail and the Basics I class is taught by Susan. Both are well rounded and wonderful women.

We didn’t go. Lorna has a cold again and I’m still tired from my trip out of town this weekend.

We have to go to class 30 minutes early next week, though.

I’m exhausted. I’m glad I don’t have to drive home alone. Well, except for Mike, but he can’t talk to me or go into the Hot Spot for drinks. Lorna was almost as tired as I was, though!

Tonight we worked on FOCUS, SIT, sustained SIT, and Loose Leash Walking. We also started on DOWN.

Mike does great with the first three and we are working on the leash stuff. He does great at home but add in any distraction and out it goes! He is getting DOWN but not so good I am adding the word yet. I can do the hand signal (point down to the floor near his feet) and he will do it if he knows the treat is there. The teacher suggested to us that we switch the treat to the other hand once the dog is going down relatively well. Point with one hand, wait for the down, the click and give the treat with the other hand. She and I discussed Mike’s over-willingness (for lack of another word) to do a task. Like, he will do a SIT and then not get up, even when released. It was the SIT that got him the treat so by george, he is going to SIT. At class, he will get up and walk away when I toss a treat onto the floor and say his release word (free). But at home, nope, not gonna do it.

Tonight in class, we did a few DOWNs then he went into a down without me giving the signal. I didn’t treat for it because I didn’t ask for it. I knew this was Mike planning ahead. This is actually a good thing for a Service Dog as it shows he can think around a task and come up with a different way to do it. The best example of this is from an article I read a while back. This woman trained her dog to take the drink bottle from her, take it to the kitchen, put it into the recycling bin, and return to her. She then had the dog go to the kitchen and bring her a new drink. The dog one day dropped the empty bottle into the bin and stood there for a moment. He then got a new drink and brought it to her. This was him thinking around the task and realizing what was next. This actually cost him a reward since he only returned to her once but, of course, she praised him highly for his thinking. This was the same dog that, earlier in its training, brought her a cassette box one day. She figured he’d found it on the floor somewhere. She took it from him, gave him his reward, and she went back to work. Less than a minute later, he’s back with another one. Not wanting to discourage him, but wondering where the second one had come from, she rewarded him again. When he came to her with the third, she figured out what he was doing. The snot was going to the cabinet and taking out a cassette, shutting the door, and bringing it to her. He knew he got a treat for it the first time so, he went and got more. She doesn’t know if the first one was on the floor legitimately or not. Regardless, he figured out what worked for him!

Joella has a small mouth and only brought me one thing at a time, like, my shoes. She’d go get one then go get the other. Mike, who has a huge mouth, will likely try to bring both at once. That is unless he figures out that means only one reward.

Okay, back to tonight’s class. We started working on DOWN and Mike’s getting good at it. He and I need to work on it more, though, and we need to work on him not jumping up on people. I never had this problem with Joella since she dislikes standing up on her back legs. Mike, however, can dance that way. I need to get someone to help me with this, though. Maybe Lorna and I can work together one or two nights a week. It is a big issue with Sam, too.

Mike and I (along with Lorna and Sam) went to our second Basic Manners class today. Technically, I guess you could say it was the first class since the dogs didn’t attend the original first class but we’ll not confuse me further and just call this one the second.

Anyway, it really felt as if a lot of what we are covering was already done in Puppy Class. Gail, the instructor for that class, stopped by to pet Mike and I mentioned this to her. She said to use this as an opportunity to get SIT and FOCUS really strong in Mike and that the next class or so will start in with new things.

We worked on SIT, FOCUS, and Loose Leash Walking today. It is hard for me to do the leash work because we are confined to a small space and I must turn around a lot. Mike is great loose leash walking in such a small space but as soon as class was over and we headed toward the door? Oy. We eventually got to the truck (after stopping many many times) and got him loaded. Mike knows SIT really well although he is trying to get away with not doing it. Part of that is my fault since I am giving him second (and even 3rd!) tries to do it. I need to get back to Say It Once.

We tried out a new harness today, another front connecting one called the Sense-ation harness produced by Softouch Concepts. This one was the original design produced before Gentle Leaders’ Easy Walking Harness. We tried this one because the design is supposed to be a little better with narrow chested breeds (such as young Mike) in that it doesn’t cut into their armpits as bad as the Easy Walker did. Mike liked it and I think I will order one. He certainly pulled less while it was on! Sam had on one of Joella’s old harnesses that has a metal ring in the front. He did so well with it that Lorna got one of the Easy Walker’s for him to try out this week. Since he is much wider at the chest, the strap shouldn’t bother him.

Everyone says how cute and handsome Mike is. He is growing taller each day! I need to get some pictures of Mike, Sam, and Joella sitting together. Easy enough since they all know WAIT. Ha.

Yesterday, Mike went with me to Waffle House again. He didn’t go in, but stayed out in the truck. The objective was to get him out of the house and to show off his ears to the folks there. He chewed the two cell phone chargers in the truck, though. My fault. When I came out and showed him off to everyone, we then went over to the grass where he peed and peed and peed! Outside! Away from home!

