The Perfect Pup

A bored dog often results in problematic behaviors. I'm talking about things like barking, destruction, digging, chewing, etc. often happen when our dogs are bored! So, what can we do?

Here are 3 ways to keep your dog from getting bored!

#1- Exercise in the morning

#2- Quick and sporadic play/training sessions

#3- Mental exercise and enrichment

#1- Excercise in the Morning

This one is vital. You can't expect your dog to sit around for the bulk of the day calmly if they haven't had some exercise in the morning.

It doesn't have to be anything extremely intense, but at a minimum, your dog needs a walk in the morning. I take my dogs either on a run or to play fetch every single morning and it makes a huge difference in their behavior during the day.

#2- Quick and Sporadic Play/Training Sessions

Let me preface this by saying that dogs typically thrive under structure and a schedule. But that doesn't mean you can't randomly pull out a toy and play with your pup for 5-10 minutes during the day.

Keeping your dog on their toes as to when play/training might occur will help keep them excited throughout the day! Truly, sometimes it is more productive to play for 10 minutes 6 times per day (example only) rather than 60 minutes at once for all their play.

And the same goes for training, keep it short and keep it sporadic throughout the day!

#3- Mental Exercise and Enrichment

Your dog's breed was not bred for thousands (or hundreds) of years to sit on a couch. In most cases, dogs were bred to perform a job or task.

Retrievers helped with retrieving fallen animals during hunting, pulling out nets for fishing, etc... they had a job every single day! You don't need your job to have a 9-5, but your dog needs some tasks and "jobs" throughout the day.

You can do this with things like mental exercise toys, foraging, structured trick training, simple dog agility, and a whole host of other options!

Overall, the biggest key for a happy and not bored dog is to make sure their basic needs are met!

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Check out all podcast episodes here: anchor.fm/perfect-pup

Intro music cred to Kevin May: https://soundcloud.com/kevin_may

Recall (aka come when called) is vital for your dog's safety. Unfortunately, it can be one of the most difficult behaviors for dogs to really understand and grasp.

One often under-used trick for teaching recall is to teach it with play. Yup, good old fun and games!

Scout (my Lab) is EXTREMELY ball-motivated. She loves all toys, but the ball is truly her life. 

We struggled for years (honestly) to help her learn a solid recall because she just isn't that food motivated and we couldn't get her that interested in treats (no matter the treat) in high-distraction environments. The only thing she would focus on consistently while outside... her ball. 

So, we decided to practice recall every single time we played fetch! Here is what we did...

We started indoors. There's no getting around that.

We would do a couple of fun throws with her ball, then we would take 1-2 steps away from her (after she dropped her ball) and call her to us (Scout, come). At first, she was slightly confused about that 'cue word' being introduced during play, but after a couple attempts she caught on.

So, again... 1-2 steps back, call her to us. Once she came to us it was a very quick mark (we use 'yes') and then throwing her ball.

After practice inside, we took it to our backyard. Practicing this fetch-recall-training, every time we played fetch.

Then, the same thing but at a park while on a 100-foot lead. Every 1-2 throws, she had to do a come when called to get the ball.

And guess what, it didn't magically improve overnight. Nope. It took about 6 months of practicing that almost every single day.

And now, she is almost perfect with recall. 

The moral of the story... well there are 2.

1. Make recall (and all training) fun.

2. Find your dog's highest reinforcer, and use that ALL THE TIME.

Need more ideas for recall training? Check out the Recall Mastery course part of Pupford Academy here: https://pfrd.site/recall-game

Please review and subscribe!! Thanks for listening 🐾

Download the free Pupford app here: https://pfrd.site/aapp-free

Subscribe on YouTube here: https://pfrd.site/subscribe-youtube

Check out all podcast episodes here: anchor.fm/perfect-pup

Intro music cred to Kevin May: https://soundcloud.com/kevin_may

Having patience for your dog's behavior might be one of the most difficult things in the world... but in this episode, I'm going to explain why that patience is key to your happiness when raising a dog!

There are two very important things to remember...

1. Every dog is different.

2. Your expectations/timelines don't matter to your dog.

Too often with our dogs, we expect things to happen overnight. But, newsflash... they aren't robots!

After moving across the country with my 3 dogs I was taught a powerful lesson in patience. I expected my dog Sunny to be the fastest at learning to go potty in a new environment, turned out she was the slowest of all 3 dogs! I let myself get frustrated and impatient because I had expectations that didn't match reality.

She really wasn't doing anything wrong... just adjusting!

So, learn from my mistakes and remember to be patient with your dog. Whether you're working on overcoming separation anxiety, biting, or leash pulling problems you will be better served to put in the training and be patient with your dog's progress.

Let me know (email [email protected]) how being patient has helped your dog's behavior.

Please review and subscribe!! Thanks for listening 🐾

Download the free Pupford app here: https://pfrd.site/appdownloadd

Subscribe on YouTube here: https://pfrd.site/subscribe-youtube

Check out all podcast episodes here: anchor.fm/perfect-pup

Intro music cred to Kevin May: https://soundcloud.com/kevin_may

Impulse control affects all parts of your dog's behavior. It's something you should be practicing and working on every single day!

In this episode, we will cover 3 aspects of impulse control training. 

Part 1: What is impulse control? How should we be viewing our dog's ability to control their impulses?

