Twosday Training Tip

TIP #1: TUG FOR EXERCISE AND STIMULATION
Tug is a terrific game to play with your dog to relieve anxiety and boredom, provide exercise on rainy days, and even reinforce good behaviors. Just remember to apply some rules to the game such as: you start and stop the game, your dog must 'drop it' when told, if teeth touch skin the game ends. By following some simple rules your dog also learns self control.

TIP #2: MAKING DOG-DOG INTRODUCTIONS:

• Have new dogs meet one-on-one.
• Choose the location of the meeting carefully. Off-territory is best.
• Avoid gates, fences, doorways and other tight spaces.
• Don’t crowd the dogs. For many dogs, being crowded by people is worse than being crowded by inanimate objects and tight spaces because it puts a lot of social pressure on them.
• Keep moving. This is a great way to help an introduction go smoothly. It also keeps their interactions with each other from developing intensity.
• If you can and it’s safe, drop the leashes and let them drag on the ground so you can easily take hold again if you need to.
• Make the meeting a food-free, toy-free experience.
• Keep the first meeting really short (just a few seconds).
• Make a new dog seem less “new". Walking the dogs in the vicinity of one another without allowing them to greet and having them smell each other’s urine before they actually encounter one another are great ways to get them over the “newness".
• Keep calm and breathe. Our dogs respond to our emotions and behavior, so if you’re holding your breath because you’re tense, or sending out nervous energy (“Oh jeez, oh my, oh no! Yikes, I hope this goes okay!”), the dogs will pick up on that. Focus on breathing evenly, avoiding negative thoughts and keeping your own body relaxed.

- Excerpted from Making Introductions: Dog-to-Dog, by Karen B. London, PhD

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