Today he went with Lorna and me as we ran errands. The first thing he did was pull the stuffed Rottweiler out from the pocket in the back of the driver’s seat. I put all his toys there whenever we get back home. He stayed in the truck while we went in and spent major bucks on shoes (that God I only need them once every two years or so!). He didn’t pee both times we took him out but he also didn’t destroy anything in the truck. We gave him a chewy so perhaps that helped.

We stopped at a convenient store and got him some water. He drank a LOT (it was a pleasant, spring-like day). From there, we went to Tolliver’s Crossing, an Irish pub in Asheville. We sat outside with Mike. He did relatively well. He settled down eventually, watching everything and everyone. The hardest part was picking up all the cigarette butts before he found them (and dumpster diving for them when he did). We took his new travel bowl with us and put scraps in it for later. He wasn’t wearing his cape, which was good. Mike likes to get up on his back legs and wrap his front legs around the arm of the person petting him. He does jump up too much, something we are working on. Mike is much more interested in people than Jo ever was. He will go to them, not wait for them to come to him.

When we left, Lorna took him for a short walk to a bit of grass under a pitiful tree. Mike watered it well! Back at the truck, Mike got his scraps and some more water. Next up was Earth Fare where Lorna went in and Mike and I rested in the truck. He went nuts when a woman approached her car parked next to us. No barking, but he managed to his upper body and one leg out the window. The woman had a dog in her car. It never barked at Mike and he never barked at the it. When that car left, another pulled up, this time with TWO dogs. Mike never barked. Stuck his head out the window and sniffed, but no barking.

Joella is not dog aggressive. I’d never ever call her that. However, she is dog excited. Rotties are talkers and when she sees another dog when we are out, she talks about it. This talking sounds an awful lot like she wants to eat the other dog, but she doesn’t. It’s just her talking. She’s never shown aggression when the two dogs meet. She’s never met a dog she wouldn’t play with.

Mike won’t be that dog excited. He knows they are there but isn’t interested. He wants people. All of them he sees. He wants to touch them, by touched by them in return, and hear how cute he is.

All in all, it was a good day out. We all came home exhausted (and Lorna and little buzzed from the two Twisted Thistle beers she had at Tolliver’s). Mike’s not done much but play a little then go into the big crate to crash for a while. Then come out and repeat. Mike’s gotten better at walking on the leash and we were impressed with him calming down relatively quickly. He rarely laid down, but he did sit or stand in one place. It was good for him to experience another place.

We didn’t have it tonight. We left early to stop at a pet store and pick up some treat/bait bags. So we missed the phone call telling us class had been canceled. The training place has a policy of following the county school schedule in terms of snow days. Buncombe county didn’t have school today so class was canceled. The roads were fine. We got there with dry roads the entire way.

I’m a little perturbed but, well, there ya have it.

We’ll try it again next week.

In the meantime, Mike needs to learn more about getting in and out of vehicles. He escaped today but luckily it was at the training place and he went right to the door. Sam (and Lorna!) needs to learn, too, but I’ll have my hands full with Mike.

Per Elena’s suggestion, I’m going to teach Mike the concept of SPOT. I decided to not use the word PLACE since it sounds so much like WAIT and STAY. We’ve not started working on this yet.

The following is all mind wandering thoughts as I work through this new command/cue/whatever.

To teach something using operant conditioning (aka positive reinforcement aka clicker training), I need to first break it down into little steps.

I want Mike to go to his SPOT, sit or lay there, and stay there until I release him. That’s three steps. He already knows SIT fairly well and he knows WAIT pretty much, too. So I need to break down going to his SPOT so I’ll break that part down further.

He needs to know what and where the SPOT is and he needs to know to go there.

To know what and where, he’d need to either link that to a particular place, thing, or area. Beside my chair? A bed in the corner? A towel on the floor? He already has his crate so a bed in the corner would be redundant. He knows “go in your box” means to go into his crate. Shoot, does box and spot sound too much alike? Vocal tone will be important here. Beside my chair is not necessary since that’s what HEEL is for (as well as several other tasks/commands he’ll learn later). So I’m thinking I’ll go with the towel or similar thing on the floor. This would be something we take with us and he’d always have the same SPOT no matter where we are.

I tried to teach Joella this but decided she was so big that a mat for her would just be too large in the public setting. But as I learned more, I realized it needn’t be that big. Just big enough for her butt print, or Mike’s butt print in this case. We’ll start with a large towel and work down to something manageable as we go along.

At meal time, the dogs know BACK UP means to go further away from the feeding area. We used to have dog blankets in there that they had to sit on. Jake, our Dalmatian, would back up, sit, back up, sit until her butt touched the first itty bitty piece of the blanket and there she would stay. The dogs we currently have aren’t as good about this I think because there’s no longer a dog blanket for them to use as a marker. But I digress.

Mike gets fed last (as the current bottom dog in our pack) over by the back door. I think a towel there would be the best place. We’ll be getting him a raised feeder soon and that will help him with knowing where to be.

I’ll take him to it, tap the blanket, and tell him to SIT. Once he is sitting and staying there reliably, I’ll add the cue word, SPOT. I’ll start adding distance and tell him “SPOT”. The idea is to tell him SPOT and he go there on his own.

Proofing the command/cue will be him doing it away from the kitchen. Will he go there in the living room? Will he go there the next time we are out and about?