House Training an Adult Dog.

Meet Bella!

Bella is a sweet and even tempered, newly adopted Boston Terrier. Bella's new owners have owned Boston Terriers before and have a good handle on the basics as far as training goes. They stumbled on to a perplexing problem when they discovered that Bella was not necessarily house trained. Since one of Bella's new owner's is physically handicapped and the other works a very full time job, this became a significant issue.

First off I must disclose that when an adult dog starts soiling indoors or at inappropriate times, it may indicate potential heath problems. A visit to your veterinarian to rule out a medical condition may be in order. In Bella's case we were able to determine that it was due to a drastic change in her normal routine, post adoption. Even dogs that may be reliably house trained can breakdown when exposed to major changes. Most likely due to anxiousness and confusion.

When this happens, simply go back to the basics of house training. Re-establishing the rules will help your new dog understand what's expected of them and what is unacceptable. Some tips and tools that can help you take control of the problem are:

• 100 percent supervision is the only way to guarantee that your pooch won't make a mistake.
• The use of crates or indoor leads for when supervision is not an option.
• Restriction of food and water after certain times of day.
• Keeping a log of your dogs natural elimination habits to help create a routine for you and your dog.
• Rewarding successful outdoor eliminations with tasty treats.

For more information on Housetraining or to schedule and appointment with a Zen Dog Trainer, visit Zen Dog Training Online.

Chewy the Yorkie.

Meet Chewy!

I know what you're thinking: what a shy little dog!

Well, I hate to tell you that you're wrong as wrong could be. This little girl is as bold as brass. She just looks shy because I happened to snap her photo as she took a breather after running round the grassy garden while Gordon and I spoke with her parents.

(Before you complain about the lack of full-frontal puppy cuteness, let me just say this: you try taking a picture of a nine-week-old Yorkie that's not out-of-focus and get back to me.)

Chewy's parents had a lot of "New Puppy" questions, but something they were especially interested in was teaching their girl things like sit and down. Lucky for them, we had just finished updating Zen Dog Teaching Commands notesheet — after our editing spree, Gordon and I still had all of our tips and tricks fresh in our heads.

With a frisky pup like Chewy, finding something that will hold her focus is key; for her, it was a meaty treat. We showed her mom and dad how to turn that treat into a food lure that will help them coax Chewy into sitting, lying down and rolling over. After a few minutes of practice, this smart little girl was showing us how eager she was to learn, and showing her parents how consistent training is key. In time, she'll be ready to move on to understanding hand signals and verbal commands.

To learn more about Teaching Commands and food lures, visit Zen Dog Training Online.

Molly the Adopted Beagle.

Meet Molly!

This wonderfully gentle Beagle was welcomed into her new home only a few short weeks ago. Her adopted family loves her to pieces, but Molly turned out to be a bit of a handful.

You see, Molly came from a home where she was able to do just about anything she wanted. She chewed on whatever she wanted — including the childrens' toys — demanded attention, jumped up on the couch, and jumped all over the toddlers!

Now, we knew this wasn't Molly's fault, but that doesn't mean her behavior was acceptable. Our goal was to help Molly learn what was okay in her new home. We also wanted to make this transition as easy as possible by simply being clear with the new rules.

The problem is, if Molly is allowed to jump on a human just every once in a while then she will never learn that jumping is not okay, so consistency is key! But with young children, visitors and, yes, even with Mom, having our dogs follow our rules is tough! That's why in order to train Molly, we had to find ways to Outsmart her.

To outsmart Molly, we asked her family to simply call her to them. When she ran up to them, her family rewarded her with praise and a treat. While they were doing that, they attached a drag line to Molly's collar so they could have immediate control. Another option was to simply attach a tether to both Molly and the sofa (or near to her bed). The next time Molly tried to bark at the window or chase after the kids, she was either quickly stopped by the drag line, or just tethered to Mom. This way this little Beagle can't get into trouble in the first place! We know that the fewer mistakes a dog makes, the faster they will learn.

By Outsmarting Molly, her family is able to help her behave correctly around the house more quickly, easily, and with much less stress!

To learn more about Outsmarting Your Dog, Drag Lines and Tethers, please visit Zen Dog Training Online.