The Mannerly Puppy
Stations/Boundaries
(or how NOT to lose your mind with a new
puppy in the house)
Kennel Your Dog:
Life is full of “have-to’s” for all of us. That certainly applies to dogs as well. A dog
that can’t be kenneled, on command, is a dog that will have boundary issues. A
kennel is a den for your dog, a Safe Haven, so there are certain rules to help
your dog succeed at learning to “Kennel”.
1. Do
not leave water or food in your dog’s kennel. Since a dogs kennel is their den,
much like your bed, you do not want to encourage the dog to mess its kennel.
So, unless traveling and for safety reasons only, do not put food or water in a
kennel.
2. For
some breeds, they love soft, pillow type crate beds. However, a puppy’s teeth
are sharp and they will tear or rip or eat a pillow type crate bed. Make it a
practice to keep the kennel free of any blankets or crate beds until the dog is
much older and has proven it can be responsible and NOT eat the crate beds.
3. When
a dog runs to its kennel, even if it got into trouble (and they do), once in
their kennel, they are in Safe Haven. Do not drag a dog out of a kennel to
correct it, ever. Reserve their kennel as their Safe Haven. Next time they get
into trouble, step on The Learning String before
they get to their kennel and then do what you need to do.
4. A
kennel is not a place for other dogs or children or etc., to crawl inside. Reserve your dog’s kennel as their Safe Haven
and teach everyone in the family to respect your dog’s private space.
5. Place
the kennel where it is tucked into a corner where only the front entrance is
exposed to the room. A dog likes a private den like kennel to be dark and
quiet. So, the kennels in our home (we have 4 kennels) are tucked into corners
and the sides and top are covered with blankets (make sure dog can’t get its
teeth on the blankets) so it is dark inside.
6. Send
your dog inside by commanding, “Place in your Kennel” as you escort dog inside
with your left hand on collar and your right hand on buttocks. Dog should ONLY
have on buckle collar when in kennel. You can toss a bone inside with butter
smeared lightly on the inside of the bone as you do the above. Dog learns
quickly that “Kennel” is a good place.
7. As
you open the kennel door to get dog out, command “Wait” (not Stay as Stay is a
formal command). As dog tries to push through the kennel door, simply close the
door on its face and then be quiet. Dog will quickly learn that “Wait” is an
informal command and the dog is to do nothing until commanded otherwise. Put your
leash or tap or Learning String on dog’s collar when it is in the kennel.
Command, “Fido, ok” or whatever your release word will be and let the dog come
out of the kennel door. This also quickly teaches dog to respect boundaries and
gates and doors of any kind so dog learns to “Wait” at these boundaries and not
bolt through.
8. My
dog Sugar was kenneled at night and whenever we left home until he was 2/5
years old and proved he could be trusted in the house. Expect you will have
kennels up and use them daily for years when you have a puppy.
Baby Gate Boundaries in Your Home:
Baby gates are your friend. Get the kind that are
cheap and easy to use. I have 3 of them and am looking for one more. Set up
acceptable areas in your home where, on your terms, you will let the puppy have
free rein – always, always with supervision. You are creating ‘stations’ in your home where
your puppy learns what is acceptable to do in that ‘station’ and what is not
acceptable.
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| Bedroom station |
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| Family room stations |
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| Sacked out Pree in station area - not backtied |
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| Pree in our kitchen area, not backtied, but see her tab? |
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| Sugar showing Pree how to be a good demo dog, Pree is backtied here |
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| Three dogs on Place, the Sami and Sugar are off-leash, yet on the Place command on the blanket. The Place command means you can sing, dance, yoddle or whatever on that Place (the blanket), but you can not get off the blanket. Pree is backtied |
When I am in my office, like right now, I have 3
baby gates up. My office is right off our front door by the foyer. I have one
baby gate blocking the entrance to our Living Room, one blocking the stairs,
and one blocking the entrance to the kitchen. I have a rug in my foyer and the
dog’s water bowl is there, the Powder Room door is closed, and there are a
variety of dog toys scattered about.
I can safely work here for hours as my dogs all do
the Quiet Time (Pree included) and when she wakes up, she will go to the baby
gate by the kitchen and indicate she has to go potty. I will open the baby gate
and say, “Let’s Go” to our back door where she has learned to Sit, then I open
the door and say, “Pree, ok” as I move my left foot forward. She has learned to
go outside, on her own, and go potty without me or her “Go Potty” command
anymore.
The kitchen/breakfast room/family room station has
only 2 baby gates needed. These baby gates are up when we are cooking or
watching TV. She knows what she can put her mouth on that is acceptable and
what is unacceptable (rugs, furniture, cords, etc.). Unacceptable things in her
mouth earn her a “Phooey” which she knows now means quit or get corrected. So,
she has proven herself responsible with her mouth (although ALWAYS supervised)
and we let her have free rein. Here at this station, she has a box where her
toys are stored and delights to go INTO the box, drag everything out, and play
with all her toys on the floor.
Final station is upstairs (we have a kennel up there
for her also in our bedroom). My husband gets up early, around 4 am, so he
takes her outside to pee, sets up the kitchen station, then lets her in the
house where she Places (a command) on the rug with our other dogs and waits
quietly for breakfast. We do not allow dogs underfoot in our kitchen area. Once
she has breakfast, she has another bathroom break, then she is brought upstairs
and kenneled.
I wake up around 6:15 am when the cappuccino my
husband makes perfectly arrives beside my bed. I take her outside, then go back
to bed to enjoy my coffee. The other bedroom doors are closed off, the bathroom
doors are closed off, there is one baby gate at the top of the stairs and she
and Sugar have free rein to play. When she needs to go potty, she runs to the
gate and looks at me.
Stations in Your Home:
To teach your puppy the baby gate ‘areas’ are boundaries,
first you begin by backtying your puppy within those areas. I used 15’ cotton
canvas Longe Lines and tied one to a heavy ottoman (family room), one tied to
door in the kitchen area, one tied to my chair in my office, and one tied to
the chest of drawers in my bedroom. By
doing this, Pree quickly learned where she could be and what she could do
within the 15’ lengths.
She learned what she could put her mouth on and what
would earn her my “Phooey”. When she would not listen or pay attention, she was
either kenneled or I did The Quiet Time with her in whatever room I was in. She
DID NOT appreciate being restricted and would voice her objections loudly! That would earn her my “Quiet” command as I
can’t have a noisy Lab in our home, in this neighborhood, when she is backtied
and watching me teach classes, and especially in the hunting/field scene.
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