Training your Australian Labradoodle to STOP barking

Barking is one of the most common complaints of dog owners or their neighbors. Although barking is a normal behavior for dogs, when it is excessive or uncontrolled it becomes unacceptable to the owners or neighbors. The consequences of the dog’s barking (the response that the dog gets) may then aggravate the problem. For example, if barking is an attempt to get a person or animal to retreat and the person retreats, then the barking was successful and the behavior has been reinforced. If barking is response to new sights or sounds, or is intended as a greeting behavior, then the Australian Labradoodle will become more anxious if it is not allowed to greet or if it leads to anxiety, yelling or punishment by the owners. Barking may also be associated with fear and/or anxiety, or as a form of aggression.

You can reduce barking in your Australian Labradoodle puppy by socializing them to as many new people, dogs, places, sights, sounds and odors as possible. If there are no negative consequences and the puppy is not rewarded for barking, it should get used to these stimuli. For puppies that need more enrichment or companionship, a second dog may help reduce anxiety induced barking.

Before trying to stop your dog barking, you need to understand several things:

1. The principle is to ignore barking and reward what you do want (quiet). A favored dog treat or clicker saved for quiet training can be most effective.
2. Do not reward any barking behavior by giving attention or by allowing the barking to be successful e.g. allowing indoors .
3. Do not punish barking as this can increase anxiety or may inadvertently serve as attention. Focus on teaching your dog that when it is quiet it will be rewarded.
4. To reduce departure anxiety, establish a predictable routine that provides sufficient enrichment but also provides times when your dog learns to spend time alone.
5. Dogs that bark to get attention should receive no attention until they are quiet or calm (by waiting and ignoring, training quiet or by using a head collar).
6. Consider changing your dog’s environment if this is the cause of barking. For example, dogs that bark in the yard or at people passing by should be left inside the house or in a place where they cannot see people through the fence.

When you achieve good control over your Australian Labradoodle you can start managing the problem:

1. Teach your dog the quiet command. Your dog can be taught to quiet by teaching the bark command then reinforcing quiet. You can effectively stop barking by using a food or dog toy lure or a head collar and then reinforcing quiet behavior. A quiet command should be paired with each session where the dog can be successfully taught to quiet. Most dogs will also quiet with a settle command such as sit/watch or down-stay .
2. Training should be done in areas where there are no distractions. Gradually shape the behavior so that your dog stays quiet for longer periods of time.
3. Other devices that may help stop barking and achieve quiet include devices that are activated by owners (shake can, ultrasonic trainer, noise devices) and those activated by the barking itself (e.g. automatic spray bark collars). While these products may work as a deterrent in the short term, they are most successful if the owner is present to train and reinforce the dog each time it is quiet. During training, it is important not to leave your dog alone in situations where it might bark.
4. Identify the stimuli that initiate anxiety induced barking and gradually desensitize your dog .

How to Feed Your Australian Labradoodle so That Your Kids Will Eat Too

You want to give your Australian Labradoodle the best. You want to give your child the best, too. No one advocates feeding your child dog food. But how about giving both of them … salmon steak?

Sharing food with your dog seems radical, but it’s merely a return to the way dogs were fed for millennia. The human-animal bond developed partly because dogs and humans could eat the same foods, and the act of sharing reinforced this intimate connection.
Shared food isn’t novel compared with “dog food,” which was invented only 150 years ago when Spratt’s Patent Meat Fibrine Dog Cake hit the market. With this biscuit, dog food distinct from human food was created. After World War I, canned horsemeat joined biscuits as dog food, and after World War II, better living through chemistry brought on the golden age of processing: kibble for dogs, TV dinners and Tang for kids.

Nowadays, few of us would feed our kids a 1950s classic like baked ham slice slathered in mustard and garnished with maraschino cherries, a triumph of color over taste. Nor would we feed our dogs a mid-century meal of Gaines-Burgers, a triumph of marketing over nutrition. Instead, we are rediscovering the benefits of unprocessed, home-prepped, whole foods for our kids and dogs.

Michael Pollan’s best-selling In Defense of Food warns us not to eat anything our great-grandmothers wouldn’t recognize as food. A complementary principle applies: Don’t feed your dog anything your great-grandmother’s dog wouldn’t recognize as food. What they would both recognize is the same: simply food, not a “Food, Inc.” assemblage of processed factory ingredients.

The best food for dogs and kids is organic, whether meat, produce or whole grains. Too expensive? You can still prepare healthy, sharable meals. Look for sales in your market’s meat section. Chicken and beef can be cheaper per pound than kibble, canned food or packaged treats, and their nutritional value far exceeds that of dog food, whose first ingredients often include by-products and nutrient-poor, agricultural-grade grains. Dog food gives you less for more; shared food gives you more for less. Read unit prices!

Shared food is as fast as “fast food,” as convenient as “convenience food.” Give your kid and your Australian Labradoodle carrots instead of potato chips and dog biscuits. Think freshness and simplicity, not complexity and trendiness. A dietary dividend: Kids are more likely to try new foods if the dog’s enjoying them.

Enrich your perspective on shared food with the TREATS system. Named for what dogs and kids both enjoy, TREATS stands for:

Taste over Image
Read Labels
Eat Local, Fresh, Organic
Always Flavor It Yourself
Tooth or Dare
Sporting Life

Taste over Image: Don’t buy the succulent-looking chicken plumped with saltwater, pumped with antibiotics and fed pesticide-laced corn. Buy organic or at least “natural” chicken. It tastes better and needs no artificial enhancement.

Read Labels: The packaging depicts a cornucopia of ripe fruits and vegetables, but what’s really inside? Only the manufacturer knows for sure, but you can learn a lot by reading labels. Note the number and incomprehensibility of ingredients in processed food. A whole food has one ingredient: a banana contains banana.

Eat Organic, Seasonal, Local: Patronize a farmers’ market or farm stand. Be brave—if the First Lady can commandeer a plot of White House lawn, you can grow a victory garden. At least set up a window box and grow herbs to …

Always Flavor It Yourself: Don’t buy foods with salt or sugar added. Let your child and Australian Labrdoodle discover the real taste of food. Experiment with spices like cinnamon, ginger and anise.

Tooth or Dare: Fight dental decay and gum disease; don’t buy kid- and dog-targeted commercial foods. Children’s cereals “might as well be cookies,” says Marion Nestle in What to Eat. Give your kid and dog an apple to share. Dog food doesn’t promote dental health, and it often contains sugar (as does canine toothpaste!). In the wild, canids’ teeth stay clean through a diet consisting primarily of meat and bones. (With their wolf-like dentition, dogs are classified taxonomically as carnivores, which does not preclude opportunistically eating vegetation, including digestible vegetables.)

Sporting Life: Encourage your kid and Australian Labradoodle to play together. Childhood and canine obesity are major health problems. An active lifestyle is as important as a healthful diet with portion control.

Here’s the real treat: When your kid and dog enjoy a shared meal, they’re celebrating the human-animal bond all over again. Bone appetit!

Who’s In Charge? You Are

And here’s how to let your Australian Labradoodle know it.

Whe you come home, does your dog jump all over you? Deoes he- not you- lead the way when you go for a walk together? Does he bark to make you feed him? Does he nudge you out of a deep sleep to take him out for his first walk of the day?

If you answered yes to all or most of these questions, I have one more for you: Who do you think is in charge in your house?

There was a time when we thought that dogs- indeed, all animals- existed only to do our bidding. We were wrong, of course, but now the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. Many of us feel uncomfortable asserting any authority whatsoever over our dogs. And if we let that feeling guide us, we’re opening the door to trouble- in the form of an unfulfilled, annoying, and, perhaps, even aggressive, dog.

Australian Labradoodles, like all social animals, need structure in their lives. Democracy isn’t their thing at all; what they require in order to feel a sense of direction and stability is a figure I’ve always described as a pack leader. That doesn’t mean one who’s “putting the dog in his place,” or oppressing him in some way. When I talk about a pack leader, I’m simply talking about an authority figure that the dog understand has established the basic rules he, the dog, needs to live by.