Part 2: Why is impulse control important? What parts of your dog's behavior does impulse control affect?

Part 3: How can you improve your dog's impulse control? Here are 2 quick ideas you can do every day to help improve your dog's ability to control his or her impulses!

If you want a deep dive into impulse control, check out our 21 Impulse Control games part of Pupford Academy! Get access here: https://pfrd.site/impulse

Please like and subscribe!! Thanks for watching 🐾

Download the free Pupford app here: https://pfrd.site/app-downloadd

Subscribe on YouTube here: https://pfrd.site/subscribe-youtube

Check out all podcast episodes here: anchor.fm/perfect-pup

Intro music cred to Kevin May: https://soundcloud.com/kevin_may

In this episode, I cover why you should have oral hygiene habits for your pup and what those habits should be. 

Tons of people ask, how often should I brush my dog's teeth? What kind of toothpaste do I use? How do I make my dog like the toothbrush and more... Well, here are your answers!

And don't forget, you can snag a dog toothbrush from Pupford here: https://pfrd.site/toothbrush

Here's my favorite dog toothpaste that I've been using with my pups for over a year! https://amzn.to/2E3ryj1

Please like and subscribe!! Thanks for watching 🐾

Download the free Pupford app here: https://pfrd.site/pups-free-app

Subscribe on YouTube here: https://pfrd.site/subscribe-youtube

Check out all podcast episodes here: anchor.fm/perfect-pup

Intro music cred to Kevin May: https://soundcloud.com/kevin_may

Dog sports encompass everything from agility to dock diving and SO much more in between. Think dog sports are too advanced for your dog? Think again!

In this episode, we sit down with Trevor Smith to give an introduction to all things dog sports. We'll discuss how to get started with your dog, what competitions are like, and most importantly, how dog sports can help improve your dog's behavior and your bond with him or her!

Connect With Trevor Smith

Trevor is a CPDT-KA trainer who continually attends seminars and conferences to improve his knowledge of dog training, and all things dogs.

He is a strong advocate for pain and force-free methods and believes that we should all personally feel good about the methods we use to train our dogs.

When not training dogs, Trevor and his wife (a veterinarian) enjoy fun outdoor activities like scuba diving and zip-lining, taking their dogs on hikes, and playing video games.

Trevor is also a Certified Canine Fitness Trainer from the University of Tennessee.

Connect with Trevor via his website here: https://www.thedoggiedojo.com/

Connect with Trevor on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/doggiedojo/

Connect with Trevor on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/thedoggiedojo/

Connect with Trevor on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/user/thedoggiedojo

Check out Trevor's podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-with-your-dog/id1493425125

Please like and subscribe!! Thanks for watching 🐾

Download the free Pupford app here: https://pfrd.site/3app-free

Subscribe on YouTube here: https://pfrd.site/subscribe-youtube

Check out all podcast episodes here: anchor.fm/perfect-pup

Intro music cred to Kevin May: https://soundcloud.com/kevin_may

Raising a puppy (or older dog) can be very difficult... many of us face the 'puppy blues' from time to time. We may even question if having a dog or puppy is the right choice!

The puppy blues can be a real struggle, but it's important to remember perspective! Here are a couple of important points... ⤵️

1. The beginning stage of anything new is always the hardest.

2. Laying a foundation of training will pay massive dividends in the long run.

Stick with it, the bond you can build with your pup will be worth it in the long run!

Please review and subscribe!! Thanks for listening 🐾

Download the free Pupford app here: https://pfrd.site/ez-app-free

Subscribe on YouTube here: https://pfrd.site/subscribe-youtube

Check out all podcast episodes here: anchor.fm/perfect-pup

Intro music cred to Kevin May: https://soundcloud.com/kevin_may

The age-old question of 'why do dogs eat grass?'. Here's the simple answer... we don't completely know why dogs eat grass.

There are some theories and ideas as to why, which we will discuss in this episode.

And of course, the next question is, is it okay for my dog to eat grass?

Again, short answer... it's probably not a huge deal. BUT, we will look at some potential problems from eating grass and discuss how to reduce it.

Next time your pup eats grass, you just might know why 😉

Links to Sources/Research on Why Dogs Eat Grass

Please review and subscribe!! Thanks for listening 🐾

Download the free Pupford app here: https://pfrd.site/app-free1

Subscribe on YouTube here: https://pfrd.site/subscribe-youtube

Check out all podcast episodes here: anchor.fm/perfect-pup

Intro music cred to Kevin May: https://soundcloud.com/kevin_may

What gets rewarded, gets repeated. So the next question is, what can you use to reward your dog?! And what if your dog isn't really food motivated, then what?

Luckily, each of our dog's have their own "currencies". For some dogs, it is treats, while for others it may be a ball for fetch. The key is to figure out what your dog finds most valuable, and training accordingly.

Don't lock yourself into the trap of thinking that your dog has to take a treat to do training... there are so many other options!

Please review and subscribe!! Thanks for listening 🐾

Download the free Pupford app here: https://pfrd.site/ztrain-app

Subscribe on YouTube here: https://pfrd.site/subscribe-youtube

Check out all podcast episodes here: anchor.fm/perfect-pup

Intro music cred to Kevin May: https://soundcloud.com/kevin_may