El Nino is here! Here are some helpful tips to keep your dog and home clean during this rainy season.
Teach your dog a new trick- Teach your dog to wipe their own paws
How to -teach the trick-Let your dog watch you hide a treat in a towel. When your dog sniffs or walks on the towel to get to the treat immediately praise your dog. Repeat as necessary for your pooch to catch on. Reward your dog when they dig to get the treat . You can use “wipe” , “paw” or “dig” to cue your pup to do this neat new trick. (Video tips on teaching dig.)
Get a mat that is designed for wiping muddy paws.
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There are dog friendly designed mats designed to absorb water, dirt, and mud. This will help keep the majority of your pets mess on the mat instead of the floor or carpet. These mats are fairly inexpensive.
Desensitize your dog to having their paws touched.
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Some dogs don’t like to have their paws touched. If your dog is sensitive to having their paws touched you can boost your dogs confidence by allowing him to walk away from you at any point while you are wiping his paws. Another trick is to put the towel on your lap or ground in front of you and hold a treat above the towel. When the dog steps onto the towel, you can affirm with a “yes” or “good dog” and reward immediately. You could also reward for one paw on the towel and then slowly increase the challenge by rewarding only when two paws are on the towel . Reward even the slightest sensation of having the towel touch the paw. Reward your dog when he tolerates a wipe of the paw. You will notice that your pup might begin to volunteer these behaviors to get a treat.
Teach your dog to wait before coming into the house.
You can teach your dog “Wait”-So they learn to stay at the stay and wait for the “okay” to come inside. Start this training in dry weather. Put your hand up with your palm facing your dog, and ask them to “wait”. You might have to use your body to block your pup from entering at the beginning of learning the trick. Start with very short increments of time. If you dog does not charge inside after a second or two, reward with a “yes” treat immediately. When your dog is able to consistently wait for several seconds, you can begin to increase the amount of time you ask him to wait. At this point you can reward intermittently when the “wait” command has successful been obeyed. (Video to teach “wait”)
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