In an Australian Labradoodle’s world, you can either be a leader or a follower. There is no third choice. And your Australian Labradoodle won’t take it as a horrible insult if you assert yourself as a leader. In fact, he’ll probably be quite relieved that you are in charge. After all, he’s trying to find his way around in the world- of highways, buildings, elevators, sidewalks, cars- that is nothing like the natural world he is hard-wired to survive in. It is your world, in other words, and you know your way around. He will feel safe in the knowledge that his leader is taking responsibility for him.

So how do you get that point across?

Take Charge
It all starts with energy. Energy is the way animals communicate, since they can not use words. The energy another dog projects, for instance, allows your Australian Labradoodle to determine whether a potential confrontation is afoot, and if so, whether he should fight, run away, or submit.

So obviously it is even more important that the energy you communicate be the right kind. You should never come across as aggressive, agitated or angry- just quietly in control. The goal here is simply to emanate a calm-assertive energy, which in turn sends your dog the clear signal that you are the leader.

It is helpful to remember that unlike people, dogs do not dwell on the past or obsess about the future, Instead, they live solely in the moment at hand and respond directly to their immediate environment. If you project panic, nervousness, or tension, your dog will pick right up on it and follow your example.

Of course, mastering that “calm-assertive” frame of mind is the real trick, and it is not easy. It does not have to do with the dog- it has to do with you and how you come across. I often recommend that people use the techniques that actors use to prepare for a role. Imagine yourself as someone or some movie character who you see as epitomizing leadership. And think how it would feel to be that person, to project that same level of cool-headed, unruffled authority. Read a book on Method acting techniques, or write down positive affirmations or quotes about leadership and post them near where you keep the leash. What else? Prayer, yoga, meditation, tai-chi, and martial arts training will also help you access that centered, in-the-moment part of yourself- the part that your dog will recognize and respond to.

If you are still not sure what I mean by calm assertive energy, take a look at Coach Dungy (former Colts coach) in action. He never loses his temper, but always stands his ground. And as easy as it is to recognize calm-assertive energy in people, it is no harder to recognize the calm-submissive energy it will generate in your dog: His ears will be held back, his posture will be relaxed, and he will display an almost instinctual willingness to go along with his pack leader’s wishes.

Walk The Walk
Because walking is the primal canine activity, taking your Australian Labradoodle or Labradoodles on regular walks is the single best way to put your pack leading skills to work. Your Australian Labradoodle’s wolf ancestors migrated with a pack- and that is what he wants to do, too. Do not just take him out for a quick pee; give him a good, long walk that will tire him out. A dog backpack- comprising 10 to 20 percent of the dog’s weight- will help achieve that goal. Once his physical energy is depleted, he will be more ready to do what you want him to. Allowing him to wander aimlessly in a big backyard is no substitute for brisk walk with you. On your walk together, he can explore his world- and learn quickly that you are his pack leader.

You are the leader, your Australian Labradoodle is the follower. Walk briskly with your dog either behind you or at your side. If he is ahead of you- and especially if he is pulling on the leash- then it is likely you are not the leader of this pack.

Danger can rear its head on a walk when your dog runs into another dog, and they decide to mix it up. In my experience that almost always happens when both dogs are out in front of their owners. The equation is simple: Two dominant dogs= one nasty street fight. If your dog is in the proper calm-submissive state, he will not look to challenge every other dog he runs into. And if both dogs are properly calm-submissive, you can actually stop and chat with the other dog’s owner, if you are so inclined which is a lot more fun than trying to break up a sidewalk dogfight.

It all comes down to discipline, really- and your feeling about it. People say, “Oh, my baby is only two months old! How can I make rules for him?

Well, his mother started making rules the moment he was born. And she was not being cruel; it is just that she was the first pack leader in your Australian Labradoodle’s life. When he was old enough, she took him on walks, and she set boundaries for him. And- and this is an example you should follow. as a pack leader- she made him wait for his food rather than feeding him on his schedule. In nature, that is what all animals have to do. Food does not show up at regularly scheduled times; it must be hunted for. Dogs no longer have to hunt for dinner, but it is important that they work for it. That is why it is a good idea to take your Australian Labradoodle on that nice long walk before he eats. That way, when it is time to dine, he has earned it.

Remember, in nature, dogs correct each other all the time- especially pack leaders. But they do not do it out of anger or frustration, and neither should you.

Hug It Out
If you have read books or watched dog trainers on TV you will notice it is only after exercise and discipline that they begin to discuss affection. It is the thing you give after you have exercised your dog and done your daily part to establish boundaries and rules. In nature, animals are seldom rewarded, if at all. Pack leaders do not turn around and say, “Thanks for following me, guys!” And, the dogs that work with the blind or other handicapped people do not get rewarded every 10 minutes, either; they are rewarded after- and only after- they finish a task.

Exercise and discipline are both for the good of your Australian Labradoodle; they fulfill him in his role as a member of the pack, This is the stuff he is hard wired for, and it is the stuff that makes him happiest. Affection, however, is something we do for ourselves- it however, is something we do for ourselves- it fulfills us. Dogs express affection to each other as well but ironically, if we put our own fulfillment first, and allow affection to take precedence over discipline, we run the risk of being seen by our dogs as followers, rather than leaders.

Remember, your Australian Labradoodle is an animal, not a human. And he is a pack animal, so he needs a leader to be fulfilled and happy. If you do not provide that leadership, you are back answering yes to all those questions we asked at the beginning.

Your Australian Labradoodle and H1N1

Swine flu, also known as H1N1 influenza, has been dominating the news recently. The viral strain appears set to cause the first influenza pandemic in a generation. Influenza pandemics are big deals. The pandemic of 1918-1920 caused more people to die from flu than from bullets or bombs during World War One.

Influenza viruses are known for infecting multiple species–as the name would imply, swine flu developed in pigs and then spread to people.

This may lead pet owners to wonder: can my Australian Labradoodle catch swine flu?

The answer appears to be no. DVM Newsmagazine reports that there is no evidence that dogs can contract, carry, spread, or suffer illness from H1N1 influenza.

H1N1 influenza has been isolated from a ferret. Fortunately at this time there is no evidence that ferrets can spread the disease to people.

Although it appears we can rest easy about our Australian Labradoodles catching swine flu, remember that cats are susceptible to an even scarier form of influenza: bird flu (also known as H5N1). Cats contract bird flu by preying upon or being fed raw bird meat. The virus does not appear capable of spreading from cat to cat. That is a good thing, since the fatality rate among cats infected with H5N1 appears to be 100%.

Social Networking for Australian Labradoodles

Proper and regular socialization is an important aspect of life for any pup. My dog, Atta Girl, is no different. She’s an Australian Labradoodle, and an energetic, loving and sociable one at that. She’s a lover and a licker, and put simply, she needs to get out and see other dogs and people. Being self-employed and working from home, I can certainly sympathize with her desire to leave the house and mingle with the outside world. If we didn’t, who would blame Atta Girl—or me—for coming down with bad cases of cabin fever and a house full of chewed up toilet paper rolls?

For both of us, avoiding that ailment has usually meant a trip to Pierson Bark Park, a 4 acre grass covered haven with a beautiful fountain aerated pond and walking paths. A fenced-in park, most of it is dirt and rocks. There’s plenty of water for the dogs to swim and to chase tennis balls and sticks.

I have to admit that to the casual observer, it doesn’t look like much. But to Atta Girl, Sweetie and Cutie, it’s solid gold. It’s one of the few places where they can get the kind of unrestrained dog-to-dog, muzzle-to-muzzle (or head-to-tail) interaction that they craves and needs. It’s a place where I too can get much-needed face-to-face interaction with my fellow dog lovers.

