WEDNESDAY'S WORD OF THE DAY

Wednesday’s words are Keep Away, as in the childhood game. Dogs love to play this game.

 

Hops playing Keep Away with Missy

It's ok for them to play Keep Away with other dogs, but when they play it with us, that can create problems.  For safety's sake, we need to be able to take things away from them, and they need to learn to give items up to us, even high value ones that they don't want to give up

   

 When dogs are playing Keep Away with us,  it’s usually in the context of  “I've got this and you can’t have it,” and it often involves grabbing something and holding it in their mouth, just out of your reach or in conjunction with the "Catch-me-if-you-can" game.  You can’t win this game and it’s not one you want to play, at least by their rules.  If your dog finds something you don’t want him to have, a good technique is to play the" Trade Ya" game, where you offer the dog something he’d like better, such as a really tasty treat, or another toy of greater value.    Too often the dog grabs something, we either lose our cool or try to grab it back, and they’re much quicker than us. Dog also learn it’s a good way to get our attention.  Some dogs learn that by using their teeth or showing aggression, they’ll get to keep whatever it is. Confrontational techniques (no matter what you may have seen on TV) will make the situation worse in the long run, so a trade is much better. If you always use certain words, such as "Trade Ya," when you make the trade, eventually this phrase becomes a cue for your dog to give you the item, whether or not you've got something in return.   And if your dog—as Missy did—begins to offer you stuff in the hopes of getting a treat?  Hey, no problem, you don’t need to always give a treat in exchange and at least he understands the game. I consider that a Win-Win for you both!

Hops giving up the bird at a retriever Working Certificate Test