One of the things that’s important when you live alone with pets is to think ahead. This week I’m battling a cold, which took a lot of my energy, and I have a board-and-train. Do I stop doing my daily training lessons with my client? Heavens no! But where I have a choice, and I usually do, I do the daily training lessons at home instead of going out on the town. Any behavior I teach a dog always starts in the home with as few distractions as possible, then we take it to the back yard, front yard, and out from there to where the dog can handle paying attention and succeeding to this next step. And of course, if I have a housetraining client, they are only in-home training anyway.
Aside from being a professional dog trainer, I’m a dog parent to my own dogs as well. I have to think ahead. When a person’s sick, sneezing, has a runny nose, and is tired, she doesn’t want to go shopping for dog food and the likes. I always have plenty of dog food on hand for times like these. A couple of spare bags if I can help it. This is part of my long-time habit from living in earthquake country of Southern California, and hurricane forces of South Florida. Living with ongoing emergency possibilities teaches a person to plan ahead.
Besides food, dogs need exercise. I’m lucky to have a big back yard, so I just open it up and my dogs run out to play and get exercised. There’s nothing better to deplete energy in a dog than a good run with their own kind, and some playtime. If you don’t have that big back yard, then having a dog who fetches in the house will help expend some energy, or give them an advanced food toy to unpack to expel some mental energy.
Being a dog owner with a cold is also a good time to have a crate-trained dog. Some dogs, those wise, old souls, know how to give a sick person space while healing. There are also the young whipper snappers who can’t be trusted yet in the house, and need to be confined if they’re not being supervised. There’s nothing worse than being sick and waking up to a house in ruins because your dog innocently had a blast while you slept. So if you have a dog that’s not quite there yet with trustability, be sure to crate train him for those emergency times. Then put him in his crate with a few chew and food toys, a bucket of water, and you can recuperate knowing you’re house will be intact when you wake up.
Crates go both ways. My dogs use them for sleeping and eating, but the door is opened, so they have a choice whether to come or go. They choose to go inside on their own. They’re also good to have when the owner needs a break, or for those aforementioned emergency times. Having a crate trained dog comes in handy in many ways.
Contact me to train those essential behaviors in your dog that get you both through the times of your lives.
Helen Verte Schwarzmann
Certified in Training and Counseling
Certified Pet Dog Trainer-KA
Certified Trick Dog Instructor
Your Dog Trainer for Weston, Plantation, Fort Lauderdale, Davie, and Hollywood in Broward county south Florida
By Helen Verte
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