In this way, my local dog park is much like Any Dog Park, USA. Though each definitely has its own vibe, its own dog culture, they all share some fundamental commonalities. They are busiest in the mornings, during lunch, and after work. We make friends there (and only see them there—friendships compartmentalized into the dog-park corner of our lives). And our dogs have their own friends, too, familiar faces they recognize and with whom they preferentially play. For Atta Girl, there’s Thatcher, and Chloe, and Z, and a handful of others.

Atta Girl knows the phrase “dog park,” and she seems to know when we’re headed there. Her innate sense of direction tells her when we’re getting close, and she instantly perks up—standing alert in the back seat, excitedly looking out the window, waiting for the park to come into view. Then we arrive, and it’s all I can do to contain her until I’ve removed her leash and released her to run free with her canine companions.

But in this 21st-century technological world, I’ve discovered that real dog parks aren’t the only places where Atta Girl, Sweetie and Cutie can socialize. With my help, they can do it online, too. As social networking sites like Facebook, Friendster and MySpace have soared in popularity, so have canine social networking sites. There are also forums specifically geared for Labradoodles such as Doodles & Friends, The Doodle Zoo and Doodle Kisses. Take Dogster, for example. Launched in January 2004, it has rapidly grown to include more than 459,000 dogs, each with his or her own profile and network of “puppy pals,” in Dogster lingo. I wondered, though. Would Atta Girl’s membership in an online dog park really be for his benefit, or was it for my own entertainment? It seemed a stretch to expect Atta Girl to experience some sort of virtual socialization. Didn’t the benefits of this arrangement accrue to people, then, and not to dogs? To me, and not to Atta Girl?

Still, I was curious. I couldn’t resist creating a free profile for Atta Girl, complete with biographical info, personality traits, and likes and dislikes. I felt like I was building an elaborate personal ad for her, as though she’d soon begin dating a stud who’d fallen in love with her enchanting profile. I wondered how I would feel if Atta Girl became more popular than me, if she amassed more puppy pals on Dogster than I had friends on Facebook. Would I resent her for his superior social status? Would she and I compete for dominance in the Internet’s social stratum?

Once I uploaded Atta Girl’s profile, the puppy-pal requests came in surprisingly fast. One of the first was from Speckles, a Collie/Labrador Retriever mix from Canada; in an odd aside, her profile noted that she was deceased. Some of the messages were written in the dogs’ voices—cute, maybe, but not my style. Then there were Emma and Ike, a pair of Australian Labradoodles who lived in the Australia. Here, I thought, were two dogs who would instantly connect with Atta Girl. She was also had Australian heritage but resides here in Indiana. They were Labradoodles in Australia. Kindred spirits, the three of them. My idyllic perception of their relationship, however, lasted only until I noticed that Emma and Ike had more than 7,000 puppy pals, and that my … um … Atta Girl’s messages to them went unreturned. Was Atta Girl just another notch in their dog collars? Were they padding their numbers with my pup? Atta Girl (or, more accurately, I) felt so … used. I quickly realized that this world of virtual friends is a tenuous one. Atta Girl stirs with excitement each time we go to the real dog park, but often goes to sleep when I sit at my computer and log on to Dogster on his behalf.


I’ll admit that there is a certain convenience to the online dog park. For one, it doesn’t have a real pond with real mud where Atta Girl can get wet and dirty and smelly and require a bath and brush out. In that way, Dogster and sites like it are utterly convenient. There’s also a pragmatic aspect, and for me, that’s the real hook. Atta Girl is an Australian Labradoodle, a mixed breed created in Australia. It’s not often that I come across other owners at my local dog park. But online, I can find entire groups of them, places where I can go to reflect on the breed and share advice and stories. To that end, I enrolled Atta Girl in three online groups, each with as many as 50 or more members: Doodles & Friends, The Doodle Zoo and Doodle Kisses.

The benefit of Australian Labradoodle networking, though, doesn’t overshadow the fact that with the convenience of online dog parks, we also sacrifice relationships. They lose value—relationships built online and kept at an electronic distance remain superficial, and they quickly fade, along with the novelty of it all. It’s much like using Facebook to contact an old high school friend you haven’t spoken to in 10 years. You’re pleasantly cordial in the initial interchange, and exchange a brief flurry of emails, but then the communication drops off. Online dog parks, I decided, were no place for Atta Girl.

Real dog parks have their own limitations, too. A random collection of people and dogs brought together by a basic need for exercise and socialization, they’re often haphazard and arbitrary. It’s like trying to meet your soul mate at a bar—sure, it could happen, but the odds are long. But what if we could harness the targeted networking potential of the Internet to find people and dogs with interests similar to our own, and then actually get together to forge the kind of relationships that can only grow from face-to-face interaction?

Well, we can. They’re called Doodle Romps! There are more than 60 of them across the country. Each is self-organizing and locally focused. Most meet annually in April to support IDog.biz an International Doodle Owners Group that mainly focuses on rescues and education. IDog lists the majority of the Doodle Romps on their site free of charge and they are searchable by state. Here you can find the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. These romps are mainly attended by doodles and there owners so there is no pure breed snobbery to attend to or defending of your choice to get a mixed breed dog.

Had I indeed found my personal Holy Grail of online-meets-real dog parks? With the Doodle Romps, it’s still too early to tell. But I do know this: My enthusiasm for the real dog park has waned somewhat, and my enthusiasm for online dog parks faded before it even began. With Doodle Romps, on the other hand, I see real potential, and my enthusiasm remains strong. Here, I don’t have to pretend to be Atta Girl and I don’t have to hope that the real dog park will have a good mix of agreeable people and dogs on any given day. Rather, I can simply be myself and connect with people who share my perspective and interests, and with dogs who—much more so than Emma and Ike far off in Australia—will be kindred spirits with Atta Girl, satisfying her need for socialization far closer to home.


We still go to our local dog park, though less often than we used to. And Atta Girl still gets excited when we go. She gets even more excited, I think, when she sees me reach for my backpack and hiking boots. To Atta Girl, the only thing better than socializing off-leash with other dogs is doing so where she knows she can do it all day long and not get in trouble for tearing up my flowers. At the end of the day, however, I don’t think it matters much to her whether the socialization came through our local park or the arrangement of a Doodle Romp. What really matters is that there’s a real, live dog there to greet her when it happens.

Noble Vestal Labradoodles is planning 3 to 4 romps for 2010. We plan to hold each of them in good weather so that we can be comfortable outdoors, inviting vendors, dog trainers and groomers to attend. Please contact us with desired dates as we starting to plan our calendar.

Inside a dog’s world

GO LOOK AT a dog. Go on, look—maybe at one lying near you right now, curled around his folded legs on a dog bed, or sprawled on his side on the tile floor, paws flitting through the pasture of a dream. Take a good look—and now forget everything you know about dogs. Because forgetting what we think we know is the best way to begin understanding dogs.

The first things to forget are anthropomorphisms. We see, talk about, and imagine dogs’ behavior from a human-biased perspective. Of course, we’ll say, dogs love and desire; of course they dream and think; they also know and understand us, feel bored, get jealous, and get depressed. What could be a more natural explanation of a dog staring dolefully at you as you leave the house for the day than that he is depressed that you’re going?

The answer is an explanation based in what dogs actually have the capacity to feel, know, and understand.

If we want to understand the life of any animal, we need to know what things are meaningful to it, beginning with what it can perceive—what it can see, hear, smell, or otherwise sense. Second, we need to consider how the animal acts on the world.

WE HUMANS TEND not to spend a lot of time thinking about smelling, for instance. Smells are minor blips in our sensory day compared to the reams of visual information that we take in. The room I’m in right now is a phantasmagoric mix of colors and surfaces and densities, of shadows and lights. Oh, and if I really call my attention to it, I can smell the coffee on the table next to me. But as humans see the world, a dog smells it. The dogs’ universe is a stratum of complex odors.

