In a recent webinar episode called Stump the Trainer, I was asked some great questions. One theme came up a number of times…fence fighting. If you weren’t able to attend in person, check out these highlights:
How do I keep my teenage puppy from bolting out the back door and fence fighting with the dog next door?
Always start with prevention: What can you do to prevent the dogs from doing this? Is it possible to block the dog’s view of the other dog? You might pull a blind down over the window or create some distance between the dogs with a second, solid fence. Once you create a barrier, make YOUR yard more interesting. Additionally, you could keep your dog on a leash or tether that keeps him away from the fence altogether, until we resolve this situation.
What do you want the dog to do instead? Instead of “don’t fence fight” teach your dog to do something else. For example — you can teach your pup that going outside is a cue for the Find It Game! Sneak outside and scatter dog kibbles and tiny treats in the yard. You can also hide his favorite toy. Make going into the yard about sniffing and finding things INSTEAD of waiting for the game of running up and down the fence.
What else do you want your dog to do? “Come Here and Relax” and “Follow Me” are other good behaviors. Start this by rewarding your pup with treats or a bully stick or food toys in another part of the yard. This will help him WANT to hang out somewhere else. Then, get some good practice in with “Come When Called” and an easy “Follow Me” game. Keep it fun and use delicious treats!
Closely related to this was a question about not chasing cats who are on fences:
How you can prevent your dog from chasing the cat? Perhaps you have her “Sit-Stay” before going outside to slow her down? Again, you might think about blocking the view or creating some white noise. Then, let’s distract her by teaching the Find It Game, when she goes outside. We want to create a different habit that is also highly reinforcing. Once she gets lots of practice doing other things, this will become much more manageable!
You might also desensitize your dog to cats by playing cat videos or sounds of cats. Turn the volume down so she can barely hear it and then slowly raise the volume as she relaxes. Combine this with treats and do it over several training sessions. If cat-yowling at night wakes the pup, confine her and put on some kind of white noise to block out the cat sounds.
Did you notice a pattern I use for creating good puppy dog behavior — prevention, distraction and training? Yes! It’s the Dog or Puppy Training Plan I encouraged you to write in the last blog post.
I’m hoping to open up in person classes again this fall. But don’t wait for that! You and your dog can get some 1:1 dog training right now from the comfort of your own home — and mine — via ZOOM. Just give me a call or contact me via my website.