Consider too that dogs don’t act on the world by handling objects or by eyeballing them. Instead, they bravely stride right up to a new unknown object, stretch their magnificent snouts within millimeters of it, and take a nice deep sniff. That dog nose, in most breeds, is anything but subtle. The snout holding the nose projects forth to examine a new person seconds before the dog himself arrives on the scene. And the sniffer is not just an ornament atop the muzzle; it is the leading, moist headliner. What its prominence suggests, and what all science confirms, is that the dog is a creature of the nose.

The sniff is the great medium for getting smelly objects to the dog, the tramway on which chemical odors speed up to the waiting receptor cells lining the caverns of the dog’s nose. Human noses have about 6 million of these receptor sites; Australian Labradoodles noses have more than 300 million. The difference in the smell experience is exponential. Next to a beagle, we are downright anosmic, smelling nothing. We might notice if our coffee’s been sweetened with a teaspoon of sugar; a dog can detect a teaspoon of sugar diluted in a million gallons of water.

What’s this like? Imagine if each detail of our visual world were matched by a corresponding smell. Each petal on a rose may be distinct, having been visited by insects leaving pollen footprints from faraway flowers. What is to us just a single stem actually holds a record of who held it, and when. A burst of chemicals marks where a leaf was torn. Imagine smelling every minute visual detail. That might be the experience of a rose to a dog.

And dogs put their remarkable sense of smell to great use socially. While we humans leave our scents behind inadvertently, dogs are profligate with their scents. It is as though dogs, realizing how much can be learned from odor, are determined to use this to their advantage. Dogs—like all other canids—leave urine conspicuously splashed on all manner of object. Urine marking, as this method of communication is called, conveys a message. Every dog owner is familiar with the raised-leg marking of fire hydrants, lampposts, trees, bushes. Most marked spots are high or prominent: better to be seen, and better for the odor to be smelled.

From observations of the behavior of sniffing dogs, it appears that the chemicals in the urine give information about, for females, sexual readiness, and for males, their social confidence. The prevailing myth is that the message is “this is mine,” that dogs urinate to “mark territory.” But research has failed to bear this out as the exclusive, or even predominant, use of urine marking. Instead, marking seems to leave information about who the urinator is, how often he walks by this spot, his recent victories, and his interest in mating. In this way, the invisible pile of scents on the hydrant becomes a community bulletin board, with old, deteriorating announcements and requests peeking out from underneath more recent posts.

SPENDING AN AFTERNOON at home at the height of a dog can generate many surprises. But the objects you would see when crawling around on all fours are not, in some sense, the same objects a dog sees. A dog looking around a room does not think he is surrounded by human things; he sees—and smells—dog things.

What we may think an object is for, or what it makes us think of, may or may not match the dog’s idea of the object’s function or meaning. Objects are defined by how you can act upon them: what the German biologist Jakob von Uexküll called their “functional tone.” A dog may be indifferent to chairs, but if trained to jump on one, he learns that the chair has a sitting tone: It can be sat upon. But other things that we may identify as chair-like are not so seen by dogs: stools, tables, arms of couches. Stools and tables are in some other category of objects: obstacles, perhaps, in their path toward the eating tone of the kitchen. A ball, a pen, a teddy bear, and a shoe are in some ways equivalent: All are objects that one can get one’s mouth around.

Here we begin to see how the dog and human overlap in their worldviews, and how we differ. A good many objects in the world have an eating tone to the dog—probably many more than we see as such. Feces just aren’t menu items for us; dogs disagree. Dogs may have tones that we don’t have at all—rolling tones, say: things that one might merrily roll in. And plenty of objects that have very specific meanings to us—forks, knives, hammers, pushpins, fans, clocks—have little or no meaning to dogs. To a dog, a hammer doesn’t exist. A dog doesn’t act with or on a hammer, so it has no significance to a dog. At least, not until it overlaps with some other, meaningful object: It is wielded by a loved person; it is urinated on by the cute dog down the street.

I FREQUENTLY HEAR dog owners verify their dogs’ love of them through the kisses delivered upon them when they return home. These “kisses” are licks: slobbery licks to the face; focused, exhaustive licking of the hand; solemn tongue-polishing of a limb. I confess that I treat the licks that my dog Pump bestows on me as signs of affection. “Affection” and “love” are not just the recent constructs of a society that treats pets as little people, to be shod in shoes in bad weather, dressed up for Halloween, and indulged with spa days. Before there was any such thing as doggy day care, Charles Darwin himself wrote of receiving lick-kisses from his dogs. He was certain of their meaning: Dogs have, he wrote, a “striking way of exhibiting their affection, namely, by licking the hands or faces of their masters.” Was Darwin right? The kisses feel affectionate to me, but are they gestures of affection to the dog?

First, the bad news: Researchers of wild canids—wolves, coyotes, foxes, and other wild dogs—report that puppies lick the face and muzzle of their mother when she returns from a hunt to her den, in order to get her to regurgitate for them. Licking around the mouth seems to be the cue that stimulates her to vomit up some nicely partially digested meat. How disappointed Pump must be that not a single time have I regurgitated half-eaten rabbit flesh for her.

Furthermore, our mouths taste great to dogs. Like wolves and humans, dogs have taste receptors for salty, sweet, bitter, sour, and even umami, the earthy, mushroomy-seaweedy flavor captured in the flavor-heightening monosodium glutamate. Eventually I realized that Pump’s licks to my face often correlated with my face having just overseen the ingestion of a good amount of food.

Now the good news: As a result of this functional use of mouth licking—“kisses” to you and me—the behavior has become a ritualized greeting. In other words, it no longer serves only the function of asking for food; now it is used to say hello. Dogs and wolves muzzle-lick simply to welcome another dog back home, and to get an olfactory report of where the homecomer has been or what he has done. Familiar dogs may exchange licks when meeting at their ends of their respective leashes on the street. It may serve as a way to confirm, through smell, that this dog storming toward them is who they think he is. Since these “greeting licks” are often accompanied by wagging tails, mouths opened playfully, and general excitement, it is not a stretch to say that the licks are a way to express happiness that you have returned.

WHAT ABOUT A dog’s power of visual and mental perception? Look a dog in the eyes and you get the definite feeling that he is looking back. Dogs return our gaze. They are looking at us in the same way that we look at them. Naturally we wonder, is the dog thinking about us the way we are thinking about the dog?

In fact, we are known by our dogs probably far better than we know them. They are the consummate eavesdroppers and Peeping Toms: Let into the privacy of our rooms, they quietly spy on our every move. They know about our comings and goings. They know whom we sleep with, what we eat. We share our homes with uncounted numbers of mice, millipedes, and mites—none bothers to look our way. Dogs, by contrast, watch us from across the room, from the window, and out of the corners of their eyes. Their sight is used to see what we attend to. In some ways, this is similar to us, but in other ways it surpasses human capacity.

Dogs are anthropologists among us. They are students of our behavior. And what makes them especially good anthropologists is that they never tire of attending to minute changes in our expressions, our moods, our outlooks. Unlike us, they don’t become inured to people.

Throw this dog product away today!

There are a lot of dog training “tools” that I prefer not to use, but the one piece of equipment I wish every dog owner would throw away is…

THE FOOD BOWL
Most dog owners feed their dogs every day (hopefully). Hopefully, people measure out their dog’s food into appropriate portions and provide one or two scheduled feedings per day. Some people choose to “free feed,” which means food is constantly available in the dog’s bowl, and the dog may help himself whenever he so chooses.

WHAT MAKES DOGS DOGS
Q: What is the evolutionary purpose of a dog? Why did dogs evolve from wolves, and what makes them “domesticated”?
A: If you haven’t read it yet, pick up a copy of Ray Coppinger’s book Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution. Coppinger has a PhD in Biology and has evolved his life to the study of dog behavior, evolution, and origins. Coppinger asserts that dogs evolved from wolves as humans evolved from hunter-gatherer societies to permanent settlements. Human settlements created a unique ecological niche; what we would refer to as “garbage dumps.”

Garbage dumps create free food sources for wild animals. If you don’t believe this, you obviously have not spent much time in the Adirondack forests near any dumpsters and seen the black bears that congregate to feed around these “free” food sources.

In any case, garbage dumps were not a factor when human populations were mobile/unsettled. When humans congregate in a designated area for an extended period of time, waste accumulates.

Coppinger asserts that it was in fact human refuse which originally drew wolves to our settlements (charming, no?). Within the wolf population, as in all populations, there were behavioral variances. Those wolves which tended to stick around the garbage dumps despite the presence of humans were more likely to cash in on the ecological bonanza of free eats provided by permanent human settlements. Those that were spooked more easily and would retreat in the presence of humans missed the spoils of our refuse. The phenomena at work here is called “flight distance.”

The wolves that had a lower flight distance threshold evolved differently than their less companionable, considerably more suspicious, kin. In relatively short time, these wolves adapted to the human (aka “free food”) niche. Along with this evolution came proportionately smaller skulls, brains, and teeth. It requires less brain power to get free food than hunt for your own.

WE ARE THE ULTIMATE FOOD BOWL
OK, so what does all this have to do with anything (besides the fact that if you’re a dog nerd like me, Coppinger’s book reads like a page-turning thriller)?

It has everything to do with building a relationship with your dog. Dogs became dogs through seeking food from people. It’s what makes them dogs. It is at the heart of their very “doggyness.”

This is what makes positive reinforcement especially valuable in dog training – it speaks to the very nature of what is dog. Dogs became dogs through seeking food from humans, not through imagining us as “concept wolves” on two legs. Providing food, not being the alpha, is at the very nature of how dogs evolved to be our “best friends.”

NEVER LOOK A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH – PUT A PRIMARY REINFORCER IN THE MOUTH INSTEAD!
Dogs love food. Period. Any creature of any species that is not “food motivated” would be dead.

So why let that valuable reinforce go to waste? Put it to work for you!

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON NLIF
I grew up in an area where dogs lived off leash from puppyhood. It was a rural environment, where resident dogs spent hours running through woods, field, and stream with neighborhood kids and other neighborhood dogs. They chased squirrels and deer. They dug holes wherever the hell they wanted. They came home at night exhausted, dreaming sweetly of the hundreds of prey chases and scent trails they followed. They were mentally and physically satisfied, happy dogs. Nobody really took their dogs to classes, and most of us were proud if our dogs could “sit,” “down,” “shake,” and “rollover.”

Our dogs didn’t run away. Sadly, some fell victim to the road, but none of them ran away.

Now I live in a suburban environment. Despite loving my neighborhood, I still feel caged in. I am, after all, a country girl at heart and yearn for a life outside of the city (if you choose to call Noblesville a city).

Here, if a dog gets out of their fenced in yard or escapes their leash or tie out, they take off. Run as far as they can, as fast as they can. Why?

DOGS AND MODERN LIFE
Most dogs today don’t live this type of life. For safety reasons, we often need to employ management tools like fences and tethers to keep dogs safe. Dogs no longer get to roam, freely interacting with others from their kind when and if they choose, chasing each prey animal they come across, digging wherever they wanted for as long as they wanted, sniffing a hundred scent trails.

Most dogs are forced to fit into the confines of modern society – long work hours, tired owners with more obligations than they can realistically handle. Few of us can provide a lifestyle for our dogs similar to the life my childhood dogs had.

The trouble is, just because we cannot provide this type of lifestyle doesn’t mean our dogs crave it any less. This is the infamous “culture clash.” Modern human lifestyles often don’t provide anywhere near the mental and physical stimulation needs of our canine companions.

Dogs are an interesting amalgamation. They have the same hunting instincts as their wolf ancestors, but a new and different perspective on food seeking which incorporates dependence on humans. A truly happy dog will have both aspects of his personality satisfied through his interactions with his owner and his daily life.

TAP INTO YOUR DOG’S INSTINCTS
You may not be able to provide your dog with five to eight hours a day of off leash romps through the forests, meadows and streams. You may not be able to provide unlimited squirrel chases and opportunities to interact with other dogs, horses, humans, cats, etc., at your dog’s every whim. Due to the constraints of my current living environment, I often can’t give that to my dogs either. I feel your pain.

Let’s talk about that first instinct, the one that links our dogs with wolves: the desire to hunt. Dogs want to stalk, chase, grab, and shake prey. It is my personal belief that opportunity to participate in the prey sequence qualifies as a primary reinforcer for most dogs. It taps into their very “wolfiness.” We can do this from applying the Premack Principle.

The Premack Principle asserts that more probable behaviors can reinforce less probable behaviors. Have a “squirrelly” dog? The opportunity to chase squirrels (more probable behavior) can be used to reinforce a recall or focus (a less probable behavior). In laymen’s terms, “if you eat your spinach, you can have your ice cream.”

Most of these aspects of the prey sequence can be manipulated through training in the form of stalking, tug, and retrieving games. Using these types of games speaks to each dog’s inherent “wolfiness,” the wild predator living within each of our beloved doggy companions, from Australian Labradoodles to Huskies.

So how do we connect with their “dogginess,” that which distinguishes our dogs from their wolfy predecessors?

Through behavioral contingencies which include food provision (in short, positive reinforcement training!).

Another way we can meld the dual doggy needs of engaging in “wolfiness” (hunting practices) and “dogginess” (seeking food from humans) is through incorporating food rewards into games which include components of the predatory sequence.

This means introducing food dispensing toys – Kongs, Tug a Jugs, Buster Cubes (the favorite in my house), Canine Genius toys, Nina Ottosson toys, etc. Dogs want to hunt for food, to work at it, to dissect items to obtain nutrition. Food dispensing toys fulfill both of these needs.
This also means introducing food-seeking games – hide and seek, “find it”, and introducing tracking exercises. The cheapest and easiest food-seeking game is what I call a “kibble hunt.” Instead of throwing your dog’s food in a bowl, make a “kibble hunt” hiding dinner throughout the yard or the house and letting your dog find his food with his nose. Now, instead of inhaling his food in .8 seconds, it takes your dog half an hour, forty five minutes of brainwork/mental stimulation to tire him out.

You can also tap into your dog’s innate desire to seek food from humans through positive reinforcement training techniques.

PUT YOUR DOG’S FOOD TO WORK FOR YOU
If you’re going to feed your dog anyway (and I hope you are!), make him work for it. Providing plenty of predatory outlets will satisfy your dog’s “wolfiness” – chase games, tug, opportunity to “dissect” toys to retrieve food, or (if you’re like me) feeding a carefully constructed prey model raw diet.

Just as no dog will be entirely happy without having his “wolfy quota” filled, no dog will be happy without having his “doggy quota” fulfilled.

Since we cannot often provide the full doggy quota of unlimited time bounding through field and stream with conspecifics as well as favored humans, we must fulfill those needs in other ways. This should be through increased physical exercise, play opportunities, and working for his food. Remember, this taps into the core of his very dogginess.

Food dispensing toys, kibble hunts, tracking and other scent games, shaping and capturing exercises, fulfill your pet’s true doggy desires and so, make dogs want to connect with us. It is the very source of their domestication.

A WOLF IN DOG’S CLOTHING?
If you follow dog training discussions at all, you know there is a pretty distinct divide between those that feel positive reinforcement training is the way and those that feel techniques grounded in dominance speculation are more appropriate. This blog entry is long enough as is, so we’ll save that debate for another day.

In order for a dog to be fulfilled, you must tap into both his “wolfiness” and his “dogginess”.

His “wolfiness” is not related to “alpha hierarchies” which have been disproven to science but to his evolutionary history as a predator – one who wants to chase prey, dig after it, chase it, catch it, grab it, bite it, shake it, dissect it, and consume it. Fulfilling these basic needs is provided not through intimidation, corrections, or “domination” but through play which taps into these reservoirs of carnivorous drive – tug, fetch, dissection, shaking toys, etc.

His dogginess is not related to willfulness, stubbornness, or a “desire to please” but to an innate desire to seek food, shelter, and security from humans and to engage with his environment in meaningful ways. Again, this is what makes a dog a dog. The reservoir of dogginess can only be filled through providing appropriate interaction with conspecifics and in the ways in which we provide our dogs with the primary resource, food.

Hopefully, this entry illustrates the importance of food in dog training and the influence of food on the evolutionary history of dogs as they relate to humans.

Many critics of positive training techniques will argue that it is “unnatural” for dogs to learn from humans through food rewards but that it is “natural” for dogs to view humans as their pack leader and through physical corrections.

I argue that a domesticated canine receiving food from humans is far more natural than the “man in wolf’s clothing” that alpha theory relies upon. I also contend that we should leave the physical corrections to the dogs, and let them use those methods to instruct each other regarding the behaviors which are/are not acceptable to their species.

We have bigger brains, opposable thumbs, and ability to manipulate food delivery to our advantage while providing satisfactory outlets for out dogs’ desires to hunt as descendants of the wolf through play.

Is it just me, or does this make way more sense than discussing “energy,” “auras,” and “rank” in manipulating dog behavior?

As a raw feeding breeder we call our dogs “kitchen wolves.” This inherently makes sense to me. In spirit, each dog is a wolf. When it comes to an empty stomach, they’re all dogs, looking for a meal from a human who can’t resist a cute face or good behavior.

SUMMARY
You’re going to feed your dog anyway. At least make it interesting for him! Put your dog to work for his food through training, kibble hunts, food dispensing toys, and seeking games. Food should be interesting to a dog, not a flash in the pan!

A Letter from a family that helped me rescue Sawyer from his cage

Hello Kendra,
About 7 months ago I hopped in my car on a little leap of faith, but also complete trust that we would be a great home to Sawyer.
Well, Kent and I were talking last night in how it was one of the better decisions we have made.
First, him and Willie are the best of buddies. The last time I took Sawyer to get groomed Willie spent about 20 minutes looking for him & pouted. When Sawyer came home he was so excited to see Willie that he peed (he’d never done that before) and they tackled each other like they always do.

Every morning Sawyer wakes up and climbs in between Kent and I giving us kisses. He’s a little alarm clock because he wakes up at 7am on the dot almost every morning. But it’s almost like he says “oh man I am so happy, this is going to be the best day ever’ then he snuggles up next to you and goes back to sleep (sometimes). He yelps with enthusiasm when you come home, and even when we have to leave, he jumps up on his bed (they stay in the guest room, and it’s like he looks at Willie and says, ‘dude this is awesome, you can’t complain’.

Yesterday I was sitting in meditation and Sawyer climb into my lap to take a nap. He loves to climb next to you and cuddle up, such a snuggler. In my opinion he is just a complete embodiment of love. He always wags his tail and just loves his life. (he is presently dancing around the house with a toy trying to stir up Willie, but the WIllie isn’t much of a morning dog, but Sawyer won and they are now chewing on the toy together). Sawyer is just as good for Willie as Willie is for Sawyer.

I’ve traveled a lot this year and Willie gets upset or sick each time. This past time when WIllie saw my travel bag he followed me around every where. Then he started to pout. I told him he was going to make me cry & to go find Sawyer. (I always make up what they are saying, by the way). He went and found Sawyer and it was like he patted him on the head and said ‘awe it isn’t so bad, I’ve got you man’ and they started to romp around together.

I’m sorry there couldn’t be more little Sawyer’s because he has a heart of gold that just bubbles over with delight. But sometimes I think he is so happy because of the trials he went through. Every morning he wakes up it’s like a brand new surprise, as if he forgot the day before, and he’s just so happy that he can’t fall back to sleep. He tries to wake Willie up and the rest of us. He knows that if I’m home that he’ll get to sit on my lap on the couch again real soon so he just wants to get the beautiful day started.

Needless to say, we love our dogs. They are some of the most popular in the neighborhood! They are both unique in their same ways, and they both show their love in different ways. Willie knows he is the big brother and when no one is watching he’ll snuggle right up next to you (if not on top of you). But they really love each other.

Teresa, Kent, Willie & Sawyer

Time For a New Breed of Breeders!

Is every pedigree breed so perfect that it cannot be improved? Dog breeding surely is the relentless pursuit of excellence, not the waving about of papers festooned with past Champions.

In every past century it was always a matter of performance, not purity of blood. We ignore functional capability at our peril. Yet again and again I hear pedigree dog breeders whining, “I don’t want my terriers to go to ground.” or, “But I don’t expect my setters to last a long day in the field.” Shame on them! If their dogs are not capable of doing so, whether they are needed to or not, then they don’t belong in that breed. I very much admire the Lurcher breeder who try hard all their lives to produce top-class hunting dogs and the working terrier devotees who breed for working prowess and distinct type, without ever registering their stock. This is the background all of terrier breeds come from; they were created for work!

Leading geneticist Steve Jones stated last year, with regard to pedigree dog breeding, that there will be a “universe of suffering” ahead with continued inbreeding. Another geneticist, Bruce Cattanach, himself a dog breeder, has written: “… inbreeding has been ingrained in dog breeder psyche from the beginning and is hard to break…” He went on to stat that outcrossing to other related breeds may be necessary. Our sporting ancestors found this more than “necessary”.

All our sporting breeds of dog were produced by master breeders in the pursuit of excellence. They didn’t expect the perpetual recycling of old genes to produce a magic answer. In his book The Pursuit of Wild Animals for Sport of 1856, it is recommended an outcross to the Greyhound for the Pointer, a cross of the “regular Scotch terrier and the old English Beagle” for retrieving and health, and a mix of the St John’s Newfoundland and the Setter for retrieving generally. The great between-the-wars sportsman James Wentworth Day found his best gundog ever in a mix breed made up of 3 breeds. Are today’s dog breeds incapable of improvement?

Is it wise for our breed lists to be cast in tablets of stone? Are the gene pools of the accepted pedigree breeds not capable of improvement? The hunting Basset Hound people have much more open minds- their outcrosses to the Harrier has resulted in a far healthier hound. Are we breeding dogs for their written pedigree or their health and well being? I wonder what the great hunting dog breeders would make of today’s closed gene pool? They crossbred until they produced a pointing griffon of remarkable prowess.

My personal views on breeding one breed of dog with a different one are quit clear: if a pedigree breed is retaining type and temperament, versatility and vigor, then there is simply no need to introduce outside blood. But if, say, the field Spaniel could gain considerably from an infusion of the Springer blood, as happened some years ago, then I would support it, it is perfect!

Understandable, of course, for those favoring one particular breed to want to safeguard that breed- to protect it from “mongrelization” and strive to prevent misuse of that breed by unsavory breeders. But if that breed has serious inheritable defects or inbred faults difficult to breed out, the an outcross to better blood matters a great degree of sense. The show Bloodhound would undoubtedly benefit from such a course- just as the renowned Bloodhound breeder Brough advocated in each fifth generation. The soundest, healthiest Clumber Spaniel I have ever seen came from a Clumber-Spiringer cross. Surely the health of our dogs comes before pedigree.

Taking Stock
If pedigree stock owners in the past had refused a mating to a different breed, then the Irish Wolfhound would never have been created, the Mastiff would be a very different breed today, and the Bullmastiff simply would not exist! I ask purebreed dog breeders two key questions: What collective action is being taken to breed out inherited diseases in their breed? And what breeding programs are being promoted to counter the appalling movement to prevent it in the breed or to correct undesirable temperament whenever it crops up in the breed? Any breed fancier worried about the future of the breed should be addressing such problems ahead of all other.

The 20th century will be remembered in the world of dogs as a century in which we stopped thinking and blindly accepted pedigree stock “warts and all”. I do hope it doesn’t take a shock TV program of the welfare legislator to bring us back to common sense and greater care for subject creatures. It is immoral to breed form inferior stock just because it is purebred. It makes no sense at all to expect tiny gene pools in so many breeds to go on producing high quality dogs. Guide dog programs are crossing the retriever breeds to produce a more suitable dog for their requirements. Our ancestors, who produced the splendid breeds of dogs that we now enjoy, would admire such an activity. They sought good dogs ahead of good pedigrees. But all this is still too radical for the pedigree dog breeder of today; it is the time of the conformist, not the individual who is not afraid to stand alone.

Time for a new breed of breeders!!!

Errorless Potty Training Using Potty Park

Housesoiling is a spatial problem, involving perfectly normal, natural, and necessary canine behaviors (peeing and pooping) performed in inappropriate places.

Potty training is quickly and easily accomplished by praising your Australian Labradoodle puppy and offering a food treat when she eliminates in an appropriate toilet area. Once your pup realizes that her eliminatory products are the equivalent of coins in a food vending machine — that feces and urine may be cashed in for tasty treats — your pup will be clamoring to eliminate in the appropriate spot, because soiling the house does not bring equivalent fringe benefits.

Housesoiling is also a temporal problem: either the Australian Labradoodle puppy is in the wrong place at the right time (confined indoors with full bladder and bowels), or the puppy is in the right place at the wrong time (outdoors in the yard or on a walk, but with empty bladder and bowels).

Timing is the essence of successful potty training. Indeed, efficient and effective potty training depends upon the owner being able to predict when the Australian Labradoodle puppy needs to eliminate so that she may be directed to an appropriate toilet area and more than adequately rewarded for doing the right thing in the right place at the right time.

Usually, puppies urinate within half a minute of waking up from a nap and usually defecate within a couple of minutes of that. But who has the time to hang around to wait for Australian Labradoodle puppy to wake up and pee and poop? Instead it’s a better plan to wake up the Australian Labradoodle puppy yourself, when you are ready and the time is right.

Short-term confinement to a dog crate offers a convenient means to accurately predict when your Australian Labradoodle puppy needs to relieve herself. Confining a pup to a small area strongly inhibits her from urinating or defecating, since she doesn’t want to soil her sleeping area. Hence, the Australian Labradoodle puppy is highly likely to want to eliminate immediately after being released from confinement.

Potty training Is as Easy as 1-2-3
When you are away from home or if you are too busy or distracted to adhere to the following schedule, keep your Australian Labradoodle puppy confined to her puppy playroom where she has access to her Potty Park. Otherwise, when you are at home:
1. Keep your Australian Labradoodle puppy closely confined to her doggy den (crate) or on-leash.
2. Every hour on the hour release your pup from confinement and quickly run her (on-leash if necessary) to the toilet area, instruct your pup to eliminate, and give her three minutes to do so.
3. Enthusiastically praise your Australian Labradoodle puppy when she eliminates, offer three freeze-dried liver treats, and then play/train with the pup indoors; once your puppy is old enough to go outside, take her for a walk after she eliminates.

If errorless potty training is so easy, why do so many dog owners experience problems? Here are some common questions and answers that help make errorless potty training work.

Why confine the pup to his doggy den? Why not his playroom?
Short-term close confinement allows you to predict when your Australian Labradoodle puppy wants to go so that you may be there to direct him to the appropriate spot and reward him for doing the right thing in the right place at the right time. During the hour-long periods of close confinement, as your Australian Labradoodle puppy lies doggo in dreamy repose, his bladder and bowels are slowly but surely filling up. Whenever the big hand reaches twelve and you dutifully release the pup to run to his indoor toilet or backyard doggy toilet to relieve himself, your Labradoodle puppy is likely to eliminate pronto. Knowing when your Labradoodle puppy wants to go allows you to choose the spot and most importantly to reward your puppy handsomely for using it. Rewarding your Australian Labradoodle puppy for using his toilet is the secret to successful potty training. If on the other hand the Australian Labradoodle puppy were left in his playroom, he would most likely use his Potty Park but would not be rewarded for doing so.

What if my Australian Labradoodle puppy doesn’t like going in his crate?
Before confining your Australian Labradoodle puppy to his crate (doggy den), you first need to teach him to love the crate and to love confinement. This is so easy to do. Stuff a couple of hollow chewtoys with kibble and the occasional treat. Let your Australian Labradoodle puppy sniff the stuffed chewtoys and then place them in the crate and shut the door with your Australian Labradoodle puppy on the outside. Usually it takes just a few seconds for your Australian Labradoodle puppy to beg you to open the door and let him inside. In no time at all, your pup will be happily preoccupied with his chewtoys.

When leaving the Australian Labradoodle puppy in his long-term confinement area, tie the stuffed chewtoys to the inside of the crate and leave the crate door open. Thus, the Labradoodle puppy can choose whether he wants to explore the small area or lie down on his bed in his crate and try to extricate the kibble and treats from his chewtoys. Basically, the stuffed chewtoys are confined to the crate and the Australian Labradoodle puppy is given the option of coming or going at will. Most puppies choose to rest comfortably inside the crate with stuffed chewtoys for entertainment. This technique works especially well if your Australian Labradoodle puppy is not fed kibble from a bowl but only from chewtoys or by hand, as lures and rewards in training. To use this method, each morning measure out the Australian Labradoodle puppy’s daily ration of food into a bag to avoid overfeeding.

What if I don’t like putting my Australian Labradoodle puppy in a crate?
Short-term confinement, whether to a crate or tie-down, is a temporary training measure to help you teach your Australian Labradoodle puppy where to eliminate and what to chew. A dog crate is the best potty training tool to help you accurately predict when your dog wishes to relieve herself and is the best training tool to help you to teach your Australian Labradoodle puppy to become a chewtoyaholic. Once your Australian Labradoodle puppy has learned to eliminate only in appropriate areas and to chew only appropriate objects, she may be given free run of the house and garden for the rest of her life. You will probably find however, that after just a few days your Australian Labradoodle puppy learns to love her crate and will voluntarily rest inside. Your Australian Labradoodle puppy’s very own den is a quiet, comfortable, and special doggy place.

If, on the other hand, your Australian Labradoodle puppy is given unsupervised free run of the house from the outset, the odds are that she will be confined later on — first to the yard, then to the basement, then to a cage in an animal shelter, and then to a coffin. Without a doubt, housesoiling and destructive chewing are the two most prevalent terminal illnesses in dogs. Using a dog crate will help you prevent these problems from ever developing in your Australian Labradoodle puppy.

Why not just leave the Australian Labradoodle puppy outdoors until he is housetrained?
Who is going to housetrain your pup outside — a shrub? If the dog is left outside unattended, he will become an indiscriminate eliminator. Basically, your Australian Labradoodle puppy will learn to go wherever he wants, whenever he wants, and he will likely do the same whenever you let him indoors. Australian Labradoodle puppies left outdoors and unsupervised for long periods of time seldom become housetrained. Also, they tend to become indiscriminate barkers, chewers, diggers, and escapists, and they may be more easily stolen. Outdoor puppies also become so excited on the few occasions they are invited indoors that eventually they are no longer allowed inside at all.

Why release the pup every hour?
Why not every 55 minutes or every three hours? Is it really necessary to do it on the hour?
Puppies have a 45-minute bladder capacity at three weeks of age, 75-minute capacity at eight weeks, 90-minute capacity at twelve weeks and two-hour capacity at 18 weeks. Releasing your Australian Labradoodle puppy every hour offers you an hourly opportunity to reward your dog for using a designated toilet area. You do not have to do this precisely each hour, but it is much easier to remember to do so each hour on the hour.

Why run the Australian Labradoodle puppy to the toilet? Why not walk sedately?
If you take your time getting your Australian Labradoodle puppy to his doggy toilet, you may find that he pees or poops en route. Hurrying your Australian Labradoodle puppy tends to jiggle his bowels and bladder so that he really wants to go the moment you let him stand still and sniff his toilet area.

Why not just put the Australian Labradoodle puppy outside by himself?
Can’t he do it on his own? Of course he can. But the whole point of predicting when your Australian Labradoodle puppy wants to relieve himself is so you can show him where and offer well-deserved praise and reward. Thus your Australian Labradoodle puppy will learn where you would like him to go. Also, if you see your Australian Labradoodle puppy eliminate, you know that he is empty; you may then allow your empty Australian Labradoodle puppy supervised exploration of the house for a while before returning him to his den.

Why instruct the pup to eliminate? Doesn’t he know he wants to go?
By instructing your Australian Labradoodle puppy to eliminate beforehand and by rewarding him for eliminating afterward, you will teach your pup to go on command. Eliminating on cue is a boon when you are traveling with your dog and in other time-constrained situations. Ask your pup to “Hurry up,” “Do your business,” “Go Pee and Poop,” or use some other socially acceptable, euphemistic eliminatory command.

Why give the Australian Labradoodle puppy three minutes? Isn’t one minute sufficient?
Usually, a young pup will urinate within 30 seconds of being released from short-term confinement, but it may take one or two minutes for him to defecate. It is certainly worthwhile to allow your pup three minutes to complete his business

What if the Australian Labradoodle puppy doesn’t go?
Your Australian Labradoodle puppy will be more likely to eliminate if you stand still and let him circle around you on leash. If your Australian Labradoodle puppy does not eliminate within the allotted time, no biggie! Simply pop the pup back in his crate and try again in half an hour. Repeat the process over and over until he does eliminate. Eventually, your Australian Labradoodle puppy will eliminate outdoors and you will be able to reward him. Therefore, on subsequent hourly trips to his toilet your Australian Labradoodle puppy will be likely to eliminate promptly.

Why praise the Australian Labradoodle puppy? Isn’t relief sufficient reward?
It is far better to express your emotions when praising your Australian Labradoodle puppy for getting it right, than when reprimanding the poor pup for getting it wrong. So really praise that pup: “Gooooooooood Australian Labradoodle puppy!” Potty training is no time for understated thank yous. Don’t be embarrassed about praising your Australian Labradoodle puppy. Embarrassed dog owners usually end up with housesoiling problems. Really reward your Australian Labradoodle puppy. Tell your Australian Labradoodle puppy that he has done a most wonderful and glorious thing!

Why offer treats? Isn’t praise sufficient reward?
In a word, no! The average person cannot effectively praise a moribund lettuce. And specifically, many owners—especially men—seem incapable of convincingly praising their puppies. Consequently, it might be a good idea to give the pup a food treat or two (or three) for his effort. Input for output! “Wow! My owner’s great. Every time I pee or poop outside, she gives me a treat. I never get yummy treats when I do it on the couch. I can’t wait for my owner to come home so I can go out in the yard and cash in my urine and feces for food treats!” In fact, why not keep some treats in a screw-top jar handy to the doggy toilet?

Why freeze-dried liver?
Potty training is one of those times when you want to pull out all of the stops. Take my word for it: When it comes to potty training, use the Ferrari of dog treats — freeze-dried liver.

Do we really have to give three liver treats when the Australian Labradoodle puppy pees or poops? Isn’t this a wee bit anal retentive?
Yes and no. Certainly you do not have to give your Australian Labradoodle puppy exactly three treats every time. But it’s a funny thing: If I suggest that people offer a treat each time their Australian Labradoodle puppy eliminates promptly in the right place, they rarely follow instructions. Whenever I tell people to give three treats, however, they will painstakingly count out the treats to give to their Australian Labradoodle puppy. Here’s what I am trying to say: Handsomely praise and reward your Australian Labradoodle puppy every time he uses a designated toilet area.

Why play with the Australian Labradoodle puppy indoors?
If you reward your pup for using his doggy toilet, you will know he is empty. “Thank you, empty Australian Labradoodle puppy!” What better time to play with or train your Australian Labradoodle puppy indoors without facing the risk of a messy mistake. Why get a Australian Labradoodle puppy unless you want to spend some quality (feces-free) time with him?

Why bother to take an older Australian Labradoodle puppy outdoors for a walk when he’s empty?
Many people fall into the trap of taking their Australian Labradoodle puppy outside or walking him so that he may eliminate, and when he does they bring him indoors. Usually it takes just a couple of trials before the Australian Labradoodle puppy learns, “Whenever my urine or feces hits the ground, my walk ends!” Consequently, the pup becomes reluctant to eliminate outside, and so when brought home after a long jiggling play or walk, he is in dire need to relieve himself. Which he does. It is a much better plan to praise your Australian Labradoodle puppy for using his doggy toilet and then take him for a walk as a reward for eliminating.

Get in the habit of taking an older Australian Labradoodle puppy to his doggy toilet (in your yard or curbside in front of your apartment building), standing still, and waiting for the pup to eliminate. Praise the pup and offer liver treats when he does: “Good dog, let’s go walkies!” Clean up and dispose of the feces in your own trash can, and then go and enjoy a poopless walk with your dog. After just a few days with a simple “no poop—no walk” rule, you’ll find you have the quickest urinator and defecator in town.

What should I do if I’ve done all the above and I catch the Australian Labradoodle puppy in the act of making a mistake?
Pick up a rolled newspaper and give yourself a smack! Obviously you did not follow the instructions above. Who allowed the urine-and-feces-filled Australian Labradoodle puppy to have free-range access to your house? You! Should you ever reprimand or punish your Australian Labradoodle puppy when you catch him in the act, all he will learn is to eliminate in secret—that is, never again in your untrustworthy presence. Thus you will have created an owner-absent housesoiling problem. If you ever catch your pup in the act of making a mistake that was your fault, at the very most you can quickly, softly, but urgently implore your pup, “Outside, outside, outside!” The tone and urgency of your voice communicates that you want your Australian Labradoodle puppy to do something promptly, and the meaning of the words instruct the Australian Labradoodle puppy where. Your response will have limited effect on the present mistake, but it helps prevent future mistakes.

Never reprimand your Labradoodle in a manner that is not instructive. Nonspecific reprimands only create more problems (owner-absent misbehavior) as well as frightening the pup and eroding the Australian Labradoodle puppy-owner relationship. Your Australian Labradoodle puppy is not a “bad Australian Labradoodle puppy.” On the contrary, your Australian Labradoodle puppy is a good Australian Labradoodle puppy that has been forced to misbehave because his owner could not, or would not, follow simple instructions.
Please reread and follow the above instructions!

The Potty Park
For the best doggy toilet, use Potty Park!
If you live in an apartment and do not have a yard, teach your Australian Labradoodle puppy to use his Potty Park until he is old enough to venture outdoors at three months of age.

Training Your Dog to Use an Outdoor Toilet
For the first few weeks, take your Australian Labradoodle puppy outside on-leash. Hurry to his toilet area and then stand still to allow the Australian Labradoodle puppy to circle (as he would normally do before eliminating). Reward your Australian Labradoodle puppy each time he “goes” in the designated spot. If you have a fenced yard, you may later take your Australian Labradoodle puppy outside off-leash and let him choose where he would like to eliminate. But make sure to reward him differentially according to how close he hits ground zero. Offer one treat for doing it outside quickly, two treats for doing it within, say, five yards of the outdoor doggy toilet, three treats for within two yards, and five treats for a bull’s eye.

Once your dog has not had a housesoiling mistake for at least three months, you may increase your Australian Labradoodle puppy’s playroom to two rooms. For each subsequent month without a mistake your Australian Labradoodle puppy may gain access to another room, until eventually he enjoys free run of the entire house and garden when left at home alone. If a housesoiling mistake should occur, go back to the original Australian Labradoodle puppy confinement program for at least a month.

Adapted from BEFORE You Get Your Australian Labradoodle puppy by Dr. Ian Dunbar